Fifth Commandmc11t. I 55 with Whom thou familiarly converfeft, with Nhom thou cateft, and drinkeft, and fleepdl:, do not at laft i,nfe8: thee. We fee holy J oftph, by livi ng long in the Egypti1 t.n Court, had learn d fame of the Court Fafluons, and could readily fwear by the Life of PhaYaoh. • .. Venture not thy felftherefore anto thofe Fam1hes, where the Govcrnours are either corrupt and erroneous in their Principles, or lewd and dilfolute in their Convcrfation · for it will be hard for thee to fwim againft the Stream both of Exam~ ple and Authority. Or if th~n fh.ould~ be able to bear np ag:1inJl: bo~h, it will coft thee more Pams and Strugltng to do tt, than all the temporal Advantages thou canfl there reap, wi11 be worth to thee. . . This is the firft Duty that belongs to a Servant, 'VR, That he chu[c a p1ous and religious Maftcr. Secondly, After thou haft made thy choice, and art entertained, confider how 2. thou ouohte!t to demean thy felf towards thy Mafter. And l~ere, if by v·:hat thou fualt hear thy Duty_ feem very hard unto thee, yet it is no harder than it hath pleafed God to make 1t; yea, and poffibly not fa hard as thy Mafl:er's. For he is _boun~ to give an account for thee 1111to God? bu~ fa art not thou for him. Thy M1fcarnages fhall be feverely revenged npon h1m, 1f they have been through his default of needful lnftr_uC\: io~, or of Care and. Difciplinc; but fa fuall not his 11pon thee. And therefore m tlus rcfpeCt, all lnfenours have a mighty Advantage t~ fweeten the ~eannefs ~nd Low:nefs of their Co!ldition, that they fuall not _be pm1~fhed for the Sms of th_eir Supeno~rs, but Su~enours may for the Sins of their Iofenours; yea, and fomeumes for their due Obedience too, when rhey command them things, though not unlawful, yet un~t; for that may be aSin in a Superiour to command, which is a Duty for an Inferiour to obey, when ,:om~ rnanded: And certainly in the end, his Task will be found eafieft, who is to obey, rather than his who commands. Now here, Firft, The chief and comprehenfive Duty of a Servant, is Obedience r.' unto the Commands of his Mafter. For this is abfolutely injoyned them, Cot. 3· j!.2, Servant.s, obey in all things your M afters accordmg to the Flejl1 : And again, Ephef. 6. 5· Servants, be obedient to them that are your M afters according to the Fltjh. . In all .things that are not dHboneft, and contrary to the Laws of God, there Obedience is re" quired; yea, although ih. many things their Commands fuould be impertinent, or too imperious aud tyrannical, yetServants i~ fuchCafes arc no more exempted from Obedience, than their Mafrers fuall be from Punifhmcnt, for the unreafonablenefs of their Commands they fhall give an account unto God, their Maftcr; and thou for detrad:ing thy Obedience both to them and him. Seco11dly, An~ther Duty is, a patient fuffering their Reproofs and CorreCtions; 2: yea, and fo patient are they to be, as not (o much as to Anfwer again, Tir. 2. 9· Exhort Servants to pleafe their MAft ers well in all things, not an[wering again. So ftrifrly bath Religion tied them up to Obedience, that they ought not to reply againft a Rebuke, nor to derogate fo much from the Authority of their Mafters, as to murmur at it: And therefore to ufe Violence again it them, is fo high a Degree of Difobcd~ence, ~hat it_ approacheth near to Sacrilege; yea, and t~is q_uiet and fiient Subm1ffion, IS reqmred alfo not only where the Servant bath g1ven )uft caufe for Reproof and CorreCtion, but although he fuffer from the groundlefs Rage and Paffion of his Mafter. See t Per. 2. 18, 19, 20. SeMJants bt fubjdl (o yout ~wn M afters with all fear, not only to the Good and Gentle, bllt to the Frotvard al[o: For this is Thank-worrhy, if a ~~n [or Confcience torMrdJ God endure Grief, [uf[erin~ 'IDrongfulfy. For what Glory tS ~t, if when ye be btt/Jeted for your Faults, ye take it pa... tiently? But if when you do ~ell, ye fuj[er for tt, and take it pariemly, thi.s i;. acceptable wi th God. See here with what preffingnefs the Apoftle injoyns them this Duty. And indeed a Duty fo hard, fo contrary unto Flefh and Blood, had need tQ be preft home upon our Confciences; You ought to be patient not only when you arc juftly reproved and 'corrett~d for your Faults; but if the difrcmpered Rage of a Mafter ihould brtak forth Without any Reafon, or contrary to a\lReafon; if he ihould !eproye and buffet you, no~ for y~urFaults, but for your Duty, you ought to' take 1t patiently; and_t~ot to ftnke agam, 11? not fa much as to Anfwer again; that is, not to Anfwer WLtn Taunts and InvcCttves, but calmly, and at fit and convenient . Seafons, toprefent unto him the Juftice of your AClions, and the Reafons th1i moved you to them. l muft confers, that of all things which belong unto the Du- . t'[
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