Commentary on the Gospels and Acts, Commentary 1 · Chapter 5 · Verse 42 – Verse 43
Verse 42. Give to him that asketh thee.]
Yet with discretion, and choice of a sit object. Which having met with, be not wearyAug of well-doing; for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not.Rogers of love, …. …. Giving is compared to sowing, which, in good ground, is usually… Christi est …. … est, se vel tum …, …-… aliquo munere prosequeretur. …? with increase. Therefore a worthy Minister, upon occasion, asking his wife, whether there were any money in the house, she answered, that she knew but of one three-pence; well (saith he) we must go sowe, that is, give something to the poor, knowing that to be the way of bringing in, Prov. 11. 24, 25. Deut. 15. 10. The mercy of God crowns our beneficence with the blessing of store. Happy was the Sareptan that she was no niggard of her last handfull. The more we give, the more we have: it increaseth in the giving, as the loaves in our Saviours hands did. Never did a charitable act go away without the retribution of a blessing. How improvident therefore are we, that will not offer a Sacrifice ofNunquan …. alms, when God sets up an altar before us? It were an excellent course, surely, if Christians now, as they of old at Corinth, would … up weekly a part of their gettings for pious and charitable uses; and that men would abound in this work of the Lord, as knowing that their labour is not in vain in the Lord (I speak of them that are able, for we may not stretch beyond our staple, andIn Basiliensi Concilio anno 1440 Amadeus … dux uxoratus, & duos … ad pontificatum … …. so spoil all.) We read of a Bishop of Lincoln, that never thought he had that thing, that he did not give. And of one Bishop of Rome (though that's a rare thing) that was so liberall to the poor, that when he was asked by certain Embassadours, whether he had any hunting-dogs to shew them, he answered, Yes. And bringing them to a great sort of poor people, whom he daily relieved at his table, These are the dogs (saith he) wherewith I hunt Hi sunt canes quos alo quotidie, quibus … me … glorian venaturum.after heaven. Bishop Hooper also, had his board of beggers. Twice I was (saith M. Fox) in his house in Worcester: where in his common-hall, I saw a table spread with good store of meat, and … full of beggers and poor folk. And this was his daily custom. And when they were served and catechised, then he himselfI am verò longè …. Pauperibus sua dat gratis, nec munera curat … papalis, quod modo …. Hic … legendo percipimus modo, &c. sate down to dinner, and not before. Queen Anne Bullin carried ever about her a certain little purse, out of which she was wont daily to scatter some alms to the needy: thinking no day well spent, wherein some man had not fared the better by some benefit at her hands. The Savoy, Bride-well, and another Hospitall, founded by King Edward the sixt, upon a Sermon of B. Ridleys, doe speak and testifie both … tender heart, and his bountifull hand. Bonfinius relateth of Stephen King of Hungary (and the same thing is reported of Oswald King of England) thatAct. and Mon. 1368 & 1534 his right-hand rotted not for a long time after he was dead. And well it might be so (saith he) that that hand should be keptSee his life by Sir Iohn Heyw. p. 170. from corruption, that never suffered any to beg, to hunger, to lie in captivity, or any other misery. But these, alas, are the last and worst daies, wherein love is waxen cold: Mens hearts areMeritò manus illa … expers esse debuit, quae neminem mendicare, esurire, & in captivitate, … miseria jacere, perpessa est. frozen, and their hands wither'd up. A great deal of mouthmercy there is, as in S. James his time, Goe thy waies and be fed, clothed, warmed: but with what? with a messe of words, a sute of words, a fire of words: these are good cheap: but a little handfull were better then a great many such mouth-fuls. We may now a daies wait for some good Samaritan to come and prove himself a neighbour: And after all complain, There is no mercy in the land. Mercifull men are taken away, the liberall Hos. 4. 1.man faileth from among the children of men. Elias lacketh hisIsa. 57. 1. Psal. 12. 1.… of Sarepta, and Elisha the Shunamite. Paul cannot finde the Purpurisse, nor Peter the Currier. Abraham we have not, and Job we finde not. Captain Cornelius is a black-swan in this generation, that gave to him that asked, and from him that would borrow of him, turned not away, &c.
And from him that would borrow of thee, turn not away.]
Some are ashamed to beg and take alms, who yet, being … with great necessity, could be glad to borrow. And a … kindenesse it might be, to lend them a bigger summe, then to give them a lesser. Here therefore a good man is mercifull and … 112.…, he will lend, looking for nothing again: not looking that a poor neighbour should earn it out, or doe as much for him … other way. Nay, we ought not in this case so to look for our own again, as that that be the chief thing we aim at, but to obey Christ, and to doe a poor man a pleasure. And what if the wicked borroweth, …. 37. 21.and paieth not again: let not others fare the worse for their fault. The godly make great conscience of paying that they owe, as the sonne of the Prophets that was so sorry for the … 2 King. 6. 5.of the axe, Alas, master, it was but borrowed. And Elisha … the widow first pay her debts with her oil, and then live of the …. Now from such borrowers turn not away: plead not excuse, … not … when it is in thy hand to help them presently. He … Prov. 28. ….hideth his … (in this case) shall have many a curse. Not … … 6. 9. with Mark 3. ….doe good (in this kinde) is to doe hurt; not to save a life, or … a poor mans declining estate, is to destroy it. Carnall … will here stand up and plead, as Nabal did, Shall I take my … 1 …. 25 11.and my fl sh, that I have provided for my shearers, and give it … strangers? So, … I take my money or my means, which I have provided for my children, and give it or lend it to such and such? Here then you must silence your reason and exalt your faith. Consider how great an honour it is to be Almoner to the King of heaven; that by … out upon such, you lay hold upon eternall life;foreign. that the Apostle, 2 Cor. 8. 2. setteth … liberality by a word … signifieth simplicity, in opposition to that crafty wilinesse, that is in the covetous, to defend themselves from the danger (as they think) of liberality: that, the liberall man deviseth … 1 Cor. 6. 18.things, and by liberall things he shall stand: When a man would thinke he should fall rather, he takes a right … to stand and thrive: He laies up for himself a sure foundation.
Verse 43. Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine ….]
This later they drew, as an inference from the former, … the rule of contraries. But Logick being the rule of reason, … now is corrupt, is it self in some respect corrupt also. Sure we are, be it what Logick it will, it is but carnall Divinity. Sutable it is toConsu'e … Logic. lib. 3 cap 2 p 5. 0. … nature, but so much the more suspicious. The Pharisees taught …, and were applauded. The Papists also little better (for the … are fled and hid in the Papists, as one saith the ancient … are in the Monks) they teach, that in two cases only we … bound to help our enemies, in the case of extremity, and of …. For other things, to love them, to pray for them, or do them good in other cases, it's but a counsell our Saviour gives, and … commandment. If men can doe it, its well; but if they cannot, … not required. Thus say they, But what saith Christ the Lawmaker, and so the truest Interpreter thereof?