instruct Moreover it was also the intention of our Saviour that this Church of his should be but one and Catholick imbracing all the true Believers all the World over and therefore it is called his Body and his Spouse from whence it follows that every man who will partake of the benefits which flow from him must be a part of this Body and thereby hold Communion with him by Conjunction with that which is otherwise impossible to be done than by joining with that part of the Catholick Church where it hath pleased the Divine Providence to settle our abode and habitation that is in the Parish and Neighbourhood where we dwell for without this though it 's possible we may retain the fame Faith in our hearts with the Catholick Church yet we cannot perform the offices of members nor serve the ends of such a Society The result is therefore that it is ordinarily every Christians Duty to communicate in all the offices of Christianity to submit to the Officers to be subject to the censures ahd to comply with the orders of that part of the Church amongst which the Divine Providence hath placed him I say ordinarily because it may happen that the Society of Christians amongst whom a man lives may be heretical in their Doctrine or Idolatrous in their Worship and then it will not be his sin but his duty to separate from them but bating that case and where the Doctrine is sound and the worship free from Idolatry I see not what else can acquit him of Schism that separates or what can be sufficient to dissolve the obligation of joining with the Catholick Church by Conjunction with that particular Society or Member of it where he is placed Therefore let not the good Christian without flat necessity suffer himself to be alienated from the particular Church lest by so doing he lose the comforts and benefits of the Catholick Church but let it be his care and indeavour so far as it is in his power that there may be but one Church in the World as was the intention of our Saviour to this purpose let him not hearken to the fond pretences of purer Ordinances and double refined worship or to the vain boasts of greater edification in other Assemblies for besides that a man may justly expect most of Gods blessing upon those means which are most his duty to apply himself unto it is also evident that if such suggestions be attended to it will be flatly impossible that there should ever be such a thing as unity or order in the Christian Church nay these conceits will not only distract and confound the order of the Church but they serve to fill mens heads with endless disputes and their hearts with perpetual scruples about purity of administrations so that they shall rest no where but under pretence of soaring higher and higher shall ramble from one Church to another till at last they cast off all Ordinances as the highest attainment of spirituality Nor let him give ear to any peevish insinuations against the Church and publick worship upon account that there are some Rites or Ceremonies made use of which are only of humane institution for it is not only reasonable to hope that God will be well pleased with humility peaceableness and obedience to humane Laws but certain that there is no Church in the World that is or can be without some observances that have no higher original than humane institution But against these and all other such like principles of separation let him indeavour to secure himself First by dismissing the prejudices of Education and the unnecessary scrupulosities of a melancholy temper and above all acquit himself of pride and pragmaticalness and then he will easily and comfortably comply with any sound part of the Christian Church In pursuance whereof 2. He must diligently frequent all the publick offices of Religion in that Society whether it be Prayers Preaching or reading the word of God or Administration of the Sacraments c. For it is a mighty shame that a man should pretend to be of the Church who cares not how little or how seldom he comes at it and who slights the advantages of its Communion For such a man however he may hector and swagger for the notion of a Church manifestly betrays that all is but humour or interest and no true principle of Christianity at the bottom and really he doth more dishonour to that Society than the professed Schismatick doth or can do For besides that he incourages them in their contempt of it and discourages good men in their zeal for it he foments the suspicion of Atheistical men that Religion is but a politick trick to catch silly persons with whilest those that are privy to the plot keep out of the bondage of it I need not adde That he defeats the institution of our Saviour that he baulks his own Conscience if he have any and aggravates his own Damnation which are all very sad things On the other side the blessings and comforts of frequenting the offices of the Church are so many and great that it is not imaginable how any man who is convinced of the duty of Communion in general should be able to neglect the particular instances of it For besides that the Church is Gods House where he is especially present and where we meet him and place our selves under his eye and observation and from whence he usually dispenses his favours it is a great furtherance of our zeal and piety to be in the presence of one another where the example of holy fervour and devotion in one powerfully strikes and affects others There is also an extraordinary majesty in the word of God when it is not only fitted to our peculiar condition but