2K PAMPHLET COLLECTION DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY SERMONS BY THE REV. THOMAS BACON, OF MARYLAND, FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1763, ON THE bUTIES OF SERVANTS. Reprinted for the “ Society for the Advancement of Christianity in South-Carolina.” Second Edition. J J SERMON I. Ephes vi. 8. 'Knowing, that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.” ® HAVE chosen a text of Scripture, which I could Wish you all had by heart and would all remember; — because it shews you what a great friend you may have in heaven, if you will but take any pains to gain his favour. For St. Paul, who wrote by the direction of the holy Spirit of God, assures you that whatsoever good thing d man or woman doth, they shall receive the same ; that is, shall be rewarded for it by the Lord whether they he hand or free. And this cannot but give you great comfort to know, and be as'sured, that whatever good thing you- do, though you be slaves, bound to serve masters and mis- tresses here upon earth, for the sake of a maintenance — yet, while you are doing what is right and good, you are at the same time working for a just master in heaven, who will pay you good wages for it, and will make no differ- ence between you and the richest freeman upon the face of the earth. For God is no respecter of persons. He 1 r 2 The Duties of Servants. values no man for his riches and power, neither does he despise or overlook any one for his rags and poverty. He loves none but those that are good, and hates none but those that are bad. And our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has given us an account, from his own mouth, of a certain great man who had riches and pleasure at will, •while he lived in this world, that was throw n into hell at his death, because he was not good : while a poor, des- pised beggar, all overrun with sores and filth, who died for want at this great man’s gate, was carried. by angels into heaven, because he had been a good man, and had served God, his heavenly master, so far as he had know- ledge and opportunity. . That you may easier understand, and better carry away in your memory what you shall hear, l shall en- deavour, by God’s help, to lay before you, in the plainest words, I. Why you ought to serve God. II. What service, or what good things God expects from you. III. What kind of reward you may expect to receive from him. 1. And the fit st reason why you ought to serve God, is — because that God made you ; — and he made you and all men to serve him. You know that when you were born, you did not come into the world by any power or help of your own : nay, it was some years before you could help yourselves, or had so much sense as to know your right hand from your left. It was Almighty God, therefore, who made you and ail the world, that sent you here, as he had sent your fathers and mothers, your mas- ters and mistresses before you, to take care of you, and provide for you, while you could take no care of, or help, or provide for yourselves. And can you think that Al- mighty God, who is so wise and good himself, would send you into the world for any bad purposes ? Can you be so silly as to fancy, that lie who made every thing good and useful in its kind, sent you here to be idle', to be wicked, or to make a bad use of any thing he hath made? No, my brethren, the most ignorant among you has more sense than to think any such thing : and there is none of you but knows that you ought to be good ; and whosoever is good, let him be ever so poor and THE FLOWERS COLLECTS j E The Duties of Servants. > Z :y~' 3 # / J (p%°l mean, is serving God. For this whole world is but one large family, of which Almighty God is the head and master ; he takes care of all by causing the sun to shine, the rains to fall , the. waters to spring, the winds to blow, the grass, the trees, and the herbs to spring, and the com, the plants, and the fniits to come in their due season ; thus providing food and shelter for all living creatures. And to mankind in particular, he hath given reason and Jcnoiv- ledgc to teach them how to make use of, and turn all those things to their own comfort and support ; giving more or less of them to every one, according as he thinks fit, and as he knows to be best for them. And this general pro- vision which God makes of all things, anti this particular disposal of them, in giving more to some and less to oth- ers, together with his own secret way of bringing it about, is what we call his Divine Providence. Now, for carrying on these great and wonderful ends, God hath appointed several offices and degrees in his fami- ly, as they are dispersed and scattered all over the face of the earth. Some he hath made kings and rulers, for giving laws, and keeping the rest in order: some he hath made masters and mistresses, for taking care of their chil- dren, and others that belong to them : some he hath made merchants and seafaring men for supplying distant coun- tries with what they want from other places : some he hath made tradesmen and husbandmen, planters and la- bouring-men, to work for their own living, and help to supply others with the produce of their trades and crops: some he hath made servants and slaves, to assist and work for their masters and mistresses that provide for them : and others he hath made ministers and teachers, to instruct the rest, to shew them what they ought to do, and put them in mind of their several duties. And as Almighty God hath sent each of us into the world for some or other of these purposes— -so, from the king, who is his head servant in a country, to the poorest slave, we are all obliged to do the business he hath set us about, in that state of life to which he has been pleased to call us. And while you, whom he hath made slaves, are honestly and quietly doing your business, and living as poor Chris- tians ought to do, you are serving God, in your low station, as much as the greatest prince alive, and will be 4 The Duties of Servants. as much taken notice of, and have as much favour shewn you at the last day. 2. A second reason why you ought to serve God, is — because you have souls to be saved. If you have nothing in this world but plain food and clothing, you have a place provided for you in heaven, when you die and go into the next world, if you will but be at the pains of seeking for it while you stay here. And there is no other way of get- ting to heaven, but by serving God upon earth. Besides, when people die, we know but of two places they have to go to, and that is, heaven or hell:- — so that whoever misses the one, must go to the other. Now, /' 'ere is a place of great happiness, which God hath prepated for all that are good, where they shall enjoy rest from their labours, and a blessedness which never will have an end : and hell is a place of great torment and misery, where all wicked people will be shut up with the devil, and other evil spirits, and be punished forever, because they will not serve God in this world. It was to save you, and all men, from that dreadful punishment, that our blessed Lord* Jesus Chi ist came down from heaven— -was made a man like us, and sufiered a most shameful and hitter death, his hands and feet being riveted with great nails to a cross piece of timber , and his side pierced through with a spear, as he hung upon it in all that pain and agony. And if he so loved our souls, that he gave him- self up to so cruel a death to redeem them from hell, v ought not we to have as much regard for ourselves as he had, and take some pains to save our own souls? Be- lieve me, there was not a single drop of bis precious blood spilled, in which the poorest and meanest of you hath not as great a share, as the richest and most powerful person upon the face of the earth. And think, O think, what a sad thing it must be, to lose any soul which cost Almighty God so dear as the life of his own well beloved Son ! But you must always remember, that though our Saviour died for the sins of all men, yet none shall have the benefit of what he did for us, but such as will serve God; for he made that the condition of our salvation, through him, that we should love and fear God . , and keep his command- ments. If, therefore, we would have our souls saved by Christ, if we would escape hell, and obtain heaven, we must set about doing what he requires of us, to serve God The Duties of Servants. 