I shall more briefly touch upon these few things but do you ponder them First The Glory of God was the end he aimed at in all that he makes and doth Prov. 16.4 The Lord hath made all things for himself And well he might for there is none higher than himself none better He made all for himself as Heaven for that is his Throne so Earth for that is his Footstool And as other Creatures so intelligent rational Creatures as Angels so Men and as Persons so Families all of them for himself all for his glory and is there not reason that they whom God hath made should mind and pursue that which they were made for Those that do not live to that purpose do not live to good purpose and if they do not live to that end for which God made them will at last miss of that Reward which they are now so forward to promise themselves Secondly Other Creatures do in their kind honour God not only the irrational Creatures but also the inanimate ones the Heavens and the Firmament Psal. 19.1 The Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work So do the Day and the Night vers 2. Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night sheweth knowledge yea and they go up and down doing it they compass Sea and Land doing it vers 3 4. There is no Speech nor Language where their Voice is not heard their Line is gone out through all the Earth and their Words to the end of the World And it would certainly be a shame and reproach to us if any of our Families should be mute and silent and bring him no glory Thirdly God doth expect glory from us This is the Tribute he looks should be paid him by us Mal. 1.6 A Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master if I then be a Father where is my honour and if I be a Master where is my fear saith the Lord of Hosts God hath been graciously pleased to put himself into all endearing Relations to his People There you read of his being both a Father and a Master and those that desire to be his Children must resolve to be his Servants and in order to an happy enjoyment of the Priviledges there must be a cordial and chearful performance of the duties We must honour him as a Father and fear him as a Master Now the fear of God doth contain in it as that inward filial and holy affection of the Soul so the outward Worship of God and they that do not so fear him do not honour him Nay let your Profession be never so great and your pretences to Religion never so high your not having his Worship in your Families is no other than so far a practical disowning and renouncing him Fourthly The Honour of God is to be dearer to us than our own Interest This should be laid at the foot of that Iohn the Baptist was most freely willing to decrease so that Christ might increase to dwindle away and vanish into a worthless inconsiderable nothing so that Christ might be exalted in the hearts of Men and it should be so with us and with all upon whom his Name is called The design of honouring God and lifting up of his Name should be uppermost and run through our whole course and be the main principal scope of all our Actions as is evident from that Scripture Precept 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink or whatever ye do do all to the glory of God As all our Affections should meet in God as the only Center so all our Actions should be directed to his glory as the supream ultimate and most noble end But are they obedient to this Command do they walk according to this excellent Rule who do not set up the Worship of God in their Families no they are far from it they live in a direct contrariety Instead of doing all to the glory of God in their Families they do nothing they mind their own things but mind not regard not the things of God and Iesus Christ they do neither seek after God nor live unto him and what is this but vile ingratitude and most sordid baseness what is it but brutish selfishness When men are confin'd to and wrapt up in themselves do not look above nor beyond themselves they eat and drink they wake and sleep for themselves they dress and deck and finifie themselves they labour and toil and trade for themselves they scrape and hoard and lay up for themselves and in this they are unwearied and unsatisfied never think they are fine enough nor rich enough nor great enough but all this while the great God is most shamefully forgotten and neglected he is not in their thoughts nor in their designs Fifthly The Glory of God is to be sought and promoted by us to our utmost Our best is his due therefore he calls for the Heart the whole of it and for the Male of the Flock Our All is his due we have it from him and we owe it to him Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Might Where you have the Object of your Love the most proper and principal Object of it God and the Reasons why we should love him the one is his own Nature because He is the Lord Iehovah who hath his Being of himself gives Being to all things that are and accomplishment to his Word and Promises the other is his Relation to us or our Interest in him He is thy God thine in a Covenant of Grace Again there you have the Manner of your Love or the Degree of it how high it must reach how far extend to all all thy Heart to which the Scripture ascribes Understanding Wisdom and Faith all thy Soul which is the seat of the Will and Affections and with all thy Might love him as well as we can blow up our Love to God unto the hottest and most vehement flame Love him with all your ability Let your Love to God go as far as your Authority reacheth and the Power of your Hand and there let your Love express it self Honour him in your House and with your Substance By all these things it doth evidently appear the Glory of God should be exceeding dear to us and industriously served and promoted by us Now I will appeal to you in the case who are Heads of Houses and ask this one Question What better way can you take What course can you think of that will be more proper and probably successful for the advancing of the Honour of God than the setting up of his Worship and Religious Exercises in your Families What can you do more toward it what better What is there within the compass of your Power that hath a fairer a more promising aspect and tendency to this great noble End How can you better serve the Interest of God and Godliness And
