your selves to a fiery Temper you become fierce barbarous and savage thereby you turn one of your great Temporal Comforts into a grievous Cross and heavy Burden Thirdly you hereby likewise teach your Children thorough your Example to be of a passionate and violent Spirit and so you do them more hurt than all your Corrections and Instructions can do them good Never think to cure them of their Faults by your committing as bad your selves You must not do evil that good may come of it The wrath of man worketh not the Righteousness of God Fourthly When it pleaseth God to visit them with sickness 4. They must carefully improve the Time of their Childrens Sickness or of any other afflictions they meet with towards the making of them wiser and better or any other adversity be sure to do all that you can to bear in upon their minds a sense of those things you are most desirous to have them touched with and which in time of their health they made but very little account of Affliction is the time in which God useth to work upon the hearts of people most powerfully and effectually Then he awakeneth them and convinceth them of their sad and dangerous state He casts them down that being made sensible of their sin and danger he may again raise them up and speak comfortably to them I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her Hos 2.4 Therefore all they who sincerely desire to reclaim their Children or others from their bad and foolish courses ought to take the opportunity of their sickness their pain and grief their losses and disappointments and of any other sorts of troubles and afflictions wherein they are that then they may suggest to them such Counsels and Advices as are proper for their Instruction their Conviction and Amendment At other times there are a great many things which are apt to hinder good Counsel from entring into the mind or from making any deep impression thereon pleasures and vanities are apt to choak the good seed But when they are afflicted and humbled a little by some outward pressure or bodily distemper they are thereby somewhat better disposed to hear friendly Admonitions and Counsels and to think a little more seriously of their ways and doings It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his Youth He sitteth alone and keepeth silence c. Lam. 3.27 28. Fifthly Be earnest in your Prayers to God daily for them 5. They must daily pray to God for them that he would make them what he requires them to be his dutiful and obedient Children and Servants That he would season their hearts with his Fear and Love That he would turn them from Sin and Folly and incline their hearts to keep his Precepts always even unto the end That he would hold up their goings in his paths that their footsteps may not slide That he would be their God and guide their Sun and shield and their portion for ever and that he would give every one of them those things which be best and most needful for them You have great encouragement to do this because you are assured that God heareth Prayer He hath said Every one that asketh receiveth So that either he will grant your Children what you beg for them or if they render themselves unworthy of the mercy and kindness of God by their perverseness and stubbornness yet you are sure of one thing that your Prayers are not lost they shall return into your bosom God will plentifully reward your Piety your Charity and Zeal with more Grace here and Glory hereafter Some Motives to excite Parents to do these things Now to stir you up to perform these things 1. Motive from the Divine Command Consider first It is the Will of God that you bring up your Children in his Fear and acquaint them with his holy Laws and Commandments He who made you requires you to do this he who preserves you and keeps you alive he who is your King and Lord who has a Right to your service to all that you are able to do who is your Father in Heaven who daily takes care of you and loads you with his benefits who is the God of your Salvation who hath sent his Son into the World to die for you It is even he who saith Eph. 6.4 And ye Fathers provoke not your Children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. If you then be the Subjects the Servants and the Children of the great God If you love and fear him as you ought to do you will be sure to make it your business to train up your Children in true Virtue and Piety to make them what God requires them to be holy as he who hath called them is holy in all manner of Conversation you will excite them to strive to enter in at the strait gate To work out their Salvation with fear and trembling To remember their Creator in the days of their youth To seek God while he may be found and to call upon him while he is near To love the Lord with all their heart and their Neighbours as themselves Secondly 2. Motive from its being a work worthy of the utmost care and pains of Parents Is not this a work worthy of all your care and pains to save the Souls of those who are parts of your selves who derive their Being from you You are the Instruments not only of their Being but the means of conveying unto them natural defilement and corruption And therefore you ought with a great deal of Zeal to endeavour to have their pollutions washed off by true unfeigned Repentance and a hearty turning from Sin unto God by their putting off the works of darkness and putting on the Armour of light by their putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and walking as he walked Are you ready to do all that you can to make