_Persons that are free from the necessity of labour and
employments, are to consider themselves as devoted to God
in a higher degree._
1. GREAT part of the world are free from the necessities of labour,
and have their _time_ and _fortunes_ in their own disposal.
But as no one is to live in his _employment_ according to his own
humour, or to please his own fancy, but is to do all his business in
such a manner as to make it a service unto God; so those who have no
particular employment, are so far from being left at liberty to live
to themselves, to pursue their own humours, and spend their time and
fortune as they please, that they are under greater obligations of
living wholly unto God in all their actions.
The _freedom_ of their state lays them under a greater _necessity_ of
always chusing and doing the best things.
They are those, of whom _much will be required_, because _much is
given unto them_.
A _slave_ can only live unto God in one particular way; that is, by
religious patience and submission in his state of slavery.
But all ways of holy living, all instances, and all kinds of virtue,
lie open to those who are masters of themselves, their time, and their
fortune.
It is as much the duty, therefore, of such persons, to make a wise
use of their liberty, to devote themselves to all kinds of virtue, to
aspire after every thing that is holy and pious, and to please God in
the highest and most perfect manner, as it is the duty of a _slave_ to
be _resigned_ unto God in his state of slavery.
2. You are no _labourer_, or _tradesman_; you are neither _merchant_
nor _soldier_; consider yourself therefore as placed in a state, in
some degree like that of _good angels_, who are sent into the world as
_ministring spirits_, for the general good of mankind, to _assist_,
_protect_, and _minister_ for them who shall be heirs of salvation.
For the more you are free from the _common_ necessities of _men_, the
more you are to imitate the _higher_ perfections of _angels_.
Had you, _Serena_, been obliged to wash cloaths for your maintenance,
or to wait upon some _mistress_, that demanded all your _labour_, it
would be your duty to glorify God, by such _humility_, _obedience_,
and _faithfulness_, as might adorn that state of life.
It would then be recommended to your care, to improve that _one
talent_ to its greatest height; that when the time came for mankind to
be rewarded for their labours by the great Judge of the quick and dead,
you might be received with a _well done good and faithful servant,
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord_.
But as God has given you _five talents_, as he has placed you above
the necessities of life, as he has left you in the happy liberty of
chusing the most exalted ways of virtue; as he has left you nothing to
do, but to make the best use of variety of blessings, to make the best
of a short life, to study your own perfection, the honour of God, and
the good of your neighbour; so it is now your duty to enquire how the
most eminent saints have lived, to study all the _arts_ and _methods_
of perfection, and to set no bounds to your love and gratitude to the
bountiful author of so many blessings.
3. It is now your duty to turn your _five talents_ into five more,
and to consider how your _time_, and _leisure_, and _health_, and
_fortune_ may be made so many happy means of purifying your own soul,
improving your fellow-creatures, and of carrying you at last to the
greatest heights of eternal glory.
As you have no _mistress_ to serve, so let your own soul be the object
of your daily care and attendance.
Nourish it with _good works_, give it peace in _solitude_, get it
strength in _prayer_, make it wise with _reading_, enlighten it by
_meditation_, make it tender with _love_, sweeten it with _humility_,
enliven it with _psalms_ and _hymns_, and comfort it with frequent
_reflections_ upon future glory. Keep it in the presence of God, and
teach it to imitate those _guardian angels_; which tho’ they attend on
the lowest of mankind, yet _always behold the face of our Father which
is in heaven_.
This, _Serena_, is your profession. For as sure as God is one God,
so sure it is, that he has but one command to all mankind, whether
they be bond or free, rich or poor; and that is, to act up to the
_excellency_ of their nature, to live by _reason_, to walk in the
_light_ of religion, to glorify God in all his _gifts_, and dedicate
every condition of life to his service.
This is the _one common_ command of God to all mankind. If you have
an employment, you are to be thus reasonable, and holy in the exercise
of it; if you have time and a fortune in your own power, you are to
be thus reasonable, and holy, in the use of all your time and all your
fortune.
4. The right use of every talent, is the indispensable duty of every
being that is capable of knowing right or wrong.
For the reason why we are to do _any thing_ as unto God, and with
regard to our relation to him, is the same reason why we are to do
_every thing_ as unto God, and with regard to this relation.
That which is a reason for our being _wise_ and _holy_ in the
discharge of all our _business_, is the same reason for our being
wise and holy in the use of all our _money_.
