evil speaking whispering and back-biting all foolish talking and jesting which are not convenient to be sober and temperate in all things to be just and sincere in all your dealings doing to others what you would have them do to you How great a work is it to overcome the World to despise its Pomps and Vanities not to be allured and charmed by its smiles nor yet frighted and cast down by its frowns not to suffer your selves to be possessed with the love of Riches to entertain just and fit opinions of the things of this World to consider them as vain uncertain and unsatisfactory enjoyments which are not capable to make you happy which are only so far to be desired as they are necessary in order to your accommodation and more easie subsistence in the World How hard is it to overcome the temptations of earthly pleasure and outward delights and not to suffer your minds to be too far transported by the love of them but to use even the most innocent pleasures with great moderation lest they lead the Soul captive and render it unfit for the true pleasures How hard is it to live in the World as Pilgrims and Strangers ought to do to pass through this Wilderness without much regarding it but fixing your eyes on the happy Land the heavenly Canaan which you ought to look on as your only Country How hard is it to escape the danger of the evil Manners and Customs which are in the World the many temptations which you have to vanity and folly to pride and passion to gluttony and drunkenness to luxury and sensuality and to other Vices by the bad Examples of your Friends Neighbours and other Acquaintances How great and difficult a work is it to resist the Devil to quench his fiery darts to reject his suggestions to discover his wiles and stratagems to watch against all his assaults and vigorously to oppose his temptations that you may overcome him and triumph over him Now this is the work you have to do For we wrestle not saith the Apostle Eph. 6.12 against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places How hard and dangerous a Warfare must it needs be that makes it necessary for you to take the whole Armour of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand How hard a work is it to read and hear and meditate to examine your selves to pray to God and to praise him to partake of the holy Sacrament and to perform all other Acts of Devotion and Piety as you ought to do How great a work is it to love God above all things to love him with all your Soul and heart and with all your strength and might and to keep your selves in the Love of God that it may be in you a powerful Spring and Principle unto all good actions that you may be thereby sweetly constrained to do and to suffer whatever is his holy Will and Pleasure Is it not a great work to perform aright all those Duties which you are bound to do in your several relations and capacities To instruct to admonish to reprove and to comfort others and to do every thing you can for the good of mens Souls and bodies Let no man saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.24 seek his own but every man anothers wealth And Chap. 13.5 Charity seeketh not its own that is not only its own it seeketh not its own to the prejudice of another but it endeavours to promote the happiness and welfare of others The charitable person hath an eye to the good and benefit of other men as well as his own gain and advantage And besides all this you ought to have so much Zeal for the Glory of God and the good of Souls as to endeavour to do somewhat which may have a lasting effect and influence not only in the present time but in the time to come You ought to contrive by all means to propagate Religion to do somewhat which may bear fruit for the honour of your Maker and Redeemer when you are laid in the Grave From all which you may see what a great and difficult work you have to do in the World and how great need you have to redeem time and to lose as little of it as is possible How necessary is it for you to begin your work betimes and to be constant in the pursuit of it in the morning to sow your seed and in the evening not to withhold your hand What a madness is it to have your work to begin when your time is almost at an end When there are but a few sands in your Glass You have so long a Race to run and so much bad Way to pass through and who are so weak and have so little strength to stir one foot to do or say or think any thing that is good have you not great need to set out in good time and to continue unwearied in your course all the day that you may at last receive the glorious prize Ought you not forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before to press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.13 14. Arise therefore from your sloth and laziness and run and be not weary and walk and do not faint Pray to God to hold up your goings in his paths that your footsteps may not slide to strengthen your weak hands and confirm your feeble knees to draw you that you may run after him and follow him fully Beg of him that he may be at your right hand to direct and defend you that he may perfect his strength in your weakness and may give you in all things both to will and to do according to his good pleasure that when you meet with enemies in your way he may teach your hands to war and your fingers to fight and that his Grace may be sufficient for you 4. Motive from the Account you must give how you spend your Time Fourthly Consider that you must give an account of your time how you spend and employ it God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness by his Son Jesus Christ our Lord who is to come from Heaven very unexpectedly and suddenly in a most dreadful and terrible manner with Power and great Glory in the Clouds of Heaven in flaming fire with ten thousands of his holy Angels with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God He shall send his Angels and they shall gather together his Elect from the four Winds from one end of Heaven to the other The Throne shall be set and all Nations shall be gathered before him The Books shall be opened and the hidden things of darkness shall be brought to light the counsels of the
