have done some good to others but here no body hath been the better for me but for ought I know rather the worse It may be I have been a Ionah or an Achan amongst Gods people to provoke the Lord to displeasure and to cause him to withhold that mercy from that Assembly I joyned with which they might have had if J had been from amongst them but however I have deluded others and play'd the hypocrite seeming better then I am and fit to be amongst Gods people which I was not have hardened my heart and am to be sure never the better if not much the worse These and the like complaints are commonly made by the people of God as if his service were indeed altogether vaine To this I answer divers wayes Answ 1 That the service of God which a Soul does may be may be profitable to others though for the present or in his own apprehension little or nothing so to it selfe For the Acts or parts of Gods service are of divers kinds Some in which the Lord and master himself hath the chiefest hand he being especially the Agent and we patients as hearing the word receiving the sacrament and duties of that nature Other some againe there are in which man is more said to be an Agent then in the former As in prayer workes of charity taking up the crosse and the like Now its true for the first if a soul gets no good at them it selfe at the word at the sacrament and the rest of that kind That service is like to be in vaine altogether But for the latter it will not hold viz. in sufferings for Christ and the like though a man may seeme to have lost not his labour onely but much other wayes in his estate credit liberty and the like in so much that he may suffer the spoyling of all his goods and himselfe dye in the Gaole yet this service may not be in vaine For besides his own gaine in spirituall respects the Church of God may have more light and liberty hereby in after times Also of prayer and seeking the Lord the like may be said for as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 12.14 that the parents lay up for the Children so doth one Christian for another For these duties are properly compar'd to sowing of seed and Christ saith one soweth Joh. 4.37 and another reapeth And I doubt not but many a christian and parent hath prayers hanging upon Gods file in heaven unanswered for their Children and the Church of God though made long agoe so that that may seeme to be labour lost that was taken that way But yet as Ahasuerus Ester 6.1 call'd for the Records after a certaine time and finding there such a piece of service done by Mordecai not yet rewarded he forthwith gave him wages for his work and bountifully rewarded him So the Lord in his due time will look over his files as I may so speak and finding the parents prayers made for the childe and the Christians prayers made for the Church of God hanging still unanswered he will undoubtedly return them an answer in a time accepted And because a parent or a christian does not receive an answer hereof presently or wages for his work in the service of the Lord or live to see others the better for it shall he therefore conclude It is a vaine service or the work a vaine work Simil. When a man hath beene at paines cost in tilling sowing of his ground though hee doth not live to the harvest to reape the crop himselfe yet wil he not account his labour lost because he can make his will of it and his heires executors and such as he doth intirely love shall be the better for it Even so it is here The Church may be the better others the better for thy labour And therefore this work and service is not to be accounted vaine Answer 2 Secondly I answer that the Lord doth not alwayes pay his servants wages for the work they doe him in ready mony as they use to say Simil. but many times by way of exchange giving of them something in liew yet alwayes for the best unto them Even as you pay your workmen when they have wrought with you and done you service you doe not pay them it may be in ready mony gold silver and the like but with such commodities as they stand in great need of which happily are scarce and rare and such as they could not buy with their money if they had had their wages paid them therein Now if these servants should goe away and exclaime on you and on your service that because you did not pay them in ready money as they expected they should therefore say that your service were a vaine service and that they had wrought with you for nothing and the like would you take this well at their hands Why yet thus dost thou deale by the Lord Thou attendest upon God in duties and ordinances in hearing praying and the like and thou dost him some service Now thou expectest to be paid down at the stub as it were in ready money That is to say thou lookest to grow in parts as in knowledge in quick apprehension and ability of expression in conference or prayer as others doe and because thou dost not so thou art ready to complaine that this service of God is vaine and that thou hast but lost thy labour therein Whereas it may be the Lord hath given thee something in stead of these which is better and daintier and which thou couldst not have purchased with these if thou hadst never so much of them For instance it may be he hath given thee a tender conscience and an humble heart instead of those other which thou didst expect Well if he hath thus paid thee I tell thee he hath done thee no wrong For these are things which thou couldst not have purchased with thy parts were they never so great and high Answ 3 Thirdly I answer that thou canst not conclude that the service of God is in vaine though thou thinkest thy selfe never the better or as yet beest never the better for the present unlesse also thou art able to conclude that thou never shalt be the better hereafter neither which I am sure thou canst not possibly doe Suppose thy prayers as yet be not answered art thou sure that they never shall be answered though thy corruptions be not yet subdued nor Satan as yet troden under foot how dost thou know that they never shall Nay how dost thou know but that this delay may bee fully satisfied for when the Lords time is fully come We find how Moses speaks to the people of the Lord in this manner Deut. 8.15 16. who led thee through that great and terrible wildernesse wherein were siery Serpents and Scorpions and drought where there was no water c. that hee might humble thee and that he might prove thee to doe
and and all on the sudden the soule is ready to cast away that confidence as nothing worth Oh but saith the Apostle hold your hand and be well advised what you doe be not so prodigall to cast away that in a pang or pittish moode which you were so long a getting and cost you so deare Prove and try your confidence if you will nay 't is needfull you should doe so but cast it not away Or if Satan wring your hold out of your hand and your confidence out of your heart by the strength of any violent temptation then indeed you are to be pittyed and your condition with much Christian compassion to be laid to heart But for you to stand in your owne light and to throw away such a stay to your soules by a willfull refusall of that mercy and denyall of that grace which the Lord hath wrought in you and given you some experience of and that out of the pride of your hearts because you cannot finde a ground of your holding fast of a confidence in your selves but must live upon free grace or out of discontentednesse of spirit that because you cannot affirme that full assurance of heaven and Gods love that you would have therefore you will have none at all because you may not carve your selves and have whole loaves therefore you will scorne crummes and cast away pieces If thus you doe in stead of pitty you shal deserve blame And as little as this confidence waiting upon God seemes worth which you slight and are casting away as worth nothing yet beleeve me t is not in vaine to hold fast upon a promise something will come at last though all seeme but lost for the present And therefore