Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

in his favour, their felicity and glory; witness these expressions of love, which we shall one day understand by an experimental enjoyment of them, his banner over me is love. Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Set me as a seal uponthine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave, the coals thereof are coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it, Cant. ii. 4. and vi. 5.

After having elevated our meditation to heaven, we return to you, my brethren. We blush at what we are doing today. We are ashamed to preach, complain, and exhort. Why? Are we endeavouring to engage you to sacrifice your fortunes, to renounce your lives, to become accursed for your brethren? Are we trying to induce you to perform some heroical and uncommon act of love? No. Alas! Alas! We are obliged to exhort, and complain, and preach to obtain of you a little bit of bread, a few tattered clothes, a little small share of what you give with great profusion to the world. Good God! What Christians are you! Is this the church! Are you the household of faith? Are we preaching to citizens of heaven? Are we knocking at the doors of hearts that believe a life eternal? But how will you enter that abode with such unfeeling souls? Would you go to interrupt the communion of saints? Would you go to disorder heaven, and to disconcert angels? And do you not perceive, that if you do not put on bowels of mercies, you banish yourselves from an abode, in which all breathe charity and love?

In fine, We consider charity in regard to God himself. Love is the essence of Deity. God is love. So an apostlehath defined it. Here reflections rise from every part to establish our principle. Nature, providence, society, the church, heaven, earth, elements, all preach to us the love of God, all preach to us the excellence of charity, which makes us resemble God in the most lovely of his attributes. It would give us pleasure to enlarge on each of these articles, were it not necessary, after having made some general reflections on benevolence, which is the principle of almsgiving, to make some particular reflections on alms deeds themselves.

II. My brethren, were it only necessary in this discourse to give you high ideas of benevolence, and to convince you

in general of the necessity of giving alms, we would here put a period to our sermon. But can we be ignorant of what passes on these occasions? Each satisfies himself with a vague approbation of such truths. Each is convinced that we ought to be charitable, and that the poor should be relieved: but each is content with himself, and, examining less what he gives than whether he gives, persuades himself that he does enough, and that nobody ought to complain of him. It is then necessary, before we finish this discourse, to enter into some detail, and to prescribe some rules, by which we may pretty well know what each is obliged to give in alms. We will not determine with exact precision on this article. We are fully convinced, that, were we to conduct you from principle to principle to an exact demonstration of what the gospel requires of you in this case, we should speak things, which would make you suspect, that we took pains to advance unheard of maxims, and to preach paradoxes.

We will then content ourselves with proposing five considerations to you; or, to speak more plainly, we will produce five calculations, to which we beg your attention, and, after we have spoken of them, we will leave every man's conscience at liberty to draw consequences. The first calculation is that of the charities, which God prescribed to the Jews under the law. The second is that of the charities of the primitive christian church. The third is that of our superfluous expences. The fourth is that of the number of our poor. The last is that of the funds appropriated to their support.

I. The first calculation is that of the alms, which God prescribed to the Jews, and in this we include all that they were indispensibly obliged to furnish for religion. This calculation may well make christians blush, as it convinces us of this melancholy truth, that, though our religion excels ali religions in the world, yet its excellence lies in the gospel, and not in the lives of those who profess it.

1. The Jews were obliged to abstain from all the fruits, that growed on trees new planted, the first three years. These first fruits were accounted uncircumcision. It was a crime for the planters to appropriate them, Lev. xix. 23.

2. The fruits of the fourth year were devoted to the Lord. They were called holy to praise the Lord withal. Either they were sent to Jerusalem, or being valued they were redeemed by a sum equivalent paid to the priest; so that these VOL. IV.

Bb

people

people did not begin to receive the profits of their fruit trees till the fifth year.

3. The Jews were obliged every year to offer to God the first of all the fruits of the earth, Deut. xxvi. 2. When the head of a family walked in his garden, and perceived which tree first bore fruit, he distinguished it by tying on a thread, that he might know it when the fruits were ripe. At that time each father of a family put that fruit into a basket. At length, all the heads of families, who had gathered such fruit in one town, were assembled, and deputies were chosen by them to carry them to Jerusalem. These offerings were put upon an ox crowned with flowers, and the commissioners of the convoy went in pomp to Jerusalem, singing these words of the hundred twenty second psalm, I was glad, when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. When they arrived at the city, they sung these words, Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. At length they went to the temple, each carrying his offering on his shoulders, the king himself not excepted, again singing, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, Psal xxiv. 7.

