N00618:64
A good master well served. A brief discourse on the necessary properties & practices…
A good master well served. A brief discourse on the necessary properties & practices of a good servant in every-kind of servitude: and of the methods that should be taken by the heads of a family, to obtain such a servant. / By Cotton Mather. ; [Two lines from Joel]
printed by B. Green, 1696
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.
1. Whatsoever Service you do for your Masters (or Mistresses) do it as a Service unto the Lord Jesus Christ. How urgently is this noble Principles for your Service, in the Book of God set before you? You have it, in Bph. 6. 5, 6, 7 Servants, Be obedient, in singleness of Heart, as unto Christ; Not with Eye service, as men pleasers, but as the Servants of Christ, Doing the Will of God from the Heart; with Good will, doing Service, as unto the Lord, and not unto men. You have it again, in Col. 3. 23, 24. Servants, Whatever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord you shall Receive the Reward of the Inheritance; for ye Serve the Lord Christ. Whatever Lawful Service you are set about, Consider this with your selves, The Lord Jesus Christ, has put me into my Service, and the Lord Jesus Christ, has now bidden me do such […] Service; Wherefore the Service which I am now set about, I'll do it cut of Respect unto the Lord Jesus Christ; I'll do it, because the Lord Jesus Christ will be Dishou•ured, if ⟨p. 34⟩do it not. An honest man once, Cutting of Word, was asked. Who are you at Work for? and •e piously answered, I am Cutting of Wood for God. Whatever you do in your Service, in the House, in the Shop, in the Field, or in the Ship, you may do it all for the Lord Jesus Christ; You may Sanctify all your Servile Employments, by doing them under this Consideration, The Lord Jesus Christ hath Commanded me to Obey my Master and my Mistress. It was the Speech of a Great man, The Work of a poor Milk-Maid, if it •e done with an Exercise of Grace, is more glorious •han the Triumphs of a Caesar. Truly, the meanest Work that you have to do, in your Service, though it be in the Stable, or the Kitchen, you may thus render very Glorious; Do it with such a Consideration as this, Though it be a mean Thing that my Master, or my Mistress will have me to do, yet it is the Will of the Lord Jesus Christ, that I should now do it; & therefore I will do it cheerfully. A Great King once Expressed this thing, •n that verse.
1. Whatsoever Service you do for your Masters (or Mistresses) do it as a Service unto the Lord Jesus Christ. How urgently is this noble Principles for your Service, in the Book of God set before you? You have it, in Bph. 6. 5, 6, 7 Servants, Be obedient, in singleness of Heart, as unto Christ; Not with Eye service, as men pleasers, but as the Servants of Christ, Doing the Will of God from the Heart; with Good will, doing Service, as unto the Lord, and not unto men. You have it again, in