authoritatively pronounced and applied to our Conscience by Gods Messenger Above all in Prayers when our Petitions and requests are not only put up to Almighty God by his own Minister appointed for this purpose but our weakness is relieved our spirits incouraged and we are inabled notwithstanding our private meanness or guilt to hope for acceptance and success in our desires by the concurrent Devotions of so many holy men as there join with us in the same suit and in the same words and whose united importunity besieges Heaven and prevails with Almighty Goodness for a blessing Wherefore let no man permit the private exercises of Piety it self such as Prayer reading or Meditation to supersede or hinder his attendance upon the publick offices of the Church seeing that as these yield more publick honour to the Divine Majesty so they are more effectual for our own benefit much less let sloth or too great eagerness upon the affairs of the World make us forget or neglect them but least of all let any lukewarm indifferency or Atheistical carelessness seise upon any man in this particular but let the man who glories to be of the Christian Church be sure to be found there in
perswasions incouragements and all other fit means to prevail with the whole Neighbourhood or Parish to frequent the Church For as he would not go to Heaven alone nay knows assuredly he shall not come there if he do not indeavour to carry others along with him so neither is he contented to feed upon the fatness of Gods House alone but would have others partake with him He hath a holy indignation to observe Theaters to be filled Exchanges and Markets thronged and Gods House unfurnished with Guests He wonders at the inconsiderateness of men who incur such a guilt by the contempt of Religion and pitties their folly that deny themselves so many comforts and advantages as Gods House affords above any other place of resort whatsoever Besides he considers that not only God is more honour'd by a general confluence to his service but that his own heart is more inlarged and chearful and his affections more raised as it were moving in Consort when there is a brave concourse in Divine Offices Psal 122. 1 2. I rejoiced saith the holy man when they said Come let us go up to the House of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy gates O Jerusalem Well-disposed persons it seems then were wont to call upon and provoke one another and to flock together in Companies towards the Temple and it was a pleasant spectacle to the Psalmist to behold it And let good Christians be ashamed to be outdone in any thing of this kind since our Church and worship is so incomparably more excellent than theirs What was it that a zealous Jew could provoke his Neighbours to go up to the Temple for to see a Beast slain and a smoke made with the fat and entrails or to muse upon the obscure Hieroglyphicks in the Fabrick the Utensils the Ornaments and Service of that House But a Christian goes to the Church to hear the lively Oracles of God to see Heaven opened in all its glories and to be shewed the way thither Therefore he that is sensible of the great odds on the side of the Christian worship and who hath so much Prudence and Charity as to render him serviceable amongst his Neighbours to such a purpose will jog and awaken them out of their sloth and negligence of going to the Church by wise and manly Discourses and friendly and familiar Exhortations from the considerations of the scandal to Religion and discouragement to the Minister by the peoples remissness and of the duty and benefit of diligent attendance and he will with the same zeal and care indeavour to answer their objections and remove their scruples about it and especially considering that this is commonly better taken and sinks deeper into such men as need it when it is done not only by the Minister who is presumed by these incogitant persons to do it for his interest or the reputation of his person or profession but by those who are upon the same terms with themselves To all this the pious man aforesaid will wisely improve the interest of his Charity to oblige the poorer sort to their duty dispensing most liberally to them who are most inclinable to follow his counsel in this particular and for the middle sort of men he will trade and buy and sell upon choice with those that are best affected to the Church and Religion But if all this should not do and that he cannot prevail upon all yet 10. In the last place he will not fail at least to over-rule his own Family that they shall universally and constantly frequent the Church and so be an example to the Neighbourhood This I have shewed before every Governour of a Family hath authority from God to do and the holy Scripture affords us several instances of the efficacy and success of making use of it to this purpose amongst the rest by virtue hereof Joshua undertook for his House that they should serve the Lord and Cornelius prevailed upon those under him so that he is said to fear the Lord with all his House And indeed a Master of a Family will be able to give a very sorry account of his Family if he cannot oblige them to go to Church with him for we find by woful experience that where under pretence of scruples about the publick worship inferiours have claimed the priviledge of exemption and been permitted to resort to Conventicles the effect hath been that such persons have not only grown captious and insolent and by degrees to despise their Superiours but having by this means gotten from under the Eye of their Governours have made no scruple to run into Debauchery Therefore let the pious man strictly charge himself thus far and look upon himself as very insignificant in his place if he do not so much publick honour to God and Religion as to bring his Family to the House of God CHAP. VII Of Civil Piety Or How a good man may carry himself so as to promote Gods honour and the publick good together with his own peace and comfort in the Parish considered only as a Civil Society or Neighbourhood WHen our blessed Saviour Mat. 5. 