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A Godly Man Is a Servant of God

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6 A godly man is a servant of God,1 and not a servant of men. This Character hath two distinct branches, I shall speak of both in order.

  1. A godly man is a servant of God,2 Ezra 5. 11. We are the servants of the God of Heaven. Col. 4. 12. Epaphras a servant of Christ.

Quest. In what sense is a godly man a servant of God?

Answ. In seven respects.

  1. A servant leaves all other, and confines himself to one Master: so a godly man leaves the service of sin, and betakes himself […]o the service of God, Rom. 6. 22. Sin is a tyrannizing thing; a sinner is a slave, when he sins with most3 freedome: The wages which sin gives, may deter us from its service, Rom. […]. 23. The wages of sin is death. Here is damnable pay! A godly man Lists himself […] Gods Family, and is one of his menial servants, Psalm 116. 16. O Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant. David useth an ingemination; as if he had said, Lord, I have taken earnest, none else can lay claim to me; […]y ear is bored to thy service.

  2. A servant is not sui juris, at his own dispose, but at the dispose of his Master: A servant must not do what he please, but […]e at the will of his Lord. Thus a godly […]an is Gods servant, he is wholly at Gods dispose, he hath no will of his own. Thy will […] done on earth. Some will say to the godly, why cannot you do as others? Why will not you drink, and swear, and prophane the Sabbath as others do? The godly are Gods servants, they must not do what they will, but be under the rules of the Family; they must do nothing but what they can show their Masters hand for.

  3. A servant is bound, there are Covenants and Indentures sealed between him and his Master. Thus there are Indentures drawn in Baptisme; and in Conversion, the Indentures are renewed and sealed; we do there bind our selves to God to be his sworn servants, Psal. 119. 106. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous Iudgements. A godly man hath tyed himself to the Lord by (Psalm 56. 12) Vow, and he makes conscience of his vow; he had rather die by Persecution, than live by Perjury.

  4. A servant doth not only wear his Masters Livery, but do his work: Thus a godly man works for God; S. Paul did spend, and was spent for Christ, 2 Cor. 12. 15. He outwrought all the other Apostles, 1 Cor. 15. 10. A godly man is active for God to his last breath, Psalm 119. 112. only, The dead rest from their labours.

  5. A servant follows his Master; thus a godly man is a servant of God, while others wonder after the (Revel. 13. 3) beast, he follows after the (Revel. 14. 4) Lamb. He will tread in the steps of Christ: If a Master leap over hedge and ditch, the servant will follow him: A godly man will follow Christ through afflictions, Luk. 9. 23. If any man will come after me, let him take up his Cross daily, and follow me. Peter would follow Christ upon the water: A godly man will follow Christ though it be death every step; he will keep his goodness, when others are bad; as all the water in the salt Sea cannot make the Fish salt, but still they retain their freshness; so all the wickedness in the world cannot make a godly man wicked, but still he retains his piety; he will follow Christ in the worst times.

  6. A servant is satisfied with his Masters allowance; he doth not say, I will have such provisions made ready, if he hath short commons he doth not find fault; he knows he is a servant, and is at his Masters carving: In this sense a godly man is Gods servant; he is willing to be at Gods allowance; if he hath but some leavings he doth not grumble. Paul knew he was a servant, therefore whether more or less fell to his share, he was indifferent, Phil. 4. When Christians murmure at their condition, they forget that they are servants, and must be at the allowance of their Heavenly Master: Thou that hast the least bit from God, wilt die in his debt.

  7. A servant will stand up for the honor of his Master; he cannot hear his Master reproached, but will vindicate his credit. Thus every godly man will stand up for the honor of his Master Christ, Psal. 119. 139. My zeal hath consumed me. A servant of God appears for his truths: They who can hear Gods Name reproached, and his ways spoken against, yet be silent, God will be ashamed of such servants, and discard them before men and Angels.

Use. (Vse) Let us declare our selves godly, by being servants of the most high God.

