contend with their Masters they have saith he not only reason to despise and dislike them but unless they amend to rid their hands of them and put them out of their Houses Therefore we have cause to conclude Iobs meaning was this Fourthly When any Servant had matter of complaint as to any Household grievance he gave them free liberty to acquaint him with it they needed not be afraid to present their case to him whom they should find to be their Patron as well as their Master and as ready to do them right as to expect service from them as the same Author saith Sometimes Servants complain that their Reward or Wages is too little sometimes that their Work is too much and lieth too hard or heavy upon them When Iobs Servants contended with him about those or any such matters he did not bid them hold their tongue or get them gone much less did he say as Pharaoh did there shall be more work laid upon you that you may labour therein but he heard them patiently and gave them redress if their Complaints were just which many Masters would not do or else he convinced them by his Wisdom and the weight of his Arguments that their Complaints were causeless and unreasonable which most Masters could not do He was always willing and ready to rectifie whatever was amiss and to remove every thing that was really a grievance go ye and do likewise It is past dispute that Masters and Mistresses have a place above their Servants God himself hath by the all-disposing hand of his wise Providence set them upon the upper ground and they have a power over their Servants so long as they continue such but yet they are not to abuse them nor trample them under their feet no no you ought to be humble meek and lowly though never so great so high and rich The Sun is a glorious Creature and much above the Earth yet how comfortable is it to the things therein how kind and benign its Beams and Influences be you so in your Places not only righteous to them but courteous not Labans not Nabals To this end frequently remember and consider that as you are Persons in Authority so you are under Authority you your selves have a Master too you are above your Servants but there is a God in Heaven who is infinitely more above you and hath Persons Times and Things in his own hand and at his own dispose and doth make frequent turns and changes in the World and it is his delight to abase the Proud If any of you will pride it in the place of Masters and Mistresses God can easily and he quickly may bring you down into the place rank and condition of poor Servants and such an alteration will be very uneasie to you unless God brings your Spirits down to your Condition it will be very uneasie a strait Shooe drawn upon a big foot pincheth it and puts it to pain Fifthly Be loving and Kind in all your Carriages Love like Varnish puts a beauty and gloss upon all things and like Sugar or Honey a sweetness into them it is a most glorious representation of God to us the Scripture saith he is Love It was an excellent Chariot which King Solomon made for himself Cant. 3.9 10. of the Wood of Lebanon there was sweetness the Pillars thereof were Silver and the bottom was Gold and the covering of it of purple there was Richness and Princely State but what follows sets off and commends all the rest the middest of it was paved with Love for the Daughters of Ierusalem Yes had there been no love there one might as well have rode in a Cart as in Solomons Chariot Love goeth with the Holy Soul to Heaven and there it is perfected and there it eternally abides and is the Heaven of Heaven it is the brightness of its glory and the sweetness of all its delights Faith and Hope are two excellent Graces and of singular use here but they will both cease Faith being swallowed up of Vision and Hope most gladly resigning its place to Fruition but Love remains Heaven would not be Heaven without Love call that place Hell where Love is not that House Hell where Love dwells not You that are Husbands and Wives be loving and kind to one another in your looks and in your lips let there be the law of kindness that will strengthen your interest in your Family and power over it as well as sweeten your own life and Relations whereas your quarrels and contentions do and will render you mean cheap and contemptible in the eyes of your Inferiours Some may think it great to ride Master and to have their will but they lose much more in their honour than that comes to Therefore if at any time there happen a disagreement between you keep it close and private between your selves not suffering it to take air if there be a spark of discontent kindled put it out with all speed and let it not break forth into a flame Be also kind and loving to your Servants and to your Children when you give out your Orders to them do not do it in an imperious way some think it becomes them to speak altogether in thunder but let them remember that it pleased the great God to speak to his Servant Elijah in a still voice To command with Love is the most likely way to be obeyed with delight and cheerfulness When you Teach and Instruct them do it with gentleness the moderate Rain doth more sweetly soak into the Earth and refresh the Fruit of it than Thunder-Showers which falling with violence lay the Corn and the Grass and damnifie both it is better to instill into them knowledge and good Principles than to knock and beat them in Love doth most sweetly unlock and open the ear and makes a free and easie passage for Instructions and Councels to enter in and it doth mollifie and soften the heart so that it is rendred more ready to receive impressions more faithful and careful to retain them When you do reprove them as reprove them you must when they do deserve it silence in such a case is sinful He that suffers Sin to rest upon his Child or Servant brings guilt upon himself and becomes a partaker with him in his evil deeds He that doth not reprove for Sin encourageth in it and for not reproving shall be reproved But whensoever you do reprove let it be done in Love Adam had disobeyed God in eating the forbidden Fruit God did not wink at it resolved to punish him for it and did yet he came to him in the cool of the day Always dip the Nail in Oyl for that is the way to make it drive best and pierce deepest otherwise the Board may split or the Nail bow and break through a stubborn resistance When you are angry with them moderate your passion and mingle it do not stir up all your wrath but in the midst thereof remember