heart shall be made manifest and every work shall be brought into Judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or bad There shall be no need of Witnesses against the guilty nor of Racks and Tortures to extort their Confessions Every man 's own Conscience shall be instead of a thousand Witnesses Then shall the Judge pass Sentence on every man according to his works The righteous shall be absolved and shall receive the reward of everlasting Life and Glory They shall be made partakers of a Crown of Glory which fadeth not away and of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken But the wicked shall be cast into utter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth where the Worm dieth not and where the fire shall never be quenched Where they shall continue for ever deprived of the Favour and Love of God and exposed to the insupportable load of his anger and displeasure You profess to believe these things and therefore ought you not so to live and so to husband your time that when the Judge cometh he may not find you idle nor doing such things as are to his dishonour You may conceive somewhat tho' but very little concerning the different thoughts of good and bad men upon such a sudden appearance of the Judge Suppose a Prince going into a far Country should call together his Servants appointing them severally their work till his return which he tells them will be unxepected and promising great rewards of Houses and Lands and honourable Employments to the faithful and obedient Servants but threatning severe punishments and torments and a terrible death to the unfaithful and disobedient If after his departure some of the Servants mind their business observing as well as they can what their Master required them to do Others without any regard to his Commands take no thought of their business but are idle and eat and drink with the drunken and smite their fellow-servants and both by their words and deeds dishonour their Lord. You may easily imagine how differently these Servants will be affected when he returns suddenly and unexpectedly The good Servants will be glad and rejoyce at his coming and will meet him with great chearfulness and confidence as expecting the accomplishment of his Promises and being conscious to themselves of having done their Duty honestly and faithfully of having carried themselves as they ought to have done during his absence But the naughty and wicked Servants must needs be filled with shame and confusion upon the Coming of their Lord so as not to be able to look him in the face There is no other thing which they can do but to endeavour to fly from his presence that they may not fall under the weight of his terrible displeasure In this manner our Lord and Master Jesus before he left the World gave Rules and Commands to his Servants how to employ themselves and what to do till his return He promised Rewards to all who should believe and obey and threatned the unbelievers and the disobedient with heavy Punishments and most dreadful Judgments When he comes again in the great Day to judge the World the godly shall meet him with great hope and assurance of obtaining the end of their Faith even the Salvation of their Souls But the wicked and unbelievers shall be full of horrour and confusion and shall cry to the mountains to fall on them to hide them from the face of their Judge who will be a consuming fire to all the workers of iniquity and will in no wise clear the guilty Now do you desire heartily and sincerely to escape everlasting Condemnation and to obtain a glorious Reward in the Day of your Accounts Then you must study to redeem the time and to make use of all opportunities of doing good You must not be slothful in your great business but fervent in Spirit serving the Lord knowing that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. You see how the men of the World bestir themselves when there is but a small appearance and probability of gain and advantage The Merchants make use of every favourable opportunity to buy and sell they go early to Market that they may not lose a good occasion and yet after all they may be and are frequently disappointed and make a very bad bargain But the Christian who redeems his time to buy Wisdom is sure to find it They who seek me early shall find me Prov. 8.17 The Mariners wait for a favourable Gale a fair and seasonable Wind to go to Sea And when it blows according to their wishes they are sure not to lose one moment Their desire of gain and their hopes of a prosperous Voyage makes them venture And yet after all they may and often do suffer shipwrack and lose their goods and their lives too But the Christian who redeems his time is in no such danger he is sure to arrive safely at the Harbour of everlasting Rest after all the storms and tempests which he meets with in the boisterous Sea of this World The Husbandmen wait for a good season to plough and sow and to do all other things belonging to their Employment and when the time is favourable they are sure to make use of it The desire and hopes they have of a Harvest of a fruitful Crop quickens their endeavours and excites their industry And yet after all they may be disappointed Their Corn may be drowned by violent Rains or scorched and burnt up with violent Heat or eaten up and consumed by Insects Fowls or Beasts But the Christian who sows in tears shall reap in joy Psal 126.5 6. You see that men who run a Race strive with great earnestness to gain the Prize to obtain that which oft-times is of no very great value And yet some of those who run come behind and are disappointed of their hopes But the Christian runs not uncertainly he is sure to obtain not a corruptible Crown but an incorruptible 1. Cor. 9.25 Again you see that men who besiege a City or a Castle wait for all advantages and are sure not to neglect a favourable occasion of making an Assault and surprising the Enemy The hopes of getting rich Spoils of gaining Honour and Renown makes them resolute and valiant And yet it often happens that they lose their lives in the Attempt or are taken captive by those whom they did hope to overcome and subdue But he who fights the good fight of Faith is sure to lay hold on eternal Life He who fights under Christ's Banner and who has him for his Captain is sure to obtain the Victory over all his Enemies I shall conclude this Discourse with what is written by St. Peter The Conclusion 2 Epist Chap. 3. vers 10 11 c. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness Wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless FINIS ADVICE TO PARENTS ADVICE TO CHILDREN
