sinking and repair it when under decays and shine upon it and prosper it Seeing it is a Religious house God will make it a comfortable house seeing the incense of Prayer goeth up from the house to Heaven a shower of blessing shall come down from Heaven upon the house a variety of duties shall be accompanied with a variety of mercies and a succession of duties crown'd with a succession of blessings as day unto day shews mindfulness and night unto night gratitude so day unto day on Gods part shall shew his love and night unto night his faithfulness Not but that in those very Families where there are most holy exercises there may be many afflictive exercises Davids house was not as the clear Sun-shine or a Morning without Clouds there are among his dearest Children Iniquities and Transgressions and notwithstanding the everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure into which God hath entered with them he hath reserved to himself the liberty of visiting those iniquities with the Rod and those Transgressions with Stripes yet this doth not hinder their blessedness Though afflictions may and do come in yet they cannot crowd or shut the blessing out Iacob met with a great deal of trouble nevertheless the blessing remained upon him Nay God will take such special care of his People as that the very Rod shall blossom with Love and their afflictions shall be turn'd into advantages out of the Eater shall come Meat that which devours their comforts shall feed their graces the gains shall make a full yea abundant amends for the loss and whatever their apprehensions for the present may be while they smart and are in pain yet the day shall come wherein they shall be reconciled to the darkest and most severe dispensations when they shall see yea and feel cause with thankfulness to own that Gods smitings were a kindness and that his rebukes were an excellent Oyl that instead of breaking the head did better the heart Secondly This is the way to have the Covenant made good to you and an accomplishment of the Promises which are more worth than all the gold of Ophir or the riches of both the Indies To this purpose that calls for our consideration which God spake concerning Abraham in that place to which we have twice already had occasion to have our recourse Gen. 18.19 I know him that he will command his Children and his Servants after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgement and if he and they do so they will do well but what then what will he get by it read the very next words that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him if Abraham would be careful of his duty God would magnifie his mercy upon him Obedience to Precepts is followed with the performance of promises but what was it that God had spoken of him it was good much considerable very great and admirable things which God had spoken That he would make of him a great Nation that he would make his name great that he would bless him and make him a blessing that he would bless them that blessed him and curse them that cursed him and that in him all the Families of the Earth should be blessed Gen. 12.2 3. in thee i. e. in thy Seed in Christ who shall come of that according to the flesh shall all be blessed for Christ came to bless them in turning them from their iniquities in making peace for them with God and bringing them back to God Now saith God Abraham in this way will make all these my promises sure to him he will prevent any obstacles and rubs from being in their way Abraham will be dear over my interest and name and glory he will exalt and honour me in his family he will breed and train them up for me he will use his Authority for me and lay his command upon them to fear me and to keep my way and therefore I will be as good as my word to him of all that which I have spoken concerning him not one tittle shall fail I beseech you take notice and remember it that a care to promote the interest and honour of God the setting up the service and worship of God in your Families is the way to bring over to you the good of the Promises The Apostle Peter tells us that the Promises are exceeding great and precious so great that we cannot measure them we cannot grasp them in our understandings they are so great that they contain Heaven and Earth in them and all good things and they are so precious that you cannot rate them according to their worth we may easily overvalue our selves and the enjoyments here below that is done everyday but we cannot over-value promises and would you not my dear Friends be heartily glad of an interest in them and being able to lay a just claim to them would you not be glad to go to the whole heap of promises and with the arms of faith sweep them up and say these are all mine own these are the good things my God hath given me these are those pleasant places in which my lines are fallen In a word would you not be glad at heart if all these exceeding great and precious promises should empty themselves and unlade all their treasures into your bosoms I doubt not but you would am sure you have reason and if you would your best and only way is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to serve and honour God in your personal and domestick Capacities and then Thirdly As this is the way to bring down a blessing from God upon you and upon your Families so it is the way to make your Families a