and so preserved him alive who otherwise must have dyed of Famine The like instance we meet with in the same Author Valer. Max. ibid. of a worthy Roman Daughter who did in the same manner preserve her Mother in Prison being Condemned to dye When the Keeper of the Prison to whom the charge of putting her to Death was committed found after some time that her Daughter kept her alive by giving her suck he was so affected with the greatness of the Daughter's Compassion and Tenderness to her Mother that he made it known to those in Power who were likewise so mightily touched with such an unusual instance of tender Affection that they pardoned the Mother as the greatest Reward they could bestow on the Daughter for her marvellous Affection What can there be more just and reasonable than for Children thus to endeavour to requite their Parents for their great care and kindness towards them when they were not able to help themselves The time was when their Parents were as Eyes and Hands and Feet to them they did every thing for them they not being capable to do any thing for themselves How ready therefore should they be to serve their Parents to assist them by all good Offices when their condition requires it This is a Duty to which Children are so strictly obliged to wit the assisting and relieving of their Parents that no pretence is sufficient to absolve them from the Obligation thereof The Pharisees thought they had found out an Exception from this Rule which was this that if Children gave away their Wealth to Pious and Charitable uses they were freed from the Obligation of relieving their Parents They taught them in this case to tell their Parents It is Corban that is to say a Gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me Mar. 7.11 And by saying this they made People believe that they were sufficiently freed from all Obligations to take care of and provide for their Parents But our Saviour reproves them severely telling them that this was no other than the making void the Commandments of God by their Traditions Against unkind and unnatural Children We may see from this what Judgment to make of such unkind undutiful and unnatural Children who do wholly neglect their Parents especially in their old Age and in their poor and low Estate who shew them no more pity and express no more love nor tenderness towards them than if they were not their Parents who grudge them the least supply and take all the wicked courses that they can to starve them to death that they may be rid of them who wish and long for and rejoyce in the Death of their poor Parents O what a horrid Barbarity and Inhumanity is this Shall not many Pagans rise up in Judgment against such Children and Condemn them How little do they deserve the Name of Christian Children Their true Name is Vnchristian and unnatural Children As Solomon bid the Sluggard go to the Ant so may we bid such hard-hearted and unmerciful Children go to the Stork of whom it is told * S. Basil in Hexaemer Homil. 8. Ambros Hexaem l. 5. c. 16. that when the old Dams cannot feed themselves their little ones feed and nourish them when their Feathers fall from them they cover them with their Feathers and when they are not able to fly they couple themselves together to carry them upon their Backs Let uncompassionate Children go to this compassionate Creature and consider her ways and be wise Let them learn from her to be more kind and affectionate and tender-hearted towards their Parents and not any longer to harden their Bowels against them 8. Duty to pray for their Parents 8thly Because all that Children can do is not sufficient to requite the Love and tender care of their Parents therefore they ought to pray to God that he would reward them and preserve them and keep them alive that he would supply all their wants and comfort them in all their troubles and requite their Love their tender care and their great cost and pains they have been at to bring them up and to educate them How happy are the Parents of such Children who are supplicants and intercessors at the Throne of Grace for good things unto them Such Children are the strength of their Parents they are a great blessing unto them Against Cursers of Parents If it be the Duty of Children thus to pray to God in behalf of their Parents what shall we say of those who neither pray for them nor themselves but live like the Beasts that perish and mind nothing that 's good And if their Crime is great who do not at all pray for their Parents how dreadful is their Guilt who Curse them What dreadful Judgments may such Monsters of wickedness expect Prov. 20.20 Who so Curseth his Father or his Mother his Lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness that is he shall be reduced unto a sad afflicted and miserable State his prosperous condition which is compared to Light or to a Lamp shall be turned into Adversity and Misery and that very great which is expressed by obscure Darkness he shall be made very miserable his state and condition in the World shall become most uncomfortable as it is for a Man who walketh in a way that is full of Light where he beholds a great many Objects which afford him pleasure and delight suddenly to be deprived of all this and to find himself all alone in obscure Darkness without all help and comfort By the Law of Moses such ungodly and unnatural Children were without any pardon to be put to death Exod. 21.17 He that Curseth his Father or his Mother shall surely be put to Death The Duties of Children towards their deceased Parents The Duties of Children towards their deceased Parents Besides the Duties which Children owe