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A37052 Encouragement to charity a sermon preached at the Charter-House Chapel Dec. 12, 1678, at an anniversary meeting in commemoration of the founder / by William Durham. Durham, William, d. 1686. 1679 (1679) Wing D2830; ESTC R3150 13,894 28

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was in Prison and ye came unto me For verily I say unto you in as much as you have done it to these you have done it unto me enter therefore into the Joy of your Master And thus have I dispatched also the second general Head proposed the Encouragements that are for the Performance of this Duty of Charity from its Nature and Effects thorough the whole Course and Progress of it The Practice of it is pleasant to us whilst we live the Remembrance of it comfortable when we die the History of it is honourable to our Memories after Death and besides all this it layes a firm Foundation for everlasting Life in the World that is to come It now only remains that I proceed to the third and last thing proposed briefly to shew what are the Duties of those that are or have been relieved by others Charity as a more particular Application to this Assembly I shall instance in these two following Particulars 1. There is required Commemoration of the Kindness thus received 2. An hearty Endeavour to answer the Designs and Intentions of it 1. There is required a grateful Commemoration of the Kindness and the Charity thus received And this is a return which Nature it self and the common Principles of Gratitude dictate to all men He that can receive a Kindness and not be at all sensible of it is a Monster of Barbarity unfit to converse with Mankind and unworthy to receive any Offices of Humanity And therefore the least and lowest Degree of Acknowledgment we can make is to be heartily ●ffected with it and upon all Occasions endeavour to preserve and revive the memory of our Benefactors and that charitable Assistance we have received from them And certainly in a more special manner all that any way relate to this noble and ample Foundation have abundant Reason to magnify the Goodness of God for that plentiful Provision he has made for them by the pious Charity of our munificent Founder whose Memory we this Day celebrate upon which occasion our hearts ought to be enlarged with a grateful Sense of those great Mercies God has conveyed to us by his means You that are of the younger sort are to consider with your selves how great Obligations you have to a Pious Gratitude upon the account of those great Blessings you receive in this Place here are you nourished and bred up with that care as if you were in your own Fathers Houses with that Indulgence to your tender Age as if you were still under the wings of your Mothers Here are many of you rescued from the sad and grievous pressures of Poverty and the dreadful effects of it and delivered from the Calamities of a low and a base Fortune and the Temptations to which it usually exposes men to All things are here provided for your comfortable Subsistence without any Care or Pains of your own you are fed as the Young Ravens to which our Saviour alludes Luke 12. v. 24. you only open your Mouths call upon God and are filled with good Things You neither spin nor toil but are clothed as the Lillies of the Field and what is far more valuable than all this you have means afforded you of an ingenious and virtuous Education Your tender natures are seasoned with early Principles of Piety and good Literature whereby if you are not wanting to your selves you may be fitted for future Imployment in your several wayes to the Honour of God the Credit of the Founder the Comfort of your Parents the good of the Church and the Service of your King and Country All which great and signal Mercies cry aloud to you for a grateful Acknowledgment And you that are old and Gray-headed are under no less Obligations Consider with your selves how happily you may pass your declining age in this Place if you duly improve those Opportunities you do enjoy You have here a safe and quiet Retreat from the Cares and and the Troubles of Life being free from the noise and Buzzle of the World and at perfect leasure to compose your minds and fit your selves for your approaching end Death many times comes upon other men at unawares whilst they are in the hurry of business and engaged in a hot and eager pursuit after Worldly projects which makes him more dreadful when he appears but certainly those in your state of Life can never be surprized by Death because you have nothing else to do but to expect him and by staring him continually in the face his visage must needs become less terrible unto you In the mean while you have nothing to disturb your minds or distract your thoughts but are at liberty wholly to apply your selves to the Service of God to make your peace with him and patiently expect and wait till your great change come You are passed over the troublesome and tempestuous Sea of this World and are arrived at an harbour of Rest where all things are calm and quiet from whence you may look out and see the World round about you in Confusion and Distraction and every one as in a great storm tumbling and tossing up and down not knowing where to find any Secure and Resting Place whilst You enjoy Peace and Ease and Retirement a state of Life which the greatest Monarehs have envied and have resigned their Crowns and Empires and stript themselves of all their Worldly glory that they might only secure to themselves before their death some few such happy and quiet hours as you enjoy and therefore ought you also be seriously and thankfully affected for all those Advantages you receive from the hand of God let your hearts be filled with Thanksgiving and your mouths with his Praise Yea let all both Young and Old joyn together in consort singing Hallelujah and Anthems of Praise to the Name of the most High whose Goodness is infinite and whose Mercies are over all his Works But Secondly A bare Acknowledgment is not sufficient there is a farther duty required of those that live upon Charity which is that they answer the designs and intentions of their Benefactors by living according to the Rules prescribed them and by making Improvements answerable to the Encouragements they do receive And therefore to apply this more particularly the younger sort here ought with all possible diligence and industry to endeavour to improve themselves in Learning and Piety and Good manners for which purpose so Liberal a Maintenance is allowed And the Aged ought to sequester themselves from the World at least from the Cares the Lusts and the Vanities of it and attend carefully and constantly upon the Service of God and all holy Duties that so living soberly godlily and circumspectly they may be in a continual readiness and preparation to expect the summons of Death which they are daily to look for And all others of us who have at any time partook of the same Bounty ought to esteem our selves as great Debtors to the Publick for what we have this