but what falls out daily Some are going out of the World and some are coming into it Some are a great while upon the Stage and some but a very short while some no sooner enter upon it but presently they are gone and are seen no more some take a few turns and then they are withdrawn some tarry longer and act a great part on the Stage for a considerable time and give hopes of yet greater Actions and Performances but on a sudden they are gone likewise as a shadow and all their own designs and projects and the hopes and expectations of others fall to the ground All this happens every day in the Course of things here in the World and therefore Parents have no reason to think it strange when they see their Children dye The thing that hath been it is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done and there is no new thing under the Sun Eccles 1.9 And as it is with men so it is with all things else which live upon the Earth or grow out of it Some live longer and some a shorter while than others of the same kind Some prosper and thrive and others decay and perish Some things grow up in the Morning and are withered e're Night Some things grow apace till they are very near the time of ripeness and perfection and then somewhat happeneth which prevents the perfect growth and makes the goodly appearance come to nothing Now what are Men Moses in his Prayer Ps 90.5 6. tells us In the Morning they are like grass which groweth up In the Morning it flourisheth and groweth up In the Evening it is cut down and withereth And to the same purpose the Psalmist David speaketh Psal 103.15 16 As for Man his days are as grass as a flower of the field so he flourisheth for the Wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more Likewise Esa 40.6 7. it is thus written The Voice said Cry And he said What shall I cry All flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field The grass withereth the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it Surely the people is grass By all which it appears what Man is by Nature to wit a very weak and vanishing thing soon nipt and brought to nothing like the tender Grass and the Flower of the Field which is more exposed to the Winds and other inconveniencies than the Flowers of the Garden which the Gardiner preserves and secures The Consideration of these things will tend mightily to quiet the minds of those who calmly and wisely reflect upon them when God removes their Children or other Relations from them by Death Their case is not singular it is that which is common and usual amongst men it is according to the course of Nature for a mortal thing to die But what if the manner of the death of your Children be somewhat extraordinary by some sudden and unusual Accident or by some strange and odd Distemper are you on this account to allow your selves in the excesses of Sorrow and Mourning No in no ways You are not therefore to be transported into immoderate grief and mourning Shall you be vexed and disquieted because a Worm did eat up your pleasant Fruit or because the stormy Wind did blow away your lovely Flowers Are you therefore to be enraged and mad with anger against the Worms or against the Winds What would it mend the matter if you should give way to your passion and anger never so much in such a case This would only multiply your losses by making you lose not only your Fruit and your Flowers but your selves too Which they all do who lose their patience in which it is that we possess our Souls When therefore your Children are removed from you by Death in some unusual and extraordinary manner you ought to look beyond Diseases or Accidents unto the Lord of Life and Death who by his Providence ordereth not only their death but the manner of it If the Sparrows fall not to the ground that is die not without your Father You may be sure your Children do not die by chance or without the particular disposal of their heavenly Father As to the particular grounds and reasons for which God does after such a manner see fit to put an end to your Childrens days you are not to be too curious and inquisitive The Counsels of God are a great deep His ways are in the deep waters and none by searching can find him out unto perfection Job 11.7 Upon such occasions all ought to remember the words of our Lord when they told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their Sacrifices Luk. 13.2 3 4 5. Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you Nay But except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Or those eighteen upon whom the Tower of Siloe fell and slew them think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem I tell you Nay But except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Thirdly Consider from whence 3. They should consider from whence and whither they are gone and whither they are gone They were here in a life of Vexation and Trouble subject to innumerable vanities temptations snares and dangers They were compassed about with great and terrible Enemies the Devil the World and the Flesh They were subject to daily necessities and wants If they had lived never so long they would only have seen the same things in a continual succession and revolution As for Example heat and cold fair weather and foul night and day Summer and Winter health and sickness plenty and poverty peace and war prosperity and adversity succeeding one to another All things going round But now they are delivered from all these they are at rest they are subject to no more necessities and wants oppressed with no more troubles and vexations exposed to no more enemies temptations or dangers but exalted to a state of perfect peace joy love and glory They are as well and better than you can desire You are not able to comprehend the Happiness that they are admitted to Will you then be in continual sorrow and grief for your Children when they are exalted to a state of Rest and Glory when they are where you would rejoyce to be when their gracious Father hath freed them from the vain company of the World and translated them into the blessed Society of Angels and of the Spirits of just men made perfect when he hath put an end to their toil and labour to their fighting and wrestling against their Enemies and bestowed on them a Crown of Glory and an everlasting Inheritance when he hath broken their bonds asunder wherein they were held and kept in captivity and slavery and hath put them into a state 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