cast not away your confidence which hath great recompence of Reward Lastly Caution to all in general it is usefull for all in generall to warne every one to take heed of making voyd and vayne the service of God to himselfe We have seene and heard the evill of this sinne of accusing the service of God for a vaine service and how much wrong they doe the Lord and themselves that cast such an aspersion and unjust imputation upon the service of God But now if that should become really so to us which is not so in it selfe nor to others and that whilst we blame others for saying it is in vaine we should be those that should make it vaine to our selves this would prove hard and sad in conclusion How will this make up the mouths of carnall loose libertines when they come at the judgement seat when those that would never spend time nor take paynes in the service of God shall fare speed as wel as they that spent and took much time therein when those that would not be brought to make any shew of goodnesse or take up the practice of any duties at all shall fare aswell as those that had a faire forme of Godlinesse and were very abundant in holy duties When they that had no prayer in their families so much as once in the weeke or month or yeare shall speed as well and alike with those that had prayer twice a day in a word when those that take their fill in the pleasures of sin that cast off the feare of the almighty Joh. 21.14 saying depart from us for we desire not the Knowledge of thy wayes That were servants to their lusts and not to God but run on in all excesse of riot in sinning with high hands and stiffenecks shal see them thrust out from God that wore his livery call'd him master and did much work in his service Oh how wide will it open their mouthes And if it were possible to laugh in Hell how would it make them laugh and triumph why certainely it will be thus with very many to whom the service of God shall be but a vaine service and they shall lose all the time and paynes that they have spent taken therein see Mat. 7 chap. in the 22 and 23 verses and Luke 13.26 Where you shall finde that many who have beene in Christs company and stood in Christs roome and done Christs worke shall yet be disclaimed by him and excluded from him at the last day And therfore what need is there that we looke well to it that though this service be not vaine in it selfe yet that it prove not vaine to us Which that it may not do Directions that the service of God may not be in vaine I shall desire to lay downe some directions in way of prevention which being followed will undoubtedly make our worke and labour in the service of the Lord profitable unto us but without which could we doe never so much and that in shew never so well yet should we be accounted but evill servants and this is all we shall have at Gods hand at last Isa 50.11 to lye downe in sorow Direction 1 The first thing that a soule must doe that would not have the service of the Lord prove in vaine to him is To get into Covenant with God and to be at agreement with him for whom we do work I doe not meane to Covenant for wages and what thou shalt have for thy work as if otherwise thou wer 't in danger to have nothing for there is no feare of that but onely Covenant with him to be his servant to be one whom he may please to owne and looke upon as one that doth especially belong unto him This is to be in inward Covenant with God for you are to know that there is a secret league and Covenant which is made and passeth between God and the soule at its first conversion In which the Lord for his part makes tender and promise of free grace and mercy to the poore soul seeing it selfe lost and undone And the soul for its part being glad of God and mercy upon such faire termes as he propounds it upon accepts thereof and so the Covenant is struck the soule is willing to become the Lords and to give up it selfe to him and his service wholly and freely And the Lord for his part is willing to accept of that soul and of such service as it is and shall be able to doe for him to assist him in his undertakings to overlooke his fayling and to reward his endeavours And so for ever after this the Lord lookes upon this soule as a servant of his and as set on worke by him and so intends the rewarding of him as his servant which before he doth not but saith as Esay 1.12 who hath required these things at your hands I doe not deny but that I doe require them but not of you and I will give a reward for the doing of them but not to you So in the 50 Psal 16 verse unto the wicked God saith what hast thou to doe to declare my statutes or that thou shouldst take my Covenant in thy mouth where had you any commission to
service and the Lord is not tyed to give any reward or make payment till this dutie or condition be performed Mat. 20. the Labourers that had wrought in the vineyard were not called to take their payment till the evening and end of the day True sometimes the master of the field will come in amongst his harvest men about noone or some other time of the day and give them a largesse for their incouragement over and above their wages but how ever at night they shall have their reward without faile and they have no cause to complaine if they stay till then and have no more then their wages even so is it here the Lord is pleased sometimes to come in very sweetly to a soule whilst 't is at the work labouring in his service at the word in a prayer in a sacrament or the like gives it some inklings of his love and sealings of his spirit which are as Largesses to the soule that glad the heart and doe much incourage it in the wayes and worke of God c. But you must know that this is an over-plus of his love which though he doth sometimes bestow yet not alwayes for it is the portion even of som that fear the Lord to walk in darknes see no light Isa 50.10 for the Lord will be left free in this and it is more then he will make promise of that there may be no ground of complaint to any onely the certaine and standing wages is salvation and this he bindes himselfe by Covenant to give in that sorenamed place Mat. 24.13 he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved as if he should have said if there doe come any thing over and beside what I promise and good may it doe you take it and be thankefull onely this is that you may trust to Salvation He shall be saved and will not this wages be sufficient hath he any cause to say that the service of God is a vaine service that shall have this at the last how little soever he hath for the present he knoweth not what salvation is that thinks it will not surely if thou wert as sore a labourer as ever wrought for God and shouldst beare the burthen and heate of the day yet shouldst all thy dayes eat in darknesse and never have good looke from God nor any incouragement in his worke yet this penny of salvation at the night of death and those things that accompany the same would be wages sufficient therefore cease thy complaints and persevere in thy endeavours Thus have I at large shewed you what you must doe if you would not have the service of God to be made void and vaine to you 1 Get into Covenant with God 2. Take heed of a slighty spirit in the service of God 3. Looke well to your hearts that they be found faithfull in the mayne especially in those five partioulars In Carefulnesse in Diligence in Sincerity in Beliefe and in Perseverance And now give me leave in the Closure of all to speake to you as David spake to the people 1 Chro. 29.5 Who now is willing among you to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord shall I helpe the Lord to never a servant more by this dayes worke Believe it Friends you 'l never meet with a better Master to be sure you 'l never meet with so good a master if you should travell to the utmost parts of the Earth It 's held indeed as a discour tesie in the world and a poynt of dishonesty to wish or procure away a servant from one master to another But I wish with al