their Parents whilst they are alive there are some things likewise for them to do after their Decease Particularly 1. Duty they ought to bury them decently First They ought to bury them decently according to their Quality so far as the present Circumstances of their Estate will permit They ought on the one hand to avoid whatever looks like Baseness and Covetousness and which is not in some measure answerable to their Parents Estate and Place while they lived and on the other hand they ought to avoid an over-lavish Sumptuousness they must do nothing above their Estate or above their Rank and Quality A great many out of a vain and foolish humour of Solemnizing their Parents Funerals in a sumptuous and splendid manner have so far weakened their Estate as scarce ever to be able to recover themselves again Children therefore ought in this matter to govern themselves by the Advice and Example of Prudent and Discreet Persons of their own Rank in the World but especially they are herein to govern themselves by the Will of the Dead so far as it was made
Practices and with their rash and foolish Designs In a word they study a perfect Opposition to their Parents in all things they pull down whatever they built they root up whatever they planted they hate what they loved and love whatever they hated So unlike do they render themselves to their Parents in all their Manners and Customs that all who see them must needs call them a degenerate Seed Cursed Children unnatural Plants ready to be hewn down and cast into the Fire From what hath been said Children may see what their Duty is which they owe to their Parents which that they may perform there are several things which serve as powerful Motives and Arguments to excite them Motives to excite Children to do these things 1 Motive from the divine Commandment First It will tend mightily to move them to Honour their Father and Mother if they consider who requires this at their hands This Law proceedeth not from Men but from God It is a Law made by him who is their Maker and therefore by right of Creation may require their Obedience It is a Law made by their faithful preserver and rich provider and therefore by Virtue of his daily care over them and kindness to them may command them what he thinks good This is the will of their Father in Heaven of their Lord and King of him who will call them to an account and render to them according to their Works of him who is their greatest and best Friend if they do his Will and keep his Commandments but will be their most dreadful and terrible Enemy if they do not obey his Voice If therefore Children have any sense of God on their Souls If they consider his infinite greatness Power Wisdom Justice Truth Faithfulness Mercy and Kindness they cannot but endeavour to perform what he requires when once they know what is his holy will and pleasure Now as to what I speak of to wit the Duty of Children to Parents it is plain and clear not only from those Laws which are contained in Holy Scripture which were revealed from Heaven to Holy Men whom God made use of to be the publishers thereof to the World but likewise from the Laws of Nature those clear impressions which God hath made on the Minds of Men in all places and in all Ages whereby they are taught that Children ought to honour and obey their Parents to love them and to relieve them and provide for them if they stand in need of their help * See Simplicius upon Epictet Cap. 37. and Arrianus l. 2. c. 10. These have always been the calm and sober thoughts of all Men and when any were so wicked as to violate this sacred Law they were hated and abhorred by all others and in all well govern'd States were punished according to the demerits of their Crime and the degree of their disobedience and perverseness either immediately by the Parents or by publick Judges upon complaint made by Parents The Sense of all this ought to move Children to honour their Father and Mother that they may approve themselves to God who requires them to do so and that upon the severest Penalties if they shall dare to dishonour them and disobey them 2. Motive from the Divine Promise Secondly To encourage Children to perform their Duty to their Parents God hath been pleased to add a gracious promise That thy days may be long †Or that they i. e. Thy Parents may prolong thy days to wit by their Prayers and Blessing upon the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee He might only have commanded them to do this by Virtue of his absolute Power and Soveraign Authority which he has over all Men without proposing any Reward but such is his infinite Bounty and Goodness that he hath added a Promise to the Command thereby to make Childrens Duty the more easie As to the Promise it self it is not to be understood absolutely as if all good Children should live long promises of Temporal Blessings are made conditionally that is so far as God sees such things best and fittest for us So that as to this promise of long life God will bestow it if it be most for his own Glory and the good and Benefit of Children Oftentimes he does lengthen out the years of pious and dutiful Children whereas the years of wicked and undutiful Children are shortned by their prophane and wicked courses so that some of them are cut off immediately by the hand of God and others are put to death by the hand of Man As for those Children who live not to a great Age tho' they are very dutiful and obedient to their Parents God doth make up what is wanting in the number of their Years here with an everlasting Life and Glory in Heaven In which case there 's no cause to complain as if Cod did