Four sermons preachedFoure sermons preached

Behold Lord, the half of my goods, &c. There are two parts of this confession. The first is his gift to the poor: the second is, the restitution of his unjust gotten goods. Before, Zaccheus was an oppressor of the poor, now he is a great benefactor to the poor: before he was an encroacher upon other mens goods, now he is a distributer of his own goods: before, he was a receiver and a taker, now he is a restorer and a giver: neither doth he give sparingly, but he giveth liberally, ⟨image 45⟩laying up a good foundation against the time to come Now hath Zaccheus found that precious pearl, and for joy ¹thereof, he is content, not to sell, but to give all that he hath to enjoy the same. When the rich Ruler (in the former chapter) ²was willed to sell all that he had, & to give it to the poor, he went away very sorrowful, for he was very rich: but Zaccheus, perhaps as rich as he is content of his own accord & unbidden, to bestow half his goods upon the poor, and that with a cheerful mind. If Zaccheus had given only the third part of his goods, no doubt but Christ would have accepted it, for he accepteth the widows farthing, because it was given with a willing mind: but if he had given all his ³goods to feed the poor, as the Pharisees gave their alms to be seen of men, yea, or his body to be burned, as some Romans ⁴have done to get renown, it should have been to no purpose, because it was done to a wrong end. Now, as Zaccheus was rich in the goods of this life, so was he rich in faith also; neither was it an idle or dead faith that Zaccheus had, but it was a fruitful & a lively faith, a faith that worketh and ⁵laboureth by love, such as is required at the hands of Christians. Saint James saith, Show me thy faith by thy works: and here Zaccheus doth show his faith by his works. Before, he was exercised in ungodly works, which are the fruits of infidelity: but now he is exercised in the works of mercy, which are the fruits of a lively faith. Zaccheus is very liberal in relieving the poor, but he is liberal of that which is his own: so there are many now a days that are very liberal, but it is of that which is none of theirs; for as Nahab & Abihu offered strange fire unto the Lord, so these men offer strange goods