the disciple if hee be as his Master is It hath euer beene the manner of good and louing scholers to like of and to affect those things which they saw in there Masters yea many times their Masters very deformities as it is written of Aristotles scholers the Peripatetickes that because their Master had a hooked nose and a crooked back therfore it was a glory a credit among thē to haue the same markes which their Master had how much more then ought we Christians to loue delight in and to imitate the vertues the patience and obedience of our Lord and Master Iesus Christ at the least not to disdaine and abhor that whereof hee liked and made his choice And therefore as he said vnto the Apostles after hee had washed their feete If I beeing your Lord and Master haue washed your feete yee ought also to wash the feete one of an other for I did it to giue you an example So say I to al seruants that beleeue and feare God and make any conscience of their waies if Christ being your Lord and Master did not only like of but choose a painefull and laborious life how much more doth it become you to indure that with patience which he suffered with ioy for hee did it to teach you to giue you a samplar how that by wel-doing yee should indeuor to fulfil al righteousnes Christ hath taught you this lesson two waies by his word and by his deed also for he began as S. Luke saith facere docere to doe and to Act. 1. 1. teach to do that thereby he might teach vs to doe indeed that is the best and the most powerfull kind of teaching to teach not with words only but also with workes and deeds so to say and so to do and they that so teach and instruct other men to righteousnesse shal be happy and blessed for as the Prophet saith They Dan. 12. 3. shal shine like stars in the firmament for euer and euer The second thing whereunto a seruant is called is to suffer what must he suffer al those euils and iniuries which his seruice and seruitude doth bring with it Why so for hereunto he is called and Christ suffered for vs leauing vs an example that wee should follow his steppes but what and how did he suffer why saith Peter when he was reuiled he reuiled not againe when hee suffered he threatned not but committed all to him that iudgeth iustly when he was reuiled when they told him that he was a Samaritan and had a deuil that hee was a glutton and a wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and sinners c. hee reuiled them not railed not vpon them But as a sheepe before the Shearer so opened hee not his mouth when the souldiers buffeted him spit on him and strooke him on the head hee threatned not to bee Isa 53. 7 reuenged but with silence and patience hee referred and committed all to him to whom it doth iustly belong to punish and take vengeance So saith this blessed Apostle Peter you and all seruants must doe if yee bee reuiled and wronged yee must bee silent committ and commend your causes and cases your bodies and soules to your faithfull God and creator who hath a care ouer you and in his word hath promised that not one haire of your head shall perish that is not the least euill which may bee shall happen vnto you without his prouidence your good if yee be still patient and expect the Lords leasure And here as the Apostle doth teach so hee doth reprooue many proud stubborne and disobedient seruants of this time who in the pride of their hearts take scorne disdaine that their Masters should speake vnto them sharply and roughly much more that they should giue them a blow though they deserue it neuer so much such refractary and stubborne fellowes forget God and themselues they forget wherevnto they bee called how and what Christ suffered for vs and for them that it was to giue them an example to follow him in humilitie meekenesse patience and obedience they forget I say the samplar and patterne which was shewed them in the mount Let such seruants read the story of Agar Saraes handmaiden and seruant which Agar because Sara her dame or Gen. 16. mistresse seeing her selfe despised in her eyes dealt roughly with her fled away from her in to the wildernesse But the Angell of the Lord found her out and because she was in misery comforted her and aduised her to returne vnto her mistris and to humble her selfe vnto her teaching thereby all seruants that if they be dealt with after the same manner that is hardly and roughly yet they must not run away deny and detract from their maisters their seruice duty and obedience as the maner and practise of many proud and stubborne seruants is to doe who when they be weary of their seruice and cannot be set at liberty at their own pleasures and desires then they take their heeles and runne away To which Seruants I say thus that albeit their maisters doe not well to deale hardly and euilly with them neither can they be excused for so doing yet if the mallice and peruersenes of their maisters be such they notwithstanding being seruants must not shake off the yoake set themselues at liberty and depart when they list first because they haue not power of their owne selues they couenanted with their maisters tyed and bound themselues to serue them so long and in such sort And therefore to breake those bonds couenants and promises is a thing neither good honest nor lawfull by the lawes of God or men for it is plaine perfidia falshood vnfaithfulnesse and euill dealing and such Seruants may be called as the Carthaginians were foedifragi couenant and promise-breakers starters aside and runagates a disobedient and stubborn generation a generation whose Gen 16. 