not fulfil his promise to them For as there is no reason for a Man to complain who is employed to work for so much a day if his Master see it fit to free him from his Work and pay him all his Wages before the third part of his time is out Even so if God think fit to set his Children at Liberty from the toil and labour of this life and to bestow upon them Glorious and Eternal Rewards while they are in the Morning or Noon as it were of their Age there is no ground of complaining upon his doing so but rather great matter of Praise and Thanksgiving unto him whose Mercy and Love is infinitely great But besides this Reward in the other World there are Temporal Blessings which God will bestow on those who keep this Commandment My Son saith Solomon Prov. 1.8,9 Hear the Instruction of thy Father and forsake not the Law of thy Mother For they shall be an Ornament of Grace unto thy Head and Chains about thy Neck That is if thou art obedient to the Commands of thy Parents this will make thee very amiable not only in the sight of God but even of Men who cannot but love and esteem such Children who carry themselves as they ought to do towards their Parents But further to encourage Children to honour their Parents there is a promise of Prosperity added to that of long life Deut. 5.16 That thy days may be prolonged and that it may go well with thee c. The same Promise is repeated Eph. 6.3 with this difference only that it is prefixed to the promise of long life that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the Earth When God does prolong the Years of his Children he often affords them more or less of Temporal Prosperity also as he sees it will turn to their good that so their long life may be the more sweet and comfortable to them How acceptable and pleasing to God was the Obedience of the Rechabites unto their Father tho' his Commands seemed very hard and severe to wit That they
should drink no Wine nor build House nor sow Seed nor plant Vineyard nor have any but should dwell in Tents Jer. 35.6,7 c. And ver 18. Jeremiah said unto the House of the Rechabites Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel because you have obeyed the Command of Jonadab your Father and kept all his Precepts and done according to all that he hath Commanded you Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel Jonadab the Son of Rechab shall not want a Man to stand before me for ever Which words import that he would take a particular care of them that he would be mindful of them and have them in his Eye that he would preserve them and shew them his favour and love and continue unto them those Offices and Priviledges which they enjoyed which some think were of being Scribes and Doctors of the Law and having some Charge in or about the Temple 3. Motive from the Example of our Blessed Saviour Thirdly Besides the Command of God and the Reward which he hath promised to them who honour their Parents how strong an Argument ought it to be unto all Children to excite them to this when they consider the Example of their Blessed Lord and Master their King and Saviour Jesus Christ of whom it is said that he was subject unto his Parents Luke 2.51 And if he who was so much greater than his Parents who was their Lord their King their Maker their Saviour and Redeemer if he who was the Son of God and thought it no Robbery to be equal with God I say if he was subject to his Parents ought not all Children to be so to their Parents and to esteem it their Glory to imitate their Prince and Saviour as in his other Virtues so in his Obedience and Subjection to his Parents Shall any Man think himself too good to do this when Christ did it before him Can it be too mean for a Worm to do that which a Man a great Man and a mighty Prince hath done Shall vile Sinners think themselves abased and dishonoured by doing that which was done before by him who knew no sin and in whose Mouth there was found no guile who was holy harmless and undefiled separate from sinners and made higher than the Heavens Heb. 7.26 As our Blessed Lord was a great and Noble Pattern to us in other things so particularly in his love to his Parents When he was upon the Cross a little before he gave up the Ghost he expressed how great his love was to his Mother and how tender a care he had of her John 19.25,26,27 Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus his Mother and his Mother's Sister Mary the Wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene When Jesus therefore saw his Mother and the Disciple standing by whom he loved he saith unto his Mother Woman behold thy Son Then saith he to the Disciple behold thy Mother And from that hour that Disciple took her unto his own home He commends his Mother to John Joseph in all probability being dead that he might take care of her as of his own Mother Tho' he was at this time in the midst of great pain and anguish tho' his hands and his feet were nailed to the Cross tho' his Head was Crowned with Thorns tho' he lay under the most insupportable Burden that ever Man lay under yet as if the sight of his Mother had made him forget all his Sufferings and Torments he affectionately recommends her to the care of another who he knew would perform all the Offices of a loving Son unto her He knew how great an affliction it would be to her to be deprived of the Comfort of his presence in the World he knew to how many necessities and wants she should be exposed by his leaving of her and therefore he gives it in charge to the beloved Disciple to do the Duty of a Son unto her to be to her in his stead to honour her to love her to serve her to take care of her