and Cain was a Tiller of the Ground Tho they had the whole World before them yet they had no Writ of Ease from a settled Imployment 2. We have God's express Command 1. In the fourth Commandment Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy Work Exod. 20. 9. This Thy Work plainly implies that every Man for every Commandment is given to every Man should have his proper Work or Business which should ordinarily take up his time from Sabbath to Sabbath which is further prest upon all Mankind from God's own Example vers 11. For in six Days the Lord made Heaven and Earth which he could have done in six Minutes but chose to fill every Day with Work probably for our Instruction and Encouragement to the like Diligence And 2. We find Commands to the same purpose in the New-Testament Ephes 4. 28. Rather let him labour working with his Hands the thing that is good that is following some honest Calling Yea the Apostle 2 Thess 3. 12. doth command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that Men should with Quietness that is without disputing or grudging work and eat their own Bread Let all idle and useless Persons consider how they will answer these plain Injunctions at their Peril Add to this the sharp Reproofs we find in Scripture upon the Neglecters hereof When Hagar Gen. 16. 8. had quit her Imployment the Angel meets her with Hagar Sarah ' s Maid whence comest thou and whither wilt thou go And in the next Verse sends her home to her uncomfortable Calling again And the Apostle 2 Thess 3. 11. calls such as work not at all disorderly People and such as ought to be sharply admonished yea Verse 6. commands them in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ to withdraw from every such disorderly Person So that 't is no trivial Fault in a Man or Woman to live without a Calling 3. We have in Scripture the Example of our Saviour himself When Almighty God has but one Son in the World he bestowed him in a Calling he made him a Preacher And before his entrance upon his Ministerial Imployment it is highly probable that he labour'd with his supposed Father Joseph in the Carpenters Trade For tho in Mat. 13. 55. the People stil'd him the Carpenter's Son yet in Mark 6. 3. they plainly ask'd Is not this the Carpenter the Son of Mary c. And if our Saviour Christ in whom the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily stooped to an ordinary Calling that he might fulfil all Righteousness how dare any that are called by his Name disdain or refuse some settled Imployment And we sind the Apostles themselves not only chosen to that glorious Office out of their respective Callings but even after the Death and Resurrection of Christ they diligently return'd to the same until they had their Commission given them to preach the Gospel as is evident John 21. 2 3 c. Yea the Apostle Paul upon occasion even after his entrance into his Sacred Function abode and wrought with Aquila and Priscilla at their Craft for they were Tent-makers Acts 18. 3. 3. We have the Light of Reason to strengthen this Point viz. That every Person that is capable ought to have besides their Christian some Particular Temporal Calling And that 1. In point of Justice and Equity Justice 1 to a Man's Self he that is useless in the World steals from himself and hereupon this Duty falls under the Eighth Commandment which saith Thou shalt not steal Which condemns all such Omissions as turn to the prejudice of ones self in his outward Estate and certainly an honest Diligence in any lawful Calling with the Blessing of God would greatly encrease a small Estate and enable a Man to live more comfortably himself and more usefully to others 2. Justice to a Man's Family requires it For If any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own House he hath denied the Faith and is worse than an Infidel 1 Tim. 5. 8. So that a Person without a Calling so far robs his own Family for by his Care and Pains they might live more comfortably and be disposed more happily And the idle Parent is also a ready Copy for the idle Child to write after till at length By much Slothfulness the Building decays and through Idleness of the Hands the House droppeth through Eccles 10. 18. And at last Drousiness covers them all with Rags Prov. 23. 21. Whereas the Industrious Spinster is not afraid of the Snow for her Houshold for all her Houshold are clothed with Scarlet She maketh her self Coverings of Tapistry her Clothing is Silk and Purple Prov. 31. 21. 3. There is a Justice to the Poor And neglect of a Calling disableth from that Hence Ephes 4. 28. Let him labour that he may have to give to him that needeth God who hath given to you Eyes and Hands and Health and Stock intendeth and appointeth you to be helpful to those that have no Eyes no Strength no Health or Ability to work at all And no Man should murmur at this seeing it was one of our Saviour's Proverbs recorded Act. 20. 