13. saith to his Disciples Ye are the salt of the earth he did not direct himself only to his Apostles or to them and their Successors the Pastors of his Church as some have imagined but to all his Disciples in general For besides that the Beatitudes which he pronounces in the former part of the Chapter and his other Discourse pursuant of them which immediately precedes these words apparently concern all Christians so far as they are qualified for them It is evident also by S. Luke Chap. 14. comparing the 25 Verse with the 32. that it was his intention to apply this title of being the salt of the earth to the whole body of true Christians And then the importance of that expression will be this That the true spirit of Christianity is and ought to be a principle of activity and the Professors of this Religion are not to content themselves with passive innocency and that they escape the contagion of evil Example nor be corrupted and debauched by the temptations or customs of the World But that they must look upon it as their duty to better and improve the state of Mankind to influence upon it to season and preserve others from corruption as well as themselves Nor is this activity of true Christianity to be strictly confined within the limits of the Church or to display it self merely in the great duties of Religion properly considered For as our Saviour designed not only to shew men a way to another World above but also to amend the condition of this present World below and to make it a more quiet and comfortable habitation so doubtless when he calls his Disciples the salt of the whole Earth he intended to require that every good man should within his whole sphere indeavour to promote humanity morality and the civil and political happiness of mankind The
the same spirit of Religion and promote the eternal interest of one another As it is vastly mischievous and unhappy when those who are inseparably yoked together draw divers ways one towards Heaven and the other towards Hell in respect of which danger the Apostle advises those who are free not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers 2 Cor. 6. 14. for saith he what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness what communion hath light with darkness what concord hath Christ with Belial and what part hath he that believeth with an infidel Yet because it is possible that light may prevail against darkness therefore when such an unequal Society is contracted he doth not think it a sufficient ground for separation for saith he 1 Cor. 7. 16. What knowest thou O Wife but thou maist save thy Husband or what knowest thou O man whether thou shalt save thy Wife especially since by the piety of one of the Parents the Children are sanctified and placed under the advantages of the Covenant of grace as he there adds v. 14. And seeing it is possible for one of these relatives to be so great a blessing to the other there is mighty reason they both should endeavour it out of self-love as well as charity and conjugal affection since it is both very difficult to go to Heaven alone and also equally easy and comfortable when those in this relation join hearts and hands in the way thither As for the relation of Parents and Children that is also very near and intimate and consequently their interest and happiness is bound up together for as it is a mighty advantage to have holy Parents in regard the Posterity of such persons ordinarily fare the better to many Generations as is assured in the second Commandment and therefore there is a double obligation upon Parents to be good and virtuous not only for the sake of their own Souls but also for the sake of their Children so on the other hand it is no less glory and comfort to Parents to have good and pious Children and therefore they are strictly charged to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and indeed he is worse than an Infidel nay worse than a Brute that can be content to bring them up to Hell and the Devil for they are part of our selves and a man that considers any thing can as well be willing to be damned himself as that they should be so if he can help it Now that there is much in their power this way appears by that charge of the Apostle last named as also by the observation of Solomon Prov. 22. 6. Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it for Children in their young and tender years are like Wax yielding and pliable to whatsoever form we will put them into but if we miss this opportunity it will be no easy matter to recover them to good afterwards when they are debauched by evil principles confident of their own opinions headstrong by the uncontrouled use of liberty and hardened by the custom of sinning And therefore it is observable that far the most part of good men and women are such as had the foundations of piety laid in their youth and very few are to be found who were effectually reclaimed afterwards But whilest Children wholly depend upon their Parents and their natures are soft and pliant when as yet they have not the hardiness to rebel nor the confidence to dispute the commands of their Fathers so long they may by the grace of God easily be wrought upon to good and which is very remarkable the influence of the mother is especially considerable in this case for so we find not only that King Lemuel Prov. 31. 1. remembred the Lessons which his mother taught him but as I have noted before Timothy was seasoned with grace by the instructions of his Mother Eunice and his Grandmother Lois 2 Tim. 1. 5. and many other instances there are of the successfulness of the Mothers pious indeavours But where Parents neglect their duty usually the Children perish and their blood will be required at the hands of careless Parents and which is more there is commonly this dreadful token of divine vengeance in this World that those who are careless of their duty both towards God and towards their Children in this particular feel the sad effects of it in the undutifulness contumacy and rebellion of those Children against themselves afterwards as if God permitted them to revenge his quarrel In the next place as for the relation of Master and Servants it is a mighty mistake to think they are meerly our slaves to do our will and that nothing is due from us to them but what is expresly bargain'd for since they are or ought to be Gods Servants as well as ours and must do him service as well as us and they are put under our protection and placed in our Families that they may be instructed in his pleasure and have the liberty to serve him of whom the whole family of heaven and earth is called So that properly speaking we and they are common Servants to one great Master only in different ranks as the one part after the manner of Stewards is allowed to have Servants under them and the other must do the inferiour business but still they are Gods Servants more properly than ours and must therefore have not only as I said liberty and leisure to serve our common Master but also instructions from us and incouragement so to do and he that denies them any of these might as justly deny them their Bread or their Wages nay more he that forgets to pray for them too remembers himself but by halves forasmuch as his interest is concerned not only in their health and prosperity but in their virtue and piety for it is evident that the better men they are the better Servants they will prove So St. Paul tells Philemon in his Epistle to him that he would be a gainer by Onesimus's Conversion for that he would be so much a more profitable servant henceforth as he was now become a better man such persons being not only the most faithful and trusty but by so much the more industrious as they are the more conscientious Besides that it is well known that Divine Providence often blesses a Family for the sake of a pious Servant as God blessed Labans substance for the sake of Jacob and the House and all the affairs of Potiphar for the piety of Joseph So that in short he loves himself as little as he loves God who doth not indeavour that his Servants should be sincerely religious And though it 's true it is not altogether in his power to make them so or to put grace into their hearts yet by virtue of his place and authority he hath mighty advantages of doing them good and will be sure to be called to account how he hath
improved his Stewardship in this particular Lastly In a Family there are commonly some who under the general relation of Friends or Acquaintance are either resident in it or at least hospitably entertained by it now as this lays an obligation upon the persons treated so it gives some authority to him who treats them and consequently as such a Master of a Family is in some measure answerable towards men for the scandals and misdemeanours of his Guests so is he much more responsible to God for any profaneness they shall be guilty of towards his Divine Majesty For as I said before every man being King in his own Family may give Laws to it and oblige those who are under his protection to pay him Allegiance and to serve and worship God with him especially he ought to do this because the fourth Commandment requires at our hands that we use this authority not only over our Sons and Daughters our Man-Servants and Maid-Servants but over all those that are within our Gates But so much in the general let us now consider in the second place the particular duties of Religion in a Family of which in the next Chapter CHAP. IV. Of Family Duties in special IN the first place I look upon it as the duty of every Family that besides Closet-Devotions of which I have spoken before and besides publick Worship of which I shall speak anon once a day at the least they join together in Prayers to God I say once a day at the least in favour of mens occasions and the peculiar circumstances of some Families were it not for which it would be very fit that there should be Prayers Morning and Evening as is the general practice of most pious Families but certainly it is wonderfully decent that all the members of every Family should once in the day meet together and with one heart and one mouth glorify God and pay their homage to the great Master of the whole Family of Heaven and Earth and it is very strange if any excuse should be pleaded or admitted in this case For as I said before every several Family is a peculiar Body or Society which hath its distinct circumstances effects and consideration it hath its respective needs to be supplied and therefore hath occasion to make proper