5 Almighty God has been pleased to make you slaves here, aud to give you labour and poverty in this world, which you are obliged to submit to, as it is his will it should be so. And think within yourselves what a terrible thing it would be, after all your labours and sufferings in this life, to be turned into hell in the next life, and your poor souls to be delivered over into the possession of the devil, to become his slaves forever in hell. Your precious souls are your own, which nothing can. take from you if it be not your own fault. Consider well, then, that if you lose your souls by leading idle, wicked lives here, you have got nothing by it in this world, and you have lost your all in the next. For your idleness and wickedness is generally found out, and your bodies suffer for it here, and what is far worse, if you do not repent and amend, your unhappy souls will suffer for it hereafter. And our blessed Saviour, who well knew the value of a soul, and paid so dear for putting them in the way leading to heaven, hath assured us in his holy word, that if a man was to gain the whole world by it, it could not make him amends for the loss of his soul. You see then, how necessary it is for you to be good and, serve God, since that is the only way by which your souls can be saved, the only means by which you can secure the favour and friendship of Almighty God, who, upon that condition, will make you great amends in the next world, for whatever you want, and whatever you suffer in this for his sake. SERMON II. In the first Sermon, I considered “why you are ti> serve God,” and am now to show “ What service, or what good things God expects from you. And here, you must not think that you can be of any advantage or benefit to Almighty God by serving him. He that hath millions of glorious and mighty angels con- tinually waiting round his throne in heaven, and ready every moment to perform bis commands, cannot want, ot 1 * 6 The Duties of Servants. stand in need of any help or service , from the hands of such poor, mean creatures as we are. But when God made us, he intended that we should all be happy with him in heaven, when we leave this world, if we would live in such a manner here, as to be fit company for his blessed saints and angels hereafter. For he delights in the happiness of all his creatures, and his holy spirit is grieved, when they, by their wickedness, make them- selves miserable. To this great end, he hath given us rules to walk by ; which, if we follow, will prepare us for that happy state he hath provided for us in the next life. And whosoever observes these rules, and ordereth his behaviour according to their directions, is said to serve God ; though, in reality, he is then serving himself in the highest degree. Now these rules of behaviour relate to three things; namely, how we ought to behave towards God — toivards mankind — and towards ourselves; — and these I shall en- deavour to explain to you under the following heads:— 1. Your duty or behaviour towards God. 2. Your duty or behaviour towards your masters and mistresses. 3. Your duty or behaviour towards your fellow ser- vants and othei's. 4. Your duty towards yourselves. 1. And in the first place, your duty towards God is to look upon him as your great and chief master, to whom you are accountable for all your behaviour, either in pri- vate or public, both towards himself, and to all mankind. You are to remember, that you can do nothing so secretly but he will know it, and that no place is so dark and pri- vate, but his all-piercing eye can see what you are doing in it ; for the darkness and the light are both alike to him. You are further to consider, that his eyes are continually upon you, and that it is impossible for you to conceal yourself a single moment out of his sight ; that he is 'pleased when he sees you doing what is right, and angry with you when he sees you doing any thing that is bad. And this will surely be a mighty check upon you, when you are inclined to do any bad thing, to think that Almighty God is that very moment looking upon you, and taking an ac- count of your behaviour. So that if it should be done so secretly and artfully as never to be known in this world,. The Duties of Servants. 7 yet your heavenly master sees it, and knows it, and will not fail to punish you for it in the next world, for doing what he hath forbidden you to do. This consideration will also be of great comfort and encouragement to you, in doing what is right and good ; for if no body else was to take notice of it, you are sure that he will : and if you meet with no recompence for it here, you know that Al- mighty God, who is the best of masters, will reward you for it hereafter. For you are assured in the text, that whatsoever good thing any man doth, the same shall he re- ceive of the Lord, whether he he bond or free. 2. Another duty you owe to God Almighty, is — To love him ivitli all your heart, ivith all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength. In short, you must love God above all things. And, indeed, if you do but seriously think what God hath done, is every day doing, and will do for you here- after, if it be not your own fault, you cannot choose but love him beyond the whole world. Hath not-God made you % Hath he not given you all the comforts you have enjoyed in life? Hath he not given you, along with the rest of mankind, sense and reason beyond all other sorts of earthly creatures ? Hath he not preserved and supported you to this very hour? And do not your very lives this moment depend upon his goodness and mercy ? These are great obligations to love and thankfulness ; but what he hath done for your souls is of far greater value. Hath he not given you souls to he saved ? Hath he not brought you out of a land of darkness and ignorance, where your forefathers knew nothing of him, to a country where you may cpme to the knowledge of the only true God, and learn a sure way to heaven ? Hath he not shewn such wonderful love and kindness for your souls, as to send his only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to suffer death for your sakes, and to leave rules and directions behind him r which, if you follow, will bring you to everlasting happi- ness ? And hath he not so ordered it in his providence, that you should be taught those rules this holy day of his. own appointing, and at other times ? And will he not bestow heaven itself upon you, if you will make good use of the opportunities he hath given you of learning his laws, and living accordingly ? You see that Almighty God hath thought nothing too good for you, and surely 8 The Duties of Servants. you cannot think any love too great for him. Take good heed, therefore, that you do not let idleness and vanity, lust and sin, run away with those hearts and affections which you ought to bestow entirely upon so kind and good a God. For while you desire to do anything which is not lawful and good, you love that thing, whatever it is, better than you love God ; and, therefore, he will not love you: and the loss of God’s love is the dreadfulest loss that can happen to you. 3. Another duty you owe to God, is fear. Now there are two sorts of fear, the one proceeding from love, and the other from terror. If we sincerely love any one, we are afraid of doing any thing that will make him uneasy ; and if we love God sincerely, we shall be afraid of doing any ill thing, because we know that his holy spirit is grieved at our wickedness. But if our love to God be not strong enough to make us afraid of grieving his holy spirit, the dread of his terrible judgments will surely keep us in awe. If men for your faults should be provoked to lash you immoderately; if your correction should be so severe as that you died under it, there would be an end to that suffering, and you could feel no more. But if you lead wicked lives, and provoke God to anger, he can not only, if he chooses, strike you dead upon the spot, or. cause you to die of some lingering disease, or painful distemper, but can also plunge your souls into hell-fire, there to remain in pain and torment for ever. Let this thought be strongly fixed in your heaits ; and when sinful desires arise in your minds, and evil inclinations begin to get the better, then remember that the great God is look- ing at you, and say within yourselves, as Joseph said, when he was tempted to sin by his wicked mistress — Hoiv can I do this great wickedness and sin against God ? Now Joseph, like you, was & slave ui a strange land— his temp- tation was very great— he was a young man and a slave ; but his fear of God was such, that he rather chose to suf- fer the consequences of his mistress’ rage, and to go to prison, where he remained several years, than to displease God by committing sin. Our blessed Saviour, speaking of this holy fear and dread of offending Almighty God, Saith — “ Fear not them which.kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him, which is able b> destroy both body and soul in hell.” The Duties of Servants. 9 4. Another duty you owe to Almighty God, is wor- ship — and this is of two sorts, public and private. Public worship is that devotion we pay to God at Church on Sundays and other holydays — and private worship , is that duty of prayer and thanksgiving which we offer to God at home. Private prayer is a duty which God expects from you, as much as from people of a higher rank. It were indeed much to be wished, that we had more praying families among us, where servants would have an opportunity of praying regularly every day; but there are few of you but can say the Lord’s Prayer, and that said over de- voutly, morning and evening, upon your knees, would bring down a blessing upon you and the family you be- long to. If you were to consider what prayer is— that it is speaking to Almighty God, and asking freely from him a supply of every thing that is needful for you, you sure- ly would be very fond of praying. And do not say that you want words, for if you want any favours from your masters and mistresses, you can find words plain enough to ask it from them. Now Almighty God invites you to come to him, and tells you, that you need but ask of him, and you shall have, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. If, therefore, you ill not ask a blessing from him in prayer, you cannot expect to have it— if you will not seek for his favour, you cannot expect to find it— and if you will not take the trouble of knock- ing at the gate of heaven, you cannot hope to have it opened to let you in. It is not long prayers, nor a set of fine words, that God requires. But if the heart be desirous