464 Chap. 31. 4 s Expoition upon the Book of j o a. Veti. !7- who have nothing, not for thole who have enough a 1.eady. We tuna preferre the doing of charities, before the doing ofcourte lies., it is recorded by Mr. Fore in the Bo,ke tf M:crtrrs, con- cerning that eminent fervant and witneffe of J.ii s Chrilt john Hooper Bifhop of:v.0. er, That he kept a Contiant Table for the poore, or his Board ofBeggars, who were dayly ferved with whole and wholefome meates, before himfelfe fate downe to dinner. There are Great Houfe- keeperswho are not geed Hanle- keepers, becaufe their houle keeping is for theGreat not for the good,riot for thehoule hold offaich,efpecially not for the poore of that houle- hold. B'affed are thofe feaft makers,who make the bowells ofthe hungry tobleffe them. Solarrens good direction falls in with this good practice , as fome expound it (Ecclef.tr. 1.) Calf thy bread upon the water, that is, upon the poore, orup- on thofeofwhom thou haft no more expedition to receive any thingagaine, then thou canft rationJly expel thy bread againe when thou haft cafe it upon théwater, or that thou fhouldett reape a-plentiful! harveft of that feed which thou haft cali upon the wayes of the Sea, not into the furrows ofthe earth. The ho- ly Prophet affures us, that this feeding ofthe poore is snore ac- ceptab:.e to God then our owne abfeaining from food (afa. 58. 6,7.) This is the fat that I have chofen,that thou deale thy.bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poore that are call cat to thy houfe. when thouloft theraked,rhst thou c,ver him, and that th..0 hidenot thyfclfe from thine owne ß.jh. This is the Lords fait. and the Lord accounts no fait koly, but when 'Os followed with fuch a feaft ; and therefore that cuftome in the Churches of making a ColleQion for the poore in the dole ofa day offait and folemne humiliation, is not to be reckoned a formality, but an efï'entiall part of that Great and important duty. To comfort and refrefta the bodyes ofthe afflicted, is as pl. afing toGod,as the of ; ding ofout owne foules. ' ris fad to fee t!i e poore neglefted at any time, but efpec ially at that time. And 'cis as fad to fee how the practice of moft, at all times,runs quite contrary cr croffe to the rule ofChrift given us in the Gofpel , That faith, Invite not thy brethren, nor the rich, but the poore; whereas ufually the richa-e invited and not thepoore. And whereas (in fpiritualls) God fills the hungry with good things,bnt fends the rich empty away, Inoft men (as to corporalls) fill the rich with their good things, with
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