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
sinful Idleness Consider this ye younger Tradesmen and provide for the future Spend not your Estates as fast as ye get them Go to the Ant thou Fool and consider her Ways and be wise There is a time to get and a time to spend Eccles 3. 6. And therefore now imploy your Parts your Strength your Opportunities to make competent Provision for a time of Sickness Now rise up that then you may lie in Bed run now that then you may keep your Chair labour now that then you may rest And beware of all Intemperance and hurtful Lusts whereby Nature is weakened and a Door opened to many Informities lest you remove to the Hospital at last Sobriety and Piety will be Health to your Navel and Marrow to your Bones Then will you have the Comfort of your former Integrity when you will receive but little from your present Indisposition your Calling and you must part there is no remedy But you will Ask May not a Tradesman tho yet of some competent Abilities of Mind and Body lay aside his Calling when he hath gotten a sufficient Estate for himself and Family Nay should he not in that case do it thereby to have some Injoyment of his Labours and also to give place to young Traders to improve their Talents I Answer Yes he may provided he intend not to be unserviceable in the World but to imploy his Parts his Abilities and his Estate some way to the good of Mankind He may rather chuse a Country-Life and God forbid he should be denied after his wearisom Imployment the comfort of it But then he must not say to his Soul Soul thou hast much Goods laid up for many Years take thine Ease eat arink and be merry He must not lay up Dainties and Treasures only for himself but must be rich towards God Luke 12. 20. Indeed he must not only aim at Ease but at Leisure to prepare himself for the World to come And I conceive that the Tradesman who hath arrived at a sufficient Estate and is declined in Years not only may but should unless there be some other justifiable Reasons that do preponderate give place to the younger Tradesmen and not stand like great old Trees which hinder the growth of all below them He that conjoyns the common Good with his private Advantage will not be so selfish as to prefer his own unnecessary Emolument before the necessary Encouragement of many He thought it unreasonable in his Predecessors and therefore should not deal so with those that are coming after him And in this his Repose he should not only instruct young Tradesmen in the Vertues of Prudence Justice Truth and Piety but set himself to do all the good he can in the place of his Retirement and there lay out some of that Wisdom Religion and Estate which he had laid up before so shall he come to his Grave in a full Age like as a Shock of Corn cometh in his Season Job 5. 26. 3. When a Man is disabled in his Estate to follow his Calling then he is plainly released from it You must not give it up for every Loss nor for every Abatement in your Estate God is pleased sometimes to try the Faith and Patience of his dearest Children by Ebbs and Tides in their Estates and many who have been reduced to a very small scantling have recovered again in a wonderful manner But if a Man's Estate be reduced to nothing and that his Calling is such as requires an Estate to manage it then he is discharg'd he doth not properly leave his Calling but his Calling leaves him But it highly concerns this Man to review his Carriage both towards God and towards Men and to find out wherefore God hath taken his Talent from him He should consider whether he have served his Master with all his Strength whether he hath not liv'd in some Omission or indulg'd some Transgression or other Whether he hath imploy'd his utmost Wisdom Strength and Skill in his Vocation Whether he hath not been unjust or uncharitable towards others And in case he find himself faulty to deplore his Sin and implore the Mercy of God in Jesus Christ lest those Sins which drive him out of his Shop keep him out of Heaven also But in this case he and his Calling must live no longer together he is starv'd out of it and must seek another For God will not give his Consent that he should be idle He must be content to be a Servant when he cannot be a Master and to be helpful in anothers Shop when he cannot keep open his own And this is rather to be chosen than to wander into Imployments foreign to his own for tho it may be less creditable and more laborious yet he is within the Purlieus of his own Calling and if he can get Food and Raiment he ought therewith to be content 4. Lastly God doth manifestly discharge a Man of his Calling by Death This puts an end to all a Man's Cares and Labours and puts a Man from his Calling for ever His Wares his Books his Chapmen his Projects and he must part for good and all His Breath goeth forth he returneth to his Earth in that very day his Thoughts perish Psal 146. 