35. It is a more blessed thing to give than to receive 4. There is Justice and Equity in it in respect of the Publick it is good for the Common-wealth And as every Member of the Body is useful to the whole so should every Person who is as before a Member of the Body Politick be serviceable to the common Good No man should stand like a Cypher in his Generation but should so imploy himself that there may be a want of him in the World How many Trades have been at work to furnish thee out in Meat Drink and Cloaths every day and how unreasonable is it that thou shouldst make no Returns to them again That many Rivers should daily empty themselves upon you and that you should be like a dead Sea without any vent or use to them again Hence the Apostle gives this Order Tit. 3. 14. And let ours also learn to maintain good Works or as the Margin profess honest Trades for necessary uses that they be not unfruitful The very Bees will drive out the Drones from their little Common-wealth Indeed he deserves not the Protection that adds not to the Welfare of the Publick 2. The other Reason for every ones engagement in a Calling is in respect of Safety and that 1. From Sin For he that is fully imployed hath not that leisure to sin that others have Non vacat hinders more than non licet I have no leisure restrains more than I have no leave Satan with his Temptations hath a fair Mark at a Man that is unimployed as a Fowler hath at the Fowl that is sitting still whereas the busy Man as the Fowl upon the Wing escapes many a Snare 1 Tim. 5. 13. And not only idle but Tatlers also and Busy-bodies It 's a rare thing to be meerly idle and no worse an idle Head hath
as the Dogs of Egypt do the Water of Nilus with great caution lest the Crocodiles devour them But I have spoken somewhat about these before Lastly This Diligence will restrain all unseasonable Devotion Far be it from me to discourage the Exercises of Piety This Climate is grown cold enough in them But there is a preposterous Zeal in some Tradesmen and Women especially which draws them to neglect one Calling to further another But the diligent Man considers that God in his great Wisdom appointed the six days for Work and a seventh for Rest And tho upon extraordinary occasions we may and ought to devote some of this time to sacred purposes as in case of Solemn Fasts and Feasts and tho an industrious Tradesman may redeem by his Diligence some other hours as for the Refreshment of his Body so for the inriching his Soul by reading hearing and prayer yet it is no way justifiable to neglect a Man's necessary Affairs upon pretence of religious Worship to lâ—t necessary Work be undone at home just Debts unpaid abroad the Family languish for want of Providence the Shop languish for want of his Presence while he runs from one opportunity to another till hiâ— Estate be weakned and his Credit sâ—nk Doubtless there is a measure to be observed in those things and usually a Man is bound to pray and hear no more than will consist 1. With his Ability of Body for if the Bucket be once broken it will carry no Water 2. With hiâ— lawful Calling for therein God is trulâ— served 3. With time to meditate on what he hears for one Duty must never exclude another he that doth nothing but hear will grow deaf with hearing and those holy Exercises are but means the end is still nobler which is to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World And so much for the Particulars wherein this Diligence is exemplified Thirdly The Inducements which are proper to dispose the Tradesman to this Diligence are these 1. It is matter of Duty Those places mention'd in Prov. 27. 23. and Eccles 9. 10. put it out of doubt Yea the Holy Ghost doth link it together with the holiest Actions Not slothful in Business fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12. 11. Ye are as truly bound to be diligent in your Business as to be servent in Prayer and it 's intimated there that you serve the Lord in both and consequently it is a real Sin both to be bewailed and amended to be negligent in your Callings as to be lukewarm in your Prayers And in the Fourth Commandment God doth as well command Diligence in your Work on the six days as Seriousness on the Sabbath and propounds his own Example to the same purpose For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth And tho he ceas'd creating yet he is working still Joh. 5. 17. My Father worketh hitherto and I work His Eyes are continually running to and fro thorowout the whole Earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose Heart is perfect towards him 2 Chron. 16. 9. So that here 's the Command and Example of God himself for Diligence 2. It is matter of Safety An honest Industry is an excellent Preservative both from Sin and Danger Most Men's Temptations overtake them when they be out of their Imployment or negligent in it When good David had been sleeping in the afternoon and walking too idly afterward 2 Sam 11. 