OF GOD-REDEEMER. 281 upon his gift. Men did not create you or redeem you. " Benot, therefore, the servants ofmen," (1 Cor. vii. 23.) unless it be under Christ, and for him. Certainly Satan did not create you or re- deem you : what right, then,, bath he to you, that he should be served ? 4. Seeing, then, that you are God's, and his alone, is it not the most heinous thievery to rob him of his, right? If they must be hanged that rob men of so small 'a thing as earthly necessaries, wherein they have but an improper derived propriety, what tor- ments do those deserve that rob God of so precious a creature, that-cost him so dear, and might be so useful, and whereinhe bath so full andunquestionable propriety ? The greatest, the richest, and wisest men that are ¡rusted with most, are the greatest robbers on earth, if they live not to God, and shall have the greatest pun- ishment. 5. Is it not incomparably more honorable to be 'God's thanko be your own; and to, live to him than to yourselves? The object and end dpth nobilitate theact, and thereby the agent. It is more honorable to serve a prince than a ploughman. That man that least seeks his own honor or carnal interest, but most freely denieth it, and most entirely seeks the honor of God, is the most highly honored with God and good men, when self-seekers defraud them- selves of their hopes. Most men think vilely, or at least suspi- ciously, of that man that seeks for'hopòr to himself; they think if the matter were combustible, he need not to blow the fire so hard if he were worthy of honor, his worth would attract it by a sweet magnetic power; so much industry, they think, is the most proba- ble mark of indignity, and of some consciousness of it in the seeker's breast. If he attain some of his ends, men 'are ready to look on his honor but as alms, which he was fain to beg for before he got it. And could he make shift toascend'the throne, so much, in the eyes of the wisest men, would be detracted from his honor, as they did believe himself to have a hand- in contriving it, quod sequiturfugio, &c. They honor him more that . refuseth a crown when it is offered, than him that ambitiously aspireth after it, or rapaciously apprehendeth it. If they see a man mueh desire their applause, they think he needeth'it rather than deserveth it_ Sol- omon saith, " To search their own glory is not glory ; " Prov. xxv. 27. 6. You can never have a better master than God, nor yet a sweeter" employment than his service. There is nothing in him that may be the leastdiscouragement to you, nor in his works that should be distasteful. The reason why the world thinks otherwise, is because of the distempered averseness of their souls. A sick stomach is no fit,judge of the pleasantness of meats. To live to VOL. II. 36
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