4. This day will come and it often comes in an hour he is not aware of When God calls to the Grave all other Callings must be left Job 14. 10. Man dieth and wasteth away yea Man giveth up the Ghost and where is he He was wont to be in his Shop he is not there Where is he See in his Counting-house he is not there where is he Look for him at the Exchange there he is not where is he then why he is gone whither into another Country No he is gone into another World and his House nor Shop will known him no more Let my Counsel therefore be acceptable to every Tradesman 1. Set thy Heart in order this day defer it no longer break off thy Sins by Righteousness and thine Iniquities by shewing Mercy to the Poor-Repent of all your Sins from the bottom of your Hearts not only in the lump but with particular Reflection and sutable Grief for every one of them batter Heaven with your earnest Cries for Pardon and for Grace Settle your selves in a course of sincere universal and constant Piety-Live in the daily Expectations of dying and lay up for your selves Treasure in Heaven If you have done Wrong to any make them speedy and full amends whatever you would now regret if you were called this night to give an account of your Stewardship that rectify this day For besides the Quickness and Violence of some Diseases which give a Man neither Opportunity nor Ability to think or do any thing about his Soul your Death-bed Repentance allows you no Opportunity to demonstrate the Sincerity of your Purposes by actual Amendment They will appear to be only Bonds made in Durance Godliness out of Force not out of Choice 2.
furtherances each to other I know that some Callings are of that nature and some Tradesmen again so necessitous that it is difficult to find Conveniences for the Worship of God and good of the Soul But Wisdom here is profitable to direct hereby the pious Tradesman after a due consideration of all Circumstances and of his necessary business within doors and without fixes a time for prayer for reading and hearing as well as for working and bargaining and tho he cannot assign so much as others can yet he doth it with a right good-will and he takes care that neither of these Affairs do intrench upon the other nor prejudice the other His Devotion disposes him for his business and his Diligence in his business renders his acts of Devotion welcome And it is imprudence as well as want of zeal which occasions the confusion in Families in these matters The uncertainty of Time or undue fixing of other Circumstances doth commonly thrust out those Exercises of Religion which if prudently and sincerely perform'd would bring a blessing with them both on Soul and Body But of these hereafter in a more proper place Let us now apply what hath been said on this Head First By way of Reproof 1. Of the great Indiscretion of many even Godly and well-meaning Tradesmen that do greatly Err in some or other of the foresaid Cases It 's true this fault is not so criminal as many others for you 'l say no Man can have more Wit or Prudence than God hath given him every Man is not born a Philosopher But I say many Men might have more Wisdom than they had at first they might have improv'd their single Talent and made it double For as there is Wisdom infus'd so there is Wisdom acquir'd by means which God hath appointed and for the want hereof he may justly punish you in this World however ye may escape in the next Hence proceed the ruines of so many Families the Man his Wife and Children brought to beggery Here lies one in Jail for Suretiship another for haunting ill Company yonder 's one sent to Jamaica by living above his Ability another for want of keeping and casting up his Books some for trusting others for trading too high All which might have been prevented if Men would either get more Prudence of their own or consult and be ruled by their wiser Friends O that the Shipwrack of others might be as marks to the rest That these Pillars of Salt might season all other Tradesmen to the End of the World 2. But all this gives no countenance but rather reproves the Carnal Policy of Vngodly Tradesmen who resolving to be rich will compass their Ends tho it be by the undoing others and of their own Souls That have the subtilty of the Serpent without the innocence of the Dove who have learned all the cunning tricks Satan or his instruments can inspire them withal and so are able to turn and wind their easy and well-meaning Neighbour This is Wisdom from beneath and however you may thrive with it for a moment yet ye fight against God whose Justice will find you out oftentimes in this World Prov. 20. 