MY Text is Verbum Diei, it is part of the Gos­pel for this Day, it is the Cloze and the Lustre of a Parable, (the Style of the pri­mitive Eastern Rhetorick for Instruction.) The Stru­cture of the Parable holds resemblance with that of the Temple of Jerusalem; for the Porch, the out­ward and the inward Court.

The Introduction is not the Porch of Solomon, but of Christ, he said to his Disciples in Ver. 1. This Gate of the Temple may truly venerably be called Beautiful.

The three Parables, recorded in the immediate pre­cedent Chapter, of the lost Sheep, the lost Groat, and the prodigal Son, were moulded for the Scribes and Pharisees, to lance their Bosom Imposthume of Spi­ritual Pride and Arrogance, who, in being imaginary Saints, became real Miscreants. The Parable of the unjust Steward recited in this Chapter is calculated for another Meridian, not for the Judaical Synagogue, but the Church of Christ.

[Page 2] An Advertisement for his select Train, his signal Disciples, who like Eagles soaring aloft did cast a glance on the Prey below; whilst their Professions were raised to heavenly Enjoyments, their Affections were somewhat deprest by Earthly: Though pure Bullion from the Ore, yet not yet entirely refined from the Furnace, not without an Alloy of Dross, a Mixture of Rubbish. To cure this spreading Mala­dy, Christ enwraps his Dose in a Parable.

To unveil the Narration of the Parable; Com­mentators understand the certain Rich man in the first Verse to be Christ, (verus a true, though not merus Homo a mere man, in St. Austin's Expressi­on) the sole Proprietary, the Lord paramount of all the Treasures of the Earth, and of Heaven, also that illustrious City resplendent with Streets of Gold and Gates of Pearls. Theophylact and Euthymius expound the Steward in the first Verse to be a wealthy perso­nage, improved in Fortune, yet not enfranchised, not discharged from his dependance, not so properly en­dowed as intrusted, impeacht he is for his Talent mis­employed; it is a Bill of Wast, [...], in Ver. 1. scattering, imbezeling his Masters Goods. The Accu­sation is recited, but the Accusers concealed: Satan who is a smooth Tempter to suggest, to solicit Guilt, becomes a sharp Orator to charge, to aggravate it.

Every humane Offence calls for, in some cases, im­portunes, clamors for the divine Judgment. The Offenders perhaps last, yet not his least Accuser is his own Conscience, this secret Whisper is more terrifying than a Clap of Thunder.

[Page 3] The Accusations are varied, yet Christ arraigns, ex­amins, before he dooms: not like Augustus, precipi­tate Sentence without the Traverse, without the Me­thod of Indictment, against the Inhabitants of Perusi­um; Moriendum, they must die. It suits not with the Track, the Custom of the Israelitish, not of the Roman Pagan Justice, to condemn any Joh. 7. 51. Acts 25. 16. one unheard. Christ affords the Person charged in this Parable Liberty to assay to vindicate himself in Ver. 2. Give an account of thy Stewardship, of thy Fortune, of thy Office, thy Knowledge, thy Talent whatsoever; as some run varieties of Descants on this Note.

Every Stroke of Affliction, every lash of Consci­ence is a kind of Reckoning betwixt God and Man for each of these: God righteously deprives men of those Talents, those Enjoyments, which they unrigh­teously manage. It is a disconsolate Sentence pronoun­ced in Ver. 2. Thou canst be no longer Steward. Some determine this to be executed at the Hour of Death.

Before the fatal time of Dissolution, God may reduce the wealthiest Personages to Penury, the greatest Po­tentates to Impotency, the most subtle politick Statists, the most accurate Artists, to Folly, to Infatuation Alber­tus the great was bereaved of his great Stock of Know­ledge three years before he died. The Steward sentenced in the Parable was at first dampt and chil'd, staggered in Perplexity of Mind; he was too nice and delicate to be a Labourer, (dig he could not) he was too haughty and arrogant to be a Petitioner, (to beg he was ashamed) however he is not long destitute of an unholy Clue [Page 4] to wind him out of this Labyrinth. He lays an O­bligation on his Masters Debtors by his own Trans­gression, ingratiates and depraves himself, contrives his Iniquity to be his Support; and yet the Lord com­mended the unjust Steward. It sounds a Riddle, that he whose Injustice was his Design, his Artifice, that he who was injuriously bountiful, dishonestly liberal, should be extolled by that Master whom he had de­frauded.

To dispel this Cloud; The Lord commended the Subtilty, not the Integrity of this false Steward, his Wit not his Grace. For the Children of this World, are in their Generation, wiser than the Children of Light. Ver. 8.

It is not [...] more wise, but [...] more wily, more crafty, serpentine, (the Serpent devoured the Dove.) Wisdom, not only in the Judgment of S. Austin, but of Aristotle also, is the Knowledge of divine Perfections; Philosophers decipher it to be spe­culative, the Fathers state it to be active. It is Sapien­tia, quasi sapida scientia, saith Gerson, Wisdom is a Savo­ry Science, not contemplative but affective, not seat­ed in the Brain, but in the Heart, which is best dis­cern'd by the Pulse of the Hand.

Prudence is of a lower Size, Cunning is of a cour­ser Metal, less refined and sublimated. They who are addicted, devoted to secular Interests, may chal­lenge a Preheminence in this Faculty, they are wiser in their kind, in genere suo, as Beza renders it, more exact Intelligencers in their Orb: But it is an excen­trick Orb; more expert in their Way, but it is a dark [Page 5] a crooked Way; better Sophisters, smoother Parasites to set off corrupt Actions, like tainted Ware with fair Colours, with false Varnishes. They are wiser for an Age, not for Eternity; it is not [...], in their Genera­tion as we render it, but [...] for their Generation, suc­cession, also to entail, to secure their Revenues to their Families, Posterities, to derive, to fix the Issues of their Sins to the Issues of their Loins.

The Minions of the Earth, the Sages of the World, are more circumspect, diligent to preserve, to en­hance their Estates, than the Candidates for Heaven, than the Disciples of the Sanctuary are to improve their Virtues, to save their Souls. Least we split on this Rock, Christ himself becomes our Pilot to steer our Course in a right Channel to a Port of Bliss. Make to your selves Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteous­ness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting Habitations.

My Text brancheth it self into a Precept, and a Reward: The Precept describes, regulates our Duty: Make to your selves Friends of the Mammon of Unrigh­teousness. The Reward animates, crowns our perfor­mance: That they may receive you into everlasting Habi­tations. The former Part is an Introduction to the latter, for the Disciples of Jerusalem, as the Temple of Virtue was a Passage to that of Honour, for the Votaries of Rome. In the first General I shall by di­vine Assistance offer at a distinct view of the Engine to be employed. The Mammon of Unrighteousness; and of the Employment it self.

