To them (saith St. Paul) who, by patient, should sit still, and forego that his advancontinuance in well-doing, seek for glory, tage? How much more wildness is it to and honour, and immortality, God in be drowsy and sluggish in this case, thererecompense will bestow eternal life. And, by losing eternal bliss and glory! Well, I have (saith that blessed labourer of therefore, might the apostle say, How himself) fought the good fight, I have shall we escape if we neglect so great salfinished my course, I have kept the faith; vation? How shall we escape, not only henceforth there is laid up for me a the sin and guilt of basest ingratitude crown of righteousness.TM toward him that graciously doth offer it, but the imputation of most wretched folly, in being so much wanting to our own interest and welfare ? What more effectual spur or incentive can there be to industry in this business, than to consider that which St. Paul so often doth inculcate: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same (a recompense for the same) he shall receive of the Lord; and knowing that (in consideration of our service done to the Lord) of the Lord we shall receive the reward of the inheritance?" What exhortation can be more firmly grounded, or strongly backed, than is that of the apostle: Therefore, my brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord ? Is it not a sad thing, a woful shame, to observe what pains men will throw away upon things of small or no concernment to them? yea, what toil and drudgery they will sustain in the service of Satan, in pursuit of sin, in the gratification of their vanities and lusts? What pains will a covetous wretch take in scraping for pelf! how will he rack his mind with carking solicitude to get, to keep, to spare it! How will he tire his spirits with restless travail! how will he pinch his carcass for want of what nature craveth! What infamy and obloquy will he endure for his niggardly parsimony and sordidness! and indignities will he patiently digest, without desisting from his enterprise ! May it not also much encourage us to industry, to be assured, that not only the kind of our work, but the degree of our How much labour will an ambitious labour, shall be considered and requited fop undergo for preferment or vain honin just proportion; so that the harder we our! To how many tedious attendanwork, the higher we shall be rewarded; ces, to how pitiful servilities will he subfor to each one (saith our Lord) the Son mit! what sore crosses and disappointof man shall render a reward, xarà Thments will he swallow! what affronts лçağıν aвτой, according to his performance. Every one (saith St. Paul) shall receive ἴδιον μισθὸν κατὰ τὸν ἴδιον κόπον, his proper reward according to his proper work; whence we have reason to observe St. John's advice, Look to yourselves, that ye lose not those things which ye have gained, but that ye receive a full reward. To be negligent or slothful in such a for want of a little care and pains to forfeit such advantages, what a pity, what a folly is it! Were an opportunity presented, by a little minding our business, and bestirring ourselves, to procure a fair estate, or a good preferment, would not he be deemed mad or sottish, who case, How will a man, as St. Paul observed, πάντα ἐγκρατεύεσθαι, endure all painful abstinence and continence, in order to the obtaining a corruptible crown, a fading garland of bays, a puff of vain applause! What diligence will men use to compass the enjoyment of forbidden pleasures! how watchful in catching opportu nities, how eager in quest of them will they be ! What difficulties will they undertake, what hazards will they incur, what damages and inconveniences will they sustain, rather than fail of satisfying their desires! What achings of head and heart; what pangs of mind, and gripes of conscience; what anxieties of regret and fear, will every worker of iniquity undergo! So faith signed to be idle or useless, conferring no benefit to the whole; but the whole body (saith the apostle) fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual work ing in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying itself in love: each member doth conspire and co-operate to the strength, nourishment, thriving, and welfare of the whole. Every man (who continueth a man, in his senses, or in any good degree of ful friends hath this vain and oil world; so diligent servants hath the accursed lord thereof; so careful and laborious will men be to destroy and damn themselves. O that we could be willing to spend as much care and pains in the service of our God! O that we were as true friends of ourselves! O that we could be as industrious for our salvation! that is, in the business of our general calling! which having considered, let us proceed to the other business belonging to us, which is, II. The business of our particular cal-natural integrity) is by God endowed ling; that in reference whereto St. Paul with competent abilities to discharge some doth prescribe, Every man as the Lord function useful to common good, or at hath called him, so let him walk. Let least needful to his