more languidly in a true Religion Men swim faster down than up the Stream yet when a Man considers that the success of his Affairs depends upon God and that he cannot keep Friendship with him if he hold not Correspondence and that most certainly he can and will make the Tradesman amends by the Years end for every minute that he sincerely devotes to his Service This should bear down all Difficulty and oblige him to the constant Worship of God 4. The Tradesman's Religion is exercised in Observing a right Rule and End in all his worldly Affairs And here he guides not his Behaviour by the Example of others nor of his Master that went before him nor by the current of his particular Humour Appetite or Interest but by the holy Word of God and such Dictates of sound Reason that are agreeable thereunto You must not conclude thus and thus I 'l do for so do others or so did my Master before me or it is my Humour or it is for my Interest but what saith Moses and the Prophets what saith Christ and his Apostles and what would they do if they were in my place and this must be your Rule And in case of doubt and difficulty you must consult the wise and honest and so be determin'd They asked Counsel at Abel and ended the matter 2 Sam. 20. 18. And this Care and Pains before is much better than to wound your Conscience and give ill Example to others He that doth Truth cometh to the Light that his Deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God Joh. 3. 21. Your Deeds must be wrought in God And Religion must teach you the like care in the End which you should aim at in all your Business which should be to please and glorify God For none of us Christians liveth to himself and no Man dieth to himself and indeed he that liveth to himself will be likely to die to himself But whether we live we live unto the Lord Rom. 14. 7. This is Man's greatest Duty this is his highest Priviledg We reckon it a great Honour to that Nobleman that shall put the Crown upon the Head of a King O how much greater is it to put the Crown of Glory upon God's But of this before Only you may ask May not a Man aim at Riches by his Calling that he may have Ease in his old Age c. Answ An End is subordinate or ultimate a next end or a last end You may design to get an Estate but not meerly for your own sake but chiefly for God's sake not so much that ye may live at ease but that ye may do good thereby A Man may desire a good Horse or a good Boat to carry him to his Friend Every step of a Religious Tradesman being trac'd to the utmost ends at God He would not care for himself but that he may be of use to glorify God 5. The Tradesman's Piety is shewed In spiritualizing his Calling There is in every Calling a Temporal and a Spiritual respect The outside of them is the Object of Sense a brutish Man may comprehend that and get his Living by it but there is an inside which only the gracious Eye can read There is scarce any thing which you trade in but a Religious Heart may learn something of God out of it And this surely is one end of Similes and Comparisons so frequent in the Bible not only that God may come down by them to us but that we may by them ascend unto him he hath translated the World into the Scripture that we may think of the Scripture in the World This is the safest and richest Chymistry whereby you may extract the purest Spirits out of the grossest Bodies As the Bee can gather Honey out of every Flower yea out of the very Weeds so may and should the Religious Tradesman gather some Spiritual Lessons out of his temporal Wares and Imployments Thus the Merchant may learn something from Mat. 13. 45. And all that buy and sell from Mat. 25. 16. and Luk. 29. 15. The Writer from Psal 45. 1. They that work in Wooll from Isa 1. 18. and Psal 147. 16. The Apothecary from Eccles 10. 1. The Carpenter from Isa 10. 15. and Zech. 1. 20. The Founder from Jer. 8. 29. The Refiner from Mal. 3. 2 3. The Baker from Hos 7. 4 6. The Fisher from Jer. 16. 16. and Mat. 4. 19. The Weaver from Job 7. 6. The Potter from Isa 6. 8. and Jer. 18. And I think these are all the Trades expresly mention'd in Scripture by which the Holy Ghost directeth us to spiritual things There are also mention'd the Goldsmiths Neh. 3. 8. The Silversmiths Acts 19. 24. The Spice-Merchants 1 King 10. 15. The Masons 1 Kings 12. 12. The Mariners Ezek. 27. 9. The Calkers Ezek. 27. 9. The workers in fine Linnen 1 Chron. 4. 21. The workers in Needle-work Exod. 26. 36. The Smiths Isa 54. 16. The Ingravers and the Imbroiderers Exod. 35. 35. The Tent-makers Acts 18. 3. The Tanner Acts 9. 43. The Copper-smith 2 Tim. 4. 14. The Cook 1 Sam. 8. 13. The Barber Ezek. 5. 1. The Fuller Mark 9. 3. In general the Chapmen 2 Chron. 9. 14. and the Cunning Artificers Isa 3. 3. And those are as far I can find all the Trades mention'd in the Scripture But as it is said Isa 28. 26. concerning the plain Husband-man His God doth instruct him to Discretion and doth teach him so will the Spirit of God teach the ingenious Tradesman to learn spiritual Lessons from his Temporal Calling An ingenious Head indeed is a great help herein but an heavenly Heart is all in all This inspir'd our blessed Saviour to make a Sermon out of a Vine Joh. 15. 