[Page 6] To make your selves Friends of it; this transforms a Poyson to a Medicine, it extracts an Antidote out of a Viper, a Viper that stings an unsanctified Soul, envenoms it to Death. My first Task is the consi­deration of the Engine it self, set out in a black Hue, in a branded Character: The Mammon of Unrighteous­ness.

Divines Ancient and Modern have varieties of Con­jectures touching the name and nature, the Phrase and Importance of Mammon. I shall not spend time nicely and critically to discuss whether Mammon be of an Hebrew, Chaldaick or Syriack Extraction; most probably it is of a Syriack Stock, being not extant in the Hebrew Original, or in the Chaldee Paraphrase of the old Testament. Tertullian interprets Mammon Mony, St. Austin Gain, Hesychius Treasures, the margi­nal English Illustration renders it Riches. It is Lombard's Observation that Mammon denotes Wealth and the De­vil, both clad in the same Dress, shadowed out in the same name. It is Satans magnificent Title of Gran­deur, The Prince of this World: when he pre­sented Joh. 12. 31. to Christ the Kingdoms of this World, whe­ther it were in a distinct discovery to the Eye or the Phantasie; whether it were in the Prospect of a Map or Globe, or in the Flourish of Language, however it was his ample Overture. Luke 4. 6. All this Power will I give unto thee, and the Glory of them, and to whom­soever I will, I give it. I shall not disprove the appa­rent Invalidity of his Title, his Interest: I shall only observe the Sophistry of his Tender. He produces [Page 7] the Dignities, the Pomps, the Gaieties, the Resplenden­cies of the World; but conceals the Troubles, the Ini­quities of it. It is the doom of Adam, Gen. 3. 17. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. Liable it is to a Curse of Em­ptiness, Unsatisfiedness, wherein an abundance, a surplus­age comes short of a Sufficiency; liable it is to a Curse of Prophaneness, it depraves many that possess it; the name of the first Reprobate Caitiff recited in the Scrip­ture, Cain, denotes Possession: the Treasures of the Earth are the Borders of Hell, the Mines of Gold and Silver are at a great Distance from Heaven; the choi­cest, those of Havila, are the remotest from the Church.

The Moon is the Emblem, the Representative of the Church, which is Eclipsed byothe Interposition of the Earth: Religio peperit divitias, & filia devora­vit August in. matrem, Religion brought forth Wealth, and the Daughter devoured the Mother. The Jewels of the Egyptians proved Snares to the Israelites, they afforded materials for their Idolatry: Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked, Deut. 32. 15. Plenty became a fertile womb of Intemperance and Arrogance; [...], saith Euripides; it is ingrafted in those that are rich, to be leavened, to be swelled, and to be imbitte­red also. It is the Apostles Interrogatory; Do not rich men oppress you? Jam. 2. 6. It was Salvian's pathetical complaint of his Gallican Contemporaries, decernunt Potentes, quod solvunt Pauperes, the heaviest Pressures of Taxes are laid on the weakest Shoulders.

These meditations wrought effectually on Agur, an Oracle of Israel, singularly qualified for Prudence [Page 8] and Integrity, who much conversed with Solomon, even Solomon himself in disguise, of that name, in the Judgment of some Jewish Doctors. This considerati­on swayed, transported him so far, that he dreaded, deprecated Wealth, which is courted, homaged by most; Give me not riches, lest I be full and deny thee, and say who is the Lord? Prov. 30. 8. 9. I was at ease, saith Job 16. 12. it is Opulentus fui; in the vulgar La­tin Translation, I was rich. Ilay a Stumbling-block be­fore him. Ezek. 3. 20. Vatablus glosseth it, I make him to prosper. The Fulness of the Sodomites did despumare in libidinem, (in Tertullian's Expression) foam unto Lasci­viousness, did melt into impure Dalliance; their Riots and Lusts were the bitter Fruits of a delicious Soil.

Josephus asserts that the Sadduces who disclaimed the Resurrection of the Body, and the Immortality of the Soul, gained most Disciples among the wealthiest sort of Jews, who being furnished with the Revenues, cor­rupted with the Sensualities of this life, discredited, disregarded the Felicities, the Glories of the next.

When Philip King of Macedon transmitted a grand sumptuous Present to Phocion, Phocion demanded why he, rather than any other Athenian, was selected to be obliged by so ample a Boon? The Messenger repli­ed, because he was reputed most upright: I will then (saith Phocion) persist in my Penury, that I may not forfeit my Integrity. The most renowned heathen moral Worthies; Socrates, Aristides, Epaminondas, Fa­bricius were destitute of Riches. Among others the learned pious Father Lactantius was scanted for neces­saries. [Page 9] St. Peter, the prime Apostle ( [...] Mat. 10. 2.) for priority of Order for distinction, though not for superiority of Power for jurisdiction (in the Romish strain) professed, Silver and Gold have I none, Act. 3. 6. Neither Sun nor Moon of Alchymist shined on him. Christ himself, as Son of Man, appeared in a state of Distress, of Indigence, who was at the charge of a great Miracle to defray a small Tribute, a Fish being his Treasurer. It was a severe doom pronounced by him, Luke 6. 24. Woe to you that are rich, (to wit, in Treasures, not in Graces) for you have received your Consolation. It is not [...] but [...], you have your Re­ward, for whatever claim you can pretend to Inno­cence; that you have your Consolation, that it is pre­sent, transitory in this Life, not future, not stable, perpetual in the next, is the sting of this Woe.

It is St. Chrysostom's critical descant on that passage of Abraham to the damned rich Caitiff: Thou hast received thy good things, Luke 16. 25. Thy good things, to wit, in thy estimate; it is not [...] but [...], thou hast received them as Recompences for all thy good Actions.

Gregory the Great, that first and best of that name, of the See of Rome, being enriched, dignified, was chilled with Fear, damped with Anguish, lest God had thereby requited his Fasts, his Prayers, his Ser­mons, his Vigils and Alms, and all other Virtues. Eu­thymius expounds that fore-mention'd Woe, recited by St. Luke, to be the pensive Expression of Christ, (a Mirror of Candor) condoling, commiserating, ra­ther [Page 10] than condemning the Rich. Tertullian determines it to be woven with a mingled Thread of Advice and Menace. Not to hover too long in Generalities. It is the Mammon of Unrighteousness, because too fre­quently, injuriously, unconscionably atchieved, un­graciously, uncharitably detained, or else riotously, profusely squander'd, as if Men were at variance with their Wealth, and would not dispose, but discard it. Thus, without the Divine restraining Grace, we are too prone to bane, to curse our selves, with what God doth otherwise bless and prosper us. It is the Psal­mist's dismal Imprecation; Let that which should have been for their Wealth, be to them an occasion of falling. This lapse is a Precipice, an occasion of Perdition. Not unlike to Heliogabalus, who did contrive Cords of Gold and Silver to be strangled with, who laid up Poyson in Boxes of precious Stones to be destroy'd with.