own sustenance;a to every man abide in the same calling every one some talent is committed, wherein he was called :" let him so abide, which in subordination to God's service as faithfully to prosecute the work, and he may improve, to the benefit of the discharge the duty of it; the doing which world, God's temporal, or of the church, other where he termeth noάσσ Tù idia, God's spiritual kingdom. to do our own business, (working with our hands), and enjoineth it in opposition to those two great pests of life, sloth and pragmatical curiosity; or the neglect of our own, and meddling with other men's affairs. This the apostle nameth our calling, because we are called or appointed thereto by divine Providence; for he supposeth and taketh it for granted, that to each man in this world God hath assigned a certain station, unto which peculiar action is suited; in which station he biddeth him quietly to abide, till Providence fairly doth translate him, and during his abode therein diligently to execute the work thereof." It is plainly necessary, that the greatest part of men should have a determinate work allotted to them, that they may support their life and get their food, without being injurious, offensive, or burdensome to others; for their living they must either follow some trade, or they must shark and filch, or they must beg, or they must starve. And the rest are obliged to do somewhat conducible to public good, that they may deserve to live; for a drone should not be among the bees, nor hath right to devour the honey. If any man doth pretend, or presume, that he hath nothing to do but to eat, to sleep, to play, to laugh, to enjoy his ease, his pleasure, his humour, he thereby doth as it were disclaim a reasonable title of living among men, and sharing in the fruits of their industry; he, in St. Paul's judgment, should be debarred of food, for this (saith the holy apostle) we command you, that if any man would not work, neither should he eat." Every man is a member of a double body; of the civil commonwealth, and of the Christian church: in relation to the latter whereof, St. Paul telleth us (and what he saith by parity of reason may be referred likewise to the former), that God hath set the members of every one in the body, as it pleaseth him ; and as it is the natural, so it is in every po- Such an one in the body of men, what litical and spiritual body, every member is he but an unnatural excrescence, suckhath its proper use and function: All ing nutriment from it, without yielding members (saith St. Paul) have not T au- ornament or use? What is he but a wen, Try again, the same office, or the same deforming and encumbering the body; or work and operation; yet every one hath a canker, infesting and corrupting it? some work. There is no member deu 1 Cor. vii. 17, 20. Chrys. dvdp. 10. 1 Thess. iv. 11; Eph. iv. 28. * 1 Cor. vii. 22. As no man (at least with decency, con Eph. iv. 16. • Εκάστῳ ὡς ἐμέρισεν Θεός, 1 Cor. vii. 17. b2 Thess. iii. 10. venience, and comfort) can live in the world without being obliged to divers other men for their help in providing accommodations for him; so justice and ingenuity, corroborated by divine sanctions, do require of him, that in commutation he, one way or other, should undertake some pains redounding to the benefit of others. So hath the great author of order distributed the ranks and offices of men in order to mutual benefit and comfort, that one man should plough, another thrash, another grind, another labour at the forge, another knit or weave, another sail, another trade, another supervise all these, labouring to keep them all in order and peace; that one should work with his hands and feet, another with his head and tongue; all conspiring to one common end, the welfare of the whole, and the supply of what is useful to each particular member; every man so reciprocally obliging and being obliged; the prince being obliged to the husbandman for his bread, to the weaver for his clothes, to the mason for his palace, to the smith for his sword; those being all obliged to him for his vigilant care in protecting them, for their security in pursuing the work, and enjoying the fruit of their industry. So every man hath a calling and proper business; whereto that industry is required, I need not much to prove, the thing itself in reason and experience being so clearly evident for what business can be well despatched, what success can be expected to any undertaking, in what calling can any man thrive, without industry? What business is there that will go on of itself, or proceed to any good issue, if we do not carefully look to it, steadily hold it in its course, constantly push and drive it forward? It is true, as in nature, so in all affairs, Nihil movet non motum, nothing moveth without being moved. Our own interest should move us to be industrious in our calling, that we may obtain the good effects of being so in a comfortable and creditable subsistence; that we may not suffer the damages and wants, the disappointments and disgraces ensuing on sloth: but the chief motive should be from piety and conscience; for that it is a