very noble monument you have set up I could not but observe it when I was in your Parish-Church at Tardebig and it shews an hand no more straiten'd in erecting it than the heart was to her I mean your Excellent deceased Lady for whom 't was erected But how much nobler a Monument is what you are erecting here That stands a demonstration of your just piety towards Her whose memory is and will be always sweet and 't is a very good testimony of your belief and hopes of an happy resurrection that you desire to sleep and wake together for 't is the same burying place you have made for your self in which her remains are But this will be the more lasting one and when that shall molder into dust or perish in the last great conflagration this will be then freshest and ready to accompany you into glory As through Christ's merits all other good works will and so the Apostle hath said for in due season we shall reap if Gal. 6. 9. we faint not 't is all and the best gratitude I can return in my own name or the name of those who are subjects of your great Charities to be putting up our prayers that you may not be weary in well-doing there 's nothing we can wish happier to your self nothing more for his glory to whom your Charities are thus devoted In whom I am Most honour'd Sir Yours In all faithful Duty and Humility Benj. Woodroffe 1 TIMOTHY Chap. VI. Ver. 17 18 19. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy That they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life THE Apostle as St. Chrysostom observes on this place speaking of those who are rich in this world gives us to understand that there are others who are the rich of the other world Such says He was Lazarus 't was not gold or silver or any other corruptible fading wealth in which He abounded but in those hidden Treasures which neither eye had seen nor ear heard nor had 1 Cor. 2. 9. entred into the heart of man 'T was not his lot to have the comforts and enjoyments of this world but what this world could not give the joyes and satisfactions of a good mind the Victories and Triumphs of Faith which enabled him to trample on the world the flesh and the Devil were his constant attendants He had not the purple and fine linen of Him at whose gate He was laid not his every day's sumptuous fare but what so much exceeded both the Robes of his Lord's righteousness were his daily wear the feast of a good conscience was his constant provision However as his name spoke his present condition for so 't is in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who hath no help He was helpless and forlorn here yet at the same time was He the peculiar care of Heaven and the dear charge of Divine Providence Dispised as He lay at the rich man's yet He was not so at Heaven's gate that standing alwaies open to Him not so loathed for his sores but that which is the best health the soundness of a sincere and honest heart recommended Him to Abraham's bosom and the Angels themselves were ready to Luk. 16. 20 21 22. carry him thither But such as He are not the rich to whom the Charge is given in the text No need to bid them not to be high-minded for humility it self is not the least part of their wealth No need to bid them not trust in uncertain riches they have none such to depend on but they have a surer foundation whereon to build the Rock of Ages the living God who can never fail nor forsake those who rely on him No they are the rich in this world all whose wealth and hopes lie here whose gold is their God and as 't is v. 6. of this chapter gain their godliness to whom Timothy here is so strictly to give the charge that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy c. In handling of which and the following words I have read unto you what better method can be observ'd than what the Holy Ghost himself here directs and accordingly taking them up in the order in which He hath deliver'd them I shall from the first of these verses observe I. 1. The proness there is in the rich in this world to be high-minded and trust in uncertain riches 2. The little reason they have to be so as 1. From the uncertainty of the riches they so much trust in so 2. From the certainty of much better riches to be had by trusting in the living God From the next verse I shall proceed to observe II. The positive duty here injoyn'd whereby to evidence this their trust in Him viz. to do good to be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate with III. The great encouragement to this duty in the glorious reward that attends it from the last verse as 't is laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life I begin with the first I. The proneness there is in the rich in this world to be high-minded and trust in uncertain riches so we are told Psal 73. 6. therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain Violence covereth them as a garment v. 8. they are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression they speak loftily v. 9. they set their mouth against the Heavens and their tongue walketh through the Earth Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in the world they increase in riches And hard is it for a man to increase in riches and not increase in pride Go throughout the Earth call to remembrance past ages take the examples of the present and you shall find the confidence men are so apt to place in the multitude of these vain transitory perishing things still betraying them to the greatest acts of insolence and inhumanity What but this made Pharaoh say who is the Lord that I Exod. 5. 2. should obey his voice What but this made Rabshakeh and his Master Sennacherib Isai 37. 17. reproach the living God What but this made Belshazzar praise the Gods of gold and Dan. 5. 4. of silver of brass of iron of wood and stone What but this made Darius accept of divine honours as if Dan. 6. 7. 8 9. Himself had been a God What but this made the fool NABAL for so was his 1 Sam. 25. 25. v. 17. name and folly was with him such a son of Belial that no man could speak unto Him according to that of