The indirect Toils, and Mazes of Designs of the Sages of this World, are but elaborate solemn Sacri­fices to Mammon, the Idol Paramount, like Bel among the Assyrians, whereto all the rest vail and do homage.

It is related, when a timorous Patient suspected a Medicine of Paracelsus, as if it had a Grain of Magick for an Ingredient, Paracelsus resented it with Indigna­tion, What mattereth thee if thou be recovered, whe­ther it be by God or the Devil? Some are as indiffe­rently disposed to be enriched, whether it be by the Influence of Heaven or Hell. Yet not to brand Rich­es with unjust Imputations; the Charge is justly to be laid on our corrupt Minds, which, like foul Sto­machs, [Page 11] taint and transform the most wholsom Pro­vision to Crudities, Diseases. The Unrighteousness consists not in enlarged Treasures and Incomes, but in unsatisfied Desires, in unsanctified Pursuits and Enjoy­ments. Wealth, in its own Nature and Constitution, is not virtuous or vicious, not morally good or evil, which is, bona bonis, mala malis, (saith St. Austin) Good to good Men, bad to evil: Like Rufus's Shield, that had God on one side, Satan on the other, with this Motto of Inscription, Prepare for both. It is like the Red Sea, destructive to the Egyptians, preservative to the Israelites.

Riches, as Viands, turn to that Humour which is most predominant; to one they nourish Piety, Godli­ness; to another, Prodigality, Profaness; to some, the supports of Riots, and Debauches; to others, of Alms and Graces. They are the Wings of Salvation, and the Plummets of Perdition; they are the Rounds of the Ladder, whereby some ascend to Heaven, others descend to Hell; they are the Oyl to kindle the burn­ing flame of Satan's Furnace, and the Oyl also to pre­serve the shining Lamp of the Sanctuary. Wealth, like a Scorpion, affords a Cure for its own Sting; it is by making you Friends of it: which conducts me to the Management of the Mammon of Unrighte­ousness.

The two Expedients of this Sacred Friendship in my Text, the Flames not of the Hearth, but the Al­tar, to refine the dross, to purifie the pollution of Mam­mon, are Equity and Charity: Equity, like Janus, [Page 12] hath a double Aspect, it looks forward for Possession, and backward for Restitution; the one is a Branch of Innocence, the other of Repentance; the one prevents the Unrighteousness of Mammon, the other redresses it. It is with Equity, as with Physick; the Medicine which secures from a Malady, is more precious than that which heals it. That Justice which declines an Injury, challengeth a Preheminence of regard.

The Equity of Possession is derived from just, law­ful Owners, by justifiable, lawful means; by Dona­tion, by Gift, by Succession, Inheritance, by Acqui­sition, by Contract, which spreads it self to many Branches; these are the ordinary, equitable, warrant­able Conveyances.

To omit the Extraordinary; by right of Occupati­on, (the Tenure of a first Seizure) the Booty of a War rightly empowered, and uprightly managed, as also a judicial Forfeiture. The Israelites special Coin had the Impression of a Lamb. What our English Translation renders a hundred pieces of Money, Gen. 33. 19. the Septuagint express [...] Lambs, because they were stampt with the Image of a Lamb, a Lecture of Inno­cence; not with the Figure of a Serpent, to be com­passed with a fraudulent Contract, to be like Dan; An Adder in the Path, Gen. 49. 17. It is not like Benjamin's Portion, Gen. 49. 27. to raven as a Wolf in the Morn­ing, to devour the Prey, and at Night to divide the Spoil. When Violence hews its way for a Subsistence, Cruelty becomes a Patrimony, Oppression an Inheri­tance, Mischief a Salary, a Revenue. When Houses [Page 13] are buttress'd with Injustice, cemented with Blood; when Fields are watered with Tears of Widows and Orphans. The Giants in the Sixth Chapter of Gen. are by some expounded to be Grandees, not for Sta­ture, but Power, exerted by Rapine, by vast dimen­sion of Extortion. [...], says St. Basil the Great. When the Oppressed are smaller Morsels in the wider Jaws of the Oppressor, Eating up the People like Bread, in the Psalmist's Phrase, Psal. 14. 4. It is St. Austin's Observation, that to eat like Bread, denotes a Constancy of Repast; other Pro­vision we vary, but to eat like Bread imports not to be rarely feasted, but continually fed; not banquet­ted, but dieted with Iniquities. Manducant in terris, saith St. Bernard, They eat, they devour in Earth what they digest in Hell. Are not the Contracts of many Tenants and Debtors more pinching, galling than the Manacles of Prisoners? whose state of Vassalage is a Task and a Toil, a Penance and a Torture, a Liv­ing Death and a Dying Life; as Calphurnius was treat­ed by Tiberius; not so much ingratiated as to have their Misery expédited. It is a Work of Darkness, written with the Sun-Beams, yet hath gained the re­pute of Prudence, of Master-piece of Wit, (tho' sulli­ed, blackned with Vice.)

Let me here inoffensively express it to this Venera­ble Assembly, being like a weight of Lead upon my Conscience till I disburthen it.

It becomes us to treat Tenants and Debtors, especi­ally such as are Industrious and Frugal, with such Equi­ty [Page 14] and Candor, as would be acceptable to our selves, were we reduced to the same Exigencies: We know not how suddenly, how strangely the Scenes of For­tune may be shifted. Riches, whilst they appear fix­ed by irreversible Conveyances and Entails, yet fre­quently prove really winged to fly away in the height of imaginary Plenty and Security. It is according to the Syriack Translation of my Text, The Mammon of Deceitfulness. It will quit, desert us, or we must quit, desert it. Men may enhance their Estates and their Crimes, they may rack their Revenues and their Consciences, making the Necessities of others to mini­ster fuel to their Superfluities, to maintain their Pomps, their Gayeties, the Excesses of their Riots, Debauches, the Impurities of their Dalliances, not only by the Sweats of their Brows, but the Groans of the Souls of others, to frolick it by their Anxiety, to surfeit it by their Famine, ut sentiant se mori, in Caligula's Doom, That they languish before they perish.