*As we have always the _same natures_, and are every where the
servants of the same God; as every place is equally full of his
presence, and every thing is equally his gift; so we must do every
thing as the servants of God; we must live in every place, as in
his presence; we must use every thing as that ought to be used which
belongs to God.
Either this wisdom, and devotion is to go thro’ every way of life, or
it is to go through no part of life.
If we might forget _ourselves_, or forget God; if we might live by
humour or fancy in any thing, or at any time, or in any place, it
would be as lawful to do the same in every thing, and every time, and
every place.
5. If therefore some people, fancy, that they must be grave and solemn
at _church_, but may be _silly_ and _frantic_ at home; that they must
live by some rule on the _Sunday_, but may spend other days by chance;
that they must have some times of prayer, but may waste the rest of
their time as they please; that they must give some money in _charity_,
but may squander away the rest as they have a mind; such people have
not considered the nature of religion, or the true reasons of piety.
For he that, upon principles of reason, can tell why it is good to be
wise and heavenly-minded at _church_, can tell that ’tis good to have
the _same tempers_ in all other places. He that knows why he should
spend any time well, knows it is never allowable to throw any time
away. He that rightly understands the reasonableness of _charity_,
will know that it can never be excusable, to waste any of our money
in pride and folly, or in any needless expences.
For every argument that shews the wisdom of charity, proves the wisdom
of spending all our fortune well. Every argument that proves the
reasonableness of having times of prayer, shews the reasonableness of
losing none of our time.
6. *If any one can shew, that we need not _always_ act in the divine
presence, that we need not use _every thing_ as the gift of God, that
we need not _always_ live by reason, and make religion the rule of all
our actions, the same arguments would shew, that we need _never_ act
as in the presence of God, nor make religion and reason the measure of
_any_ of our actions. If therefore we are to live to God at any time,
or in any place, we are to live unto him at all times, and in all
places. If we are to use any thing as the gift of God, we are to use
every thing as his gift. If we are to do any thing by strict rules
of reason and piety, we ought to do every thing in the same manner;
because _reason_, and _wisdom_, and piety are as much the best things
at _all times_, and in _all places_, as they are the best things at
_any time_, or in _any_ place.
If it is our glory and happiness to have a _rational nature_, that
is endued with wisdom and reason, that is capable of imitating the
divine nature; then it must be our glory and happiness, to improve
our reason and wisdom, to act up to the excellency of our rational
nature, and to imitate God in all our actions. They, therefore, who
confine their religion to _times_ and _places_, and some little rules
of _retirement_, who think that it is being too strict to introduce
religion into _common life_, and make it give laws to all their
actions and ways of living; they who think thus, not only mistake,
but they mistake the _whole nature_ of religion, who can think any
part of their life is more easy, for being free from it. They may
well be said to mistake the _whole nature_ of wisdom, who don’t think
it desirable to be _always_ wise. He has not learned the _nature_ of
piety, who thinks it too much to be pious in all his actions. He does
not sufficiently understand what _reason_ is, who does not earnestly
desire to live in every thing according to it.
If we had a religion that consisted in absurd superstitions, that had
no regard to the perfection of our nature, people might well be glad
to have some part of their life excused from it: but as the religion
of the gospel is only the refinement of our best faculties, as it
only requires a life of the highest reason, as it only requires us
to use this world, as in reason it ought to be used, to live in such
_tempers_ as are the glory of intelligent beings, to walk in such
wisdom as exalts our nature, and to practise such piety as will raise
us to God; who can think it grievous, to live _always_ in the _spirit_
of such a religion, to have _every part_ of his life full of it, but
he that would think it much more grievous, to be as the angels of God
in heaven?
7. Farther, as God is one and the same being, always acting like
himself, and suitable to his own nature; so it is the duty of every
being that he has created, to live according to the nature that he has
given it, and _always_ to act like itself.
It is therefore an immutable law of God, that all rational beings
should act _reasonably_ in _all_ their actions; not at this _time_,
or in that _place_, or upon this occasion, or in the use of some
particular thing; but at _all_ times, in _all_ places, at _all_
occasions, and in the use of _all_ things.
When, therefore, any being that is endued with reason, does an
_unreasonable_ thing at any time, or in any place, or in the use of
any thing, it sins against the _great law_ of its nature, and against
God the author of that nature.
They, therefore, who plead for any _foolish_ fashions, _customs_
and _humours_, for the misuse of our _time_ or _money_, plead for a
rebellion against our nature, for a rebellion against God, who has
given us reason for no other end, than to make it the _rule_ and
_measure_ of all our ways of life.