my heart I could this day procure some of the worlds the Devills or sinn's servants to become the true and faithfull servants of the most high God For my part I would be willing to venture the displeasure of their old Masters And you for your part I dare say would be highly thankfull unto me for wishing you to such a service If I could perswade any soule heare to leave its old drudgery and to accept of the service of God thou wouldst soone be ready to say as David said to Abigail 1 Sa. 25.32.33 Blessed be the Lord God of Israell which hath sent thee this day to meete me And blessed be thy advice blessed be thou For I was even wearying my self in a way of vanity I was serving the worst master and doing the worst work in the world I was about to receive the worst wages that ever poore creature received for the wages of sin is death And therefore blessed and for ever blessed be that God that hath sent forth a messenger to stop me in that way to let me see the vanity of that old service in which formerly I tooke so much delight and to perswade my heart to delight in that new service of the Lord which formerly I judged as vaine and fruitlesse Well friends be perswaded this day and the Lord perswade you to dwell in the tents of Shem. Gen. 9.27 The Lord perswade you to accept of his reasonable service be not afraid of it there is all the reason in the world you should serve him T is true there are strange reports that goe about of this service T is a way that is every where spoken against Goe amongst them that have much meanes of knowledge and much knowledge by the meanes and they speake against it there are any of the Rulers of the scribes and pharisees so forward in the service of God Joh. 7.48 Go amongst them that are ignorant and they speake against it there as if it were the vilest drudgery in the world whereas the Apostle sayes 2 Cor. 3.17 its perfect freedome Ioh. 8.36 if the sonne make you free then are you free indeed Beleeve it when you come to dy you will have more comfort by one week spent in this service then in many years spent in the service of sinne and Satan Be perswaded therefore to accept of the service of God this day As he makes a gracious profer to entertaine you be content to accept of it with all thankefulnesse take Gods Festing penny receive his earnest subscribe to the indentures of his Covenant And then the match is made betwixt God and your soules according to that remarkable Prophecy Esay 44 5. One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call himselfe by the name of Iacob and another shall subscribe with his hand vnto the Lord and Surname himselfe by the name of Israell And this was that which David preferred above the Chiefe flower in his Crowne even to be call'd the servant of the Lord Psal 18. the title rather then a Lord of servants Let this be the utmost ambition of each gracious soule that it may say as he did Psal 116.16 Oh Lord truly I am thy servant I am thy servant and the sonne of thy handmayd thou hast loosed my bonds To every such
had the very best that they had knowing that the better any thing is that they offer to God the greater is the reward that God wil give to them for it For this wil make a soule free for God As David who knowing what a bountiful pay-master the Lord was would not offer him sacrifice 2 Sam. 24.24 of that which should cost him nothing Why just thus doe earnal hearts in doing the Lord service as these people did in offering him sacrifice they bring him the torn blind and lame Yea is there no help but I must doe duties heare pray repent give almes and the like wel then I l'e shift as as wel as I can if I must heare I 'le hear at my leisure when I have little else to doe If I must give it shal be of that which I got by usury bribery or the like If I must pray in my family it shal be the last thing I doe immediately before I goe to bed being half asleep and halfe awake If I must repent I wil doe it when I am ready to dye and goe out of the world when I feel the house crack and it be ready to tumble downe about my eares then wil I seeke out for another habitation and so for other duties This is the practice of carnal hearts thus to turn the Lord off with the worst which is a cleare evidence against them that they Judge his service to be but vaine service Thirdly this truth may be evidenced by their wearinesse in their serving the Lord though in a slighty and formal manner as this people in that place before named are charged with this very thing Malac. 1.13 yee have said what a wearinesse is it and yee have snuffed at it c. And thus are carnal hearts soonest weary though in some regard they have by far the least cause Of all men one would thinke that these people should not be weary of serving the Lord that are at so little paines and cost and so formal therein It might rather be thought that the people of God which doe so put out themselves and spend their spirits in the service of the Lord that they should rather be weary then such as are slighty and formal therein turning the Lord off with lip-labour and bodily exercise And it is true indeed if wearinesse in the service of God did arise from the expence of Spirits then the godly should be sooner weary then those that are carnall but indeed this is not the cause of it but rather a dislike of the service it selfe from an indisposition in the heart being carnal to a duty or service that is of a spirituall nature hence it is that the people of God who love the service of God after such time as they have been much with God in the duties of his service and have both wearyed their bodies and wasted their strength and spirits yet delighting in the Law and Service of God after the innerman are not yet weary of the duty or service it selfe but wish that they had fresh strength and Spirits For it is one thing to be weary in the service of God and another thing to be weary of the service of God The first may befall a gratious heart or child of God but the latter is the property of those that are onely carnall And againe there is much difference betweene that wearisomnesse that ariseth from inabilities to hold out any longer in the duty or service and that which springeth from a dislike of the duty or service it selfe both in the affections from that contrariety that is in the heart being carnal to the duty or service as spiritual as also in the judgement from secret feares and thoughts of losing its labour and so being in vaine The earnal heart is weary of the service of God in this last manner as wel as in the first and that upon this last ground also whereby the truth in hand is evidenced Fourthly it is clearly evidenced that they think the service of God in vaine By those base and hard thoughts which they secretly harbour of such as serve God more and better then themselves this is a thing very commonly found in carnal hearts and who wil serve God a little to be bitter in censuring of them that serve him much those that keep their times and go their pace and are of their Last and straine they can like wel enough But such as exceed them they suspect for too much nicenesse what wil not common Prayers please them but they must have conceived Prayer wil not praying with others and in the family suffice but they must Pray alone and in their closets wil not one Sermon a day content them but they must hear all day long and are not Sermons on the Sunday sufficient but they must run to Sermons and Lectures in the week too c. Thus condemning the generation of the righteous and such as are better then themselves These thoughts and speeches proceed from carnal hearts which conceive in themselves that the service of God is altogether in vaine for if they did really beleeve that it were good and profitable to serve God a little then it would follow even by the rule of common reason that it is much better to serve him more and so still the more the better Take a man which beleeveth that such a worke or Trade is gainefull and profitable though he himselfe cannot