much as I ought to have done to know thee and to do thy Will but have done my own will in many things and followed my own foolish and sinful inclinations I have broken many of thy most Holy and Just Laws in thought word and deed * Here they may make a particular Confession of their Sins whereby I have deserved thy Wrath and Curse Father of Mercies have mercy upon me forgive me all my sins for Jesus Christ his sake who dyed for sinners Give me a true and hearty Repentance for all mine Iniquities that I may not wilfully break thy Laws any more Lord never leave me nor forsake me Hold up my goings in thy Paths that my footsteps may not slide Grant that henceforth I may love thee with all my heart and may be afraid to sin against thee Work in me a true Faith and a lively hope make me humble meek and patient sober and temperate in all things Charitable and compassionate towards all that are in distress true and faithful in my words and sincere and upright in my Actions well content and thankful in every condition of Life and zealous for thy Glory Grant that I may daily grow in Grace and spiritual Knowledge Create in me a clean Heart and renew a right Spirit wethin me and cause me to walk in thy ways O Lord send thy Gospel through the World pour our plentifully the Blessings of thy holy Spirit on all thy People Bless and preserve our King and Queen Guide our Judges and Magistrates Sanctifie and assist the Ministers of the Gospel Be with all my Friends and Relations particularly bless and preserve my Father and Mother Reward them for their care and kindness towards me Make me a loving and dutiful Child unto them * If there be any Brothers or Sisters he may pray for them and for Grandfather and Grandmother if they be alive Comfort all that are in trouble and sanctifie their afflictions to them I thank thee O Lord for thy care of me this Night Watch over over me this day Bless and direct me in all I do or say Keep me mindful that I am always in thy sight that I may be in thy fear all the day long Cause me to remember that I must shortly dye and come to judgment that I may not mispend my precious time but employ it in a constant and chearful Obedience to thy holy and righteous Laws that when this vain and short life is at an end I may be made partaker of everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose Holy Name and words I pray Our Father c. This Prayer may serve likewise at Night until you come to the last part which begins with these words I thank thee O Lord for thy care of me this Night c. instead thereof you may say as follows I thank thee O Lord for thy care of me this day watch over me this Night and grant me quiet repose save me from every Evil thing for the sake of thy dear Son Jesus Christ in whose Holy Name and words I conclude my imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. ADVICE TO CHILDREN BY A Divine of the Church of England LONDON Printed for S. Lowndes near the Savoy-Gate in the Strand ADVICE TO CHILDREN THERE is scarce any thing wherein all Nations and Men of all Religions do more agree than in the Common Duties of Children to their Parents Neither is there any thing that tends more to the comfort and happiness the beauty and strength of Society than for Children to perform all those Duties which they owe to their Parents And yet hew sad is it to think that a great many Children who have not only all the advantages which natural Religion affords but likewise the assistance of Divine Revelation do nevertheless carry themselves in that manner towards their Parents as if they either understood nothing of their Duty or were most prodigiously perverse and resolved to rebel against the Light to trample upon all the Principles both of Natural and Revealed Religion The Design of this short Treatise is to shew what the Duties of Children are towards their Parents and to suggest some Considerations to excite them to do their Duty 1. Duty of Children to honour their Parents and how they are to honour them First Children are bound to honour their Parents which imports First That they should entertain respectful and reverend thoughts of them as being under God the Authors of their Life and Being they must not think slightingly and under valuingly of their Parents whatever be their weaknesses and imperfections They ought to hate and abhor their Vices every thing in them that is evil dishonourable to God and contrary to his Laws and Commandments but still they ought to love and honour their persons And if at any time disrespectful and irreverend thoughts arise in their minds they ought to check them to accuse and be angry with themselves for them and to call to mind what God hath commanded them to do when he saith Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Secondly This imports that they ought to express their inward Reverence and Esteem by all the outward marks and demonstrations thereof in their words and deeds their looks and gestures these things are the Picture of the Mind they ordinarily represent the temper and disposition thereof so that if there be any thing of real esteem and regard towards any body in the heart it will discover it self by some of those outward expressions We see how Solomon carried himself towards his Mother 1 Kings 2.19 Bathsheba went unto King Solomon to speak unto him for Adonijah And the King rose up to meet her and bowed himself unto her and sate down on his Throne and caused a seat to be set for the King's Mother and she sate on his right hand Children are more apt to carry themselves irreverently and slightingly towards their Mother which is the reason as some think that she is set down first Lev. 19.3 Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father Thirdly This imports that they ought to cover the infirmities and weaknesses the imperfections and indiscretions of their Parents to do as Shem and Japhet did Gen. 9.23 when Noah their Father was drunken and was uncovered within his Tent. They took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backwards and covered the nakedness of their father and their faces were backward and they saw not their fathers nakedness Children are not to publish the faults and follies of their Parents but ought to conceal them all that they can However there are two things very consistent with this Duty First Children may and ought to do all that they can by their private modest and humble Advice to reclaim their Parents from their sinful practices Secondly If they find it not so fit for them immediately to advise
