The business of servants is to wait upon, minister to, support and defend their masters; but there are three cases, as Dr. Stennett observes, wherein a servant may be justified in refusing obedience:
1. When the master's commands are contrary to the will of God.
2. When they are required to do what is not in their power.
3. When such service is demanded as falls not within the compass of the servant's agreement.
The obligations servants are under to universal obedience, are from these considerations:
1. That it is fit and right.
2. That it is the expressed command of God.
3. That it is for the interest both of body and soul.
4. That it is a credit to our holy religion.
The manner in which this service is to be performed is,
1. With humility, Proverbs 30:21-22; Ecclesiastes 10:7 .
2. Fidelity, Titus 2:10; Matthew 24:45 .
3. Diligence, Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 21:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:11 .
4. Cheerfulness. Stennett's Domestic Duties, ser. 7; Fleetwood's Relative Duties, ser. 14, 15; Paley's Moral Philosophy, vol. 1: chap. 11.