Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
cause_n circumstance_n good_a great_a 254 4 2.1093 3 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A47323 Charity directed, or, The way to give alms to the greatest advantage in a letter to a friend / written by Richard Kidder. Kidder, Richard, 1633-1703. 1676 (1676) Wing K397; ESTC R32868 32,292 40

There is 1 snippet containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

not able to supply all his Necessity how far in this Case he stands Obliged to relieve him and his answer is that to give him a fifth part of his Goods towards his relief is generous to give him a tenth Id. cap. 7. is Moderate but to give him less is an argument of an Evil Eye I shall not need to say any more than this that he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly and the less Mercy we shew the less we shall receive I shall onely add the Exellent words of the Apostle Every man according as he purposeth in his heart so let him give not grudgingly or of Necessity for God loveth a chearful Giver And God is able to make all Grace abound towards you that ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work 2 Cor. 9.7 8. Fourthly By denying our selves some little satisfaction that we may have somewhat to bestow upon the poor And here will be room for Persons of mean Estates to shew kindnesses to the Poor We ought to please our Neighbour for his good and 't will be worth our while to do it with some Displeasure to our selves Suppose now we go in Cloaths that are cheap and plain that we eat somewhat the less that we avoid some innocent Divertisement and what we save this way give to the poor Our Books somewhere tell us that when Tarentum was Besieged by the Romans their Neighbours at Rhegium Fasted every tenth day and sent to the Besieged the Victuals which they should have eaten themselves A rare Example of Heathens and that which may shame many Titular and false Christians If the Love of God be in us we shall not think much to Fast and to bestow the Meal we save upon our hungry and almost starved-Brother And for us thus to Fast will be acceptable to God and profitable to our Brother And we have but little sense of Gods stupendious Mercy and kindness to us if we refuse to do more for our Brother than this amounts to It will well become us when our Brothers Necessities are great to deny our selves those things which we might else very Lawfully allow to our selves It was a very ill Character the Prophet gave of Israel where he tells us That they did lie upon Beds of Ivory and stretcht themselves upon their Couches that they chanted to the sound of the Viol and invented to themselves Instruments of Musick and did drink Wine in Bowls and annoint themselves with the chief Oyntment when in the mean time they were not grieved for the Affliction of Joseph Amos 6.4 5 6. 'T was generously said by Vriah when he was perswaded to go to his House after his return from the Camp The Ark and Israel says he and Judah abide in Tents and my Lord Joab and the Servants of my Lord are Encamped in the open Fields shall I then go into mine House to Eat and to Drink c 2 Sam. 11.11 Certainly if we esteem our selves Members of the same Body we shall not find our selves much at ease when our fellow-Members are in pain And shall not be hard to be perswaded to undergo some inconvenience for the Advantage of our Brethren The Apostle goes higher still than any thing hath been said yet If we have nothing to give he would have us Labour for something that we may have to give to him that needeth Eph. 4.28 We ought to Labour rather than be a burden to others and so we must do also on the ●ehalf of our poor Neighbour that he may not want what is Needful for him And if this be difficult and an hard saying how shall we be able to lay down our Life for him And if after all this we are not able to Relieve a poor Man yet let us Pity him and Pray for him do what we can and pray to the God of all Mercies to support and help him For there are more ways of being Serviceable to the poor than Alms-giving Every Man cannot do that But they that cannot Relieve can Pity they can Pray to God and intercede with Men they can give the Poor a good Example and good Counsel They may be able to Advise and to study ways for their Advantage And he that studies the Art of well-doing and recommends it to others serves the Needy though he be not able to give them Money And thus Sir I have given you my thoughts about this affair and I fear I have by doing so given you too great a trouble also I am very sensible that this Matter deserves better to be considered And I am far from thinking that I have said what the Argument deserves or requires Neither my Occasions nor other Circumstances will afford me either leisure or power to do that If I have suggested any thing that may do any good and contribute towards the Help of any afflicted Person I shall think I have great cause to bless God on that behalf I have however complyed with your Request I might say Importunity and am satisfied with this that though I have not said what might have been said yet I have not declined so good a Cause but have said what at present I could I shall onely add that I am Sir Your most Faithful Friend R. K. Decemb. 13. 1675. FINIS