duty which we owe to God. For God having placed us in our station, VOL. I. 71 he having apportioned to us our task, we being in transaction of our business his servants, we do owe to him that necessary property of good servants, without which fidelity cannot subsist; for how can he be looked on as a faithful servant, who doth not effectually perform the work charged on him, or diligently execute the orders of his master? St. Paul doth enjoin servants, that they should in all things obey their masters,a with conscientious regard to God, as therein performing service to God, and expecting recompense from him: and of princes he saith, that they, in dispensation of justice, enacting laws, imposing taxes, and all political administrations, are the ministers of God, ngoσzagregouries, attending constantly upon this very thing :* and if these extremes, the highest and lowest of all vocations, are services of God; if the highest upon that score be tied to so much diligence, then surely all middle places, upon the same account of conscience toward God, do exact no less. If he that hath one talent, and he that hath ten, must both improve them for God's interest; then he that hath two, or three, or more, is obliged to the same duty proportionably. Every one should consider the world as the family of that great Paterfamilias, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,' and himself as an officer or servant therein, by God's will and designation constituted in that employment into which Providence hath cast him; to confer, in his order and way, somewhat toward a provision for the maintenance of himself and of his fellow-servants. Of a superior officer our Lord saith, Who is that faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them their meat in due season? So the greatest men are as stewards, treasurers, comptrollers, or purveyors; the rest are inferior servants, in their proper rank and capacity. And he that with diligence performeth his respective duty (be it high and honourable, or mean and contemptible in outward appearance) will please God, as • 1 Cor. iv. 2. 4 Col. iii. 22; Eph. vi. 5; 1 Cor. vii. 22, 23. • Rom. xiii. 6. f Eph. iii. 15. Matt. xxiv. 45; Luke xii. 42. keeping good order, and as being useful do pursue their business, may confidentto his service; so that, upon the reckon-ly and cheerfully hope to reap the ading, God will say unto him, Well done, vantages suitable to it from the favourgood and faithful servant, thou hast been able blessing of God. So that we have faithful over a few things; I will make all reason to observe the apostle's precept, the ruler over many things: enter thou Not to be slothful in business. into the joy of thy Lord. But he that doeth otherwise (behaving himself carelessly or sluggishly in his business) will offend God, as committing disorder, and as being unprofitable. He committeth disorder, according to that of St. Paul: We hear there are some, which walk among you disorderly, not working at all. His sentence and doom will be, according to our Lord, O thou wicked and slothful servant · Cast the unprofitable servant into utter darknese; which words are spoken in relation to one who being a flatterer, or sluggard in his calling, did not improve the special talent intrusted with him for God's service. I should apply this doctrine to our own case, urging its practice by considerations peculiar to our vocation: but having already passed the bounds of time, I reserve the doing it to another opportunity. Now the God of peace sanctify you wholly, and make you pefect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ; to whom for ever be all glory and praise. Amen. SERMON LIII. OF INDUSTRY IN OUR PARTICULAR CALLING, ROM. xii. 11.-Not slothful in business. In fine, if we are conscientiously industrious in our vocation, we shall assuredly find the blessing of God thereon; and that he thereby will convey good success, comfort, competent wealth, a fair I HAVE largely treated upon the duty rereputation, all desirable good unto us; for commended in this precept, and urged as all these things are promised to indus- the observance of it in general, at a distry, so the promise especially doth belong tance: I now intend more particularly to that industry, which a man doth exer- and closely to apply it, in reference to cise in an orderly course of action in his those persons who seem more especially own way; or rather in God's way, where- obliged to it, and whose observing it may in divine Providence hath set him. prove of greatest consequence to public An irregular or impertinent laborious-good; the which application may also ness, out of a man's calling or sphere; a be most suitable and profitable to this aubeing diligent in other men's affairs, invad- dience. Those persons are of two sorts; ing their office (as if I a priest will be trad- the one gentlemen, the other scholars. ing, a layman preaching), may not claim I. The first place, as civility demandthe benefit of those promises, or the bless-eth, we assign to gentlemen, or persons ings of industry: but a husbandman, of eminent rank in the world, well alliwho, with