your Children rich and wealthy great and honourable in the World And yet are you at so little pains to do that for them which tends to make them rich in Faith and Heirs of a glorious Inheritance You endeavor to acquaint them with those who may be useful to them in their worldly Affairs and Concerns And why do you not strive to acquaint them with God their greatest and best Friend Who is sure to stand by them to take them up and to take care of them when all forsake them and turn their backs upon them Why do you not with greater earnestness endeavour to procure unto them his Friendship and Love who is infinitely Powerful and infinitely Good and Kind and therefore not only can but will do for them exceeding abundantly above all that either you or they can think or ask Thirdly The doing of this is attended with great Rewards 3 Motive from the Rewards which attend those who faithfully do these things not only in another World
their Parents or if what they say hath not the designed effect then they may recommend this charitable office to the care of some other body who is a wise and kind a pious and serious Friend who may have some more influence than themselves towards the reclaiming their Parents This is the greatest expression of true kindness honour and respect to them when their Children sincerely endeavour in the discreetest manner to be the happy instruments of their Conversion and Reformation of turning them from Satan unto God This is to be in some sort the Fathers in Christ to those who are their Parents by Nature O how happy are the Parents of such worthy Children How may they rejoyce and bless God who hath bestowed on them so great a Blessing If Children are thus obliged to honour their Parents Against those who dishonour their Parents what shall be said of those who dishonour despise and slight them all that ever they can who undervalue them in their thoughts who speak of them with great contempt and disdain who speak to them with great insolence who mock and scorn them who laugh at them and make mouths at them and point at them with the finger who reproach and revile them who break indecent jests upon them who make them the objects of their sport and pastime who take pleasure in publishing their weaknesses and indiscretions that others also may laugh at them and despise them How dreadful and terrible are the Curses and Judgments which God hath in store against such wretched Children Prov. 30.17 The eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother the Ravens of the vallies shall pick it out and the young Eagles shall eat it That is he who is a mocker and scorner of his Parents who despises and slights them shall die a shameful death and remain unburied and shall be exposed to the birds and beasts of prey to be eaten of them It does not follow from hence that all perverse wretched Children come to such a shameful and untimely end Only it shews what oft-times happeneth and is very usual to wit that such mockers and despisers of Parents are punished remarkably by the Justice of God in this World and are made Examples to all others who will open their eyes to consider the hand of God against such ungodly Children As for Instances of the Divine Justice against Mockers of Parents all Ages and Countries are full of them C ham was made an Example of this Gen. 9.22 24 25. And C ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him And he said Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren In which words tho' Canaan the Son of Cham is only mentioned yet Cham is not exempted from the Curse his punishment is hereby made so much the greater because he is not only pronounced accursed in his own person which is necessarily to be supposed he having committed the sin which caused the Curse but also in his Posterity which could not but increase mightily his grief and make his punishment lye more heavy upon him 2. Duty to obey their Parents Secondly Children are to obey their Parents to do what they bid them See this in the Example of Joseph when Jacob sent him to his Brethren Gen. 37.13 14. And Israel said unto Joseph Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem Come and I will send thee unto them And he said to him Here am I. And he said to him Go I pray thee see whether it be well with thy brethren and well with the flocks and bring me word again so he sent him out of the vale of Hebron and he came to Shechem The Commands of Parents are either about the same things which God hath commanded or they are about things indifferent or about things unlawful If they are about the same things which God hath commanded they are so much the more to be obeyed as being the will and pleasure both of their Father in Heaven and of their earthly Parents In this case the obligation to obedience is double Secondly If their Parents Commands are about things indifferent that is which are neither commanded nor forbidden by God Children are likewise to obey them God hath made it their Duty so to do Col. 3.20 Children obey your Parents in all things for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. This obedience is very acceptable to him he takes great pleasure and delight in it to see those obeyed and submitted to whom he hath appointed to be as it were in his own stead whom he hath cloathed with some beams of Divine Power whom with relation to their Children he hath made in some sense sacred persons whose Will ought to be a Law unto them tho' only in the Lord. For Thirdly if the thing commanded be plainly unlawful they are to refuse complacence therewith