and provide whatever might be fit for her This shews all Children what is their Duty towards their Parents to wit that they ought to take care of them so long as they live and are able to do it they ought with all respect and kindness to perform unto them all those Offices which the Laws of Nature and Christianity require 4. Motive from the Examples of some Heathens Fourthly May not the Examples of some Heathens which have already been mentioned excite Christian Children to perform their Duty to their Parents There are a great many more Instances might be added to this purpose I shall only mention a few The first is * Valer. Max. l. 5. c. 4. Plut. in Coriolaâ—… of the brave Coriolanus that Great Roman Commander who being very ill used by his Country-men fled to the Volscians who were at that time at War with the Romans Within a little time after his coming amongst them he was made General of their Forces in which Service he had great Success against the Romans gaining several Victories over them whereby he was encouraged to approach to the very Walls of Rome His Countrey-men were terribly alarmed with this so that they were forced to make humble Addresses to him to deprecate his displeasure but to no purpose They sent their Priests in their Sacred Vestments but to as little Effect But no sooner did his Mother attended with his Wife and Children come to him but he submitted himself to her Now says he you have overcome me indeed when the intreaties of my Mother are added to yours tho' Rome deserve my hatred yet for my Mother's sake I will spare it and immediately he withdrew his Army A second Example is that of the Worthy Athenian Captain Cimon * Val. Max. ibid. who not being able to redeem the Corps of his Father which was Arrested for Debt sold himself and became a Slave that his Deceased Father's Body might be freed from that Arrest that was upon it and so might have Honourable Burial This great Man was famous for his Noble and Valiant Exploits for his great Courage and Excellent Conduct in Military Affairs but there was not any thing for which he was so much admired and loved as for this wonderful instance of Affection and Respect to his Father A Third Example is * Sen. l. 1. Controversiarum c. 1. of a Son whose Father and Uncle were at great variance It happ'ned that the Uncle during this Contention fell into great want His Brother was so madly and wickedly set against him that he not only would not relieve him himself but also forbad his Son to do it The young Man considered his Uncles Case to be such as obliged his Father and himself both to help him all they could But if his Father through his violent Passion and Prejudice neglected his Duty which the Laws of Nature and Humanity required yet he judged
himself bound to do him all the Service he could and not to suffer him to starve for want when it was in his power to support him The Father being inraged against his Son because he took pity upon his Uncle disinherited him which the young Man bore very patiently His Uncle seeing how unjustly he was dealt with adopted him and made him his Heir After some time the Uncle grew very Rich having got a good Inheritance but the Father grew poor and was not able to maintain himself without relief from others The Uncle continuing still in his bitter Enmity against his Brother forbad the young Man to help him But such was his Love and Dutifulness to his Father that notwithstanding his former Injustice and severity against him and notwithstanding the Commands of his Uncle he took care of him and did not suffer him to want for any thing that he was able to afford him The Uncle was so provoked by his Adopted Sons kindness to his Natural Parent that he likewise disinherited him But the pious Son continued to do what he thought his Duty amidst all the Discouragements he met with May not such shining Patterns amongst the Pagans make many Christians ashamed who come so far short of them in their Duty and Obedience to their Parents Shall not they rise up in Judgment and condemn Christians who tho' they have a more excellent compleat and perfect Rule tho' they have a great deal more Light to direct them in their Duty to their Parents and tho' they have much greater assistances to enable them to perform their Duty do nevertheless carry themselves so undutifully and unchristianly as if they had never heard of the Gospel of Christ yea as if they had been born without any impressions of Natural Religion on their Minds whereby all Nations are so far instructed and enlightned as to acknowledge that to honour obey love serve and assist our Parents are Duties of unquestionable and indispensible Obligation The Conclusion shewing how Children ought to improve what hath been said From what hath been said Children may see how great reason they have to perform all those Offices of Love Honour and Subjection to their Parents that God requires of them It remains that they seriously and impartially consider what their practice has been and whether they have done those things which God requires them to do towards their Father and Mother That you may do this to good purpose it 's fit that you employ some time in looking back on your Lives in considering how you have honoured loved and obeyed your Parents that you may see whether you have carried your selves towards them in words and deeds as became good Children who have a sense of Religion or whether you have not dishonoured neglected and disobeyed them If upon Examination of your selves you find that you have done your Duty that you have sincerely endeavoured to obey them in all things that you have loved them heartily