of obtaining any request, the tongue will find out voi ds to express it in ; and God who looks upon the heart m e than the tongue, will grant whatever you ask of him, if it be for your good. It is no matter how short you i' prayer is, if your heart go along with it. And any of you have sense enough to pray after this manner — “ Lord have mercy upon me, I am a great sinner : I have done such a thing, which I ought not to have done, and I am sorry for it. Spare me, good Lord, pardon me this once, for the sake of my Saviour Jesus Christ, and, by the blessing of God, 1 will do so no more.” “ Lord, give me grace, and make me a good man 1” 10 The Duties of Servants. “ Lord, bless my master and mistress, and prosper the house I live in !” “ God bless me, and keep me from sin and danger!” “ Lord, make me truly thankful for thy great goodness to me !” “ Lord, make me your servant while I live, that when I die, 1 may remain in your house forever!” You can never want time for prayers of this sort : you can think of your souls, and pray thus either in the house or the held, whether you are up or in bed, or walking, or working; at the plough, the axe, the hoe, or the spade. And God is always ready to hear you. But remember this — that whenever you pray to God for grace, you must strive to be what you pray for. If you desire of God to be made good, or sober, or honest, or diligent, you must first of all strive to be that good, that sober, that honest, that dilig.-nt servant you desire to be, and then God will holp you with his grace in making you so. 5. Another duty you owe to God is reverence and honour But many of you are so far from shewing any honour and respect to God Almighty, that you will curse, and swear, and blaspheme his name upon every little fit of passion, at any little silly thing that crosses your humour — and sometimes out of mere wantonness, when nothing dis- turbs you at all. Take care, my brethren, it is very dan- gerous sporting with the great and fearful name of the Lord our God : and lie hath threatened, that he will not hold that person guit V ess that taketh his name in vam — that is, that whosoever makes an irreverent use of his holy name by vain oaths, and cursing, and swearing, shall cer- tainly be punished for it, either in this world, or in the world to come. 6. Another bury you owe to Almighty God, is truth. For God is a God of truth, and nates all lies and liars. The holy scr iptures are full of texts to this purpose, of which I shall repeat a few, to shew you what a sad thing it is to tell lies. In one place we are told by king Solo- mon, that lying lips are an, abomination to the Lord. Our Saviour himself tells us in another place, that the devil is a liar, and the father of it. And St. John tells us, that all liars shall have their 'part in the lake that burnetii with fire and brimestone ; that is, in hell. Now many of you think there is little harm in a lie ; but you see what a sad The Duties of Servants. 11 mistake it is. For you see, by what has been said, that if you have a mind to make yourselves hateful and abomi- nable to (lod — if you have a mind to become the devil’s own children — if you want to plunge yourselves headlong into hell, and wallow to all eternity in lire and brimstone, you need not but get a habit of lying, and it will as surely destroy your souls, as murder, fornication, adultery or any other sin. SEEMON SSI. Having thus shewn you the chief duties you owe to your great master in heaven, I come now to lay before you the duties you owe to your masters and mistresses here upon earth. And for this you have one general rule that you ought always to carry in your minds ; and that is, to do alt ser- vice for them, as if you did it for God himself. Poor creatures ! you little consider, when you are idle and neglectful of your master’s business — when you steal and waste, and huit any of their substance — when you are saucy and impudent — when you are telling them lies, and deceiving them —or when you prove stubborn or sullen, and will not do the work you are set about without stripes and vexation ; you do not consider, I say, that what faults you art* guilty of towards your masters and mistresses are faults done against God himself, who hath set your mas- ters and mistresses over you, in his own stead, and expects that you will do for them, just as you would do for him. And pray, do not think that I want to deceive you, when I tell you, that your masters and mistresses are God’s overseers ; and that if you are faulty towards them, God himself will punish you severely for it in the next world, unless you repent of it, and strive to make amends, by your faithfulness and diligence, for the time to come ; for God himself hath declared the same. And you have at the same time this comfort, that if any of your owners should prove wicked overseers, and use you, who are his under servants here, as they ought not to do, though you 12 The Duties of Servants. must submit to it, and can have no remedy in this world* yet, when God calls you and them together face to face before him in the next world, and examines into these matters, he will do you strict justice, and punish them that have been bad stewards and overseers over you with the greater seventy, as they had more of this world intrusted to their care: and that whatever you have suffered un- justly here, God will make you amends for it in heaven. Iwill now read over to you the rules which God hath given you, in his own words, that you may see what I say is truth. “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the flesh, with fear and tiembling, in singleness of your heart as unto Christ ; not with eye ser- vice, as men-plea>ers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will doing service, as to the Lord and not to men. Knowing, that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall lie receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing, (or moderating) threatening; knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him.” Now, from this great general rule, namely, that you are to do all service for your master and mistresses , as if you did it for God himself , there arise several other rules of duty towards your masters and mistresses, which I shall endeavour to lay in order before you. 1. And in the first place, you are to he obedient and subject to your masters in all things. For the rules W’hich God hath left us in the scriptures are these : “ Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God : and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men ; knowing, that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong he hath done; and there is no re- spect of persons.* Servants, be subjected to your masters, with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, hut also to the froward.”t And Christian ministers are commanded to exhort servants to be obedient %mto their own masters, and to 'please them well in all things, not answering again, % Col. iii. 22-25. if Pet, ii. 18. t Tit. ii. 9. The Duties of Servants. 13 T)r murmuring, or gainsaying. You see how strictly God requires this of you, that whatever your masters and mis- tresses order you to do, you must set about it immediately, and faithfully perform it, without any disputing or grumb- ling, and take care to please them well in all things. And for ypur encouragement he tells you, that he will reward you for it in heaven, because, while you are honestly and faithfully d ingyour master’s business here, you are serv- ing your Lord and master in heaven. You see also, that you aie not to take any exceptions to the behaviour of your masters and mistresses, and that you are to be sub- ject and obedient, not only to such as are good, and gen- tle, and mild towards you, but also to such as may be frowai d, peevish, and hard. For you are not at liberty to choose your own masters, but into whatever hands God bath fieen pleased to put you, you must do your duty, and God will reward you for it. And if they neglect to do their’s, God will punish them for it : for there is no respect of persons with him. There is only one case, in which you may refuse obedience to your owners, and that is, if they should command you to do any sinful thing. As Joseph would not hearken to his mistress, when she temped him to sin with her. So that if any master could be so wicked as to command you to steal, ■a, murder, to set a neighbour’s house on fire, to do harm to any body’s goods, or cattle, or to get drunk, or to curse and swear, or to work on Sunday, (unless it should he in a case of great necessity) or to do any thing that God hath forbid- den, the re it is your duty to refuse them ; because God is your head master, and you must not do a thing which you know is contrary to his will. But in every thing else, you must obey your owners ; and God requires it of you. 2. You are not to be eye-servants. Now eye-servants are such as will work hard, and seem mightily diligent, while they think that any body is taking notice of them, but when their masters and mistresses’ backs are turned, they are idle, and neglect their business. 