The Tradesmans Calling, Chapter 1
CHAP. I. Of the Nature and Kinds of Callings.
A Calling is ſome kind of Life to which we are called of God: Now all Chriſtians are called of God to know and believe in him, to love and ſerve him, and at length, fully to enjoy him. And beſides this Calling, and ſubordinate to it, God doth call every Man and Woman, as if he call'd them by Name, to ſerve him in ſome peculiar Imployment in this World, both for their own and the Common-Good. And hence ariſeth▪ that Diſtinction of a General, and of a Particular or Perſonal Calling; they might with more clearneſs be ſtil'd, our Spiritual, and our Temporal Callings, but only▪ that ſome, even Particular Callings (as that of Miniſters) are converſant about Spiritual Matters, tho they are diſtinct enough from our Chriſtian Calling.
Our General or Spiritual Calling then, is whereby a Perſon is called of God to believe and obey the Goſpel; which, being revealed under the Notion of a Covenant of Grace, is named Vocatio ad Foedus. And this, when the Word is accompanied with the Spirit, is Effectual Calling, and leads to Salvation; according to that, 2 Tim. 1. 9. Who hath ſaved us, and called us with an holy Calling. But here I ſhall diſcourſe no more of this, ſave only to note, wherefore it is term'd our General Calling; namely, becauſe this is common to All Chriſtians, requires of All the ſame Duties, aſſures to All the ſame Promiſes, and obliges All to the ſame Conditions: So that, as no Man may undertake any Particular Calling that is inconſiſtent with his General; ſo in caſe of Competition in any Inſtance of preſent Duty, that muſt humbly give place to this; for every Man ought to manage his Temporal Calling in Subordination to his Spiritual, and muſt remember, that, in the throng of all his Buſineſs, he is a Chriſtian.
A Particular, or Temporal Calling is a ſetled Imployment in ſome ſpecial Buſineſs of God's Appointment, for our own and others good: And this is term'd, Vocatio ad Vitae inſtitutum, vel ad munus: The former and this latter are both elegantly mention'd in one Verſe, 1 Cor. 7. 20. Let every Man abide in the ſame [earthly] Calling, wherein he was called [by his heavenly Calling.] No Man ſhould think, that God likes him either the better or the worſe, meerly for his outward Calling; and therefore let every Man contentedly abide in the ſame Earthly Calling, provided it be a lawful one, wherein his Heavenly Calling found him.
In the aboveſaid Deſcription, conſider, 1. The Author of a Particular Calling, which is God. So the Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 7. 17. But as God hath diſtributed to every Man; as the Lord hath called every one, ſo let him walk. Hence certainly theſe Imployments are named Callings, becauſe every Man muſt be called of God unto them: He directs Men to them, he inclines them, he enables them for them. Now God calls unto them, 1. Immediately by himſelf: ſo he called Adam to be an Husbandman, Gen. 2. 15. Amos to be a Prophet, Amos 7. 15. Paul to be an Apoſtle, Acts 9. But this Method he rarely uſeth in theſe latter days. They that will pretend to an immediate Calling, muſt produce extraordinary Gifts and Qualifications, elſe it is but Conceit and Deluſion. 2. God calls Men mediately by Inſtruments, ſuch as Parents, Guardians, and in ſome caſes Magiſtrates. By thoſe that have a Right, either by the Law of Nature or Municipal Laws, to diſpoſe of others, God doth as really call to this or that Imployment, as if he did it immediat…ly. For tho the Lord God, who hath ſole Right and Authority over all his Creatures, doth never demiſe his Property to any other, yet he doth delegate Parents, and ſuch Superiors, to act under him, and to diſpoſe thoſe that are under their Care, according to his Will; and he ratifies all that they regularly perform in that behalf. There is beſides, alſo an inward Call of God, which conſiſts in Abilities of Body, and Mind, and Inclinations: of which more hereafter.
2. The ſecond thing in the Deſcription of a Particular Calling, is the Eſſence of it, which is a ſettled Imployment in ſome ſpecial Buſineſs. For it is not enough to be doing ſomething ſometimes; no Man is ſo idle, but that he is ſometimes doing: but a Calling is ſome conſtant Buſineſs, which fills a Man's time; and it is requiſite, that it be a Man's own, his proper Buſineſs; for we read of thoſe that did not work at all, yet are called Buſybodies, 2 Theſſ. 3. 11. whom the Apoſtle notes for diſorderly Livers; that is, they were buſy Intermedlers in others Affairs, but did not imploy themſelves in any conſtant Buſineſs of their own. And, 1 Theſſ: 4. 11. he exhorts them to ſtudy to be quiet, and to do their own Buſineſs. For the great Governour of the World hath appointed to every Man his proper Poſt and Province▪ and let him be never ſo active out of his Sphere, he will be at a great loſs, if he do not keep his own Vineyard, mind his own Buſineſs.