1. and to raise Instruction from a barren Fig-tree As we see on the contrary how wickedly witty a naughty Man will be to collect base and sinful matter out of the Objects that come before him and turn all to Poison surely it is as possible and much more noble to extract the Gold than the Dross Do but keep open the Eye of Faith to see Invisibles pray for Skill and fall to Practise and it will come The Profit will ballance the Pains He that turns Earth into Heaven hath an Heaven upon Earth 6. This Religion will teach the Tradesman To observe the Christian Sabbath in a holy manner Indeed this is one of the first things that God's Grace reforms in a serious Christian No sooner doth he begin to look towards Heaven in sober Sadness but he begins to value and use the lord's-Lord's-day in another manner than before Hence Ezek. 20. 12. I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them Remember the Sabbath before it comes And if possibly you can dismiss your Affairs a little the sooner the day before that you may have time over night to reflect on your Works the Week
as the Dogs of Egypt do the Water of Nilus with great caution lest the Crocodiles devour them But I have spoken somewhat about these before Lastly This Diligence will restrain all unseasonable Devotion Far be it from me to discourage the Exercises of Piety This Climate is grown cold enough in them But there is a preposterous Zeal in some Tradesmen and Women especially which draws them to neglect one Calling to further another But the diligent Man considers that God in his great Wisdom appointed the six days for Work and a seventh for Rest And tho upon extraordinary occasions we may and ought to devote some of this time to sacred purposes as in case of Solemn Fasts and Feasts and tho an industrious Tradesman may redeem by his Diligence some other hours as for the Refreshment of his Body so for the inriching his Soul by reading hearing and prayer yet it is no way justifiable to neglect a Man's necessary Affairs upon pretence of religious Worship to lâ—t necessary Work be undone at home just Debts unpaid abroad the Family languish for want of Providence the Shop languish for want of his Presence while he runs from one opportunity to another till hiâ— Estate be weakned and his Credit sâ—nk Doubtless there is a measure to be observed in those things and usually a Man is bound to pray and hear no more than will consist 1. With his Ability of Body for if the Bucket be once broken it will carry no Water 2. With hiâ— lawful Calling for therein God is trulâ— served 3. With time to meditate on what he hears for one Duty must never exclude another he that doth nothing but hear will grow deaf with hearing and those holy Exercises are but means the end is still nobler which is to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World And so much for the Particulars wherein this Diligence is exemplified Thirdly The Inducements which are proper to dispose the Tradesman to this Diligence are these 1. It is matter of Duty Those places mention'd in Prov. 27. 23. and Eccles 9. 10. put it out of doubt Yea the Holy Ghost doth link it together with the holiest Actions Not slothful in Business fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12. 11. Ye are as truly bound to be diligent in your Business as to be servent in Prayer and it 's intimated there that you serve the Lord in both and consequently it is a real Sin both to be bewailed and amended to be negligent in your Callings as to be lukewarm in your Prayers And in the Fourth Commandment God doth as well command Diligence in your Work on the six days as Seriousness on the Sabbath and propounds his own Example to the same purpose For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth And tho he ceas'd creating yet he is working still Joh. 5. 17. My Father worketh hitherto and I work His Eyes are continually running to and fro thorowout the whole Earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose Heart is perfect towards him 2 Chron. 16. 9. So that here 's the Command and Example of God himself for Diligence 2. It is matter of Safety An honest Industry is an excellent Preservative both from Sin and Danger Most Men's Temptations overtake them when they be out of their Imployment or negligent in it When good David had been sleeping in the afternoon and walking too idly afterward 2 Sam 11. 2. then did he fall into that Temptation that cost him so dear You know the standing Pool corrupts the un-employed Harness rusts but he that is in the way of his Vocation is most out of the way of Temptation So it is also in case of Danger if any Mischief hover over a Man it is likeliest to seize upon him while he is negligent in his Vocation When Ishbasheth was lying on his Bed at noon Baanah and Rechab smote him under the fifth Rib 2 Sam. 4. 5. In all likelihood it had fared better with these two Princes if they had been studying and doing the Duty of Magistrates instead of reposing themselves upon their Beds Let the Tradesman learn from others harms to prevent his own up and be doing and the Lord is engaged to be with you 3. In respect of Benefit God doth usually bless the diligent Man with Plenty The Hand of the diligent maketh rich Prov. 10. 4. For the thoughts of the diligent tend only to Plenteousness Prov. 21. 5. Now a plentiful Estate is desirable provided it be for right ends If Riches and Honour be good for you Diligence is the means to compass them Prov. 22. 29. Seest thou a Man diligent in his Business he shall stand before Kings he shall not stand before mean Men That is he is sit for the highest Offices he may aim at them he is likeliest to obtain them We see Princes chuse out industrious Men for their Service 1 Kings 11. 