think to put him off with part of it; for he reckons that he receives nothing from us, unless it be proportionable to what he hath bestowed upon us. But how little soever it is that we give or offer to him, if it be but answerable to our estates, it will be accepted by him. This our Saviour himself hath assured us of, Mark xii, 43, 44. From whence we may certainly conclude, that there is not the poorest person whatsoever but may be as rich in good works as the richest, because God doth not measure the goodness of our works by their bulk or quantity, but by the proportion which they bear to our estates; so that he that gives a penny may do as good a work as he that gives a pound, yea, and a better too, because his may be as much as he is able, whereas the other's is not. I wish all men would seriously weigh and consider this, lest otherwise they go out of the world without ever having done one good work in it for we may assure ourselves, he that is not thus rich in good works doth no good at all with his riches.

But it is farther to be considered here, that this expression, rich in good works, implies that good works are indeed our principal riches; and that men must not compute their riches so much from what they have, as from what they give and devote to God; for what we have is not ours, but God's in our hands; but what we give is ours in God's hands, and he acknowledgeth himself our debtor for it, in that he tells us that we lend it to him, and promiseth to pay it us again. And therefore they who cast up their accounts to know how rich they are, ought not to reckon upon what they have lying by them, nor upon their houses and lands that are made over to them, nor yet upon what is owing to them by men; but should reckon only upon what they have given to pious or charitable uses, upon what treasure they have laid up in heaven; for whatsoever they may think at present, I dare assure them, that will be found to be their only riches another day. And therefore, if any one desires to be rich indeed, let him take my advice, do what good he can with the riches he hath, and then he will be rich enough; for this is the way to be rich in

good works. But in order unto that, he must Kikewise observe what follows, to be

III. Ready to distribute; that is, ready upon all occasions to pay his tribute unto God, whensoever he in his providence calls for it; taking all opportunities of doing. good, and glad when he can find them, Gal. vi, 10. Thus therefore whensoever any opportunities present themselves of expressing our thankfulness unto God by works either of piety or charity, whatsoever other business may be neglected, we must be sure to lay hold on that; for I dare say, that there is none but will grant me that there is all the reason in the world that God should be served in the first place, and that he should have the first fruits of all our increase, Prov. iii, 9; Exod. xxiii, 19; Deut. xxvi, 2. And therefore we cannot but acknowledge, that works of piety towards God and of charity to the poor, or, as the scripture calls them in general, good works, are always to be done in the first place; and whatsoever other works may be omitted, be sure they must not. But we ought still to be as ready to pay our duties unto God, as we are to receive any thing from him; as ready to give as to receive; and, by consequence, as men let no opportunities slip wherein they can increase their estates, they are much less to let any opportunities pass wherein they can any way improve their estates for God's glory and others' good; but they ought to be ready upon all occasions to distribute what they can upon charitable and pious uses.

IV. Willing to communicate. As we must do it with a ready hand, so we must do it with a willing heart too. Thus we are enjoined to serve God willingly, 1 Chron. xxviii, 9;-and cheerfully, 2 Cor. ix, 6, 7. Indeed God accepts of none but free-will offerings. If we be not as willing to do good works as we are to have wherewith to do them, we may be confident God will never accept of them. And therefore in plain terms, if any would be rich in good works as becometh Christians and as it is our interest to be, they must not stay till they be compelled, persuaded, or entreated by others to do them; but they must set upon them of their own accord, out

of pure obedience unto God, and from a due sense of their constant dependence upon him and manifold obligations to him; yea, so as to take pleasure in nothing in the world so much as in paying their respects and service to Almighty God, 1 Chron. xxix, 14, 17.

V. Now to encourage the rich to employ their estates thus in doing good, the apostle adds, in the last place, that this is the way to lay up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. A strange expression! yea such a one, that had not St. Paul himself spoke it, some would have been apt to have excepted against it for an error or mistake. What, good works the foundation of eternal life? No, that is not the meaning of it; but that good works are the foundation of that blessed sentence which they shall receive who are made partakers of eternal life ; as is plain from our Saviour's own words, Matt. xxv, 34, 36.