and peculiar requests to God as that he will be pleased to continue it in health to settle concord and unity amongst the several members of it that the whole may enjoy prosperity and safety from Thieves from Fire and other dangers And every such Society hath also proper and peculiar mercies to give thanks to God for as namely for success in affairs for quiet habitation that they are not molested with ill Neighbours nor vexed with Law-Suits for hopeful Children faithful Servants c. for in several of these respects a man may be well and comfortable in his own person and yet be unhappy in the Society and contrarywise the Society or Family may be happy in the general and yet a particular person may be in ill circumstances and therefore there is just reason of addresses and acknowledgments to God in relation to the Family and by the whole Family in Conjunction as well as by every single person apart and in his Closet And though perhaps there may be some Family wherein there is no person who can aptly and properly represent the peculiar concerns of it to the Almighty and it may be also there is no form of Prayer at hand that will express all the respective circumstances of such a Society yet they may lift up their hearts and voices together in a general form and supply with their thoughts and affections whatsoever is wanting in the expressions And as there is just ground and reason for such family worship so there is good cause to expect it will be singularly successful when the whole community joins together and present themselves and their tribute of praise before the Lord no question but the very manner of doing it as well as the matter will be highly acceptable to him and when with prostrate bodies devout hearts and hands and eyes lift up to Heaven they combine together to importune and as it were besiege the Almighty they cannot fail of a blessing or however it is a mighty satisfaction to the minds of all such persons and a great security to them that they have thus jointly and solemnly commended themselves to the divine protection Besides that this course is an effectual means to conciliate peace and love and kindness between all the members of this body and to knit their hearts to one another when they are thus accustomed to unite their hearts and join their hands in Gods service and conspire to pray with and for each other which is the greatest indearment of affection Perhaps some man will now say there is no express Scripture which requires of men this daily office of Family Prayer To which I answer first what if it were so yet nevertheless it is a duty seeing there is so apparent reason for it For God who considered that he gave Laws to reasonable men did not think himself bound to prescribe every thing in particular especially in natural worship where the reason of man might supply him with direction what was fit to be done in such a case Besides secondly as I discoursed in the former part of this Treatise it is a stingy and narrow-soul'd trick and an argument of no true love to God and goodness to stand upon so strict terms in our piety as to require an express command in particular for that which is admirably good in the general and hath also been the general practice of all good men as this hath been But after all I would in the last place crave leave to ask those men a plain question who insist upon more express proof of Family Prayers and it is no more but this Whether they think there is any such thing as publick worship required of men if they do then let them remember there was a time when there was no more publick Society than that of Families namely at the first planting of the World and then either publick worship must be this of Families or none at all and to inlighten them in this case let them consider that passage Gen. 4. 26. when Seth had Enos born to him it is said then began men to call upon the name of the Lord that is so soon as there began to be a Family in the pious line of Seth then presently they set up Gods worship in it Now this was not the beginning of secret worship for no doubt but Seth was careful of that before Enos was born nor was it properly publick or Ecclesiastick worship for in that minority of the World there neither was nor as yet could be any Church established in such a sense therefore it must follow that Family worship is as antient as the being of Families themselves Or let pious and
tells us there is a time for every thing so let every man who would promote Religion in his Family appoint set hours for Prayer and all the offices of Devotion and then it will neither be difficult to obtain the constant observance of them nor so ordinary to perform them carelesly and formally 6. Sixthly and lastly It will be the wisdom of every Master of a Family who would bring those which are under his care and tuition to an uniformity in Religion and the worship of God and to seriousness and heartiness therein that he express all tender affection to them and regard of them when any of them happen to be sick or under any adversity and by that means make to himself an opportunity of obliging them to take his counsel and follow his direction in all other cases We use to say he that will gain an interest in any man so that he may be useful to him or compliant with him in his prosperity must lay the foundation of his Friendship in that mans adversity For no man knows who are his Friends till he hath occasion to make experiment of them which cannot be done but in adversity for every man is a Friend to him that