Ohs. 5. This charity to the poor must be jierformed as worship, out of respect to God. The apostle saith to visit the fatherless is 6pT]a- Keia, worship. A Christian hath a holy art of turning duties of the second .table into duties of the first ; and in respect to man, they worship God. So Heb. xiii. IG, 'To do good, and to comnmnicate, forget not ; for with such sacrifice God is well ])leased.' To do good is a duty of the second table ; and sacrifice, while it was a part of God's worship, a duty of the first. Well, then, alms should be sacrifice ; not a sin-olfering, but a thank-offering to God. This is the difference between a Christian and others, he can make commerce worshi}). In common business he acteth upon reasons and princijjles of religion, and whatever he doth to man, he doth it for God's sake, out of love to God, fear of God. The world is led by interest, and they by conscience. The men of the world are tied one to another, like Samson's foxes by their tails, by their mutual intertwisted interests ; but they, in all their relations, do what they do as in and to the Lord, Ei)h. v. 22 ; so Eph. vi. 1 ; so ver. 7, et alihi. Well, then, we must be tender of the end and reason of our actions in civil respects : alms is worship and sacrifice, and therefore not to be offered to the idol of our own credit and esteem, or to be done out of private ends, but in obedience to God, and for his glory.
Ohs. 6. From that hcforc Cod. True religion and profession is rather for God's eye than man's. It aimeth at the approbation of God, not ostentation before men. David saith, Ps. xviii. 23, * I have been upright before thee, and kei>t myself from my iniquity.' That is a fruit of true uprightness, to draw all our actions into the presence of
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God, and to do what we do before him. So Ps. xvi. 8, ' I have set the Lord always before me.' Iti every action he was thinking of the eye of God ; will this be an action ior God's notice and approbation ? So Ps. cxix. 1G8, 'I have kept thy testimonies ; for all my ways are before thee.' He maketh that to be the reason of the integrity of his obedience, ' My ways are before thee ;' under the observance and inspection of God. Hypocrites cannot endure such thoughts. The prodigal was for a far country, away from his fjither ; and it is said, Job xiii. 16, * A hypocrite will not come before him ;' that is, be under God's eye and sight.
Obs. 7. From that be/ore God and the Father. We serve God most comfortably when we consider him as a Father in Christ. Lord, Lord, is not half so sweet as Our Father. Duty in the covenant of grace is far more comfortable, not only as we have more help, but because it is done in a sweeter relation. We are not servants, but have received the adoption of sons. Get an interest in God, that his work may be sweet to you. Mercies yield the more sweetness when they come not only from a Creator, but a Father ; and duties are done with the more confidence when we can come into the presence of God, not as servants, but sons. A servant may use greater industry and pains than a son, and yet please less.
Ohs. 8. The relieving of the afflicted and the unspotted life must go together. As the apostle coupleth them, so doth Christ : Mat. v. 7, 8, ' Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy ;' and then presently, ' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' A man that is charitable and not jjure, is better to others than to himself. Goodness and righteousness are often coupled in the Old Testament : Micah vi. 8 ; so Dan. iv. 27. It is strange that men should so grossly separate what God hath joined. There are some that are ' pure in their own eyes,' but content themselves with a cheap and barren profession. Others are vicious and loose, and they are all for acts of charity and mercy ; and so covetousness lurketh under the veil of profession on the one side, and on the other men hope to recom- pense God for the excesses of an ill life by a liberal profusion, as if llie emptying of the purse were a way to ease the conscience. Well, then, let the hand be open and the heart pure. You must ' visit the fatherless and the widow,' and ' keep yourselves unspotted from the world.'
Ohs. 9. The world is a dirty, defiling thing. A man can hardly walk here but he shall defile his garments. (1.) The very things of the world leave a taint upon our spirits. By worldly objects we soon grow worldly. It is hard to touch pitch and not to be defiled. We see in other things that our minds receive a tincture from those objects with whicli we usually converse. Christ prayeth, John xvii. 15, ' I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil of the world.' Christ knew what a temptation it is to live here in the midst of honours, and pleasures, and profits. It was a happy thing that Paul could say, Gal. vi. 14, ' I am crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to me.' The world hated him, and he did not care for the world. The world is crucified to many, but they are not crucified to it ; they follow after a flying shadow.