9. heart is not set aright whose spirit is not faithfull to God nor to man and such are reprooued by the words of the Angell Psal 78. 8. vnto Agar Gen. 16. 9. Secondly they must not doe so because it is against their calling I mean the calling of a seruant which is as I haue sayd to labour and to suffer it is against the example of Iesus Christ our Lord consequently against his holy will his mind and meaning The seruant that is in afliction as Agar was hath none so good and perfect a remedy to helpe and relecue himself as according to the Angels counsel to humble himselfe vnder the hands of his Master and with industry labor patience to get and recouer his Masters fauor and so to win his Master with wel-doing with doing good for euil and as blessed Rom. 12. 21 Paul doth counsel vs all to ouercome euil with good Moreouer concerning your sufferings and that yee are called to suffer yee must in any wise looke into 1. Pet. 4. 15 the cause for which
ye suffer That none of you suffer as a malefactor a murtherer a theefe or as a busie body in other mens matters take heed that ye suffer not so for such euill causes but if any of you suffer as a Christian let him not bee ashamed but let him glorifie God in that behalfe yea let him reioyce in as much as yee are made thereby partakers of Christs sufferings In all suffereings men must looke into the cause for which they suffer for it is not the paine or punishment which a man suffereth but the cause for which he suffereth that deserueth praise or is thanke-worthy for many men suffer many and great things Traitors suffer theeues and murtherers suffer and that cursed fellow which muthered of late the Noble French King suffered but what Digna factis things worthy of that which they had don these sufferings are so farre from deseruing pitty or commendations that they shal be testimonies against them and brand them with a marke of infamy for euer he that suffereth for righteousnesse sake that is in a iust and good cause or vniustly with patience is happy and blessed for 1. Pet 4. 14 hee suffereth vpon Christs owne crosse and the spirit of glory and of God shall rest vpon him Wherefore let not the Christian seruant murmur nor grudge at this suffering if it be laid vpon him but let him remember that hereunto hee is called this is a burden which the Lord hath imposed vpon him this is the case and the place and the state of life in which hee must serue the LORD his GOD if hee will serue him at all and looke for the recompence of reward Col. 3. 24 the reward of inheritance which is promised to all good and faithfull seruants The third thing whereunto a seruant is called is to serue that is to obey and to be in subiection to haue no will of his owne nor power ouer him selfe but wholly to reseigne himselfe to the will of his Master and this is to obey for what is obedience but as it is defined by the learned Spontaneum rationabite voluntatis propriae sacrificium a voluntarie and reasonable sacrificing of a mans owne will voluntarily freely and without any constraint and reasonably that is according to reason and religion in the obedience and feare of God to deny his owne will his owne affections and to submit himselfe altogether to the will of GOD and his superiours in GOD and that is called propria voluntas a mans owne will which is contrary and not subiect and subordinate vnto the will of GOD as Paul calleth the wisdome Rom. 8. 7 of the flesh which is not neither can bee subiect to the wisdome and law of God Heere then seruants may see and learne how they must serue and obey They must bee obedient at a worde at a call and at a becke as the Seruants of the Centurion were who saith of them if I say vnto one go he goeth and to another come he cometh or to my seruant do this he doth it So must seruants Mat 8. 9. hearken with all willingnes and alacrity of mind they must say and doe as the lad Samuell did who serued vnder Eli the high priest in the temple of the lord when the voyce called him Samuell Samuell he 1. Sam. 3. 5. answered by and by heere I am and ranne quickly to Eli and sayd behold heere I am for thou callest me Where ye may obserue and marke his readines in hearing and his speed in going as soone as hee heard himself called he made answer presently heere I am and then hee ranne it is not sayd that he went but hee ranne this confoundeth the carelesnes or rather the contempt of many vngodly Seruants in these our dayes who will not heare when they be called but will abide many calllngs ' and answer when they list and then not cheerfully and willingly but slowly and grudgingly and when they be dispose to come they doe not make hast and runne as Samuell did but they goe as though they cared not whether they went or not Seruants must performe their seruices and doe their duties willingly and hartily as the Apostle telleth the Collossians and as to the Ephesians he saith they must Col. 3. 