Imprimatur.  
December 12. 1693.  
Carolus Alston.   

A SERMON Preached at the Anniversary Meeting Of the SONS of CLERGYMEN In the Church of St Mary-le-Bow, ON Thursday, December the 7th. 1693.  
Printed at the Request of the Stewards of the Feast; to whom it is humbly Presented.  
By EDWARD LAKE, D. D. Rector of the United Parishes of St. Mary at Hill, and St. Andrew Hubbard.  
LONDON, Printed by J. Leake for Henry Bonwicke, at the Red Lion in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1694.   

Dr. LAKE's SERMON Before the Sons of the CLERGY. December the 7th. 1693.   
HEBREWS xiij. 7. 
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.  
WE do not doubt to assert this Epistle Canonical Scripture, and assign it to St. Paul, as the Amanuensis or Penman of it; though controverted of old by Martion, and the Arians in Opposition to the Divinity of Christ, herein plainly evinced; and by Cajetan of late. St. Peter's Intimation in his Second Epistle, an Epistle written Six Years after this, does, methinks, put it quite out of doubt: 
2 Pet. 3.15.  Our beloved Brother Paul also, according to the Wisdom given unto him, 
1 Pet. 1.1.  hath written to you, viz. To you Jews, than Strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bythinia: For we know of no other Epistle but this, directed by our Apostle to them. If any will not rest satisfied with this, let him look upon the token or seal, 
2 Thes. 3.17.  which he sets to every Epistle, as he did to this, viz. The Grace of Jesus Christ; whereas the Jews did usually conclude their Addresses with a Valediction of Peace, 
1 Pet. 5.14. 2 Joh. 14.  as did St. Peter and St. John afterward.  
And though he prefixes not his Name to it, as he did to the rest of his Epistles, for some good Reasons, which would take up too much of your Time and Patience to hear; yet the Sentences thereof so grave and weighty, and expressive, breath the Spirit and Majesty of this Apostle. Add hereunto the Prosecution of his Design herein, which renders it highly probable; for, according to his wont Method, he first lays the Doctrine of Faith as a Foundation, and upon it raises Precepts of good Manners, and Directions to an holy Life, as the Building. And as by Faith, we are united to our Head Christ Jesus; so by Love we are knit together, and united among ourselves; therefore to the Doctrine of Faith, treated of at large in the Twelve First Chapters, he does immediately subjoin an Exhortation to brotherly Love in the beginning of this, specifying two sorts of Persons, to whom more especially we are obliged to direct it, viz. Strangers and Captives. Strangers driven from their Homes, and forced to take up Deserts, Dens, and Caves for their Habitation; Captives, who were housed indeed, but to their greater Affliction, detained in their Bonds and Prison for their Profession of Christianity.  
This Profession he doth very earnestly exhort them in this Epistle, to hold fast without wavering, 
Heb. 10.23.  maugre those grievous Persecutions, which from Jews and Gentiles did now press hard upon them on every side; 
2.1.  to give earnest heed to the things which they had heard; 
3.6.  to hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end; 
10. ●9.  not to be of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them who believe, to the saving of the soul. Lastly, Not to be slothful, but to be followers of them, 
6.12.  who through faith and patience inherit the promises. The very Argument which my Text offers, Remember them, etc.  
The Persons mentioned therein are presented with a double Character, they are such as rule over them, and have spoken to them the Word of God: The Duties which refer to them are two; they must remember and imitate them; and this in two things here particularly taken Notice of, as 1. Their Faith. 2. Their Perseverance and Constancy, even to the end of their Conversation. I will (by God's Help) very plainly, and expeditely speak to these particulars, and then give them a Review, and adapt the whole to the Design of our present Solemnity.  
And for the better understanding of what I have to say, I premise,  
1. That the Apostle cannot be supposed to mean here, those who were then living, but who had been for some time deceased. It is true, we read it in the present Tense, those who have the Rule; but the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, may be well rendered in a past one, as will appear by comparing it with the following Words, and have spoken to you the Word of God, and the Apostle calls on them to remember them, which supposes them absent from them, viz. in the Body, and present with the Lord; as also to consider the End of their Conversation, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. their Decease, their Exit, or Departure out of the World.  
