Man make that Covenant his plea or argument or rationally expect Life and Happiness from it who himself hath violated and broken it that Person whose own sin hath cast him out of Covenant hath no more interest in nor right to the Blessings thereof than he that was never in it Nay Fourthly The condition of such an one is far the worse and more dismal of the two as his sins are more accented more black more provoking and crying than the sins of another being breaches of Covenant sins against greater Obligations so there is less hope of him his case is more dangerous and desperate the Wound that he hath made looks as if it were altogether incurable and the Wrath that such an one is like to suffer may well be more fiery and fierce the Judgments more severe not Rods but Scorpions are proper in such a case what will God do when he comes to avenge the quarrel of his Covenant I have thus largely shewn you that are Parents and Governours of Families what Obligations you are under for the setting up and continuing of the Service and Worship of God in your Families upon the consideration of the young ones the Children and Servants which are in your Houses and under your Care and I am not a little confident that if you will be so just to the Cause and your selves as to weigh the arguments your Consciences will tell you the Obligation is very strong and oh that the truth deliver'd may be so upon you and upon many more that you may not be found rebelling against the light nor holding the truth in Righteousness but falling before it and to your work There remains but one Obligation more to this great and necessary Work of Family-Worship and Duty which I shall take notice of in this Discourse and speak unto and that doth arise from the consideration of the Publick the City the Nation the Church of God unto which you are so nearly related as being Parts and Members of them and in which you are so highly concerned your Relation is not so near but that your interest is as great ponder on these following Particulars Let this I beseech you return often upon your thoughts and lay it near your hearts you are Citizens of London Famous London which Enemies have done much against and God hath done great things for what will you do for it In London you have many Mercies many Priviledges many Comforts you are the Natives of England the Free-born People of England a sweet and pleasant name be dear over it both name and thing It was in this Countrey that you first drew your breath here that you were planted by the gracious hand of Divine Providence and grown and flourished and you would be exceeding unnatural and inhumanely cruel to this poor City and to this pleasant Land the Land of your Nativity if you do not heartily desire its welfare and to the utmost seek its good The Iews were to pray for the peace of Ierusalem which was their Metropolis their Capital City where there were the Thrones of Judgment the Thrones of the House of David and whether the Tribes went up the Tribes of the Lord to the testimony of Israel See how David excited others and resolved himself to contribute what might be to its happiness Psal. 122.6 7 8 9. Pray for the peace of Ierusalem they shall prosper that love thee peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy Palaces for my Brethren and Companions sake I will now say peace be within thee because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek thy good We are as much bound to Pray for London which is our English Ierusalem was that the literal Ierusalem the City of their Solemnities so it is called Isa. 33.20 London through the goodness of a gracious God hath been and in spite of Hell and Rome yet is the City of our Solemnities and I beseech you read and think upon that which the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel said unto them who were carried away Captive from Ierusalem to Babylon Ier. 29.7 Seek the peace of the City whither I have caused you to be carried away Captives and pray unto the Lord for it for in the peace thereof ye shall have peace Now if they were to pray for the peace of Babylon which was the place of their Captivity we are in reason much more bound to pray for and by all means seek the peace and welfare of London and England which is the place of our Nativity Secondly Cast your eye upon the present State of London and of England have not our iniquities brought us low the hand of God hath been for many years and in many ways heavy upon the Land and it is stretched out still the truth is our preservation is wonderful and the Lord hath done great things for us of which we have reason to be glad and to give him glory but for all that we are brought low the Crown is fallen from our head our honour is under an Eclipse In some respects England is scarce to be found in England there is a withering blast upon us and a sad dismal face of things How many Judgements doth this Nation lie under both Spiritual and Temporal O! the sad Divisions that are among us which grow wider instead of an healing Spirit behold a perverse Spirit is gone forth in the midst of us how do errours and all manner of false Doctrines abound and swarm there the Serpent hath cast out of his mouth like a flood that he might drown and swallow up the Church of God among us Now that she is in her wilderness State What a Spirit of Atheism hath possess'd Men We have a company of wretches that rather than they will own God will hold they themselves shall die like Beasts these are none of the old Fools who said in their hearts there is no God these have far out done them in speaking it with their mouths I have indeed been told that some of these are very sensible Men and indeed I do conclude that not only some Atheists are so but that they all are so yea and that they are altogether so men immerst and quite sunk into sense they have shaken hands with reason quite blinded and put out the eye of reason for otherwise in the very things before them they would see the invisible things of God even his Eternal Power and Godhead Rom. 1.20 To which I might add that general and monstrous prophaneness which hath broken all banks and overflow'd us which hath risen up to that highth of impudence that it can out-face the Sun and walk unveil'd at noon and what do you feel hath not God think you risen out of his place to punish the Inhabitants of London and of England for their iniquities Hath he not revealed his wrath from Heaven against the ungodliness of Men doth not his Providence frown dreadfully hath he not in legible Characters written