3. The third thing is the End of a Particular Calling; the next End is, a Man's own Good: That with quietneſs they work, and eat their own Bread, 2 Theſſ. 3. 12. A Man's own Bread taſts pleaſantly to an ingenious Man, tho never ſo courſe. Yea, a Perſon may deſign to gain ſuch an Eſtate by his Calling, that he may live comfortably, that he may have whereon to live, and wherewith to give—Let him labour, working with his Hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth; Epheſ. 4. 28. Another End is the Common Good: For we are in this World, as the Members are in the Body, where each muſt be uſeful for the whole, and where each preſerves its ſelf, (it's true) but 'tis with regard to the whole. And therefore it is a brutiſh Selfiſhneſs to deſign no bodies Good but our own; and that Proverbial Speech is very unchriſtian, if it be underſtood excluſively, viz. Every one for himſelf: No, as the Community hath need of thee, ſo thou haſt need of the Community. And the Eye cannot ſay unto the Hand, I have no need of thee; nor again, the noble Head to the poor Feet, I have no need of you; 1 Cor. 12. 21. But the higheſt End of all, being underſtood▪ tho not expreſt in the Deſcription, is the Glory of God. For, as of him, and through him are all things; ſo to him muſt the Glory of all things be intended and aſcribed, Rom. 11. 36. If the honeſt Tradeſman deſire a competent Eſtate, it is that he may live, not to himſelf, but to the Glory of God; if he get any thing more, his aim is therewith to educate his Children ſo as they may honour God. In ſhort, as the moſt religious Actions of an Hypocrite, being trac'd to the utmoſt, do end in ſelf; ſo the meaneſt Labours of a true Chriſtian reſolve themſelves into the Glory of God. And ſo much for the Deſcription of a Particular Calling.
The Kinds of Callings are diverſified by the different Objects, about which they are converſant. For, 1. Some are imployed chiefly about the Soul; as School-maſters, Tutors in Arts and Sciences, and particularly Divines, which, tho they be often poor Trades, yet are always rich Callings. 2. Some are imployed only about the Body; as Phyſicians, Chirurgions, Apothecaries, and all that depend on them; tho theſe oftentimes have fair Opportunities, if withal they have but Hearts to ſuggeſt ſaving Counſel to their Patients Souls. 3. Some Callings are for Man's Subſiſtence; ſuch is the Husbandman, and the Tradeſman: The Husbandman's Calling indeed concerns the Being, and the Tradeſman's the Wellbeing of Man's Life. The Subſtance and firſt Principles of our Food and Rayment are conveyed to us by the Care and Labour of the Husbandman; the Tradeſman moulds and fits them for our immediate Uſe and Service. 4. Some again are imployed for Man's Delight and Convenience, as Muſick, and divers other Arts, wherein alſo ſeveral Trades have ſome Concern. 5. Some Callings there are again, which are converſant about the Defence of Mens Bodies and Eſtates; ſuch as Souldiers, and all thoſe Imployments that relate to Military Affairs. And laſtly, ſome are imployed for the Publick Peace and Safety of Mankind, as Princes and Magiſtrates of all kinds and degrees; whoſe Calling alſo is of God; for there is no Power but of God, the Powers that be are ordained of God; Rom. 13. 1.
