LIII. SERM. He is deeply obliged to be continually busy in more ways than other men, who have but one simple calling or occupation allotted to them; and that upon a triple account; in respect to God, to the world, and to himself. 1. He is first obliged to continual employment in respect to God. He, out of a grateful regard to divine bounty for the eminency of his station, adorned with dignity and repute, for the plentiful accommodations and comforts of his life, for his exemption from those pinching wants, those meaner cares, those sordid entertainments, and those toilsome drudgeries, to which other men are subject, is bound to be more diligent in God's service, employing all the advantages of his state to the glory of his munificent Benefactor, to whose good providence alone he doth owe them; for 1 Cor. iv. 7. who maketh him to differ from another? And what hath he that he did not receive from God's free bounty? In proportion to the bulk of his fortune, his heart should be enlarged with a thankful sense of God's goodness to him; his mouth should ever be filled with acknowledgment and praise; he should always be ready to express his grateful resentment of so great and peculiar obligations. He should dedicate larger portions of that free leisure which God hath granted to him, in waiting upon God, and constant performances of devotion. He, in frequently reflecting on the particular ample favours of God to him, should imitate the holy Psalmist, that illustrious pattern of great and fortunate men; saying after him, with his spirit and Psal. lxxi. disposition of soul; Thou hast brought me to great honour, and comforted me on every side; therefore SERM. will I praise thee and thy faithfulness, O God. LIII. xxxi. 8. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my moun- Psal. xxx.7. tain to stand strong: Thou hast set my feet in a xxiii. 5. large room: Thou preparest a table before me:Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over;—to the end that my glory may sing praise Ps. xxx. 12. unto thee, and not be silent: The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage; therefore I will bless the Lord. xvi. 5, 6, 7. In conceiving such meditations, his head and his heart should constantly be employed; as also in contriving ways of declaring and discharging real gratitude; asking himself, What shall I render unto Ps. cxvi. 12. the Lord for all his benefits? What shall I render to him, not only as a man, for all the gifts of nature; as a Christian, for all the blessings of grace; but as a gentleman also, for the many advantages of this my condition, beyond so many of my brethren, by special providence indulged to me? He hath all the common duties of piety, of charity, of sobriety, to discharge with fidelity; for being a gentleman doth not exempt him from being a Christian, but rather more strictly doth engage him to be such in a higher degree than others; it is an obligation peculiarly incumbent on him, in return for God's peculiar favours, to pay God all due obedience, and to exercise himself in all good works; disobedience being a more heinous crime in him than in others, who have not such encouragements to serve God. His obedience may be inculcated by those argu 24. 13, 14. SERM. ments which Joshua and Samuel did use in pressing LIII. it on the Israelites; Only, said Samuel, fear the 1 Sam. xii. Lord, and serve him in truth; for consider how Josh. xxiv. great things God hath done for you. And, I have given you, saith God by Joshua, a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not; and ye dwell in them: of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not, do ye eat. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. 25, &c. Psal. cvi. 6. His disobedience may be aggravated, as Nehemiah Nehem. ix. did that of the Israelites: They took strong cities (Is. lxii. 10. and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all Jer. ii. 7. goods, wells digged, vineyards and oliveyards, and Ezek. xvi. fruit-trees in abundance; so they did eat and were filled, and became fat; and delighted themselves in Sam. xii. thy great goodness: nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy xvi. 26.35.) law behind their backs-They have not served thee 7. 1 Sam. xv. 17. 7. 1 Kings in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness, which thou gavest them; neither turned they from their wicked works. : A gentleman hath more talents committed to him, and consequently more employment required of him if a rustic labourer, or a mechanic artisan, hath one talent, a gentleman hath ten; he hath innate vigour of spirit, and height of courage fortified by use; he hath accomplishment and refinement of parts by liberal education; he hath the succours of parentage, alliance, and friendship; he hath wealth, he hath honour, he hath power and authority, he hath command of time and leisure; he hath so many precious and useful talents intrusted to him, not to Matt. xxv. be wrapped up in a napkin, or hidden under Luke xix. 20. 25. LIII. ground; not to be squandered away in private sa- SERM. tisfactions; but for negotiation, to be put out to use, to be improved in the most advantageous way пμto God's service. Every talent doth require a par- Luke xix. ticular care and pains to manage it well. τεύσασθε. 13. Εργάζεσθαι. 16, 27. 14. ὑπάρχοντα Luke xii. 42. He particularly is God's steward, intrusted with Matt. xxv. God's substance for the sustenance and supply of Matt. xxv. God's family; to relieve his fellow-servants in their dr need, upon seasonable occasions, by hospitality, mer-ar. cy, and charitable beneficence; according to that intimation of our Lord, Who is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler of his household, to give them their portion and meat in due season? And according to those apostolical precepts, As every one hath received a gift, (or xáμa. special favour,) even so minister the same to one Tim. vi. another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of17, 18. God: and, Charge the rich in this world,-that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. And he that is obliged to purvey for so many, and so to abound in good works, how can he want business? How can he pretend to a writ of ease. Surely that gentleman is very blind, and very barren of invention, who is to seek for work fit for him, or cannot easily discern many employments belonging to him, of great concern and consequence. It is easy to prompt and shew him many businesses, indispensably belonging to him, as such. It is his business to minister relief to his poor neighbours, in their wants and distresses, by his wealth. It is his business to direct and advise the ignorant, to comfort the afflicted, to reclaim the wicked, and encourage the good, by his wisdom. It I Pet. iv. 10. I 17, 16. SERM. is his business to protect the weak, to rescue the opLIII. pressed, to ease those who groan under heavy burdens, by his power; to be such a gentleman and so Job xxxi. employed as Job was; who did not eat his morsel alone, so that the fatherless did not eat thereof; who did not withhold the poor from their desire, or cause the eyes of the widow to fail; who did not see any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; who delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. Job xxxi. 19. xxix. 12. Heb. xiii. 2. I Pet. iv. 9. It is his business to be hospitable; kind and helpRom. xii. ful to strangers; following those noble gentlemen, Gen. xviii. Abraham and Lot, who were so ready to invite and 1. xix. 1. entertain strangers with bountiful courtesy. 13. It is his business to maintain peace, and appease dissensions among his neighbours, interposing his counsel and authority in order thereto : whereto he Exod. ii. 13. hath that brave gentleman, Moses, recommended for his pattern. Acts vii. 26. It is his business to promote the welfare and prosperity of his country with his best endeavours, and (Judg. v.9.) by all his interest; in which practice the sacred history doth propound divers gallant gentlemen (Joseph, Moses, Samuel, Nehemiah, Daniel, Mordecai, and all such renowned patriots) to guide him. Josh. xxiv. 15. It is his business to govern his family well; to Psalm ci. educate his children in piety and virtue; to keep his servants in good order. It is his business to look to his estate, and to keep it from wasting; that he may sustain the repute of his person and quality with decency; that he may be furnished with ability to do good, may provide well for his family, may be hospitable, may have |