21. An Inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning but the end thereof shall not be blessed But to besure without Repentance in the never-ending World And what will it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Secondly By way of Exhortation Then labour all Tradesmen for this Godly Wisdom It may stand you in more stead than all your Stock and all your Friends A Man's Wisdom maketh his face to shine It makes him amiable it makes him useful But how shall we obtain it Answ 1. Beg it of God James 1. 5. If any of you lack Wisdom let him ask it of God that giveth to all Men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him Say not I am a weak Man a sinful Man he giveth to all Men Say not I am extreamly foolish and I need more than I have hopes to get for he giveth liberally Say not again I have received abundance of Mercy already and have not improved the Parts he gave me well ask still for he upbraideth not and it shall be given you This course Solomon took 1 Kings 3. 5. when he was entring upon his Calling and the Lord readily gave it him and threw him in Riches and Honour besides 2. Consult wise Men. For the Lord giveth Wisdom 't is true but not by inspiration but in the use of means The long Observations of others may be made yours in a few days if you would be willing to learn Do not think that you can grasp all the ways and rules of Prudence by your own Skill Prov. 12. 15. The way of a Fool is right in his own Eyes but he that hearkeneth unto Counsel is wise not only he that gives Counsel is wise but he that hearkeneth to it And therefore be sure that ye consort with such rather chuse to be learning among the wise than vaunting your selves among the foolish He that walketh with wise Men shall be wise as ye heard before but a Companion of Fools shall be destroyed 3. Study for it in the use of proper means Read God's Word wherein are the mines of all true Wisdom and particularly the Book of Proverbs which is a Collection of such wise Observations as may be applied to all particular cases Read also such other good Books whereof there is store to make you wise But add withal serious consideration of men and things whereby you will vastly improve in godly Wisdom for every thriving and decaying Tradesman will be a Book to teach you something Prov. 24. 32. Then I saw and considered it well that is the Vineyard of the slothful I looked upon it and received Instruction Which brings me to the second Requisite conducing to the right managing of a Trade or Calling SECT 2. Of Diligence in a Trade AND the second Requisite in a Trade is Diligence About which 1. I shall describe the Nature 2. The Object of it 3. Some Inducements to it 4. Make some Application First For the Nature of it It is a Christian Vertue disposing a Man to use his greatest Skill Care and Strength in his Calling It differeth not in substance from the same moral Vertue among the Heathen but that in a Christian there is a better Root whence it grows and that is a sanctified Heart a Conscience that stands in awe of God and so causes the Man to stand in awe of it And also he hath a higher End in his Diligence and that is the Glory of God and the good of others and not meerly for his own credit or advantage Whereas the industrious Pagan as he knows not God so he cares not for him but self is at the beginning self is at the middle and self is at the end of all his Care and Pains and the unsanctified Christian is little better but
competently provided for Books in the English Tongue Tho you may read yet you need not buy many more That Money which others spend in superfluous Treats and Vanities will in a short time furnish you with these Companionsâ— and that time which they bestow in doing nothing will serve you for this Employment which will advance both your Intellectuals and your Morals here and your Eternal Happiness hereafter But then you must learn 2. How to use these Books when you have them They must not lie by you in the dust but they must be read and read throughout not by parcels here and there and yet not too much at once for the Mind and Memory are frail and finite and you should leave them as you should your Sermons and Meals with an Appetite But besure you read with a deliberate Attention and Application of what you read to your own Souls and as occasion is offered interline holy Ejaculations to God to bless what you read unto you If the Excellency or Difficulty of matter require it grudg not to read it twice or thrice and if you have time and convenience extract and transcribe those things which most eminently concerns you or make some Index whereby to find them again Lend them also to any that will be sure to read them and restore them so you may have a Trade going of saving Souls when you are asleep Finally let not your reading intrench upon your necessary Business nor make you more contentious proud censorious but more holy and humble and useful that the Divinity of your Books may be read in your daily Practice and that your Works may commend your Authors IV. Vse 1. Then I pray cast back your Eye and review these ten Particulars and then turn your Eyes inward upon your selves and your behaviour in the Premises Thus saith the Lord of Hosts Consider your Ways Hag. 1. 