blessing to you and your Children a blessing to you Oh how sweet and desirable a thing is this What a comfort is it to Prarents to have such Children as are their Comfolts their Joy and Crown such Children as are blest themselves and blessings unto them when so many are their poor Parents grief and sorrow their curse and shame of whom them cannot think without a sigh on whom they cannot look without indignation Children who fill their Parents lives with bitterness and make them a lamentation thoroughout and at last bring down their gray Hairs with sorrow to the Grave Children that while young were their Parents hope and joy but when they were grown up became first the Companions of Fools and then foolish themselves and so prove Thorns in the sides of their Parents and Pricks in their Eyes I know you that are Parents would not have your Children such it is your duty to love them and unless you have cast off all good nature you do love them and would rejoyce in them and over them to do them good Now this is one special way for the bringing it to pass Prov. 20.3 The just man walketh his integrity his Children are blessed after him
Righteousness do decay and wear off Now if the Nurseries be not minded if the young Plants there be not carefully and duely tended what will become of the Orchard and Vineyard in a little while From hence we may not without good reason conclude that private Family-care is necessary for the promoting of publick and common good Therefore I beseech you to look to your Nurseries take care of your Families Seventhly I would ask not only those that are truly gracious but likewise them that are sober and serious are you not ashamed of and troubled at those crying Abominations that are among us Can Forreigners that come hither and understand what is pure Religion and undefiled before God even the Father and do observe the Miscarriages of Men I say can they look upon this as Immanuel's Land when they see it so over-run with Weeds Briars and Thorns can they think it to be the Garden of the Lord or rather some of the Wilderness of the World some of the Devils waste might not Heathens and Pagans say they are become like some of us yea and worse than many of us The good Lord look upon us in mercy and doth it not affect and afflict you that it is thus after all the Gospel-Light that hath shined among us and after all the means that God hath used for our Resormation in a mixt way of Mercy and Judgement of Kindness and Severity I do very well know there are almost every where great complaints of Prophaneness and Debauchery and truly those complaints are not without great cause for Sin gross Wickedness doth abound in all places both in City and Country if the Court be free I shall rejoyce there are bad reports of Camp and Fleet Wickedness hoth broken in like a flood as if it would deluge us and prevail against all Piety yea and against all Morality too filling all places with Atheism and Brutishness and without doubt Men in High Places did draw up the Flood-gates for the furthering an Antichristian design Popery and Prophaneness are near a kin let men have a liberty to do what they will i. e. to commit all uncleanness with greediness and an hundred to one they will be content that those who are uppermost should chuse their Religion for them yea and also inferiour Magistrates and under Officers have pav'd its way Blessed be they of the Lord who have offered themselves willingly to give a check and stop to it and blessed be those Magistrates who encourage and assist them therein and Oh! that the work may prosper in their hands but in the mean time have not you private Men had an hand in it You do cry out against Publick Houses Taverns and Alehouses and as I hear so I believe not without much cause though some of them are in good hands and care is taken that good Orders be observed in them yet certainly the wickedness of others yea of many others is exceeding great they are the Devil's ground in which he sets his Nets and lays his Snares for the catching of his unwary Prey they are the Devils School in which Men follow his Trade and by both together young ones are taught it there it is that modesty is put off and sober Principles pluck'd up by the Roots and they learn the Mysteries of iniquity and commence Masters of that Black Art But you who do complain of these Publick-Houses look home lay your hands upon your hearts and ask your own Consciences what you have done and what you have left undone Is there not the neglect of God and the duties of Godliness in your houses there is no Drunkenness nor Whoredom no Cursing and Swearing that you do allow that is well but withall there is no Praying nor Reading the Scripture nothing of the Service and Worship of God there and by that means you do not as you ought Principle your young ones against the Vices of the Times and so you leave them too naked and open to the assaults of Temptation This I would have imprest upon your thoughts that the making of good Families is the way to make a good City and a good Kingdom Let every one make it his business to set up Religion at home and then we shall all be sure to find it when we go abroad If all our Families were good we should have good Princes and good Parliaments good Magistrates and good Ministers and good People good Husbands Wives and Children good Friends and Neighbours it would indeed be Aurea