because they are bound to obey God rather than man rather than Father or Mother rather than all the World Their obligations to God are much greater than to their Parents he is the Maker both of them and of their Parents they live by his Bounty the Earth they tread on is his the Air they breathe in the Heavens that cover them the food they eat the water they drink the garments that cloath them and all other things which they enjoy for their benefit and comfort in the World are the Lord's He is their great Master who appoints them their business in the World and assures them of a reward he also will reckon with them and either reward or punish them according to their works and therefore his Commands are to be preferred to those of all others But even in this case Children are to express in their very denial and refusal of obedience all that Honour and Respect to their Parents that 's possible that they may see it is not stubbornness but the fear of God which makes them disobey By this means Parents may perhaps be convinced and made sensible of their sin and prevailed with to shun those evil things which they see their very Children do so much hate and abhor and wherein they refuse to obey Against stubborn and disobedient Children If Children are thus bound by the Laws of Heaven to obey their Parents what shall be said of those who make no account of their Parents Commands but set at naught all their Admonitions and Counsels who will not follow their Directions and be governed by them for their own good but do follow their own humor fancy and the examples and customs of others like themselves What a sad mark is this of approaching ruine and of heavy Judgments which hang over the heads of such ungodly Children as you may see in the Sons of Ely 1 Sam. 2.25 of whom it is said that they hearkened not unto
and tenderness to her Mother that he made it known to those in Power who were likewise so mightily touched with such an unusual instance of tender Affection that they pardoned the Mother as the greatest Reward they could bestow on the Daughter for her marvellous Affection What can there be more just and reasonable than for Children thus to endeavour to requite their Parents for their great care and kindness towards them when they were not able to help themselves The time was when their Parents were as Eyes and Hands and Feet to them they did every thing for them their Children not being capable to do any thing for themselves How ready therefore should they be to serve their Parents to assist them by all good Offices when their condition requires it This is a Duty to which Children are so strictly obliged to wit the assisting and relieving of their Parents that no pretence is sufficient to absolve them from the Obligation thereof The Pharisees thought they had found out an Exception from this Rule which was this that if Children gave away their Wealth to pious and Charitable uses they were freed from the Obligation of relieving their Parents They taught them in this case to tell their Parents It is Corban that is to say a Gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me Mar. 7.11 And by saying this they made people believe that they were sufficiently freed from all Obligations to take care of and provide for their Parents But our Saviour reproves them severely telling them that this was no other than the making void the Commandments of God by their Traditions We may see from this Against unkind and unnatural Children what Judgment to make of such unkind undutiful and unnatural Children who do wholly neglect their Parents especially in their old age and in their poor and low Estate who shew them no more pity and express no more love nor tenderness towards them than if they were not their Parents who grudge them the least supply and take all the wicked courses that they can to starve them to death that they may be rid of them who wish and long for and rejoyce in the death of their poor Parents O what a horrid Barbarity and Inhumanity is this Shall not many Pagans rise up in Judgment against such Children and Condemn them How little do they deserve the Name of Christian Children Their true Name is Unchristian and unnatural Children As Solomon bid the Sluggard go to the Ant so may we bid such hard-hearted and unmerciful Children go to the Stork of whom it is told that when the old Dams cannot feed themselves their little ones feed and nourish them when their Feathers fall from them they cover them with their Feathers and when they are not able to fly they couple themselves together to carry them upon their Backs Let uncompassionate Children go to this compassionate Creature and consider her ways and be wise Let them learn from her to be more kind and affectionate and tender-hearted towards their Parents and not any longer to harden their Bowels against them 7. Duty to pray for their Parents Seventhly Because all that Children can do is not sufficient to requite the love and tender care of their Parents therefore they ought to pray to God that he would reward them and preserve them and keep them alive that he would supply all their wants and comfort them in all their troubles and requite their Love their tender care and their great cost and pains they have been at to bring them up and to educate them How happy are the Parents of such Children who are supplicants and intercessors at the Throne of Grace for good things unto them Such Children are the strength of their Parents they are a great blessing unto them If it be the Duty of Children thus to pray to God