5. Hath the Fear of God accompanied you into your Shops to the Exchange every where What hath been your inward frame How have you exercised Faith What care hath been taken of God's Worship What Rule have you observed and what Ends have you propounded What spiritual use have you made of earthly things in your Callings How have you kept the Sabbath what Watchfulness what Ejaculations what Exercise of Grace what Good have you promoted or what Sins have you prosecuted Of these things you will be examined when you cannot avoid answering It were better to judg your selves than to be judged by the Lord. The Day is at hand when the Secrets of all Hearts and the Ways of all Men will be discovered and impartial Sentence pronounced And if you do reflect in good earnest I conclude that you will see cause to abhor your selves and to repent in Dust and Ashes You will find that some of you have been so far from being religious in your Callings that you have been earthly in your Devotions there you can spare some Looks and Thoughts about the things of this World when in your Vocations you will scarce lift up one Look or Thought to a better instead of mixing Prayers with your Cares you have mingled Cares with your Prayers Nay in many of your Houses no Prayers at all lest you should be accounted Fanaticks you chuse to be Profanaticks Where 's any constant praying If every Door were but mark'd where there is no Prayer within I fear many Houses would stand crost as for the Plague with a Lord have Mercy upon us written upon them We have had the Gospel in Power and Purity now above an hundred and twenty Years and there is yet so much bare-fac'd Wickedness and so little of the Power of Godliness that the Lord may justly say to us as he did to the old World Gen. 6. 3. My Spirit shall no more strive with Man We preserve the Name of Christians Reformed Christians but we dishonour that worthy Name by which we are called How do we trifle in Religion God and Christ and Satan and Death are all in good earnest and we our selves do but dream O the best had need to repent and amend What then will become of them that hate and oppose all that 's serious that ridicule all Religion tho under other Pretences they dislike the Men not the Religion or only their Sins not their Sanctity and too much occasion for that Umbrage is given by many and wo to them by whom Offences come yea and wo to the World because of Offences both those that Give Offence and those that Take and improve it to the Prejudice of Religion are in a woful Condition For why should not a great deal of Goodness in a pious Man cover a little Evil as well as some little Goodness in others shall cover a great many Faults Let a Religious Man have never so many vertuous Qualities and let him have done never so many good things yet if he have any one Fault as if he be too passionate or too worldly all the worthy things in him or done by him are buried and he only hears Hypocrite and all that 's naught on both Ears But if a wicked Wretch have never so many ill Qualities and have lived in Sin all his days yet if he have but one good Property as to be good humour'd charitable or the like all his Faults are pass'd over and buried in silence and he shall be excus'd them all and cry'd up for a very fair condition'd Man Now is not here rank Partiality Do not these Men show hereby their Hatred to God Yes yes the Malignity is at God himself If good Men were less like to God they might sleep quietly with their other Faults Who ever affirm'd that the most sober and religious were without Sin and must they and Religion also be therefore hooted out of the World Who throws Stones at the Moon because there be some dark parts in it I would advise such to beware for Religion is the Cause of God who is a jealous God and if he damn them that are without it what will become of them that are against it These Arrows do penetrate Jesus Christ himself whom you might hear if you had an Ear to hear saying I am Jesus whom thou persecutest it is hard for thee to kick against the Pricks Acts 9. 5. Dread therefore hereafter as Saul there did to open thy Mouth against the unquestionable Duties of Religion and betake your selves to the Practice of that Piety without which you can neither comfortable live nor safely die But more particularly I cannot chuse but lament and reprove two great Omissions of too many Tradesmen And the one is of Family-Prayer which is wholly neglected by many partially practised that is at night only by some and unseasonably performed by others Assuredly Sins of Omission deserve Condemnation as you may see Mat. 25. throughout and all your other Profession or Vertues will not compensate for one wilful Neglect Jam. 2. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole