The serviceable man. A discourse made unto the General Court of the Massachusetts colony,…

First, The Good Judgment which God passes on them, is part of his Good Thoughts for the men that are Serviceable to his people. Our God is considered as a Judge, when Thoughts ⟨p. 12⟩are Attributed unto Him here. What is the Good Thought, which God has for a man that studies to be Serviceable? It is, This man i• a good man. When Barnabas was endeavouring to be Serviceable with a very mighty Industry, there was that Thought presently entered in the Book of God upon him, in Acts 11.24. He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost. Every man undergoes a Trial, by that God, whose Flaming Eyes do search and knit Eyelids T•y the Children of Man; and in this Trial, those men that study to Do much for the people of God, have a sentence passed on them, like that on Job, Behold, a perfect and an upright man! or like that on David, Behold, a man after Gods own Heart! or like that on Nathanael, Behold, an Israelite indeed! An Inclination to be Serviceable proceeds from such a Love to God, and such a Love to Christ, and such a Sympathy with His People, as will procure to a man, that place in the Divine Account, (1 John 3.14.) This man is passed from Death to Life; in as much as he Loves the Brethren. When a man shall always be Doing of Good, the God of Heaven gives this as a censure of him, Behold a man that has the Spirit of the Lord Jesus in him! The Serviceable man discovers a good principle Reigning in him; a principle of great Respect ⟨p. 13⟩unto the Interest of God; thence our God Thinks well of such a man; His Thoughts are, Here are one of those good men that are upright in Heart. It is not only a just man, but also a good man, that shall always be seeking to make many others the better for him.

First, The Good Judgment which God passes on them, is part of his Good Thoughts for the men that are Serviceable to his people. Our God is considered as a Judge, when Thoughts ⟨p. 12⟩are Attributed unto Him here. What is the Good Thought, which God has for a man that studies to be Serviceable? It is, This man i a good man. When Barnabas was endeavouring to be Serviceable with a very mighty Industry, there was that Thought presently entred in the Book of God upon him, in