2. then did he fall into that Temptation that cost him so dear You know the standing Pool corrupts the un-employed Harness rusts but he that is in the way of his Vocation is most out of the way of Temptation So it is also in case of Danger if any Mischief hover over a Man it is likeliest to seize upon him while he is negligent in his Vocation When Ishbasheth was lying on his Bed at noon Baanah and Rechab smote him under the fifth Rib 2 Sam. 4. 5. In all likelihood it had fared better with these two Princes if they had been studying and doing the Duty of Magistrates instead of reposing themselves upon their Beds Let the Tradesman learn from others harms to prevent his own up and be doing and the Lord is engaged to be with you 3. In respect of Benefit God doth usually bless the diligent Man with Plenty The Hand of the diligent maketh rich Prov. 10. 4. For the thoughts of the diligent tend only to Plenteousness Prov. 21. 5. Now a plentiful Estate is desirable provided it be for right ends If Riches and Honour be good for you Diligence is the means to compass them Prov. 22. 29. Seest thou a Man diligent in his Business he shall stand before Kings he shall not stand before mean Men That is he is sit for the highest Offices he may aim at them he is likeliest to obtain them We see Princes chuse out industrious Men for their Service 1 Kings 11. 28. And Solomon seeing the young Man viz. Jeroboam that he was industrious or as the Margin from the Hebr. that he did work or take pains he made him Ruler over all the Charge of the House of Joseph and you know how great he grew If Princes see Men to be only wise they suspect they will be too conceited if high-spirited too turbulent if honest and conscientious too difficult if popular dangerous but if diligent they are fit to be imployed Now tho the ordinary Tradesman never expects any great Office or Preferment yet certainly his Industry puts him into the road of all the Preferment whereof he is capable Isa 23. 8. Whose Merchants are Princes whose Traffiquers are the Honourable of the Earth 4. In respect of Comfort There is a certain secret satisfaction of Mind that always attends an honest Diligence The Sleep of a laboring Man is sweet whether he eat little or much Eccles 5. 12. He hath been doing the duty of his Calling and that comforts him I appeal to your own Consciences and to every Man's Experience whether you find not more inward Peace and Comfort at night after you have been diligently imployed in your Calling than when you have trifled therein And any cross which befalls you is better born when it finds you in your Imployment than when out of it And if by the wise Providence of God you do not by your Industry obtain abundance yet you have this comfort of having done your Duty which is the chiefest ground of all just Satisfaction Fourthly The fourth thing then upon this Head is to make some useful Improvement hereof which is By Reproof By Counsel 1. This detects and reproves the baseness and sinfulness of Idleness and Sloth whether it be in point of Care or of Labour The holy Ghost by the hand of the Wise-Man doth frequently lash this sort of Men. Prov. 26. 13 14 15 16. The slothful man saith There is a Lion in the way a Lion in the streets he fancies danger and difficulties where there are none Then
As the Door turneth upon his Hinges so doth the Slothful upon his Bed The Slothful hideth his Hand in his Bosom it grieveth him to bring it again to his Mouth And yet after all this The Sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven Men that can render a Reason And herein he did not beat the Air For there were then and are now numbers of idle Companions idle Tradesmen like those Cretians Tit. 1. 12. that were evil Beasts slow Bellies therefore evil because idle Come to their Shops in the day they are abroad the Prentice saw not his Master since eleven of Clock knock at their Doors at eleven at night they are at the Coffee-house come in the Morning they are in bed Is this to be diligent in vour business Is this doing what your hand findeth to do with all your might How will you account for your Time and Strength and Parts Why stand ye thus idle in the Market-place Where are the old Roman Censores morum Officers who were to examine and punish those that spent much and labour'd little It is said of the Manna that if it were not gathered early it melted They that lov'd their Beds starv'd their Bellies This course will load you with Guilt and ease you of your Estate no Calling so high but Sloth will impoverish none so mean but Diligence will inrich I was by the Field of the Slothful and by the Vineyard of the Man void of Vnderstanding You see the idle Man and the Fool are wrapt in the same Cloak And lo it was all grown over with Thorns and Nettles had covered the face thereof and the Stone-wall thereof was broken down Then I saw and considered it well I looked upon it and received Instruction Yet a little Sleep a little Slumber So shall thy Poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed Man Prov. 24. 