and payed them that Respect which you knew was due unto them Bless God who hath given you to will and to do according to his good Pleasure But because there are defects and imperfections which cleave to our exactest performances therefore it is needful that you beg of God to forgive you wherein soever through Ignorance you have been faulty or defective in those Duties you owed them But if upon inquiry into your Hearts and Lives you find that you have wilfully neglected to do what you ought to have done if instead of honouring them you have dishonoured them you have slighted and despised them you have mocked and scorned them you have reviled and reproached them if instead of obeying them you find that you have been stubborn and disobedient to them you have refused to follow their Counsels and Admonitions you have done your own Will and followed your own vain humour and fancy in contempt of their Will if instead of submitting to their Corrections and Chastenings you have refused submission to them and perhaps have rebelled against them if instead of loving them you have hated them and wished and desired their Death if instead of relieving them in their wants and supplying them with what was necessary for them you have wasted their substance by your riotous and extravagant Living you have put off all bowels of compassion and tenderness towards them if I say you find that you have thus carried your selves towards them in a way so contrary to your Duty how ought you to lament and mourn for your wickedness and folly How ought you to accuse your selves for your great iniquity and to aggravate your Crimes by all just and fit considerations You may in this manner expostulate the case with your selves What a sad and unworthy Wretch am I who have thus dishonoured hated and disobeyed my dear Parents who are under God the Authors of my Being in the World to whom I owe that I am who have proved so undutiful to them who took care of me when I could not take care of my self who fed and cloathed me who were at so great pains and charge for me who have employed so much of their time and strength to provide for me all necessary things and yet that I should prove so wicked as to despise them to disobey them and hate them not to submit my self unto them what base and wicked ingratitude is it That I who should have been a Blessing to them should prove a Curse That I who should have been a Comfort to them should he the cause of their grief and sorrow That I who should have been a help unto them should be so great a hinderance That I who should have been the stay and support of their Old Age should prove their ruine and the cause of the spending of their days in anguish and trouble What a prodigious impiety is this What a wretched and abominable Creature am I who have been guilty of such horrid wickedness Who have had so little regard to those who are to me in God's stead here in the World What punishment do I not deserve What a wonder is it that God hath spared me and pitied me and hath not cut me off in the midst of my disobedience neglect and contempt of my dear Parents That he hath not made me an Example to all others and a standing Monument of his just displeasure That he has not bound me hand and foot and cast me into utter darkness and given me my portion with Hypocrites and Sinners but hath lengthened out my years and given me time and place to repent Having thus in your own minds expostulated the matter with your selves you may in the next place adore and bless the Divine Goodness the infinite Mercy and astonishing Kindness of God towards you in having spared and pitied you in not dealing with you after your sins nor rewarding you after your iniquities but that he hath been pleased to wait to be gracious to you Humbly confess your faults
outward Call to do the same thing you may conclude there is somewhat extraordinary in this to determine you By an outward Call I do not mean any extraordinary Voice from Heaven That 's not to be expected but a Call by some good wise and discreet Person who unexpectedly desires and invites you to do that which before his speaking of it to you you found your own heart moved and inclined to In which case you have a very mighty encouragement both from the goodness and usefulness of the thing it self and from the Call and invitation which you have had from another of whose Wisdom and Piety you are sufficiently assured Tho' there be no more but this Call from Man it is of great weight to move you and to determine you in this manner to redeem your time from your ordinary labour when there is some extraordinary occasion of doing somewhat for the honour of God or the good of Men. Thus if at any time you are invited to comfort one that is in any great trouble of Body or Mind or in any other great distress and affliction if there be any thing in your power to do for the comfort and encouragement of such a Person you ought to shew your readiness to do your utmost for his help and support You know not but the Lord may make use of you however weak and unfit you may think your selves to serve the designs of his Mercy and Love Likewise if you are called to reconcile those that are at variance to see if you can awaken a Person from his sin and folly especially when the Lord's hand is upon him to give your Counsel and Advice in some extraordinary case where it is judged needful for you so to do In these and the like cases you ought chearfully to Sacrifice your private gain and advantage and to let your lesser cares give place to those of a more publick and considerable Nature These things you are only to do so far as the necessity of