Persons That Are Free From The Necessity Of Labour And
PERSONS THAT ARE FREE FROM THE NECESSITY OF LABOUR AND
EMPLOYMENTS, ARE TO CONSIDER THEMSELVES AS DEVOTED TO
GOD IN A HIGHER DEGREE.
Great parts of the world are free from the necessities of labour and employments, 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 for such ends as 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 greater liberty to live to themselves, to pursue their own humours, and spend their time and fortunes 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 choosing, 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, to endeavour to be eminent in all good works, and to please God in the highest and most perfect manner; it is as much their duty to be thus wise in the conduct of themselves and thus extensive in their endeavours after holiness as it is the duty of a slave to be resigned unto God in his state of slavery.
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 ministering spirits forr 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 by the necessities of life to wash clothes for your maintenance or to wait upon some mistress that demanded all your labour, it would then be your duty to serve and glorify God, by such humility, obedience, and faithfulness, as might adorn that state of life.
It would then be recomended to your care to improve that one talent to its greatest height. That when the time came, that mankind were to be rewarded for their labours by the great Judge of quick and dead, you might be received with a "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Matt 25:21)
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 hands of yourself in the happy liberty of choosing the most exalted ways of virtue as he has enriched you with many gifts of fortune and left you nothing to do but to make the best use of variety of blessings, to make the most 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 imitate the greatest servants of God, to inquire 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.
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 in the ways of virtue, 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. Be sorry for its impurities, its spots, and imperfections, and study all the holy arts of restoring it to its natural and primitive purity.
Delight in its service, and beg of God to adorn it with every grace and perfection.
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, humble it with penance, 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 though they attend on human affairs and the lowest of mankind, yet "always behold the face of our Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 18:10)
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 that nature which he has given them, to live by reason, to walk in the light of religion, to use everything as wisdom directs, 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 pious and holy in the exercise of it; if you have time and a fortune in your own power, you are obliged to be thus reasonable and holy and pious in the use of all your time, and all your fortune.
The right religious use of everything and every talent is the indispensable duty of every being that is capable of knowing right and wrong.
For the reason why we are to do anything as unto God and with regard to our duty and relation to Him is the same reason why we are to do everything as unto God, and with regard to our duty and relation to Him.
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 holy money.
As we have always the same natures and are everywhere 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 always act according to the reason of our nature; 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 piety and wisdom and devotion is to go through every way of life and to extend to the use of everything, or it is to go through no part of life.
If we might forget ourselves, or forget God, if we might disregard our reason and live by humour and fancy, in anything, or at any time, or in any place, it would be as lawful to do the same in everything, at every time, and every place.
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 enough 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 it is always desirable to have the same tempers in all other places. He that truly knows why he should spend any time well knows that it is never allowable to throw any time away. He that rightly understands the reasonableness and excellency of charity will know that it can never be excusable to waste any of our money in pride and folly, or in any needless expenses.
For every argument that shows the wisdom and excellency of charity proves the wisdom of spending all our fortune well. Every argument that proves the wisdom and reasonableness of having times of prayer shows the wisdom and reasonableness of losing none of our time.
If any one could show that we need not always act as in the Divine presence, that we need not consider and 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 show 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 unto 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 are 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 to the utmost of our power. They therefore who confine religion to times and places and some little rules of retirement, who think that it is being too strict and rigid 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. For surely they mistake the whole nature of religion who can think any part of their life is made more easy for being free from it. They may well be said to mistake the whole nature of wisdom who do not think it desirable to be always wise. He has not learnt 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 everything 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 and exaltation 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 practice 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 Father, as God is one and the same Being, always acting like Himself and suitably 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 Himself.
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, on all occasions, and in the use of all things. This is a law that is as unchangeable as God and can no more cease to be than God can cease to be a God of wisdom and order.
When, therefore, any being that is endued with reason does an unreasonable thing at anytime, or in anyplace, or in the use of anything, it sins against the great law of its nature, abuses itself, and sins against God the Author of that nature.
They, therefore, who plead for indulgences and vanities, for any foolish fashions, customs, and humours of the world, for the misuse of our time or money, plead for a rebellion against our nature, for a rebellion against God who has given its reason for no other end than to make it the rule and measure of all our ways of life.
When, therefore, you are guilty of any folly or extravagance, or indulge any vain temper, do not consider it as a small matter because it may seem so if compared to some other sins; 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, whether men or Angels. Neither of which can be any longer agreeable to God than so far as they act according to the reason and excellence of their nature.