If in these, or any other Instances, the Equity of Possession be neglected, violated, it ought to be re­paired, expiated with that of Restitution. There are two Sisters, like Rachel and Leah: The one, like Ra­chel, hath the more amiable Feature, the first Love of every true Israelite: The other, like Leah, is blear-ey'd, blemished, by wrong presuppos'd; it hath unhappily the Fate of Leah, to be too little affected or regarded; yet every Son of Jacob, who is bereaved of Rachel, the Equity of Possession, he ought to espouse Leah, to em­brace the Equity of Restitution. It is the Dictate, not [Page 15] only of Christian Theological, but of Heathen Poli­tical Righteousness; the Civil as well as Canon Law enjoyns it. The Constitutions of all Nations not taint­ed with the Lees of Barbarism exact it. To deny the Necessity of it is not Heresie, but Phrensie, saith Soto. Before the Law, it was the Injunction of Jacob, tho he had a specious Plea to evade it, Gen. 43. 12. Carry back the money that was brought in the mouth of the sack. Under the Mosaical Law, the Equity of Resti­tution was professed by Samuel, as the Vindication of his Justice, 1 Sam. 12. 13, 14. Prescribed by Nehemiah with a solemn Admonition, a sharp Execration, Chap. 5. v. 11, 12. Ezekiel clusters it with the choicest Fruits of a spiritual, effectual, remorse of Conscience, Chap. 33. v. 15. Without this signal Certificate, Repentance, Non agitur sed fingitur, saith St. Austin, is not acted, but counterfeited. Under the Gospel, they who will not directly, uprightly, restore what they indirectly, injuriously attain, do not only deviate, swerve from the commendable Practice of Zacheus, (Luke 19. 8. I restore four-fold) but come short of Judas's Religion, who came short of Salvation, that [...] in St. Chrysostom's Phrase, a Merchant of his Salvation and of his Saviour also, who brought back the thirty pieces of Silver, his vile Rate of the most precious Inestimable Jewel.

It is an infallible Maxim in the Canon Law, bor­rowed from St. Austin, Non remittitur peccatum nisi resti­tuatur ablatum, The Trespass is not remitted unless the Damage be restored. Wherein the Proportion, the [Page 16] sure, is not the least difficulty in the Sentiments of Casuists; for the determining whereof, I shall distin­guish the Penitential and Penal part of Restitution: The Penitential part is fixed, limited, adequate to the Offence, to the Detriment sustain'd: The Penal part is to be varied, enlarged, according to the Circum­stances, Consequences; to wit, in due consideration of Cessation of Gain, and Emergencies of Loss; where­in every Man's Conscience is a Judge to determine where the Law doth not, where it is defective, or di­minutive.

Among the Israelites there were several gradual Al­terations; a two-fold, a four-fold, a seven-fold Resti­tution. The Obligation of this Duty of Restitution extends further than the Actors themselves; even to the Inheritors, the Executors, that reap the Fruits. St. Chry­sostom is too candid, indulgent, to acquit, to discharge the Heirs of Oppressors. The most Conscientious Ca­suists exempt, disengage them from transient, vanishing Acts of Injustice, which escape their Discoveries; but not from such as are knowingly, lineally perpetual, that pass from Generation to Generation in the Incomes, Commodities.

There is a Tincture of Injustice, as in compassing, purloining another's Interest, so in enjoying, withhold­ing of it. It is the same crime, though not the same degree of Guilt. In the nice Discussion of the School­men, the one formally consists in the Punctilio, the Mode, the manner of Acquisition; the other materi­ally consists in reference to the advantage, whether ac­quired, [Page 17] or continued. Two grand impediments are started by Satans Sophistry, set out in a multiplying Glass, panick terrors to divert, to scare us from the requisite Practice of Restitution; to wit, the double train of Penury, and Infamy, the Loss and Shame that accrue from it: As for the damage alledged, it is the Tempters Subterfuge in disguise, it is less incommo­dious to impair thy Fortune, than to wound thy Con­science, and to forfeit thy Soul; it is our Saviours staggering, unanswerable Interrogatory; what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole World and lose his own Soul? Mark 8. 36.

It is an unprofitable, and, in the end, an execrable State, that bottoms in sin; it is a depraved, accursed Possession in Earth, that lays its Foundation in Hell. But thou hopest, (presumest rather) that thy exercise of Repentance, thy Sorrow for sin will commute, will countervail for the defect of Restitution; so it may, by divine Goodness, in case of necessity, disa­bility for discharging of it. In that only the Contri­tion of thy heart may be accepted, for Satisfaction of thy Hand; but where there are Sinews for real per­formances, the most formal Expresses of grief are meer hypocritical Varnishes of repentance. The Pro­fession thereof, is but a Collusion, a Mockery, a Nul­lity of Duty.

As for the second Scruple of Shame, to deterr us from the Justice of Restitution, it is a Shame for to [Page 18] recite it; there is no deformity, no blemish in the ex­ercise of any virtue. Zacheus his Restitution was not his Brand, but his Renown, not his Stain but his Or­nament; it was the robe of a sacred Convert, the per­fume of a penitent Publican, the Fragrancy of ex­emplary Equity for all succeeding ages. When a lascivious Youngster slinking out of an unreputable House started back, being espied by Diogenes, the Phi­losopher advertised him, that his recess, his withdraw­ing thence, need not put him to the Blush or Damp; but his entrance thither.

Restitution doth not breed an Ulcer, but cure it. If it be objected, that it doth light a Torch to mani­fest the festered Sore, which before was obscured, concealed: I answer this Discovery is the Lustre of Repentance, the Honour, the Trophy of it; at the worst it is but the Scar of a healed wound, after the Victory of a Battel; however if it be interpreted an Infamy, it is in the Gloss, the Censure of depraved men, suggested by damned Spirits, it is a Dignity in the estimate of the blessed Saints and Angels. Phocion apprehended the Elogy, the Praise of a vile Person, a lewd Caitiff, to be a Reproach, a Scandal.

To dismiss this vain Cavil; a little Ingenuity, the least tincture of Prudence will divert, will realy conduce to steer aloof from the grand imaginary rock of Dis­grace. The equity of Restitution may be so covertly discharged, that neither the Injury be revealed, nor the Party who acted it.

[Page 19] Hitherto I have viewed but one Wing of the sa­cred Friendship in my Text, a Wing, not of the Ea­gle, a creature of Prey, but of the Dove, to wit Equity; there is requisite another Wing, to wit Charity, to aspire to the heavenly Mansion, to flee away, and be at Rest. It was esteemed ominous at Athens, not to be a Votary in the Temple of Mercy; it suits less with the Discipline of Jerusalem. It ill becomes us to degenerate to Serpents, to twine, to circle within our selves.