Aetas a Golden Age. Eighthly and lastly The consciencious performance of Religious duties in Families is an excellent means for the rendering of Publick Ordinances more successful I am persuaded there would much more good come of that precious Seed which the faithful Ministers of Christ scatter in their several Congregations were Masters and Mistresses of Families careful before they come to prepare the Soil for the Seed and after it is sown careful to cover it with Prayer and to water it with suitable discourses and exhortations Thorough the Divine Goodness and Bounty there is in this City and near it a great deal of excellent Preaching Confident I am no Place in the World can shew such plenty Heavenly Manna doth abundantly fall about our Tents Whatsoever there is of a scarcity as to Bread for the Body there is no Famine here oh that in every poor Countrey there were none neither of hearing the Word of the Lord. We have it upon the Lord's day and the week days too every day in the week one where or other within your reach blessed be God for it the joyful sound is continually in our Ears It would be a thousand pities that such admirable plenty of a thing so precious as the Everlasting Gospel should do any hurt and that any should wax wanton and instead of the Bread of Life be hankering after Mushrooms and Kickshaws or that they should grow nice and curious not relishing plain Truths and the Simplicity of the Gospel unless it be dress'd and sauc'd to their humour and serv'd up to them in words which Man's Wisdom teacheth Though I fear we have among us too many of that mind mark how they live and what becomes of them but be that how it will it must be granted that this place where God hath cast our Lines is a Goshen a Valley of Vision and a great many People are much very much for hearing of Sermons they run up and down to Lectures and some of them will hear four Sermons and much good may they do them It is a great encouragement to the Servants of God and a ground of hope that they shall catch some of them for their Master He hath made them Fishers of Men and the Fisher-men love to cast their Net where there is a great Shoal But I would say to these who do so much frequent Sermons two things First By way of Advice Look to your whole Duty and labour to stand compleat in all the
their hands and there are too many that will be one day found with their hands full of blood there are some Men among us that do corrupt and taint the Judgments of their Children and Servants and Poyson their Minds with their Cursed Doctrines and Damnable Heresies I ask no pardon for that expression as too harsh and severe for it is Scripture Language and by their sinful practices and vile debaucheries which are as bad as Rats-bane and they shall be sure to answer for it Others there are that do starve their Souls by not teaching them the way and fear of the Lord not instilling good Principles into them by not setting holy Examples before them which they should imitate not taking them by the hand and leading them in the ways of Righteousness the midst of those Paths of Judgments in which they ought to go by living themselves like so many Heathens and Brutes and teaching others to do the same bringing them up for Hell and fitting them for destruction as if they had taken up a resolution that they would not serve the Lord nor go to Heaven no nor any that belong to them if they can prevent it and these Men likewise shall answer it to God Such shall be dealt with in the same manner as God threatned he would do with the Prophet in case of his being false to his trust and unfaithful to those unto whom he was sent You may see it in Ezek. 3.17 18 Son of Man I have made thee a Watchman to the house of Israel therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me People are in eminent danger of being seduced by False Teachers of being prevailed against by Temptations of Satan and his instruments Ministers must watch over them they must go themselves to God for light teaching instruction and be faithful in teaching when taught and in giving out what they have received Now mark when I say unto the Wicked thou shalt surely die and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his evil way to save his life the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood will I require at thy hands which saith Erasmus is fulmen non verbum not a word but a Thunder-bolt Duty is safe as long as that is done by Ministers they are out of danger out of harms way they shall be accepted and rewarded by God whatever the issue be as to the people among whom they labour Isa. 49.5 Though Israel be not gathered yet shall I be glorius in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength but neglect and carelesness is damnable it brings upon Ministers the guilt of other mens blood and the loss of their own Lives and Souls and believe it so it will upon you who are Parents and Masters of Families Oh consider it my dear Friends Beloved and longed for seriously consider it you are as I formerly said and without doubt you your selves know Prophets in your own Houses there you are to Teach and Rule God hath made you Watchmen to your own Houses and it is your business to study their peace and safety and to seek their good it is your business to acquaint them with their Duty that they may do it and to warn them of their danger that they may