committed in the day Now by a parity of Reason we may affirm that praying every day Morning and Envening is praying always or continuing instant in prayer And truly this is the least you can do if you would be grateful if you would bring glory to God if you would be exemplary in your places and to do this is good So the holy Prophet assures us in Psal. 92. which he intituled A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath-day vers 1. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy Name O most High This is good there is all good in it honest and profitable and pleasant good it is a paying of God what we owe to him and it will bring over advantage to us and it carries a great deal of sweetness along with it But when is it good to do this upon a Sabbath-day the Lord's-day yes it is good then it is very good then it is then specially in season because that day is given us not so much for the outward rest of the Body as for the inward and spiritual refreshing of the Soul that being taken off and set at liberty from the Labours and Toils of the World we may be wholly taken up with and imployed about the Service and Worship of God but though this be good singularly good upon our Sabbath-days yet it is not good only then for it is always good at other times as well as then so the same Psalmist assures us in the next Verse To shew forth thy loving-kindness in the morning and and thy faithfulness every night Mark that word every every night and by consequence every morning day by day in the morning because then the mind is more fresh and free and lively not yet intangled with nor deprest and fetter'd with secular Affairs but more fit to wait upon God and engage to holy works which call for and deserve the best and happiest frame And in the night the pleasant peace stilness and silence whereof doth render it very accommodate to and proper for the most sacred serious and solemn exercises In the morning prayer should open the door to business give your first visit to God who is your best Friend and at Evening let Prayer lock up the door and draw the Curtain Before the Body lies down in its Bed let the Soul return unto its Rest. This is a most excellent way for you to enjoy your selves and your God too a most excellent way to bring down from Heaven a Blessing upon your Labours in the day and to put a sweetness and refreshing into your sleep at night In this way you commit your selves and your all to God and engage God for you III. Family-worshipping of God hath been the practice ef Holy men in all Ages Saints standing upon Record in the Scriptures have soughâ— and served God in their Families and with them and so have all others in succeeding Generations who have been sound both in Head and Heart and acted by right Principles They have loved the work and delighted in the performance of it out of Conscience and Choice As for those Persons whose Heads have been Flie-blown and their mnds corrupted with Errour they are to be the Objects of our Compassion and Pity and the good Lord cause his Light to shine into their Minds in order to their better information and the reducing them from the Errour of their way but their practices are by no means to be made use of as your Directory or followed as your Pattern For if any have imbibed false notions it is no wonder that their lives and actions are crooked and irregular shamefully deficient in some things and no less extravagant in others Let us look to the precious and eminent Saints of God those that lived and died in the Faith and obtained a good report You are commanded to be followers of them who through Faith and Patience have inherited the Promises who are now possessed of those great things which they before lived in the belief and joyful expectation of who were here graciously accepted of God and are now received and glorified by him Let you and me my dearly Beloved follow them and tread in their steps Keep the same way now for it is the way Everlasting and turn not aside from that neither to the right hand nor to the left and equal their pace make as much haste as the best of them did considering that your time is as uncertain as theirs and it may be shorter only walk with circumspection not blindfold avoiding those things which were blame-worthy in them for even they were but Men and that imperfect Men compast about with infirmities having in them flesh as well as spirit Imitate them therefore in that which was good in them and will be so in you and in nothing else I may very well apply that of Paul to the present case and let you and me mind it as our Rule Phil. 4.8 Whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report and were so in them in all or in any of them think of those things and go you and do the like so long as they wrote fair imitate them but beware of their blots I am and oh that all professing Religion would be for the reviving of the old godliness Primitive Government in Churches and Primitive Godliness in Christians are like old Gold the best Ier. 6.16 Thus saith the Lord stand there in the ways and see and ask for the old paths where is the good way and walk therein and ye shall find rest to your Souls The old way is the good way meddle not with new upstart Doctrines and Practices that is best which is eldest Now then come we to the Business before us upon enquiry we shall find that the setting up of Prayer and other Religious Exercises in the Family was the good old way that way in which those precious Saints walked here upon Earth who at last got safely to Heaven and whose Prayers are changed for Eternal Allelujahs I will not multiply Instances but bring three or four out of the Old and New Testaments and in the Mouth of so many Witnesses I hope you will look upon the thing as evident and established First I Appeal to you Was not this the way in which this great and excellent Person Joshua walked He was a Person that God put great Honour upon he was the Man that must give Israel Possession of the Land of Promise and this was his way He had walked in it and he was not ashamed to own it before all Israel both the good and the bad yea to declare openly unto them his fixed and immoveable resolution of persevering therein This is plain in the Text As for me and my house we will serve the Lord not I alone but I and they too I with them whoever was or would be of his
hereafter he will extort it from you in a way of Vindicative Justice if you will not apply your selves to praying and reading the holy Scriptures with the teaching and instructing of your Children and Servants in the things of God you may well tremble to think of fiery indignation and of the dismal effects of it weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth which will be the portion of your Cup to all Eternity unless you do seasonably repent and reform and make your peace with God for what reason have they to promise themselves a comfortable Reward who do now live in the neglect of their Duty But then on the other side Thirdly When your Hearts have been upright with God and sound in his Statutes and walked as David resolved to do within your Houses with a perfect Heart and behaved your selves wisely in a perfect way then you need not tremble at the nearest approaches of the King of Terrours It is indeed a solemn thing to die and as it is a taking the compositum in pieces as it is the parting of those two old Friends the Soul and Body which had lived together long in great intimacy and close union Nature startles at it and they seldom are divided without an agony and struggling But yet such a Person as I have now described need not fear but as he can look back with comfort so he may look forward with boldness as Paul did 2 Tim. 4.6 7 8. I am now ready to be offer'd and the time of my departure is at hand Well Paul thou art now ready to be gone but what didst thou do while thou wast here I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith and what dost thou now please thy self