1 am afraid that there are a great many such eye-ser- vants among you, and that you do not consider how great a sin it is to be so, and how severely God will punish you for it. You may easily deceive your owners, and make them have an opinion of you that you do not deserve, and get the praise of men by it. But remember, that 2 14 The Duties of Servants. you cannot deceive Almighty God, who sees your wick* edness and deceit, and will punish you accordingly. For the rule is, that you must obey your masters in all things, and do the work they set you about until fear and trem- bling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ, not with eye- service, as men pleasers, but as the scruants of C 'lvrist, doing the will of God from the heart. : With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not as to men. If, then, you would but think, and say within yourselves — “ My mas- ter hath set me about (his work, and his back is turned, so that I may loiter and idle if I please, for he does not see me. But there is my great master in heaven, whose overseer my other master is, and his eyes are always upon me, and taking notice of me, and 1 cannot get anywhere out of his sight, nor be idle without his knowing it, and what will become of me if I lose his good will, and make him angry with me.” If, I say, you would once get the way of thinking and saying thus, upon all occasions, you would then do what God commands you, and serve your masters with singleness of heart, that is, with honesty and sincerity ; you would do the work you are set about with fear and trembling ; not for fear of your masters and mistresses upon earth (for you may easily cheat them, and make ttf^ni believe you are doing their business when you do not) but with fear and trembling, lest God, your heavenly master, whom you cannot deceive, should call you to account, and punish you in the next world, for your deceit/ illness, and eye-service in this. 3. You are to bo faithful and honest to your masters and mistresses, not purloining* (or wasting their goods or substances) but shewing all good fidelity in all things. If you were to rob or steal from others, you know that it would he a very had thing, and how severely the law would punish you for it. But if your master is robbed of what belongs to him by your wastefulness or negligence, do not you think that it is wicked ? For pray what is the difference to me, when my substance is gone, whether a thiel took it away from me, or whether l am robbed of it by my servants’ negligence? The loss is the same, and they will have it to answer for. How then can many of you be so careless about your masters’ business ? How * Tit. ii. 10. The Duties of Servants. 15 can you be so unfaithful and wicked, as to see their sub- stance perish and be lost, when a little of your timely care would prevent the loss ? Is not this a very common, case among you ? And do not most masters complain, with great justice, that unless they happen to see into every thing themselves, their servants will take no care ? Nay, even when they are told of it, and ordered to do it, they will still neglect, and let the goods perish? Do not your masters, under God, provide for you? And how shall they be able to do this, to feed and to clothe you, unless you take honest cafe of every thing that belongs to them? Remember that God requires this of you, and if you are not afraid of suffering for it here, you cannot es- cape the vengeance of Almighty God, who will judge between you and your masters, and make you pay se- verely in the next world for all the injustice you do them here. And though you should manage so cunningly as to escape the eyes and bands of man, yet think what a dreadful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God, who is able to cast both sold and body into hell. 4. You are to serve your masters with cheerfulness , reve- rence and humility. You are to do your masters service with good will , doing it as the will of God, from the heart, without any sauciness or answering again. How many of you do things quite otherwise, and, instead of going about your work with a good will and a good heart, dis- pute and grumble ; give saucy answers, and behave in a surly manner? There is something so becoming and engaging in a modest, cheerful, good-natured behavior, that a little work done in that manner, seems better done, and gives far more satisfaction, than a great deal more that must be done with fretting, vexation, and the lash always held over you. It also gains the good will and love of those you belong to, and makes your own life pass with more e.ase and pleasure. Besides, you are to consider, that this grumbling and ill-will does not affect your masters and mistresses only : they have ways and means in their hands of forcing you to do }'our work, whether you are willing or not. But your murmuring and grumbling is against God, who hath placed you in that service, who will punish you severely in the next world for despising his commands. 16 The Duties of Servants. Thus 1 have endeavoured to shew you, why you ought to serve God, and what duty in particular you owe him : I have also shewn you, that while you are serving your masters and mistresses, or doing any thing that God hath commanded, you are at the same time serving him; and have endeavoured to shew you what duty or service you owe to your owners, in obedience to God, and that in so plain a manner, as I hope the greatest part of you did well understand. The other parts of your duty, and the rewards which God hath promised to you (if you will honestly set about doing it) I Shall endeavour to lay be- fore you at our next meeting here for that purpose. In the mean time, consider well what hath been said. Think upon it, and talk about it one with another, and strive to fix it on your memories. And may God of his infinite mercy grant, that it may sink deep into your hearts, and taking root theie, may bring forth in you the fruit of good living, to the honor a d praise of his holy name, the spreading abroad of bis gospel, and the eternal salvation of your precious souls, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; to w hom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, world without end. — Amen. SERMON IV. "When you were last here, I endeavoured to show you, that God made you and all the world, and that lie made you and all mankidd to serve him ; that it is he who pla- ces every man in the station or rank which he holds in the world, making some kings, some masters and mis- tresses, some tradesmen and working people, and others servants and slaves; that every one of us is obliged to do the business he hath set us about, in that state or condi- tion of life to which he hath been pleased to call us ; and that whoever is doing his business quietly and honestly in the world, and living as a Christian ought to do, is serv- ing of God, though his condition be ever so low ami mean; and will he as much tak'-n notice of, and as highly fa- voured by God at the last day, as the greatest prince The Duties of Servants. 17 upon earth, for God is no respecter of persons. I also laid before you, that you ought to serve God for your own sakes, because you have souls to be saved, and if you should lose them, you are undone for ever: that every one who dies, and goes into another world, must go either to heaven or hell ; and that there is no other way of es- caping everlasting punishment in hell, or being eternally happy in heaven, but by serving God while he spares our life upon earth. I then went on to shew you, what duty you owe to God in particular, that you ought to look upon him as your great and chief master, to whom you must one day an- swer for every thing you have done in this life ; that he is always looking upon you, and taking notice of your behaviour, so that if you could deceive all the world, you cannot deceive God : that you ought to love God above all things, or else he will not love you, which would be the most dreadful thing tiiat could happen to you ; that if you love God sincerely, you will be afraid of doing any thing that is had, because bis holy spirit is grieved to see men destroy their souls by their wickedness : that if the love of God is not strong enough to keep you from doing what is bad, and vexing and offending him thereby, you ought, at least, to dread his terrible judgments ; for that he is able not only to destroy your bodies, and strike you dead in a moment, but also to cast both body and soul into hell t which will certainly he the portion of all such as provoke him to anger by leading wicked lives : that you ought to Worship God both in public arid in private: in pub i c, by going to Church as often as you have leave and opportu- nity; and in private, by praying to him for every thing you want, and giving him thanks for all bis goodness to you, which you may easily do. when you are walking, or working, in the house, or in the field : that you ought to reverence anti honour Almighty God, and keep from all cursing and swearing, or making any light, foolish, vain use of his great and holy name: and that you must keep from all Iving, because God hates all such as tells lies, and will give them over to the devil, who is the father of all lies and liars. In the next place I endeavoured to shew you, how you ought to behave towards your masters and mistresses; and to make it plain to you, that as God himself hath set 2 * 18 The Duties of Servants . them over you here in the nature of his stewards or over- seers, he expects you will do every thing for them, as you do for himself: that you must be obedient and sub- ject to them in all things, and do whatever they order you to do, unless it should be some wicked tiling which you knew that God hath forbidden, in which case you are to refuse, but in no other : that you must not be eye-ser- vants, that is, such as will be very busy in their masters’ presence, but very idle when their backs are turned : for your head master, Almighty God, is looking on you, and though you may escape being found out or punished by your owners for it, yet you cannot deceive God, who will punish you severely for it in the next world for your deceitful dealing in this : that you must be faithful and honest to your masters and mistresses, not wasting their substance, or letting any thing belonging to them perish for want of your care, because that is next to stealing, for the master’s loss is the same as if he had been robbed of it : and that you are to serve your owners with cheer- fulness, respect, and humility, not grumbling, or giving any saucy answers, but doing your work with readiness, mildness and good nature, because your sauciness and grumbling is not so much against your owners, as it is against God himself, who hath plaeed you in that ser- vice, and expects you will do the business of it as he hath commanded you. III. I now come to shew you, as I promised in my last sermon, what is the. duty or behaviour you owe to your felloio servants and others. And you are to take notice, that the great rule which Almighty God hath given us in this case, is to love one another. I will read to you his own words, as we have them in the holy scripture. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.* This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as 1 have loved you.t Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.f Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love.§ Owe no man any thing, hut to love one another. || By love serve one another-; * John xiii. 34, 35 ; Matt. xxii. 39. t John xv. 12 . f Lev. xix. 18 § Rom. xii. 10. || Rom. xiii. 8.. The Duties of Servants. 19 for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”* You see, then, how strongly God Almighty insists upon it, that all Chris- tians do love one another, and makes it the great mark by which his faithful servants may be known from others, who have no such rule made known to them. By this (saith our Saviour) shall all men know that ye are my dis- ciples, if ye have luve one to another. And to shew us how heartily and sincerely he would have us to love one another, he commands us to love one another, even as he loved its — to be kindly affectionate one to another , with brotherly love. To love our neighbours, that is, all with whom we have any kind of dealing, even as we love ourselves. Now there are many reasons why we should all love one another, and the chief reason is, what I told you of before, that we are all one large family, under Almighty God, our maker and great master, who, there- fore, commands us all to love one another, as fellow ser- vants and brothers ought to do. Have we not all one father ? hath not one God created us ? saith one of God’s holy prophets. And if we mind this one gieat rule of loving one another, we shall do every thing which God requires of us towards all men. For, as the word of God saith, all the law, that is, all the law relating to men’s dealings with one another, is fulfilled in one word , even in this — thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself . f To make this rule as plain as I can to you, do but think within yourselves what you would do for any per- son you really had a love and affection for. Would you not do them all the good, and shew them all the kindness you could ? Would you not he very sorry to give them any trouble and vexation l Would you not keep from doing them any sort of harm yourself, and hinder other people from doing them any wrong or hurt ? And would not your love to them make you as careful of them, and as unwilling to hurt them, as if they were your nearest relations! This consideration will lead you into a true notion of what is meant by those rules in the holy scrip- tures, where God Almighty commands us to love one ano- ther — to be kindly aff< ctionate one to another, with brotherly love — to love our neighbours as ourselves, and such like* Gal. v. 13, 14. t Matt. ii. 10. 20 The Duties of Servants. And to make this command still plainer, our blessed Sa- viour, Jesus Christ, hath left this other rule to the same purpose — All things whatsoever ye would that mm should do to you, do you even so to them* that is, do by all man- kind just as you would desire they should do by you, if you were in their place, and they in yours. Now, to suit this rule to your particular circumstances ; suppose you were masters and mistresses, and had ser- vants under you, would you not desire that your servants should do their business faithfully and honestly, as well when your back was turned, as while you were looking over them? Would you not expect that they should take notice of what you said to them ? That they should behave themselves with respect towards you and yours, and be as careful of every thing belonging to you as you would be yourselves? You are servants — do, therefore, as you would wish to be done by, and you will both be good servants to your masters, and good servants to God, who requires this of you, and will reward you well for it, if you do it for the sake of conscience in obedience to his command. Again — suppose that you were people of some sub- stance, and had something ofyour own in the world, would you not desire to keep what you had ? and that nobody should take it from you, without your consent, or hurt any tiling belonging to you ? If, then, you love your neighbour as yourself, or would do by others as you could wish they would do by you, you will learn to be honest and just towards all mankind, ns well as to your masters and mistresses, and not steal, or take away any thing from any one, without his knowledge or consent : you will he as careful not to hurt tiny thing belonging to a neighbour, or to do any harm to his goods, his cattle, or his plantation, or to see it done by others, as you would be to hurt youiself, or any thing you had of your own: and will behave yourselves towards all mankind with the same honesty and good will, as you could wish they would do to you in the like case. Your fellow sei vants are more particularly to be looked upon as your brethren ; your common station, as slaves, your complexion, and your marriages one among another * Matt. vii. 12. The Duties of Servants. 21 in different families, make you nearer to each other than all the world, except your owners. And poor and igno- rant as you are, you may do much good, and prevent much harm, by behaving one towards another as brothers and sisters ought to do, and as God requires of you. And, considering all tilings, you must be miserable creatures indeed, if you will not be loving and affectionate, kind and honest among yourselves. But for fear you should mistake my meaning, 1 will first describe to you what true love and affection is, and then endeavour to shew you, in particular, how you ought to behave one towards another. That person is truly loving and affectionate to another, who is ready at all times to do any thing for him that is really for his good, and to prevent any harm or disadvan- tage from happening to him. Now, if you bear this sort of love towards one another, and do accordingly, you will, indeed, as God has commanded, be kindly affection- ate one to another, with brotherly love. If you will but consider that a man is doing himself the greatest good, while he is doing what Almighty God is pleased with ; and that no one can do himself greater harm than by doing any thing that will provoke God to be angry with him, you cannot be at a loss how to shew the truest love and affection to any of your brethren and fellow servants. Your poverty and low station in life, hinders you from giving much comfort or support to their bodies, any farther than, perhaps, a little help in their labours, when you have nothing to do yourselves, or by shewing good nature to them, or by a kind care arid ten- derness towards them in their sickness, when they are not able to take care of themselves, and want help front those that are about them : but to their precious souls you may do great good, and by so doing, gain the great- est benefit to yourselves. Suppose any of you to have been wicked creatures— idle, drunken, sweating, thievish, lewd people ; and being at length overtaken by the hand of God, and laid down on a painful sick-bed, without any hopes of recovery, with all the terrors of conscience about you, and nothing before you but death, and the fearful apprehension of being miserable for ever, what a dreadful state of mind must you then be in ! And what would you then give, 22 The Duties of Servants. that you had been blessed with a true friend in your for- mer days, one that bad so much real love for you, as to have warned you of your danger, and have hindered you, by' bis kind advice, Irom running such lengths of wicked- ness as you had done 1 And would you not then think, that such a friend would have been of more value to you, than the whole world ? You have it in your power to be such true friends and lovers one to another : and though you can give but little bodily help, you can do what is far better — you can help each other on in the way toward heaven. You can, nay, you ought to check one another when you see any thing doing amiss : you can encourage each other in doing what is right and good : you can pray together, and you can pray for one another: you can, on a Sunday evening, talk about the good advice you have heard in Church, and by telling it to such as could not be there, may do them much