388 Of theBleffednefs ofGiving, Vol. II. amiable and glorious of all his other Perfe'ions: And therefore when Mofes de- fires to feeGod's glory, Exod. 33. I9. he tells him, that he will caufe all his good- nefs to paf} before him. Without goodnefs the Power and Wifdom of God would be terrible, and raife great dread and fuperflition in the minds of Men. Without goodnefs Power would be tyranny and oppreffion, and Wifdom would degenerate into craft and mifchievous contrivance. So that a Being endowed with all Power and Wifdom, and yet wantinggoodnefs, would be a dreadful andomnipotent mif- chief. We are apt to dread Power, and to admire Knowledge, and to fufpeil great Wifdom and Prudence; but we can heartily love and reverence nothing but true Goodnefs. 'Tis not the infinite Power and Knowledge ofGod confidered abílra- dedly, and in themfeives, but thofe in conjun&ion withhis great goodnefs, that make him at once the moft awful and amiable Being in the World. Which is the reafon why our Saviour, Matth. 5.48. fpeaks of the mercy, and goodnefs, and pa- tience of God, as the top and fum of the Divine Perfeftions, Be ye therefore per- feel, as your father which is in heaven is perfeEl. How is that ? In being good to the evil and unthankful, as God is, who makes his Sun to rife, and his rain to fall, not only on the jug, but unjufi. And therefore St. Luke renders it, Beye therefore mercifùl, asyour father which is in heaven is merciful. To be good and mercifùl as God is, is to be periled as he is ; becaufe it is to imitate him in that which is his chief Perfeftion. Gratitude is one of the nobleft Virtues, and our goodnefs to Men is gratitude in us to God. It is an acknowledgment of the bleffings we have received from God ; the beft ufe we can make' of them, and the bell requital we can make to him for all his benefits. For we can give him nothing again, becaufe he ftands in needof nothing. $ut a truly grateful perfon, who hath akindnefsdone to him by one that is out of all capacity and reachof requital, will enquire whether there be any of his Family and Relations, to whomhe may !hew kindnefs for his fake. Yea, benefits have often been requited by thankful perfons, upon thofe who did but refemble their Benefaflors, tho' they were no ways related to them. Tho' we can do nothing to God, yet we may do it to Men, who are made after the Image of God. We may Phew kindnefs to his Relations, and to thofe ofhis Hou- fhold and Family, to his Creatures, to his Servants, to his Friends, and to his Children here in the Earth. Befides that our goodnefs to others like our felves, is an argument of great con- federation and prudence; 'cis a fign that we know our felves, and confider what we are, and what we maybe; it fhews, that we have a due fenfe of the indigence and infirmity ofhumanNature, and of the change and viciffitude ofhuman affairs; it is a juft fenfe and acknowledgmentof ourflare, that we are infufficient for our own happinefs, and niuft depend upon the kindnefs, and good will, and friend- fhip ofother Men; that we all either do or may ftand in need of others one time or other: for he who is now in the greateft plenty and abundance of all things, and thinks his mountain fo firong, that be can never be moved, may by a hidden revolution offortune, by a thoufand accidents, be thrown down from his height of profperity, into the depthof mifery and neceffity. And as it is an argument ofconfederation, fo ofgreat prudence. He that is good to others, apt to commiferate their fad cafe, and to relieve them in their ftraits, takes the wifeft and fureft way that can be, to encline and engage others to be good to him, when it !hall fall to his lot to ftand in need of their kindnefs and pity. Upon this account our Saviour commends the prudence of the unjufi Stew- ard, who laid in for the kindnefs of others, againft himfelffhould have occafion for it. And though it fhould happen otherwife, and that we fhould have an uninterru- pted tenour of profperity, (which few or none have) or that coining to ftand in need of others, our kindnefs Mould meet with no equal returns, yet it would not be quite loft, for as Seneca truly fays, deleltat etiam flerilis beneficii confcientia, tho' our charity fhould fall upon flony and barren ground, and we should find no ft t c:r i- rise thofe whom we have obliged, yet there is a pleafure inbeing con- fcious
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