your own occasions will permit They who are settled in a Calling and have a Family are under a very strict obligation to take care of their Family and to mind their Calling and Employment they must not neglect those necessary Duties which God hath given them to do in their several stations The Scripture accounts them worse than Infidels who provide not for their House and those of their own Family But if the Circumstances of your affairs will permit you to comply with the Opportunities of performing some eminent acts of Piety and Zeal you ought not to neglect them God will not fail plentifully to reward your Love to him and your Zeal for his Glory Short and fervent Ejaculations even in Time of Business recommended Tho' a great many cannot spare much time from their Worldly Business for extraordinary Exercises of Piety and Charity yet there are none who may not redeem some time from their Business by lifting up their Hearts now and then unto God by short and fervent Ejaculatory Prayers or Thanksgivings by earnest desires and breathings by humble Groans and secret Sighs by serious Acts of Adoration by frequent Acts of Love of Hope of Trust and Confidence and of Resignation to the divine Will There is great necessity for such short and fervent Acts of Devotion sometimes amidst your affairs and business considering the doubts and difficulties the hazards and dangers and the snares and temptations which you are often exposed to as also the many unexpected and kind providences you meet with when you are employed in the Duties of your Calling By observing this Course you do not hinder or interrupt your Business on the contrary this is the readiest way to do it successfully and most to your own comfort and satisfaction We see what Nehemiah did when he waited upon Artaxerxes as his Cup-bearer The King having said unto him Neh. 2.4 For what dost thou make Request 't is added So I pray'd to the God of Heaven He knew how great need he had of God's Direction and Assistance and therefore by a secret fervent Prayer or Ejaculation he lifted up his Heart unto the Lord And the Lord heard him and both assisted him to present his Petition to the King and inclined the King's Heart to grant his Request v. 8. Amongst other Advantages which attend this Religious Course there is this thereby you keep alive in your Hearts that sacred Fire which was kindled in the time of your more solemn Devotions This is the way to have your Conversation in Heaven to walk with God and to be continually with him this is to live like Citizens of the new Jerusalem like Men whose Hearts are in Heaven whose Treasure is there and whose Love is fixt and settled on God and upon divine things 7. Time to be redeemed from Idleness Seventhly Redeem your time from idleness and an useless way of living in the World A great many do not waste much time in sleep in dressing and adorning of their Bodies in eating and in drinking in gaming or in visiting and yet they waste their time But how In doing nothing in entertaining themselves with the vain imaginations of their foolish minds feeding on the Wind pursuing dreams and catching at shadows building Castles in the Air and sporting themselves with their own vain conceits and foolish fancies Their Eyes are as Solomon tells us in the ends of the Earth Prov. 17.24 They mind those things most which concern them least They busie themselves about what others say and do but do nothing themselves to any good purpose Some Men are full of vain and useless contrivances wherewith they do indeed busie themselves But to what end When all their designs and vain contrivances are accomplished they are but as so many Spiders Webs only sit to catch flyes This is to be busie in Trifles to be employed in doing as good as nothing Thus there be some who pursue a studious Life night and day with a wonderful diligence but their studies being only in impertinent Books and about designs of no use or perhaps of very bad use they gain nothing thereby yea so far are they from reaping any benefit by their great pains and labour that they are unspeakable losers they lose their time and sometimes they lose their Wealth and their Health if not their Reason and Understanding Consider first how unworthy this sort of Life is of Men and of Christians God hath made you to be useful to glorifie him to do good in the World to become daily more and more holy and religious to grow in grace and to perfect holiness in his fear and not to be like an useless Log or an insignificant Cypher not to be barren and unfruitful in his Vineyard Strive therefore to live up to the end and design of your being in the World to improve your selves in Piety and Virtue to do somewhat that may be of real advantage to the Souls and Bodies of others
Babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word that your Souls may grow thereby You must hear it with great reverence and attention and with humble and tractable minds you must study to have it ingrafted in your Hearts that it may abide there as a Scion in a stock and may grow and bear fruit unto everlasting life You must reflect on what you hear when you leave the Church you must not lay aside all further thinking on what has been read or preached to you you are to talk a little with your own hearts about those things and to call to mind any thing you heard which tends to make you wiser and better Endeavour to have it deeply imprinted on your Souls that it may prove unto you the Power of God unto Salvation the savour of life unto life If you find that you have been too often guilty of singing the Praises of God with your mouths only without any melody