8. When, therefore, you are guilty of any _folly_ or _extravagance_,
or indulge any _vain_ temper, don’t consider it as a small matter; but
consider it as it is, acting _contrary_ to your _nature_; and then you
will see that there is nothing _small_ that is _unreasonable_, because
all unreasonable ways are contrary to the nature of all rational
beings.
The infirmities of human life make such _food_ and _raiment_ necessary
for us as _angels_ do not want; but it is no more allowable for us to
turn these necessities into _follies_, and indulge ourselves in the
luxury of _food_, or the vanities of _dress_, than it is allowable
for _angels_ to act below the dignity of their proper state. For
a reasonable life, is as much the duty of all _men_, as it is the
duty of all _angels_. These are not _speculative_ flights, but plain
and _undeniable laws_, that are founded in the _nature_ of rational
beings, who, as such, are obliged to live by reason, and glorify God
by a continual right use of their several talents. So that tho’ men
are not _angels_; yet they may know by what rules men are to act,
by considering the state of angels. Our blessed Saviour has plainly
turned our thoughts this way, by making this petition, _Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven_. A plain proof, that the obedience
of _men_ is to imitate the obedience of _angels_; and that rational
beings on earth are to live unto God, as rational beings in heaven
live unto him.
9. When, therefore, you would represent to your mind how Christians
ought to live unto God, and by what degrees of wisdom and holiness
they ought to use the things of this life, you must not look at the
world; but you must look up to the society of angels, and think what
wisdom and holiness is fit to prepare you for such a state of glory.
You must look to all the _highest precepts_ of the gospel; you
must examine yourself by the _Spirit_ of Christ; you must think how
_departed souls_ would live, if they were again to act the short part
of human life; and what degrees of wisdom and holiness you will wish
for when you are leaving the world.
10. And as Christianity consecrates all _states_ and _employments_ to
God, as it requires us to aspire after universal obedience, doing and
using every thing as the servants of God; so are we more especially
obliged to observe this exactness in the use of our _estates_ and
_fortunes_.
The reason is plain, if we only consider, that our _estate_ is as much
the gift of God, as our _eyes_, or our _hands_, and is no more to be
buried, or thrown away at pleasure, than we are to pull out our eyes,
or throw away our limbs.
But besides this consideration, there are several other important
reasons why we should be exact in the use of our estates.
11. *_First_, because the manner of using our money, enters so far
into the business of every day, and makes so great a part of our
common life, that our _common life_ must be much of the same nature,
as our _common way_ of spending our estate. If reason and religion
govern us in this, then reason and religion have got great hold of us;
but if _humour_, _pride_, and _fancy_ are the measures of our spending
our estate, then humour, pride, and fancy will have the direction of
the greatest part of our life.
12. Another reason is, because our money is capable of being used to
the most excellent purposes, and is so great a means of doing good.
If we waste it, we don’t waste a trifle that signifies little; but we
waste that which might be as eyes to the _blind_, as a husband to the
_widow_, as a father to the _orphan_. If a man had _eyes_, and _hands_,
and _feet_, that he could give to those that wanted them; if he
should either lock them up in a _chest_, or please himself with some
_needless_ or _ridiculous_ use of them, instead of giving them to his
brethren that were _blind_ and _lame_, should we not justly reckon
him an inhuman wretch? If he should rather chuse to amuse himself
with _furnishing_ his house with those things, than to intitle himself
to an eternal reward, by giving them to those that wanted _eyes_ and
_hands_, might we not justly reckon him mad?
Now _money_ has much the nature of _eyes_ and _feet_: if we either
lock it up in _chests_, or waste it in _needless_ and _ridiculous_
expences whilst the poor and the distressed want it for their
necessary uses; if we consume it in the _ridiculous ornaments_ of
apparel, whilst others are starving in _nakedness_, we are not far
from the cruelty of him that chuses rather to adorn his house with
the _hands_ and _eyes_, than to give them to those that want them.
If we indulge ourselves in such expensive enjoyments, to satisfy no
_real want_, rather than to entitle ourselves to an eternal reward, by
disposing of our money well, we are guilty of his madness, that rather
chuses to lock up _eyes_ and _hands_, than to make himself for ever
blessed, by giving them to those that want them.