avoid it you are to cause your light to shine before them that so in your light they may see light you are to instruct them that they may not be naught for lack of knowledge you are to shew them and go before them in the way that they should go that they may not wander and go directly to Hell because they had none to direct them in a word you are to make use of all means possible that both you and yours may prove and approve what is the good acceptable and perfect will of God and so be and at last found to be wise unto Salvation But if you if any of you have been and will continue to be slothful careless negligent and wanting to your duty herein your Children and Servants may die in their ignorance and iniquity but verily you shall not escape unpunished for their blood shall be required at your hands the holy and righteous God will require it who is the great avenger of blood And here are two things that I lay before you First Your wretched neglect of Family-Duties may bring upon you the Curse of your Children and Servants I have known some when they have for their flagitious Lives been Condemned to the Gallows and not far from Execution laid their ill life at the Parents door crying out of the fondness of their Mothers for winking at and concealing of their faults and of the neglect of their Fathers giving them no better Education and setting before them such wicked and abominable examples and what do you think they and others in the same case with them are and will be doing for ever in the other World in the anguish of their Souls and the midst of intolerable Torments when such poor Creatures come to be cast upon a bed of flames and in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone when they come to feel the sinking weight and scorching heat of the wrath and indignation of a provoked God they will certainly curse themselves for their former follies and wicked courses and they will curse their Old Companions whom now they take so much pleasure in and will wish they had never seen their faces yea and they will curse you too and we may rationally conclude their passionate breaking out into such expressions as these I might have done better had I been Educated and brought up better I might have done my duty to God had my Parents or my Master done their duty to me I might have been kept from the path of the Destroyer and cleansed my way and come to a Blessed Eternity had I been taught to take heed unto my self and to my way according to the word Had my Father and my Master instructed me I might have known as much and done as well as those that are now saved and in Heaven But instead of taking pains to make me good their great desire and design was to make me Rich and Great in the World and so they have made me miserable I have all my days taken wicked Courses because they never took any care to instill into me right and holy Principles Had I but seen or heard them reading the Holy Scriptures and other good books themselves or to their Families I might have taken them up and read them too and got the knowledge of God and my self and my duty but they were for Romances and Plays and Cards the Devils Books and so we spent and lost our time and our selves too Had I heard them Praying in their Families seeking the face and favour of God begging his Spirit and Grace I might have prayed too and sought God too and beg'd the
our Translation he will command and they shall keep I must acknowledge my self to be singular and alone in the Notion having consulted some Learned Expositors upon the place and found none that take any notice of it but as those that repair to them know that is no strange nor unusual case therefore I will with humble modesty communicate my thoughts to you and submit them to the judgment of such as are able I look upon these latter words not only as Predictory foretelling what the Event would be what his command would produce and how it would work but also Promissory and so securing that good and desireable issue Abraham will teach his Children and his Houshold after him and saith God they shall keep the way of the Lord since Abraham will do his Duty I will succeed and prosper him in the doing of it he shall not lose his labour nor take pains to no purpose The truth is God will not suffer his faithful Servants to be totally disappointed and lye down in their shame at last let things issue how they will they shall not lose their reward in their Duty they shall have peace their endeavours shall be accepted and themselves shall be admitted into their Masters joy Though Israel be not gathered yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength Isa. 49.5 but very often God gives them to see the desires of their hearts so that they attain the end which they propounded to themselves as here since Abraham will see to it that his Children and his Household be taught God would see to it that they should learn and practice what they were taught He would set up the worship of God in his Family and maintain it there as long as he liv'd and God would so influence and order their Spirits that they should keep it up after him they should love and honour and serve God after his example and after he was dead and gone godliness should be posteritiz'd in his Family V. This one thing is the High-way to a Blessing to have the favour of God together with the pleasant fruits of that favour do