23. doe all from the heart with goodwill seruing the Lord and not men where he giueth Eph. 6. 5. them them the reason why they must doe it heartily and willingly because in seruing their maisters they serue God also they serue the Lord Christ and whatsoeuer seruices and duties are done to God to our Lord Iesus Christ must be done ioyfully for God as Paul sayth loueth a willing and a cheerefull giuer and doer in all thinges 2 Cor 9. 7. Wherefore I wish and exhort Seruants as many as feare God and be desirous to know and to doe their partes and duties for to search and read the scriptures and cheefely these two places of the blessed Apostle Paul to the Ephesians and to the Colossians and there they may see how earnestly and zealously he yea rather the spirit of God by him doth mooue and stir vp their minds to these good and Christian duties if they only read the places with consideration And heere now by this time ye may see who is a good seruant he that laboureth he that suffereth and he that obeyeth and and if yee search the scriptures yee shall finde that the praise of such a Seruant is much and the reward exceeding great What saith our Sauiour Christ to the Mat. 25. 21 good Seruant who had laboured in his Masters seruice It is well done thou good and faithfull Seruant because thou hast bin faithfull in a little I wil make thee ruler ouer much enter into thy maisters ioy as if he had sayd because thou hast labored suffered and obeyed therefore thy labour shall not be in vayne But to the euill Seruant that is to him that hath not labored nor suffered nor obeyed but neglecting his maisters wil and commandement carelesly had hid his maisters talent what is sayd Cast therefore the vnprofitable Seruant into vtter darkenesse there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth although indeed these Seruants heere spoken of in this parable mystically are wee Christians and hee is a good Seruant to the LORD our GOD which laboureth in the seruice of God for the honour of God and his owne good not for the bread that perisheth but for that which Ioh. 6. remaineth to life euerlasting Hee that suffereth all the afflictions and contradictions which a Godly and Christian life bringeth with it He that obeyeth the Gospell the will and the word of Iesus Christ in all things and to this Seruant it is said it is wel done thou good and faithful seruant c. Enter into thy Masters ioy into euerlasting life where is fulnesse of ioy and pleasures for euer Now if it like you to walke abroade into the fields and pastures of
the holy Scriptures yee shall find examples both of good and euill seruants whereby yee may learne what to follow and what to auoide For the holy Scriptures lay before vs as a looking-glasse both the vices and vertues of men their vices to auoide them their vertues to follow them to teach vs both to decline from euill and to doe good vpon which two points al Christian doctrine Psal 34. 14 is grounded Iudas the sonne of Iscariot was a Seruant but neither good nor faithfull for hee was a Traitor and a Theefe hee carried the bagge the purse and receiued Joh â—2 6 those things which were giuen yea hee dealt falsely and kept that to himselfe which was giuen to Iesus his Master for the releefe of himselfe and of those which followed him This couetousnesse this inordinate desire of hauing this roote of all euill increasing and growing in him more and more at the length it brought him to that wicked and horrible designement that hee was content for lucre sake to sell and betray his Master his good Master euen the Lord of life the King of glory which when he had done his owne conscience became vnto him an accuser a witnesse a iudge and a hangman and forthwith he Act. 1. 18 tooke an halter and hanged himselfe his belly burst and his bowels gushed out and so he perished fearefully to the great terrour and admiration not onely of all that were then at Ierusalem but of all the world beside as many as haue or shall heare of it hereafter Wherefore by his example let Seruants beware and take heed how they bee false and deceiue their Masters let them bee true and lust and faithfull in all things let them take heed of coueteousnesse which is such a pestiferous and cancrous thing eating and creeping still more and more into the heartes of men that it consumeth and deuoureth in them all fayth to God and loue to men and bringeth them to most wicked resolutions and attempts Couetousnesse sayth an ancient father neither feareth God nor regardeth man neither spareth father neither knoweth mother with his brother he accordeth not nor with his freind keepeth be truth This made the 1 Tim. 6. Apostle Paul to say that the loue of money is the roote of all euill and the wise man Syrach to conclude that there is nothing worse then a couetous man nor Eccl. 10. a more wicked thing then the loue of money For sayth he such a man wil sell euen his owne soule not onely his friend and his maister as Iudas did but his own 4 Reg 5. soule also Such a Seruant had Elisha the Prophet and man of God called Gehezi who crossed his good maister in that which he hated that is in forging of lyes and in taking gifts and bribes when his maister had healed the noble man of Syria freely and as he freely receiued the gift so freely had bestowed it for the honour of the God of Israel this fellow esteeming a little money and rayment more then the glory of God and his maisters credit ranne after him and by a lye obtained money and apparrell But the Lord to whose eyes al thinges are open and naked discouered the fraud of Heb. 4. this seruant vnto his maister the Prophet who reproouing him for it the fearefull plague of Leaprosie which hee had that was cured was layd vppon this fraudulent fellow to cleaue to him and to his seed for euer Let Seruants take heed of lying dissembling and such cunning practises to get vnto themselues without their maisters knowledge and let them shew all good fidelity and faithfulnesse assuring themselues that howsoeuer Eccl 23. 