2. A christian being unfeignedly thus resolved in the general, to lay out that he hath or shall have as God would have him, and to his glory (as near as he can); his next inquiry must be, (for finding out the will of God,) to know in the ordinary course of his distribution, where God hath gone before him by any particular prescript, and tied him to one certain way of giving; and where God hath only given him some general direction, and left him to discern his duty in particulars, by that general rule, and the further direction of objects and providence. And in this inquiry he will find,
1. That God hath first prescribed to him in nature, the necessary sustentation of his own life. And,
2. The necessary maintenance of his children and family.
3. The necessary maintenance of the preachers of the gospel, for the worship of God, and the salvation of men, 1 Cor. ix.; Phil. iv. 10, 11, 14, 17, 18; Luke x. 7; 1 Tim. v. 17, 18.
4. The necessary maintenance of the commonwealth, and paying tribute to the higher powers, who are the ministers of God to us for good; attending continually upon this very thing, Rom. xiii. 4, 6.
5. The saving of the lives of those that are in apparent danger of famine or perishing, within our sight or reach, 1 John iii. 17; Luke x. 33. Thus far God hath prescribed to us, how he would have us use our estates in an ordinary way. In many other things he hath left us to more general directions.
3. To know among good works, which is to be preferred, it principally concerneth us next to know, what works do most contribute to our chiefest ends; which God is most honoured by; which tend to the greatest good: and here we shall find that, _cæteris paribus_,
1. The souls of men are to be preferred before their bodies, in estimation and intention; but in time, the body is oft to be preferred before the soul, because if the body be suffered to perish, the helping of the soul will be past our power.
2. And so the church is finally and estimatively to be preferred before the commonwealth; but the commonwealth must be first served in time, when it is necessary to the church's support and welfare; for the church will else perish with the commonwealth.
3. The good of many is to be preferred before the good of few, and public good to be valued above private, Rom. ix. 3.
4. A continued good is greater than a short and transitory good. And so necessary is it to have chief respect in all our works to our chiefest end, (the greatest good,) that even when God seemeth to have prescribed to us the way of our expenses, yet that is but as to our ordinary course: for if in an extraordinary case it fall out, that another way is more to God's glory and the common good, it must be then preferred; for all means are to be judged of by the end, and chosen and used for it. For example, if the good of church and commonwealth, or of the souls of many, do stand up against our corporal provision of our children or families, it is to be preferred; which is easily proved _a fortiore_, because it is to be preferred before our own good, even the saving of our lives. A good subject will lose his life to save the life of his king; and a good soldier will die to save his general or the army; and a useless member of the church should be content to die, if it be necessary, to save the life of a pastor that is greatly useful. If a poor, ordinary christian then had been so put to it, that either Paul or he must famish, no doubt but his ultimate end would have commanded him to prefer the apostle before himself: so that in extraordinary cases, the end and greatest good must be our guide.
4. Though I may ordinarily prefer my own life before another's, yet I must not prefer my mere delight or health before another's life: and though men must provide for the lives of their children before the lives of others, yet the life of a poor neighbour (_cæteris paribus_) must be preferred and provided for, before the portions of your own children, and before the supply of their tolerable wants: so that as long as there are poor about you, that are in necessity of food to save their lives, the portions or comeliest clothing of your children must rather be neglected, than the poor be suffered to perish. How else do I love my neighbour as myself, if I make so great a difference between myself and him?