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-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
and Cain was a Tiller of the Ground Tho they had the whole World before them yet they had no Writ of Ease from a settled Imployment 2. We have God's express Command 1. In the fourth Commandment Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy Work Exod. 20. 9. This Thy Work plainly implies that every Man for every Commandment is given to every Man should have his proper Work or Business which should ordinarily take up his time from Sabbath to Sabbath which is further prest upon all Mankind from God's own Example vers 11. For in six Days the Lord made Heaven and Earth which he could have done in six Minutes but chose to fill every Day with Work probably for our Instruction and Encouragement to the like Diligence And 2. We find Commands to the same purpose in the New-Testament Ephes 4. 28. Rather let him labour working with his Hands the thing that is good that is following some honest Calling Yea the Apostle 2 Thess 3. 12. doth command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that Men should with Quietness that is without disputing or grudging work and eat their own Bread Let all idle and useless Persons consider how they will answer these plain Injunctions at their Peril Add to this the sharp Reproofs we find in Scripture upon the Neglecters hereof When Hagar Gen. 16. 8. had quit her Imployment the Angel meets her with Hagar Sarah ' s Maid whence comest thou and whither wilt thou go And in the next Verse sends her home to her uncomfortable Calling again And the Apostle 2 Thess 3. 11. calls such as work not at all disorderly People and such as ought to be sharply admonished yea Verse 6. commands them in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ to withdraw from every such disorderly Person So that 't is no trivial Fault in a Man or Woman to live without a Calling 3. We have in Scripture the Example of our Saviour himself When Almighty God has but one Son in the World he bestowed him in a Calling he made him a Preacher And before his entrance upon his Ministerial Imployment it is highly probable that he labour'd with his supposed Father Joseph in the Carpenters Trade For tho in Mat. 13. 55. the People stil'd him the Carpenter's Son yet in Mark 6. 3. they plainly ask'd Is not this the Carpenter the Son of Mary c. And if our Saviour Christ in whom the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily stooped to an ordinary Calling that he might fulfil all Righteousness how dare any that are called by his Name disdain or refuse some settled Imployment And we sind the Apostles themselves not only chosen to that glorious Office out of their respective Callings but even after the Death and Resurrection of Christ they diligently return'd to the same until they had their Commission given them to preach the Gospel as is evident John 21. 2 3 c. Yea the Apostle Paul upon occasion even after his entrance into his Sacred Function abode and wrought with Aquila and Priscilla at their Craft for they were Tent-makers Acts 18. 3. 3. We have the Light of Reason to strengthen this Point viz. That every Person that is capable ought to have besides their Christian some Particular Temporal Calling And that 1. In point of Justice and Equity Justice 1 to a Man's Self he that is useless in the World steals from himself and hereupon this Duty falls under the Eighth Commandment which saith Thou shalt not steal Which condemns all such Omissions as turn to the prejudice of ones self in his outward Estate and certainly an honest Diligence in any lawful Calling with the Blessing of God would greatly encrease a small Estate and enable a Man to live more comfortably himself and more usefully to others 2. Justice to a Man's Family requires it For If any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own House he hath denied the Faith and is worse than an Infidel 1 Tim. 5. 8. So that a Person without a Calling so far robs his own Family for by his Care and Pains they might live more comfortably and be disposed more happily And the idle Parent is also a ready Copy for the idle Child to write after till at length By much Slothfulness the Building decays and through Idleness of the Hands the House droppeth through Eccles 10. 18. And at last Drousiness covers them all with Rags Prov. 23. 21. Whereas the Industrious Spinster is not afraid of the Snow for her Houshold for all her Houshold are clothed with Scarlet She maketh her self Coverings of Tapistry her Clothing is Silk and Purple Prov. 31. 21. 3. There is a Justice to the Poor And neglect of a Calling disableth from that Hence Ephes 4. 28. Let him labour that he may have to give to him that needeth God who hath given to you Eyes and Hands and Health and Stock intendeth and appointeth you to be helpful to those that have no Eyes no Strength no Health or Ability to work at all And no Man should murmur at this seeing it was one of our Saviour's Proverbs recorded Act. 20. 