13. *_Thirdly_, if we waste our money, we are not only guilty of
making that useless, which is so powerful a means of doing good,
but we turn this useful talent into a powerful means of corrupting
ourselves; because so far as it is spent _wrong_, so far it is spent
in the support of some _wrong temper_, in gratifying some vain and
unreasonable desires.
*As _wit_ and _fine parts_ cannot be only lost, but expose those that
have them to greater follies, if they are not strictly devoted to
piety; so _money_, if it is not used strictly according to reason and
religion, cannot only be trifled away, but it will betray people into
_greater_ follies, and make them live a more silly and extravagant
life, than they would have done without it. If therefore you don’t
spend your money in doing good to others, you spend it to the hurt
of yourself. You will act like a man that should refuse to give a
_cordial_ to a sick friend, tho’ he could not drink it himself without
_inflaming_ his blood. For this is the case of _superfluous_ money; if
you give it to those that want it, it is a _cordial_; if you spend it
upon yourself, in something that you do not want, it only _inflames_
and disorders your mind, and makes you worse than you would be without
it.
14. Consider again the fore-mentioned comparison; if the man that
would not make a right use of spare _eyes_ and _hands_, should, by
continually trying to use them himself, spoil his own eyes and hands,
we might accuse him of still greater madness.
Now this is truly the case of riches spent upon ourselves in _vain_
and _needless_ expences: in trying to use them where they have no
real use, we only use them to our hurt, in creating unreasonable
desires, in nourishing ill tempers, in indulging our passions, and
supporting a vain turn of mind. For high _eating_ and _drinking_, fine
_cloaths_, and fine _houses_, state and equipage, gay _pleasures_ and
_diversions_, do all of them hurt and disorder our hearts; they are
the food and nourishment of all the folly and weakness of our nature,
and are certain means to make us vain and worldly in our tempers;
they are all of them the support of something that ought not to be
supported; they are contrary to that sobriety of heart which relisheth
divine things; they are like so many weights upon our mind, that
make us less able, and less inclined to raise up our thoughts and
affections to the things that are above.
So that money, thus spent, is not merely _wasted_, but spent to bad
purposes; to the corruption of our hearts, and make us less able to
live up to the doctrines of the gospel. It is like keeping money from
the poor, to buy poison for ourselves.
For so much as is spent in the vanity of _dress_, is so much laid out
to _fix_ vanity in our minds. So much as is laid out for _idleness_
and _indulgence_, is so much given to render our hearts _dull_ and
_sensual_. So much as is spent in _state_ and _equipage_, is so much
spent to _dazzle_ your own eyes, and render you the idol of your own
imagination. And so in every thing, when you go from _reasonable_
wants, you only support some unreasonable _temper_, some _turn_ of
mind, which every Christian is called upon to _renounce_.
So that, whether we consider our fortune as a trust from God, or
the _great good_ it enables us to do, or the great harm that it does
to ourselves, if idly spent; on all these accounts it is absolutely
necessary to make reason and religion the strict rule of using all our
fortune.
15. Every exhortation in scripture to satisfy only such wants as God
would have satisfied; every exhortation to be spiritual and heavenly,
pressing after a glorious change of our nature; every exhortation
to love our neighbours as ourselves, is a command to be _strictly
religious_ in the use of our money. This use of our worldly goods,
is so much the doctrine of the New Testament, that you cannot read a
chapter without being taught something of it. I shall only produce one
passage of scripture, which is sufficient to justify all that I have
said.
_When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels
with him, then he shall sit upon the throne of his glory. And before
him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats; and he shall
set the sheep on his right-hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall
the King say unto them on his right-hand, Come ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked and ye cloathed me:
I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall he say unto them on the left-hand, Depart from me ye cursed,
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I
was hungry, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye cloathed
me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. These shall go
away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal._
16. I have quoted this passage at length, because if one looks at the
way of the world, one would hardly think Christians had ever read this
scripture.
Some people look upon this text only as a general recommendation of
_occasional_ works of _charity_; whereas it shews the necessity, not
only of occasional charities, but of such an _entire charitable life_,
as is a continual exercise of all such works of charity as we are able
to perform.
You own that there is no salvation but in the performance of these
good works. Who is it, therefore, that may be said to have performed
these good works? Is it he that has _sometime_ assisted a _prisoner_,
or relieved the poor or sick? This would be as absurd as to say, that
he had performed the duties of _devotion_, who had sometime said his
prayers. Is it, therefore, he that has _several times_ done these
works of charity? This can no more be said, than he can be said to be
the truly _just_ man, who had done acts of justice _several times_.