And here let us make a ſtand, and behold,
1. The Folly of Man in reference to what hath been ſaid: 1. Of thoſe that mind neither their Spiritual nor Temporal Callings. As for their general Chriſtian Calling, they were born and bred in it, it is true, and ſo do profeſs it; and if they had received their Birth and Education under Paganiſm or Mahumetaniſm, they had yielded up themſelves to thoſe Religions: For, as they have never ſearched into the Foundations and Reaſons of Chriſtianity, ſo they never ſtudy nor ſet themſelves to the Practice of the great Duties of it; but their whole buſineſs is to pleaſe their Appetite, and to promote their Intereſt in this World, and do wholly neglect the World to come: A lively Faith, ſound Repentance, conſtant Holineſs, Self-denial, and undiſſembled Love to God and Man, they are Strangers unto; and ſome of them for Temperance, Juſtice, Patience, Friendſhip might go to School to Heathens; and have only to ſupport them a Form of Godlineſs, but in the mean while they deny the Power thereof. And the ſame Perſons are equally mindful of any Temporal Calling; that is, they no way promote the Good of Mankind; they have Parts, but improve no Science with them; have Strength and Health, but uſe no Art or Faculty; Talents, but hide them in a Napkin. O how will theſe give account to the Judg of Quick and Dead? Do ye think that he will never reckon with you, becauſe he delays his coming? Or, that he will be put off with the Story of your Extraction or Education? You have Abilities to ridicule Religion, and to do Miſchief; you have Strength enough to drink, to hunt, to whore; ye are only wiſe to do Evil, but to do Good ye have no Knowledg. Wo to you, if ye reform not; ye have a long Arrear, and he that is gracious, and merciful, and ſlow to Anger, yet by no means will clear the Guilty: And therefore bethink your ſelves, grant your ſelves but Leiſure to conſider what ye have done for God, what for Mankind, and what for your own Souls; and upon a ſerious Reflection you will find, that ye have been all this while aſleep, in a pleaſant fooliſh Dream, and that it is high time to awake to Action and Imployment; who knows but that you may receive your Penny, tho you come into the Vineyard at the eleventh Hour?
2. Their Folly is here taxed, that neglect either of their Callings. Perhaps they are very diligent in Reading and Hearing, in Prayer and Faſting, and do run from one Sermon to another all the Week long; but do nothing in any Particular Calling; they ſerve God, but ſerve not their Generation by the Will of God, as David did, Acts 13. 36. and as they ought to do: But theſe People live, as if they were all Soul, and no Body; or as if they were born only for themſelves, and for no body elſe. And if ſome of their Anceſtors had taken no more care of them, than they do for Poſterity, they muſt have faſted out of neceſſity, inſtead of faſting out of choice. Againſt ſuch as theſe, holy Auguſtin wrote a whole Book of old; who are but a ſort of Secular Monks and Nuns, that forget the old Canon, 2 Theſſ. 3. 10. That if any (let them be who, or what they will) will not work, (being capable of it) they ſhould not eat. On the other hand, there are a far greater number, that are very diligent in their worldly Imployments, that riſe early, ſit up late, and eat the Bread of Care, Labour, and Sorrow, but apparently neglect the Welfare of their Souls, and the Care of the World to come. No labouring to get Knowledg, Faith, or Holineſs; no reading or hearing of God's Word, or Prayer, but only ſuch as is meerly ſuperficial and cuſtomary; buſy at the Exchange at Noon, but ſleepy in their Prayers at Night; exhauſting all their Strength and Spirits in their Shops, and quite heartleſs in their Cloſets and Families; that live as if they were all Body, and no Soul; or, as if after this ſhort Life, there were not a far longer to come: yea, the very Sabbath, that Sacred Day of Reſt, which ſhould be a Delight, is a Grief to them; and in their Hearts they cry, When will it be over, that we may to our worldly Buſineſs again? yea, in that very Day, tho the Law doth bind their Hands from Labour, yet their Souls are filled with Cares and Contrivances about temporal things. But why do ye ſeparate thoſe Callings, which God hath joined? what Bleſſing can you expect upon an Eſtate that is gain'd without Godlineſs? or, What will it profit you to gain the whole World, and loſe your own Souls? You might work hard, and pray hard alſo: you may gain enough of both Worlds, if you would mind each in its place: whereas if you neglect the main, God may juſtly, as he hath frequently, rent away the Earthly, and lock'd up the Heavenly Riches, from thoſe who value not a grain of Grace above a world of Gold. Truſt him therefore who never deceived you, ſaying, Seek firſt the Kingdom of God, and his Righteouſneſs, and all other things ſhall be added to you. Mat. 6. 31.