hath no need to him but he that like the good Samaritan deserts us not in our greatest difficulties him we have just grounds to value and confide in Now above all kindnesses men are most sensible of those which are done to their Bodies and they commonly take the measures of all Friendship and sincerity from thence and therefore he that will win upon the minds of men must first oblige them in their bodily interests Besides as we observe that all inferiour Creatures are most tractable and docible at such times as wherein they are lowest and can least help themselves so mankind is most disposed to take advice and most obedient to counsel when he is at a non-plus in his affairs and especially when the vanities of this World which dazled his Eyes before begin to vanish and there seems to be but one way left with him that is to prepare for another life he will then freely admit of Discourse of the other World and be glad to comply with all serious advice in order thereunto These seasons of adversity therefore are by no means to be let slip by him who is tender of the Souls of those who are under his charge To which add that forasmuch as it is the constant method of all the Zealots and Emissaries of false Religions to insinuate themselves into sick and calamitous persons to the end that by such an opportunity they may gain Disciples to their party and they too frequently find this subtilty successful the consideration hereof ought to awaken the diligence and incourage the hopes and indeavours of all those that sincerely desire to save their own Souls and those that are imbarqued with them to apprehend and improve such opportunities to better purposes especially seeing that in such seasons men are as capable of good principles as of bad if there be not as much shameful and supine carelessness on the one side as there is commonly vigilance and application on the other And so much for Family-Piety CHAP. VI. Of publick Piety and particularly of governing a mans self in relation to the Church and publick assembly of Christians AS it is certain we were not born for our selves so neither is it a sufficient discharge of our duty that we be useful in our private Family or amongst our Kindred and Relations only but that we express a zeal of Gods glory and the good of Mankind answerable to the full extent of our capacity and let our light so shine out before men that we may provoke as many as are within our reach to glorify our Father which is in Heaven Now every private man is in some measure concerned in the Neighbourhood and Parish wherein he dwells and whereto he belongs and therefore should so far at least dispense the influence of his zeal for God and Religion for Almighty God who hath appointed the bounds of mens habitation having thus setled every man in his station expects that he should look upon this as his proper sphere and adorn it as his peculiar Province No private man hath any just reason ordinarily to prompt him to go beyond this forasmuch as if every good man would do his part within these bounds the whole World would be amended and he that is remiss and negligent in this cannot easily satisfy himself that he hath demonstrated such love to God as becomes him nor can he expect to reap all those comforts and benefits which otherwise by a conscientious discharge of himself in this particular might redound to him Now that which we mean by the relation to a Neighbourhood or a Parish hath a double consideration First As every Parish is or ought to be a branch or member of the Church Secondly As it is a branch or member of the Commonwealth Accordingly there is a double obligation lies upon every man that is within the bounds of it and from thence arise duties of a different nature for brevity and perspicuity I will distinguish them by the names of Ecclesiastical and Civil Piety and then shew what each of them comprehends beginning with that which I call Ecclesiastical Piety or the discharge of such publick duties as especially concern the Society of a Church And this consists in these few following particulars 1. That a man join himself to and carry himself as a member of the Church and not out of pride phantastry or contempt separate himself from it or schismatically set up Factions and Conventicles against it It is evident that our Lord Jesus Christ established the Society of a Church that is appointed that all those who would be his Disciples should not content themselves singly and particularly to believe on him but should all be obliged to associate themselves and make up a body or spiritual corporation wherein they were to hold Communion with each other as members as well as with him their head The ends and uses of this institution were very many and great for besides that by this means order and unity is promoted which is very beautiful in the Eyes of God himself our Lord hereby provided that the truth of Christianity might be jointly held up in the World and the several members of this Society become mutually more helpful and comfortable to each other and also that by a constant method of Christian intercourse here they may be fitted for Eternal Friendship and Society in Heaven In subserviency to all these ends publick Officers were appointed in the Church to govern and to instruct the several members of it which it were plainly impossible for them to do unless their numbers were almost infinite and equal to that of the people if it had not been that the people were to join together and become a common flock for those Officers to govern and