20 c. O learn by others Ruine to prevent your own Conclude that Sweat is better than Tears Weariness better than Hunger and aking Bones than a gall'd Conscience It was holy Mr. Carter's farewel charge to a Scholar Cave fastum ignaviam Antichristum And one of the three things that wise Cato was said to repent of was that ever he had spent an idle day 2. Be perswaded then 1. To be diligent in your Callings You have excellent Patterns set before you the great God at work every day every where Jesus Christ went about doing good Slipt his Breakfast to be at his Work Mat. 21. 18 23. wav'd his Dinner to dispatch it Joh. 4. 6 34. Behold the Sun always in motion and rejoyceth in it as astrong Man to run a race Psal 10. 5. The Moon and Stars the Sea the Rivers all Creatures busy Yea go to the Ant thou Sluggard consider her ways and be wise You have excellent Promises for your Encouragement and severe Threatnings to awake you you have undeniable Instances of such as have been raised by their Industry and of such as have been ruin'd by Idleness you have all Requisites to inable you you have Brains and Arms and Health there 's nothing wanting but an Heart Shake off then the Lethargy that hath benum'd you mind your Business revive your Love to your lawful Calling reckon your selves to be most easy and happy in your Shops and Busines and drive the Nail while it is going But direct all to a right end the Honour of God the Publick Good as well as your Private Commodity and then every step and stroke in your Trade is sanctified You are working for God who will be sure to reward you to your Hearts content Withal you must beware lest this Diligence degnerate either into sinful carking or into immoderate pains whereby either the Soul or Body should be opprest for whatsoever is gain'd thereby contracts a Curse which comes along with it and without Repentance and Amendment none of it shall ever do you nor your Posterity any good Behold is it not of the Lord of Hosts that is by way of just Judgment that the People shall labour in the very Fire and weary themselves for very Vanity Labour in the Fire and yet for very Vanity Hab. 2. 13. And one other Caution yet Let not your Diligence in your earthly Callings thrust out the Service of God For this was Martha reprov'd Luke 10. 41. Martha Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful You have a Soul as well as a Body and both must live and consequently must be fed and the Blessing of God must be daily sought without which all your Diligence will be ineffectual ye cannot be rich whether God will or not Observe that Prov. 10. 4 22. In the 4th Verse The hand of the Diligent maketh rich but in the 22d Verse The Blessing of the Lord it maketh rich and he addeth no Sorrow with it Now God's Blessing and Man's Diligence are not oppos'd one to another but subordinate to one another that as the principal cause this as the ordinary means as the Physicians Skill and the Patients Care It is only the Blessing of God that supplies you with natural Abilities both inward and outward It is he that giveth thee power to get Wealth Deut. 8. 18. He governs and directs the Hearts of others he speakes a good word for them to the Conscience of thy Neighbour He prospers thy Endeavours for all Second Causes depend upon the First both in their being and in their working He rules all those Circumstances that must concur to thy Success and he preserves and multiplies what thou hast Hast thou not made an Hedg about him and about his House and about all that he hath on every side thou hast blest the work of his Hands c. Job 1. 10. And without this Blessing It is vain for you to rise up early to sit up late or to eat the Bread of Sorrow Psal 127. 2. And therefore allow convenient room for Prayer every day and reckon to go round about by Heaven is the next way to Success in all thy Undertakings this is the way to thrive on Earth and to be blest from Heaven And this leads me to the last use of this Point 2. If such Diligence be needful about your Earthly Callings How much more diligent ought you to be about your Heavenly If you should rise betimes to work how much more to pray If we should sweat to gain the World what Agonies should we have to obtain Heaven There giving all Diligence add to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledg Again Give Diligence to make your Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1. 5 10. If Riches do not how should Heaven drop into your Mouth while you are sleeping What race is gotten without running What Crown is obtain'd without fighting I therefore so run not as uncertainly so fight I not as one that beateth the Air 1 Cor. 9. 26. As Sloth is the evident cause of Men's Poverty here so
