Serm.CLIX. more than that ofReceiving. 3 89 fcious to our felves, that we have done well, what was worthy and generous, and what became wife and confiderate Men to do, whatever the event and fuccefs be : For fetting afide all felfifh refpe&s, purely out of humanity and charity, anda generous compaffion, we fhould be ready as we have opportunity to do good to all that ftand in need of our kindnefs and help. So that a difpofition to do good is the belt and happieft temper of mind; be- caufe it is the neareft refemblance of the Divine Nature, which is perfeftly happy it is a grateful acknowledgment of our obligationsto God, and all that we can ren- der to him for his benefits ; it is an argument of great wifdom and confideration ; it gives cafe and fatisfaftion to our minds and the refle&ion upon any good that we have done, is certainly the greateft contentment and pleafure in the World, and a felicity much beyond that of the greateft fortune of this World Whereas the Spirit contrary to this is always uneafie to it felf; the envious and malicious, the hard-hearted and ill-natured Man carries his own torment and hell about him, hismind is full of tumultuous agitations and unquiet thoughts : But were our Nature reified, and brought back to its primitive frame and temper, we Mould take no fuch pleafure in any thing as in as of kindnefs and compaffion, which are fo fuitable and agreeable to our Nature, that they are peculiarly called Humanity, as if without this temper wewere not truly Men, but fomething elfe difguifed under a human fhape. 11. To give, is an argument ofa more happy Rate and condition, than to receive. To receive from others is an argument of indigency, and plainly thews that we are in want and neçeffity ; either that we ([and in need of fomething, or that we think we do, and either of thefe conditions is far from pede& happinefs: But to give, is an argument offulnefs and fufficiency, that we have more than isneceffary for our felves, and fomething tofpare. To receive kindnefs from others, fuppofeth we Rand in need of it; and to ftand in needof it, is to be in a ftate of being obliged and indebted. Obligation is a dear thing, and a real debt which lies heavy and uneafie upon a grateful mind : So much obligation as any Man hath to another, fo much he hath loft of his own liberty and freedom; for it gives him that bath obliged us, a fuperiority and ad- vantage over us. And what Solomon fays of the Borrower, that he is a Servant to the Lender, is in proportion true in this cafe, that the Receiver is a Servant to the Giver. But to be able to benefit others, is a condition of freedom and fuperiority, an is fo far from imparing our liberty, that it (hews our power : And the happinefs which we confer upon others, by doing them good, is not only a contentment to our felves, but we do in fome fort enjoy the happinefs we give, in being confci- ous to our felves that we are the Authors of it. And could we but once come to this excellent temper, to delightin the good that others enjoy, as if it were our own (and'tis our own, if we be the Inftruinents of it, and take pleafure in it) I fay could we but once come to this temper, we need not envy the wealth and fplendor'of the molt profperous upon Earth; for upon thefe terms the happinefs of the whole World would in fome fort be ours, and we fhould have a (hare in the pleafure and fatisfa&ion of all that good which happens to any Man any way, efpecially by our means. To depend upon another, and to receive from him, and to bebeholding tohim, is the neceffary imperfection of Creatures : But to confer Benefits upon others, is, to refemble God, and to approach towards Divinity. Arlotle could fay, that by narrownefs and felfifhnefs, by envy and ill-will, Men degenerate into Beafts, and become Wolves and Tygers to one another; but by goodnefs andkindnefs, by mu- tual compaffion and helpfulnefs, Men become Gods to one another. To be a Be. nefadot, is to be as like God as 'tis poffible for Men to be; and the more any one partakes of this divine quality and difpofition, the liker and the nearet he is to God, who is good to all, andwhole tender mercies are over all his Works. Thebleffed Angels, who behold the Face of God continually, are as it were perfedly transform'd into the Image of the Divine Goodnefs, and therefore the work
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