Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? I St. John iii. Give alms of thy goods; and never turn thy face from any poor man; and then the face of the Lord shall not be turned away from thee. Tobit iv. This tells us, if we are rich we are to give plenteously. Zacchæus, a rich man, gave half. St. Barnabas, another rich man, gave ALL. A certain poor widow gave ALL. So if you have much or little, it matters not, so that it is given gladly and diligently-that is to say, that in giving you find out, as far as you can, that what you give will be useful; and so you will gather a good harvest for the seed which you have buried in God's field, the Church. You see, in pitying the poor in deed as well as in thought, God tells you that you lend to Him, and that He will repay: will not you trust Him? Here is another promise made by God to deliver out of trouble those who out of trouble would deliver others. And all are poor and in trouble when death is stripping them; and none can deliver out of that trouble but God. Be merciful after thy power. If thou hast much, give plenteously if thou hast little, do thy diligence gladly to give of that little for so gatherest thou thyself a good reward in the day of necessity. Tobit iv. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again. : Prov. xix. Blessed be the man that provideth for the sick and needy the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble. : Psal. xli. Whilst these Sentences are in reading, the Deacons, Church-wardens, or other fit person appointed for that purpose, shall receive the Alms for the Poor, and other devotions of the people, in a decent basin to be provided by the Parish for that purpose; and reverently bring it to the Priest, who shall humbly present and place it upon the holy Table. Here the bread and wine are presented before God as an oblation or offering, and as nothing we could offer to God could have any worth of its own, we plead Christ and His merits, and we ask God to accept our offerings for Christ's sake, and the bread and wine are incensed to express this both to God and man, just as we kneel when we pray, whether alone in our room when no one but God sees us, or when we pray and acknowledge God before man in church. In this prayer we pray for all men, and give thanks for all men, those who are living, those who are dead, and those who shall be born hereafter. We pray God to accept our alms, that is, the money we have just given, and the oblations also, that is, the bread and wine which are offered in the service, and which become the body and blood of Jesus Christ in a way we cannot understand, but can and must believe, Jesus Christ having most distinctly told us that such is the case. You cannot now understand how the food you eat is turned to blood in your body, nor how you can by a magnifying glass draw down heat from the sun so that it will burn your hand without in any way taking from the sun any of its substance or heat. There are many things we must believe and act upon, although of our own experience we know nothing about them; for if you went into a garden where there were many different And when there is a Communion, the Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's A LMIGHTY and everliving God, who by thy holy Apostle hast taught us to make prayers and supplications, and to give thanks, |