35. It is a more blessed thing to give than to receive 4. There is Justice and Equity in it in respect of the Publick it is good for the Common-wealth And as every Member of the Body is useful to the whole so should every Person who is as before a Member of the Body Politick be serviceable to the common Good No man should stand like a Cypher in his Generation but should so imploy himself that there may be a want of him in the World How many Trades have been at work to furnish thee out in Meat Drink and Cloaths every day and how unreasonable is it that thou shouldst make no Returns to them again That many Rivers should daily empty themselves upon you and that you should be like a dead Sea without any vent or use to them again Hence the Apostle gives this Order Tit. 3. 14. And let ours also learn to maintain good Works or as the Margin profess honest Trades for necessary uses that they be not unfruitful The very Bees will drive out the Drones from their little Common-wealth Indeed he deserves not the Protection that adds not to the Welfare of the Publick 2. The other Reason for every ones engagement in a Calling is in respect of Safety and that 1. From Sin For he that is fully imployed hath not that leisure to sin that others have Non vacat hinders more than non licet I have no leisure restrains more than I have no leave Satan with his Temptations hath a fair Mark at a Man that is unimployed as a Fowler hath at the Fowl that is sitting still whereas the busy Man as the Fowl upon the Wing escapes many a Snare 1 Tim. 5. 13. And not only idle but Tatlers also and Busy-bodies It 's a rare thing to be meerly idle and no worse an idle Head hath
rather worse because he hath greater light and yet lives not up to it That which distinguishes it from other Vertues is that it consists in imploying all a Man's Skill Time Care and Strength in a sober and moderate measure in his Calling and so the extream on the one hand is Idleness and Carelessness together with a busying ones self with other Mens matters and on the other hand immoderate carking and slavish drudging Diligence walks between these extreams Next to the saving his Soul his care and business is to serve God in his Calling and to drive it as far as it will go for he knows that his strength and time are lent him for that purpose and that whatsoever are imployed otherwise run waste In short the Diligent Man makes all the convenient haste he can to dispatch his work upon Earth that he may the sooner be in Heaven Secondly This Diligence as to the Extent of it stands in these following Particulars 1. In the serious Imploying all the Faculties of your Mind about your Trade and Calling Your Fancies your Understandings your Memories and all the acquired Improvements of them are all to be laid out therein In that Prov. 27. 2â— where the Holy Ghost commands that Men be diligent he adds in the Hebr. Set thy Heart to thy Herds So that whatsoever sagacity of Mind depth of Judgment quickness of Invention soundness of Consideration you are masters of should be here imployed And tho in some Trades there be less need and use of these than in others yet there is no Calling but imployment may be had for every one of them And it is a great commendation to any Man that having a rich Fancy a clear Understanding a strong Memory instead of abusingt hem to Sin or misimploying them in matters foreign to his business he improves them to the utmost in his Calling how mean soever And that this is your Duty is manifest from that Eclces 9. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no Work nor Device nor Knowledg nor Wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest 2. This Diligence requires the Imploying all your Strength of Body in the business of your Trades Have you a firm Constitution a vigorous Nerve an able Arm a strenuous Back all these must serve God in your Callings for he hath intrusted you with this Strength for this end And this is especially requisite in the time of youth and health God having ordained those honest Labours both to provide for a livelihood for the Body and to prevent the distempers of the Soul for the more laborious the less lascivious that honest industry spending those exuberant Spirits which are otherwise apt to break forth in unlawful flames Besides Sickness and old Age will come when the strong men will bow themselves and the grinders cease and those that look out at the windows will be darkned It 's true God doth not require or approve that Men should so exhaust their strength in the labours of their Calling that they are left spiritless in his immediate service when their work is done but observing that moderation which is in every thing requilit they should not be shy to lay out their strength in the affairs of their Calling knowing that God accepts their Labour and will by Food and Rest recruit them again Man goeth forth to his work and to his labour until the evening Psal 104. 23. 3. This Diligence requires the Imploying the substance of your Time in the affairs of your Trades As the Servant's Time is his Master's so the Master's Time is God's and not his own and accordingly to be justly bestowed betwixt his Temporal and Spiritual Calling Hours having wings and every moment flies up to the Author of Time and carries news of our usage of it And here you have that commendable instance of Jacob Gen. 31. 40. Thus I was in the day the drought consum'd me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from mine eyes And it is recorded to the praise of Ruâ—h chap. 2. 