made so publick a profession It would make them more afraid to do bad things against which they had protested so solemnly And not only fear but shame in this case would restrain them from doing wickedly This would be to young People a great defence against Temptations Bad men would not so boldly ask them to sin if they knew they had openly and solemnly disowned and renounced them and all their wicked Courses and if they were tempted they would be more apt to say in their own minds Shall we do such wicked things and run the hazard of being Covenant-breakers and perjured persons Shall we commit such Villanies and practice such Abominations and thereby break our solemn Vow and Engagement Shall we by our folly and impiety give occasion of offence and scandal to the Church of Christ which he hath purchased with his Blood Shall we renounce the Captain of our Salvation and prove Deserters who have so lately vowed to renounce the Devil and all his Works What a mighty defence would this be to your Children when assaulted by the fiery Darts of the Devil the Vanities of the World and the lusts of their own deceitful hearts to consider that by their own actual Consent they have renounced all these and given up themselves into the hands of God to be kept by his mighty Power through Faith unto Salvation They have vowed and they ought to perform it to keep his righteous Judgments These things being impartially considered should mightily excite Parents to see that their Children do openly and solemnly profess their Faith in Christ crucified their resolution to obey him to serve him and love him to fight under his Banner against sin the Devil and the World and to continue his Faithful Souldiers and Servants unto their lives end Is not this your Glory that your Children are Christians and do you think it a shame or dishonour for you or them if they make a solemn profession of their Christianity that they avow their Religion and will by Gods help make good the promise which was made in their Name in Baptism Of so great importance is this Custom that the greatest men amongst the Reformers did highly commend it and did earnestly with that it might be restored as a thing of great use towards the reviving the true Spirit of Christianity 8. Duty to encourage them to come to the Lord's Table Eighthly When they are fit for it you should encourage them to come to the Table of the Lord that they may be strengthened in their most holy Faith and further assured of the love of God that they may make a publick profession of their Christianity of their love to their Lord and Master Jesus of their Charity to all Men and of their sincere affection to those who are Christs Members and Followers They ought to make use of this holy Sacrament that their love to their dearest Lord and Saviour may be kindled and enflamed by remembring his Love and shewing forth his Death that they may bind themselves more strictly to serve and obey him and to fulfil their Baptismal Engagement How glad should Parents be to see their Children advanced to this honour to eat and drink at their Lord's Table to partake of so great a Testimony of his Kindness and Friendship How earnestly should they encourage them to embrace this opportunity of renewing their Covenant with the Lord to live and to dye his faithful Servants Do you not desire to have them saved to have them delivered from their Lusts and Passions their Pride and Revenge Uncharitableness and Malice their Hatred and Envy and from all manner of Sin and Folly to be made pure and clean in Heart and Life to be made meet for that holy place where no unclean thing can enter Do you not desire that their Sins may be blotted out that they may be washed with the Blood of their Saviour And yet do you not advise and entreat them for their Souls Health and Safety to come to the Holy Communion which is designed for these excellent and great Ends and Purposes But alas how far are too many Parents from doing this for their Children How many do either wholly or for the most part neglect and slight this holy Ordinance themselves as if our Lord had without any just or necessary ground appointed it How can such Persons expect the precious Fruits of the Death of Christ who will not remember his Death when he so lovingly and kindly calls and invites them to do it Do this in remembrance of me What a great Argument is it of a wonderful decay of true Piety and Religion in the World when Men do thus despise and set at naught the kindness of their Lord and Saviour When they refuse to do a thing so just and reasonable and so easie as this is which tends so much to his Glory and their own true Happiness and Welfare both here and hereafter 9. Duty to take care that they accustom themselves to Self-Examination Ninthly When they are fit for it see that they accustom themselves to Self-Examination that they spend a few moments every night if another time of the day be not more convenient for them to do it in in calling themselves to an account That they may see what good or what evil they have done That they may give praise and thanks unto God for any thing they have done which was good and right and that they may confess their Sins and Follies begging his gracious pardon and renewing their purposes and resolutions to do better for the time to come But besides these daily short Reviews of their Heart and Life 't is fit to call upon them when they are well advanced in years to a more strict and solemn Examination of themselves to Prayer and Fasting as their Age and Strength can bear it This may be done once a Month or once in two Months or once a Quarter at least As to their abstinence from Food on such days there 's no Rule can be given to serve all persons if they can fast one meal or two it is well if not then they may eat less at a time and of such things as are less apt to be a hinderance to their Devotion That is to be done that serves most to render them fit for Prayer and Meditation It will be convenient in order to their doing this to good purpose to be directed to a method that so their Thoughts may not wander and be unfixed For which end it will be of good use to have the direction of their Minister if he be a discreet and good Man or of some other prudent serious Christian Friend Or you may recommend to them some plain and easie short Treatise on this Subject such as you shall find written discreetly with due moderation of Spirit There is not any one method can be prescribed for all persons nor fit for all times But in general upon such days it 's fit for them to