with That hencefort there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which God the righteous Iudge will give unto me at that day and not to me only but to all them that love his appearing and who are they that can love his appearing as a Iudge surely none but they that have been obedient to his commands and done his work as he was their Lord and Master when you have served your Generation according to his Will you may be as willing to fall asleep as a weary Man is at Night after a hard days labour when he hath finished his work in short when you have been faithful in your little much more when you have been always abounding in the work of the Lord you may be sure that your labour shall not be in vain but you shall receive your reward even that Gift of God which is Eternal Life To this purpose I would have you consider two things First The account our Lord and Saviour could give of himself and what thereupon he did expect and ask of his Father Both these we meet with in Iohn 17.4.5 The account which he could give of himself was this Father I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do He glorified his Father in and by finishing his work Now let it be your care and mine to tread in the steps of our Lord and to write after so excellent a Copy set us by so great a Person and so dear a Saviour though we cannot equal him that is a thing impossible for us poor weak sinful Creatures to do yet let us imitate him as much and as far as we can and the good Lord help us so to do and if we will up and be doing God will be with us Will you therefore endeavour it Oh do glorifie God upon earth you have too much dishonour'd him by your sins against him by your disobedience to him by your preferring worthless trifles broken cisterns lying vanities before him mend now and for the future make it your business to glorifie him you were made for that it was the end of your Creation you were sent hither into the World for that whatever other business your hand findeth here to do this is the main and principal this doth deserve and call for your best thoughts and utmost diligence and do you glorifie him by finishing the work which he hath given you to do There is none of you but God hath given work as he casts your Lines and carves your Portions so he hath cut out your work I beseech you study it labour to know what it is and knowing it mind it set about it speedily without delay and follow it close neglect no part of it but finish it as far as you are able you cannot do all because so much of your time is already lost and your strength is so much impair'd and corruptions do so greatly clog you and your spiritual and carnal Enemies will so resist and hinder you that you cannot do all you should and will need pardon for your miscarriages and failings in what you do yet do all that you can not only the work of your general Calling as you are Christians but also the work of every particular place station and relation in which the Divine Providence hath set you whether it be Civil or Ecclesiastick Publick or Domestick Art thou a Sheriff of Justice in the Countrey a Mayor Alderman a Common-Council-Man or Constable in the City Do thou the duty of thy Place Art thou a Minister of the Gospel Do thou thine Preach the Word be instant in Season and out of Season art thou a Child a Servant Be thou obedient industrious faithful art thou an Husband a Wife a Parent a Master or Mistress the Head and Governour of a Family Do thou thine Walk within thy House with a perfect Heart rule in the fear of God He that is not good in his Relation is not good at all he that is not a good Husband a good Master is not a good Man much of the power of godliness doth consist and discover it self in the performance of Relative Duties See then that much of your care be employed about this and see that your places be not empty of Duty nor your Families void of Religion Now observe what our Savior did hereupon expect and say Father glorifie thâ—u me with thy own self Here hath been my work where now is my glory So when you have finished the work which God gave you to do when you have walked with God and lived to God when you have improved your Interest your Power and your All for God then you may say Father do thou accept of me and receive me and glorifie thou me my work is done now let me have my rest always remembring that you are not to expect this upon the score of Merit but only as a Reward of Grace for our Lord hath taught us to call our selves unprofitable Servants when we have done all that is commanded us what are we then now we fall so short and perfect not one piece of work that is put into our hands Secondly Consider that good account which the Prophet gives of
upon Earth to Sun your selves in his Beams to solace your selves in his Arms to Delight your selves in that fulness of Joy which is in his presence and to bathe your selves in that River or rather Ocean of Pleasures which is at his Right Hand for evermore You that have walked in the same way shall come to the City of God the heavenly Ierusalem of which the Lord and the Lamb are will be the everlasting light and having set your Hand to the work of God and having had your Heart in it you shall enter into the same rest You that have mourned together and together mingled your Groans and Tears and poured out bitter Complaints against your Sins and your Selves shall then rejoice together and that with exceeding Joy because of your own and each others thorough Cure and perfect Health You that have confest your faults together both Heart and Life-sins shall then be deliver'd from them and triumph over them all You that have prayed together upon Earth and with all the power of your Souls Besieged the Throne of Grace shall in Heaven sing praises together even Eternall Allelujahs and to make the Consort compleat and that melodious Harmony the more ravishing you shall be joined with an innumerable Company of Angels and all the Saints that were Redeemed unto God by the Blood of the Lamb. Oh! how deliciously sweet will it be to your Souls who have been the Father of a gracious Family or the Mother of it if at the last and great day when the whole World shall be summon'd to appear and give up their account to God you shall be able to say Lord here am I and the Children which thou hast given me these thou gavest to me in thy goodness and these I gave up to thee in Covenant and accordingly I brought them up for thee I am not ashamed to own them for mine and I trust that in Christ thou wilt be graciously pleased to call them thine now thou art making up thy Jewels these I did carefully teach thy fear and did also lead them in the way that thou didst chuse and they were willing to learn and ready to follow they were my hope when but little and my comfort when grown up and now Lord we present our selves before thee in hope of being accepted by thee and finding favour and then our Lord Jesus shall look upon you with a gracious Eye and say I know you you are some of my old Friends and Acquaintance you did rejoice and work Righteousness and remembred me in my ways and in those ways I did meet with you Come ye blessed of my Father you are welcome to me and you will be so to him inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world you have been industrious seekers and now you shall be successful and happy finders you have been running the Race now you shall receive the Prize you have been sowing in Prayers and Tears and a Consciencious performance of Duty and now you shall with joy reap the Harvest your Faith shall be swallowed up of Vision and your Hope of Fruition This is no more my dearly Beloved than what you and such as you may with good ground hope for and live in the joyful expectation of and the lively hope of it may very well allay the bitterness of Death and afford you that comfort which may through Christ keep your Souls in perfect peace even when you are in the greatest agonies and strugglings with the King of Terrors When you are ready to draw your latest Breath and to bid farewel to all the world and to set up your Sails for the other world and to shoot the Gulf your Conscience can bear you witness that you have heartily submitted your selves to God and believingly closed with the Lord Iesus Christ renouncing all confidence in the Flesh and making mention of his Righteousness as that only by which you must be justified yet that you have not had an idle and unactive Faith but endeavoured to walk in all the Ordinances and Commandments of the Lord blameless and that you have been sincerely desirous to improve your interest and power for the honour of God and accordingly have order'd and brought up your Family for him and so have spent your time together in his fear and service I say you may hereupon chearfully commit your own Souls to him as to a faithful Creator and also your Children to him them you may leave in his Hand as the proper Objects of his Covenant Love and Fatherly Care hoping that you shall meet again in his Blessed Presence and live for ever in his Kingdom and Glory You see I have brought from your selves you that are Masters Mistresses Parents Heads and Governours of Families Eight Arguments for your setting and keeping up in them the Worship of God and Religious Exercises and upon every one of them I have insisted long and enlarged much that if it be possible I might convince your Judgments and work upon your hearts and affections Now the question is what you think of and say to these things For mine own part though I do not and hope never shall overvalue any of my own labours yet I would set a great estimate and high price upon all the truths of which I am sure these things which I have brought to you are some how much soever they may taste of the Earthen Vessel in which they come to you yet know assuredly they are of God And let me add it is a common Saying and a true one that Interest governs the World though it is no less common and true that men are greatly mistaken about their real and grand interest placing it where it is not But I say if your own interest have any place and power with you if you would secure and promote it you will find not only good but abundant reason for the doing of that which I am pressing upon you viz. Setting up the Worship of God in your Families And if any of you have hitherto been strangers to it I earnestly beseech you to shew your selves persons of teachable and tractable Spirits easie to be intreated and evidently to manifest your fear of God and love to your selves by your speedy doing it take not up with some inclinations towards it or good purposes or resolutions for the future but up and be doing fall presently to practice for Gods sake and for your own sake and for your Families sake do not defer and put off do not say you will do it afterward for though that should stop the mouth of a sleeping lazie Conscience it will by no means please an holy God Besides that is no other than a wretched fallacy and base cheat that a malicious Devil and a treacherous deceitful heart would put upon you that Old Saying carrieth a great truth in it Qui non est hodie cras minus aptus erit He that is not fit and willing to day will be
with you and in you and keeping a Book of Accounts in which is inserted and recorded what it observes Now then ought you not to repair this damage to your utmost and since you have done and go on to do them so much hurt should you not do them all the good you can and be heartily glad when it is in your power to do it have you shewn them many things by which they have offended God and will you not shew them by counsel and practice those things that will please him I beseech you to bestir and lay out your selves and your all for the making of them amends and the recovering them out of that Snare of the Devil into which you have helpt to bring them In what I now say I do not put you upon impossibilities nor the doing of that which is without the reach of your power I do not bid you sanctifie them by forming Christ and planting Grace in their hearts I do not bid you raise them out of the Grave of Corruption and breath into their Souls the Breath of Spiritual Life that must be effected by the Arm of Omnipotency none else can do it none hath a Regenerating Power but he that hath a Creating Power but you may pray for them in your private Retirements and you may pray with them that God would be pleased to give them his Spirit and to work his Grace in them You may take your Children and your Servants with you and carry them to God and beg of him that he would pity and help them As you read when our Lord Iesus was here upon Earth Tabernacling among Men they came to him from all parts of the Land begging of him a Cure for themselves and their Children and their Servants as the matter did require Now Christ is in Heaven he hath the same power that you must needs believe and grant for here he was in his State of lowest Humiliation there he is in his State of highest Preferment and Exaltation After his Resurrection he told his Disciples all Power was given him both in Heaven and Earth and distance of place doth not hinder He can help afar off as well as at hand his Arm being long as well as strong There is no need of this great Physician leaving his Fathers Right Hand and coming down in Person to cure Diseased Souls by sending his Word he can heal them as he did formerly Psal. 107. v. 20. And his Glory hath not in the least detracted from his Mercy His Heart is now what it was as loving and tender his Bowels are not shrunk up nor do his Compassions fail Iesus Christ is the same yesterday and to day and for ever Heb. 13.8 As his Hand of Power is not shortened so his gracious Ear is not grown heavy therefore go to him taking Faith along with you and say Lord my Children were born blind O! do thou anoint them with thine Eye-salve that they may receive their sight Open their Eyes that they may see wonderful things out of thy Law and the precious things of thy Gospel that they may see the sinfulness of Sin and the beauty of Holiness that they may see their own undone condition and the absolute need they have of Christ together with the all-sufficiency of his Righteousness and the riches of his Grace the sweetness of his Government and the easiness of his Yoke Go to him and say Lord my Children are grievously troubled with a Devil a proud Devil a lying Devil a disobedient stubborn obstinate Devil O that thou wouldest make thy Power