17. She gleaned in the Field until Even and of the vertuous Woman Prov. 31. 15 18. She riseth also while it is yet night and perceiving that her Merchandize is good her Candle goeth not out by Night By all which Instances it is evident that the consciencious Tradesman is bound if health permits him to be stirring early about his lawful occasions and continue therein with a chearful diligence all the day long except such time as his Soul or Body must be refreshed For the necessary Duties of Religion as they take up but a little time so they lose none and moderate refreshment must be allowed But as Prayer and Provender hinder no Journey so Meal and Mattens gain time and waste it not The Diligent Tradesman hath always something to do either to lay in or to lay out either to be learning or teaching his Shop or his Books are always calling him He is as wary in his expence of Time as of Money knowing that his Time is but short short for the work he hath to do for his Soul for his Livelihood for his Family for his Friends and for the Publick And that it is also uncertain For Man also knoweth not his time as the Fishes that are taken in an evil Net Eccles 9. 12. That death is lurking in some part or other of his Body and it will be cold comfort if it seize him out of his Calling But Blessed is the Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Mat. 24. 46. He considers also that Time when spent is irrecoverable no Prayers nor Tears nor Money can fetch it back again and many times that which might have been dispatched yesterday cannot be done to day As the Hebrew Phrase is the work of a day is best in its day And therefore let the diligent Tradesman be careful to fill his Time with useful imployment and get the substance of his work done before his Time and Strength be done lest he be undone himself both here and hereafter 4. The Tradesman's Diligence consists in Laying hold of Opportunities For if a Man be never so industrious and painful yet unless he be watchful to observe his Opportunity and then swift to lay hold thereon he is wanting in the diligence requisit for him For oft-times great matters may be done in a small juncture of time Hence some Translations render that Prov. 22. 29. Seest thou a Man diligent in his business ready and swift As there are sometimes shreds of time that may be improv'd to great advantage so especially Opportunities which if caught by the fore-lock will pay for all the care and watching for them and if slipt may never present themselves again The foolish Virgins had a proper season to have stor'd themselves sufficiently with Oil but then trifling and sleeping they could afterwards get none for love nor money Opportunity is Wind and Tide an Affair transacted
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
As the Door turneth upon his Hinges so doth the Slothful upon his Bed The Slothful hideth his Hand in his Bosom it grieveth him to bring it again to his Mouth And yet after all this The Sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven Men that can render a Reason And herein he did not beat the Air For there were then and are now numbers of idle Companions idle Tradesmen like those Cretians Tit. 1. 12. that were evil Beasts slow Bellies therefore evil because idle Come to their Shops in the day they are abroad the Prentice saw not his Master since eleven of Clock knock at their Doors at eleven at night they are at the Coffee-house come in the Morning they are in bed Is this to be diligent in vour business Is this doing what your hand findeth to do with all your might How will you account for your Time and Strength and Parts Why stand ye thus idle in the Market-place Where are the old Roman Censores morum Officers who were to examine and punish those that spent much and labour'd little It is said of the Manna that if it were not gathered early it melted They that lov'd their Beds starv'd their Bellies This course will load you with Guilt and ease you of your Estate no Calling so high but Sloth will impoverish none so mean but Diligence will inrich I was by the Field of the Slothful and by the Vineyard of the Man void of Vnderstanding You see the idle Man and the Fool are wrapt in the same Cloak And lo it was all grown over with Thorns and Nettles had covered the face thereof and the Stone-wall thereof was broken down Then I saw and considered it well I looked upon it and received Instruction Yet a little Sleep a little Slumber So shall thy Poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed Man Prov. 24. 20 c. O learn by others Ruine to prevent your own Conclude that Sweat is better than Tears Weariness better than Hunger and aking Bones than a gall'd Conscience It was holy Mr. Carter's farewel charge to a Scholar Cave fastum ignaviam Antichristum And one of the three things that wise Cato was said to repent of was that ever he had spent an idle day 2. Be perswaded then 1. To be diligent in your Callings You have excellent Patterns set before you the great God at work every day every where Jesus Christ went about doing good Slipt his Breakfast to be at his Work Mat. 21. 18 23. wav'd his Dinner to dispatch it Joh. 4. 