A LETTER TO THE PARISHIONERS OF St. B.— A.— SHOWING The Use and Necessity of paying Easter-Offerings, now restored to the Parish Minister. LONDON, Printed for Geo. Strahan, at the Gold Ball, over-against the Royal-exchange, in Cornhill. 1700. A LETTER To the Parishioners of St. B.— A.— Showing the Use and Necessity of Paying Easter-Offerings. SIRS, THE Feast of Easter is now approaching, wherein our Holy Church Commemorates the great Mercies of God, in accomplishing our Redemption by the Death and Resurrection of our Blessed Saviour. 'Tis at this time, especially, that we ought to express our Thankfulness to God, by acts of Piety, and there are no actions so worthy our thoughts as those which immediately concern the Honour and Service of God. I think it all times my Duty to promote the Interest of Religion and the good of your Parish, and have therefore, upon your late Vacancy, endeavoured to make the best choice I could of a Minister, to instruct you for your Soul's Health: I am verily persuaded, that I have placed one among you, who is both able and willing to discharge the Duty of his Place; and who, I doubt not, will be careful to watch over you, as becomes a faithful Pastor. My next Care is to provide him a more sufficient support, thereby to encourage his Labours, and to enable him to maintain such Assistance; as will be needful to perform the great Business of your Parish. I am willing to forego my right to some part of that Revenue, to which I am legally Entitled, and to apply the same for promoting the Honour of God and Interest of his Church; therefore I have authorised Mr Kennet, your Minister, to collect and take to his own use, the Offerings due at Easter; and do earnestly recommend it to you, as your Duty, to pay the same, justly and conscientiously, which, I hope, you will do, when I have informed you, 1. Of the Nature of Offerings. 2. The use and necessity of paying them. 1st, The Nature of Offerings. By Offerings are usually understood those Gifts which are given, by devout Men, to God and the Church, which Gifts were commonly Offered with Solemnity and Devotion, at the Altar; some upon certain Festival Days, and others upon occasion of particular Mercies received by particular Persons: Those which were offered upon Festival Days, were on Sundays, the general Days of Christians Assembling themselves, or on certain Feast-Days, appointed by the Church to be kept Holy, in remembrance of the great Favours received from God, in completing our Redemption by the Conception, Nativity, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, of our Blessed Saviour. These Offerings were at first the Sacrifices of Pious Christians; but when Piety and Zeal grew cold, and Men began to fail of their Duty, than the Laws provided a Means of ascertaining every Man's Offerings, thereby to reserve a competent Livelihood to the Parish Minister; and now the Offerings due by the Laws of the Realm are two Pence for every Communicant, Note, That at the time the Offerings were settled at that rate, two Pence was equivalent to a Shilling at this Day. or of every Parishioner above the Age of 16, payable at the Feast of Easter, by the Master of every Family, for himself, his Wife, Children, and Servants: And now having informed you of the Nature of Offerings, I am, in the next place, to acquaint you with, 2dly, The Use and Necessity of paying Offerings. The chief use and design of paying Offerings, is, That we may Honour God with our Substance, as well as our Bodies; for as he made us, so he gives us all that we possess; and 'tis reasonable, that we should pay him some portion of what we enjoy, in token of his Dominion over us, and of our Subjection to him; 'tis the advice of the Wise Man, Honour God with thy Substance, and with the first fruits of all thy increase, Prov. 3.9. And it has been always accounted a part of our Worship, To bring Presents unto him that ought to be feared, Psal. 76.11. Almighty God took special Care in the Modelling of the Jewish Worship, that none should appear before him empty, Exod. 23.15. That so he might be honoured with a tribute from the Hands as well as the Hearts of his People. The reason why God commanded the Jews to dedicate part of their Wealth, was, for the Maintenance of the Jewish Clergy, a set of Men appointed to be free from Secular Employments, that they might offer up Prayers and Sacrifices for that People. The same Care hath God taken of a more Royal Priesthood, that of the Christian Church; for, as by the particular command of God, Those who served at the Altar, were partakers of the Altar, so, under the Christian Dispensation, Christ has ordained, That those who Preach the Gospel, should live of the Gospel, 1 Cor. 9.13, 14. and great reason it is, That those who dispense to us Spiritual Comforts, should be supplied, by us, with Temporal Conveniencies. I take the liberty to prescribe you two short Rules for your more faithful discharge of this Duty; they are, 1. Justice. 2. Cheerfulness. 