known in the casting of him out Once more go to him and say Lord My Children have got the Leprosie of Sin it hath spread it self all over them O do thou say I will be ye clean My Children are Enemies in their Minds by wicked works Enemies to Thee and all that is spiritually good O do thou reconcile them that of Enemies to Thee they may become Enemies to Sin and for the time to come they may love thy Father thy Self and Spirit thy Truth and Ways Lord My Children are the Slaves of Satan and they delight in their Chain they serve divers Lusts and are pleased with their Bondage and count their Drudgery a Recreation O! let these Lawful Captives of the Mighty be delivered break their Chains asunder and bring them into the Liberty of thy Children and as they have yielded their members Servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity even so now and for the time to come they may yield their members Servants to righteousness unto holiness Rom. 6.20 And what you do to this purpose for your Children do also for your Servants take them up in the Arms of your Love and Prayer and lay them at the foot of God and beg him that he would sanctifie and save them And as you can thus pray and plead with God for them so you can add hereunto if you will There are other things which you can do You cannot infuse into them a Principle of Grace but you may teach them the Principles of Religion you may shew the way in which they should walk though you cannot put that way in their hearts as we have that expression Psal. 84.5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee in whose heart are the ways of them You cannot bow their Wills to God's nor raise and spiritualize their Affections nor set them upon their proper Objects those things which are above but you may inform their Judgments You cannot write the Law of God in their hearts nor put his Fear into their inward parts but you may acquaint them with the Law of God and read the Bible to them and hear them read both it and other Othodox good Books but the Bible most and rather than the best Books in the World So again you cannot make them good but you may set a good Example before them and write a very fair Copy for them to imitate and invite them to tread in your steps saying to them as Paul did Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ and walk so as ye have us for an example It is certain all this is in your power you may do it and oh that you would Oh that you would abound in the doing of it considering how much you have done against them how greatly you have prejudiced them how much they have suffered through your means how much they have been tainted by you Really you are obliged to this this is no more than what you owe to these poor Creatures and if you are careless negligent and wanting herein you are unjust you with hold that which is meet and it tends to your own poverty and sorrow at the last it is in the power of your hand to do it therefore do not withhold it from them to whom it is due it is a Debt and that both of Charity and of Equity up then in your several Families and apply to this excellent
times better to break thy natural Rest than to lose thy Duty One quarter of an hours hearty fervent and believing Prayer will more revive thy spirits and be a far greater refreshing to thy Soul than an hours drousing and render thee more lively more good more comfort is to be got upon thy knees than upon the pillow therefore rouze up thy self awake thy Soul and Body and say with David Psal. 61.1 O God my God! early will I seek thee Get up get up the sooner in the Morning take unto thee the wings of the Morning and flee away that so thou maist get up to thy God and be with him Let me mention two things by way of Motive First The sweetness that is in Secret Prayer You Christians that have tasted it make your reports and commend it to your Friends and Acquaintance tell them what you have found David would not conceal the Loving-kindness of his God but invited others to come and hear what had been done for his Soul so to do argues a thankful spirit and in this very particular many of you may find abundant matter to inlarge upon for it is no jejune barren Subject It is a most pleasant Converse that a gracious Soul hath when it is alone with God O the intimacy and closeness of that Communion which it enjoys when there is no body else by O the humble familiarity and holy freedom that it can at such a time use The Prophet said Psal. 39.1 He would keep his mouth with a Bridle while the wicked was before him Yea and Prudence will tell the Saints there is a necessity for their doing so when the Saints are before them and their dearest Friends they are forced to suppress many things there are such black thoughts in their minds such stirrings and workings of corruption in their Heart as are not fit to be imparted unto any upon Earth So that though their Hearts are ready to burst they cannot ease themselves by giving vent but when they are got alone and no body hears but their Father which is in Heaven they know how to pour out their complaints into his Bosom and open their case though with shame and blushing because it is so bad and fetch things up from the bottom and tell God all that is in their Hearts Psal. 38.9 Lord all my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee Secondly There is great advantage comes in by secret Prayer As sweetness in it so good by it and that in this respect as it is a means to fit a Person for praying with others when thou hast been upon thy knees with God in thy Closet thou maist comfortably hope that thou shalt find him graciously accompanying thee into thy Family and there helping thine infirmities by giving thee a larger measure of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication for thy better inablement to manage and go thorough with thy Duty there When Scholars at the University have a Speech to make in the Colledge or Schools they will say it over by themselves first Chase thy own Soul in thy Retirements that so thou maist be warm and warm others in thy Family Now in the performance of your private Devotion I commend to you an holy freedom and that in these two things First Be very ingenuous in your Confession of sin this is one great special piece of your Duty It is a singular way of giving glory to God and of easing a burden'd oppressed Conscience When therefore you go about it do it thoroughly confess thy sins with shame but be not asham'd to confess them he that covers his sin shall not prosper no not in that not in his covering them for what he covers God will reveal who loves to bring to light the hidden things of dishonesty There are two Reasons for a free and full confession of sin to God the one is Because it is in vain to keep back any since he knows them all for he searcheth the Heart possesseth the Reins understands the Thoughts afar off compasseth the path knoweth our down-sitting and up-rising is better acquainted with us than we are with our selves having our secret Sins in the light of his Countenance The other Reason is Because he is ready to forgive and hath promised whoso confesses and forsakes his sins shall find mercy as much mercy in God as he finds sin in himself Doth the