3. Their Folly is manifeſt, who reſpect not the Author of their Callings, to wit, Almighty God; That ſeek not his Advice, that mind not his Bleſſing. It is moſt certain, that all Perſons and Things are governed by the Providence of God; that there is nothing ſo great, nor any thing ſo ſmall, which is not directed thereby. Now if this be really believed, ſurely it concerns all Men in their weighty Affairs to have recourſe to Him, to conſult his Will, and to crave his Bleſſing; elſe we neglect him, we make nothing of him; and he may very juſtly neglect us, and be unconcern'd about our Welfare. Learn of Abraham's Servant, Gen. 24. when he went about his Maſter's Son's Affair; how earneſtly he craves the Direction of God in that matter, and how well he ſped thereafter. Learn of Jacob, Gen. 28. when he ſet forth into the World, how he prays and vows, and how the Lord bleſt him exceedingly. And that Apoſtle who forbids diſtracting Care in any matter, commands, that in every thing, by Prayer and Supplication, with Thanksgiving, we make our Requeſts known unto God. Phil. 4. 6. How dare any then chuſe their Calling without God's good liking, or ruſh into it without earneſt Prayer? On the other ſide, With what boldneſs and chearfulneſs may one proceed in his Imployment, when he can aver that he was called to it by God himſelf, who will therefore ſtand by him, and carry him through it? Prov. 3. 6. In all thy Ways acknowledge him, and he ſhall direct thy Steps.
4. Their Sin and Folly is no leſs, that miſtake the Ends of their Calling: Aiming therein only at their Wealth, Eaſe, and Honour; and not at the Glory of God and the Publick Good, as well as their own Subſiſtence. The End is that which enobles or imbaſes any Action. A right Principle, Rule and End ſanctifies every Step and Paſſage of a Man's Life; but if any of theſe be wanting, the thing is ſpoiled. Grant the Calling to be never ſo lawful, yet if ye imbark in it with an eye only to Self, ye may get Wealth and Honour, but therein you have your Reward. You proceed herein but like prudent Pagans, who may be as Induſtrious, as Rich, as Juſt as You; but ye do no way ſhew forth the Praiſes of him that hath called you out of Darkneſs into his marvellous Light. The Motto of Chriſtians is, Rom. 14. 7, 8. None of us liveth to himſelf, and no Man dieth to himſelf; but whether we live, we live unto the Lord, &c. He that liveth only to himſelf, lives like a Beaſt; he that lives to the Publick, lives like a Man; but he that lives alſo to the Lord, lives like a Chriſtian; and that Man ſhall die to the Fruition of that Lord, to whom, and for whom he hath lived.
2. Behold the Wiſdom of God: And that,
1. In the Variety and Kinds of Callings, ſuited to the various Neceſſities of our Human Life. Hath Man a Soul? there's a Calling provided and ſanctified for the Inſtruction and Salvation thereof. Hath he a Body? there's a Calling fitted for the preſerving and reſtoring the Health of that. And then, his Body muſt have Food and Rayment; how many Callings are ready to prepare theſe? Some for the Head, ſome for the Hands, ſome for the Feet; every Member almoſt hath a Calling to attend it; ſome for Neceſſity, ſome for Delight, all for the Comfort and Welfare of Mankind.
And, 2. The like Wiſdom in qualifying and inclining ſome to one Imployment, and ſome to another. One Man ſhall have a Fancy to travel, to fetch in Materials from abroad; another ſhall delight in working them up at home; this Man ſhall have a ſubtile Head, that a curious Hand, the other a brawny Arm; Skill in one, Strength in another, Prudence and Care in a third, and all for the good of the whole. Juſt as it is in the Natural Body; the wiſe God hath placed every Part and Organ in its proper Situation, and diſpoſed them for their ſeveral Functions, and each is at Eaſe and Content in its place; even ſo in the Body Politick, the infinite Wiſdom and Goodneſs of God ſhines forth, in diſtributing to every Man his Function; and in qualifying and inclining ſome to one Office, and ſome to another, for the general good of all. And his Providence is ſignal, in making Men generally pleas'd with their ſeveral Imployments; as it is in Habitations, he that lives in the Champian, wonders how the Inhabitant of the barren Mountains can indure it; and he that inhabits a ſweet Air, admires how any can live comfortably among the Fens; and yet ſo it is, each Man is inamoured of the place of his own Birth and Breeding, and ſits and ſings under his own Roof. And as the moſt ignoble Parts of Man's Body, do quietly and readily perform their Offices without Diſcontent or Envy at the reſt; ſo the Divine Providence hath moſt ſweetly temper'd the various Minds of Men, to chuſe and uſe, in this variety of Callings, what is moſt acceptable to themſelves, and uſeful to the whole. And as any anomalous and uſeleſs Part of the Body, would be aſham'd (were it capable of Shame) to adhere to the Body to no end or purpoſe; ſo ſhould that Man or Woman be out of Countenance, that is not in ſome Calling uſeful to their Generation: Which leads us to the ſecond Head of Diſcourſe upon this Subject, which is of the Neceſſity of a Calling.