2. This was the last of St. Paul's Epistles, and written by him, as 'tis guessed, about the Eighth Year of the Emperor Nero, and presently after Timothy's Enlargement from Prison: After which, we hear no more of our Apostle; nothing indeed of him but Conjecture. So that before the writing of this Epistle, not only St. Stephen the Protomartyr, but St. James the Great, the Brother of John; and also very probably, St. James the Less, the Brother of our Lord, and Constituted by him Bishop of Jerusalem, were put to Death; and perhaps some others, whom neither Holy Scriptures, nor Ecclesiastical Writings, give us any Account of. Only Baronius out of Dositheus, tells us of Silas, Narcissus, and others, whose Memories the Hebrews were obliged to Regard and Preserve, whose Faith to Fellow, whose Conversations to Imitate. And,  
1. Them who rule over you, viz. chief and principally the Bishops; as also, though in an inferior Sense, Presbyters: For thus, both among Profane and Sacred Authors, the Word imports Prefects or Governors, whether in Church or State.  
We find the Title Applied to Christ as Ruler or Governor in Israel; 
Mat. 2.7.  to his Apostles, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Let him that is chief, 
Luk. 22.26.  or who ruleth among you, be as he that doth serve; and particularly to Silas and Judas, 
Act. 15.22.  Chief men or rulers among the people.  
This Notion of the Word we have from the last Words of this Chapter and Epistle; Salute all them that have the rule over you, viz. the Bishops and Pastors of your Churches, (for such there were, at this time, constituted over the Churches of the believing Jews, especially in Syria and Judaea) and all the Saints, viz. the Flock committed to their charge: Rulers and Saints being the Two Words made use of to comprehend all the Christian Hebrews, to whom this Epistle is directed.  
If Mr. Mede's Thought be right in his Exposition of that Text of the Apostle, 
Mede on 1 Tim. 5.17. pa●. 71.  Let the Elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honour, and especially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine; where he distinguishes Two sort of Elders, viz. Residentiaries, and such as were affixed to certain Churches, whose business was praesidere gregi, to govern and Instruct their Flocks, who are elsewhere called Prophets and Doctors; and others who had no fixed Station or Charge over any certain Church, but traveled up and down to Preach the Gospel where it was not, and to Establish it where it was. Their Diocese was the whole World, as it was St. Paul's; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith he, 
Heb. 15.10.  I have laboured, or, I have traveled up and down more than they all; and they are elsewhere known by the Name of Evangelists: I say, If this Observation be genuine, why may not we too distinguish in my Text, those that ruled well among the Hebrews, from others who had spoken to them the Word of God?  
The First of these, under what Name soever they pass among Divines, whether we call them Ministers of the Word, or Apostles, or Governors, or Pastors, or Doctors, or Conductors and Guides of Faith, or High-Priests, or Prelates and Bishops of the Church, this is obvious, that their Work is to rule over, and govern their Flocks.  
What Society can subsist without Order, without Government? This is the very Soul that animates and influences it: Neither Church nor Kingdom can live and breath without it.  
Look over the several Appellations given to our Lord in Holy Scripture, as Lord, Shepherd, King, Husband, the Head of his Church, and do they not all imply a Precedence or Authority? Read over the Titles with which he hath graced his beloved Church, styling her his Body, his Spouse, his Flock, his Household or Family, and do they not all import an orderly and regular Submission?  
But Christ hath now left the World, and ascended up on high; and when he did so, he gave Gifts unto Men; 
Eph. 4.11.  He gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And thus particularly did he authorise his Apostles, this Commission did he give them, and in them their Successors, not only to speak the Word of God unto his Saints, but to rule over them; a Power really communicated to them, with other Gifts and Graces, on the Day of Pentecost: 
Act. 1.4.  Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; a Power which hath been ever since exercised in the Church of Christ, by Christian Bishops and Priests, but with respect to their different Station and Order.  
Aaron of Old, had, you know, his Rod, as the Bishop his Pastoral Staff, 
Num. 17.8.  an Emblem of Authority, an Ensign of Jurisdiction, a Rod to support the Weak and Innocent, to chastise the Wicked and Impenitent, to meet out Reward and Punishment respectively unto all. This Rod of his St. Austin calls Sacramentum Sacerdotale, and Isidore Pelusiote, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Type of the Priesthood, a significant Hieroglyphic of his Duty.  