19. they may deceiue the eyes of men for a time yet they cannot deceiue the al seeing and al-knowing God whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne who will lighten the hidden 1. Cor. 4. 5. thinges of darkenesse and make knowne the very counsells and thoughtes of the heart There bee many seruants in these daies such as this Gehezi was greedie bribing companions yea one can not come to a man of any place or fashion to seeke for fauour iustice and equity but Gehezi waiteth and gapeth for somwhat or else hee shal hardly be welcome he may chance to stand without And thus Couetousnes and Bribery beganne to creepe into the houses of great men of such as be in sublimity and authority by meanes of the Seruants but now rhe Maisters perceiuing this practise gaine of the seruants haue taken it into their owne handes not that they would not haue their seruants couet and take but that they would haue them doe it for them and not for themselues the maister his selfe will not bee seene to take any bribe or any way to be corrupted because these thinges be directly euill but he wil haue one about him that shall take bribes out of the bosomes of men and put them into his maisters pocket By which meanes much wickednesse and many euills are committed much wrong oppression and iniustice as in the dayes of Amos the Prophet which made him complaine against the Rulers magistrates and say yee haue turned iudgement into gaul and the fruit of righteousnes into wormewood meaning that whereas Amos. 5. 7. men poore and oppressed looked for iudgement and iustice helpe and deliuery and thereby for ioy and comfort they on the contrary fide find nothing but bitternesse of soule sorrow and heauinesse of heart Ioab one of the sonnes of Zeruia was a seruant to King Dauid and the cheife Captaine and gouernour of his host and Garrisons but he was not a good seruant and that for two causes first for that he dealt not simply and plainely with his maister the King but by craft and subtilty practised to reconcile Absolon vnto 2. Sa 14 2. his father for he prouided a bold and audacious woman a subtill woman sayth the text such an one as the world is full of now which can lye and dissemble And this woman after this Ioab had instructed and taught her her lesson commeth to the king fayning and counterfeiting a certaine heauinesse putteth a case to him the King beeing a mercifull man and one that euer pittyed the needy and distressed spake so much and so comfortably vnto her that when he perceiued what her drift and meaning was hee granted her request and asked her whether the hand of Ioab were not in that businesse where vppon she confessed the whole matter how he the said Ioab subornd her to that end that is to worke that with the King by subtilty and cunning wherevnto hee would not haue beene brought with direct and plaine dealing The King because he had spoken the word was content that his incestuous and rebellious sonne should be recalled from banishment and come to the citty but not admitted to his sight and presence which fact of Ioabs the king remembring although hee were content to be ouer-ruled for the
which bought him of the Ismaclâ—tes Who because his Master loued him and reposed a trust in him therefore he could by no meanes be brought to wrong him but made a conscience to doe or commit any thing against him especially to defile 〈◊〉 marriage bed for when his filthy and adulterous Mistresse did mooue sollicite and importune him thereunto hee answered her How can I doe this great wickednesse Gen. 39. 9. and so sinne against God it is a great wickednesse and sinne against God and against my Master God hath beene my good God and the GOD of my Father Abraham Isaack and Iacob my Master as thou knowest hath committed his house and all that hee hath into mine hands and hath reserued nothing to himselfe but thee onoly which art his wife how then can I doe it How can I doe that which is against the duety which I owe both to God and to my Master and also against this my resisting and reclaming conscience Many a bad seruant if hee meete with a Dame or a Mistresse as bad as his selfe will not say how should I doe this sinne and wickednesse but with the reprobates Come let vs bee pertakers of wantonnesse Wisd â— 9. let vs enioy the pleasures that are present let vs leaue some token of pleasure behind vs in euery place From which wicked resolution and vnlawfull loue there grow and spring many great and grieuous sinnes many thefts