28. And Solomon seeing the young Man viz. Jeroboam that he was industrious or as the Margin from the Hebr. that he did work or take pains he made him Ruler over all the Charge of the House of Joseph and you know how great he grew If Princes see Men to be only wise they suspect they will be too conceited if high-spirited too turbulent if honest and conscientious too difficult if popular dangerous but if diligent they are fit to be imployed Now tho the ordinary Tradesman never expects any great Office or Preferment yet certainly his Industry puts him into the road of all the Preferment whereof he is capable Isa 23. 8. Whose Merchants are Princes whose Traffiquers are the Honourable of the Earth 4. In respect of Comfort There is a certain secret satisfaction of Mind that always attends an honest Diligence The Sleep of a laboring Man is sweet whether he eat little or much Eccles 5. 12. He hath been doing the duty of his Calling and that comforts him I appeal to your own Consciences and to every Man's Experience whether you find not more inward Peace and Comfort at night after you have been diligently imployed in your Calling than when you have trifled therein And any cross which befalls you is better born when it finds you in your Imployment than when out of it And if by the wise Providence of God you do not by your Industry obtain abundance yet you have this comfort of having done your Duty which is the chiefest ground of all just Satisfaction Fourthly The fourth thing then upon this Head is to make some useful Improvement hereof which is By Reproof By Counsel 1. This detects and reproves the baseness and sinfulness of Idleness and Sloth whether it be in point of Care or of Labour The holy Ghost by the hand of the Wise-Man doth frequently lash this sort of Men. Prov. 26. 13 14 15 16. The slothful man saith There is a Lion in the way a Lion in the streets he fancies danger and difficulties where there are none Then
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 CHAP. II. Of the Necessity of a Particular Calling I Proceed then in the second place to shew That every Man and Woman that is capable thereof should have besides their General and Spiritual a Particular and Temporal Calling This I prove 1. From the Light of Nature this teaches us That every Man must endeavour to live that Sustenance drops not immediately out of the Clouds that it is unreasonable to live upon others that Motion is natural to Mankind so that if Idleness were enacted by Authority it is thought very many would pay their Mulct that they might work that Man is not only an active Creature but he hath Brains and Strength which were given to no Man to be useless and the very Pagans will addict themselves to some Imployment or other for their own and others good Hence Pharaoh's first Question to Joseph's Brethren was What is your Occupation Gen. 47. 3. This instructed Jubal to teach Musick and Tubal-Cain to be an Artificer in Brass and Iron Gen. 4. 21. In a word God's giving Men Hands as well as Mouths tells us that they who eat should also work And the Inclination and Aptitude to this or that Imployment which the God of Nature hath put into Men's Minds if they would observe and excite the same is a plain Indication and Proof that every Man should settle himself to be some way useful in the World 2. From the Light of Scripture And here we have 1. The Ordinance and Institution of God to Adam both before and after the Fall Before the Fall when Adam was in the State of Innocence yet the Wisdom of God chose a Calling for him Gen. 2. 15. And the Lord God took the Man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it He was God's high Steward over all the Earth and might if any Man have lived at Ease yet was obliged to an Imployment He that was greater and wiser and holier than any of his Off-spring the second Adam excepted must have a Calling Let no Man therefore plead his Birth Estate his Parts or Graces to justify an idle Life After the Fall Gen. 3. 19. In the Sweat of thy Face shalt thou eat thy Bread till thou return unto the Ground He must into the same Calling again tho he found more Difficulty in it than he had before as a broken Tradesman that sets up again with a less Stock in worser Times And having two Sons they were each of them fixt in a Calling Gen. 4. 2. Abel was a Keeper of Sheep
it hath the most general and certain Influence into Men's Misery hereafter Few Men being willing to be at the pains to be saved tho all the labour in Religion be accompanied with real Sweetness and be like a Scholars Studies tho they make his Brain and Back to ake yet refresh his Mind and he had rather study than be idle What is it that hinders Men from reading whereby to get Knowledge Sloth What from Prayer from afflicting their Souls from examing their Hearts and Ways Yea from Consideration or any thing that is difficult to Flesh and Blood But Sloth Shake off this base Distemper learn of them that will be rich what pains they take they rise they run they sweat they are unwearied for false Riches and shall we sleep and freeze in the pursuit of the true Riches In the Name of God stir up thy self strive to enter in at the strait Gate and work while it is Day wheu Night comes no Man can work Let spiritual Diligence accompany your temporal and out-strip it For that 's the brave Christian in holy Mr. Dod's Judgment that can