you in these your Callings Did not he preserve you in your Apprentiships from many Dangers Diseases and Temptations Hath not he supported you in your Trades when many that had better Foundations have bin ruin'd Hath not he given you all that Estate ye have and if that be too little is not he ready to give you such and such things Hath not he pluck'd you out of divers Dangers Pains Diseases and kept you alive when some of your Neighbours round about you are hid in the Grave Besides the great things which he hath done for your Souls and for your Families Now for all this what doth the Lord your God require of you Only fear the Lord and serve him in Truth with all your Heart considering what great things he hath done for you 1 Sam. 12. 24. So that in point of Gratitude it behoves the Tradesman to be truly Religious 3. There is the soundest Comfort in it There is it 's true a kind of Pleasure in sinful Ways which bewitches those that follow them but as it cannot affect the whole Soul for there is Conscience in the most profligate which as it is vexed in them in the midst of their Follies and consequently their Satisfaction cannot be intire so it leaves a Sting which is both inseparable and unsufferable and when all is done this Pleasure is mortal and commonly is but momentary it is but like the crackling of Thorns under a Pot which makes a great noise but is soon extinguished But now Religion as it doth permit to you all innocent Pleasures you may have an equal Liberty with others to all that is worth the having in them so it fills the Soul and entertains all the Faculties thereof with those Delights that are most congruous to them and also feasts it with the sweet review of an holy Life The Fear of the Lord is clean rejoycing the Heart It affords Laughter without a Sting Mirth without a Reckoning It will support and comfort you under your Losses and give you Songs in the Night while others are eaten up with their Cares or wallowing in their Puddle And therefore it is your real Interest to be truly Religious 4. There is the greatest Necessity of it Our wise and blessed Saviour told Martha Luke 10. 41 42. Thou ant careful and cumbred about many things but one thing is needful which you see was the business of Religion hearing the words of Eternal Life For as sure as you have mortal Bodies so sure it is that you have immortal Souls and as sure as there is you see a visible World with respect to the Body so certain is it that there is an invisible World for the invisible Soul Now if you must needs care and labour to sustain the Body and it is your common cry Rent must be paid Bread must be had so let me oppose our must against yours God must needs be serv'd the Soul must needs be saved and in order to it Knowledg must needs be got Sin must needs be pardon'd and mortified a new Heart must be procured and a new Life led and here 's Religion Yea it is necessary for the procuring a Blessing upon all your Affairs for Godliness is profitable to all things having the Promise of the Life that now is 1 Tim. 4. 8. If you will truly serve him he will certainly bless you He will establish the Work of your Hands upon you yea he will establish it if you earnestly seek it Psal 90. 17. All that he doth shall prosper Psal 1. 3. Survey the Book of God and you will generally find when the Kings were most religious they were then most prosperous 2 Chron. 26. 5. And as long as Uzziah sought the Lord the Lord made him to prosper See the whole 112th Psalm Indeed one may prosper by other Courses but that Gain is clear Loss and the Prosperity of such Fools shall destroy them And you should do well to consider whether many of your Losses and Crosses and Decays be not the just Punishment of your Neglects in Religion For when the People of God of old neglected God's Service Hag. 1. 6. He that earned Wages earned Wages to put into a Bag with Holes God can easily blast your most effectual Endeavours about this Life if you be negligent about the things of a better and so you may come to lose two Worlds for want of one Religious Heart Object 1. It may be you will object the Difficulty of Religion that the Lessons of it are too hard and that the way to Heaven is too narrow for you Answ But I answer There is nothing so hard in Religion but the Grace of God will make it easy Your Trades seemed very hard at first but now you find them easy enough As a new Suit of Cloaths pincheth you a little at first but in a few days they are easie enough so being a while habituated to a godly Course the Difficulty will vanish and the Suavity will abide To live in Idleness and perish for hunger looks easy but who will therefore chuse it No you 'l work and sweat and die with Labour rather than live in want And why should Difficulties