Against Cursers of Parents in behalf of their Parents what shall we say of those who neither pray for them nor themselves but live like the Beasts that perish and mind nothing that 's good And if their Crime is great who do not at all pray for their Parents how dreadful is their Guilt who Curse them What dreadful Judgments may such Monsters of wickedness expect Prov. 20.20 Who so Curseth his Father or his Mother his Lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness that is he shall be reduced unto a sad afflicted and miserable State his prosperous condition which is compared to Light or to a Lamp shall be turned into Adversity and Misery and that very great which is expressed by obscure darkness he shall be made very miserable his state and condition in the World shall become most uncomfortable as it is for a Man who walketh in a way that is full of Light where he beholds a great many Objects which afford him pleasure and delight suddenly to be deprived of all this and to find himself all alone in obscure darkness without all help and comfort By the Law of Moses such ungodly and unnatural Children were without any pardon to be put to death Exod. 21.17 He that Curseth his Father or his Mother shall surely be put to death From what hath been said Children may see what their Duty is which they owe to their Parents which that they may perform there are several things which serve as powerful Motives and Arguments to excite them Motives to excite Children to do these things First 1. Motive from the divine Commandment It will tend mightily to move them to Honour their Father and Mother if they consider who requires this at their hands This Law proceedeth not from Men but from God It is a Law made by him who is their Maker and therefore by right of Creation may require their Obedience It is a Law made by their faithful preserver and rich provider and therefore by vertue of his daily care over them and kindness to them may command them what he thinks good This is the will of their Father in Heaven of their Lord and King of him who will call them to an account and render to them according to their Works of him who is their greatest and best Friend if they do his Will and keep his Commandments but will be their most dreadful and terrible Enemy if they do not obey his Voice If therefore children have any sense of God on their Souls if they consider his infinite greatness power wisdom justice truth faithfulness mercy and kindness they cannot but endeavour to perform what he requires when once they know what is his holy will and pleasure Now as to what I speak of to wit the Duty of Children to Parents it is plain and clear not only from those Laws which are contained in Holy Scripture which were revealed from Heaven to Holy Men whom God made use of to be the publishers thereof to the World but likewise from the Laws of Nature those clear impressions which God hath made on the minds
of Men in all places and in all Ages whereby they are taught that Children ought to honour and obey their Parents to love them and to relieve them and provide for them if they stand in need of their help These have always been the calm and sober thoughts of all Men and when any were so wicked as to violate this sacred Law they were hated and abhorred by all others and in all well govern'd States were punished according to the demerits of their Crime and the degree of their disobedience and perverseness either immediately by the Parents or by publick Judges upon complaint made by Parents The Sense of all this ought to move Children to honour their Father and Mother that they may approve themselves to God who requires them to do so and that upon the severest Penalties if they shall dare to dishonour them and disobey them Secondly To encourage Children to perform their Duty to their Parents 2. Motive from the Divine Promise God hath been pleased to add a gracious promise That thy days may be long upon the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee He might only have commanded them to do this by virtue of his absolute Power and Soveraign Authority which he has over all Men without proposing any Reward but such is his infinite Bounty and Goodness that he hath added a Promise to the Command thereby to make Childrens Duty the more easie As to the Promise it self it is not to be understood absolutely as if all good Children should live long promises of Temporal Blessings are made conditionally that is so far as God sees such things best and fittest for us So that as to this promise of long life God will bestow it if it be most for his own Glory and the good and Benefit of Children Oftentimes he does lengthen out the years of pious and dutiful Children whereas the years of wicked and undutiful Children are shortned by their prophane and wicked Courses so that some of them are cut off immediately by the hand of God and others are put to death by the hand of Man As for those Children who live not to a great Age tho' they are very dutiful and obedient to their Parents God doth make up what is wanting in the number of their years here with an everlasting Life and Glory in Heaven In which case there 's no cause to Complain as if God did not fulfill his promise to them For as there is no reason for a Man to complain who is employed to work for so much a day if his Master see it fit to free him from his Work and pay him all his Wages before the third part of his time is out Even so if God think fit to set his Children at Liberty from the toil and labour of this life and to bestow upon them glorious and Eternal Rewards while they are in the Morning or Noon as it were of their Age there is no ground of complaining upon his doing so but rather great matter of praise and thanksgiving unto him whose mercy and love is infinitely great But besides this Reward in the other World there are Temporal Blessings which God will bestow on those who keep this Commandment How acceptable and pleasing to him was the Obedience of the Rechabites unto their Father tho' his Commands seemed very hard and severe to wit That they should drink no Wine nor build House nor sow seed nor plant Vineyard nor have any but should dwell in Tents Jer. 35. 