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
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
how Have not some dyed through an excess of joy and others through immoderate grief some by excessive laughter and others by too much mourning and weeping Some have dyed with a fright or sudden fear some by the violence of their anger and wrath and others by an excess of love How many have been killed with over much care and too great watching and others have occasioned their own death by idleness and too much sleep Some have killed themselves with eating and drinking and others have done it by too great abstinence and fasting Have not some dyed while they have been at Meals by a Crumb or a little Bone or some such very small matter When they were thinking to repair their strength and to fit themselves for going on with their business and work that which they did to save and lengthen out their lives did shorten them and put an end to them May not this instance alone shew you the great uncertainty of your time and how necessary it is to redeem it But besides all this consider that when you go abroad you are in danger from innumerable accidents You may be killed by the noisom steams of the Earth by some infectious quality in the Air by the Beasts of the field by the teeth of Dogs by the horns of mad Oxen or by the heels of wild Horses You are likewise in danger from the winged Creatures the least of whom have Weapons sufficient to destroy you if God by his Power and Justice arm them against you How remarkable was the manner of the death of Aeschylus Valer. Max. lib. 9. cap. 12. an ancient Poet in Sicily who as he sate in a Sunny place without the Walls of the City was killed by a Tortoise which an Eagle let fall on his head And no less memorable is the Story which is mentioned in the Book of Martyrs of one Burton Bailiff of Crowland in Lincolnshire who pretending to be a Friend to the Reformation in King Edward's time after the King's death began to set up the Popish Mass again and would have beaten the Curate if he had not complied with his design But see how the Lord's hand overtook him as he came riding from Fenbank one day a Crow flying over his head let fall her excrements upon his face the noisom scent whereof so annoyed his stomach that he never ceased vomiting till he came home And after falling deadly sick would never receive any meat but vomited still and complained of that stink cursing the Crow that had poisoned him and in a few days he died without giving any sign of his repentance for his former wicked life Besides the danger you are in from unreasonable Creatures are you not also sometimes in hazard from men who are mad either through the distemper of their Brain or through their violent Malice and Envy Let a Bear robbed of her Whelps saith Solomon meet a man rather than a fool in his folly Prov. 17.12 And not only are your Lives in danger from unreasonable Creatures and from Men but likewise from the Spirits of Darkness unless restrained by the mighty Power of God These are Enemies of great Power and of as great Malice But your heavenly Father keeps them as it were in chains and sets bounds to their rage and fury that they cannot hurt you so much as in a hair of your head without the Divine permission But further so uncertain is your time that there is not a stone nor a block in your way but it may be an occasion of your stumbling and falling into the snares of Death And sometimes when there is no such block in your way you are not secure from danger One foot may prove a stumbling-block to the other and an occasion of your falling into the hands of Death And more than all this in how great danger are your Lives from Fire and from Water from Heat and Cold from Storms and Tempests from Thunder and Lightning and many other things the stroke whereof you cannot prevent nor foresee God hath in store the Sword the Famine and Pestilence and innumerable Judgments and Plagues whereby he can cut you off and shorten your Lives When you are in your houses and think your selves in safety you know not but that Death is even there and that your Grave is ready for you By a sudden Wind by an Earthquake or by a decay in the Foundation or some other part of the Building the house may fall down about your ears and prove your burying place From all which you may conclude that your time is the most uncertain thing in the World Ought you not therefore to make good use of it while it lasts not knowing how soon and suddenly it may be at an end Thirdly Consider how great and difficult a work you have to do 3. Motive from the greatness and difficulty of the work you have to do a work that requires a great part of your time and worthy of all your time How hard is it to work out your Salvation to make your Calling and Election sure to strive to enter in at the strait gate to be born again to be made new Creatures to be renewed in the Spirit of your mind to put off the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light to add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity To have the image of God renewed in your Souls to be made partakers of the Divine Nature to escape the corruptions which are in the World through lust to be comformed to the Example of your Blessed Lord and Master in those Virtues wherein you ought to imitate him to learn of him who was meek and lowly to go about as he did doing good to the Souls and Bodies of men to be zealous for God and holy as he who called you is holy in all manner of conversation How great a work is it to overcome your selves To become vile and base in your own eyes to think meanly of your selves and to be willing that others should think so of you too to be content with every state and condition of life wherein God does by his Providence place you to bear wrongs and injuries with meekness and patience not to be overcome with evil but to overcome evil with good to mortifie your sinful desires and sensual appetites to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts to purifie your selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit to cleanse your hearts from all manner of wickedness that they may be fit Temples for the Spirit of God to dwell in to govern your eyes that you may not thereby betray your souls into the hands of your enemies to govern your lips to take heed to your ways that you offend not with your tongue to put away from you all lying flattery and dissimulation all