1. JUSTICE. All Persons whatsoever, as well Adversaries as Friends, have a right to our Just Dealing; but more especially they are entitled to it, who may be truly termed our Benefactors; such are the Ministers of Christ, whose Business and Care it is to instruct us and inform us in all things necessary to Salvation; they are those who by wholesome Doctrines and Advice, do keep us from degenerating into wild and savage Creatures; for such were the Inhabitants of this Island, before the Glorious Light of the Gospel spread its bright Beams upon this Land. The Errand of those who Preach the Gospel, is not to make us an offer of short and transient Pleasures, but to lead us into that way which will bring us to a durable and everlasting Happiness: And surely, those who teach us Devotion towards God, and upright Dealing towards others, have deservedly a right to our Justice. I have no reason to doubt your Justice to your Minister, when I consider with what Zeal you are promoting some good Works in your Parish, towards the support of the Poor, and the propagating Christian Knowledge among the younger sort; but give me leave, in a few words, to acquaint you what Offerings you are obliged to pay. The Offerings then that you are legally obliged to pay Mr. Kennet, are two Pence a Head, according to the Number of your Families, as I have before informed you; but seeing I have, for your sake, and for the Honour of Religion, restored them to their first Religious Use, I rather wish that you would think yourselves obliged to do as did the Primitive Christians, those Pious Souls, who began to Honour God with their Substance, as soon as they had embraced the happiness of the Christian Faith; for they thought themselves obliged to offer according to their Ability, and thought nothing too much for them who Preached the glad tidings of the Gospel; but alas, many in this Age are arrived to that heinous degree of Impiety, as not only to grudge the giving a little of their abundance, but even to wrong and deprive their Ministers of what they can clandestinely conceal from them. I would therefore exhort you, for your own sakes, as well as that of your Minister, in the making your Offerings, to consider your own Abilities; and if you intent to act the parts of good Christians, and are resolved to manifest yourselves true Servants of God, to pay your Offerings not barely according to the Rules prescribed by the Laws of the Land, but according to the Reason and Dictates of a good Conscience, and according as God hath blessed you; 'tis true, that according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm, no other Offerings can be exacted than what are prescribed by Law, but a good Christian will not think he has done his Duty, when he has done all that the Laws oblige him; thus, for example, a conscientious Person will think himself bound to serve God every day, tho' the Laws compel him only to Worship God on Sundays. You will also think yourselves obliged to offer according to your Ability, if you consider, when you make your Offering, that God is not pleased with a mean and sordid Service; for he has discouraged the Offering of those who Offer the Price of a Dog, or the hire of a Harlot, Deut. 23.18. That is an Oblation which is mean and nothing worth, or that which is got by Wickedness and Injustice; but he has encouraged those to hope for a plentiful Harvest, who sow their seed plentifully; but they that sow sparingly, shall also reap sparingly. Now that your Offering may truly become a Religious Performance, I shall further direct you in the other Rule I proposed, and that is, 2. CHEERFULNESS. Cheerfulness is at all times the Duty of a Christian, but then especially, when he is about to exercise a Religious act, such as is the payment of Offerings towards the Maintenance of our Ministers, those Ambassadors of Christ; for whether we distribute Alms, or make an Oblation, we ought to do it cheerfully and not grudgingly or of necessity, because God loveth a cheerful giver, 2 Cor. 9, 6, 7. I am not desirous to boast of my good intention towards you, in bestowing those legal Dues of mine upon your well-deserving Minister, but this I desire to assure you, that I have done it cheerfully, with a prospect of promoting your Good, and therein the Glory of God, and Honour of Religion. I entreat you also to remember, That as the just and conscientious payment of your Offerings will be a wellpleasing Sacrifice to God, for the Reason's beforementioned, so it is the highest Indignity and Affront to Almighty God, to withhold whatsoever is Dedicated to the Service of his Ministers; for he counts it no less than Sacrilege, Mal. 3.8. the worst sort of Robbery, and which was one great cause of God's inflicting heavy Judgements upon the Jews; for you may observe a severe Doom pronounced by the Prophet Malachi for this very Sin, Mal. 3.9. which may serve as a sufficient Warning for all those who boast themselves in their Cunning of defrauding their Minister, and concealing his Deuce: But let such remember, That tho' they escape Vengeance here, yet they are heaping up to themselves Wrath against the Day of Wrath; which, that you may escape, shall be the humble and fervent Prayer of, Your Christian Friend and Brother, S. B. FINIS.