penitent Confessor find crying sins in himself He shall find tender mercies in God yea a multitude of them Secondly Be large in thy desires Let not modesty prevail against thy necessity and hinder thee in thy begging but open thy Mouth wide to ask as well as to receive Consider you go to one that is a Fountain never emptied by the streams it sends forth to one that hath an inexhaustible Treasure and doth not in the least impoverish or lessen himself by inriching of others The Sun hath never the less light by shining upon the World nor hath the Ocean less Water by feeding the Rivers God is able to make thy Cup run over and thy Cistern too yet retain his own Divine Fulness which can neither be more nor less than it is because it is infinite And as thou goest to such a Fulness so to one that is thy Father It might well discourage and damp thy Spirit hadst thou to deal with a Stranger or only with a Friend but it is thy Father to whom thou dost in Prayer address such a Father as hath not his Fellow neither for Fulness nor Affection Therefore when thou art in his Presence and at his Foot speak out and carry away no burden nor want which thou dost not acquaint him therewith let him have as full an account of all from thine own Mouth as thou canst draw up that is the way to have the removal of those burdens and relief under those wants and for thine encouragement frequently meditate upon those two Scriptures Iam. 1.5 God giveth unto all men liberally and upbraideth not and that in Phil. 4.19 My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Iesus Christ. II. Besides secret Prayer in your Closet or Chamber make Conscience of Family-prayer Having been alone with God and by thy self sit not down content with that but apply to the remaining part of thy Duty call those that are under thy charge and carry them to God together with thee As when the woman of Samaria had heard the discourses of our Lord Jesus while they were by themselves she was so taken with them that she left her Water-pot and went to the City and called her Neighbours to come and see him and converse with him too Would you not be willing to have your Family go to God in glory Sure you would and if so then bring them now with you to God in duty All that are capable of joining with you and of understanding what you do and say yea bring your little ones your young and
desire him to fulfil them for my sake And to the doing hereof he doth encourage us by a gracious promise of success both that he himself will fulfil such desires such Prayers For this he gives them his word and we may be sure he will be as good as his word Iohn 14.13 14. Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son or by the Son whom he hath raised with his own right Hand and constituted the sole Mediator and for our greater assurance and comfort he repeated it in the next Verse If ye shall ask any thing in my Name I will do it not only take care that it shall be done but I my self will do it which is a strong Argument and clear Evidence of Christ's being God since he doth the work of God in hearing and answering of Prayer And he likewise tells us in Iohn 16.23 Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name he will give it you only you must necessarily suppose that what you so ask must be according to his Will and for our Good 1 Iohn 5.14 This is the confidence which we have of him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us we shall be sure to obtain it to have the Petitions we desire of him There is a certainty of speeding when we pray aright in the Name of Christ and with Faith in that Name that which so goeth up in a Cloud of Prayer shall descend in a Shower of Mercy there is nothing shall hinder it none on Earth none in Hell can and none in Heaven will for the Father and Christ are one one in Nature and one in Will both are perfectly agreed as in other things so in this of fulfilling such Prayers you shall have your desire Christ will do it and so will the Father both will consent both concur and co-operate This is as a late worthy Divine hath observed part of that Glory which God hath put upon Christ all must be done in his Name Prayer ask in my Name Church-meetings when two or three are met together in my Name Church-censures 1 Cor. 5 4 5. In the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ when ye are gathered together and my Spirit with the power of our Lord Iesus Christ to deliver such an one unto Satan Ministers are to Preach in his Name and to Baptize in his Name therefore whensoever you pray to the Father be sure that you do it believingly in the Name of Christ both in publick and in private both when you are by your selves alone and when with your Families and that First For your own sakes that when you knock it may be opened to you and you may have what you ask and find what you seek that instead of being with anger rejected your Prayers may be graciously received and be sanctified by the Golden Altar and being accompanied with the Incense of our Blessed Advocate may come up as so many Odours and find the desired acceptance and do it Secondly For your Families sake that by this means they may be put upon Enquiries after this precious Lord Iesus for this will be to them an occasion of asking you and others concerning him who and what he is And so they may come to some knowledge of him whom to know is Life Eternal as the way to it and the beginning of it they may know him as the one and only Mediator between God and Man as the great Master of Requests that is at the Fathers Right Hand ready to receive all the Petitions of his poor but dear People and as ready to expunge the faults and supply the defects of them and so to present them to the Father and to back them with his own Intercession which is powerful and prevailing the Father heareth him always and this being accompanied with the Spirit and Blessing of God may prosper to the working in them some love and good liking of him and by consequence kindle in them some desires after an Interest in him as in one that is great and good as in one that they stand in absolute need of without whom they cannot be saved nor find favour with God but must everlastingly perish and be undone since there is nothing that can commend them to God but Jesus Christ no Wings that can secure them but those of this Sun of Righteousness nothing that can wash out their stains and filth but his Blood nothing that can cover their nakedness and shame but his Robe nothing that can make their Beauty perfect but his Comeliness put upon them In short in this way and with your help they may come to understand that it is not their good meanings nor their good doings not their civility and honest dealings with Men not their keeping clear of bad actions the gross pollutions that are in the World through Lust no nor their running in a round of duty that will justifie them but only the compleat perfect Obedience of Christ and his precious Blood as of a Lamb without spot and that it is not their Prayers though long and fervent that will prevail with God but only the Mediation and Intercession of Christ. And to this end I would give you this advice further content not your selves with a bare naming Christ in your Prayers