work or earne that way by reason of age or infirmities yet wil not hee condemne those that can and doe but wil blesse them and their condition wishing that he were in the same himself Alas saith he I am grown old my sight and strength decayes that my work is gone I can make no earnings but lose my time c. Oh but such or such they are happy for they can work and earne I am glad that others can though J cannot but I would I could work for I know it is profitable worke and wil bring in great advantage to him that labours in it whereas another it may be slights that work and trade and condemnes them of folly that follow it most and all out of ignorance and that because they thinke it to be but labour in vaine Thus it is concerning the service of the Lord and the trade of godlinesse those that are truly godly wil rejoyce that others serve God and can do it better then themselves I am a poore ignorant creature a dwarfe and a nurling and grow very slowly but I am glad to see others grow my Spirit is straitned and bound up but others are large hearted for God and God lets out himselfe to others though he be a stranger to my Soule I am hard hearted and cannot mourn for my own or others sins and for the afflictions of Gods Church and people which I ought to doe but cannot Oh but such or such they can doe these things wel blessed be God I am glad that any
lay and how confident they were of a liberall reward for their serving of God c. Having also some tast and the first fruits of it already these things make these people begin to doubt and question what before they seemed resolved of that many a man comes away sighing and saying within himselfe well I am affraid that if this were my condition that death were comming for me and I were under the hand of God and so near my end as such a one is I should not be so comfortable as he is but that J should lye like a wild Bul in a net ful of the fury of the Lord and be at my wits end therefore it may be that I have been mistaken all this while and for all this there may be a God and there may be some reward in serving of him c. and hereupon he resolves to do something in Gods service well I will resolve to pray hear c. More then I have done that if there be a God and there be any reward for his service I may have something in the Bank and a comming thus thinking to make sure however things goe Simil. As you shall have some ignorant hide bound Countreyman that having no skil nor experience in Sea-affaires and adventures into forraigne parts and new plantations is quite against such kind of trading when the ship goes out he gives it for lost and all that is ventured in it secretly condemning them for folly at least that have nothing to doe with their moneys but to make such desperate ventures of it as these and yet this man hearing how such a one and such a one by putting in a stock of money and imploying it that way were great gainers and and made men for ever as they say this man at length and in time may be brought to make some venture himselfe that way reasoning thus well though I have no minde that way yet I care not if I venture something at Sea c. It may be the ship may return and some profit may come by it that if it doth prove so I may be the better and save something but he will not venture so much as shall undoe him if it should miscarry but what he can easily spare So it is here carnall hearts though they Judge thus of the service of God as vaine and that labour as lost that is taken therein yet perceiving as before was said what others have got thereby are hereby brought to do something for God thinking that if there be a God and it be not in vain to serve him that something may come in in an evill day being so simple as not to consider that God will be served aright for the manner as well as for the matter neither will they venture much for God to part with all for the Pearle but onely venture so farre as to provide for themselves how they may be happy as they thinke without any thing comming in this way The first use of this Doctrine is for Information Vses and that in many particulars First Vse 1. Of information It informes us of the reason why the Lord hath no more servants to wait upon him and doe his worke The world and sin have abundance but the Lord very few especially of those that will wear an in tire coat without seame or that will venture upon any hot piece of service if they be put upon it here is the true ground of it they doubt whether the service of God be not a vaine service and whether there be as good wages to be had for doing of Gods work as they have from those Masters whom now they serve and whose worke they do Secondly It informs us of the ground of so much lukewarmnesse and indifferency as is in many that are or seeme to be the servants of God why they slubber over the Lords work and are so slighty in his service offering him sacrifice of that which doth cost them little or nothing as in praying hearing and the like as if it were no great matter whether they prayed or not prayed whether they heard or not heard whether they stood and appeared for God or dissembled it especially if it come to this that they cannot follow and serve God but it must cost them dear Indeed many can be content to keep Gods service doe Gods work and professe religion so long as this profession and service will maintaine them but if it comes to this that they must maintaine their service and they cannot professe and follow God but it will cost them their estates credits liberties or lives then they shrinke and here 's the reason they make a question if they should disburse so much for God and in his service whether ever they should see their own again and not be losers by the bargaine This makes them so backward to enter upon some worke that God puts them upon and so slighty in that which they doe Simil. That as they that work for bad pay-Masters when their work is faulted are ready to answer why t is even well enough unlesse I were like to be paid better for it then I am so doe they here suspecting the service of God for a vain service they think the work done in it to bee well enough how slighty soever whereas did they believe otherwise and the truth of those promises of God 1 Cor. 15.58 for his bountifull rewarding of such as are his servants it would make them fruitfull and painfull in his service Thirdly It informes us of the ground of so much Apostacy and backsliding from God why so many of his disciples and servants go away and fall off daily Yea many ancient standing professors that seemed to have been good and faithfull servants and to have done God much good work yet now after a long time they carry the Lord his livery home againe and will weare it no longer nor follow him any further but are now for a new Master and that such a one as the times will serve them to follow and serve without danger The ground hereof is clearly this they thinke to mend themselves and to take a course that will be more profitable then this service would be if they should continue it But as Moses Heb. 11.25 26 27. endured many and great afflictions seeing him by faith who is invisible to sence so had people hearts and faith to beieeve the truth of Gods promises and the profitablenesse of his service all the world could not be able to hire them out of it nor any thing in it beat them off or any whit discourage them But I would earnestly desire these people that are backesliders from God to consider how wonderfully they provoke the Lord to displeasure who thus turne their backs upon him and give over his service and indeed there is just cause that the Lord should be sore displeased For such a one proclaimes to all the world in effect