6 7. c. And ver 18. Jeremiah said unto the House of the Rechabites Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel because you have obeyed the Command of Jonadab your Father and kept all his Precepts and done according to all that he hath commanded you Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel Jonadab the Son of Rechab shall not want a Man to stand before me for ever Which Words import that he would take a particular care of them that he would be mindful of them and have them in his Eye that he would preserve them and shew them his favour and love and continue unto them those Offices and Priviledges which they enjoyed which some think were of being Scribes and Doctors of the Law and having some Charge in or about the Temple 3. Motive from the Example of our Blessed Saviour Thirdly Besides the Command of God and the Reward which he hath promised to them who honour their Parents how strong an Argument ought it to be unto all Children to excite them to this when they consider the Example of their Blessed Lord and Master their King and Saviour Jesus Christ Of whom it is said that he was subject unto his Parents Luke 2.51 And if he who was so much greater than his Parents who was their Lord their King their Maker their Saviour and Redeemer if he who was the Son of God and thought it no Robbery to be equal with God I say if he was subject to his Parents ought not all Children to be so to their Parents and to esteem it their glory to imitate their Prince and Saviour as in his other Virtues so in his Obedience and Subjection to his Parents Shall any Man think himself too good to do this when Christ did it before him Can it be too mean for a Worm to do that which a Man a great Man and a mighty Prince hath done Shall vile sinners think themselves abased and dishonoured by doing that which was done before by him who knew no sin and in whose Mouth there was found no guile who was holy harmless and undefiled separate from sinners and made higher than the Heavens Heb. 7.26 As our Blessed Lord was a great and noble Pattern to us in other things so particularly in his love to his Parents When he was upon the Cross a little before he gave up the Ghost he expressed how great his love was to his Mother and how tender a care he had of her John 19.25 26 27. Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus his Mother and his Mothers Sister Mary the Wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene When Jesus therefore saw his Mother and the Disciple standing by whom he loved he saith unto his Mother Woman behold thy Son Then saith he to the Disciple behold thy Mother And from that hour that Disciple took her unto his own home He commends his Mother to John Joseph in all probability being dead that he might take care of her as of his own Mother Tho' he was at this time in the midst of great pain and anguish tho' his hands and his feet were nailed to the Cross tho' his head was Crowned with Thorns tho' he lay under the most insupportable Burden that ever Man lay under yet as if the sight of his Mother had made him forget all his Sufferings and Torments he affectionately recommends her to the Care of another who he knew would perform all the Offices of
folly is it for Men to consume to disquiet and to torment themselves where it is to no purpose at all to do so And not only do you thereby no good at all to your selves but you do your selves a great deal of mischief and prejudice You provoke God to anger against you to bring upon you yet heavier and more grievous punishments and to deprive you of other Mercies and Comforts which you still enjoy You do thereby no small hurt to your Bodies you bring upon your selves very dangerous Distempers which will make you unfit for the actions of Life and the Duties of your Calling You likewise do unspeakable mischief to your Souls you deprive your selves of that vigour and chearfulness of Spirit that is needful to make you fit to serve God acceptably You thereby weaken your Memory and darken and disorder your Reason and Understanding and so expose your selves to all the sad consequences of a disordered and distracted Mind Your Example does also a great deal of hurt to others Your impatience and immoderate sorrow and mourning teacheth others to do so upon the like occasion Hereby you bring no small reproach upon our holy Religion as if it were not sufficient to support and fortifie us against our crosses and afflictions and to comfort us amidst the uneasie things which God sees sit to exercise us with in this World What an excellent Example is David unto you in this matter When God struck his Child so that it was very sick he fasted and prayed but when the Child died he arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came unto the House of the Lord and worshipped Then he came to his own house and when he required they set bread before him and he did eat Then said his servants unto