subject to from others 2. the Flattery they are so apt to act towards themselves 3. Are those many lusts fed and served by their riches which make them so stupid and brutal as to forget themselves their Brother their God 2. But is there too so very little reason they have to be thus high-minded as 1. From the uncertainty of the riches they so much trust in so 2. From the certainty of much better riches to be had by trusting in the living God 1. Is there that uncertainty in the riches of this world not only as to the gaining retaining or enjoying of them but as to any relief they are capable of yielding to the possessors of them when they stand most in need of it i. e. 1. In the time of Tryal or Temptation at present or 2. At the honour of death or day of judgment 2. Is there on the contrary that certainty of much better riches to be had by trusting in the living God II. Is the Duty here required whereby to evidence this trust in him to do good to be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate III. Is the great encouragement to this Duty in the glorious reward that attends it laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life USE I. Let this then be to shame the rich in this world in this their confidence Hast thou considered Oh vain man what 't is thou art proud of a little yellow Dust a little thick Clay things made for the canker and rust for that 's the best that can be said of gold and silver The food of Moths the Mother or Daughter of Corruption for such is thy purple and fine linen such thy sumptuous fare are these the mighty purchase for the reason â—â—d understanding the hopes and desires of an immaterial immortal being such thou art if thou rightly conceivest of that Soul within thee to place its glory and happiness in But supposing the things themselves to be ever so valuable supposing thou wert ever so wealthy ever so laden with this thick Clay What is there he hath to be proud of who Habac. 2. â— hath received all he hath If thy wealth be more than others Is not thy debt so too If it be what thou needest Is not thy indigence greater than their's whose wants are more easily supplyed whose infirmities are not so importunate and craving Or is it so great a matter to boast of that thou art the greater Beggar Or if it be not what thou needest why is thy heart so lifted up for that in which thou art only a Steward and 't will import thee to be a faithful one only the Servant of the poor for whom thou hast received it For think what thou wilt of thy large possessions none hath title to more than he stands in need of What is beyond this is not thine but their's who want it more than thou dost Hence that of the wise man Prov. 3. 27. withhold not good from them to whom 't is due 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the Lords of it those in whom the right and propriety is when it is in the power of thine hand to do it It being in thy power it 's being what thou canst give the Right and Title escheats to him Let St. Basil give us the comment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 'T is the bread of the hungry which thou detainest among thy stores The Garments of the naked which thou keepest in thy Wardrobe The shooes of him who goes barefooted which lye rotting by thee The mony of him who is in want which thou digging hidest Shall I go on in his elegant strain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How shall I bring to thy view the inward passions of the poor man's afflicted mind that thou mayest know from how many how deep sighs and groans thou gatherest thy stores Shall I shew thee the Widow's and Orphan's tears squeezed into thy full cups Shall I shew thee thy other injuries and oppressions under which so many unrelieved necessitous wretches pine away in secret Shall I shew thee poor unregarded Lazarus lying at thy door abandon'd only to the Charity of thy dogs less Churles than their Master to lick his sores But shall I shew thee too thine own door shut against thy self shall I shew thee soon turn'd out of the possession of all for that uncertainty too attends these things that thou knowest not how soon death and Hell may call thee hence Or shall I shew thee in the mean time all withheld from thee whilst thou art in this plenty thy drunkeness and Surfeiting leaving thee neither the palate to relish nor the stomach to digest what thou so greedily surchargest thy self with Or If permitted to make a little longer stay here If life and health be otherwise lengthen'd out to thee yet as the wise man speaks Eccles 5. 12. will thy abundance suffer thee to sleep Are not fears and dangers cares and solicitudes always thy waking dreams which will never let thee be at ease To think of the fraud and rapine to which thou art always exposed of the prey thou art to every malicious or envious eye What a large mark thou art for fortune to be still aiming at What the accidents and hazards that on every side attend thee What thou hast 't was so in the wealthy Job a more pious but as deplorable an example as to his outward losses for the Sabeans in one place what for the Chaldeans in another Job 1. 15 17. What for a fire from heaven v. 16. what for a storm or tempest v. 18 to seize on What for the boils ch 2. 7. for diseases and maladies the fruits of thy intemperance to smite thee in from the sole of the foot unto the crown What lastly for Satan himself to be fixing all his other temptations in See now the difference between him who hath nothing to loose and him whom the abundance of his riches is always exposing to those losses than which nothing can be greater but only the loss of that immortal soul which must perish with them And see now what reason the rich have to be high-minded and trust in such uncertain riches As well may the mariner be proud of the wind that fills his sails but at the same time blows up the storm to endanger him and the vessel in which he is sailing As well may the captive be proud of his chains and please himself with the musick of his gingling fetters As well the man in a fever chew the cud on the dainties which gave him his disease For all this is the wealth of the covetous worlding in his furious pursuits of it He tumbles and tosses about in the hot fit and yet is still more and more inflamed with an unsatiable desire of what doth what must undo him He 's