thee good at thy latter end Mark that phrase well at thy latter end which imports the time of Gods shewing mercy to many even of his own people that they shall not have the good of Gods present dealings with them till their latter end It may be before this Message came from the Lord to this people they began to repent them in part of what they had done in following of Moses and putting themselves upon so many hardships and think all to be but labour lost and their service in obeying the Lords commands to be in vaine but now they are answered and taken off from this hearing that the time of their reward was not yet come but that verily it would come and that without faile to wit in the latter end So then it 's clear that a soul in obeying God and in doing him service may bee led through a wildernesse where it may meet with serpents scorpions drought and a great deale of hardship and be much disappointed in its expectation and desires And yet the Lord may intend it good at the last and plentifully reward it for all the service it doth for him And therefore let not any complaine till they have cause Ps 9.18 The patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever And Ps 58.11 verily there is a reward for the righteous And Yet a little while Heb. â— 37 and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Have you never heard it rumor'd and reported very commonly and confidently that such or such a ship hath been quite cast away and lost and yet that ship hath come home afterwards richly laden So t is oft' in Prayer and other duties and therefore be not overmuch discouraged though you enjoy not the present fruit of your labours in due time Gal. 6.9 you shall reap if you faint And thus far in answer to these thoughts and objections that are in the people of God from the first ground in themselves Obj. 2 The second ground of this Feare followes to be answered Namely That indiscernable difference that is in themselves betweene their serving and not serving of God The Soul saith surely I cannot perceive that I am any whit the better for all the service that I have done to the Lord For all my Prayers hearing christian communion and the like I am as well when I omit serving of him or when I am slighty in his service as when I serve him most and best of all I prosper as well in my businesse and returne as safe home from my journey when I set forth without seeking direction from the Lord as when I do seek him before I goe out I sleepe as sweetly when I goe to bed without Prayer as when I do pray and so for other particulars Therefore this serving of the Lord seemes to be vaine To this also I answer divers wayes Answ 1 First That it is a sad thing that any of Gods people should Try and Tempt him in this manner to doe as if they should say I le see what the Lord will doe for me without asking and the like that any who have tasted how gracious the Lord hath beene unto them in a duty or ordinance that they should in the least degree willingly omit such a duty againe and that they should to speak after the manner of men disappoint the Lord thus That when the Lord shall goe into thy Chamber or Closet at the usuall time of Prayer with his eare open to the Prayer that thou hadst need to make him that then thou shouldest not be there but he must be forced to turne himselfe away missing whom hee looked for That when the Lord bringeth mercy in his hand as it were to bestow upon thee that thou shouldst not be there to receive it but he must be forced to carry his mercy back againe with him and when he bringeth his bottle to put up thy tears thou sendest him empty away This I say is a very sad thing Answer 2 But secondly I answer that if there be no difference in thine outward man in thy estate body name and the like yet there may be great difference in thine inner man and soul and I dare say there is so Doth not thy neglect of duty beget a dislike of duty doth no disuse in Gods service breed an auknesse and an indisposition thereto I doubt not but if the heart be well observed it will be acknowledged that this is true that it is thus And is this nothing Answer 3 Thirdly I would demand of those that say they can find no difference in themselves between the time when they serve the Lord and when they do not serve him whether they doe never at no time find any difference Sometimes it may be you find little or no difference the Lord meets you not in duties but you go away empty with hardnesse in your hearts and blacknesse in your bosomes and the like as you conceive But is it alwayes thus are you never answered in the joy of your soules does the Lord never give you a good look nor shew you a pleased face If you have any Joh. 15.11 slight them not are the consolations of God small unto you Or if you have none yet that thou art upheld in the way and in the work of the Lord to go on in his service even this very thing is a great mercy and is very like to be the fruit and wages for the former work and service thou hast done him And it is all one whether the Lord doth give the soul what it would have presently or strength to persevere in his wayes till he doth meet and answer it Of the two the last is rather the best because the soule honours God most by this Answer 4 Lastly consider if thou hast such and such things gifts or parts in as full a measure when thou dost not serve God as when thou dost serve him most exactly yet thou canst not look upon them as such speciall mercies if they come not in the way of seeking and serving God Psal 69.22 The very table of wicked men is made their snare Prov. 1.32 the prosperity of fooles shall slay them 2. There be also thoughts in the hearts of Gods people about the vanity of Gods service arising from some ground in others for thus they reason Obj. Those that have no care at all to serve God or to attend upon the duties of his worship yet they seeme to spred and to fare as well as those that serve him most and best of all and therefore the serving of God seemes to be in vaine To this also divers answers may be made Ans 1 As first that there is much difference in the maine and in that which ought most to be regarded Though they may seeme to be as well in their outward condition and for their body yet not with their soules for they are not in Gods wayes nor
in the Road of his best mercies Answer 2 Secondly that even those outward and common mercies which they have who doe not serve the Lord but are carelesse therein may bee the fruit of others serving the Lord though not of their own As for instance thou art an husband and shouldst as Saint Peter speaks dwell with thy wife as a man of knowledge and be a patterne for the whole family in serving the Lord and yet it may be thou regardest not these things but goest to bed like a beast without Prayer and yet sleepest quietly when thy poore wife or child may be upon their knees praying for thee So thou goest into the world in the morning and settest out journeyes without seeking the Lord and yet it may be prosperest and returnest well and why it may be thy Minister Prayes for thee and prevailes for these mercies in thy behalfe which else thou might'st goe without Laban fared the better for Iacobs sake And Potiphar Gen. 30.29 and his family Gen. 39.3 speed the better for Iosephs serving the Lord. A gracelesse child may fare the better for the service which gracious Parents have done him Ro. 11.28 As the Lord saith of some They are beloved for the Fathers sake So may some children find temporal mercies at the hand of God for some service which was done him by their parents Simil. As some great man that hath had a servant dwelling long with him will many times shew kindnesse to the child of that servant I care not sayes he if I doe so or so for him his father was my man or his mother was my maid so many yeares and was trusty and faithfull in my service So doth God in this case Ans 3 Thirdly I answer that it is a grosse mistake to think that the prosperity of this life is worthy of the name of a reward for Gods service Those things which God gives as a reward for this are within the vaile which the eye of sence never saw which the heart of man cannot possibly conceive of And therefore though those that doe not serve the Lord have these things below and thou who do'st serve him goest without them yet