A Present for Servants, Chapter 2
CHAP. II. The Duty of Servants [1] towards GOD.
THERE is ſuch a comprehenſive fulneſs in Scripture, in which the Commandments are exceeding broad, that there is no Caſe, Condition, or Relation, in which the People of God can be or ſtand, but there is ſomething in the word that is ſuited thereunto. There are none ſo high, but the Word is above them; and none ſo low, but the Word condeſcends to them, and ſpeaks to their ſtate and caſe. Servants may be overlook'd by the World, but they are directed by the Word: And from that Word I ſhall endeavour to ſpeak to the Duty of Servants, under theſe three Heads.
1. Their Duty towards God.
2. Their Duty towards their Maſters.
3. Their Duty towards their Fellow-Servants, in the Family and Neighbourhood.
As to the former; their Duty towards God, muſt firſt be minded, as the foundation of their Duty towards Men. I have no hopes to do you good, unleſs, I can prevail with you in theſe matters of the higheſt concern.
(1.) That you would engage your ſelves in the Service of God, and be his Servants in the firſt place. You are already his Servants at large, and by outward profeſſion: You have taken his Earneſt, and worn his Livery, upon your being Baptized. It hath been no ſtrange thing in the Church of God, to have Infants own'd by God to be his Servants, viz. by an external Relation and Profeſſion: They are called ſo, Levit. 25.41, 42. and ſince this you have born his Name, and Liv'd in his Houſe, and eat of his Bread, and pretended to his Wages, you have a Work to do, and ſhall at laſt be called to a Reckoning, when the Great Maſter comes; but alas, alas! How many are there, that are the Servants of Chriſt in Name, but really the Servants of Sin all the time? For know you not, His Servants you are whom you obey, Rom. 6.16. Jeſus ſaith unto them, Verily, verily, I ſay unto you, He that committeth ſin, is the Servant of ſin, Job 8.34. You your ſelves were ſometimes fooliſh— ſerving divers Luſts and Pleaſures, Tit. 3.3. Rom. 6.17, 20. 2 Pet. 2.19. You are by nature Slaves, in your nobleſt part, to the vileſt of Creatures, in the baſeſt drudgery. How has the Devil made you ſerve blindfold, in Bonds and Chains? If you are once made ſenſible of your caſe, you would ſigh and groan to be ſet at liberty, you would be very inquiſitive to find out a better place, you would long to be directed to ſome better Service. And if ſo, I come to give you notice to my Maſter; who tho' he wants not you, nor any Servant that he has, is very willing to entertain you in his Service. It is an honourable Service, and a profitable Service, there is no ſuch Maſter, no ſuch Wages to be had any where elſe. Our Lord Jeſus Chriſt offers to ſtand in many near relations to you, and you that know what it is to go to Service, ſhould know upon what terms you may become the Servants of Chriſt. See then,
1. That you give up your ſelves to God and our Lord Jeſus Chriſt by a ſolemn Covenant and Contract. It is by Contract that you are Servants in the places where you live, you knew what you did when you were hir'd, upon what terms you took the Earneſt: Now, Why ſtand you all the day idle? Why are your Souls ſo long out of the Service of ſo great, ſo good a Maſter? Say not, No Man has hir'd us: I this Day call and invite you into the Family of God, the Houſhold of Faith. Will you accept of his terms, and conſent to the Covenant? He ſtands not with you upon the rigorous terms of the Covenant of Works; He has admitted a Surety, who has ſatisfy'd the Demands of Juſtice, and purchas'd moſt excellent terms of Grace for you: And now what does the Lord thy God require of thee? He expects that you renounce your former Maſters. He will have all his Servants be for him, and not for another; no Man can ſerve two Maſters. He expects that you ſhould reverence his Son, that being ranſom'd from your Slavery, and bought with the price, you ſhould depend on his Merits, and ſubmit to his Will; and ſerve him in your Souls and Bodies which are his. Now who is He that engageth his heart to approach to God? Have you conſidered his terms, You muſt for ſake your Father's Houſe, and your own People: The divers Luſts and Pleaſures which you formerly ſerved, muſt be entirely and eternally abandoned: you muſt renounce your vain Confidences, and ſubmit to his righteouſneſs, you muſt deny your own Wills, and