the worst of slaves and yet in love with his bondage He 's every moment in danger of shipwrack and yet he will be putting abroad the sails which are bearing him to the sands and rocks on which he must split This therefore our first Vse to shame the rich in this world for being thus high-minded and trusting in uncertain riches Our second is USE II. For advice how he may make these certain Our Lord hath directed it Luke 12. 33. sell that ye have and give Alms provide your selves baggs which wax not old a Treasure in the Heaven that faileth not where no thief approacheth nor moth corrupteth Now this will take in both our second and third general both the duty here laid down viz. of doing good and being rich in good works being ready to distribute willing to communicate and the encouragement to it in the glorious reward that attends it as 't is laying up in store for our selves a good foundation against the time to come that we may lay hold on eternal life Thou art at last convinced of the uncertainty of thy riches pray God thou art so 't is thy interest thy eternal interest to make something sure and thou hast how to do it Intrust him out of whose hand none can snatch it Intrust the poor who are his receivers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says the good Father why seekest thou thy fellow-servants which whom do deposit it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ stands ready to receive and secure all thy stores He will not only secure but increase thy stock and add to it his own riches riches that cannot be uncertain even eternal life and glory Thou art afraid thy security is not good lend then to the Lord by having pity on the poor this is done and what thou shalt give he will pay it thee again Thou wantest a good foundation against the time to come afflictions sickness death and judgment too will be upon thee Thou would'st fain be safe against all events Thou hast it in thy own power to be so for so it is written Blessed is he Ps 41. 1. that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in the time of v. 2. trouble the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness so you had it in the Psalm this morning Thou art afraid thou shalt one day want Cast thy bread upon the waters 't is the best the most fortunate adventure thou canst make thou shalt find it after many days give a portion Eccles â—â— 1. to seven and also to eight for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the Earth Knowest thou not what evil shall be upon the Earth therefore says the worldling provide for the evil day and so too says the divine answer but provide by laying up in a different bank lay up those treasures in Heaven which thou canst not secure on Earth Take it in the words of Gregory Nazianzene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 give a portion to thy own Soul let that reap the benefit of thy pious bounty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 give a portion to God himself to his honour and service 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 take away some-thing from thy luxurious belly consecrate it to the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 snatch it out of the fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set aside a little from those flames which are appointed to carry away all at last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 snatch it out of the power of the Tyrant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 trust it to thy Lord and Master who best knows how to improve it for thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou would'st build thee beautiful and great houses I forbid it not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but build them not on earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 build thee Tabernacles in Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tabernacles which will never be dissolved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why art thou so madly set upon things that are flitting and must stay behind thee here They are St. Chrysostom's words Ad pop Antioch Homil. 2. p. 36 37. Thou art afraid and that 's a time to come worth storing up a good Foundation for it thou art afraid what will become of thee when gone hence when thy riches and every thing else here shall have left thee when as 't is Prov. 23. 5. they shall make to themselves wings and fly away as an eagle towards heaven and what should'st thou do but fly after them let thy affections as the Apostle advises be set on things above and thou hast made the flight Colos 3. 3. imploy thy wealth on what leads thither every Alms given to the poor if given with an heart devoted to him whose the poor are is offered up there 't is the advice of him who is gone before to prepare mansions for us and best knew what would gain us a safe admission you have it Luke 16. 9. make to your selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations I have but one word more and that is what the Apostle hath given us in his excellent description of charity 1 Cor. 13. 4 5 6 7 8. a description which ought to make us in love with the Duty for is it to be good is it to be happy that we are ambitious of and what can more amply set out either for to say of any person He is one who suffereth long One who is kind One who hath no envy in him One who vaunteth not himself is not puffed up hath no pride One who doth not behave himself unseemly seeketh not his own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil One who rejoyceth not in iniquity but rejoyceth in the Truth One who beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things can neither do nor think ill One who never faileth Is all this at all times i. e. is never out of humour is always contented is still doing good and can neither receive nor feel any evil and what is there you can say that is greater what more advantageous to human nature Now all this is Charity 't is the Grace that sanctifies every condition here the Grace that makes every condition happy the Grace that must because it self is not only the pledge and earnest but the full consummation of all rational pleasure turn all into Glory To which He who is all Love and Charity bring us through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with Himself and the holy Spirit be praise honour and glory now and for ever Amen FINIS
communicate Now doing good will extend as far as there is any thing that can be the object of our Charity and that being the Body and Soul of those to whom we owe this it will reach to all the outward and inward temporal or spiritual wants of our Brother To the former will belong the feeding the hungry the cloathing the naked the taking in the stranger the visiting the sick and imprison'd the ransoming the captive the relieving the opprest c. To the later the comforting the sorrowful the assisting the weak the reforming the vitious the instructing or advising the ignorant the imparting to them the knowledge of God and his ways the teaching them the Principles of Religion praying for all men and studying the good of their immortal Souls and as far as God shall enable what of this we cannot do by our selves to do it by others by providing fit means and persons to carry on these charities that so neither the Body nor Soul of our Brother may be left naked or hungry none of his wants may be left unprovided for Now this we cannot be too intent upon this is that wealth in the pursuit whereof we cannot be too covetuous cannot too much set our heart upon it for as to the frequency of such actions the rule is we must be rich in good works as to the sincerity and constancy of our affections ingaged therein we must be ready to distribute willing to communicate And that as the best proof we can give of our trusting in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy For by this we make it appear that as we look upon Him as the fountain of all so to this fountain we desire all the stream's should again return By this we make it appear that 't is to his power his goodness his wisdom his Justice his faithfulness and truth we commit all for to be the living God is all this It being the same thing to be the fountain of life and of all other perfections whatsoever This is all I shall say as to the extent and manner of acquitting our selves in this Duty as it 1. reaches all the wants of our Brother and 2. requires the sincerity and constancy of our affections and 3. is the best proof of our trusting in the living God to which for the farther illustration of its excellency I might add 4. the perfection of the Rule we have for it which is no less than the whole Law and Gospel the summ of both being Love and Charity with 5. the perfection of the great example of this excellent Grace which is God Himself for He 1 John 4. 8. is Love all the works of Creation and Redemption are but one display of his beneficence Our Lord Jesus Christ too our great Redeemer he is all Love 't was that brought him down from Heaven that carried him through all he did and suffer'd for us here below and that now employs him as our Advocate and Intercessor at the right hand of the Majesty on high Nor is the holy Ghost any thing but the Spirit of Love Gal. 5. 22. 't is Love that he sheds abroad in our hearts and by Rom. 5. 5. what alone the highest honour certainly as well as the highest happiness of the Creature we can be made perfect even as our Math. 5. 48. Father which is in heaven is perfect But these are too large topicks to be enter'd on at present what therefore we must content our selves with is what was observ'd from the third part of the Text viz. III. The encouragement to this Duty in the certain reward that will attend it expressed in those words Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life The Foundation is the chief strength and support of every building the more firm and durable that is the more firm and durable will be whatever is superstructed on it This our Lord hath most aptly set out in his Parable of the wise man building his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the flouds Math. â— 24. 25 came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded on a rock Now no rock so sure as that of Charity the rains may descend the flouds come the winds blow and beat upon the house that is thus founded sickness afflictions persecutions tryals temptations death judgement are these rains these flouds these winds but it will not cannot fall It hath the word of God which must stand for ever to uphold it for so 't is written you heard it in one of the Chapters read this day * The Chapters read were Is 32. for the first lesson Math. 25. for the second the liberal deviseth liberal things and by liberal things shall he stand Is 32. 8. again blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness Psal 41. 1. 2. and Math. 10. 29. 30. There is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospel's 't is only exalted Charity can lead us to such high degrees of self-denyal but he shall receive an hundred fold nâ—w in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mother and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life Would we have this still more expresly take it then in that account there is given of the manner of proceedings to be at the day of judgement according as men shall have done good been rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate for so we read Math. 25. 34. 35 36. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was an hungred and you gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in naked and ye cloathed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in prison and ye came unto me And what now will encourage to the duty if not the having whatever of Charity we do to others accepted of Christ as done to himself what so crown all as when by every the least Alms we shall do for his sake we shall be intitled to his kingdom But besides that it is written and they are the promises of him with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning so in reason it cannot be otherwise For can we if I may so speak ingage the living God for 't is to him we lend what we give to Prov. 19. 17. the poor 't is for his sake we yield up our present possession in the works
of Charity for his sake we part with the riches of this world can we trust in him to be our paymaster and is he that eternal Being whose power wisdom goodness justice and truth are all infinite and can we imagin where these are all at stake he should not recompence hereafter what is done for his name's sake now Heaven and earth may pass away these material ones will but he who governs both will be always the same and as such 't is a sure foundation we build on a sure pledge and earnest of eternal life must give them who trust in him a share in glory But one thing more is there I cannot but observe for the encouragement to this Duty from the phrase in which the reward is here promis'd viz. that they may lay hold of eternal life Laying hold is as 't were the taking seism of what we reach after the begining to enter on the possession of what we hope for a more full estate in Now that with respect to a future life charity doth It begins to enter within the veil whilst here and anticipates eternity by imploying it self in that work in which that shall be spent so Heavenly so truly divine a thing is it to be doing good to be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate that he can never miss his way to happiness above who hath so much of it in what he doth below But if this be the good foundation we must lay up in store for our selves against the time to come If the hand of charity be that which must lay hold on eternal life If it be an hand which as 't were reaches to it here and even anticipates the possession in the works which fit us for it If we may have so much of real Heaven and its happiness in the way to it When then must we begin to lay in this store When thus to lay hold on eternal life Now this to me seems to be directed by the Holy Ghost in the first words of the text for if it be charge them that are rich 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this world in this the present age and time then 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this world in this the present age and time they are to apply themselves to this duty And certainly it is so with respect to all charity as 't is the fulfilling of that Law which always requires our constant Obedience and therefore no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no moment to be supposed wherein we are excused from paying our duty to it But 't is not with reference to our ordinary charities which are the whole life of every Christian that I put the Question Those are not the occasion of this days meeting or discourse 't is with reference to those nobler and more publick charities some men are more eminently called out to such as the building of Hospitals building and endowing Schools or Colledges building Churches and setling revenues for the service of them making large provisions for the poor of Corporations for the improvement of Trades and Manufactures or whatever else may advance the civil or Religious interest of mankind 't is with reference to these and such like great and extraordinary charities for which great and extraordinary persons are rais'd and fitted by divine providence I speak this that they would not what is too often done and hath almost obtain'd so far as if that were the properest time for men to be doing these great things for the world when they are going out of it that they would not add this farther uncertainty to the riches of this world to put off their charities to that day to those difficult minutes when they shall be least able to consider what is fittest to be done No for those who are or can be ready thereunto the best time certainly to lay hold on for such works is the present season according to that of the Apostle As we have therefore opportunity Gal. 6. 10. let us do good unto all men and that for these several reasons 1. Because men must then do good be rich in good works be ready to distribute willing to communicate when they are rich in this world When death comes every man is poor The richest are then devested of their riches and are themselves to return naked into their Mother's Womb as they came out of it Job 1. 21. Then therefore cannot be the season of charity because then they are no longer the rich to whom the charge is given 2. Men must then give their Charities when men have themselves a Right and Title to what they give when 't is their own which 't is not when God calls them from their wealth when He who lent it hath taken away the propriety and given it to another that other is my Child my heir whom God and nature have transferred the Title to Not but that in some cases even such may forfeit their Title and the Parent or present proprietor is just in cutting off the entail but generally speaking 't is then theirs to whom the inheritance devolves not the expiring uncharitable man's for so it may be if he who could not in all his life time find in his heart to do the least good shall think then to retrieve a lost stake by snatching it from another Not that I would therefore damne all such charities which are then done for if it be what had been long purposed what the good man had laid aside and devoted to such uses and only wanted an opportunity to do it sooner If it be what by his own diligence and honest thrift he had been long gathering and where the Estate being intailed he had no ways wrong'd it the propriety the disposal the charity is certainly his and may be judged to be among those stores so laid up against the time to come that he may thereby lay hold on eternal life But then in the former case where all things are otherwise settled where the dying man's lease is expired and the propriety escheats to the next successor where 't is as it some times happens to cover thy malice thy envy thy injustice will God thinkest thou accept of such spoils for an holy Offering will he give thee his stores above for those depredations thou thus makest below No it must be thine when thou givest it not what thou hast been feeding thy lust or serving thy luxury with whilst thou could'st and now thou can'st no longer cherish these would'st turn thy Sacriledge what thou snatchest out of the hand of God himself for 't is he is the Lord paramount the indefeasible proprietor to whom it reverts and is again invested in he that hath recalled it he that hath extinguish't the possession and transferred it to another would'st turn thy Sacriledge into Sacrifice 3. It must be done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so in the present time before thou art on thy death-bed that it may appear that