The Philosopher deciphers man to be a sociable, [...] communicative Creature, who ought not to make himself or his Family the Centre, and the entire circumference of the management of his Wealth. The Apostle professes not to be an Instructer but a Moni­tor, a Remembrancer only in so necessary a Duty; Forget not to communicate. Heb. 13. 16. this Oblivion were a double degradation, not only to be unchristian, but inhumane; it corresponds not with the dictate, the Impulse of Nature, much less with that of Grace.

Charity is entituled Grace, 2. Cor. 8. 7. it is the Symptome, the Evidence, the Certificate of Grace, without which, Grace is a mask, a varnish: Charity is described to be the service of God, in Ver. 4. of the same Chapter. It is signally emphatical in the Original [...], the communication of the Ministry, even of the Liturgy, as if the charitable man were the Minister, the Priest; the Poor, the Al­tar; the Dole, the Oblation: With such Sacrifices God is [Page 20] well pleased. Heb. 13. 16. The vulgar Latin renders it promeretur, is promerited, in the Rhemish Transla­tion, as if hereby we merited at Gods Hands.

Salmeron hence takes the Cue to raise his Crest in defiance of reformed Divines. Obmutesce Haeretice, (saith he) be dumb O Heretick, as if the question of Merit was hereby put out of all question; where­as he insults before he vanquishes, triumphs before he conquers; the vulgar Latin Translation whereon he bottoms, is a loose, tottering Foundation, it is as great a Solecism in Divinity as Grammar.

The Original exhibits not the least accent of Merit, it is [...] God is well pleased. However Alms are to be acknowledged Pious, if rightly perform'd; though not in themselves meritorious. Earthly Mer­cies exhibited, are to be accounted the Conducts to Heavenly Glories. They are the Road of Bliss, tho not the Purchase: They are not causa regnandi, yet via ad regnum, in St. Bernard's Expression. They are the Passage, the Chariot, to convey us to the true Supreme Paradise; though they cannot deserve, or challenge the Delicacy, the Felicity of that Mansion. The smallest Charity is not destitute of an ample Recom­pence; but it is not [...] the Dignity of the Work per­formed, but [...] (in St. Chrysostom's Phrase) the Dignation, the Candor of Christ, who accepts Mites, rewards them with Talents. It is to be ascribed to the Virtue, the Bounty of his Promises, not to the Value, the Lustre of our Accomplishments.

[Page 21] But I forbear to dilate this Meditation, lest I seem to forget my self, and not to consider the Uncharita­ble Age wherein we live. Our Judgments herein need not so much to be informed in the state of the Contro­versie, as our Affections to be warmed, to be inflam'd for the discharge of the Duty. There is no Duty of Religion more indispensably injoyn'd, none more abundantly encourag'd; and yet none more familiar­ly disregarded, more unexcusably spurn'd at. Most Men are herein not only practical but speculative In­fidels, accounting Charity the Flux of Prodigality, the Product not of Religion but Indiscretion. They who are not Scepticks to dispute, to boggle at this Duty, who are not a sort of Atheists to reject the Precept, to deride the Performance; yet become Criticks to cen­sure the Iniquities of others, when they should be Al­moners to relieve their Pressure. Let us not be more Inquisitive than Compassionate, to sharpen our Inve­ctives against Mens Offences, which have procured their Miseries, rather than to enlarge our Bowels to­wards their Miseries which invite our Supplies.

It is God's part to Doom, ours to Succour. Indeed some are to be selected, preferred in their Calamities, such as are more sanctified, nearest related, most ne­cessitated; yet none to be absolutely waved, but such as are Vagrants, Loyterers, whose Debility, Exigency in their Estates, may be repaired by the Vigour, Strength of their Limbs; to endear, to engage these to be our Friends by our Alms, were to be their Adver­saries [Page 22] and our own. The Vinegar of Justice to such, is a better Restorative than the Oyl of Mercy; where­by they may be rescued from their Necessities, and reclaimed from their Vices: That our Streets be not defamed by such Pests, that an Eminent City be not dishonoured by such Obloquies, Scandals; I shall re­commend, not only the Ancient pattern of Jerusalem to your Imitation, but also the Modern of Paris, where­in for many years, not only the scandalous Beggery of particular Persons hath been prevented, but the Publick Revenues have been promoted. The Apostle obstructs, blocks up the Effluxes of our Charity only to such, whose Indigence proceeds from a voluntary omission of Diligence. He that will not Labour, let him not Eat, 2 Thes. 3. 10. As for others, if we debar our Charity, we forfeit our Christianity.

How rationally (as we presume) do we Object? May I not dispose of my own Inheritance, or my own Purchase, as my own genius shall prompt me? Must I expose my self contracted, and multiplied; the Consort of my Bosom, the Issue of my Loins to fu­ture Incumbrances, and Exigences, to supply the pre­sent of others? Shall I invite, attract Distress in the Lees of my declining Age, by an Imprudence of Bounty in the Flower, the Vigour of my Days? These specious Pretences are but fallacious Arguments, like our first Parents Fig-Leaves, to cover our Spiritual Nakedness, false Varnishes to beautifie carnal Wick­edness. Let us not mistake our Tenure, it is not [Page 23] Primitive, but Derivative in our Fortunes. Our In­terest is a Deputation, a Stewardship in the genuine scope of this Parable. We are not Proprietaries, but Usufructuaries of Riches. These Talents are to be managed according to the Rule, the Dictate of God's Sacred Word, not according to the bent, the swinge of our own corrupt Hearts. God might have al­lotted an equal Proportion of Enjoyments of this World to all sorts of Men, to be all levelled; but then (in the Observation of St. Basil the Great) there had been wanting a Test, for the Munificence, the Boun­ty of the Rich, and for the Patience, the Humility of the Poor. Christ hath ordained some to be Wealthy, to exercise their Fidelity, to discharge the part of Al­moners, to be Treasurers for the Poor, nay, for him­self, who sues for Succours in his distressed Members; and interprets Neglects of these, as Indignities against himself. In that you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me, Mat. 25. 45. Quis ad tonitru hoc non expa­vescit? (saith St. Austin) Who is not scar'd with this Thunder? They who shrink not, dread not to prevent, to decline this Doom, shall droop, shall sink to su­stain it. The Rich Man in the Gospel, (Luke 16.) was not condemned because he was unjust, but be­cause he was unmerciful, not because he oppress'd Laza­rus, but because he relieved him not. A numerous Is­sue is no plea at God's Bar to vindicate a covetous Heart, or a tenacious Hand. A plentiful Progeny, is a pow­erful Topick, (at least it ought to be a perswasive [Page 24] Argument) to excite us to obtain, I had almost said (with due Reverence) to oblige Christ to be the Guar­dian of our Children, unless we would surrender them to the Tuition of the Tempter, rather than the Re­deemer. He, who is uncharitable upon the account of his Family, his Posterity, offends doubly in the Judg­ment of St. Cyprian. First, In that he doth not provide for his Children the Protection of the Heavenly Fa­ther, preparatory for the time when they are to be be­reaved of the Earthly. Secondly, In that he does not discipline them in Exemplary Piety, to prefer God before Mammon. Willing or unwilling thou must surrender thy Treasures, thy Incomes, to the Divine over-ruling Providence. Lastly, Charity is inconside­rately objected to be the rise of Penury.