but make an honourable mention of him after such a manner as this Our dear Lord Jesus Jesus who is the Lord our Righteousness who loved us and washed us in his own Blood and made us Kings and Priests unto God Jesus who dyed for our Offences and rose again for our Justification By frequent repetitions of such things in your Prayers and suitable Discourses at other times the Lord Jesus may become acceptable and precious to them through whom and for whose sake both you and they must become acceptable to God if ever ye be so Having spoken so largely to this Subject my earnest Request is that you all would set up and keep up this necessary and excellent duty of Morning and Evening-prayer every day in your respective Families carefully observing and putting in practice those Rules which have been laid down for the better performance of it and my hearty Prayer for you who do so is that you may have help from Heaven in the work and afterward receive such gracious answers and plentiful returns as may raise and fix in you a resolution of calling upon God as long as you live There is but one Objection against this holy practice which I judge worthy to be taken notice of and I will do what I can to silence the Objection and to do him good that humbly makes it Object Some poor Creature may put in and say Sir you have with much Importunity and Zeal stirred us up to the performance of Family-duties and in particular that of Prayer and I have with diligence attended to what hath been spoken and cannot but acknowledge there is much
as in all other things so particularly in this I do advise and earnestly beseech you to be as tender and careful of the Interest of the great God as you are of your own and more too Fourthly When you have been waiting upon God in the ways of his Publick Worship and have had the Counsels of his holy Will made known to you and the great Mysteries of Religion opened at your return to your own houses do you retire your selves and be alone with God lest by being in company with others and falling into discourses of another nature you lose the things you had heard and those impressions wear out that were made upon you and also allow convenient time to all in your Families for their Private Devotions remembring they have precious immortal Souls the Salvation of which they are as much concern'd to work out as your selves are of your own I have somewhere read of a King I wish there were more like him who while he was teaching a poor Boy that belonged to his Kitchen being askt the reason why he did so answered The poorest hath a Soul as precious as mine and cost the same price no less than the Blood of Christ. And when you see a fit season call them all together and bless God for the Truths you have heard and pray that he would bless them to you and bring them back to your own and their minds by the repetition of them and demand of them an account which to do is a very probable way to keep them from sleeping in the Congregation and from a supine carelesness and vain foolish absurd gazing about and also of imprinting something upon their minds and thoughts which may have a powerful influence upon their hearts and lives and do them good afterward yea as long as they live and when this is done praise the Name of the Lord by singing of a Psalm and pray to him for acceptance of and a blessing upon what you have done and so commit your selves and yours to his Fatherly Protection in the Night and his gracious Conduct the following Week in the course whereof let there be nothing contradictory to your Lord's-days profession or inconsistent with it I beseech you draw an eaven Thred in Religion These four things which I have spoken to you are good for you and necessary to be done but they are generals Therefore now I shall proceed to some more particular Directions for the Instructing of your Families which I would have you carefully to observe and the great God shine upon your endeavours that so they may prove very successful to your comfort and joy First Begin with instructing them about the Being of a God Though this Truth be ingraven in their hearts though the things that are made do plainly Preach to them his Eternal Power and Godhead yet be not you silent but speak the same thing to them over again and again and so betimes even as soon as ever you can principle them against that brutish yet growing Atheism which is an Enemy to all Religion and opens a wide and effectual Door unto all Villany and Profaneness That Person who denies the Being of a God is a sit Tool for the Devil to make use of yea to imploy about his worst Services and basest Drudgery And thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Fathers said good David 1 Chron. 28.9 Know there is a God and in particular know him that hath been and is thy Fathers God and let him be thy God too Love him chuse him cleave to him Shew them the Heaven and the Earth and the things that are in them and that these could not make themselves but must of necessity be made by another how many second Causes soever may be enumerated we cannot take up our rest in any of them but must pass thorough them all and ascend to the first Cause and that first Cause that ens entium that Source and Original of all Being is God and besides him there is none else Ier. 10.11 The Gods that have not made the Heavens and the Earth even they shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens Tell them that upon this God all things that are have an absolute and necessary dependence The Beam doth not more depend upon the Sun than the Sun and all do upon God for them to subsist without him is a thing utterly impossible if he should withdraw his hand Man would crumble Earth would sink the Heavens would shrink and the Angels themselves drop from their present height into that first nothing out of which they were fetch'd by the Divine Power Let them from you know that they themselves are his Off-spring and indebted to him for their Being being by him formed in the Womb and brought out of it and that he hath looked after them and taken care of them ever since when they hung upon the Breasts he carried them in his Arms and taught them to go and held their Souls in Life and provided for them ever since and therefore they are not their own but his he hath the Sovereign Right to them and to Reign over them and that upon this account they are bound to love this God and to fear this God and to serve and honour him as long as they have any Being Acquaint them with his being an holy God in his Nature in his Will in all his Ways and Works glorious in Holiness and of purer Eyes than that he can behold Iniquity and that he hath given out a Law that is holy just and good which they and all are bound to obey the Commandments of it not being grievous And that he is every where present observing how his Will is observed and his Law obeyed and his Creatures order and demean themselves he takes notice both of the Evil and the Good of them that fear him and them that fear him not and doth so strictly observe that he sets down in his Book of Remembrance those that fear him and think upon his Name and can set the sins of the wicked in order before them yea the same order in which they were committed with all the circumstances that cloathe them And that he hath appointed a day wherein he will Judge the World in Righteousness by the Man whom he hath ordained and bring to light the hidden things of dishonesty and render unto every one according as their Works have been whether good or evil Rom. 2.7 8 9. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the Truth but obey Vnrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish upon every Soul of man that doth evil of the Iew first and also of the Gentile but glory honour and peace to every man that worketh good to the Iew first and also to the Gentile for there is no respect of persons with God That he hath