The infirmities of human life make such food and raiment necessary for us, as Angels do not want; but then 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 and a wise use of our proper condition is as much the duty of all men as it is the duty of all Angels and intelligent beings. These are not speculative flights or imaginary notions, but are 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 and faculties. So that though men are not Angels, yet they may know for what ends and by what rules men are to live and act by considering the state and perfection of Angels. Our blessed Saviour has plainly turned our thoughts this way by making this petition a constant part of all our prayers,
"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.
When, therefore, you would represent to your mind how Christians ought to live unto God and in 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 God and 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 the wisest men in the world have lived, you must think how departed souls would live if they were again to act the short part of human life, you must think what degrees of wisdom and holiness you will wish for when you are leaving the world.
Now this is not over-straining the matter, or proposing to ourselves any needless perfection. It is but barely complying with the Apostle's advice where he says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Phil. 4:8) For no one can come near the doctrine of this passage but he that proposes to himself to do everything in this life as the servant of God, to live by reason in everything that he does, and to make the wisdom and holiness of the Gospel the rule and measure of his desiring and using every gift of God.
Chapter VI
Containing the great obligations and the great advantages of making a wise and religious use of our estates and fortunes.
As the holiness of Christianity consecrates all states and employments of life unto God, as it requires us to aspire after a universal obedience, doing and using everything as the servants of God, so are we more especially obliged to observe this religious exactness in the use of our estates and fortunes.
The reason of this would appear very plain if we were only to 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 put out our eyes or throw away our limbs as we please.
But besides this consideration, there are several other great and important reasons why we should be religiously exact in the use our estates.
First, because the manner of using our money or spending our estate 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 hath great hold of us; but if humor, pride, and fancy are the measures of our spending our estate, then humor, pride, and fancy will have the direction of the greatest part of our life.
Secondly, another great reason for devoting all our estate to right uses is this, because it 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 made as eyes to the blind, as a husband to the widow, as a father to the orphan. We waste that which not only enables us to minister worldly comforts to those that are in distress, but that which might purchase for ourselves everlasting treasures in Heaven. So that if we part with our money in foolish ways, we part with a great power of comforting our fellow creatures and of making ourselves forever blessed.
If there be nothing so glorious as doing good, if there is nothing that makes us so like to God, then nothing can be so glorious in the use of our money as to use it all in works of love and goodness, making ourselves friends and fathers and benefactors to all our fellow creatures, imitating the divine love and turning all our power into acts of generosity, care, and kindness, to such as are in need of it.
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, would we not justly reckon him an inhuman wretch? If he should rather choose to amuse himself with furnishing his house with those things than to entitle 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 very much the nature of eyes and feet; if we either lock it up in chests, or waste it in needless and ridiculous expenses upon ourselves 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 chooses rather to adorn his house with the hands and eyes than to give them to those that want them. If we choose to indulge ourselves in such expensive enjoyments as have no real use in them, such as 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 chooses to lock up eyes and hands than to make himself for ever blessed by giving them to those that want them.
For after we have satisfied our own sober and reasonable wants, all the rest of our money is but like spare eyes or hands; it is something that we cannot keep to ourselves without being foolish in the use of it, something that can only be used well by giving it to those that want it.
Thirdly, if we waste our money, we are not only guilty of wasting a talent which God has given us, we are not only guilty of making that useless which is so powerful a means of doing good but we do ourselves this further harm, that 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, in conforming to those fashions and pride of the world, which as Christians and reasonable men we are obliged to renounce.
As wit and fine parts cannot be trifled away and only lost, but will expose those that have them into greater follies if they are no 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 could have done without it. If, therefore, you don't spend your money in doing good to others, you must spend it to the hurt of yourself. You will act like a man that should refuse to give that as a cordial to a sick friend, though 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.
Consider again the forementioned comparison; if the man that would not make a right use of spare eyes and hands should be continually trying to use them himself spoil his own eyes and hands, we might justly accuse him of still greater madness.
Now this is truly the case of riches spent upon ourselves in vain and needless expenses; in trying to use them where they have no real use, nor we any real want, we only use them to our great hurt, in creating unreasonable desires, in nourishing ill tempers, indulging our passions and supporting a worldly, vain turn of mind. For high eating and drinking, fine clothes and fine houses state and equipage, gay pleasures and diversions, do all of them naturally hurt and disorder our hearts; they are the food and nourishments of all the folly and weakness of our nature, and a 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 and piety of heart which relishes divine things; they are like so many weights upon our minds, 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 or lost, but it is spent to bad purposes and miserable effects, to the corruption and disorder of our hearts, and to the making us less able to live up to the sublime doctrines of the gospel. It is but like keeping money from the poor, to buy poison for ourselves.
