DISCOURSE V.

PART I.

EPHESIANS iv. 28.

Let him that ftole, fteal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his Hands the Thing which is good, that he may have, to give to him that needeth.

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HE Words now read to you make up a complete Senfe, without depending upon what goes before, or comes after. They contain a Confirmation and Explication of the eighth Commandment: For what the Apostle enjoins concerning Labour, and working with our Hands, is no more than the neceffary Confequence

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Confequence of the Command, Thou shalt not fteal. For fince all Men are equal Sharers in the Wants and Neceffities of Life, and the Things which fhould fupply these Wants are unequally divided, so that fome have more than enough, and fome much lefs; it follows, that the Neceffities of the one must be supplied from the Abundance of the other. Steal you muft not, and give perhaps he will not. The only Way then by which you can come at the Things you want, is by Purchase or Exchange; and the only Thing a poor Man has to exchange, is the Work and Labour of his Hands: And therefore it follows as a Confequence of the Law, that since you must not steal, you must work, and purchafe by your Labour and Industry the Things which are neceffary for your Support and Subsistence. In all that rich Men do, they want the Help and Affiftance of the Poor; they cannot minister to themselves either in the Wants, or Conveniencies, or Pleasures of Life: So that the poor Man has as many Ways to maintain himself, as the rich Man has Wants or Defires; for the Wants and Defires of the Rich must be ferved by the Labour of the Poor,

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then the rich Man has often very wicked Defires, and often delights in finful Pleasures; and though to serve the Rich be the poor Man's Maintenance, yet in thefe Cafes the poor Man muft not ferve him; and therefore the Apostle adds, that he must labour, working with his Hands the Thing which is good. His Poverty obliges him to serve Man, and therefore he must work with bis Hands; and his Reason and Religion oblige him to ferve God, and therefore he must work only the Thing which is good.

Labour is the Business and Employment of the Poor, it is the Work which God has given him to do; and therefore a Man cannot be satisfied in working merely as far as the Wants of Nature oblige him, and spending the rest of his Time idly or wantonly: For if God has enabled him to gain more by his Labour, than his own Wants, and the Conveniencies neceffary to his Station, require, he then becomes a Debtor to fuch Duties, as are incumbent on all to whom God hath dispensed his Gifts liberally. He muft confider that he owes a Tribute to his Maker for the Health and Strength he enjoys; that there are others who want Limbs to labour, or Senfe and Understanding

to arrive at the Knowledge of any Art or Mystery, whereby to maintain themselves; and to these he is a Debtor out of the Abundance of his Strength, and Health, and Knowledge, with which God has bleffed him: And therefore he is obliged to labour, working with his Hands the Thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

To the great Men God hath given Riches, to the Mean Strength and Understanding; both are equally indebted for what they have received, and equally obliged to make Returns fuitable to their Abilities: And therefore, as the rich Man must honour God out of his Substance, fo muft the Man of low Degree make his Acknowledgment out of the Product of his Labour and Understanding: And therefore Men are obliged to use Labour and Industry in their honest Callings and Employments, first to provide for themfelves, and all who depend upon them for Maintenance; and, in the next place, to provide a Stock to discharge the Debt they owe to their Maker, by adminiftering, in proportion to their Ability, to the Wants and Neceffities of their poorer Brethren,

And

And this may ferve to give us a general View of the Sense and Reafoning of the Text; which I fhall now more particularly confider, according to the diftinct Parts of which it confifts. And thofe I think are four: First, A Prohibition, Let him that ftole, steal no more. Secondly, In Confequence of that, an Injunction, But rather let him labour. Thirdly, A Limitation of this Duty of labouring to Things honeft and lawful, expreffed in these Words, Working with his Hands the Thing which is good. Fourthly, The Rule and Measure of this Duty, That may have to give to him that needeth.

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First, As to the Prohibition, Let him that ftole, fteal no more. By this we are forbidden the Ufe of all fuch Means, for our own Maintenance and Support, as are injurious to our Neighbour. The Command, Thou shalt not fteal, was given to fecure every Man in the Property and Poffeffion of his Goods; and therefore the Reafon of the Law reaches to all kinds of Fraud and Deceit by which Men are injured in their Goods and Eftate: And there are many Things which, in Propriety of Speech, we do not call Stealing, which nevertheless must be understood to be Comprehended in this Law, in virtue of the

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