Motive. Consider 1. God is the best (Euripides) Master, he is punctual in all his promises, 1 Kin. 8. 23. There is no God like thee in Heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest Covenant with thy servants. Ver. 56. There hath not failed one word of all his good promise. God is of a most sweet gracious disposition; he hath this property, he is slow to4 anger, and ready to (Psal. 86. 5) forgive: In our wants he doth relieve us, in our weakness he doth pitty us; he reveals his secrets to his (Pro. 3. 32) servants, Psal. 25. 14. He wait on his servants: Was there ever such a Master? Luke 12. 37. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. When we are sick he makes our bed, Psal. 41. 3. Thou wilt make all their bed in their sickness. He holds our head when we are fainting: Other Masters may forget their servants, and cast them off when they are old, but God will not, Isa. 44. 21. Thou art my servant, O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. ‘Tis a slander to say, God is an hard Master.

Motive. 2. Gods service is the best service: There are six priviledges in Gods service.

  1. Freedome. Though the Saints are bound to Gods service, yet they serve him freely: Gods Spirit, which is called a free (Psa. 51. 12) spirit, makes them free and chearful in obedience: The Spirit carries them upon the wings of delight; it makes duty a priviledge; it doth not force, but draw; it inlargeth the heart in love, and fills it with joy; Gods service is perfect freedome.

  2. Honour. David the King professeth himself one of Gods Pensioners, Psal. 143. 12. I am thy5 servant. St. Paul, when he would blaze his Coat of Arms, and set forth his best Heraldry, he doth not call himself Paul, […]n Hebrew of the Hebrews, or Paul of the Tribe of Benjamin, but Paul a servant of Christ, Rom. 1. 1. Theodosius thought it a greater dignity to be Gods servant, than to be an6 Emperour. Christ himself, who is equal with his Father, yet is not ashamed of the Title Servant, Isa. 53. 11. Every servant of God is a Son, every subject a Prince: ‘Tis more honor to serve God, than to have Kings serve us: The Angels in Heaven are servitors to the Saints on7 earth.

  3. Safety. God takes care of his servants; he gives them a protection, Isa. 41. 9, 10. Thou art my servant, fear not, I am with thee. God hides his servants, Psa. 27. 5. In the secret of his Tabernacle8 shall be hide me; that is, he shall keep me safe, as in the most holy place of the Sanctuary, where none but the Priests might enter. Christs (Mal 4. 2) Wings are both for healing, and for hiding; for curing, and securing us: The Devil and his Instruments would soon devoure the servants of God, if he did not set an invisible guard about them, and cover them with the golden feathers of his (Psal. 91. 4) Protection, Acts 18. 10. I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. Gods watchful eye is ever upon his people, and the Enemies shall not do the mischief they intend, they shall not be destroyers, but Physitians.

  4. Gain. Atheists say, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances? Mal. 3. 14. besides the vails which God gives in this life (sweet peace of Conscience) he reserves his best Wine till last; he gives a glorious Kingdome to his9servants, Heb. 12. 28. The servants of God may for a while be kept under, and a bused, but they shall have preferment at last, Iohn 12. 26. Where I am, there shall my servants be.

  5. Assistance. Other Masters cut out work for their servants, but do not help them in their work; but our Master in heaven doth not only give us work, but strength, Psalm 138. 3. Thou strengthenedst me with strength in my Soul. God bids us serve him, and he will inable us to serve him, Ezek. 36. 27. I will cause you to walk in my Statutes. The Lord doth not only fit work for us, but fit us for our work; with his Command he gives10power.

  6. Supplies. A Master will not let his servants want; Gods servants shall be provided for, Psal. 37. 3. Verily thou shalt be fed. Doth God give us a Christ, and will he deny us a crust? Gen. 48. 15. The God who hath fed me all my daies: If God doth not give us what we crave, he will give us what we need: the wicked are fed, who are dogs, Phil. 3. 2. If a man feeds his dog, sure he will feed his servant: Oh then who would not be in love with Gods service.