What is the rule therefore, or measure, of performing these good
works?
Now the rule is very _plain_ and _easy_, and such as is _common_ to
every other _virtue_, as well as to charity. Who is the humble, or
meek, or just, or faithful man? Is it he that has _several times_ done
acts of humility, meekness, justice, or fidelity? No; but it is he
that lives in the _habitual exercise_ of these virtues. In like manner,
he only can be said to have performed those works of charity, who
lives in the _habitual exercise_ of them to the utmost of his power.
He only has performed the duty of divine love, who loves God with all
his heart, and _mind_, and _strength_. And he only has performed the
duty of these good works, who has done them with all his heart, and
mind, and strength. For there is no other measure of our doing good,
than our power of doing it.
17. The apostle _Peter_ puts this question to our blessed Saviour,
_Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him,
till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until
seven times, but until seventy times seven._ Not as if after this
number of offences, a man might then cease to forgive; but the
expression is to shew us, that we are not to bound our forgiveness
by _any number_ of offences, but are to _continue_ forgiving the most
repeated offences against us. If therefore a man ceases to forgive his
brother, because he has forgiven him _often_ already: if he excuses
himself from forgiving this man, because he has forgiven _several
others_, such a one breaks this law of Christ, concerning the
forgiving one’s brother.
Now the rule of _forgiving_ is also the rule of _giving_. You are not
to _give_, or do good to _seven_, but to _seventy times seven_. You
are not to cease from giving, because you have given often to the same
person, or to other persons; but must account yourself as much obliged
to continue relieving those that continue in want, as you was obliged
to relieve them once or twice. Had it not been in your power, you had
been excused from relieving any person _once_; but if it is in your
power to relieve people _often_, it is as much your duty to do it
often as it is the duty of others to do it but seldom, because they
are but seldom able.
18. And the reason of all this is plain; there is the same _necessity_
of being charitable at one time as at another. It is as much the best
use of our money, to be _always_ doing good with it, as it is the best
use of it at any _particular time_; so that that which is a reason for
a charitable _action_, is as good a reason for a charitable _life_;
for charity has nothing to recommend it to-day, but what will be the
same recommendation of it to-morrow; and you cannot neglect it at
one time, without being guilty of the same sin as if you neglected
it at another time. As sure, therefore, as these works of charity are
necessary to salvation, so sure is it that we are to do them to the
utmost of our power; not to-day, or to-morrow, but through the whole
_course_ of our life. If therefore it be our duty at any time to deny
ourselves any _needless_ expences, that we may have to give to those
that want, it is as much our duty to do so at all times, that we may
be able to do more good: for if it is at any time a sin to prefer
_needless_ expence to works of charity, it is so at all times. If it
is ever necessary to take care of these works of charity, and to see
that we make ourselves in some degree capable of doing them; it is as
necessary to take care to make ourselves as capable as we can be, of
performing them in all the parts of our life.
19. Either therefore you must say, that you need never perform any of
these good works; or you must own, that you are to perform all your
life in as high a degree as you are able. There is no middle way any
more than there is a middle way between temperance and intemperance.
If you do not strive to fulfil all charitable works, if you neglect
any of them that are in your power, let it be when it will, or where
it will, you number yourself amongst those that want Christian charity;
because it is as much your duty to do good with all that you have, as
it is your duty to be temperate in all that you eat or drink.
20. Hence appears the _necessity_ of renouncing all those _foolish_
and _unreasonable_ expences, which the folly of mankind has made so
common and fashionable in the world. For if it is necessary to do
good works as far as you are able, it must be as necessary to renounce
those needless ways of spending money, which render you unable to do
works of charity.
You must therefore no more conform to these ways of the world, than
you must conform to the vices of the world. You must no more spend
with those that idly waste their money as their own humour leads
them, than you must drink with the drunken; because a course of such
expences is no more consistent with a life of _charity_, than excess
in drinking is consistent with a _life of sobriety_. When therefore
any one tells you of the lawfulness of expensive apparel, or the
innocency of pleasing yourself with costly satisfactions, only imagine
that the same person was to tell you, that you need not do works of
charity, that Christ does not require you to do good to your poor
brethren, as unto him, and then you will see the wickedness of such
advice; for, to tell you that you may live in such expences, as make
it impossible for you to live in the exercise of good works, is the
same thing as telling you, that you need not have any care about such
good works themselves.