but you in the sincerity of your hearts and from a gracious Principle perform your Family duties and set up the worship of God there and you may comfortably expect that God in his great goodness and mercy will pour down his blessing upon your Families and make your Family a blessing unto you First The Blessing of God shall be upon your Family it shall be upon you who are the Parents and Masters and upon yours as well as you like that precious Ointment which being poured out upon the head of Aaron from thence descended to the Skirts of his Garment there is a notable place to this purpose a place which hath a double aspect a terrible frowning one upon the wicked but a smiling and comfortable one to the godly Prov. 3.33 The Curse of the Lord is in the House of the Wicked but he blesseth the Habitation of the Iust. Let us well consider this Scripture The Curse of the Lord is in the House of the Wicked he doth not say the Curse is impendent and hangs over it nor that it is at the door ready to draw the latch but it is already in it hath made its entry and taken possession and as it is in it it spreads and goes all over it it goes into every room and mingles it self with every thing there it lights and abides upon the man and upon all that he hath if you go into the Mans House you may possibly see what will dazle your eyes there is costly Furniture Rich Hangings Great Cupboard-Heads of Plate Garments of Silk Sattin and Velvet wrought with Gold Tables spread with variety of the greatest Dainties as the Psalmist saith Psal. 73. They have more than heart can wish but there is no fear of God there instead of that there is a great deal of debauchery and prophaneness ranting roaring gaming healthing cursing swearing obscene filthy talk and as foul actions Hell it self is broke out there is the smoak the fumes of that bottomless pit and there is the curse of God too that Flying-Roul mention'd Ezek. 5.2 the length whereof is twenty Cubits and the breadth thereof ten and saith that Text it shall enter into the house and remain there it takes up its abode and it is not idle and unactive works indeed gradually and oftentimes insensibly no body perceives it but it works effectually it shall consume the House with the Timber and Stones thereof it hath strong and sharp teeth that can bite stones in pieces Psal. 37.35 36. I have seen the Wicked in great power spreading himself like a green Bay-Tree yet he passed away and loe he was not yea I sought him but loe he could not be found But let us go to the other part of the Text and see what report that makes us He blesseth the Habitation of the Righteous Observe now there is righteousness in the habitation a good man dwells there and out of the good Treasure of his heart he brings forth good things there hath been a gracious Principle Divinely inspired into him and it is his desire and endeavour to act suitably to that Principle in his House you may see not only sobriety but also righteousness towards Man and yet more than so there is godliness a making conscience of performing all that duty which they owe to God now as there is righteousness there is a blessing there too God hath blessed that man and his house in turning them from their iniquities in giving them such a Spirit and that blessing doth abide it shall never be revok'd nor revers'd God will say in this case as Isaac did with respect to Iacob Gen. 27.33 I have blessed him yea and he shall be blessed and that is not all neither the Text saith He blesseth his habitation he hath not only done it but he goeth on still to do it the old blessing remains firm and valid and God is pleased to add new ones to it and will continue doing so till he at last be what Moses said of Nepthali Deut. 33.23 satisfied with favour and full of the blessing of the Lord what may we not say of such an House Godliness is there and God himself will be there too for he is nigh unto all that call upon him that call upon him in truth He looks upon others afar off and keeps his distance but he is near these he stands at their right hand he dwells in them and with them in their heart and house and where ever he dwells the house is the better for him he always brings enough with him to make him welcom He saith peace be to this house and mercy be to this house yea and salvation be to this house he will quiet this house when there is a storm and comfort it when there is trouble and uphold it when it is
Here is a good Man and he chuseth to walk in a good way Dr. Iermin in his Paraphrastical Meditations upon the place hath these words There are several Walks of Men in this World one walketh in his pleasure as it were in the walks of a Garden another walketh in his profit and he walketh as it were up and down the Exchange another walketh in his trouble and he walketh as it were in a Wood another walketh in his poverty and he walketh as it were in a Desart another walketh in his beastly lusts of drunkenness and uncleannness and he delighteth to walk as it were in mire and dirt but the just man walketh in his integrity and he walketh as it were in the holy Temple but that his walk is to walk still on and not to turn back till he come to the end of his Life Much care is taken and many means are used that men may leave their Children in an happy condition but he that walketh in his integrity takes the most proper compendious and effectual course