It instructs him to be courageous and vigilant in his Office, and to Rebuke with all Authority, to Admonish, to Reprove, and that with Sharpness too, as occasion offers, according to the Power which the Lord hath given to Edification, and not unto Destruction. And to reject those Counsels and Reproofs, is to offer Violence to the Authority which God hath erected in his Church: In this case, He that despiseth, 
1 Thess. 4.8.  despiseth not Man but God.  
The highest Acts of this Authority are the admission of Persons to the Communion of the Church by Baptism, and excluding them from it by Excommunication: When Men once contemn Discipline, and despise Order, and become Refractory and Obstinate, Resolution and Severity, are then the proper Virtues of these Rulers, and Justice itself is their Mercy; they must then with David, condescend to be Doorkeepers in the house of God, to shut out all Profaneness, and debar such Offenders from invading her Communion and Offices, from hearing the Word of God spoken to them.  
This is the other Character of the Persons recommended to our Remembrance and Imitation; who have spoken to you the Word of God, who have instructed you in the Knowledge of Christ, the proper Food and Nourishment of the Soul, with which his Sheep, his Lambs are fed; and by Virtue of which, they advance and grow up unto a full Stature in Christ Jesus: 
Joh. 17.3.  This is life eternal to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.  
And this is a Work, that none is too great or too high for; for it is a Work of Charity, and Charity is the Work of Heaven; nay, of the highest and most eminent Charity, to give Alms to the Souls of Men, to  the Nakedness of their Understandings, and supply the Wants of their impoverished Reason. And for this Purpose, hath God appointed and separated an Order of Men, whose business should be to devote themselves to the Service of Religion, the Study of the Scriptures, and the Work of the Ministry; to instruct men in those things they know not, to re-mind them of those things they already know, to reprove them for what they do amiss, to inspect diligently the Lives and Manners of Men, to apply seasonable Encouragements to fearful, and Comforts to distressed, Consciences. This is indeed, speaking the Word of God; it is not properly a flow of Words, nor the draining of an Hourglass, but an effectual procuring that men be taught their Duty, and urged to the performance of it. And this is effected more particularly and publicly by Catechising and Preaching.  
As to Catechising, you cannot but know the great import and Advantages of it; how necessary it is, that a good Foundation be first laid before a firm Superstructure can be raised, how needful it is, that the first Principles should be well understood before the greater mysteries can be throughly apprehended; What a most excellent Expedient it is to prevent Schism and Heresy, Atheism and Profaneness; What Benefits would hence accrue both to Church and State; I suppose it needless to enlarge on it in this knowing Assembly. Nor is this Office of Catechising below the Dignity of the greatest Minister of God: The Primitive Fathers generally were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; nay, very probably the holy Apostles themselves were so.  
As to Preaching, 'tis a Duty too of infinite consequence and advantage, even the Power of God unto Salvation, when rightly and plainly dispensed: I say, plainly, for what have the ignorant Vulgar to do with controversy? Why should their Heads be filled with perplexed Notions and foolish Questions which engender Strifes? Such things as are of daily Use and Practice, such as are all earnest and zealous Inculcations of Obedience to God, and to man for God's Sake, of Humility and Sobriety, of Love and Charity, of common Justice and Honesty, of Faith and Repentance and good Works, etc. If thou put them in remembrance of these things, 
1 Tim. 4.6.  thou shalt be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a faithful Minister of Jesus Christ; and as such, worthy hereafter to be remembered, which directs me to consider the Duties here recommended to us, and, 1. Remember,  
Men naturally desire to be remembered tho' dead and gone, to have their Names perpetuated to after-Ages; nor has there been wanting among the Heathen, such, who, tho' not inspired with the Hopes of a future Reward, yet have taken care to have their memories conveyed to Posterity. Witness the Egyptian Pyramids, as also certain Statues among the Greeks, with the Names of their Founders inscribed on them. This they impetrated as a Favour from their Gods; this they accounted a Blessing to have themselves remembered after Death.  
And indeed so it is; for otherwise God would never have assured it to righteous men, That they should be had in everlasting remembrance, 
Psal. 112.  That their righteousness should remain for ever; and their memories never perish. Our Saviour hath said it of Mary Magdalen, 
Mat. 26.13.  That wheresoever his Gospel should be preached, that which she had done should be spoken of for a memorial of her. Whereas God hath threatened the Wicked with Excision, even of their very Names, that their memory should perish; or, if it did outlive them, it should rot, and (as we say) stink above ground; or like Lot's Wife's Pillar, which remained to Posterity, a Spectacle of Divine Vengeance for many Generations; so that they who passed by wagged their Heads at it.  