in Religion only fright you But if you will believe God you must acknowledg that his Yoke is easy and his Burden is light that his ways are ways of Pleasantness and all his Paths are Peace Or if you will credit those that have tried them they will unanimously avouch that there is more Comfort in the Hardships of Religion than in the Pleasures of Sin But what do we dispute about Difficulty when Necessity is in the case you must be holy now or miserable for ever and you that cry how hard a thing it is to get into Heaven will find it an harder matter to get out of Hell Object 2. O but you object it will be prejudicial to us It will take up our Time hinder us in Business and cut off some ways of Gain which now we live by We would gladly read such a good Book go and confer with a good Minister but we have not time for these things Answ This is but the old Song when Israel should go to sacrifice than Pharaoh calls to work But 't is a meer Evasion how much time do many of you squander away in sleeping eating smoaking and visiting You can stay with any body but with God and can find time for any thing but the saving of your Souls How busy soever you are your Work on Earth will be done best when your Work in Heaven is done first You would not like it that your Apprentice should tell you he could not do your Business because he had some Business of his own to do You are the Lord's and your time is his and to postpone his Work for any thing else is a far greater Affront to him And tho the Fear of God may check you in your indirect ways of Gain yet it will make you treble amends by
in the matter Indeed if there be no rational cause to doubt you are not culpable but tho you be not certain yet if there be reason to suspect it you should not meddle with them unless it be to retain them for the Owner and to bring the Thief unto deserved Punishment For who will buy a Suit of Clothes if he have but any ground to think the Plague in them Away therefore with all such dishonest Gain lest it bring a Curse upon all the rest and rather resolve to be poor with Integrity than rich by Unrighteousness 5. Accustom your selves to an honest Plainness in your Bargains A necessary Prudence we have before recommended Ordinary and discernable Faults every Buyer is suppos'd to take notice of but if your Commodity hath any such private Defects or Faults as being known to your Customer would induce him to relinquish his purpose or at least to sink his Price you do not justly to obtrude the same upon him for you would not you ought not to be so dealt by If the Buyer be culpable that cries It is naught it is naught but when he is gone his way boasteth Prov. 20. 14. then the Seller is no better that cries O it is faultless it is excellent good when it is neither so nor so It is not your Formal Cant nor smoothest Harangues that will make good a bad Commodity And tho these Methods may serve you for a while yet according to the old Proverb Frost and Fraud will end in Foul. But of this more hereafter 6. This Justice in a Tradesman is shewed in defraying all lawful Impositions For it is supposed that every Tradesman lives under some Government that in every Government the Prince or Magistrate must be supported in the Execution of his Office and inabled to protect his Subjects that for this end such and such Tributes and Customs are allowed him by common Consent that a great part of such Impositions do issue from the Tradesman especially from those that do export our own or import forreign Commodities Now Justice expresly requires that Rom. 13. 7. You render to all their dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom so that you must either punctually discharge them or else plainly deny that they are due And how can you question this when they are setled by Law and this Law past with your own in your Trustees Consent and that in a meer secular matter wherein the Magistrates Jurisdiction is unquestionable and grounded upon the plainest Reasons the Welfare Safety and Commodity of the Subject and of the Tradesman in a special manner And therefore you cannot in Justice deny them or indeavour to defraud the Magistrate of any part of them Say not that their Property is altered they are transfer'd by the Prince into other hands so that he is not wrong'd but his Farmers or Officers who notwithstanding your Defalcation gain abundantly For These are invested with an undoubted Right from the Proprietor and so cannot lawfully be defrauded no more than a Tenant of what he taketh in Lease from his Landlord Neither plead that the end wherefore such Taxations were granted is not attained the Seas are not guarded nor Traffick secured For it is hard to prove the matter of Fact the Prince's Care herein ought not to be call'd into question without clear and uncontroulable Evidence every neglect of subordinate Officers must not involve the Supream