instrument here to prepare so many others for it Be not afraid thy charity can be too well known if it be known only to make others charitable Diffuse what of all things is and ought to be moâ—â— diffusive the love thou shewest to the Brethren Thou can'st not tell if seasonably recommended how many Benefactors how many Founders one good example may make 6. This must be now done i. e. our charities as well as our riches be in this present world because what is so done can best and only stand us in stead at another day Our late works as we have already observ'd many times are not our own but always subject to so many uncertainties so many difficulties that he must be very unadvised who shall venture all his concerns either for this or a future life on such a doubtful foundation It is the time to come thou would'st provide for let not that be past to thee before thou layest in thy stores It is eternal life thou would'st lay hold on can'st thou be too early in taking the earnest of it I must not omit the particular reason for this here in my Text viz. why men should thus do good and be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate whil'st they live because 7. 'T is an argument of their trusting in the living God Nothing can better demonstrate a man's faith in God than when he is willing to give up to him what he hath lent him 'T is a sign he doth not distrust the Providence which gave it as knowing that the same Providence can abundantly supply whatever he thus lays out Can increase the wealth he so freely parts with to his God Can give him all things as well what he gives up as what he retains richly to enjoy For what is the enjoyment we have of any thing but the comfort and satisfaction we receive from it and can any comfort any satisfaction be equal to that of having an all-sufflcient God to fly to Any thing so support the Creature as the sense of his great Creator's grace and favour being still towards him or any thing better prove his belief that he hath a right to all this than that he can so freely deposit all with him And here let me on this occasion bless God who hath brought us hither this day to celebrate the worthy bounty of our present Benefactor still among us and may he long continue to be still doing more good can there be a better illustration of the duty I have been laying down than that we have such an example to confirm it Think not that I stand here to flatter him I know in whose place I stand I know in whose name and Autority I speak Think rather as the Angels sent to minister to our Lord after his Temptation that I am sent to comfort him in his For what have been the Temptations what have been the Tryals he hath been exercised with whilst doing this and other Charities 'T is a shame to think that one who desires so much to to good who desires nothing so much as to be rich in good works for never yet saw I or knew the person so intent on charity as he seems to be 't is all his thoughts all his discourse one who seems so ready to distribute so willing to communicate should have met with so many checks and stops to hinder him from bringing that Will to good effect 'T is a reproach to the age he lives in that he should be forced so long to leave his gift before the altar and what by the envy or malice of some who care not what they do to pervert or overthrow the charity it self what by the designs of others to divert it from the excellent euds to which it is intended what by the interest of some to draw it to themselves what by the interest of others that it should not be at all should not hitherto as I may say have been permitted to offer it But I trust let me speak in that metaphor Ezra 4. 1. the adversaries will not always be able to hinder the building of the Temple I trust the work is of God and will stand But to return I know in whose place I stand in whose name and Authority I speak and as so speaking I seem sent with my great Lord's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 well done thou good and Matth. 25. 21. faithful servant Do what thou dost Go on in well-doing thou art thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee ruler over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Be faithful in more let the talent lye no longer hid in the earth Let nothing withhold thee v. 25. from the reward that is ready for thee The greater are the difficulties the greater is the charity the greater the conflict the greater the crown Consider for thy encouragement what 't is to be in the place of God to thy brother this thou art whilst doing the good thou so much desirest Consider what 't is not for his body only but for his mind and understanding to wear thy livery Consider what 't is to be always preaching the Gospel to the poor and healing the broken hearted what 't is to preach deliverance to the captive and recovering of sight to the blind and to set at liberty them that are bruised Luke 4. 18. or as 't is Luke 2. 79. to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and guide our feet into the way of of peace All this thou art doing whil'st thou art breeding such in thy Schools maintaining such in thy Colledge for I cannot but speak of what is so firmly purposed as if it were already in being as in the Charters and good Rules design'd for it it really is who may be sufficient for these things And shall any thing now discourage thee from receiving the fruits of what thou hast thus design'd Saith the beloved Apostle Revel 14. 13. I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me write blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord henceforth yea saith the spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them Let me a little change it Blessed too are those whose works shall go before them And certainly no small joy is it that they should do so no small satisfaction even that to see the work it self safe to see it done and put beyond any casualty or disappointment here But much more is it so to reap the fruits of it as in the present return of those prayers which shall begin to be put up for them whil'st here so in the fuller answer of such prayers when the gates of Heaven so knockt at shall stand open to them and their prayers and Alms as 't is said of Cornelius coming up for a memorial before God shall eternally Acts 10. 4. leave them in his presence To carry this a little farther