But the memory of the Just shall be blessed, i. e. so far as known; and God calls on us, who survive them, to take care, that it be so. Remember them; recollect those Gifts and Graces, with which God had so remarkably endowed them; Acknowledge to his Glory, what good they have done us; remember them as our spiritual Parents and Benefactors; as those who laboured and watched for the good of our Souls; think of them with Delight, who have put off their Flesh, and are passed this Stage of sin and sorrow to their everlasting Homes; speak of them to their praise, for which God did so eminently qualify them.  
This hath been the Practice of all Ages, even of such as never heard of Christ. Let us now praise famous Men, 
Ecclus. 44.1.  (said the wise Syracides) and our fathers that begat us: The Lord hath wrought glory on them through his great Power from the beginning; such as did bear Rule in their Kingdoms, men renowned for their Power; Leaders of the People: By their Counsels and by their Knowledge of Learning meet for the People; wise and eloquent in their Instructions. And again, 
7. v.  All these were honoured in their Generations, and were the Glory of the times; There be of them that have left a Name behind them, that their Praises might be reported. And again, 
10. v.  Mereisul men, whose righteousness hath not been forgotten; Their seed shall remain for ever, and their glory shall not be blotted out. And again, Their bodies are buried in Peace, 
13. v.  but their Name liveth for evermore; The people will tell of their wisdom, and the Congregation will show forth their praise.  
How very exact too were the Primitive Christians, in honouring the memories of their Martyrs and deceased Bishops? For this were the Diptyches read in the Church, which were two Leaves or Tables, on the one whereof were written the Names of those pious Men and Confessors who were yet alive; and on the other those who had died in the Lord, and were at rest. For this were Altars erected over their Graves; For this were their Pictures hung up in their private Shops and Houses; For this were Churches, though dedicated to God, made to bear the Names of Saints to preserve their Memories; For this were their Feast-days celebrated, Panegyrics made on them, and their Lives written. St. Basil wrote the Life of Barlaam, who was but a poor Shepherd; Nazianzen, of Basil and others, which, he saith, he left to Posterity, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as a common Table of Virtue for all the World to look on.  
We do not read of any Worship in those times addressed to them (this were to dishonour not only that God who crowned them, but themselves also; for Honour, where it is not due, is a kind of contumely:) we do not read of any Prayers for them to be delivered out of Purgatory, nor of adoring their Relics, nor of Prostration to their Images, nor of Pilgrimages to their Shrines, nor of saying Masses, nor of making Vows or Oblations unto them, as Cornelius à Lapide, and others, urge even from this very Text. No, they only prayed, as we do, for a glorious Resurrection, for their perfect Consummation and Bliss both in Body and Soul, in his eternal and everlasting Kingdom. But the greatest Honour which they did them, was to follow or imitate them; which is the second Duty inculcated in the Text.  
The very Remembrance of good men is a Degree, an Approach to Holiness; otherwise St. Paul would not, as in our Text, have required it: as he did in another place of this Epistle call upon his Hebrews, 
Heb. 10.24.  to consider, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, narrowly to mark and observe, and study one another, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to whet and sharpen each others Affections, now, perhaps, dulled with vain and impertinent Speculations, to provoke unto love and to good works.  
By Virtue of this Imitation it is, that we become influenced, nay, ecstafied with the Spirits of those who are gone before us; that we become meek with Moses, patiented with Job, chaste with Joseph, devout with David, that with our Apostle, 
Phil. 3.13.  we forget those things which are behind, and press forward to those things which are before; 
2 Tim. 4.6.  that with him we are ready to be offered up; yea, are at the Stake, or on the Rack, or at the Block with the Holy Martyrs. Thus when in the course of Christianity we doubt or dispute with ourselves which way to take, we then deliberate and advise, what Paths they trod, who have already departed this Life in the Faith and Fear of God, and especially they who have had the rule over us, Holy Bishops, or our good Fathers; would they have turned their Backs in the Day of Battle, and been Cowards at the sight of a glittering Spear? Would they have struck Sail at every Pyrate's Threat? Would they have basely and unworthily betrayed their Holy Faith? With what Courage, with what Resolution, with what Patience were they Endowed?  
And indeed, as I intimated even now, this is the highest Honour we can do them, to propound them to ourselves as our Patterns, and to follow them in their constant Love to God, to Religion, and to all Mankind, whatsoever we suffer for it.  
This was the due Practice of Holy Men of Old; Laudamus, Glorificamus, Admiramur, etc. (to use the Words of St. Austin, or whoever he was that wrote the Book de Excidio urbis) We Praise, we Glorify, we Admire the Blessed Martyrs, we Celebrate their Days with a pious Solemnity, we Venerate their Worth, and, as far as we can, we Fellow them, and endeavour to do as they did.  