his high displeasure in those temporal Judgements that are among us what else means his not going forth with our Armies the unsuccessfulness of our Fleet the taking of our Merchants Ships the loss of our Trade the scarcity of Corn the dearness of all Provisions so that Poverty comes in upon us like an Armed Man let not Men grumble at these things but lay them to heart humble themselves and reform mourn and amend their ways and doings Thirdly You are Members of the Church as well as Citizens of London and Natives of England Some of you are come into stricter and closer Communion than others in order to the better promoting of your Souls good and your enjoyment of Ordinances purely administred and as you think more according to the mind of God reveal'd in Scripture However all of you do profess your selves belonging to the Church of Christ and so to be Members of his Mystical Body and you ought to study the good of the Church if you do not there is no life in you but you are dead members you may have some kind of being in the body but you are not of it you do not receive Spirits and Life from the Head no vital influences And Oh! how did Paul complain and groan because men were wholly selfish confin'd and shrivel'd up into a narrow interest seeking their own things and not the things of Iesus Christ i. e. the glory of his Name and the good and prosperity of his Church which is not a separate but a joynt interest so that the promoting of one is the promoting both and you ought to study it and do all that you can to contribute to it Fourthly Do not you know that a great many among us are the burthens of the Land and that under them it groans we see England is sick yea it is heart sick oh how faint it is what convulsions hath it what struglings are there even as for life but who is it sick of of the Fanaticks will some say and I say so too only understand it of them who are Fanaticks indeed not of them who are Israelites indeed the Fools Cap is many times through a wilful mistake put upon a Wise Mans head but they will say England is sick of the Dissenters the Non-Conformists and it will never be well till they be suppres'd and purged out but those that are thus minded go by very wrong measures and are Physicians of no value Ahab told Elijah that he troubled Israel but the Holy Prophet did very justly and honestly return it upon the wicked King I have not troubled Israel but thou and thy Fathers House in that ye have forsaken the Commandments of the Lord 1 Kings 18.18 And I dare also say concerning those good men which some have given that undeserved name to what in another case Paul said to the Centurion and the Souldiers except these abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved Acts 27.31 I am not for making Parties nor widening or continuing unnecessary differences but desire to love every one that loveth the Lord Iesus in sincerity and I dare affirm that those who are godly in the Nation are the strength thereof the strength both of King and Kingdom Isa. 6.13 the holy seed shall be the substance thereof But I was saying too many are the burthen of the Land I mean those that have suckt in and do belch out damnable Doctrines and the Prophane Crew the Debauchees of the Age the Land is sick of them and perhaps will not be well 'till it hath eas'd it self I say not of their Persons but of their Principles and Practices those those be the Persons that are the Pests and Plagues of the Nation and may they be so accounted in order to their being avoided that so the spreading of the infection may be prevented but since there are such as these multitudes of them you that profess Religion should desire and pray and labour to be the blessings of the Nation and so to be will be your honour Fifthly To fill up the places in which God hath been pleased to set you is the way to make you blessings publick blessings the way for the whole to thrive is for every one to do his part when the Spring Wheels and Ballance move regularly the Watch goes well there is the honour of the place and the profit of the place and those that are high will expect that but there is also the work of the place and let them and others also do that It may be thou art but in a low and mean place however be thou contented with the disposal of Providence that is the way to have a blessing from God for thy self and to be thy self a blessing to the Nation Consider then the place in which you are set and study the duty of that place and to that do thou apply thy self and labour to do it all Are any of you in publick place in City or Country cloathed with Authority and Power in a capacity of encouraging Vertue and Godliness and of punishing and suppressing Vice fill up your Place it is pity there should be any Wicked Profane Idle Careless Sloathful Magistrates they are common Nusances Have you none but a little Cock-Boat to manage being only Governours of Families do you fill up your place and do the duty of that If you have but a little it is the more easily done be you faithful in your little that is the way to advance God may make you Rulers over much to be sure you shall not miss of his joy Sixthly Families are the first Bodies out of which greater Societies and Communities do arise and of which they are compos'd Churches Towns Cities Kingdoms are made up of Families as the integrating parts the least Families is a part of the body a Family is the first Society as it was in our Primitive Parents Adam and Eve and in its growth an increase it comes to be made up of several Persons that stand in several Relations to one another Husband Wife Son Daughter Man-Servant Maid-Servant Villages Towns Cities Countries are all of them made up as was said before of several Families and according as it is in these smaller bodies it is like to be in those greater ones if the several members be corrupt it is utterly impossible that the body should be sound If there be a Plague raging in the Houses it is impossible there should be health in the City And so if Families be tainted corrupted spoiled who can rationally think that the Kingdom should be good Those larger and more numerous Societies which have been spoken of may not unfitly be compared to Orchards or Vineyards that should bring forth Fruit to God and ought to be water'd with the Magistrates eye and water'd by the Ministers hand our Families are the Nurseries in which young tender Plants are set and Nurs'd and reer'd for the supplying and furnishing them afresh as the Old Stock the Super-annuated Trees of