A SERMON Preach'd May 23. 1700. AT FECKENHAM IN WORCESTER-SHIRE Before the Trustees appointed BY Sir THOMAS COOKES Bart. To manage his Charity given to that Place By BENJ. WOODROFFE D. D. Canon of Ch. Ch. AND Principal of Glocester-Hall in Oxford The liberal deviseth liberal things and by liberal things shall be stand Is 32. 8. Printed at the THEATER in Oxford 1700. To the Right Worshipful Sir THOMAS COOKES OF BENTLEY Baronet IF the following Sermon be not published in the very same words in which it was Preach't before the Trustees for your Charity at Feckenham it must be imputed to the short warning I had to prepare for it which giving me neither time to pen nor commit to memory what I then delivered obliged me to those sudden and almost extempore effusions which 't is scarce possible so to recollect as not to varie from some of the phrases and expressions then made use of However as to the matter and method it is intirely the same and as such humbly claims your Patronage none having so good a title to the subject as your self whose Charity was the occasion of it On which account I could not but rejoyce when I first chose the Argument that I had so eminent an Example before me of what I was to discourse For was I to speak of doing good and being rich in good works and were not your Charitable settlements as in the place where the discourse was made so at Bromsgrave and in the Parish where you live with your large Bounty on other pious occasions a most proper comment on it as what you farther design in Oxford in the Colledge you are founding there with the other growing Charities which you have in the full purpose of your mind were of being ready to distribute willing to communicate and both I hope will end in the full demonstration of what it is to be laying up in store for your self a good foundation against the time to come that you may lay hold on eternal life Only great pity is it in the mean time that to use the Apostle's words 2 Cor. 8. 11. where there is such a readiness to Will any thing should abstruct the performance Whose interest it is that such works should be obstructed is shewed in the 24th and 26th pages of this Sermon but even that it self is one of the greatest Arguments why good men should not be beaten off from their good purposes and I trust 't will have that effect with you For not to mention your own honour or that of your family the glory of God so much concern'd in such eminent Charities will be too strong a motive why you should be still pressing on toward the mark which is before you and Phil. 3. 14. turning the deaf ear to those who would beguile you of your reward Although neither can I imagin why any one should hope to be able to divert him from his good purposes whose whole life thoughts and words are all Charity I have said it in the following Sermon p. 26. I trust he for whom I speak hath too well devised liberal things to repent of what he hath done I trust I can say for our honourable Benefactor in the words of the Psalmist my heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed And I think I have as just assurance for what I say as can be had by any but him alone who knows the hearts of all men Busie-bodies in other men's matters may create trouble and uneasiness to him 't is what that worthy person who preach't the last year on the same occasion hath observ'd p. 8. but will never be able such is my confidence towards God for him to quench his Charity If I may judge by his other actions by the whole course of a serious Religious life if the desires and endeavours of keeping up good order sobriety and moderation in a man's family and himself being the example of it if to profess piety in ones whole course of living and labouring to infuse it into them about him if to appear with the greatest devotion in all acts of divine worship with that singular reverence to God in his own house as to allow ones self no other posture even in the time of Sermon and reading the chapters as well as prayers but that of standing or kneeling If to be zealous in encourageing the devotion of others to be troubled and griev'd for those who absent themselves from the publick neglect coming to the Holy Sacrament or behave themselves irreverently at either If to profess and practice the most universal Charity to all men to be ready for every good work at present as I could instance in very liberal distributions made according to the rule of our Lord of lending hoping for nothing again and nothing hath been receiv'd again but the blessing of being reviled Mat. 5. 11. and persecuted for it If not to give only a cup of Mat. 10. 2. cold water in the name of a Disciple but to administer full streams to them who come in his Master's name If to what he is daily doing to add the forecasting for good works for the future and consecrating what he shall have to Charity If to mix Justice with Charity according to the Rules laid down p. 18 19 20 21 22 23. If to make Charity it self the Legacy he would willingly bequeath his Heirs at once quickening their zeal for this Grace and leaving them wherewith to exercise it If these are things which will give a man confidence in what he speaks I speak it not to flatter but excite to a farther pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling â—hil 3. 14. of God in Christ Jesus I think I cannot well be deceiv'd and I trust for 't is part of your Character I hear venture on through the grace of God continuing with you you will not let any man stop me of this my boasting For no small joy is it to me that I can thus boast 't will be the great honour and happiness of the Society wherein I am if it so please God like to have so particular an interest that it had so good an hand to lay the Foundation What a comfort must it be be it upon me whatever the defects and errors are for I must now own my self to have been the Amanuensis in drawing up those Rules and Statutes you have appointed us to have been imployed in such a work under so good so pious and wise a Director 't was like receiving the Patern of all that I was to make from the Mount that from time to time I had such instructions from you What a noble Theme shall we deliver down for posterity in our solemn commemorations when the generations to come shall rise up and bless the memory of a Founder whose example no less than his Bounty and the good Rules on which he hath establish't it so eminently concurred in the Benefaction 'T is a