And verily although there be no such intrinsic value in good works, whereby they that do them can merit any thing from God by their doing of them, yet nothing can be more certain, than that God of his infinite mercy in Jesus Christ will so accept of them, as to reward us for them in the world to come. For this our Saviour himself doth clearly intimate to us, in the place before quoted, as also Matt. vi, 20: Luke xii, 33; xvi, 9; that is, distribute and employ the unrighteous or deceitful riches you have in this world in such a way as is most pleasing and acceptable unto God, that so he may be your friend, and receive you into everlasting habitations, when these transient and unstable riches fail you.

The

From whence I beg leave to observe, that to do good with what we have is the only way whereby to improve our estates for our own good, so as to be the better for them both in this and also in the world to come. Rabbins have a good saying, that good works are the salt of riches, that which preserves them from corruption, and makes them savoury and acceptable unto God, as also useful and profitable to the owners. Unless we do.

good with our estates, we forfeit our title to them by the non-payment of the rent-charge which God hath reserved to himself upon them; and therefore we may justly expect every moment to be cast out of possession; or howsoever though he may forbear us a while, yea, so long as we are in this world, what good, what benefit, what comfort shall we have of our estates in the world to come? Certainly no more than the rich man in the gospel had, when he lay scorching in hell-fire, and had not so much as a drop of water to cool his inflamed tongue. Whereas, on the other side, if we do good with our estates, if we devote them to the service of God, and to the relief of the poor, by this means we shall not only secure the possession of them to ourselves here, but shall also receive comfort and benefit from them in the world to come; so that our estates will not die with us, but we shall receive benefit by them, and have cause to bless God for them unto all eternity; the apostle himself assuring us, that by this means we shall lay up for ourselves a good foundation for the time to come, so as to lay hold on eternal life.

This one argument being duly weighed, I hope I need not use any more to persuade men to do good with what they have, and to make the best use of it they can. For I know I write to Christians, at least to such as profess themselves to be so; and therefore to such as believe there is another world besides this we live in, and, by consequence, that it concerns them to provide for that, which, as I have shewn, we may do in a plentiful manner, by the right improvement of what God hath entrusted with us in this world. What then do the generality of men mean, to be so slack and remiss in laying hold on all opportunities of doing good? What, do they think it possible to lose any thing they do for God? Or do they think it possible to employ their estates better than for his service and honor who gave them to us? I cannot believe any think so; and therefore must needs advise the rich again and again not to lay up their talent in a napkin, but to use their estates to the best advantage for God and their own souls, that so when they go from hence into the other world, they may be received into

eternal glory, with a Well done good and faithful servants, enter you into the joy of the Lord.

But fearing lest these moral persuasions may not prevail so much upon my readers as I desire they might, they must give me leave farther to tell them, that I am here commanded to charge them that are rich in this world to be rich also in good works: and therefore seeing, as I have shewn, there are few but who in a scriptural sense are rich in this world, in obedience to this command which here is laid upon me, in the name of the most high God, I charge you, and not I only, but the eternal God himself, he wills and requires all those whom he frath blessed with riches in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but that they put their whole trust and confidence only in the living God, whose all things are, and who gives us whatsoever we have that they do good with what he hath put into their hands, laying it out upon works of piety towards him and of charity to the poor, that his worship may be decently performed and the poor liberally relieved-that' they be rich in good works, striving to excel each other in doing good in their generation-that they be ready every moment to distribute, and always willing to communicate to every good work, wherein they can pay their homage and express their thankfulness to him for what they bave.

ON SELF-DENIAL.

THE most glorious sight questionless that was ever to be seen upon the face of the earth, was to see the Son of God here; to see the supreme Being and Governor of the world here; to see the Creator of all things con-versing here with his own creatures; to see God himself with the nature and in the shape of man, walking about upon the surface of the earth, and discoursing with silly mortals here, and that with so much majesty and humility mixed together, that every expression might seem a demonstration that he was both God and man. It is