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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45805	A sermon preached before the Right Honourable Lord-Mayor, the Aldermen, and governours of the hospitals of London, at St. Bridget's Church, on Wednesday in Easter week, MDCC by Z. Isham ...	Isham, Z. (Zacheus), 1651-1705.	1700 (1700)	Wing I1071; ESTC R15563	18,740	35

Hilar. Pardon of our Iniquities and prevent his Judgments from falling upon us covering in this Sense a multitude of Sins And sometimes Communities are enrich'd and protected for the Sake of them And generally they incline God to repay that with Interest which any of us have freely given to him 1 Pet. 4.8 And since whatever we possess without his Benediction will certainly vanish into Smoke we may perceive what the wisest Ensurance of it is And if to escape the bestowing of Alms we deny our own Abundance God may justly take it from us and turn our Riches into Poverty But the charitable Man lays up a Stock in the Bowels of the poor and may reap the Profits of it at a long distance Psal 112.9 He hath dispersed he hath given to the poor his Righteousness endureth for ever his horn shall be exalted with honour Nay besides the Recompence ascertain'd to himself he transmits God's Promise to his Posterity Psal 37.25 26. I have not saith the Psalmist seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread He is ever merciful and lendeth and his seed is blessed And if they who are so immoderately solicitous and laborious in raising Estates for their * Qui studes terreno magìs quàm Coelesti patrimonio filios tuos Diabolo magìs commendare quàm Christo duplex crimen admittis quod non praeparas filiis tuis Dei patris auxilium quod doces filios patrimonium plus amare quàm Christum Cyprian Children and in heaping up Treasures for them and never say It is enough would but once believe this and act agreeably we should soon behold Charity in a more spreading Condition We all own that the Providence of God makes us rich and puts us into a Capacity of relieving others Prov. 30.15 Prov. 10.22 and this was acknowledg'd even by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Heathen World And why then are we backward in answering God's Will and doing so that he may continue his own Gift and entail it upon those that are dearest to us XVI 2dly The Blessedness of Charity is yet much greater in that it secures an endless Inheritance in the next World 1 Tim. 6.18 19. And they that are rich in good works and ready to distribute lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on Eternal Life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sure Bond or Instrument of Contract as the * Sam. Petit. Var. Lect. Dr. Hammond word hath been happily render'd that will be kept safely and perform'd exactly God himself engaging to pay us And is not this a purchase infinitely beyond all worldly Possessions And if we could stand upon the Devil's Mountain Mat. 4.8 and overlook all the kingdoms of the Earth all the Pomp and Honours and Pride and Pleasures of them what is there that can possibly enter into Comparison with the vast and unconceivable Prize of Eternity You see the Art of procuring to your selves though not of meriting this Heavenly Patrimony And what can we do with this uncertain and deceitful Mammon that is equal to the gaining of Friends who may receive us into everlasting habitations Luk. 16.9 Wherefore if Works of Charity are such a strong foundation as to sustain a Building no less weighty than that of Eternal Glory doubtless he is the skilfullest Architect than can pursue this excellent Model and expend his Wealth in raising such a Fabrick to himself as will outlast the Universal Conflagration XVII And is not this abundant Conviction That It is more blessed to give than to receive And to confirm us in this Perswasion I shall strengthen what hath been said with Two Considerations The 1st of them is That God will strictly enquire hereafter what the Rich have done with all that Plenty which he bestowed upon them And therefore it behoves them to be well prepar'd for their Answer to him And they especially that have been advanc'd from low Beginnings that can say with Jacob Gen. 32.10 With my staff I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands must not forget what proportionable Returns God expects from them By humane Laws we have indeed a Property and are Masters of what we rightfully possess But Religion makes it a Trust and teacheth us that * Cur cùm possessores tantùm usufructuarii simus quod nobiscum auferre non possumus avertere à proprietatis domino atque alienare tentamus Cur non bonâ fide datis à Deo resculis utimur Salvian all this Wealth is put into our hands not to be squander'd away at our Pleasure but for certain Vses which at the Great Audit we are to be responsible