remove do it the sooner the better Let not meer secular advantages keep thee there It is better being out of the warm Sun than out of Gods blessing And you that are fixed as a Wife Child an Apprentice count the want of Family-duty as your Affliction and groan under it as such and in your private addresses beg down if possible Mercy and Grace upon them Pray heartily for them who will neither pray for you nor for themselves the godly Wife for the ungodly Husband the gracious Child for the profane Parent and the Religious Servant for the Wicked Master or Mistress yea wrestle mightily in Prayer for them and with Iacob weep as well as make supplication and be sure to live up to the Laws of the Relations you stand in filling up your days with the duties of your places that though they will not practise Godliness they may see the power of it in its influences upon you If the Wife be peaceable and quiet loyal and loving respecting and reverencing her Husband the Children very dutiful and obedient the servants submissive diligent and faithful every one walking in the fear of God giving no cause of quarrelling with you or blaspheming Religion for your sakes In a word let your whole conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ. You see I have spent a great deal of time and taken no small pains in studying preaching and writing out all this discourse Oh! that it may not be in vain but all the better that have heard or shall read it to that end the good Lord accompany it with his Spirit and blessing bring you to this work keep you at it and help you so to manage your selves and families that after a Life of Prayer on Earth you may be taken up to a Life of Praise in Heaven where all your Wants shall be supplied all your Prayers answered and all your hopes accomplished then you will see the Word was your best rule the Ministers of Christ your real Friends and Religion your grand Interest when fury shall be poured out upon them that know not God and Hell shall receive the Families that call not upon his Name where there shall be no end of their torment and pain nor of their roaring cursing and blaspheming of that holy and righteous but terrible God whom they would not be persuaded to love seek and serve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A POSTCRIPT HAVING said so much as I have done in this Book to the graver sort of Persons your Parents and Governours dear young ones and that not only for their sakes but yours also I have judged it fit to accompany that advice and counsel to them with a few words to you because you likewise are very nearly and greatly concerned and all means possible are to be made use of for the preventing your present miscarriage and eternal ruine You are now in the Morning of your Age and prime of your strength you have set forth and entred upon that Journey which will certainly bring you to your last home where you must take up your everlasting abode from whence there can be no remove and that will be either Heaven or Hell the Glorious Mansions above or the Bottomless Pit below where it is absolutely necessary for you to take heed to your ways and ponder all your goings to set out right at first and then to go straight on without turning either to the right hand or to the left otherwise you will be lost for if the way be not good the end cannot be peace as for such as turn aside unto their croâ—ked Paths the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity Psal. 125.5 It is too evident that multitudes of young ones through corrupt inclination and bad conduct have gone out of the way of life betimes and could never find it afterward Having made an early choice of Sin they grew harden'd in it and there being a judicial Tradition of them to the power thereof they went on to commit it with greediness living and dying its Votaries and Vassals and is it not sad to consider may it not well be matter of bitter lamentation that such Excellent Noble Creatures should be spoiled such precious immortal Souls should be irrecoverably lost that such sweet and lovely Blossoms should be utterly blasted that they who once were the hope of their Parents and might have been the Ornaments and Blessings of their Country should prove burthens and curses to them both God forbid that any of you should be so too for we have too many such already Therefore I pray God that you may and desire that you would be serious betimes get alone sit down and consider what you are where you are whether you are going what is for your interest and what against it labour to know and knowing mind those things which belong unto your peace youth will not always last nor the pleasures of it which you do now count so very sweet and delicious and run such desperate ventures for the enjoyment of A Sickness may quickly be sent of God and cover your faces with a dismal paleness pick the Marrow out of your Bones suck all the Milk out of your Breasts and convert all your strength into weakness faintness and tremblings your smiles may be turned into frowns your mirth into mourning your laughter into heaviness and your songs into sighs groans and shrieks Your own Consciences may arm against you as your enemy and God may so appear as to be your terrour and you may be then made to possess the iniquities of your youth when all the honey is spent and nothing but the sting left the pleasure is over and only the guilt remains whereby you are bound over to the suffering of the judgment written If you be not wise in this condition you may live and die and then you will see cause to wish you had never been born O! be you I beseech you be ye your own friends provide for your own peace and welfare and instead of working out your Damnation with joy jollity and self-pleasing chuse to work out your Salvation with fear and trembling since all the pleasures of Sin are but for a season do you seek out for and make sure of those which are at Gods right hand for evermore and since this life will be but short when drawn out to its greatest length do you lay hold upon that which is quite out of the reach of death that life which came from God and will be perfected in him And know how great a number soever the Prodigals and Profligate Youths of the present Age do amount to yet if you will be serious and truly religious you will not be alone there have been many choice and excellent Persons that went before you the Names of some together with their Character you meet with in the Sacred Records an Isaac who loved Meditation a Iacob that was set for the blessing and by a Vow bound