The Christian Mans Calling, Treatise · Chapter 5
CHAP. V. Religion is the great end of mans Creation.
I Come in the third place to the reaſons, The Reaſon of the Doctrine.Why godlineſs ſhould be every mans main and principal buſineſs.
Firſt, Becauſe it is Gods chief end in ſending man into, and continuing him in this World. It is without queſtion, that the work ſhould be for that end, to which it is appointed, and for which it is maintained by a ſoveraign and intelligent workman. Where the Maſter hath authority to command, there his end and errand muſt be chiefly in the ſervants eye. Laert invit. ZenZeno well defines Liberty to be foreign, a power to act and practice at a mans own Pleaſure; oppoſite to which, ſervitude muſt be a determination to act at, and according to the will of another. foreign Ariſt Polit. c. 9.A ſervant is (as the Oratour ſaith well) nomen officii a word that ſpeaks one under command, he is not one that moveth of himſelf, but the Maſters living inſtrument (according to the Philoſopher) to be uſed at his pleaſure. According to the title or power which one hath over another, ſuch muſt the ſervice be. Where the right is abſolute, the obedience muſt not be conditional; God having therefore a perfect ſoveraignty over his creatures, and compleat right to all their ſervices; his end and aim, his will and word, muſt be principally minded by them. Paul gathers this fruit from that root. The God whoſe I am, and whom I ſerve Act. 27.23. His ſubjection is founded on Gods Dominion over him.
Now the great end to which man is deſigned by God, Hic ſi. is Iu…a naefornationis ut homo ſi etmplem De, & Deus ara homi nis.is the exerciſing himſelf to godlineſs. God erected the ſtately fabrique of the great World for man, but he wrought the curious piece of the little World [man] for himſelf, Of all his viſible works he did ſet man apart for his own Worſhip. Man ſaith one, …ustum eſt ut creatura laudet creatorem ipſe enim ad laudan dum ſecreavit. Aug.is the end of all in a ſemicircle, intimating that all things in the World were made for man, and man was made for God. It is but rational to ſuppoſe that if this World was made for us, we muſt be made for more then this World. It is an ingenious obſervation of Picus Mirandula, God created the Earth for beaſts to inhabit, the Sea for fiſh, the Air for fowls, the Heavens for Angels and Stars, man therefore hath no place to dwell and abide in, but the Lord alone.
The great God according to his infinite Wiſdom hath deſigned all his creatures to ſome particular ends, and hath imprinted in their natures an appetite and propenſity towards that end, as the point and ſcope of their being. (Yea the very inanimate and irrational creatures are ſerviceable to thoſe ends and uſes in their ſeveral places and ſtations) Birds build their neſts exactly, bringing up their young tenderly. Beaſts ſcramble and ſcuffle for their Fodder, and at laſt become mans food. The Sun, Moon and Stars move regularly in their orbes, and by their light and influence …dvantage the whole World. The little Common-wealth of Bees work both induſtriouſly and wonderfully for the benefit of mankind. Flowers refreſh us with their ſents; Trees with their ſhade and fruits; Fire moveth upward, Earth falleth downward, each by nature haſtning to its center; Thunder and Winds being exhalations drawn up from the earth by the heavenly bodies, The ancient Philoſophers and the old Divines among the Pagans did pourtray their gods in wood and ſtone with muſical inſtruments, not that they beleeved the gods to be fidlers or lovers of muſick, but to ſhew that nothing is more agreeable to the nature of God, then to do all in a ſweet harmony and proportion. Platarch.are wholly at (though ſtubborn and violent creatures) the call and command of the mighty poſſeſſor of Heaven and Earth, and with them, as with beſoms he ſweeps and purifieth the air; Fiſh ſport up and down in rivers; Rivers run along ſometimes ſeen, ſometimes ſecret, never ceaſing or tiring till they empty themſelves into the Ocean; the mighty Sea (like a pot of water) by its ebbing and flowing purgeth it ſelf, boyleth and prepareth *Piſcis à paſcoſuſtenance for living creatures. Through this womb of moiſture, this great pond of the world (as **In contempBiſhop Hall termeth it) men travel in moveable houſes, from Country to Country, tranſporting and ex changing commodities. Thus the Almighty Creator doth (foreign, as Plato ſaith) obſerve a curious comely order in all his work, and appoints them to ſome uſe according to their nature. Surely much more is man (the point in which all thoſe lines meet) deſigned to ſome noble end, ſuitable to the excellency of his being; and what can that be but to worſhip the glorious and bleſſed God, and the exerciſing himſelf to godlineſs?