being the Lord reserves a better reward for thee till afterward complaine not Simil. You know that men of great estates set servants on work of divers kinds some that are but dayes-men but others that are hired servants or bound to them for a long time Now the first sort are paid at night or at weekes end three pence or a groat a day or some such small matter and their Lords day dinner and there 's all they must looke for But as for the other hee takes his wages by the lump his Master takes charge of him and makes provision for him not onely in health and when he is haile and well but in sicknesse too allowes him attendance protects him against wrongs vouchsafeth him the credit of his countenance prefers him in marriage and lets him have the lease of some good Farme that he is the better for all his dayes Now shall this servant go and complaine that hee serves his Master in vaine because he hath not such potty-payments as others have His Master may justly take this ill at his hand So it is here For what the Apostle saith of the momentany afflictions of this present life I may say of the momentany comforts of this presant life They are not worthy of that eternall reward for serving the Lord which hee reserved for those that are his which is ready to be revealed in his time But besides all this there is answer enough lying wide-open in the three last verses of this Chapter Mal. 3.16 17 18. which might quiet and still any soule for the present that hath but the least measure of faith in truth There you shall find For those that feared the Lord and spake often one to another there was a book of remembrance written they made up as his Iewels were c. God putting a manifest difference between them that serve him and that serve him not Obj. But now from this that hath been spoken in answer and for satisfaction unto those of Gods people who are of tender consciences full of feares and much discouraged in the wayes of God happily carnall hearts from hence will be ready to reply and plead for themselves after this manner Well now we are in some more hope of our selves then formerly we were You told us in the beginning that it was the property of carnall hearts and such as are wicked to account the service of God vaine and unprofitable and all that while we were much afraid of our selves because wee cannot deny for our hearts but that secretly we doe so But since you have said that Gods own people may be guilty of this too And therefore now againe we begin to have some better hopes of our selves then we had and to think that our condition may not be so bad though we be guilty hereof To this I answer Difference between the thoughts of the godly and wicked about the vanity of Gods service that there is a wide difference between those thoughts that are in the hearts of the godly about the vanity of Gods service and those that are in the hearts of the wicked which is especially shewed in these particulars which being opened will afford a full answer to this objection And which also may serve for markes of tryall to discover which are carnall hearts and which are gracious which is the next thing to be shewed and then proceed First then 1 Difference or trial though there be some such thoughts as these in the hearts of the godly touching the vanity of Gods service as if it were labour lost that is taken therein yet these thoughts are onely injected and cast in by Satan and doe onely swimme and flutter up and downe in the minde but are not seated and settled in the heart though the soule makes some question about this yet it is not fully settled and perswaded of it that so it is But the carnall heart and the wicked is for they have it rooted and fastened as a firme principle in them that thus it is Now there is a wondrous wide difference betweene Doubtings and Resolutions and they are easie to be discerned by such a one as is not willing to be deceived The second difference is this namely 2 Difference or triall that though there be some such thoughts as these in some of Gods people yet they are not touching the service of God it selfe but about their purticular service of God They doe not think that it is in vaine for others for every body or in it selfe to serve God but all their feare is that it is in vaine to them They doe not make the least question but that there are those that do speed in Prayer reap much profit by the ordinances and are much the better for
meddle with my worke It was an answer which they gave in the 20 of Mat. 6 verse why they stood so long idle because no man had hyred them as if they should say we had as good doe nothing as to worke before we are hyred and it is most certainly true here that till a soule be agreed in the sence before mentioned with God It shall have no reward for the work it does but loseth al its labour Job 9.29 As Iob saith if I be wicked why then labour I in vaine so surely all the labour that a wicked man takes whilst he is wicked and in the state of sinne and nature is but lost he does but labour in vaine Vers 20. The Prophet saith Psal 139. Thine enemyes take thy Name in vaine which holds very firme in this sence namely That whilst people remaine enemies to God and are not truely reconciled to to him through Christ they take his name word Sacrament and all they meddle withall in vaine Should they heare pray doe suffer or performe never so many duties of the Lords service yet all would prove in vaine unto them and they should never have comfort nor profit by any thing they doe It is a great deale of time that some spend of paines that they take and cost that they are at about the duties of Gods service who yet if they goe on as they have begun will lose all at the last Oh! therefore let me prevaile with so many of you this day as never tooke this course now to enter upon it get you home enter into your chambers and commune with your hearts about your conditions and this worke labour to see your misery by nature and sinne and so long as you stand in emnity with God and God with you begge as for more then your lives to be at peace with him and be glad of reconciliation with him upon any termes you may goe on still in your old way of formality if you please without taking this course as long and twice as long if you live as you have done thinking that if you be diligent in duties and painefull in the service of the Lord especially with honest hearts as you call them that then you shal not lose your labour but that God will reward you for the service you doe and it may be that some of you may intend so to doe notwithstanding what ever hath beene said against it and so they may if they please to their shame and heart-smart but if this be the way to true peace or profit the Lord hath not spoken by me And when they have wearied themselves in this their way and misse what they looke for which they will most certainely doe if they looke for any good then will they acknowledge the truth and necessity of this counsell and when it is too late will bewayle that they tooke it not in time Direction 2 Secondly if you would not have the service of God prove a vaine service then take heed of a slighty spirit in the performing of it and of having low and meane thoughts of those duties that thou undertakest the doing of but labour for high and pretious thoughts of the duties of this service and of the ordinances of God which thou commest to be a partaker of that thou may'st looke upon the service of God as honourable and much desirable service and the parts and duties of this service as very profitable as those means which the Lord hath ordained for thy great good To look upon prayer as a profitable ordinance and meanes very forcible with God to breake open his treasure and to obtaine all needfull mercies by So for the word the Sacrament and the rest many there be which performe many of the duties of Gods service but yet come not with such thoughts as these are but looke upon them as meane ordinarie things and that because they know not the worth and