I shall not press St. Cyprian's florid Argument in chang­ing the Scene; Pauperior seculo opulentior Deo; Whilst more empoverisht to the World, thou wilt be more enricht to God. Not to recede out of the same Orb, not to swerve from the same Station: There is no Virtue more animated with assurance of Temporal Prosperity. The Italian Vulgar Phrase of Begging is Charm of Rhetorick; Faite a voi bene, Do well to your selves. Thy Alms in the Bowels of the Poor, are like Grains of Corn in the Bowels of the Earth; they seem to putrifie, to perish, but they come up with a specious Advantage. There is who scattereth, and yet encreaseth, Prov. 11. 24. who Thrives by Diminution, Multi­plies by Substraction; a Contradiction in Arithmetick, but a Perfection in Grace.

[Page 25] Such was the Primitive St. John, called, Eleemosunary. The Estate of a Charitable Person is like the Widows Cruise of Oyl, communicated, and not diminished, imparted, and not impaired; nay, improved. No Duty doth more vindicate us from Hypocrisie. It was the disconsolate Remark of St. Basil the Great, that he observed many zealous Professors his Contempora­ries, Eminent for Devotion, for Mortification, for So­briety, Chastity, and other Moral Endowments; and yet Tenacious, Uncharitable; which, like a venemous blast, tainted all the Religious Performances. I wish it were a Scandal to revive, to apply this mournful Re­sentment to the Age wherein we live. By our melting Bowels, our stretcht out Hands in Charitable Supplies, to make us Friends with the Mammon of Unrighteousness, is not an Evangelical Counsel, but Precept; not Arbi­trary to be embraced, caressed; or waved, rejected, as a Serene, Candid, or Morose sour Humour shall bear sway. To render the Violation of this Charge the more inexcusable in a black Criminal Hue.

There is an Obligation of Equity riveted in Cha­rity it self. Not to relieve the Distressed, is in effect injuriously to Rob him, at least covertly to purloin from him. Let not this startle you as a Paradox, it is Solomon's Orthodox Divinity, Prov. 3. 27. Withdraw not good from them to whom it is due. From the Owners thereof in the Marginal Interpre­tation, which best corresponds with the Original. The Context vindicates it as pertinent, apposite to this Sub­ject. [Page 26] It is the Phrase, the Eloquence, the Charm of a Jewish Petitioner in his Exigency; give me the Precept. As there is a Grain of Justice or Equity, so there is a Tincture of Piety in merciful Performances. This renders Mammon it self a Proselyte of Religion, devotes and Consecrates it as an Utenfil of the Temple.

The Jewish Doctors assert, that the Royal Prophet David gave Alms every day; it was his constant Quo­tidian Practice, but more especially as preparatory to his public Solemn Devotion, when he resorted to the Synagogue, darting out this Ejaculation; I will be­hold thy Face in Righteousness, Psal. 17. 15. It is the Psalmists Authentick Record to rescue this Doctrine from Disputes and Cavils. He hath dispers'd, he hath gi­ven to the Poor, his Righteousness endureth for ever, Psal. 112. 9. Christ himself sets out the diffusive, operative Transcendency of this Virtue: Give alms of what things you have, and all things shall be clean. Luke. 11. 41. this is no Elegancy of an Irony, no smart Sarcasm, no taunting Scoff, as some expound it; but a sacred Le­cture, taking off the Pharisees from a superstitious vain their Platters, to a truly religious Charity, to purifie their Hearts and their Hands also. It is all things shall be [...] pure, their dross refi­ned, themselves rendred undefiled, unfullied.

Our compassionate Succors, as they have a sancti­fying Cleansing; so also a dignifying exalting Influ­ence. A charitable Person hath the Honour to be re­puted a Benefactor to his Creator, a Creditor to his [Page 27] Redeemer: He who giveth to the Poor, lendeth to the Lord, Prov. 19. 17. it is [...] in the Translation of the Septuagint, he lendeth upon Usury.

On this account a Duke of Guise was not branded, but renowned, in being stiled the greatest Usurer of France; in this Notion, (if sincere) the noblest, and the ho­liest. As there is an outward Esteem and Honor, so there is an inward Solace and Delight accruing from charitable Performances, that transcends all sensu­al Pleasures. God repays beyond humane Interest; in this World a hundred Fold, in the next everlasting Life. Mark 10. 30. A Recompence which no humane intel­lectual Faculty can apprehend, no Eloquence, but an­gelical, can express. Were there not an Impression of infidelity in the hearts of men to boggle at the truth of the divine Promise and Providence, how would our desires be kindled, our affections inflamed in pursuit of so inestimable a Merchandise; we would resolve to practise as Apelles did profess to paint, to Eternity: which transmits me from the Precept in my Text, (make you Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness) to the Compensation; that they may receive you into ever­lasting habitations.

Bellarmine in a strain of Confidence alledges this Guerdon, this Reward as a valid Proof of Purgato­ry. Whereas in a general Consideration, parabolical Scripture is not argumentative; in a special Conside­ration, this Gloss corrupts the Text, not only eclipses the Lustre and unsinews the Force of it; but renders [Page 28] it a contradiction of Collusion, transforms an amiable Lure to invite, to attract to a dreadful Topick a dis­suasive Argument, to avert, to deter; whereby a Re­ward degenerates into Punishment. Neither the Phrase nor the Importance of the Text admits any degree of consistence with the Notion of Purgatory. The Text denotes the Period of a Temporal Life, to be the pun­ctual Rise of an Eternal, to be the immediate Trans­port to Heaven for a charitable Soul.