and adulteries and murthers The Dame must needs steale from her husband to maintaine her man to feed and nourish in them their vnlawfull lusts their gluttony drunkennesse chambering and wantonesse all which without cheere and charges cannot bee maintained but will wax cold As for soule adulteries filthy lusts and longings one after another and sinne that ceaseth not their eyes are full of them and of nothing else Moreouer by these euil meanes many an honest and innocent man is murthered I meane through the vnlawfull loue of the wife as many lamentable examples both of old and of late yea as the prisons and galloses can testifie and all by the vices of wicked and euill disposed seruants Abraham had good seruants one especially who in the Scriptures is commended Gen. 24. for his fidelity in seeking a wife for his Masters sonne Isaac Yea all his seruants were good and obedient and such as are not now to bee found in all the world For when as the Lord had commanded him to circumcise himselfe his sonne and all the male seruants of his Gen. 17. house whether borne in his house or bought with money that euery one should bee circumcised that is haue the fore-skinne of his flesh cut off round Abraham like a good man full of faith and obedience went home presently and put it in execution out of hand without delay First hee circumcised himselfe being ninty yeeres of age and nine then his young sonne Ismaell but thirteene yeeres old next and immediately all his seruants who as the text faith Euery one without murmuring or resistance obeyed the will of God and their Master Gen. 17. 26 The selfe same day was Abraham circumcised and Ismaell his sonne and all the men of his house And this if yee marke and consider well of it was a verie admirable and strange thing not onely that Abraham should so soone circumcise and cut himselfe and his sonne of whom hee had power but chiefely that his seruants would bee brought so quickly to so great a matter as to haue their skinnes cut in that place and after that manner being a thing not onely exceeding painefull but very strange and neuer before heard of since the world beganne they had no scriptures nor lawes so to command them no examples so to shew them and therefore their obedience was the more maruelous and commendable that they would so speedily conforme and resigne themselues and their wills to the will of God and their maister in a matter of so great importance I thinke if yee seeke all the world now ye shall find no such Seruants nay ye shall scant find any subiects that wil do so much at the commandement of their Prince much lesse shal ye find Christians which wil be so obedient to the will and word of the Lord their God But what was the cause that these Seruants of Abraham were so tractable and willing to be ruled Abraham himselfe was a good maister who had instructed them and trayned them vp to this knowledge of their duty toward God and man as himselfe doth testifie for him I know that Abraham will command Ge. 18. 19. his sonnes and his houshould after him that they keepe the way of the Lotd to doe righteousnesse and iudgement c nothing maketh good seruants so much as the goodnesse of the Masters the better and the wiser maisters bee in gouerning the better wil the seruants be in obeying and seruing as a wise man Seneca sayth melius imperanti melius paretur In like manner the Seruants of the Centurion were so ready and willing that if their maister had sayd but goe or come or do this forth with they hearkned and obeyed How came this to passe hee was a good man and a good maister and esteemed his seruants deare and precious vnto him When Iesus saith Saint Luke entred into Luke 72. Capernaum there was a certaine Centurions Seruant sick which was deare vnto him One cause that there be now so many bad seruants is that there be so many bad maisters which esteeme not neither make any accompt of their Seruants but only to serue their owne turnes as men do of their cattell and not for the good of the seruant but onely for their owne gaine and lucre nay there bee many men which respect not their seruants so much as they doe their dogges I haue knowne some men who when they haue beene all the day abroade swaggering and swearing hunting and whoring when they haue come home at night would aske carefullie what their dogges had and how they had beene serued and what was prouided for them which men I thinke verely in all their liues neuer once inquired of their seruants how they were vsed or what was prouided for their suppers although they had laboured neuer so hard all the day And hence it is that seruants for the most part are so bad and carelesse and such as doe not their worke for loue and for conscience sake as they ought to doe but onely for feare and fashion-sake with seruice to the eye as men-pleasers and to speake the truth seruants many times and in many places are so badly vsed that some of them forsake all seruice giue themselues to idlenesse become vagabonds rogues and theeues Wherefore let Masters in the feare of 2. Tim. 3. 16 God learne to know and performe their parts and duties in this behalfe and to this end let them search the Scriptures which are able not onely to instruct them but to make them perfect