ſtoop to his Word; you muſt give up your Selves, Souls, and Bodies to be rul'd by him, as ever you hope to be ſav'd by him. Do you now like his terms? If you ſay, No, as the Lord liveth, He will come down no lower: Wherefore yield your ſelves unto the Lord, as you have yielded your members Servants of iniquity unto iniquity; ſo now, yield your members Servants of righteouſneſs, unto holineſs. I know it muſt be the Finger of God that muſt turn about your Hearts, and make you willing to his Contract: And who knows but it may be the day of his power to ſome poor Souls? Wherefore ponder upon your ſtate by nature, till you are deeply affected with your former ſlavery; let the making of this Contract be look'd upon, as the moſt ſolemn tranſaction of your Lives: Get into a corner and count the coſt. He ſees you as he did Nathanael, as ſome think, about the ſame work under the Fig-tree. Reckon upon bearing the burden and heat of the day, upon ſtorms and many a cold blaſt in your Faces; beg as for your Lives, the aſſiſtance of his Spirit, and let each of you take to himſelf words, and ſay, Other Lords have had Dominion over me, but I am thy Servant, truly I am thy Servant— I put my ſelf under the wings of the God of Iſrael, I will never be the World's again; nor Sin's, nor Satan's any more: I am thine, and thou art mine. Amen, And the Lord God of Iſrael ſay ſo too. Being thus hired, you muſt ſee then,
2. That you diligently apply your ſelves to know and do the will of your Maſter. Being bound you muſt obey, having open'd your mouths unto the Lord, you cannot go back. You are in for your Lives, yea for ever and ever: You muſt have your ear bor'd to the Poſts of the Door, and ſay, I love my Maſter, and will never depart from him: You muſt chiefly delight in the inward part of your work, but baulk no duty for any difficulty or danger that you may meet with therein: You muſt not be quarreling with your Fellow-Servants, when you ſhould be at work; but do all you do as approving your ſelves to the eye of your Maſter: You muſt depend on the ſtrength of Chriſt in all the Service you perform: and when you have done all, muſt count your ſelves unprofitable Servants, and look only to his Grace and Merits for Pardon and Acceptance. Nor ſhall you ever ſay, that He is a hard Maſter, reaping where he did not ſow, and gathering where he did not ſtrow: You ſhall have no occaſion to liken him to the Egyptian Task-Maſters, that required Brick, but gave no Straw: He is neither Tyrannical in his Commands, nor niggardly in his Encouragements: He is not difficult to be pleaſed, nor will he always chide: He ſtands not upon legal perfection, but admits of Repentance and Sincerity: He offers his aſſiſtance, that you may do all through Chriſt ſtrengthening you: He allows you to look to the recompence of reward, that you may go the more chearfully on, as thoſe that know that your labour ſhall not be in vain in the Lord.
(2.) The next Duty of Servants is to improve the time of youth and ſtrength. The uſual time of going to Service, is in the younger years; in that Age only are they thought fit for the Service of Men: Oh let not the main work then be neglected in it!
To this purpoſe I commend to Servants theſe two Conſiderations.
1. How advantageous a time the youthful Age is, and what pity it is ſo free a time ſhould be loſt, an Age in which God uſually lays hold on the hearts of thoſe, whom he brings home to himſelf, and in which Converſion is much eaſier, like the bending of a tender Twig, than when ſome old knotty Root is to be cleav'd, which muſt have many a Blow; and indeed as every thing is beautiful in its ſeaſon, ſo how lovely is early Piety? when the Young Man in the Goſpel had but ſome good Inclinations, it is ſaid, Jeſus lov'd him. How ſtrong are ſuch like to be and grow in Grace, when like a Plant early ſet, it has time to take Root? How fruitful will they prove, when they ſhall ſtill bring forth fruit even to old Age? What uſeful, experimental Chriſtians do ſuch prove, who have had a long time to taſt the ſweetneſs of the ways of Chriſt, that they early choſe? None ever repented at laſt that they came in to Chriſt too ſoon: on the contrary, the Comforts of the Holy Ghoſt ſoon convince them, that they have not loſt their Pleaſures, but chang'd them; left ſenſual Tranſitory Delights for ſuch as are Spiritual and Eternal.