good, and, at the same time, by thus repeating these things, they will be the stronger fixed in your own memory, so as to be of lasting set vice to yourselves : you can, by a good example, prevent a great deal of wickedness and indecency in your meetings and conversations one among another : and where you find that your sober, friendly advice, will do no good with them, you may terrify your cempanions from doing bad things, by threatening to complain of them ; and by such means as these you may help to save their souls, and get a blessing upon yourselves and families. But, oh, my brethren, I am grieved to say it, you are so far from doing this, that I lear many of you rather encourage and help one another on in wickedness, and go hand in hand toward destruction, rather than strive to assist one ano- ther in the way to heaven. There is one sort of love and charity you may, how- ever, perform to the wickedest of your acquaintances and fellow servants, arid that is, to pray for them. God may, perhaps, hear your prayers in their behalf, and toucli their hearts, though you cannot ; arid that would be a great blessing both to them and to you. But if they should, alter all, continue so wicked as not to deserve any mercy or grace from God, vour prayers will not be lost, for God will place them to your own account, and you will have the reward for your kind and pious intentions towards your unhappy brother. The Duties of Servants. 23 SERMON V. Besides good, advice, there is another great duty you owe lo your brethren, and that is, good example. If they will not mind ivhat you say, they cannot help taking no- tice of wha> you do: and, perhaps, the shame of seeing so great a difference between their own behaviour and yours, may put them upon striving to be like you. For there is something so engaging in a regular, sober, modest , pious behaviour, that none but exceeding wicked people, or sucli as have laid aside all thoughts of goodness, that can see it without wishing to be like the person that has so many good qualities. How happy are they that have examples of this sort set before their eyes ! And how much more happy, if they would seiiously, and in earnest, strive to follow such examples. Many of you are married, and have numbers of chil- dren. You surely owe them good examples. Many of these children, who ate bred up in quarters, see little but what you shew them : so that if you set bad examples before them, you may be sure they will do the like, and your wickedness will not only destroy your own souls, but will teach your children to do the same; and, by thus going before them, lead them as it were by the hand, in the direct road to hell. A sad and grievous reflection ! that a bad example shall not only bring yourselves into everlasting misery, but your poor unhappy offspring also ! Whereas, if you behave yourselves well, and set a good example befor% them, you shall save your own souls, through (lie mercy of God, and give your little ones cause to bless you after your death, for shewing them the way to be happy in another world, and of get- ting possessions there, of far greater value than the whole world you live in. If, then, it be so much your duty to give good advice, and good examples to your fellow-servants, how great must be the sin of tempting and persuading any one to wickedness? It is the devil’s own office, and what he delights in, is to make people wicked ; so that whoever strives by advice, or persuasion, to make others bad, is so far doing the devil’s own business. If, therefore, you entice or persuade a fellow-servant to lie, or swear for 24 The Duties of Servants. you — to help you to deceive your owners or others — to cheat, to rob, or steal, for supporting your idleness — to get drunk with you, or partake with you in any sort of wickedness — do you not think that God will not only punish you for your own faults, but also, upon account of those others whom you wickedly draw into sin ? Is it not enough for you to destroy your own souls, without put- ting others into the way of damnation? Take care then, my brethren, that you do not bring the blood of others upon your own heads; for to murder the poor soul, by causing any one to sin, is the worst of all murders. After taking so much pains to shew you how sincerely you ought to love one another, and all mankind, you may easily see that Almighty God will be exceedingly angry with you, if you be ill-natured and spiteful, malicious, or evil inclined towards your fellow-servants or any others. For our Lotd and Saviour Jesus Christ is so tar from suffering any of his disciples, or such as pretend to be Christians, to bear any hatred or ill-will in their hearts, that he commands us to love the very worst of our ene- mies, and such as are striving to do us a mischief. The rule he hath given us is this : I say unto you, loveyovr ene- mies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitcfully use you, and per- secute you* And the reason he gives for it is this, that ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven ; for he maheth his sun to rise upon the evil, and on the good, and sendeih his rain upon the just arid upon the unjust. That is, that we may shew ourselves to be the children of God, by being like him, who is so goo4> that he does not take away the comfort of the sun and rain, nor the common blessings of this life, even from wicked people, who are always provoking him, and do not deserve the least of his mercies to them. Besides, he hath given us the great- est encouragement to forgive eveiy one that does us any harm or mischief, by promising to forgive us our sins against him, upon that account. And hath, at the same lime, threatened, that if we will be of a malicious, re- vengeful temper, and bear spite and anger in our hearts, he never will forgive us : and without his pardon, the very best of us must be lost and undone forever. For if, * Matt. v. 44, 45. The Duties of Servants. 25 saith our Saviour, ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you : but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive your trespasses.* IY. Having thus set before you the duty you owe to •your fellow servants and others, I shall now endeavour to shew you the duty you owe to yourselves. And here let me ask you a short, plain question — do you love yourselves ? Now you look surprised, as if you thought I asked you some strange thing, and out of the way ; but let me put it to you again — do you really love yourselves ? You will say, to be sure we do ; for there is nobody but what love themselves better than they love any one else. I heartily wish, my brethren, that this were true ; for then most people would live in a very different manner. But, indeed, there is not a word in the world that people in general abuse more, or are more mistaken about than that one word love. So that a think- ing person would be apt to fancy, that nine in ten who talk of it, do not know the meaning of it. Some people will call it love to a neighbour, when they are making him drunk, destroying his time, debauching his mind, and making a mere beast of him. And poor deluded creatures will think they love them- selves, while they are doing that for the sake of a little present pleasure, which will make them liable to lasting pain and punishment. But pray mind what I am going to say, and I will endeavour to’ make it out plainly to your understandings, that every Christian who truly loves himself, must needs go to heaven, and that no man ever yet went, or will go, to hell, but for want of loving himself as he ought to do. You know, that every one of us have souls to be saved, as well as bodies to be taken care of : and as the soul is the better and more precious part, we ought to love it best. For if the soul be safe in Paradise, the body is safe enough ; for in that case, although it be laid in the ground to rot, and become meat for worms, or turn into dust, yet it shall rise again at the last day, and then be received together with the soul, into the joys of heaven. But if the soul be lost the body will perish too, and be * Matt. vi. 14, 15. 