A50162:92
Small offers towards the service of the tabernacle in the wilderness four discourses accommodated…
Small offers towards the service of the tabernacle in the wilderness four discourses accommodated unto the designs of practical godliness : preached partly at Boston, partly at Charleston / by Cotton Mather ; published by a gentleman lately restored from threatening sickness as a humble essay to serve the interest of religion, in gratitude unto God for his recovery.
Boston: printed by R. Pierce, 1689
THE GOOD MANS RESOLUTION. › Section 7 › Counsel 3: The Third Rule.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Secondly, Be ready to Do what Service God calleth for. Never object, never cavil against any of Gods Commands; never dispute any thing that He requires; but own, 'Tis all holy, and just, and Good. Be not more undutiful unto God, than the servants of the Centurion were to him, If He say, Go, then go; if He say Come, then come; if He say, Do this, then do it, without any Grumbling at it. Say not, I won't, although there be Hard Sayings pressed upon thee. Albeit God may enjoin this, Pluck out thy right eye, cut off thy right hand; and albeit the Injunction of God may be; Take up thy Cross; yet Comply, yet, Conform, without any Reluctancies; and say with him in Psal. 119. 128. O Lord, I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things, to be right.
Secondly, Be ready to Do what Service God calleth for. Never object, never cavil against any of Gods Commands; never dispute any thing that He requires; but own, 'Tis all holy, and just, and Good. Be not more undutiful unto God, than the servants of the Centurion were to him, If He say, Go, then go; if He say Come, then come; if He say, Do this, then do it, without any Grumbling at it. Say not, I won't, altho there be Hard Sayings pressed upon thee. Albeit God may enjoin this, Pluck out thy right eye, cut off thy right hand; and albeit the Injunction of God may be; Take up thy Cross; yet Comply, yet, Conform, without any Reluctancies; and say with him in Psal. 119. 128. O Lord, I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things, to be right.
Thirdly. Be greatly Contriving how to be ⟨p. 27⟩most serviceable unto God. Ponder well, What you are, What you have, What you can; and Ponder how all may be improved in the Service of the Lord. Thus be Zealous of good Works. Never be satisfied unless you can say, I am at work for God. Let even your Eating, your I •• ding, your Visiting, be done as a Service for the Lord; and let your Time, your Strength, your Estates, all the Powers of your Spirits, and all the Members of your bodies, be ingeniously la out in that Service. Often ask your own souls, What is there that I may do for God? Even court, and hunt Advantages to be serviceable; Say like the Prophet, in Isa 6. 8. Say Lord, if […] hast any Service to be done; here I […] me.