pretiousnesse of them and never found or got any great good by them when as the ground thereof is in themselves they come with low thoughts and slighty estimation to the ordinances and then no marvell they find them vaine and unprofitable to them Direction 3 Thirdly he that would not have the service of God in vaine unto him must looke that he be faithfull in the doing of it And this faithfulnesse is to be shewed in these five things Carefulnesse Faithfulnesse in Gods service to be shewed in 5. things Carefulnesse Diligence sinceritie Beliefe and Perseverance First it is to be shewed in carefulnesse of universalitie of obedience that a man be carefull in attending upon all Gods wayes and in doing all that worke that God sets him about He is not a faithfull servant that will pick and choose his worke to doe onely that which likes him and leave the rest so neither is he a faithfull servant to God that will doe onely some not all that will attend upon God in some duties and ordinances but omit othersome and that can be content to put his hand to Gods worke but not to his neck or his back to his crosse or burthen doing-worke will down but not suffering-worke Well thinke better of it and baulke none of Gods worke but take it as it lies in order and comes for that part of Gods service that thou neglectest may be that in the doing whereof the Lord may intend to shew thee much mercy and to give thee a reward for that and other service together If it be secret prayer or such a duty that thou livest in the neglect of thou may'st bereave thy selfe of much good in the neglect of it for as God meets one in some dutie rather then in other-some so that may be that very dutie that God may intend to Communicate more mercie to thee in then any other So the like may be said of sufferings for the Lord hath let out more of himselfe sometimes in a prison then any other way And therefore as David shewed his faithfulnesse in having respect to all Gods commandements Psal 119.6 so let us Secondly Diligence 2. this faithfulnesse lies in doing the worke of the Lord diligently when the soule puts out its selfe in what it undertakes for God A man is not therefore a faithfull servant to his Master because he puts his hand to every worke and shunneth none if yet he slubbereth over his worke in a lazy and slothful manner and doth none as he ought to doe but the doing of it to his utmost sheweth his faithfulnesse as well as his doing of it at all and this is that which the Lord calls for Rom. 12.11 Not slothfull in businesse fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. So in another place Eccles 9.10 what ever thy hand findeth to doe doe it with thy might if it be not a duty meddle not with it doe it not at all but if it be a duty a duty to God what exactnesse in the doing
of it can be sufficient and therefore doe such a duty with thy might pray with thy might heare with thy might stand for God with thy might and so for any other duty The want of this is the bane of a great many duties and of much service which are made void and unprofitable by this very meanes nay instead of a reward they shal have wrath and vengeance for their wages according to that of the Prophet Ieremy Ier. 48.10 cursed be he that doth the worke of the Lord negligently or deceitfully that might do it better then he does but doth not put out himselfe Or that seemes to do it otherwise then he doth it in deed seeming very zealous God when there is neither for life nor heat within Burning lippes and a wicked heart like Solomons plate a potsheard covered with silver drosse Pro. 26.23 Oh heare and feare The third part of this faithfulnesse Sincerity 3. is sincerity and uprightnesse in heart which is when a soule doth the service of God and the duties of it in obedience to his command aiming at him and his glory in the workes and duties that it doth performe The Lord would have servants looke through their earthly masters in the service they doe for them Eph. 6.5 and and to have an eye to Christ in what they doe who is the chiefe Master of all but much more then ought he to be especially eyed and aymed at in those actions which are immediately done unto himselfe true the eye of man cannot pierce the heart to diserne the intention of that but the Lords doth For however a servant may be accounted faithfull when as he doth not purely looke at his Master in the service he doth for his Master cannot see his heart yet he cannot be nor is accounted a faithfull servant with the Lord unlesse he lookes more at the Lord then at himselfe or any other In the 7 of Zach. 5. the Lord puts this question home unto them did yee at all fast to me and doubles it againe even to me that whereas they might be ready and overforward to make answer for themselves and say Yes Lord we did what we did to thee he replies even to me are you sure you did it to me that you looked purely at me c. The want of this makes void and vaine our worke and prevents that reward that else we might have as is cleare from Mat. 6.5 and 16 verse as if the Lord had said if you looke not at me in your worke why should you looke at me for wages for the worke you doe The fourth branch of this faithfulnesse required Faith or Believing 4. in the service of God to make it profitable is Beleeving which is that when the soule hath proved it selfe to be in covenant with God according to the first direction that then it stirres up it selfe to exercise faith in the beleeving Applying and pressing of those promises which it hath right and title to as touching assistance accceptance answering rewarding and the like The Apostle shewes the absolute necessity of faith Heb. 11.6 even in the exercise of it to be in those that approach nigh to God in any service of his Iam. 1.6 7 as in prayer Saint Iames shewes that such an one as doth not pray in faith without wavering must not looke to receive any thing as wages for his worke from the Lord though he may receive much from man rewards and applause c. Yet from the Lord he must looke for none if he doe he is but deceived and so shall bee The Lord saith to them that come to him as he said as he said to those blind men what doe you come to me for sight Matth. 9.28 29. according as you beleeve so shall you speed c. I am preswaded that if these men had come to our Saviour in an ordinary formall way led by the example of others that because they saw others that were blind and lame goe to Christ therefore they would goe too they might have gone away as blind as they came for any sight or benefit that they should have had from him And so if people goe to God in duties as in prayer in an ordinary formall way because it is the order and fashion to goe to God and pray in time of want they may goe often enough and pray long enough ere they shall obtaine and worke till they be weary in the service of God ere they get any good reward for it yea though a man be a beleever and hath that singular gift and grace of faith in him yet this is not enough unlesse he doth stirre up this gift and grace so as to have the use and exercise of it even in the time of working and doing God service for a habite is onely so farre of use and profitable as it is brought forth into act and exercise Experience shewes that the same soule which seemes one day to worke for nothing and to labour in vaine with God in the duties of his service another day or by another duty is sent loaden away full of the desires of its soule and thinkes it selfe abundantly rewarded the reason will be found to be from hence if it be well looked into that faith was more exercised at one time then at another If therefore thou wouldest not have the service of the Lord and the dutyes of it to be in vaine unto thee then worke in faith Last of all Perseverance 5. this faithfulnesse consisteth and is to be shewed in perseverance holding on without fainting Rev. 2.10 Be faithfull unto the death that is in persevering to the last for thus faithfulnesse is shewed he is not accounted a faithfull servant that gives over his work before it be done nor he faithfull to god or his own soul that gives over before he speed Psal 123.2 We waite upon the Lord untill he have mercy upon us so should a Christian refolve not to give over or away from God without an answer I doe not deny but a Christian may be held off and delayed in his suite and service that he may even make some question whether he hath not quite lost his labour whether ever his prayers shall be answered and his service rewarded or no for all may seeme to be in vaine 1 Cor. 4.5 Oh! but stay a while and Iudge nothing before the time much lesse this to say or thinke that the Lord will be so hard and unfaithfull as not to reward your labour for the full and set time of the Lord payment is not yet come I wish that well knowne place in Mat. 24 13 were as wel considered of as knowen He that endureth to the end the same shall be saved In which words amongst many things considerable there be especially two for our present purpose the condition of the promise and the promise it selfe Perseverance is the dutie required in all the parts of Gods