work hard and pray hard also And so much for this second Requisite to a good Tradesman to wit Diligence SECT 3. Of Justice in a Trade THE next Requisite in a Trade is Justice we discourse not here either of Vniversal Justice which the Moral Philosopher reckons to include all Vertues in their Vse or Exercise nor of Distributive Justice which consists in a due Distribution of Rewards and Punishments which belongs not to the Tradesman as such But of that which is called Commutative which is exercised in Dealings between Man and Man and of this also not only as it is directed by the Law of Nature but also as it is adopted among the Christian Graces where we shall consider I. The Nature of it II. The Necessity of it III. The Extent of it IV. Make some Vse of it I. For the Nature of it It is a gracious Habit inclining one constantly to render to every one their Right Where you see 1. It s general Nature It is a gracious Habit. An Habit and so rooted and fix'd in the Soul and will exert it self when no body is present to applaud or to disgrace an Habit and so readily inclining a Man to Actions sutable to it self For neither is the Habit within sufficient nor the Acts without they must go both together And then a gracious Habit For tho Morality may restrain unjust Actions and smooth the outward Conversation yet it cannot breed in the Heart a love of Justice as it is pleasing to God especially when the Practice of it crosses a beloved Interest No that the Spirit of God must work For the Fruit of the Spirit is in all Goodness and Righteousness and Truth Ephes 5. 9. And then 2. The particular difference of this from other gracious Habits is that this inclines us constantly to render to every one their Right It supposes that there is a Property which every Man hath in these outward things and that the World lies not in common And that an intercourse is necessary among Men for their mutual well-being that no Man can so subsist of himself but that he hath use or need of others Then steps in Justice to regulate all such Negotiations and teaches and disposes the honest Tradesman to render to every one what of right belongeth to him To Superiours Inferious Equals Relations and generally to every one that he may be able to say with holy Paul I have lived in all good Conscience before God until this day Acts 23. 1. II. For the Necessity hereof 1. It is every Man's Duty For 1. It is commanded by the Law of Nature Those strictures of Man's primitive Righteousness which are left in him do teach him this It was an Heathen Emperour that made choice of this Motto Quid tibi non vis fieri alteri ne feceris What you would not have done to you do not to another Which being rightly understood is both the Foundation and the Rule of Justice Every Man would desire to be justly dealt with and is it not equal and reasonable to render to every man that which we expect from every man It is scarce possible to obliterate this Principle out of natural Conscience and they that act otherwise do overthrow the common Principles of Nature and right Reason 2. It is commanded by the written Law of God This is the tenour of all the second Table of the Moral Law and is particularly intended in the eighth Commandment which saith Thou shalt not steal Which is nothing else but the reviving of the Law of Nature or a new Edition thereof Other Scriptures are frequent and express to this purpose Deut. 16. 20. That which is altogether just or as the Hebrew emphatically Justice Justicer shalt thou follow Which Law is strengthned with the threatnings of Punishment in case of disobedience frequently in the Scripture and clear Instances of the Performance thereof accordingly In short the Righteous God whom we worship is a Spotless Mirrour and Pattern hereof in himself He is Righteous in all his Ways Psal 145. 17. And he tells us 1 John 3. 7. Let no man deceive you he that doth Righteousness is righteous even as he is Righteous And the Righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his Countenance doth behold the Vpright Psal 11. 7. 3. It is commanded by the Law of Christ Our heavenly Saviour that died for us hath own'd and urged this Justice For he came not to destroy the Law but to press it and so hath enfranchized this Adage Mat. 7. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so unto them for this is the Law and the Prophets And when the Apostle describes the great Design of the Gospel Tit. 2. 12. He tells that the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly towards our selves righteously towards others and godly towards God in this present world Wherein is contained the Sum of all practical Religion So that the unrighteous do blot out a third part of the Gospel and so are unworthy of the Christian Name 2. This Justice is every Man's Interest It is the sound and safe way to Prosperity In that Deut. 16. 20. That which is altogether just thou shalt follow that thou mayst live and inherit the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Other ways possibly may be speedier to Riches but this is the safe way Psal 5. 12. For the Lord will bless the Righteous with Favour wilt thou compass him as with a Shield Tho it please God to suffer some right honest Men to be poor and distressed in this Life to evince that there is a Judgment to come yet he doth manifestly favour others with temporal Blessings to shew that there is a Providence at the present And on the contrary the most