Consider then happy soul if the knowledge of what is done here reacheth the blessed there what an increase it must be even of the pleasure of that place to think when thou art thy self taken into the Choir above that thou hast left those below who in the devotions they shall be keeping up by thy charity shall be still joining in the Halelujahs that are sung there O happy proof of the communion of saints happy proof of thy faith in that communion happy effect of thy charity the proof of that faith thus to unite the Church militant with that which is triumphant and by that excellent that heavenly work thou hast appointed those maintain'd by thy charity here even now to be entring them into the joy of their Lord And indeed how suitable will it be to the entertainments of glory to think that thou hast settled that course of piety that excellent discipline in the rules of good life by thee founded which will be always sending new inhabitants thither And when thou hast thought of these things that I may bring this to that part of the argument of my text whereby I have been endeavouring to shew the great necessity and advantage of doing such great and extraordinary charities in this life think once more happy soul whether thou would'st have been contented to leave all this undone Whether thou would'st have been contented to leave all this to be done by another As well may we think thou would'd have been contented for another to reap thy harvest for another to have entred into thy joys But if neither harvest can be reaped by thee or any else but according to the seed-time we have here If no joy can be entred into but by what we prepare our selves for of it in this life then let this be a perswasive motive to the liberal heart to be still devising liberal things Is 32. 8. I trust he for whom I speak hath too well devised to repent of what he hath done I trust I can say for our honourable benefactor in the words of the Psalmist my heart is Psal 37. 7. fixed O God my heart is fixed Not but that after all even our good it self may be evil spoken of and the most candid most real most honest most devout most glorious purposes may be slandered If envy and malice could find its way into Heaven it self it did so or else Satan had never fallen thence how can we expect any thing here below should be free from it We know who they are who bark at the moon in its greatest splendor We know who it is is the father of lyes whose interest it is John 8. 44. to traduce the best actions Nothing indeed can more commend any design than that the Devil and his instruments are zealous against it Would we know whether any thing comes from Heaven see then whether Hell opposes it Do the wicked do the profane do men of worldly minds and carnal interests men of dissolute lives and corrupt principles set themselves against it are they afraid the rule may be too strict or serious Piety or Learning too earnestly contended for Be sure thou art in the right whoever art thus opposed 't is good certainly whatever hath such enemies fear not to go on finish the work 't is of God and it must stand But as I would bespeak the worthy benefactor of such charities as I would have nothing should intervene to snatch away the reward that belongs to such eminent designs as I would have nothing to hinder him of the prize who is so near the end of the race So I cannot but on this occasion address 1 Cor. 10. 24. to you the worthy Trustees for the same that nothing should dishearten you from discharging that trust which is so intirely and with so just a confidence committed to you I shall not need to tell you that 't is required in stewards 1 Cor. 4. 2 that a man be found faithful 't is what you have already given great proof of and so well satisfied is our worthy Benefactor herein that though his heart be with you thus much I am allowed to say from him he forbears to give you his presence as knowing that his good intentions can never be better explain'd than in the good effects you give to his Charities And a noble work is it you are upon The feeding the hungry the cloathing the naked the instructing the ignorant the reforming ill manners the quickening Vertue the giving the best Principles of Piety and true Religion the breeding up youths for good Trades or for the Vniversity and the good Learning they are to proceed in there these are things you will never repent that you have been imployed in considering that as 't is the Charity of a Bountiful Patron to provide for all this so 't is no less yours to see all well executed no less your lasting Charity as well as his to set that Excellent Example to those who shall succeed in the same Trust which will always make it so Nor must I altogether pass by those for whom you are doing this the Children I mean who are the subjects of the Charity Think little Ones you of this and those of the neighbouring School founded by the same hand Think those too who are like to share in that farther nobler Charity intended by the same liberal heart for I would suppose you all my present Auditors what is doing for you If not yet yet when you shall have fully receiv'd the benefit of the instruction design'd you you will then understand how great a blessing is in store for you The Path you every day tread to your Schools is the Path of Knowledge 't is for Wisdom and Vnderstanding you are sent thither and what an harvest may such a seed-time produce Shall I give you the prospect of what you may be what preferment you may attain what places you may come to fill and adorn in Church and State rather what is it you may not be Bless God who hath of his great goodness thus provided for you Bless him for the good Benefactor he hath rais'd up for you return the Blessings you thus receive in the improvement and progress you make under such a Benefaction This is the way to be offering praise to God by thus ordering your conversation aright Psal 50. 23. This the way best to celebrate the bounty of your Founder not to let it be in vain bestowed upon you And may thus his life and memory be for a blessing and this and future Ages the subjects of it I have said what I had to say on the several parts of the Text and the present occasion And now to resume all I. Is there that proneness in the rich in this world to be high-minded and trust in uncertain riches Is there that in the swelling of their wealth that swells the poor bubble till it be ready to break 1. Is the Flattery they are