The Lord made all things for himſelf, Prov. 16.4. God made things without life and reaſon, Plato finem hujus mundi bonitatem dei eſſe affirmavit.to ſerve him paſſively and ſubjectively by adminiſtring occaſion to man, to admire and adore his Maker; but man was made to worſhip him actively and affectionately, as ſenſible of, and affected with that Divine wiſdom, power, and goodneſs which appear in them. As all things are of him, as the efficient cauſe; ſo all things muſt neceſſarily be for him, as the final cauſe. But man in an eſpecial manner is predeſtinated and created for this purpoſe, Iſa. 43.1, and 7. Thou art mine; I have created him for my glory; I have formed him, yea I have made him. There is both the author and the end of our creation; the author, I have created him; the end, for my glory. As man is the moſt exact piece on which he beſtowed moſt pains, Sol…s homo ſapientia inſtructus eſt ut religianem ſolus intelligat & haec eſt hominis at que mutorum vel praecipua vel ſola di…antia. Lact. de…ira dei.ſo from him he cannot but expect moſt praiſe. Lactantius accounteth religion the moſt proper and eſſential difference between men and beaſts. The praiſes which Beaſts give God are dumb, their ſacrifices are dead; but the ſacrifices of Men are living, and their praiſes lively.
God did indeed ſet up the admirable houſe of the viſible world (floaring it with the earth, watering it with the Ocean, and ceiling it with the pearly Heavens) for his own ſervice and honor, but the payment of this rent is expected from the hands of Man the inhabitant. He was made and put into this houſe upon this very account, that be might as Gods Steward gather his rents from other creatures, and pay in to the great Landlord his due and deſerved praiſe. Man is made as a glaſs to repreſent the perfections that are in God. A glaſs can receive the beams of the Sun into it, and reflect them back to the Sun again. The excellencies of God appear abundantly in his works; man is made to be the glaſs where theſe beams of Divine glory ſhould be united and received, and alſo from him reflected back to God again.
O how abſurd is it to conceive that God ſhould work a body ſo curiouſly in the loweſt parts of the Earth, embroyder it with nerves, veins, variety and proportion of parts (miracles enough ſaith one between head and foot, to fill a Volume) and then enliven it with a ſpark of his own fire, a ray of his own light, an Angelical and Heaven born ſoul, and ſend this picture of his own perfections, this comely creature into the World, meerly to eat, and drink, and ſleep, or to buy and ſell, and ſow and reap. Surely the onelyonly wiſe God had an higher end, and nobler deſign in forming and faſhioning man with ſo much care and coſt.
The upright figure of mans body (as the poetical Heathen could obſerve) may mind him of looking upward to thoſe bleſſedmanſions above; Os hominiſublime dedit taelumque tueri juſſit. Ovid.and that fifth muſcle in his eye (whereby he differeth alſo from other creatures) who have onelyonly four, one to turn downward, Columb. de re anat. l. 1. c. 9.another to hold forwards, a third to turn the eye to the right hand, a fourth to turn the eye to the left, but no unreaſonable creature can turn the eye upward as man can) may admoniſh him of viewing thoſe ſuperiour glories, and exerciſing himſelf to godlineſs, it being given him for this purpoſe, ſaith the Anatomiſt, that by the help thereof he might behold the Heavens; thus the bleſſed God even by ſenſible demonſtrations ſpeaks his mind and end in making man, but the nature of mans ſoul being a ſpiritual ſubſtance, doth more loudly proclaim Gods pleaſure, that he would have it converſant about ſpiritual things. He made it an heavenly ſpark, that it might mount and aſcend to Heaven.
A Philoſopher may get riches, Ariſt. Polit. lib. 1. cap. ult.ſaith Ariſtotle, but that is not his main buſineſs, a Chriſtian may, nay muſt follow his particular calling, but that is not his main buſineſs, that is not the errand for which he was ſent into the World. God made particular callings for men, but he made men for their general callings. It was a diſcreet anſwer of Anaxagoras Clazamenius to one that asked him why he came into the World, Coelum mihi patria cuius cura ſumma eſt Anaxago. Diogen Laert.Ʋt coelum contempler, that I might contemplate Heaven. Heaven is my Country and for that is my chiefeſt care. May not a Chriſtian upon better reaſon, confeſs that to be the end of his creation that he might ſeek heaven, and be ſerviceable to the Lord of Heaven, and ſay as Jerom, I am a miſerable ſinner, and born onelyonly to Repent. The Jewiſh Talmud propounds this queſtion, Why God made man on the Sabbath-eve, and gives this anſwer, That he might preſently enter upon the command of ſanctifying the Sabbath, and begin his life with the worſhip of God, which was the chief reaſon and end why it was given him.