faithfull servant shall that gracious promise of our great Lord and Master made good Ioh 12.26 If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be if any man serve me him will my Father honour Therefore to conclude let me exhort you as Ioshua did the people Now feare the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth I hope it seems not evill to any of you to serve God but you will choose the Lord for your master and each one for himselfe resolve and say with him whatsoever others doe as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. What say yee before I goe hence what answer shall I returne to him that sent me shall I returne the same answer the people gave to Ioshua the Lord perswade your hearts to the same height of resolution God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other Gods The Lord our God will we serve and his voyce will we Obey FINIS A TABLE OF The maine things contained in this following Treatise THe Doctrine is 1. Propounded 2. Proved 3. Cleared 4. Applyed 1. The Doctrine is propounded viz. That Carnall hearts do judge the true service of God a vaine service Pag. 5 2. The Doctrine is proved 1. By Scripture 2. By reason 1. That their judgement is so A. 2. Why they doe so judge B. A. 1. That their judgement is so which is demonstrated 1. By their wilfull and totall omission of some knowne duties 9 2. By their slighty performance of those duties they doe undertake 13 3. By their wearinesse even in those slighty performances 17 4. By those base thoughts they harbour of such as serve God better then themselves 20 B. 2. Why they doe so judge as 1. Because they question whether there be any such God to serve 26 2. Because it is in vaine to them they judge it to bee in vaine to all others also 29 3. Because many great and learned men are not most forward in it 35 4. Because God doth sometimes defer the payment of his servants wages 37 3. The Doctrine is cleared by answering a maine Objection Object If carnall hearts doe judge Gods service as vaine why doe they then serve God at all 39 Ans There are two speciall reasons for it 1. They are forced and haled thereto by Example Custome Conscience powerfull Ordinances 41 2. They doe it to make sure uncertainties in some stirrings of conscience 44 4. The Doctrine is applied by way of 1. Information for it informes us 1. Why the Lord hath no more servants to wait upon him 50 2. What is the ground of so much lukewarmnesse and indifferency in Gods service 50 3. What is the ground of so much Apostacy and back-sliding from God 53 2. Reproofe 1. Directly to the wicked 1. To those who judge men to be the worse for Gods service 57 2. To those who judge it vaine 58 2. By consequence to Gods own people if it be a sinne in carnall hearts much more is it so in the people of God 61 Quest What doe Gods people object against the service of God that under temptation they think it vain Ans Objections doe arise in their hearts springing 1. From themselves in respect of 1. The non-apprehension of any good that ever they got by the service of God 62 Answ To this Objection 1. Thy service may be profitable to others though not to thy selfe 66 2. God payes thee by way of exchange 71 3. Thou shalt be better for it hereafter though not for the present 74 2. The indiscernable difference that is in themselves betweene their serving and not serving of God they thrive as well c. 78 Ans To this Objection 1. It is a sad thing that a gracious heart should tempt God in this manner 80 2. If there be no difference in thy outward man yet there is difference in thy soule 81 3. Though sometime there is no difference yet at other times there is 82 4. They are not such speciall mercies if they come not in this way 84 2. Objections doe arise in the hearts of Gods people springing from others 84 85 For such as have no care to serve God at all fare as well in their apprehension as those that serve him most and best of all 85 Answ to this Objection 1. They fare not so well in their Soules though they fare as well in outward blessings 85 2. Those outward blessings may be the fruit of other mens service and not of their own 86 3. The prosperity of this life is not worthy the name of reward 88 Obj. If Gods people may judge the service of God to be vaine then say carnall men we hope our condition is not so bad as we feared though we also do judge the service of God as vaine 91 92 Ans To this Objection there is a wide difference betweene the thoughts of the godly and of the wicked in this respect 93 For 1. Such thoughts in the godly are injected by Satan not setled in the heart as it is in the wicked 94 2. Such thoughts in the Godly are not about the service of God it selfe but onely about their particular service of God 95 3. Such thoughts beat them not off from his service as they doe the wicked 96 4. Such thoughts in the godly are followed with sorrow and repentance but not in the wicked 99 3. The Doctrine is applyed by way of caution and exhortation 1. To the wicked to warne them to take heed of this sinne of censuring Gods service and servants 100 2. To the people of God to take heed how they harbour such hard thoughts about the service of God or how they suddenly cast away their confidence in God 102 3. To all in Generall to take heed that as the service of God is not vaine in it selfe so it may not prove vaine to them 108 And that it may not prove vaine take these directions 1. Get into Covenant with him for whom wee worke as were expect acceptance Reward 112 2. Take heed of a slighty spirit and of meane thoughts of the duties of Gods service 119 3. Be Faithfull in the performance of this service 121 This Faithfulnesse must bee shewed in five particulars 122 1. In Carefulnesse seene in the universality of our obedience active and passive 122 2. In Diligence seene in in doing all Gods work with all our might 124 3. In Sincerity seene in making Gods command the principle Gods glory the end of all our worke 126 4. In Beliefe seene in resting upon Gods promise for assistance acceptance 129 5. In Perseverance seene in holding out to the end without wavering 133 Hee that doth these things shall never be removed His labour in the Lord shall not be in vaine FINIS Errata PAge 40. for oneis read one is page 43. it doggs him read here it doggs him page 57. judge so evill put out so page 67. in the 1. line put out may be p. 82. for diuse r. disuse page 91. for they made up as his Jewell were c. Read they were made up as his Jewels c. pa 105. for it that read it hath pag. 105. blot our And pag. 107. for affirme read attain pag. 115. for Esay read Isaiah pag. 120. for as honourable read as an honourable pag. 126. for Zealous God read Zealous for God and put out for in the next line pag. 127. blot out and 127. For disern read discern 130. blot out as he said 137. for good r. much good 138. for yet read yea 145. for made good read be made good