A Present for Servants, Chapter 6
CHAP. VI. The hindrances of Servants calling [2.] by diſcontent and repining at their condition.
THey that know little of God, have underſtanding ſufficient for their buſineſs in the World, but for want of ſaving Knowledge and Grace, how many poor Servants go on uncomfortably in it? they look upon themſelves as hardly dealt with, and are apt to fret and fume at the narrow Portion allotted to them by Providence, to be laid in ſome cold out-Houſe, or meaneſt Loft, of a poor Cottage, to have the leavings of the courſe fare there; hard work, cold blaſts abroad, and, perhaps, hard words and unkind uſage at home: this grates upon the Spirit, and makes them think their Life more miſerable than any others; and they that know not God, will talk like Heathens, and rail at luck or Fortune, for placing them in ſuch mean circumſtances. This makes them go heavily on, and their wrigling makes their Yoke to gaul them, and every part of the work uneaſy that they go about: they are apt to grudge at any one that goes finer, and (as they think) fares better, and that every one does them wrong, that does not ſweat as much as they; and if God be provoked by their fretting, they mind it not. He ſends them troubles and croſſes, which meeting with a proud unbroken Spirit, do cauſe them to tumultuate and murmure the more. Nor is diſcontent the ſin only of Servants, but of their Maſters and others; for it is not in the condition, but in the temper of their Spirits, till the heart be chang'd and cur'd. But I ſhall mention ſuch remedies, as do particularly reſpect the perſons to whom I am ſpeaking. It concerns All that lie under this temptation, to conſider the Soveraignty of God, and his Wiſdom in appointing their lot, that Nature is contented with a little, and Grace with leſs; conſidering that the loweſt condition out of Hell, is mercy to poor loſt Sinners, how eaſily God can change their lot, if he ſees it good, and how ſweet the loweſt ſtate may be made to them by Quietneſs, and Contentment. But there are two ſpecial Conſiderations that I commend to Servants, in order to the removing this hindrance of their Duty, that from henceforth they may bear the Inconveniencies of their Callings, with a more compoſed mind, that they may not be weary of their condition, or irkſomely long for alterations of it; but may wait God s leiſure, and be kindly affected towards others that are in a higher condition in the World than they.
1. And the Firſt Conſideration is, The happineſs of the condition of Servants, in compariſon of that of many others. For not to compare you with the Miſerable Vagrants, that eat the Bread out of the Mouths of the true Poor; touching which diſorderly Perſons, we have the Apoſtle's Command, That if they will not work, they muſt not eat. I rather ſpeak of the Condition of ſuch as you never knew, or conſidered in your Diſcontent. How far then, has God ſet you above Servants in other Times and Places, which have been, and are compelled to Slavery, and forced Subjection to the Luſts of Men. Of this ſort were many of thoſe Servants to whom the Apoſtles wrote; and if they were to do their work heartily without grudging, how much more ſhould you? And in our Age have you never heard of the Slaves in the Plantations, and how they are us'd (eſpecially with reſpect to their Souls) by ſome more Savages than the Negro's that they call ſo? And what Servant in England dares repine at their ſtate, that has ever known the Condition of their own Countrey-men, when Slaves in Algiers, and other places: For not only are they enſlav'd in a ſtrange Countrey, whereas the Smoak of ones own Countrey, is ſweeter than the cleareſt Air in a ſtrange Land: but the Miſeries they ſuffer under Barbarous Maſters, calls for your pity towards them, and contentment with your merciful Lot. For being bereft unjuſtly of all their Goods, they are conſtantly compelled to the hardeſt Labour, without any reſt, ſcarce to drink a little Water, and eat their decay'd Barly, and Broth of Camels, worn out with Work, like themſelves; and this with the only intermiſſion of four Days in the Year, upon the ſlighteſt Faults cruelly beaten, that they often die of their pain. Indeed their Lives are no further valu'd, than for their Service, or Slavery, and their Souls in greater danger, by continual Temptations to eſcape all theſe Hardſhips, by a dreadful Apoſtaſie. And to leave theſe to conſider ſome others, that ſeem to have a Life as full of Pleaſure, as theſe that I have mention'd have of Miſery; I mean the Servants of State, whoſe Life you ſo much envy for their Eaſe, and Fine Cloths. Did you but conſider their Temptations to Idleneſs, and thereby to almoſt all other ſins, you would ſee that God has delivered you from many ſnares, to which they are daily expos'd. By appointing you a moderate Labour (which is for the Health of your Bodies, and the good of the Publick) your Souls are not in danger of flattering the Great, or miniſtring