Magistate unless it be frequent notorious and considerable and after due Information And when all is done in all Ages there ever were and still will be some Over-sights some unworthy Persons imploy'd who will seek their own and not the Publick Good whose Faults must be corrected by their Superiours and not pleaded in bar of Duty by every private Person Neither is it enongh to reply That if you do adventure to with-hold Custom or the like then you are ready if detected to stand to the Penalty and reckon that thereby you are discharged from any Guilt For granting that it is due by Law which certainly settles every Man's Right in his Estate it is flat Unrighteousness to rent away any ones Right without their Consent and the Penalty is chiefly intended to affright ill Men from doing Injury whom Conscience of God will not restrain And therefore in the Judicial Law which was founded upon the highest Reason there was a Trespass-Offering to be offered to God to atone for the Guilt besides the full Restitution to the Party wronged Levit. 6. 5. Numb 5. 6. There is no common Thief or Pick-pocket but might make this Plea if there were any Strength in it That he ventures the Penalty and so is blameless And the Greatness or the Poverty of the Party wrong'd is so far from extenuating the Crime that it aggravates it And as you should render to Caesar the things that be Caesar's so ought you to render unto God the things that be God's If ever ye expect the Blessing of God with-hold not from his Messengers whatsoever is by Law or Equity due unto them The Labourer in any Calling is worthy of his Hire their's is a laborious Calling The Sweat of the Brain consumes more than the Sweat of the Brows Never deprive nor defraud nor defer God's Ministers their Maintenance Dent. 12. 19. Take heed to thy self that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the Earth And 1 Cor. 9. 14. The Lord hath ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel Alas they cannot trade as you can they have relinquish'd those gainful Emploiments and are devoted to the Service of God and the good of Souls And yet some diligent Cobler may live as plentifully as some of them They must not only have Bread but Books and Physick and should be so supplied that they might make competent Provision for their Families and also be Examples as well as Promoters of Charity to them that want 1 Tim. 5. 17. The Elders that rule well are worthy of double Honour especially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine And this is not only a Point of Religion and Charity but of Justice and Equity 7. The Tradesman's Justice must be shewed in paying due Respects to the Laws and Orders of his Society This Particular hath place only in those Places where such Societies are erected and By-Laws and Orders made among themselves to the observation whereof the Members of the same are usually obliged by a solemn Oath Now supposing these said Laws to be consonant to God's Word and to Right Reason you are in Justice and Conscience bound to give your Obedience to them yea tho it sometimes interfere with your particular Advantage When thereby you are called to any Office of Charge or Trouble you ought readily to discharge it so that it be consistent with the Imployments of your Calling or other necessary Concernments or else submit chearfully to such Fines as are duly imposed Again Tho you
your Affections on things above not on things on the Earth Coloss 3. 2. When the Soul leans thus the right way you will be ready to every good Work it will be a marvelous Advantage to you upon every occasion How often might you have opportunities to meditate or pray or to reprove a Fault which you will lose for want of an honest frame of Heart And this is a thing too much neglected People think it sufficient to observe their Words and Actions but few do mind the Temper and Frame of their Souls as they ought Our Conversation saith the Apostle is in Heaven We are Citizens of another and better City and we must be always driving a Trade there No sight to such a Soul like a Throne in the Clouds No Musick like the Arch-Angel's Trumpet no Song like Awake ye Dead and come to Judgment 2. The Tradesman's Religion lies in the due Exercise of Faith Without this you can no way please God in your Calling If you have not a Ground and an Heart to believe that your Calling is pleasing to God every step you take in it is guilty Hereby you believe that there is a Divine Providence which governs all Men and all their Actions which will quiet you in all Events whatsoever When others fret and fume under their Losses or swell and stroke themselves in their Success this will discern the Hand of God both in giving and taking away and so quiet and fix the Soul aright Thou wilt keep him in perfect Peace whose Heart is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee Isa 26. 