our heavenly Lord and Master hath cut out for us This is part of the description of a blessed Man that his delight is in the law of the Lord and in that law he doth meditate day and night Psal. 1.2 And it is the Will of God not only that you your selves should know them such Monopolizing is not grateful to the King of Glory but also teach them your Children Deut. 6.6 7. These words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart to know them and to love them but to have them in their own Hearts was not all it was not enough no no read on thou shalt teach them diligently to thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest in the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up The Word of God is to be the matter of our Meditation and of our Discourses at all times and in all places I mean in the Morning and in the Evening at home and abroad This alone is excellent Food and to other discourse it is an excellent seasoning Paul in his Epistle to Timothy speaks of his having known the Scriptures of a Child ab incunabulis almost from his Cradle he did as it were suck them in with his Mothers Milk but how came that to pass By means of Parental Care the Teachings and Instructings of his Parents for certain of his Mother in that young and tender Age. Secondly Look diligently to the Catechising of them Blessed be God that Exercise hath been for some Years kept up in our Congregation and is now singularly well performed by my worthy Brother Mr. Alexander whom you have chosen and called to that and other Ministerial Work among you the Lord grant his Blessing both to him and to it that there may be much good fruit thereof seen and felt both in young and old and by the way I cannot pass it by in silence that it is some trouble to me there are no more of your Children and Servants brought into it and I cannot but reckon it a bad sign of proud or slothful unwillingness in them or else of a wretched neglect or carelesness in some of you But I advise and earnestly desire you as to be thankful for so not to rest in what is done here but come out to our help and do your duty at home teach you your Children and Servants their Catechism and examine them in it your selves In the Assembly's Catechism which is us'd in our Congregation and which I commend to your Family use you have a Body of Divinity summarily contained the main Fundamental Principles of Religion necessary to be known in order to Salvation methodically propounded and also brought into so narrow a compass that they will not oppress and burden the memory but if blessed of God mend both head and heart To the want of this we may I doubt not in part impute it that there among us so many wicked and profane persons so many Sons and Daughters of Belial so many ungodly impudent and debauched Young ones Hos. 4.1 There is no knowledge of God in the Land to be sure then there is a great deal of villany yes verse 2. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing Adultery they break out and Blood toucheth Blood Darkness being in the Mind the Works of Darkness will be in the Life an uninstructed Head an unsanctified Heart and a wicked Life go together through this means so many precious Souls go down to Hell and are for ever lost they perish for lack of knowledge for lack of this the Labours of Ministers are no more successful Want of Family-Instruction is one great reason of so much unprofitable Hearing 3dly Take all possible care that none under your Charge prophane the Lord's-day That is a day which God hath sanctified by chusing it out of the rest of the days and setting it apart for holy use and it is his will that all his People should sanctifie it too as he hath made it holy they must keep it so We are to call it a delight the holy of the Lord honourable and honour it or him i. e. Honour God by honouring the Sabbath not doing our own ways upon it nor finding our own pleasure nor speaking our own words There are ways and pleasures and words proper for that day but they must not be our own no nothing of our own it must be the way of God and the pleasure of God and the word of God that we are for upon that day and not our own Isa 58.13 Neither our corrupt sinful thoughts the froth or scum of our depraved Nature nor our worldly profits nor our sensual pleasures we must bring our thoughts our minds and hearts and strength with us but lay them at the foot of God devote them to his service and engage them entirely about his work Upon that day we are not of a due elevation till above our selves and above the World nothing of our own is to be minded or done by us save works of Necessity and Mercy It is God's day and therefore to be employed about the things of God thoughts of God discourses of God the Service and Worship of God should take up the whole of that holy day To do worldly business to follow bodily recreations upon that day is no less than Sacriledge a robbing of God Therefore take care of your Families as to this do not you set your Children or Servants about the affairs of your Callings on that day see also that they mis-spend it not themselves but in the performing acts of duty preparing to wait upon God in the way of his Publick Ordinances and thither do you carry them with you not suffering them to stay lazying sleeping or playing at home or to go rambling abroad whither they themselves please no no in this case put on the Spirit of Elijah and be very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts see that That day be kept for God and when you and your Families are at home exercise your selves and them unto Godliness The continuance of Religion in England doth under God very much depend upon a care of keeping the Sabbath Many years ago when I was a young Man Famous Mr. Newcomen of Dedham told me this passage This Question was put in the Conclave What is the best way to reduce England to the see of Rome To this every Cardinal was to give his Answer beginning at the youngest Many Expedients were propounded at length an old Fox stood up and said Take away their Sabbaths and that will effectually do it This Invention was hugg'd this Medium resolv'd upon and not long after came out the Book of Sports O holy Mother Church whose Interest is promoted by such unholy means And let me tell you I do never expect to see Religion flourishing nay not living long in that Family in which there is not due regard had to the Lord's-day Therefore