For so much as is spent in the vanity of dress may be reckoned so much laid out to fix vanity in our minds. So much as is laid out for idleness and indulgence may be reckoned so much given to render our hearts dull and sensual. So much as is spent in state and equipage may be reckoned so much spent to dazzle your own eyes, and render you the idol of your own imagination. And so in everything, when you go from reasonable wants, you only support some unreasonable temper, some turn of mind, which every good Christian is called upon to renounce.
So that on all accounts, whether we consider our fortune as a talent and trust from God, or the great good that it enables us to do, or the great harm that it does to ourselves if idly spent, on all these great accounts it appears that it is absolutely necessary to make reason and religion the strict rule of using all our fortune.
Every exhortation in scripture to be wise and reasonable, satisfying 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 neighbor as ourselves, to love all mankind as God has loved them, is a command to be strictly religious in the use of our money. For none of these tempers can be complied with unless we be wise and reasonable, spiritual and heavenly, exercising a brotherly love, a godlike charity in the use of all our fortune. These tempers, and this use of our worldly goods, is so much the doctrine of all the New Testament that you can't read a chapter without being taught something of it. I shall only produce one remarkable passage of scripture which is sufficient to justify all that I have said concerning this religious use of all our fortune.
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and the holy Angels with Him, then shall He 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 an hungered, 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 clothed 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 an hungered, 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 clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."
I have quoted this passage at length because, if one looks at the way of the world, one would hardly think that Christians had ever read this part of scripture. For what is there in the lives of Christians that looks as if their salvation depended upon these good works? And yet the necessity of them is here asserted in the highest manner, and pressed upon us by a lively description of the glory and terrors of the day of judgment.
Some people, even of those who may be reckoned virtuous Christians, look upon this text only as a general recommendation of occasional works of charity, whereas it shows the necessity not only of occasional charities now and then, but the necessity 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 you have no title to salvation if you have neglected these good works because such persons as have neglected them are at the last day to be placed on the left hand, and banished with a "depart ye cursed." There is, therefore, 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? How shall a man trust that he performs them as he ought?
Now the rule is very plain and easy and such as is common to every other virtue or good temper, as well as to charity. Who is the humble, or meek, or devout, or just, or faithful man? Is it he that has several times done acts of humility, meekness, devotion, 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 these 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 with all his mind, and with all his strength. And he only has performed the duty of these good works who has done them with all his heart, and with all his mind, and with all his strength. For there is no other measure of our doing good than our power of doing it.
The Apostle St. Peter puts this question to our blessed Savior, "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" (Matt. 18:21-22). Not as if after this number of offences a man might then cease to forgive; but the expression of seventy times seven is to show 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. Thus our Savior saith in another place, "If he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him" (Luke 17:4). 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 look upon yourself as much obliged to continue relieving those that continue in wants, 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. He that is not ready to forgive every brother as often as he wants to be forgiven does not forgive like a disciple of Christ. And he that is not ready to give to every brother that wants to have something given him does not give like a disciple of Christ. For it is as necessary to give to seventy times seven, to live in the continual exercise of all good works to the utmost of our power, as it is necessary to forgive until seventy times seven, and live in the habitual exercise of this forgiving temper toward all that want it.
And the reason of all this is very plain because there is the same goodness, the same excellency, and the same necessity of being thus 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 charitable action is as good a reason for a charitable life. That which is a reason for forgiving one offence is the same reason for forgiving all offences. For such charity has nothing to recommend it today but what will be the same recommendation of it tomorrow; 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 today or tomorrow, but through the whole course of our life. If therefore it be our duty at any time to deny ourselves any needless expenses, to be moderate and frugal, 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 further able to do more good. For if it is at any time a sin to prefer needless vain expense to works of charity, it is so at all times, because charity as much excels all needless and vain expenses at one time as at another. So that if it is ever necessary to our salvation 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 our salvation to take care to make ourselves as capable as we can be of performing them in all the parts of our life.
Either therefore you must so far renounce your Christianity as to say that you need never perform any of these good works, or you must own that you are to perform them all your life in as high a degree as you are able. There is no middle way to be taken, any more than there is a middle way betwixt pride and humility or temperance and intemperance. If you do not strive to fulfill all charitable works, if you neglect any of them that are in your power and deny assistance to those that want what you can give, 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 and to live in the continual exercise of good works as it is your duty to be temperate in all that you cat and drink.
Hence also appears the necessity of renouncing all those foolish and unreasonable expenses which the pride and 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 humor leads them than you must drink with the drunken, or indulge yourself with the epicure,12 because a course of such expenses is no more consistent with a life of charity than excess in drinking is consistent with a life of sobriety. When therefore anyone tells you of the lawfulness of expensive apparel, or the innocency 13 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 unto 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 expenses 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.