3. Hereby you will be able to live upon God's Promises for outward Supplies and will be incouraged to use the means to obtain them yea when the Providence of God seems to contradict his Promises when all things seem to conspire against you by Faith you will see a Bow in the Cloud God's Promise and Covenant to do you good by all 2 Sam. 23. 5. Altho my House be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my Salvation and all my Desire altho he make it not to grow Whereas if ye only depend upon Second Causes you shall see what you may expect Jer. 17. 5. Cursed is the Man that trusteth in Man and maketh Flesh his Arm and whose Heart departeth from the Lord When a Man works and cares so as if he had no need of God he shall be like the Heath in the Desert and shall not see when good cometh as it follows there He that trusts in Man makes him God he that distrusts God makes him Man This Faith will free you from that Anxiety which torments carnal Men who have perhaps the greatest part of their Estate floating upon the Sea and therefore can scarce eat or drink or sleep by reason of their unworthy Fears Now Faith depends upon God is not afraid of evil Tidings for his Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 1 12. 7. I 'l do my Duty and let God do his Will And then for Spiritual Mercies which the Tradesman hath daily need of Faith is all in all What 's the Scripture or God or Christ without Faith How shall he obtain Mercy and Pardon or find Grace and Comfort in time of need without Faith In a word the Christian Tradesman must live by Faith and breath by Prayer 3. The Tradesman's Religion is to be exercised In the right Performance of Religious Worship For the same Light of Nature Scripture and Reason which prove there is a God do with equal strength evince that he is to be worshipped He that doubts of this disputes against Principles The Tradesman is obliged to this as well as other Men. How can he be said to abide with God in his Calling that comes not near him By Prayer we approach to God and by his Word he comes near â—o us The Tradesman must know that he hath two Landlords one on Earth and another in Heaven that he holds his House and Shop of Man but he holds his Health and Life of God to whom a due Rent of Prayer and Praises must be daily paid Rouze up your selves therefore in the Morning and lay the Scripture next your Hearts read some part of it with Understanding and Application and then kneel you down and lift up your Hearts to God in sincere and serious Prayer And at the fittest hour but the sooner the better let you whole Family come together unless any be unavoidably hindred and there let a Psalm and a Chapter be read and then joyn together in Prayer And the like course hold at Night withal remembring to sing the Praises of God and let no Company or Business unless of present necessity tempt you either to omit these Duties or to do them unseasonably Reckon that Almighty God is staying for you at your due hours and will not excuse your neglect unless you can conclude in your Conscience that he himself by his Providence with-holds you Do you think in earnest that when your Family at eleven or twelve of the Clock at Night are some of them in Bed and the rest half asleep it will satisfy an all-seeing God to hear you excusing your selves with a story of such Company that held you or such unseasonable Recreation kept you from his Service or any other Business which might have been dispatched or deferred to another time Say not that ye want time for this Work for a Man must have time to eat and sleep and pray whatever other Business stays And all this excellent Work needs not go away with an hours time in the whole day for it is not the length but strength of Devotion that carries it with God Be but serious and sincere God will accept a little from you that have not time for more Plead not your Weariness in your Calling that you are quite tir'd before Night remember you cannot plead this in the Morning that you have no Strength nor Spirits left you For immoderate Labour may be sinful as well as immoderate Meat or Drink God requires no more nor accepts nor will bless such toiling as is inconsistent with the Ability of your Bodies or the good of your Souls You should Reason thus with your selves Have I taken pains all day for a little Money and shall not I strain my self a little at night for Pardon and Grace If I have tir'd my Legs about the Earth shall I not weary my Knees to get to Heaven If I have wearied my Arms to get a Living here shall I not stretch out my Hands to get a Crown hereafter O if you had but a spark of Zeal you would answer your selves Zeal revives the languishing Spirits infuses new Spirits makes a Man all Spirit for a time This in a false Religion will raise up a Man to his Orisons at Midnight will send him some hundreds of Miles on Pilgrimage c. It 's true it works