in your Hearts without any real sense of the greatness and power of the kindness and love of the patience and long-suffering of the truth and faithfulness of him whom you praise and celebrate Endeavour to be more devout and serious in that part of Worship sing unto God not only with your Voice but with your Heart which is the chief thing that God looks to Study to raise your Souls to him as well as to lift up your Voices when you sing his praises Stir up all within you to bless his holy Name who forgiveth all your Iniquities and healeth all your diseases who crowneth you with loving kindness and tender mercies who prevents you every Morning and follows you all the day long with many signal instances of his Fatherly care and love giving you richly all things to enjoy for life and godliness If you find that you joyn in the Publick Prayers without any due Sense of God upon your Souls and without any real impression of those things to which you say Amen if you find that you repeat some words as do others but in the mean time your minds are busie in pursuing shadows in thinking of your Trades your Sports and Pastimes c. be ashamed that you do thus lose your precious time that you are guilty of such trifling in the most serious and sacred action Endeavour to be more affected with a right sense about what you do that you may offer up unto God the Sacrifices of broken and contrite Hearts that you may pour out your Hearts before him and may worship him with all your Soul and Mind Bid farewel to your Worldly Cares and to your Pleasures and Vanities when you come into his presence to pay your homage to him Serve him with your best affections with the strength and vigour of your desires and with all your power and might If you do this you may then expect with great assurance and confidence that God will give ear unto you and satisfie your longing Souls with good things he will make you taste and see how good he is But if you pray without being in good earnest your Sacrifices will be an abomination to him he will not regard your Prayers nor take any notice of you He will answer you according to the multitude of your Idols If you find that you lose time by your communicating in a careless and formal manner without considering the end and design of that holy Institution and without endeavouring to prepare your selves as you ought to do that you may eat and drink worthily at the Table of the Lord study to redeem this loss by partaking of this Sacrament for the time to come in a more devout and religious manner Be careful to approach with greater love and gratitude unto the Table of your Lord who not only allows you to come but kindly and lovingly invites and encourages you to do so Come with your Souls burning with love to him who dyed for you and who appointed you this Sacrament that therein you might remember his wonderful love and his astonishing compassion and mercy which he hath testified in laying down his life for sinners that he might purchase to them everlasting Life and Glory even to as many as repent and believe the Gospel Come with your Hearts deeply wounded and pierced with sorrow for your sins and follies which were the cause of so shameful so painful and so cursed a death to your dearest Lord and Saviour Come with your Souls full of sincere and hearty purposes and resolutions of being new Creatures not to live any more unto your selves or unto the World but to him who dyed for you Come with your Souls likewise enlarged with thoughts of kindness and unfeigned Charity to all Men with your minds delivered from all bitterness and wrath from all malice and envy that you may eat and drink at this Feast of Love with sutable dispositions of universal Love and Charity Come with a great desire to obtain strength from the God of your Salvation that you may be able to fight the good fight of Faith and may at last lay hold on Eternal Life In this manner you ought to endeavour to redeem the time by doubling your care and diligence in all those Duties of Religion in the performance whereof you have been formerly faulty and defective Thus you are to do likewise in every other Action which you perform to the glory of God When you find that you have been too formal and careless in what you have done and said for God for Example in admonishing others in instructing them in reproving them in comforting them c. endeavour to redeem time by doing those things with greater sincerity and zeal with a more pure regard to the Glory of God with a greater desire to approve your selves unto him who gives you the opportunity of doing somewhat for his Honour and with greater Charity to the Souls of Men. Depend on God for a Blessing in all your endeavours beg of him that he would direct and assist you to do that which is good and well pleasing unto him and that he would so dispose the hearts of those whom you admonish instruct reprove or comfort that what you speak to them may not be lost but may have the desired effect for the glory of God and their happiness and welfare From what hath been said you may see how you ought to redeem your time The next thing which I proposed to speak to was to suggest to you some Considerations to excite you to do so Some Motives to excite you to do these things 1. Motive from the shortness of your Time First Consider how short your time is Your life is compared to a Vapour which appears for a little time and then vanisheth away Jam. 4.14 It makes a little shew and appearance for a while and then it is gone It is compared to a Post to the Swift Ships and to the Eagle that hasteth to the Prey Job 9.25,26 And to the Wind and to a Weaver's