6 34. Behold the Sun always in motion and rejoyceth in it as astrong Man to run a race Psal 10. 5. The Moon and Stars the Sea the Rivers all Creatures busy Yea go to the Ant thou Sluggard consider her ways and be wise You have excellent Promises for your Encouragement and severe Threatnings to awake you you have undeniable Instances of such as have been raised by their Industry and of such as have been ruin'd by Idleness you have all Requisites to inable you you have Brains and Arms and Health there 's nothing wanting but an Heart Shake off then the Lethargy that hath benum'd you mind your Business revive your Love to your lawful Calling reckon your selves to be most easy and happy in your Shops and Busines and drive the Nail while it is going But direct all to a right end the Honour of God the Publick Good as well as your Private Commodity and then every step and stroke in your Trade is sanctified You are working for God who will be sure to reward you to your Hearts content Withal you must beware lest this Diligence degnerate either into sinful carking or into immoderate pains whereby either the Soul or Body should be opprest for whatsoever is gain'd thereby contracts a Curse which comes along with it and without Repentance and Amendment none of it shall ever do you nor your Posterity any good Behold is it not of the Lord of Hosts that is by way of just Judgment that the People shall labour in the very Fire and weary themselves for very Vanity Labour in the Fire and yet for very Vanity Hab. 2. 13. And one other Caution yet Let not your Diligence in your earthly Callings thrust out the Service of God For this was Martha reprov'd Luke 10. 41. Martha Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful You have a Soul as well as a Body and both must live and consequently must be fed and the Blessing of God must be daily sought without which all your Diligence will be ineffectual ye cannot be rich whether God will or not Observe that Prov. 10. 4 22. In the 4th Verse The hand of the Diligent maketh rich but in the 22d Verse The Blessing of the Lord it maketh rich and he addeth no Sorrow with it Now God's Blessing and Man's Diligence are not oppos'd one to another but subordinate to one another that as the principal cause this as the ordinary means as the Physicians Skill and the Patients Care It is only the Blessing of God that supplies you with natural Abilities both inward and outward It is he that giveth thee power to get Wealth Deut. 8. 18. He governs and directs the Hearts of others he speakes a good word for them to the Conscience of thy Neighbour He prospers thy Endeavours for all Second Causes depend upon the First both in their being and in their working He rules all those Circumstances that must concur to thy Success and he preserves and multiplies what thou hast Hast thou not made an Hedg about him and about his House and about all that he hath on every side thou hast blest the work of his Hands c. Job 1. 10. And without this Blessing It is vain for you to rise up early to sit up late or to eat the Bread of Sorrow Psal 127. 2. And therefore allow convenient room for Prayer every day and reckon to go round about by Heaven is the next way to Success in all thy Undertakings this is the way to thrive on Earth and to be blest from Heaven And this leads me to the last use of this Point 2. If such Diligence be needful about your Earthly Callings How much more diligent ought you to be about your Heavenly If you should rise betimes to work how much more to pray If we should sweat to gain the World what Agonies should we have to obtain Heaven There giving all Diligence add to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledg Again Give Diligence to make your Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1. 5 10. If Riches do not how should Heaven drop into your Mouth while you are sleeping What race is gotten without running What Crown is obtain'd without fighting I therefore so run not as uncertainly so fight I not as one that beateth the Air 1 Cor. 9. 26. As Sloth is the evident cause of Men's Poverty here so
stays Hearken to the Voice of God Prov. 23. 4 5. Labour not to be rich cease from thine own Wisdom Wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not For Riches certainly mark that certainly make themselves Wings they flee away as an Eagle towards Heaven What Wise-Man will fall in love with a Bird on the House-top and such are Riches Unless you find that you are ready according to your ability to any good-work and that you can find in your Heart to eat and drink and wear Apparel sutable to your Estate the World is in your hearts and you must ply the work of Mortification quickly and lift up your Affections from things below to the better things that are above 8. The Religion of the Tradesman is to be exercised in the frequent use of holy Ejaculations An Ejaculation is the darting up of the Heart unto God in a short and lively Prayer And they may be used either by way of Confession as that God be merciful to me a Sinner O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Or by way of Petition as that of Neh. 13. 