Not to insist on the controversial disquisition, I shall prosecute the practical; wherein who the Friends are to bestead us is an apposite inquiry. S. Ambrose un­veils them to be the holy Angels being the Guardians of merciful Souls for their Tuition on Earth, and Chariots for their Translation to Heaven, being mi­nistring Spirits in both capacities. Some Divines ex­pound these Friends to be the sacred blessed Trinity. A charitable Man is ingratiated, indeared to God him­self: Abraham, whose Charity was as conspicuous as his Faith, was honoured to be entitled the Friend of God: Isaiah 41. 8. not only advanced, dignified in his Court, but embraced and embosomed in his Closet. It is a Ray of divine Perfection to be [...] a Benefactor.

Theopyhlact, Euthymius, and others understand the Friends in my Text, to be distressed Persons, suc­coured by our Supports; though the Obloquies, the Reproaches of the World, though the Dirt, the Scum of the Earth; yet being sanctified the Privadoes of God, the Favorites of Heaven, the Procurers of our [Page 29] admission thither: Christ who accepts of Benefits ex­tended to them, as exhibited to himself, upon their Account will enfranchise, inthrone us in that Jerusalem that is above; whereby we shall be translated from a Desert to a Gity, from being Sojourners, Pilgrims, to be Denisons, Princes. How pretious in our Estimate, in our Regard ought such to be, however despicable in Dress in appearance; who can raise us to such il­lustrious Preferments? As the substance of the Reward is remarkable, so is the Circumstance; when you fail: According to the Syriack Translation, when it fails; to wit, our Mammon, our Wealth; which in the great­est Plenty and Security may vanish like a Shadow, whilst we imagine to grasp, to fix it; exposed it is at Sea, to Tempests, to Piracies, to Wrecks, and on the firmest Shore, to the Rapines, the Violencies of men, more fierce and savage than the Waves, the Surges of the Sea.

Treasures and Fabricks have their Decays and Peri­ods, in revolution of Times and Emergences, they are reduced to Dust and Ashes as our selves. All these things shall be dissolved; saith the Apostle. 2. Pet. 3. 11. reflecting on the Earth and the Works thereof; to wit, the Endowments, Accomplishments thereof recited in the Close of the immediate precedent Verse. They are Lusitilia in Suetonius's Phrase, obnoxious, liable to Dissolution. The Original sets it out more pregnant­ly, significantly; [...] all these things being dissol­ved: It is no less ascertain'd than if already effected, be­ing [Page 30] in their Nature, and by Gods Decree, corruptible.

Though our Lands our Houses are not, in the le­gal distinct construction, Moveables; yet our Titles, our Interest, our Selves are. It is in our English Trans­latition, when you fail: It is yet more critically dimi­nitive in the Original, not [...] but [...] when you utterly fail; afflicted with infirmities of Body, compli­cated with imbittered Anxieties of mind, assaulted with the Terrors of Satan, who makes his strongest Assaults when we are weakest, whose last reserve of hostile Malice is to bruise the Heel. Gen. 3. 15. S. Bernard expounds it at the Close of Life: When you shall be unsinewed, unspirited, like wasted dim Tapers in an unsavory Snuff; when the most amiable Features shall become Spectacles of Dread and Horror, when the Eyes, those Casements of Vanities, shall be shut up, when those Pandors of Impurity, those Luminaries shall be extinguished, when an Apoplexy shall seize those Brains which have been Anvils for indirect Wits, Mazes of ungracious Contrivances. When we shall be neglected, deserted by Comrades and Consorts, by all Associates and Friends, except those in my Text. We readily entertain Balaam's Op­tion; (to die the death of the righteous) and Num. 23. 10. that our last end may be like his.

We all yearn to recede, to withdraw from the Stage of this World, in a State of Innocency, like Demetrius, after a continual Vassalage of life to the [Page 31] brink of death, yet was fondly importunate to ex­pire, to vent his last Gasp in a State of Liberty. But if our Lives have corrupted our Minds, with the In­fluences of Mammon, the Hour of death will not re­lease but exchange our Fetters to be more firmly ma­nacled, to be fierccly tortured in a dungeon of utter darkness.

To sum up what I have enlarged, to close with every Soul in this venerable Assembly with an appli­catory Meditation. I have dissected my Text to a Precept and a Reward, resembling the Incense Altar and the Mercy Seat of the Tabernacle: In the Pre­cept, I have viewed the Engine to be employed, and the Employment it self; the Engine being the Mam­mon of Unrighteousness, not to brand ample Treasures or Incomes, but ungracious practices in atchieving or managing them: Mammon being like the Chymicks Mercury, as it is differently tempered, either medicinal to heal, to help, or fatal to corrupt, to bane; fatal it is when criminal, darting its Taint not only to Mer­chandise, but to Judicature, to Religion. Neither the Tribunal nor the Temple is a Sanctuary for se­cure Exemption from this Pest; it wrought, vitiated Balaam to be a false Prophet, Judas to be a false Apostle, and Felix to be a corrupt Judge.

I have discussed the managing the Engine, the Mam­mon of Unrighteousness, by two effectual expedients of the purest Friendship; by Equity and Charity, be­ing the Supporters of Riches, as Aaron and Hur were [Page 32] of the Hands of Moses. I have distinguished, sorted out a double Equity, of Possession and Restitution, the one being preservative of Right, the other com­pensative of Wrong. Both are to be abetted, even be­decked, embellisht by Charity of Compassion, distri­bution: thereby to endear blessed Angels, whilst we oblige distressed men, thereby to be ranked as Com­peers in being befriended by those glorious Spirits; Amicitia pares vel accipit vel facit, Friendship either finds or makes Equals. To cajole, even to conjure so amicable a Duty, I have conducted your attention from the Precept to the Reward; wherein I have observed the Substance and the Circumstance of it; the Substance of it importing a Translation from the transitory accommodation of an Inn, to the first Station of a Dwelling, of everlasting Ha­bitations, to exchange a Tabernacle for a Temple; a Temple for Stability and Sanctity founded and con­secrated by God himself. Those indigent Persons that are relieved by us, become our Factors to nego­tiate for us, to fix our Bank in Heaven; to take up our Treasure by a Bill of Exchange in another World; they are our Harbingers that we may be furnished with Heavenly Mansions, when we are to be bereaved of Earthly.

I have pointed out the remarkable Circumstance of this incomparable Bliss; when it fails, to wit, Mammon, being like a Strumpet that shifts her Mini­ons, her Favorites: When our Souls are upon the [Page 33] Wing of flight from our Bodies, in extremities of A­gonies, resigning them to be Inmates with Worms, to be putrified together, when there will remain no­thing to him who unrighteously manages the Ta­lent of Mammon; but a dismal accompt to enflame his reckoning with a corrosive Remorse of conscience, not like the Serpent that twined about the Head of Cleomenes when he died, but this Snake will wind it self about the Soul, to pierce it with anguish and hor­ror; No Friendship then either will or can bestead us, but this in my Text. Prosperity is a Load­stone to attract Friendship; but Misery is a Rock to split it. It was Socrates's experimental complaint in Adversity; [...] there is no Friend, none in­deed extant in the lowest Ebb, none indeed of A­thens, but of Jerusalem only.