to bring himself to blessedness and his Posterity too so saith the wisest of men in this Text His Children are blessed after him Supposing that they tread in his steps and walk in their integrity as he had done in his before them And Children blessed of God are their Parents blessings and will be the joy of their hearts and the staff of their Age yea and Servants may be blessings also to the Families in which they live and therefore are not to be slighted nor opprest nor abused You read in the word of Truth that the house of Laban was blessed for the sake of Iacob and the Master how bad and unjust soever he had been in other things was ingenuous in acknowledging he had by experience found it so And the like is recorded of the House of Potiphar Gen. 39.5 It came to pass from the time that he had made him Overseer in his house and over all that he had that the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph ' s sake and the Lords's blessing was upon all that he had both in the house and in the field Now teaching them the knowledge and fear of God by your instructions and alluring them to the practice of Godliness by your Religious Examples together with prayer is the way to make yours such VI. To set up the Worship and Service of God in your Families is an excellent way to get and maintain peace in your own bosoms while you live and how sweet that is those do very well know and being consulted will tell you who have felt the Lashes of an enraged Conscience and a Worm within gnawing and tearing them day and night What would not such poor Creatures give what would they not do to be delivered from the frights it puts them in and the pain it causeth And I must needs say it is in my account just matter of wonder how any body can and that any one of those do enjoy themselves a day an hour who live in the constant and shameful neglect of God their Maker and of their duty this way Methinks there should be always Nemesis à tergo a dreadful sound in their Ears they should be ashamed and blush to think of God or lift up their faces toward Heaven ashamed to look Man in the face since they have so far put off Man as to neglect the great Work of Man ashamed to shew their heads in their own houses where they live like so many brutes contrary to the dictates of Nature and where the very stones and timber may be swift and loud witness against them Methinks they should never see Wife nor Child nor Servant without such bitter reflections as these these poor creatures have a love for me but they have a cause to hate me now they shew me respect but the day will come when they will curse me for they are like to be undone by me I bring them up in Ignorance Irreligion and Atheism I live without God in the World and so do they through my means they are not like to come at last to Heaven because they do not walk in the way that leads thither and it is my fault who do not teach them that way nor go before them in it I am a bloody Husband to my Wife an unnatural Father to my Children a cruel Master to my Servants when their Parents bound them to me they did little think what a wretch I am I do not take any care of their precious and immortal Souls and indeed how can it be thought that they should be kind and compassionate towards the Souls of others who are cruel to their own it is not likely Charity should be active abroad when it doth not begin at home Methinks such Persons as these should every day feel a tormenting sting within them and go up and down in pain and that their Consciences should be very uneasie and often in a day reproaching them and flinging dirt in their faces yea flashing Hell Fire in them I do not wonder that many of these Men do not care to be alone not much at home but love to be abroad with their boon Companions as bad as themselves among whom they may lay their Trouble with their Liquor but they will get but little by this this is but casting Conscience into a sleep for a time that will awake again and rouze and roar when they come to themselves Conscience will return to its work and strike up again Is this thy Love to her that lies in thy bosom dost thou dwell with her as a Man of knowledge or an Heir of the Grace of Life are these thy bowels to thy Children which came out of thy Loins hast thou a mind to bring them up for the destroyer and to be fewel for everlasting burnings And is this thy mercy to thy Servants didst thou take them to corrupt them if they had any good thing in them toward the Lord God of Hosts wouldst thou utterly quench it and if they were bad thou takest a course to make them seven times more the Children of the Devil than before Thou wouldest have them O Man please thee and wilt thou not shew them how they may walk so as to please God Thou wouldest have them to mind thy Shop and wilt not thou mind their Souls Thou wouldst have them take pains in thy House but thou wilt take none for their Welfare and Salvation It is far better to be such persons Horses and Dogs than to be their Children and Servants for then they would be better look'd after And this I doubt not but I may safely affirm if such Men as these have any peace in such a way as this they are either grosly ignorant and know not the Judgment of the Lord nothing of Religion to purpose or they are very Atheists such in Judgment as well as in Practice or their Consciences are fear'd as with an hot Iron or wholly