by imparting of them for God's honour, and the comfort and benefit of others. ' Give,' saith Christ, ' and it shall be given to you ; good mea- sure, pressed do^vIl, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom,' Luke vi. 38. The Jews wore large and loose garments, so that they could bear away much in their bosoms. Hence this expression, ' into your bosom.' The meaning is, that the Lord will largely reward the beneficence of his people ; yea, that he will so reward them that they shall perceive that they are rewarded. ' Honour the Lord with thy substance, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine,' Prov. iii. 9, 10. God will certainly bless their substance who honour him with their sub- stance. The Jews at this day, though they are not in their own country, and though they have not a Levitical priesthood, yet those who will be reputed religious amongst them, do distribute the tenth of their increase to the poor, being persuaded that God doth bless their increase the more ; for they have among them a very elegant proverb to that purpose, decima ut dives fias, Pay thy tithes that thou may est be rich.^ The poor man's hand is Christ's treasury, and he shall not lose his reward that casts his mites into that treasury.^ It it fabled of Midas, that whatever he touched he turned it into gold. But this is most sure, that whatever the hand of charity toucheth, it turneth it into gold, — be it but a cup of cold water, — nay, into heaven itself : Mat. x. 42, ' And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.' Cold water, having not fuel to heat it, cold water which cost not the charge of fire to warm it. A sea of pleasures, a heaven of blessings attends men of charitable minds, though their charity can extend no further than to a cup of cold water ; for God measures men's deeds by their minds, and not their minds by their deeds. The Kenites in Saul's time, that were born many ages after Jethro's death, received life from his dust, and favour from his hospitality f nay, the very Egyptians, for harbouring and at first dealing kindly with the Israelites, though without any respect to their right- eousness, were preserved by Joseph in that sore famine, and kindly dealt with ever after by God's special command. I have read a story of one Evagrius, a rich man, who lying upon his deathbed, and being importuned by Synesius, a pious bishop, to give something to charitable uses, he yielded at last to give three hundred pounds, but first took bond of the bishop that it should be repaid in another world ; but be- fore he had been one day dead, he is said to have appeared to the bishop, delivering in the bond cancelled, as thereby acknowledging that what was promised was made good. Whether the relation be fabulous or not, I shall not now stand to determine ; but this is certain, that all acts of charity shall be certainly and signally rewarded. Several writers observe that the ground is most barren nearest the golden mines ; and experience tell us that many who are enriched with fair estates, are most barren in good works ; but this will be bitterness in the end. He
' Godwin, Heb. Antiq.. 277 [4to., 1616, and often since.— G.].
"-' The safest chest is the poor man's box. God will never forget yonr charity to his, Heb. vi. 10. Cicero could say, that to be rich is not to possess niucli. but to use much. And Seneca cuuld rebuke them that so studied to increase their wealth that they forgot to use it, * See 1 Samuel xv. 6. — G.
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that shall consult tAvo scriptures, among many others, will conclude that he that hath a withered hand has no honest heart, 2 Chrou. xxxi. 10, 1 John iii. 17- The wealth that such men have is but as Aristotle calls it, fodix amentia, a happy madness, because they are so taken up with their wealth, that they neither know what they are, nor what they do/ Josephus, writing of the waters of Egypt, saith, that ' they were blood in the hands of an Egyptian, but water in the hand of an Israelite.' Wealth in the hand of a worldling is like blood in the hand, which is good for nothing ; but wealth in the hand of a charitable Christian is like water in the hand, which may be of use both to a man's self and others. By what has been said, there is nothing more evident than this, viz., that men of public spirits, and men of charitable spirits, of all men on earth are, (1.) to be most highly prized ; (2.) most cordially loved ; and (3.) most greatly honoured, &c.