3 26 The Duties of Servants. oast into hell along with it, at the great day of judgment. If, therefore, a man loves his soul, so as to take due care of it, he certainly loves himself, as he ought to do ; for in so doing, he secures eternal happiness both to his soul and body. But if he loves his body better than his soul, and runs into wickedness to satisfy the desires of that worse part, he cannot be said to love himself truly, be- cause, by so doing he ruins both forever. Suppose a man should break open a house, or rob upon the high road — foolish people might think he loved him- self, because he could make merry, and enjoy himself, as he foolishly calls it, with the money. But suppose this man should be taken up, and condemned to be hanged for what he had done ; pray, would not the silliest of you be ready enough to say, that if he had any true love for himself, he would have taken care not to come to that shameful, untimely end I This is exactly the case of sin against God, only with this difference, that a robber or murderer may have a chance of escaping the hands of men ; but no sinner can escape the hand of God. If, therefore, a man should have all sorts of pleasure at command, while he lived in this world ; denying himself nothing that his heart wished for, but living in mirth and jollity all his days, and, for want of minding his soul, should, at his death, be shut out of heaven ; surely any one, that hath the least understanding or common sense must say, that such a one, after all the pains he took to please his body, never had any truelovefor himself, or he would have taken some heed that he might not come to such a dreadful end. Do you, therefore, my brethren, bear this in mind, and take heed, that whatever becomes of your bodies here, be sure that your souls be taken care of; and then, you will, indeed, love yourselves as you ought to do. So that you see, the chief duty you owe to yourselves, is, to take care of your souls. And in order to do this. 1 . Strive to come to the knowledge of God, and to learn your duty to him ; for this is beyond all other knowledge. And, indeed, he that knows just as much as will help to carry him to heaven, knows as much as the wisest man upon earth need know : whereas, if a man had more learning than the whole nation he lived in besides, and was ever so much admired for his wisdom among men 27 The Duties of Servants. yet if he neglected the true knowledge, and lost heaven with all his learning, he would prove to be a very fool. Come, therefore, to Church as often as you can, for in this place you are most likely to learn this heavenly knowledge. If you hear any thing that you do not un- derstand and want to be informed, come to me when you have opportunity, and you know 1 am always ready and glad to instruct you. Inquire of your fellow servants that you think know better-, and talk much and often with them, about the means of getting to heaven. When you cannot come to Church, ask those that have been there, what good advice they have heard, and put them upon remembering it to their own benefit, by telling it to you. Beg of your masters and mistresses , or your overseers, to teach you to say your prayers ; to instruct you in the catechism, and to shew you how you ought to serve God. If you want a meal’s meat, or any piece of clothing, you can readily ask them ; and why not, for what is far bet- ter ; and will cost them less ; I mean, for nourishment and comfort to your souls? Often fall down upon your knees before Almighty God and pray to him, that he will send you the means of in- struction and open your understanding, that you may choose what is right and good: and be sure, when God puts good opportunities in your way, that you make a right use of them, and let nothing slip you, which may be useful to your souls, and help you on towards eternal happiness. 2. Make a good use of your leisure time. You will say, perhaps, that you have very little of it. Well, if you have the less, God will require the less of you ; but he expects that you should make a good use of that little. If the week-days afford you very little leisure, the Sun- days, at least, are your own in a great measure. Al- mighty God, in his great wisdom and goodness hath given one day in seven to you for your comfort and refreshment, and for serving him in and learning your duty, and it is confirmed to you by the laws of the country ; so that no master or mistress can take it from you (unless in a case of absolute necessity) without offending against the laws of God and man. And sure, you cannot say you want leisure. 28 The Duties of Servants . In all the observations I have made upon mankind, I have generally found, that when they complained of want of leisure, they commonly meant, they had not as much time to themselves as they could wish for, to throw away in idleness and diversion, or in pursuit of their sinful plea- sures ; and this, I am afraid, is your case, for I have re- marked to you before, how abominably you spend your leisure time ; and instead of doing good to each other, and encouraging one another to do your duty, and be- have like Christians, you rather tempt, provoke and entice each other to sin, and waste the little time God spares you, for serving and honouring him, in the service and work of his, and your own greatest enemy, the devil ; for whenever you are doing wickedly, you are serving that grand destroyer. Take care then, and lay out your lei- sure time to better purpose for the future ; and though you had much less than you really have, yet, by a good use of it, you may have time enough to save your souls, and you really want no more. 3. Strive by all means to get into God's favour : for that is the only way to true happiness. Remember what I told you before, that God loves none but those that are good, and hates none but those that are wicked. Endeav- our, therefore, to be good, that God may love you, and keep you from doing what is evil, for fear he should hate you. And that you may be certain of getting into God’s favour, remember what I now tell you, that you must first put away all sin and wickedness before he will hearken to you, or look upon you ; and the way to do this, is by repentance and amendment. You must first repent, and put away evil from your heart and affections , by a true sorrow for your past offences ; by forsaking those sins which you knpw have made you hateful to God, and by resolving fully and sincerely, by his help, never to do the like again : then falling upon your knees, and begging his pardon for what you have done amiss, make sincere promises to him of your amendment for the future, praying for his grace and blessing upon your en- deavours to serve him. And then strive to put away the evil from your actions, by labouring to keep from what is bad, and to do what you know is right and good. This method cannot fail of procuring you the favour of God, The Duties of Servants. 29 which is of more worth than the possession of the whole world without it. SERMON VI. I shall make an end of what I proposed to say con- cerning your duty to God, to your masters, to your fel- low-servants and others, and to yourselves, by giving you a few needful cautions — and, First, take care not to be deceived with a foolish no- tion, that being baptized and coming sometimes to Church, will be sufficient to bring you to heaven : for you cannot pj&ssibly fall into a worse mistake. I am afraid, there are too many in the world, of all sorts, who thus deceive themselves, to the great hazard of their immortal souls. But remember what I now teli you, thafour blessed Saviour will own none to be his at the last day, but such as have faithfully and honestly en- deavoured to do what he hath commanded. We are called Christians after the name of Christ, and because we profess ourselves to be his servants and disciples. But surely we cannot expect that he should pay us wages, and provide for us in heaven, as belonging to his family, unless we do his work. Nay, he hath declared in plain terras, that not every one that called, him Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven * but only such as shall d< the will of his heavenly father. You see then, that there is a great difference between a Christian in name, and a Christian in deed ; so great a difference, that ncne but those who are Christians in deed shall be received into heaven; while all such as pretend to believe in Christ, and, at the same time, neglect his service, and do wick- edly, shall be shut out of heaven, and have their portion with the devil and his angels. Our blessed Saviour, speaking of the dreadful day of judgment, when all man- kind, both the living and the dead, shall stand before him to receive the reward of their deeds, makes use of these 3 * Matt. vii. 21 30 The Duties of Servants. very words : Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name have cast out devils ? and in thy name have done many won- derful works l And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity .* If, therefore, you would be Christians in deed, you must re- member that baptism is no more than the entrance into Christianity, the gate which opens into the road towards heaven, so that when you are baptized, you are but just put into the way, and if you stop there you will still be as far from eternal happiness as when you first set out : and you cannot surely hope to reach heaven, unless you push forward, and strive to get nearer and nearer, by growing better and better. If, besides what hath been said, you will but consider that every good thing we do, is making a step farther towards God, and that every wil- ful sin we commit carries us a degree farther towards hell than we were before, you will easily understand how people may be baptized, and go often to Church, and call themselves Christians as long as the}” live ; yet, if they never take care to do what they promised in bap- tism ; if they'seldom or never mind what they hear in Church, or if, instead of behaving like Christians, and serving God, they work wickedness, and follow their own evil inclinations — you will, I say, easily see how such people, notwithstanding the Christianity they pro- fess, and pretend to, will be so far from gaining heaven, that our Saviour assures us they shall lose their own souls, and be ruined and undone for ever. 2. Take good heed, that you be not draivn aside by t/u evil examfle or counsel of others, or that you do not deceive yourselves, by thinking that you are safe enough while you do no worse than some that ought to know better than your- selves. It is a very sad and melancholy truth, that the world every where abounds with bad examples, and that where one person strives to do his duty to the best of his know- ledge, there are ten who sin with their eyes open, and do things which their own consciences tell them are wrong. I have just now shewn you how to know a true Christian from one that is only a Christian in name. Matt. vii. 22, 23. The Duties of Servants. 