Liberality rewarded. prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. [See 591.] 378. Will God reward those who give to him? Pr. 3. 9. Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Mal. 3. 9. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before her time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed. Mat. 6. 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 34. Lk. 18 29. There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. Mat. 19. 29. and 25, 35, 36, 40. Mk. 10. 29. 379. Will God reward those who give to the poor? Dt. 15. 9. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, -and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee.- -Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto. For the poor shall never cease Liberality rewarded. out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. Job 29. 11. When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. Job 42. 12. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. Ps. 41. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. Ps. 112. 9. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth forever; his horn shall be exalted with honor. Pr. 3. 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thy heart: so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Pr. 19. 17. He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given, will he pay him again. Pr. 22. 9. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth his bread to the poor. Pr. 28. 27. He that giveth to the poor shall not lack. Is. 58. 6. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, Love, a superior virtue-Love to mankind. and thy health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear-ward: Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Mat. 5. 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Love. 380. Is love or charity a superior virtue? 1 Cor. 13. 1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 13. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Col. 3. 14. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 1 Pet. 4. 8. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 381. Are we required to love our fellow creatures? Lev. 19. 34. The strangerthat dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou Love to mankind. shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Jn. 15. 12. This is my commandment, one another, as I have loved you. That ye love Rom. 13. 8. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 1 Cor. 16. 14. Let all your things be done with charity. Gal. 5. 13. By love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 1 Th. 3. 12. The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one towards another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you. Jam. 2. 8. If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 1 Pet. 1. 22. See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. 2 Pet. 1. 5. Add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; And to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. 1 Jn. 3. 11. This is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. 15. Whosoever hateth his brother, is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 23. And this is his commandment; That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. An evidence of piety. 1 Jn. 4. 7. Beloved, let us love one another-He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. 10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 20. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God, love his brother also. 382. Is love to mankind evidence of godliness, and a condition of salvation? Jn. 13. 34. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 1 Cor. 13. 1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels--and have the gift of prophecy and have not charity, I am nothing. Gal. 5. 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance. 1 Jn. 2. 10. He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness. 1 Jn. 3. 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother, is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in |