2. On the other ſide, How dreadful the neglect of the time of youth will prove: how woful the hazard, and how certain the damage. Unconverted Youth is as full of ſin, as Job's Body was of ſores. We read of youthful luſts, the iniquities of our youth, which corrupt Nature in that Age is ſtrongly inclined to. How long a Vacation is there uſually from God and Duty! What fooliſh talking and jeſting, which is not convenient? Is there not (if not Oaths and Execrations, yet) abominable lying in the Tongue? How ſad is it to ſee, the Pride and Vanity, Diſobedience to Parents, Contempt of Advice, vilifying of the Miniſters and Servants of Chriſt, and above all, the prevailing Love of Pleaſures, unlawful Pleaſures, or at leaſt of ill Report, reigning amongſt Youth at this day! if through Grace they be awakened in their elder Years (which is the beſt that can be thought of) yet how bitter will theſe youthful Sins be to the Conſcience, when they are made to poſſeſs the iniquities of their youth? they will quickly receive of the Lord double for all their ſins, i.e. doubly, and triply more of horrour, than ever they found of ſweetneſs in them. But alas, it is very ſeldom ſo well with them who have loſt their Youth in Sin. Can the Aethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his ſpot? &c. How impoſſible almoſt to reclaim them, eſpecially if they ſpent their Youth in Vanity under the Goſpel! Life is uncertain, and you have no aſſurance to live a day, and if you live till Age, alas, how ſoon will it come? the time in which you will ſay, We have no pleaſure in it. How little is the Sinner, that has miſs'd his time, and grown grey in ſin, acquainted with the Importance of the work, which he has ſo fooliſhly delayed! Do you think in your Conſciences, That all which you have ſo frequently heard of Converſion and Regeneration, all about a Life of Self-denyal, Meekneſs, Humility, and Contempt of this World, is no more than to ſay, Lord, have mercy upon me, when you are ſick, or to ſend for the Miniſter to pray by you? Can the Work that requires the beſt Inſtruction, the greateſt Strength and Compoſedneſs of mind, and Retiredneſs from the World, be performed at laſt, when you have ſpent your Youth and Strength in Ignorance and Obſtinacy, and come to be full of Pains of Body, and Agonies of Mind, and tyred with Company in Sickneſs, and the over-officious Love of Friends as careleſs as your ſelves? I know the Inſtance of the Thief upon the Croſs is urged for a putting off Repentance to the laſt. But ſuppoſe it were granted, That there was no Work begun on his Soul, before thoſe laſt hours, yet how many thouſands have miſcarried by ſuch Delays, to one ſingle Inſtance of a Man that eſcapd! Is not one to ſo many thouſands bgreat Odds, and he brought in at ſuch an extraordinary ſeaſon, as never was before, nor ever will be again? It was in a time when all things were carried in a miraculous way; the Sun was darkned, the Rocks ſplit, the Temple-veil rent, the Earth ſhook, and the Graves opened, and a Sinner converted at the laſt. Our Lord was ſpoiling Principalities and Powers, and as Captains ſnatch a Standard from the Enemy, as a token of Victory; ſo did our Lord reſcue this Soul out of the hands of Satan, as a Standard gain'd to make a Shew of it openly, triumphing thereby over Satan in his Croſs. And how eaſily may this Inſtance be retorted on the careleſs Waſters of their Youth, that the Thief on the Croſs came in at the firſt Call, and, for ought appears to us, had never one Goſpel-Invitation before? Did he ever deſpiſe the offers of Grace from Year to Year as you have done? What a difference does this make, that you have had duving your time of Youth and Vanity, Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept, and have grieved, quenched, tempted, vexed, reſiſted, and even done deſpight to the ſpirit of Grace? And do you think to command the free influences of the Spirit, when you have miſs'd your time, and he ſaith, He will laugh at your Calamity, and mock when your fear cometh?
(3.) The laſt thing I ſhall name in the Servants Duty towards God, is to do what they do in their places, as to the Lord, and not unto Men, Col. 3.23. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jeſus, as eyeing the Image of his Authority in thoſe that God has ſet over you, for you ſerve the Lord Chriſt. In order to this,
1. See that in the entrance into Service, or any new Place, you mind chiefly, where you may have the greateſt advantages for your Souls. Let not the eaſieſt work, or moſt wages, be the main thing in your Eye, in the places where you go. Do not run into an infected place for ſome little outward advantage: Do not chuſe to live in a Pariſh where there is no preaching Miniſtry, nor in a Family where there is no worſhip of God; eſpecially if the Governour or Members of the Family be notoriouſly prophane, ſhun ſuch a Houſe as you would one in which the plague were broke out. And if God has caſt your Lot into a Godly Family, eſteem it as a ſpecial favour, and remember to improve the price put into your hands. It was a ſtartling Speech of a holy Miniſter to a Maid Servant, and prov'd of great uſe to her,Machin in vit. when obſerving how God had plac'd her in a Religious Family, He told her, That if ſhe went to Hell out of that Family, ſhe would have a deep place there.
2. That in doing the work of your Earthly Maſters, you ſeek the ſtrength, and aim at the glory of your heavenly Maſter. Not to mention the Lord's Day as yet, you muſt every day conſcientiouſly beg a bleſſing upon your work, and commit your Souls, Bodies, Relations, and lawful undertakings into the hands of God by Faith and Prayer: you partake of the Mercies of the Family, and therefore you muſt pray down a Bleſſing upon it. You remember Good Eleazar, Gen. 24.12. O Lord God of my Maſter Abraham, I pray thee ſend me good ſpeed this day, and ſhew kindneſs to my Maſter Abraham, &c. Prayer is the means to know your duty in your Service, and to be able to perform it; by this means you may have the teſtimony of your Maſters, and of the truth it ſelf, which Jacob had of his Maſter Laban, Gen. 30.27. I have learned by experience, that the Lord hath bleſſed me for thy ſake. And this leads me to the ſecond Part of the Servants Duty.