31. Remember me O my God for good Or by way of Deprecation as David O Lord turn the Counsel of Achitophel into Foolishness Or by way of Intercession as O that the Salvation of Israel were come out of Zion Or by way of Thanksgiving as that of Christ I thank thee Father Lord of Heaven and Earth c. Now this is the excellency and advantage of these kind of Prayers that as they will dispatch much business in Heaven so they will hinder no business upon Earth they are like a well-plac'd Parenthesis they hinder not the Sense they may be interlin'd not only in a Sermon but in the throng of your Imployments Nehemiah could list up such a Prayer while the King and Queen were all in Presence Neh. 2. 4. Especially you that are Artificers whose Imployment lies in manual Operation what excellent opportunities have you to step often to Heaven by these kind of Prayers and Praises And that you may see this is not a new Invention or piece of modern Preciseness hear what holy Augustin says De Opere Monachorum As vain Men have their Fables and filthy Songs at work quid ergo impedit Servum Dei manibus operantem in Lege Domini meditari psallere nomini Dei altissimi Cantica divina cantare etiam manibus operantes facile possunt ipsum laborem tanquam divino celeumate consolari that is God's Servants should while they are at work sing the Praises of God When the Heart is inditing a good matter the Tongue will quickly be as the Pen of a ready Writer By these you will keep in the fire of Grace between your set-times of Prayer by these you may meet with and quench a Temptation on the sudden When Satan is at his Injections and Injaculations have you recourse to your Ejaculations When you feel the Guilt of Sin to pinch you or the Sense of any Mercy to affect you or of any Danger or Difficulty to affright you this will be a present Relief till you have opportunity of more solemn Prayer And as no Ship is so laden but one may thrust in two or three small Jewels into it so no Man's Business is so throng but he may interline an holy Ejaculation And of the like nature are Soliloquies wherein we speak to our own Souls either to rouze up our dull Spirits or to revive our drooping Souls as we find holy David frequently Psal 42. 62 c. Hereby you may make Company of your selves when as in some Callings you are working alone all the day and it is a sad thing that a Man shall know how to confer with Men yea how to converse with God and yet cannot tell how to commune with his own Heart 9. This Religion or Godliness in a Tradesman is shewed In exercising of Grace in his Calling It is not enough to have all Organs of a human Body without a vital Principle and vital Acts what 's a Hand if it work not or an Eye if it see not and what signifies your Grace within if it be not actually imployed Joh. 4. 14. But the Water that I will give him shall be in him a Well of Water springing up into Everlasting Life A Well is always springing up and true Grace should be still in Activity Most Men act only according to their natural Humour all the week long and others consult only their worldly Interest but the Christian Tradesman hath not so learned Christ He must every day act the Graces of Spiritual Wisdom Zeal Self-denial Patience Charity and particularly that Truth Justice and Contentedness which hath been described to him you will have more Comfort in the review of this than of all your other Gains You will be frequently provoked by your Servants and others here ye must act both Wisdom and Patience you will see too much Sin and Dishonour done to God every day here 's Work for your Zeal you will be often presented with poor Objects there 's occasion for your Charity In short you will have occasion to buy or sell every day there 's Work for your Veracity and Equity And the acting of these Graces is so necessary that you are but dead Christians without it and so pleasing to God that every such Act both strengthens the Habit and opens the charitable Hand of God to give you more And without these you will be but the World's drudg here and that 's sad and the Devil 's hereafter and that 's worse A pious Tradesman may act Grace as much as the greatest Rabbi Famous is the Story of a Primitive Saint in Egypt Who having for many Years retired himself from the World and chiefly imployed himself in the Acts of Mortification and Devotion and being thereupon tempted to think himself among the holiest Men on Earth and long'd to know who should sit next him in Heaven was warned to inquire for a Man in Alexandria who was holier than himself and who should that be but when he had found him but a poor Cobler that work'd hard most of the day but was so circumspect in his Life so just in his Dealings so thankful with his Wife for his mean fare and then so truly devout in the Worship of God that the poor Hermite return'd crest-faln to his Cell and found that the honest Tradesman was like to sit above him in Heaven So that the Exercise of Grace should be no uncouth Business to a Christian Tradesman 10. The Tradesman's Piety must be shewed In the sincere promoting of Goodness and discouraging of Sin As it is the Honour of God that he is good and doth good so he ingraves the same image upon his Children Whatsoever doth regularly tend to the advancing of God's Honour or the Spiritual and Temporal Good of Mankind Religion inclines the honest Tradesman to further it to his utmost