for This is intimated by Christ's calling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 16.12 that which belongs to another and more directly in the Parable of the Talents Mat. 25.14 c. which were distributed to the Servants to trade with and after a time they were summon'd to a Reckoning and treated according to their diligence in Trading And how heavy was the sentence upon him that did not wast his Talent in Riot but onely hide it in the Earth without any Improvement Again We are all Stewards to God and must expect his Enquiry How his Rent hath been gathered and dispos'd of And there is to be a Period to this Employment and God will say to every one of us Luk. 16.2 Give an account of thy Stewardship for thou mayest be no longer Steward Let us then suppose God demanding of any one of us What hast thou done with all that Rent which I entrusted with Thee How hath it been laid out conformably to my Will To answer I have hoarded it up Luk. 19.20 and 't is safe in a Napkin is to confess I have done no good at all with it And the Doom upon such a wither'd branch will be accordingly And again What can a Man reply to that Question that hath lavish'd out his Inheritance and Conscience too in Lewdness and Gaming and Revelling in all the mad Frolicks of Lust and Intemperance and to maintain his Vices and purchase Damnation Doubtless his Guilt will strike him dumb and having made his bargain he must stand to it But let the Case be more innocent and such an Answer given as suits with the Men of Honour and Generosity This I reckon for my House and Gardens This for my gay Furniture This for my Table This for my Apparel This for my Coaches and Equipage and so on It will be pleaded that the Man's Dignity and Station requir'd his making of such a splendid Figure and 't is a Reproach to a Man not to live up to the height of his Fortune And let us in good Manners allow this Plea as far as we can But still the Scrutiny must go on Where are the Bills for relieving the poor Where are the Evidences of honouring God with thy Substance Prov. 3.9 For if the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chr●sostom Orat. 2. in Lazar. whole Sum committed to thee be swallow'd up in those Expences how popular soever if God and his Poor have not had an equitable share of this Plenty if their Fleece hath remained dry when the Dew hath been spread over all the ground this Account will never pass with God and though as the Psalmist speaks Men will praise thee when thou dost well to thy self the Praise of God which is infinitely better nay and of wise Men too Jud. 6.40 Psal 49.18 is onely to be obtain'd by doing good to others XVIII 2dly Let it be consider'd That the onely way to make Riches a Blessing is to employ and manage them as God hath appointed For we know that our Saviour is strangely severe upon them Mat. 19.23 declaring That a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and denouncing thus Luk. 6.24 Wo unto you that are rich for ye have received your Consolation And his Apostle saith 1 Tim. 6.9 They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition Wherefore since there is so much danger in this envied Condition and 't is a rough Sea full of Shipwracks many of which we may see before us let us not be seduc'd by the false Notions of the World but look upon the true Happiness of Riches to consist in the Religious Management of them The way to Heaven is equally open to the Rich and to the Poor but they must go in different Paths These by Contentedness and Patience and Industry and Submission to the Will of God and Reliance upon him for daily Bread And those by Gratitude to God and Humility and Gentleness and Liberality and Charity Let them then according to the Elevation of their Rank Exercise these Vertues and do good and communicate what they abound with let them not be high-minded 1 Tim. 6.17 or surpercilious nor look down with Scorn upon those of lower degree and higher Graces nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy Let them be able to produce the Objects of their own Beneficence and to evince how rich they have been towards God Luk. 12.21 And as the famous * Laurent apud Ambros Offic. l. 2. c. 28. Saint of old having the Treasures of his Church demanded from him set out in order the poor that were fed constantly by it and said Hi sunt thesauri Ecclesiae let them thus marshal their indigent Pensioners and embrace them saying These are our Treasures these are they that enrich us and promote our Salvation And then they will have substantial Greatness and shine with an untainted Lustre then they will be honourable in the Sight of God Mat. 5.19 and great in the Kingdom of Heaven ERRATA PAge 2. line 16. for deposed read deposited p. 7. l. ult for of r. by p. 19. These Words Eccl. 35.20 and Mat. 10.42 are to be put in the Margin FINIS