far as our circumstances will admit of it, should make them partakers of our temporal blessings.]
This, though felt and acknowledged by us as a duty, needs yet to be enforced upon us, in order that it may be reduced to practice: we will therefore pro- ceed to enforce it by,
II. Some reasons —
The two things which men aim at in the disposal of their money, are pleasure and advantage : and it is from an idea that these are more to be obtained by feasting with the rich, that people almost universally prefer that method of expending their property. But we do not hesitate to say, that the mode of expending it which has been recommended to you has greatly the superiority in point,
1. Of gratification —
[We do not deny but that there is considerable pleasure in entertaining one's friends: we must however assert, that that pleasure is carnal in its nature, and transient in its dura- tion. But the delight which arises from providing for the poor, and making them happy, is solid, refined, permanent. If it were nothing more than the thought of contributing to lessen the miseries to which human nature is exposed, it would be very delightful ; the very sensation of sympathy is exquisite : but the thought of being God's messenger to them for good, and the hope that " by our means thanksgivings will abound to God1," and that our heavenly Parent will be adored and magnified through us ; this is a sensation which even an angel might envy. We can easily conceive the comfort which an indigent fellow-creature feels in being relieved from his distress; yet is that not to be compared with the happiness excited in the bosom of him who administers the relief: for One who cannot err has told us, that " it is more blessed to give than to receive." The comfort of the relieved continues only whilst the pressure of his calamity is removed : but the donor may look back at the distance of many years, and feel again the same delights which he experienced at the first communication of his alms.
Amongst the many considerations which tend to perpetuate his comfort, one in particular is, that, in administering to the poor, he has ministered to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Christ has condescended to identify himself with his poor
i 2 Cor. ix. 12.