him What thing is this that thou hast done Thou didst fast and weep for the Child while it was alive but when the Child was dead thou didst rise and eat bread And he said While the Child was yet alive I fasted and wept for I said Who can tell whether God will be gracious unto me that the Child may live But now he is dead Wherefore should I fast Can I bring him again I shall go to him but he shall not return to me 2 Sam. 12.15 16 c. Thus ought all Parents to do who fear God When the Lord layeth his hand upon your Children you ought to pray to God for them and to use all lawful means for their recovery But when he sees fit to take them away by death you ought patiently to submit to his Will and to say with Job The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1.21 This is your wisest course It is the way to make your selves happy and to enjoy comfort and satisfaction of mind under your crosses This is the likeliest and readiest way to obtain new Mercies and Favours from the Lord instead of those you are deprived of Thus you see the Lord dealt with Job Jam. 5. 11. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord That the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy And Job 42.12 13. The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning And vers 16 17. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years and saw his sons and his sons sons even four generations So Job dyed being old and full of days But if God see it more fit to withhold from you the blessings of the Womb and to bestow no more Children upon you he can and will make up this want with much greater and better Blessings What you want in Temporals you shall have in Spirituals As Elkanah said to Hannah 1 Sam. 1.8 He will be better to you than ten Sons He will give you a Name better than of Sons and Daughters even an everlasting Name that shall not be cut off Isa 56.5 SOME FORMS OF PRAYER WHICH Parents may teach their Children according to their Age. A Morning Prayer to be taught Children when they begin to speak O Lord I praise thee for all thy Mercies and for thy Care of me this Night Watch over me this day Forgive me all my sins and make me thy Child for Jesus Christ his sake This Prayer may be used likewise at Night only changing that petition watch over me this Day into watch over me this Night When Children come to be four or five years old the following Prayer may be used O Lord my God what shall I render unto thee for all thy Mercies I bless thee for giving me Life and all things needful to keep me alive But above all I bless thee for sending Christ to dye for me that he might wash me with his Blood and make me fit for the Kingdom of Heaven For his sake have mercy upon me and forgive me all my sinful thoughts words and deed Give me Grace to serve thee as I ought to do that I may not do nor say a naughty thing lest thou be angry with me and cast me into Hell fire Lord bless and preserve my Father and Mother * If there be Brothers and Sisters let them pray for them likewise and all my Friends and Relations I praise thee O God for preserving of me this Night watch over me this day save me from every evil thing Good Lord hear me and grant me whatsoever thou knowest to be best for me for Jesus Christ his sake in whose holy name and words I pray Our Father c. This Prayer may be likewise used at Night by changing only two words and saying instead of preserving me this night preserving me this day and instead of watch over me this day watch over me this night A Morning Prayer for Children when they come to twelve or fourteen years of Age sooner or later according to the ripeness of their understanding LORD teach and assist me to worship thee as I ought to do Lift up my heart unto thee What shall I render unto thee O most gracious God and most merciful Father for all thy mercies to me and to all the World I bless thee for making me a reasonable Creature and for affording me all things which be needful to support my Life I bless thee for my health liberty and safety for my Food and Rayment for the use of my Reason and Vnderstanding and of my Senses for thy corrections and deliverances and for all the advantages I have had by good Examples and good Instructions But chiefly I praise and bless thee for the redemption of Mankind by the Lord Jesus Christ That I was born within thy Church where I was early given to thee in Baptism that I have had the benefit of Christian Education that thou hast afforded me the means of Grace and called me to the hope of Glory But notwithstanding thy goodness and love I have gone astray from thee I have not cared so
to provide for me all necessary things and yet that I should prove so wicked as to despise them to disobey them and hate them not to submit my self unto them what base and wicked ingratitude is it That I who should have been a Blessing to them should prove a Curse That I who should have been a Comfort to them should be the cause of their grief and sorrow That I who should have been a help unto them should be so great a hinderance That I who should have been the stay and support of their Old age should prove their ruine and the cause of the spending of their days in anguish and trouble What a prodigious impiety is this What a wretched and abominable Creature am I who have been guilty of such horrid impiety Who have had so little regard to those who are to me in God's stead here in the World What punishment do I not deserve What a wonder is it that God hath spared me and pitied me and hath not cut me off in the midst of my disobedience