to the Pride and Luſts of thoſe, that think their Riches priviledge them to live a Life of Sloth and Senſuality. Not that it is thus in all great Houſes, God forbid; but that it is very difficult for a Camel to get through the Eye of a Needle. And how general is the Debauchery, and Ruine of thoſe Servants, that at firſt you grudged at? But to come nearer home, how free is the Servants Life, and void of thoſe Troubles, to which even your own Maſters, and others that live round you, are frequently expos'd? They have great Rents to pay, and the Money hardly got to pay them with; they have Meat and Drink to provide for you, and Wages at the Years end; one treſpaſſes on their Fields, and another defrauds them of their Debts. They hardly bear their own wants, and more hardly the wants of Wives and Children: They have Loſſes to be made up abroad, and Houſes to be repair'd at home: And you ſee all this, but feel it not. You have no care (next to the pleaſing God) but to do your work in the Day, and ſleep quietly in the Night. Are not theſe burdens on their Minds, greater than any you bear on your Shoulders? And to name but one thing more under this Head, Is there not a worſe ſervice, or ſlavery, than that I ſpeak of, in Algiers? Are there not Covenant-Slaves of Satan, that have ſold themſelves to work wickedneſs, and made a kind of League with Hell? All that worſe than Egyptian Service, wherewith they are made to ſerve, Is it not with rigour? And though they are Lords and Ladies, and have long Trains of Servants, yet if they are Unconverted, Are they not Servants? Yea, Bond-ſlaves to Sin, Satan, Mammon, and the fear of Death? Let not thy heart envy ſinners. But this laſt Compariſon does reſpect the Godly Servants only, and ſo brings me to the ſecond Conſideration to cure this Diſcontent, viz.
2. The much more happineſs of the Servants of God, though in the loweſt and meanneſt ſervices amongſt Men. As He that is called being free is the Lord's Servant: ſo He that is called, being a Servant, is the Lord's Free-man, 1 Corinth. 7.22. Though he ty'd faſt your Yoke by his Word, in all due Obedience to your Maſters; yet, having broke the Yoke of Sin, He has made you freer than Princes that continue under it. Whom the Son makes free they are free indeed, John 8.36. His Service is perfect Freedom, though your Service to Men ſhould be heavy to a Bondage. How precious a Liberty has Chriſt bought for you, and beſtow'd by his Spirit upon you, if you belong to him, though the meaneſt Servant here in the loweſt Cottage! He has given you the external Liberty of his Houſe, admitted you to feaſt at his Table, given you free leave to partake of his Proviſion, and appointed his Stewards to diſpence it accordingly, and whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, all are yours. He has ſweetned this with a Liberty of Conſcience, and of a Judgment rightly inform'd: for though he has not delivered you from a ſubjection to Magiſtrates any more than to your Maſters; yet ſo free has he made you, That nothing ſhall bind your Conſcience but his own Word, and all your Obedience to the Commands of Men, ſhall be for Conſcience ſake towards God, requiring that ſubjection. But, above all, where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty of Heart and Will in the work of your Maſter. Not a Liberty to live in ſin, which is an Abuſe of the word, and a Liberty that is not in Heaven it ſelf; the Perfections of God are an Eternal Law to himſelf, that he cannot lye, or deny himſelf; but an holy exemption from the Servility of Sin, and a free propenſion to whatſoever is good; that whereas before you could not pray, you were bound up and fetter'd, He has now brought you out of Priſon, that you may praiſe his Name. That under any temptation to diſcontent in the Service of Men, your Souls ſhould be raiſed in Praiſe of your Great Maſter, who has already entered you into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God, and will at laſt ſet you at liberty from the burden of this fleſh, and the Body it ſelf, at the laſt day, from the hand of the Grave, and will make all his Servants Kings and Prieſts to God and our Father. Oh, bleſſed are thy Servants that ſhall dwell in thy houſe, for they will be ſtill praiſing thee. And bleſſed be his glorious Name, who took upon him the form of a Servant, and was himſelf bound to a Pillar, That he might ſet us free. Who has proclaimed Liberty by his Goſpel, and the opening of the Priſon doors to them that are bound, who has given us of his free Spirit. and made us willing in the day of his power, and here we offer up our ſelves, our Souls and Bodies as our moſt reaſonable Service. We thank thee, and praiſe thy glorious Name. But who am I, or what is my people, that we ſhould be able to offer ſo willingly after this ſort? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee, 1 Chron. 29.13, 14. And let none repine at being Servants, who through Grace, have ſuch a Liberty, and Freedom as this.