id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentence	flesch	summary	cache	txt
A59832	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	The nature and measure of charity a sermon preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, and the Court of Aldermen, at the parish-church of St. Bridget, on Tuesday in Easter-week, April 6, 1697 / by William Sherlock ...	1697.0		.xml	application/xml	7982	243	60	Let no man satisfie himself with some small trifling presents , which bear no proportion to what he has , upon pretence that God has prescribed no proportion of giving ; but let him ask himself , Whether , in his own Conscience , what he gives , bears any proportion to that love and charity to the poor and miserable , which God requires : and let him remember , that though God has not fixt the proportions of giving , he requires great degrees of Charity ; and though Men may give liberally without Charity , yet not to give in some due proportion , is a certain sign of want of Charity , when there wants no ability to give . Now in Moral Actions it is the Principle that gives the Value ; not so much the Gift , as the Mind of the Giver ; and therefore St. Paul tells us , That though we give all our goods to feed the poor , and have not charity , we are nothing . 1 Cor. 13. 3. God can feed the poor without us , if he so pleases ; but as for several other wise ends of Providence , so he has ordered , That the poor shall be always with us for the trial and exercise of our Virtue , but the Virtue is not the Gift , but the Charity . And could we perform all the Acts of Charity without a charitable Mind , the World might be better for it , but not we our selves .	cache/A59832.xml	txt/A59832.txt