neglect and contempt of my Parents That he hath not made me an Example to all others and a standing Monument of his just displeasure That he has not bound me hand and foot and cast me into utter darkness and given me my portion with Hypocrites and Sinners but hath lengthened out my years and given me time and place to repent Having thus in your own minds expostulated the matter with your selves you may in the next place adore and bless the Divine Goodness the infinite Mercy and astonishing Kindness of God towards you in having spared and pitied you in not dealing with you after your sins nor rewarding you after your iniquities but that he hath been pleased to wait to be gracious to you Humbly confess your faults and offences unto him with great shame and confusion of face and with true grief and sorrow of heart acknowledge your iniquities make particular confession so far as you remember of your stubbornness and disobedience to your Parents of your contempt and neglect of them of your hating them and wishing Evil to them of your speaking irreverently and wickedly to them or of them of your not submitting to their Corrections of your not heeding their Admonitions and Counsels nor regarding their just Reproofs c. Beg of God for Christ's sake to have mercy on you and to blot out your Sins and to make you what you ought to be After this it is fit to form sincere and hearty Resolutions of doing your Duty in all respects to your Parents for the time to come of loving honouring obeying and serving them as you ought to do Resolve to amend whatever has been amiss and defective either in your thoughts words or deeds with relation to them Beg of God to strengthen you in your Resolutions to fortify you against all Temptations to inspire you with his Fear and Love to guide you by his good Spirit and that he would never leave you nor forsake you If the Example and Society of other wicked Children has been an occasion of making you so bad and of hardening you in your Contempt Stubbornness and Disobedience resolve to break off your Familiarities with them let them and all others know and see that you are sorry for your Disobedience to your Parents for your having dishonoured slighted and neglected them and that you are resolved to do so no more but will by the help of God approve your selves Dutiful Kind and Obedient Children Not only must you in this manner make your Humble and Penitent Confession to Almighty God your Heavenly Father whom you have provoked as by your other Sins so particularly by your disobedience to your Parents and by your dishonouring of them but you must likewise confess unto your Parents the Crimes whereof you have been guilty against them you must say as the Prodigal did I will arise and go to my Father and will say unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Luke 15.18 19. Let your Parents see that you are heartily sorry for your Offences against them by Word or Deed beg of them to forgive you and desire them to pray to God that he would forgive you You are to be careful after this to fulfil your Purposes and Resolutions and to perform all those Duties of Love Honour and Obedience to your Parents wherein you were formerly so defective For this end it is fit daily and earnestly to beg of God that he would direct and assist you to do what is well-pleasing in his sight It is necessary for you to be very jealous of your deceitful and desperately wicked Hearts to watch over them carefully lest they turn aside towards your former crooked Ways lest you return with the Dog to the Vomit Watch against all those Temptations whereby you are most in danger of being seduced and intangled again in your former perverse Practices and Customs As you have been formerly very negligent and defective in Honouring and Obeying your Parents endeavour for the future so much the more to perform all those Duties which you owe unto them with great care and exactness As you have been great Examples of Disobedience strive to be so much the greater Patterns of Obedience Endeavour to do all that you can that they who have been by your Counsels or Examples corrupted and made stubborn and disobedient may be reformed and rescued from their sins and wickedness that as you have been Instruments to promote Satan's Kingdom so you may be zealous for the glory of God for promoting Piety and true Virtue in the World whereof this is no inconsiderable part that Children honour their Father and Mother and do all those Duties with chearfulness unto them which God requires This is the way to obtain the divine pardon to turn away his Wrath and to keep off those heavy Judgments which are threatned against stubborn Children and such who mock and scorn their Parents Or if God see it fit to punish you here he will make your Corrections and Punishments and all other things work together for your good and after he hath tryed you he will bestow upon you rewards of everlasting Life and Glory As for those who are so perverse as to despise all Counsel and Advice who refuse to hearken to any Instructions who are resolved to go on in their stubbornness and disobedience to their Parents in slighting and vilifying them let them remember what the Wise Man saith Eccles 11.9 Rejoice O young Man in thy Youth and let thine heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine Eyes But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into Judgment A DISCOURSE About the RIGHT WAY Of Improving our TIME By a Divine of the Church of England LONDON Printed for S. Lowndes over against Exeter Exchange in the