the voice of their Father because the Lord would slay them By the Law of Moses the stubborn Son was to be put to death Deut. 21.18 19 20 21. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son which will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and that when they have chastened him will not hearken unto them Then shall his father and mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the Elders of his City and unto the gate of his place And they shall say unto the Elders of his City This our son is stubborn and rebellious he will not obey our voice He is a glutton and a drunkard And all the men of his City shall stone him with stones that he die so shalt thou put evil away from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear In ancient times in most Countries Parents had an absolute power over their Children to punish them as they thought good for their disobedience and other faults And when amongst the Romans they lessened this power yet they did it at first only in part The Father was enjoyned to present his disobedient Child to the Judge that he might be punished and the Judge was to pronounce such a Sentence as the Father thought fit This came somewhat near the Law of Moses By this it appears what the sense of Mankind was concerning the exceeding greatness of the crime of stubbornness and disobedience in Children to Parents 3. Duty of Children to be determined by their Parents as to their Calling Thirdly They are to be determined by them as to their Calling and Employment if it be an honest and lawful one Their Parents are to be supposed ordinarily more wise and prudent to chuse for them than they are to chuse a Trade for themselves They have more experience and know the World better than their Children do and no doubt they have kindness enough for them to wish them well and to design their advantage and not to press them to any Trade or way of Life which they believe is inconvenient and like to be hurtful to them But if Parents should be mistaken as to the fitness of the Employment to which they design their Children and supposing the Children to be sensible of the great inconveniencies thereof which the Parents through prejudices and partialities do not see in this case Children may with all due modesty meekness and humility represent to their Parents what their thoughts are and tell them what objections they have against such a Calling that their Parents may be prevailed upon by their Reasons to alter their resolutions or if they be not so fit themselves to discourse their Parents upon such a subject they may do it by some wise and discreet Friends And if after all Parents be wilful in their intention and design Children are not upon the account of uncertain or probable inconveniencies to oppose themselves to the Will of their Parents they ought to submit themselves to their Judgment if the Trade or manner of Life to which they design them be not dishonest and unlawful for then there is no farther question to be made the case is clear The Will of God is always to be preferred to the Will of Man He that loveth father or mother more than me saith Christ is not worthy of me Matth. 10.37 But if there be nothing of dishonesty or unlawfulness in such an Employment they are to enter upon it with all the chearfulness that 's possible leaving all events unto God It will afford great peace and comfort to their minds whatever afterwards falls out when they consider that they did what was their Duty to do they submitted their own opinion to the Judgment of their Parents whom God hath commanded them to obey Whatever may be their temporal loss they are sure of spiritual gain God will plentifully reward their humble obedience and ready compliance with the Will of their earthly Parents Against Children who neglect this Duty From what hath been said on this Head we may see how much they are to be blamed who are so far from being determined by their Parents in the way and manner of their living in the World that they either wholly give up themselves to idleness and waste their time in vain and foolish Company or they chuse some way of living that is either dishonest or very inconvenient for them in many regards or if they comply with their Parents so far as to enter upon some honest way of living yet they do not keep at it but leave it and become Prodigals they spend their substance in riotous living they waste and consume what their Parents bestow upon them in drinking gaming and whoring and such like extravagancies whereby they prove Robbers of their Parents of whom see what the Wise Man saith Prov. 28.24 Who so robbeth his Father and his Mother and saith It is no Transgression the same is a Companion of a Destroyer That is he is to be look'd on as one of those who rob and murder on the High-way as a man desperately wicked who is disposed to act any sort of Villany and Impiety who will stick at nothing in pursuit of his mad and wretched designs that may gratifie his Lusts and Passions 4. Duty not to suffer themselves to be bestowed in Marriage against their Parents will Fourthly As to their Marriage they are not to suffer themselves to be bestowed without their Parents consent Thus Samson Judg. 14.1 2. And Samson went down to Timnath and saw a Woman in Timnath and he came up and told his Father and his Mother and said I have seen a Woman in Timnath of the Daughters of the Philistins now therefore get her for me to Wife How great reason is there for this that they who are under God the causes of their life and being in the World whose goods and possession Children are should he acknowledged and advised with by them and depended on in the settling of themselves in the World in such a state of Life which will prove either the foundation of great happiness or of great misery To give themselves away without their Parents Consent is a kind of theft it is to invade the right of others to rob them of that which God hath given them We see how great the Power of Parents was by the Law of Moses Numb 30.3 4 5. To disanul the rash Vows of their Children before Marriage If a Woman also vow a Vow unto the Lord and bind her self by a Bond being in her Father's House in her youth and her Father hear her Vow and her Bond wherewith she hath bound her Soul and her Father shall hold his peace at her Then all her Vows shall stand and every Bond wherewith she hath bound her Soul shall stand But if her Father disallow her in the day that he heareth not any of her Vows or of her Bonds wherewith she hath bound her Soul shall stand And