By this we raise them as 'twere, from the Dead to Life again, we revive their Memories, we personate them in this World, and act their Parts: Our Actions are the Resultances of theirs, our Praises the Echoes of their Songs, and ourselves the living Images of them. And those, who do thus Honour God's Saints and Friends, God himself will Honour everlastingly.  
Here are Two Graces expressed in the Text, in which especially we are obliged to follow them. 1. Their Faith. 2. Their Perseverance and Constancy even unto the end of their Conversation.  
As to Faith, we here understand by it, the Grace rather than the Rule of Faith; and by it, we mean a constant Dependence upon God for the Performance of his Promises; a being convinced of the truth of those things, of which we have no ocular or sensible Demonstration. We have an Account of it thus understood throughout the whole Eleventh Chapter of this Epistle, and of those brave Exploits, which by Virtue hereof, the Fathers of the Old Testament had wrought, and therefore obtained a good report, viz. a Testimony of God's Approbation of, and Respect unto them.  
But here, as the Apostle spoke in the Close of that Chapter, 
Heb. 11.32.  The time would fail me to speak of Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and those other Worthies; who through Faith, subdued Kingdoms, wrought Righteousness, obtained Promises, etc.  
And no less Eminent for this Grace, were those Holy Men under the New Testament, whose Faith these Hebrews here are bid to follow; whom they had observed depending on God's Strength and Blessing, constantly and fearlessly discharging their Duties. And though there were as yet but few, but Three or Four of them that we know of, beside private Christians; not such a Cloud as was under the Jewish Oeconomy; yet they ought to lay aside every weight, 
Heb. 12.2.  and the sin which doth so easily beset them, and to run with patience the race which was set before them; Looking unto Jesus, as also unto those, who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises, considering the end of their Conversation.  
Intuentes, Looking upon seriously, and diligently, again and again, their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, their Exit or Catastrophe, their End or going out of the World. Revolve with yourselves, how holily they adorned their Faith, how constantly they persevered in the Profession of it, how gloriously they attested and signed it with their Blood! Faithful they were unto Death, or, as Clemens Alexandrinus expresseth it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to the very last Gasp; as they did run the race set before them, 
Rev. 2.10.  so they did it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with Patience and Perseverance.  
Nor shall the Crown of Heaven be consigned to those that contend, but to those that overcome; St. Paul himself, that noble Champion of Christianity, Triumpheth not when he put on his Armour, but when about to put it off; He knew there is laid up for him a Crown of Righteousness, but de reliquo, henceforth only, when he was now a Veterane in the Christian Warfare, had already worn out a long Life, and had nothing now to do, but to die in it. He was ready, prepared, not only to be bound, (as the Sacrifices under the Law were wont) but to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus: 
Acts 21.13.  And he is most unworthy of that high and honourable Name, who will not take up the most painful and ignominious Cross, which weareth upon it, the Inscription of JESUS of NAZARETH: Jesus, who hath ever wrought in his own, both to will and to do, and to suffer too for doing well; who, as he hath ever supported them under whatever Sufferings they have at any time laboured, so will continue to do so; for he is Yesterday, to Day, and the same for ever.  
And now passing from my Text as it lies in itself, unto the Application of it unto this present Solemnity, I will introduce it with those Words of St. Peter to the Jews, with a little Variation; Men, Fathers, and Brethren, 
Act. 2.26.  Let me freely speak unto you, not of the Patriarch David, but of your own Progenitors, your Parents both in the Flesh and in Christ too, your Spiritual as well as your natural ones, who have had the rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God, who, many, most of them, are dead and buried, and their sepulchers are with us unto this day: But withal, with their Characters and Inscriptions, their good Instructions and Examples, which we should endeavour to Transcribe and Copy out in our own Converfations: For Solomon is therefore Commended, that he walked in the Steps of his Father David.  
I am willing to believe this of the Parents of us all here present, That they took Care to have us Nursed up and Imbibed with early Sentiments of Religion; to have our Minds, before they could be filled with Vanity, infused with the Knowledge of God and of Christ; to have our Wills, whilst they were yet flexible, formed to the Love of Virtue and Piety, that it is in a manner become natural to you. Ye are the Children of the Prophets, and of the Covenant which God made with your Fathers; of such Fathers, who have not only with the most tender and affectionate Words that Love could dictate, directed you in the Ways of Holiness, but walked before you in those Ways; who have not only by Admonitions showed it to be most rational, but also by their constant Practice, evideneed it to be most Pleasant and Delightful.  