Motive. 3. We are ingaged to serve God; we are pretio empti, bought with a price, 1 Cor. 6. 20. ‘Tis a Metaphor taken from such as do ransom Captives out of prison, by paying a sum of money for them, they are to be at the service of them that ransomed them: So when the Devil had taken us prisoners, Christ ransomed us with a price, not of money, but bloud; therefore we are to be only at his service: If any can lay a better claim to us than Christ, we may serve them; but Christ having the best right to us, we are to cleave to him, and enroll our selves for ever in his service.

  1. I pass to the second Branch of this Character:11 A godly man is not the servant of men, 1 Cor. 7. 23. Be ye not the servants of men.

Quest. But is there no service we owe to men?

Answ. There is a three-fold serving of men.

  1. There is a Civil service we owe to men; as the inferiour to the superiour· The servant is a Living Tool, as Aristotle12 saith, Eph. 6. 5. Servants obey your Masters.

  2. There is a Religious service[…]we owe to men, when we are serviceable to their souls, 2 Cor. 4. 5. Your servants for Iesus sake.

  3. There is a sinfull serving of men; this consists in three things.

  4. When we prefer mens Injunctions before Gods Institutions; God commands one thing, man commands another; God saith, sanctifie the Sabbath; man saith, prophane it: When mens Edicts have more force upon us than Gods Precepts, this is to be the servants of men.

  5. When we do voluntarily prostitute our selves to the impure lusts of men;13 we let them […] lord it over our Consciences: when we are ductill and frameable to any thing, either Arminian or Atheist, either for the Gospel or the Alchoran, when we will be what others will have us; just of Issachars temper, Gen. 49. 14. Issachar is a strong Ass, couching down between two burdens. This is not humility, but sordidness, and it is a serving of men.

  6. When we are Advocates in a bad Cause, pleading for any impious, unjustifiable actings; when we baptize sin with the Name of Religion, and with our Oratory wash the Devils face; this is to be the servants of men; in these cases a godly person will not so unman himself, as to serve men; he saith as Paul, Gal. 1. 10. If I pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ: And as Peter, Act. 5. 23. We ought to obey God rather than men.

Use. (Vse) How many leagues distant are they from godliness, who do […], who either for fear of punishment, or hope of preferment, comply with the sinful commands of men, who will put their Conscience into any yoak, and sail with any wind that blows profit: These are the servants of men; they have abjured their Baptismal Vow, and renounced the Lord that bought them.

He who is such a14 Proteus, who can change into any form, and bow as low as hell to please men, I would say two things to him.

  1. Thou that hast learned all thy postures, who canst cringe, and tack about, how wilt thou look Christ in the face another day? When thou shalt say upon thy death bed, Lord look upon thy servant, Christ shall disclaim thee, and say, […] servant? No, thou didst renounce my service, thou wert a servant of men, depart from me, I know you not. What a cooling card will this be at that day?

  2. What doth a man get by sinfully inslaving himself? he gets a blot in his name, a curse in his estate, an hell in his Conscience, nay, even those that he basely stoops to, will scorn and despise him. How did the High-Priests kick off Iudas, Mat. 27. 4. Look thou to that.

That we may not be the servants of men, let us abandon (Esther 8. 17) fear, and advance faith: Faith is a world-conquering grace, 1 Ioh. 5. 4. It overcomes the worlds musick and fornace; it steels a Christian with Divine courage, and makes him stand immoveable, as a Rock in the midst of the Sea.

Footnotes

  1. 6 Character. ↩

  2. 1 Bran. ↩

  3. […] ↩

  4. Psal. 103 9. ↩

  5. Servire est regnare. ↩

  6. Nihil regio splendore indignum, si ad hanc ingenuam […] invitentur. Rivet. ↩

  7. Non est onerans sed ornans Dei servitus. ↩

  8. In abdito tento rii[…] sui. ↩

  9. […]. Origen Cont. Cels. ↩

  10. Da Domine quod jubes, & ju[…]e quod vis. Austin. ↩

  11. 2 Bran. ↩

  12. […]. ↩

  13. Ne adulentur, & impiis aeliorum cupiditatibus se addicant, vetat Apostolus. Calv. in 1 Cor. cap. 7. ↩

  14. Omnium scenarum homo. Erasm. ↩

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