the Lord shall forgive her because her Father disallowed her Now if it be thus in a Father's power to disanul his Daughters rash Vow which she made to God how much more may we reckon it in his Power to disanul her rash and indiscreet promise made to Man of bestowing her self without her Parents allowance Can there be any thing more unjust more unkind more unthankful and more unnatural than for Children who have been brought up nourished and cherished by their Parents for whom all their care and pains have been bestowed to dispose of themselves in the most important affair of their lives without their knowledge or against their Will What a grief and trouble of heart must this needs be to their poor Parents As we see it was to Isaac and Rebekah Gen. 26.34 35. And Esau was forty years old when he took to Wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Bashemath the Daughter of Elon the Hittite which were a grief of mind to Isaac and to Rebekah As to such undutiful Children who do thus bestow themselves against their Parents will and consent it is very remarkable that they seldom live happily and comfortably they bring upon themselves very often a great deal of sorrow and trouble lasting misery and woe They live to eat the fruit of their foolish doings and wish when it is to little purpose that they had never done so mad and wicked a thing 5. Duty to submit to their Parents Reproofs and Chastenings Fifthly They are meekly and patiently to submit to their Reproofs to their Chastenings and Corrections It is a Power that God hath given Parents over their Children to correct and chasten them for their Faults This is necessary for Childrens good and therefore when Parents do correct them they ought not to be angry with them or grumble at their severity which they use for reforming of them much less are they to resist and rebel against them Heb. 12.9 We have had Fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence Yea tho' Parents sometimes exceed the bounds of prudence and discretion in chastising their Children tho' they indulge a little to their own Passion yet Children are bound patiently to bear and suffer their Corrections They are not to fly out into indecent and irreverent words and actions but with all the submission and respect that 's possible ought to endeavour to mitigate the wrath and passion of their angry Parents and afterwards they are to study all that ever they can to prevent their anger and displeasure by a most humble reverend and dutiful carriage How much may this serve to reprove those Against Rebellious Children who are so far from taking in good part their Parents correcting and chastening of them that they refuse to submit thereto They resist them and rebel against them Can there be any thing more unnatural and monstrous than to see those who owe their being to their Parents who have been brought up by them who have met with so many testimonies of a tender care and of great kindness to rise up against them to fly into the faces of those who are the Authors of their being to lift up their hand against them This is a sin of so crying a nature that he who was guilty thereof was to be put to death by the Law of Moses Exod. 21.15 He that smiteth his Father or his Mother shall be surely put to death How greatly does it aggravate this sin when Children have met with no severe nor unmerciful dealing from their Parents But have been treated by them with all that gentleness and kindness that was possible And yet for such Children to rise up against their Parents is a Crime of so black a nature that it is no wonder if the hand of God appear against them for it in a very signal manner as it did in the case of Absalom for whom his Father David had so great a fondness This unthankful and unnatural Son rose up against him and endeavoured by force and violence to pull him from the Throne and to usurp the Royal Dignity See how the hand of God appeared against him 2 Sam. 18.9 And Absalom met the Servants of David and Absalom rode upon a Mule and the Mule went under the thick Boughs of a great Oak and his Head caught hold of the Oak and he was taken up between the Heaven and the Earth and the Mule that was under him went away And ver 14. it is said that Joab took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the Oak And ver 15. Ten young Men that bare Joab's Armour compassed about and smote Absalom and slew him And ver 17. They took Absalom and cast him into a great Pit in the Wood and laid a very great heap of stones upon him This was done as a lasting Monument of Absalom's sin and shame and of God's righteous Judgment upon him 6. Duty to love their Parents and how they are to express their Love Sixthly Children ought to love their Parents and to express it by all those Offices which are in their Power to do for them by serving them readily by doing every thing that may make them well pleased by sympathizing with them in all their troubles by assisting them and doing all they can to make their Lives joyful and comfortable by shunning every thing that may grieve them or make them uneasie They ought to refuse no labour nor pains to do them service especially when they are sick and weak oppressed with the Burden of Old Age or poor and indigent under any sort of necessity whatsoever then ought Children to be very ready to help them to comfort and to encourage them to do all that they can to make their lives easie to them and to lighten their Burdens This is called 1 Tim. 1.4 A shewing Piety at home It is an act of Religion and Worship which God is well pleased with We see how Joseph nourished his Father and his Brethren and all his Fathers household with Bread Gen. 47.12 It was an old Roman Law Let Children relieve their Parents or be put in Prison How many Examples have there been amongst the Heathens of Eminent Piety towards Parents Such was that Act of her Valer. Max. l. 5. cap. 4. who when her Old Father was condemned to be put to death in Prison visited him often and gave him suck and so preserved him alive who otherwise must have dyed of Famine The like instance we meet with in the same Author Valer. Max. ibid. of a worthy Roman Daughter who did in the same manner preserve her Mother in Prison being condemned to dye When the Keeper of the Prison to whom the charge of putting her to death was committed found after some time that her Daughter kept her alive by giving her suck he was so affected with the greatness of the Daughters Compassion