My Text sets the Life the Lustre of Friendship, in the Umbrage of Death, by the poor extended to the rich. Damascene vails this truth in an Apologue of a wealthy Person who owned three Friends; two whereof endeared as his Soul, nay more tender­ly treated in their distinct concerns, more sollici­tously regarded; the third least estimated, yet not quite rejected: Whereas being summoned to appear­ance before a dreadful Judge, he made his Addresses to his several Friends: His first Friend affords him the Formality of some Accoutrements at his depar­ture; to wit, insignificant for Solace or Advantage; his second Friend ceremoniously accompanies him to [Page 34] the first Stage; his third inseparably adheres to him to the end of his Journey, vigorously assists him be­fore the dreadful Tribunal.

To withdraw the Curtain of the Apologue to a wealthy Person, as Nathan did to David, thou art the man thus befriended, (vetus Fabula per novam Hi­strionem; in the Comedians Phrase.) Thy first Friend is the World, this affords, at thy recess from it, a Winding-Sheet, a Coffin, a Hearse-Cloth; Orna­ments specious as to the sight of others, not in any degree commodious to thy self. Thy second Friend is the Consort of thy Bed, the Mate of thy Bosom, or thy Issue which attends thy Hearse to the first Stage of thy Corps, the Grave; (if the Punctilio of State, or retired disguise of Mourning will vouch­safe it) however this Friend takes there a final adieu, the Funeral Solemnity being celebrated, accompli­shed. Thy third Friend is the despicable, miserable Person, whom thou relievest, whose Interest cleaves to thee, (fidus Achates) even to the Period of thy Journey, becomes an Advocate to plead for thee at the Bar of Justice, effectually prevails for Mercy.

Were there not an Enchantment in Avarice, who would not with ready Alacrity distribute temporal Comforts to others, to ascertain eternal to himself? Unmerciful Persons forfeit and bereave themselves of those Treasures they seem to retain, where­as the merciful retain those Treasures they seem to be bereaved of; their works, especially their [Page 35] Alms follow them, their riches are preserved, nay augmented to them; tho' not formally in kind, yet virtually in value, transcendently in a superlative Compensation.

To rescue us from the Fascination, the Witchcraft of covetous desires, the grand Impediments, the utter Defiances of charitable Acts; there is requisite, a di­vine auxiliary Grace, earnestly to be implored for, wherein let us not disdain to be disciplined by a mo­dern Pattern, the Honor of our Nation, (Mr. Sutton) not illustrious for Titles but Graces, dignified by unparalell'd Alms, by the renowned Monument of a munificent Hospital; Preparatory whereto, he fre­quently, vehemently supplicated; O Lord thou hast given me a plentiful Estate, give me a merciful Heart to dispose it to thy Glory. This pious Ejaculation, re­iterated in his own Garden, was overheard in an­other adjacent to it, as it is attested by a modern Ec­clesiastical Historian.

To incourage this Duty of Charity, to fortifie the Stress of it against all the Attacks, and Stratagems of Satan; I have mustered up the holy Auxiliary Forces, the puissant motives of the strictest indispen­sible rule of Justice, of the most undefiled, unfeigned exercise of Piety, of the brightest Lustre of a serene pure Reputation, of the most commodious inno­cent Traffick, of the most delicious bosom Satisfacti­on: I have signalized these confluences of the choicest present Attractives, and Allurements of this World; [Page 36] by the future Reserve, the Staple Requital of the Beati­tudes, the Glories of the next. To conclude, God hath not endowed any of us with wealth, to be tainted with Vice, but to exercise, to promote Virtue, not to defray the profuse Expences of Varieties, of gay, modish, sum­ptuous Habits (the Banners of Pride and Vanity;) not for Sacrifices to our Palats, to administer Fuel to Flames of Luxury and Debauchery: nay not to raise our Families, not for Grandeur but Grace; not for to ren­der our Posterities great, but our selves good, and them also, in the Track of our Examples, in consecrating, in perpetuating our Riches, by pious charitable Uses; to repair, to adorn Fabricks, dedicated, set apart for sacred Ordinances, that God may be worshiped with the Beauty of Holiness.

Let it not be a Reproach to the best reformed Religion, that in some places, where Personages fur­nished with ample Revenues, bedecked with Gallan­try of Clothes, inhabit; Gods Houses should be less decent, less august and splendid than their own: that many rural parochial Churches hold Resem­blances, both for the Structure and the Furniture, with Barns rather than Temples; Windows ungla­zed or shattered, the Floors unpaved, deformed with Pits, the Roofs ungarnished even unceiled, in a Rudeness of Prophaneness; the Walls defaced with Gashes, hung with Cobwebs instead of Tapi­stry, I wish from my Soul it were a Calumny to [Page 37] assert it. This is not solemnly, awfully to reve­rence, to adore, but contemptibly, contumeliously to dishonour, to affront the most High. It hath an Aspect of an Indignity obtruded towards the su­preme divine Sovereign: (Churches being anciently dignified to be entituled, to be reputed Basilica, Palaces for Kings, even for the King of Kings:) Whatever is in any degree related, appropriated to God, is degraded, desecrated, being in a mean Dress, exposed to Disesteem and Scorn.

A cheap sordid Performance of religious Du­ties, is not to be interpreted the Service of God, but of Mammon; the refinement of which dross, the purifying of the Pollutions and unrighteousness thereof, cannot be effected, but by acts of Piety and Charity; in the one in reference to inanimate Piles, the other in reference to animate, the living Temples of the everliving God; being enriched, deputed, enjoyned, obliged we are by a special Ob­ligation, to relieve the distresses of our indigent Brethren, appointed we are as Trustees for Supplies in their Exigences; if this Trust be uprightly dis­charged, our Fidelity herein will qualifie us to be interested in the Solace the Sentence of Absolution of the last day. Come ye blessed of my Father, inhe­rit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, [Page 38] and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me: Math. 25. 34, 35, 36. Of this superlative, inesti­mable Recompence of Piety and Charity; (to be ad­mitted to everlasting Habitations in the Phrase of my Text) which cannot enter into us to understand, till we enter into it to possess it, the Lord of his infinite Mercy make us Partakers, for the merits of his blessed Son, by the Influences of his holy Spirit; to which sacred Trinity, be ascribed Glory, Ho­nour, Might, Majesty and Dominion, this day, and for ever.