4. The Jews were obliged to leave the corn on their lands ends for the use of the poor, and, in order to avoid the frauds, which might be practised in this case, it was deterimined to leave the sixtieth part of the land as a just proportion for the poor, Lev. xix. 9.

5. The ears of corn, which fell from the hand in harvest time, were devoted to the same purpose; and if you consult Josephus, he will tell you, that the Jews held themselves obliged by this command of God, not only to leave the poor such ears of corn as fell by chance, but to let fall some freely and on purpose for them to glean.

6. The Jews were obliged to give the fortieth part of their produce to the priest, at least it is thus the Sanhedrim explained the law written in the eighteenth chapter of Deute

ronomy.

7. They were obliged to pay a tenth to maintain the Levites, Numb. xvii. 16,

8. The produce of the earth every seventh year belonged to the poor, at least the owner had no more right than people who had no property, Lev. xxv. 23. This command is

* Antiq. Jud. cap. 8. lib. iv.

express,

express, and the Jews have such an idea of this

precept, that they pretend the captivity in Babylon was a punishment for the violation of it. To this belong these words, The land shall enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemy's land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths, chap. xxxvi. 34.

9. All debts contracted among this people were released at the end of every seven years; so that a debtor, who could not discharge his debt within seven years, was at the end of that time released from all obligation to discharge it, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21. Deut. xv. 2.

To all these expences add extraordinaries for sacrifices, oblations, journies to Jerusalem, half shekels to the sanctuary, and so on, and you will find, that God imposed upon his people a tribute amounting to nearly half their income*, What is worthy of consideration is, that the modern Jews, as you may convince yourselves by conversing with them, not being able literally to discharge a great number of precepts, which originally related to their ancestors, are far from being lax in relieving their poor; so that if there are as many Jews in a place as form what they call a congregation (and ten they say are sufficient) they appoint treasurers to collect charities for the poor. Lest avarice prevailing over principle should prevent the discharge of this duty, they have judges who examine their ability, and who tax them at about a tenth of their income, so that one of the greatest offences, which we give them, and which prejudices them against christianity, is the little charity christians have for the poor: A scandal, by the way, and to your confusion let it be spoken, which would undoubtedly increase, if they were better acquainted with you, and if they saw that affected dissipation, which prevents many of you from seeing the hands held out to receive alms for the poor at the doors of our churches.

This is the first calculation we have to propose to you. Having proposed it to your examination we will determine nothing. One reflection, however, must not be omitted, that is, that the gospel is an ceconomy infinitely more noble, and more excellent than the law. The gospel, by abolishing the levitical ceremonies, hath enforced the morality of Judaism much more effectually, and particularly what regards charity. Jesus Christ hath fixed nothing on this article,

Bb 2

* Episcopius Inst. Theol. lib. iii. cap. 5.

ticle. He hath contented himself by enjoining us in generat to love our neighbour as ourselves, not being willing to set any other bounds to our love for him than those, which we set to our love for ourselves. If then under an œconomy so gross, if under an economy in which differences were made between Jews and Gentiles, nation and nation, people and people (which always restrain charity) God required his people to give, to say the least, a third part of their income, what, what are the obligations of christians? I repeat it again, were I to pursue these reflections, I should certainly be taxed with advancing unheard of maxims, and preaching paradoxes.

II. The second calculation we have to propose to you is that of the charities of the primitive christians. The great master had so fully imparted his own charitable disposition to his disciples, that, according to St. Luke, all that believed had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need, chap. ii. 44. and Acts ii. 44, 45. In the time of Tertullian christian charity was proverbial, and it was said of them, See how they love one another; insomuch that the heathens, surprised to see an union so affectionate, ascribed it to supernatural causes. They said, christians had some unknown characters imprinted on their bodies, and these characters had the virtues of inspiring them with love for one anothert. Lucian, that satyrical writer, who died in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, in a discourse on the death of the Philosopher Peregrinus, who burnt himself at the Olympick games, Lucian, I say, by attempting to satirize christians passed a high encomium on them. "It is incredible, says he, what pains and diligence they use by all means to succour one another. Their legislator made them believe that they are all brethren, and since they have re nounced our religion, and worshipped their crucified leader, they live according to his laws, and all their riches are com mont." We have also an undoubted testimony of Julian the apostate on this article. He was one of the greatest persecutors of the primitive christians, and he was a better politician in the art of persecution than either his predecessors or successors. Julian did not attack religion with open violence;

* Tertul. Apol. xxxix. + Minutius Felix. + Lucian, tom. 2. de la mort du fil. Peregrine.

« FöregåendeFortsätt »