Unto whom then can the Duties in my Text be more properly applied? How can we choose but remember and follow them, our venerable Guides? Revolve with ourselves their grave Advices, their remarkable Say, and their wise and worthy Actions, remember with what good Admonitions and Instructions they pursued and pressed you from time to time, and particularly when they emancipated, and discharged you out of their Government into the World, and to the Practice of those Professions and Conditions of Life you are now advanced to.  
So that now Wickedness in us is a direct Reproach unto them; all Sin and Iniquity in us a manifest Scorn and Contempt of their Sanctity, as if it had been nothing else but a foolish Strictness of those who understood not their own Liberty. O let not us then disparage our Extraction! Let us not degenerate from the Credit and Honour of it! But Let our light so shine before men, 
Mat. ●. 16.  that they seeing those good works, with which we adorn our Original, may be induced to Glorify God our Heavenly Father, nay, our Earthly Fathers too, who are now in Heaven. Let us adhere to that Faith which they owned, some of them with the loss of their Liberty, their Estates, and perhaps too their Lives; Maligned, Persecuted for their Loyalty to the best of Kings; Dragged from their Homes into Gaols and Prisons, there to Languish through the Cruelty of the Malevolent and Implacable Round-head.  
Si deest tyrannus, si spoliator, etc. (as St. Austin speaks) though there be no Tryrant (blessed be God for it!) no Sequestrator, no Plunderer abroad; yet, forasmuch as our Religion is a suffering Religion; and we, of all others, are taught, upon Occasion, to exert a Passive Obedience, that noble, that heroic, that peculiar Doctrine and Glory too of our Church, let us all be resolved, and prepared to do so, whenever God shall call us thereunto, and by so doing follow their Faith considering the end of their Conversation.  
Lastly, Because Faith without Works is dead, or, no Faith at all, let us proceed, and add unto it Brotherly-kindness, and unto Brotherly-kindness Charity. Above all things put on Charity; nay, let it influence our minds, and excite us to that Beneficence, which both the Hopes and Necessities of our poor Brethren exact from us.  
And here I must crave Leave to beg a raised Attention (though it has been tired sufficiently;) for Time commands me to crowd my Materials into a narrow Compass.  
My Brethren, we are met together this Day in an Holy Assembly, upon a Design of relieving those of the same Descent with ourselves, those I mean, who do now mourn in secret, and dwell in the low Tabernacles of Smoke and desolate Want; who themselves also would have made a part of this Solemnity, had not God in his Providence disposed them to a sadder Entertainment. Remember the Fatherless and Widows, whose Cries come up to Heaven, even now whilst we are paying our Devotions towards it; who sustain the Necessities and Hardships, the Cold and Hunger of the whole Year, upon the Hopes of being comforted by the Bounty and Charity, which this Day may, through God's Grace, Occasion.  
To you therefore, who have acquired Estates by God's Blessing, whether on your own, or the Industry of your Ancestors; To you, in what State or Condition you are, in the Church, or in the State, in the City or in the Country, in the Court or in the Camp, on the Bench or at the Bar, I address myself indifferently to you all, I charge and exhort, I adjure and obtest you by the Bowels of Christ, by your Sacred Charter, by whatever other Obligation, in the Words of the Apostle, to do good, to be rich in good Works, to be ready to distribute, willing to communicate.  
Remember, That Charity is so great a Duty, that it renders men like God himself, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not; like his Son and our Saviour, who went about doing good; this brought him down from Heaven, this nailed him to the Cross: That 'tis the only means we have, by which, as we are able, we can make Returns to God for what we are and have. By this means, we increase our Estates on Earth, and lay up Treasures in Heaven.  
Plead not the Number of your Children or Dependants; say not, as the wise said to the foolish Virgins, we have not enough for us and you; but know, that God will provide for and bless your Offspring, how numerous soever; and you'll oblige him to take Care of them by your continued Charities, to those especially who are of the Household of Faith, of the same Extraction with yourselves; for such are the Sacrifices under the Gospel, and with such God is well pleased.  
I have done, adding only those Words of Nehemiah, 
Neh. 8.10.  or rather Ezra, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared: And then, as it follows, This day shall be holy unto our Lord, neither shall ye be sorry, for the Joy of the Lord will be your Strength.  
FINIS.