conscientious regard to God, ed, graced with honour, and furnished and confidence in him, is painful in tilling with wealth: the which sort of persons his ground, may expect a good crop ;* a I conceive in a high degree obliged to exmerchant, who (upon the same principle, ercise industry in buisness. with the like disposition) earnestly followeth his trade, may hope for safe voyages and good markets; a prince carefully minding his affairs may look for peace and prosperity to his country; a scholar studying hard may be well assured of getting knowledge, and finding truth; all, who with honest diligence constantly This at first hearing may seem a little paradoxical and strange; for who have less buisness than gentlemen? who do need less industry than they? He that hath a fair estate, and can live on bis means, what hath he to do? what labour or trouble can be exacted of him? what hath he to think on, or trouble his head with, but how to invent recreations and pastimes to divert himself, and spend his 1 Thess. v. 23; Heb. xiii. 20. waste leisure pleasantly? Why should | his state to the glory of his munificent not he be allowed to enjoy himself, and Benefactor, to whose good providence the benefits which nature or fortune hath alone he doth owe them; for who makfreely dispensed to him, as he thinketh eth him to differ from another? and, best, without offence? Why may he what hath he that he did not receive from not say with the rich man in the gospel, God's free bounty? Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry? Is it not often said by the Wise Man, that there is nothing better under the sun, than that a man should make his soul to enjoy good in a cheerful and comfortable fruition of his estate? According to the passable notion and definition, What is a gentlemen but his pleasure? In proportion to the bulk of his fortune, his heart should be enlarged with a thankful sense of God's goodness to him; his mouth should ever be filled with acknowledgment and praise; he should always be ready to express his grateful resentment of so great and peculiar obligations. He should dedicate larger portions of that free leisure which God hath granted to him, in waiting upon God, and constant performances of devotion. If this be true, if a gentleman be nothing else but this, then truly he is a sad piece, the most inconsiderable, the most He, in frequently reflecting on the pardespicable, the most pitiful and wretch- ticular ample favours of God to him, ed creature in the world: if it is his priv. should imitate the holy Psalmist, that ililege to do nothing, it is his privliege to lustrious pattern of great and fortunate be most unhappy; and to be so will be men; saying after him, with his spirit his fate, if he live according to it: for and disposition of soul; Thou hast brought he that is of no worth or use, who pro- me to great honour, and comforted me on duceth no beneficial fruit, who perform-every side; therefore will I praise thee eth no service to God or to the world, and thy faithfulness, O God." what title can he have to happiness? what capacity thereof? what reward can he claim? what comfort can he feel? To what temptations is he exposed! what guilts will he incur! Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: Thou hast set my feet in a large room: Thou preparest a table before me :-Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth But in truth it is far otherwise: to sup- over;-to the end that my glory may pose that a gentleman is loose from busi-sing praise unto thee, and not be silent; ness is a great mistake; for indeed no The Lord is the portion of mine inheriman hath more to do, no man lieth under tance, and of my cup; thou maintainest greater engagements to industry than he. my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in He is deeply obliged to be continually pleasant places; yea I have a goodly busy in more ways than other men, who heritage; therefore I will bless have but one simple calling or occupa- Lord. tion allotted to them; and that upon a triple account; in respect to God, to the world, and to himself. 1. He is first obliged to continual employment in respect to God. He, out of a grateful regard to divine bounty for the eminency of his station, adorned with dignity and repute, for the plentiful accommodations and comforts of his life, for his exemption from those pinching wants, those meaner cares, those sordid entertainments, and those toilsome drudgeries, to which other men are subject, is bound to be more diligent in God's service, employing all the advantages of a Luke xii. 19. Eccles. ii. 24; iii. 22; v. 8; viii. 15. the In conceiving such meditations, his head and his heart should constantly be employed; as also in contriving ways of declaring and discharging real gratitude; asking himself, What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits? What shall I render to him, not only as a man, for all the gifts of nature; as a Christian, for all the blessings of grace; but as a gentleman also, for the many advantages of this my condition, beyond so many of my brethren, by special providence indulged to me? |