31 Whenever, therefore, you see any one doing wicked things, or behaving disorderly, take no example by him; he is going the wrong way himself, and it is not fit for you to follow him, except you have a mind to destroy your- self, and be undone for ever. The white people who are bred up in the profession of Christianity from their cra- dles, and have better education and opportunities than you can pretend to, ought to know better ; but, 1 am sorry to say it, there ^re many of them whose examples would be very dangerous ones for you to follow : I pray, God grant them more consideration, and a due sense of their own sad condition ; and that you may have the un- derstanding to perceive the evil of their ways, and grace to avoid doing such things. 3. Take care that you do not fret or murmur, grumble or repine at your condition ; for this will not only make your own life uneasy, but will greatly offend Almighty God. Consider, that it is not yourselves, it is not the people you belong to — it is not the men that have brought you to it ; but it is the will of God, who hath, by his Providence, made you servants, because, no doubt, he knew that condition would be best for you in this world, and help you the better toward heaven, if you would but do your duty in it. So that any discontent at your not being free, or rich, or great, as you see some others, is quarrelling with your heavenly master, and finding fault with God himself, who hath made you what you are, and hath promised you as large a share in the kingdom of heaven as the greatest man alive, if you will but behave yourself aright, and do the business he hath set you about in the world honestly and cheerfully. Riches and power have proved the ruin of many an unhappy soul, by draw- ing away the heart and affections from God, and fixing them upon mean and sinful enjoyments ; so that when God, who knows our hearts better than we know them ourselves, sees that they would be hurtful to us, and therefore keeps them from us, it is the greatest mercy and kindness he could shew to us. You may perhaps fancy, that if you had riches and freedom, you could do your duty to God and man with greater pleasure than you can do now : but pray consider, that if you can but save your souls, through the mercy of God, you will have spent your time to the best of purposes in this world : 32 The Duties of Servants. and he that at the last can get to heaven, has performed a noble journey, let the road be ever so rugged or diffi cult. Besides, you really have a great advantage over most white people, who have not only the care of their daily labour upon their hands, but the care of looking forward, and providing necessaries for the morrow and next day, and of clothing and bringing up their children, and of getting food and raiment for as many of you as belong to their families, which often put them to great difficulties and distracts their minds, so as to break their rest, and take off their thoughts from the affairs of another world : whereas you are quite eased from all these cares, and have nothing but your daily labour to look after, and when that is done to take your needful rest. Neither is it necessary for you to think of laying up anything against old age, as white people are obliged to do; for the laws of the country have provided that you shall not be turned off when you are past your labour, but shall be maintain- ed, while you live, by those you belong to, whether you are able to work or not. And these are great and real advantages, for which if you consider things rightly, you cannot but thank Almighty God, who hath so wisely pro- vided for your well-being here, and your eternal happi- ness hereafter. There is only one circumstance which may appear grievous, that I shall now take notice of, and that is correction. Now, when correction is given you. you either deserve ir., or do not deserve it. But whether you really deserve it or not, it is your duty, and Almighty God requires, that you bear it patiently. You may, per- haps, think that this is hard doctrine, but if you consider it right, you must needs think otherwise of it. Suppose then, that you deserve correction, you cannot but say that it is just and right you should meet with it. Suppose you do not, or at least, you do not deserve so muc'h, or so severe a correction' for the fault you have committed, you perhaps, have escaped a great many more, and are at last paid for all. Or suppose you are quite innocent of what is laid to your charge, and suffer wrongfully in that par- ticular thing, is it not possible you may have done some other bad thing that never was discovered ; and that Al- might}' God, who saw you doing it, would not let you es- cape without punishment onetime or another? And ought you not in such a case to give the glory to him, The Duties of Servants. 33 and be thankful that he would rather punish you in this life for your wickedness, than destroy your souls for it in the next life 1 But supposing that even this was not the case, (a case hardly to he imagined,) and that you have by no means, known or unknown , deserved the correction you suffered, there is this great comfort in it, that if you bear it patiently, and leave your cause in the hands of God, he will reward you for it in heaven, and the punish- ment you suffer unjustly here, shall turn to your exceed- ing great glory hereafter, I have thus endeavoured to lay before you the chief articles of your duty, many of which do indeed concern others as well as you, and of which I hope they and you will take due notice. But lest you should think that this duty is heavy and hard to be performed, by such poor, weak, frail creatures, subject to temptation, and inclined to sin and wickedness as we are, I must tell you, that though of ourselves we cannot do these things as we ought, yet, if we strive to the best of our knowledge apd power, and look up to God and pray to him for grace, he hath promised to give us the help of his holy spirit ; to cleanse our hearts ; to lead us into all truth, and to enable us to perform our duty as we ought to do. And as this is the greatest comfort a Christian can have, to know, that if he asks for it in prayer, he shall have the assist- ance of the holy spirit of God, to guide him in the way to heaven ; and help him to get the better of the temp- tations which the world, the flesh , or the devil shall throw in his way ; so this holy spirit is called the comforter, and, as such, was promised by our Saviour to his disciples, and to all true Christians, as the best and most precious gift he could bestow upon them, after he was taken up to heaven ; whither he is gone before, to prepare places for all his faithful servants in heaven. A reward which every good Christian shall receive from him, whether he be bond or free. This leads us to the consideration of the last point, pro- posed to be laid before you, and that is, III. What kind of reward you may expect to receive from him. And upon this head I shall say the less, because it is beyond all description : for eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , neither have entered into the heart of man , the things which 34 Dm SI A Q The Duties of Servants. God hath prepared for them that love him* If you are * desirous of rest, the holy spirit of God hath declared by a voice from heaven, that those who die in the Lord, that is, those who by serving him here, do die in his favour, are blessed, for they have rest from their labours. If you desire freedom, serve the Lord here, and you shall be his freemen in heaven hereafter. For he that is called in the Lord, though he be a servant, is the Lord’s freeman : while, at the same time, he who is called, being free, is still Christ’s servant. If you desire riches, Christ hath provided an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for the reward of his faithful servants ; and that shall last for ever, and cannot be taken from you. The riches that he will bestow upon you, are not like the riches of this world, which the moth and the rust can eat through, or which thieves can steal away from you ; but he bestows upon his servants treasures in heaven, which no waste or corruption can reach, and which will be secured to you to all eternity. And if you love pleasure, in his presence is fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. Are not these, my brethren and sisters, plea- sures worth seeking after ? Are not these privileges, this freedom, and these possessions, of far more value than thousands of worlds like this we live in, which we must all leave in a short time, and cannot carry with us into another life \ And can you ever sufficiently admire the goodness of God, or ever be thankful enough to him for his loving kindness, who hath set these glories and these enjoyments as much within the reach of the poorest slave among you, as of the greatest prince alive. For it is not worldly riches, it is not power, and high station, that can purchase these heavenly possessions : they are only to be gained by goodness and serving of God; and the mean- est of you can be good, and can serve God as much as the richest of your masters. And now I pray that the good spirit of God may take you into his holy teaching, and may so sanctify your natures while you live in this world, that when you go out of it God may say to you, — “ Come ye blessed children inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” — Amen — Amen. 1 Cor. ii, 9