meat and drink to do them and yet more when besides this Faith in God they themselves have tasted that God is gracious and had experience of that advantage which comes in by religious duties I Love the Lord said David because he hath heard my Voice He hath experience of Gods goodness and a love to him because he hath inclined his ear unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live Psal. 116.1 2. His mercy to me hath drawn out my love to him and my love shall influence my obedience I love him and I will cleave to him and follow after him Secondly While you are young covet after those gifts which may in some good measure accomplish you for the filling up of your duties and places and the performance of every duty It is an excellent thing for Christians to be well furnished and youth is a golden season for that purpose as for those who are not studious while they are in the morning of their age there is too much ground of fear that they will continue Fools to their latter end It is indeed too apparent that some yea too many who have good natural parts and attained to some Knowledge and Learning are thereupon wretchedly self-conceited and puft up knowing neither themselves nor any body else their pride testifieth against them to their very faces and this is their folly and their shame they have no reason to swell for they are empty and the opinion they have taken up of themselves is far above their abilities when a Wise Man comes to fathom them he finds they are very shallow and their real intrinsick worth doth fall extreamly below that price which they set upon themselves On the other side there are many that pretend to nothing and indeed there is nothing which they may pretend to being altogether ignorant weak and poor their upper room is wholly destitute and unfurnished they are not able to discourse of God and the things of God they cannot pray but want both matter and words whereas they should be rich and increased in goods they are blind and wretched and poor and miserable and whereas they should be thoroughly furnished for every good work they are furnished for none at all And from whence doth this proceed but from their own gross neglect they have not meditated as they should nor read the Scriptures nor heard Sermons as they should they did not labour to stock and store themselves while they are young and so they come to be poor and beggarly when they are old they squandred away their Golden Age and now they are come to their Silver hairs their heads and hearts are little worth I do therefore now direct my Discourse to you young ones of both Sexes and would have you better to befriend your selves and as you do now learn your Trades and your Books and to manage Household business and labour to get betimes a good insight into your several Callings and so to understand them as that you may be able afterward to set them up and carry them on with Credit and to advantage go away and do the like as to Religion and the things of God Begin betimes to mind those things which do most deserve your minding now acquaint your selves with God look into your own hearts and States and study them well get the knowledge of your Sins and Wants when you read or hear or are in company with good Men see that it turn to account and you get something by it make something your own be continually laying up though it be but by little at at a time yet it may come to something The Evangelical Prophet hath this expression Isa. 42.23 Who among you will give ear to this who will hearken and hear for the time to come Truly that is excellent Husbandry very good for Men to be before hand will you study this really it is your best way it is your interest I would advise you to nothing but what doth one way or another make for your own interest this doth so to read for the time to come and to hear for the time to come and to this end consider what you do in other cases you will labour to get Money and Land for the time to come and some of you to stock your selves with Cloaths and Linnen for the time to come and give me if you can a Reason why you should not be as desirous to get Knowledge and Gifts and Grace for the time to come are not these things as good as the other are they not better O! do it then I beseech you do it be not Wise for your Bodies and Fools for your Souls Wise for time and Fools for Eternity See that you do things now in your single capacity while you have the greatest leisure and briskness of Parts that so when you come to be Married and have Families to order and govern you may be Workmen that need not be ashamed and able to do all your Work and Duty And have a treasury out of which you may bring forth good things new and old for the inriching of others whom it should be your desire and will be your comfort to see thriving under you A Christian rich in gifts and grace is most like to do good Thirdly Study well how things stand with your selves and with them that are yours Though I might also add with the Nation and Church of God which are the Body of which you are Members the Ship in which you have so great a venture and since you have a concernment in them you ought to be daily and earnest supplicants for them If I forget thee O Ierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning if I do not remember thee let my Tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I prefer not Ierusalem above my chief Ioy. 137. Psalm 5 6. But that which I advise you at present is a care within doors see how matters stand with your Heart and with your House Be thou diligent to know the state of thy stocks and look well to thy herds 27. Proverbs 23. And if such diligence should be used such knowledge to be got of Flocks and Herds then Men should study and labour to understand their own state and the state of their yoak fellows and Children and Servants be strict observers of them and frequent in your inquiries concerning them and all that are under your charge and see how matters have been with you and them and how they are what are the providences of the day and the dispensations of God toward you and them This will supply you with matter of Prayer yea probably with variety of matter and he that hath good store of matter is most like to find good store of words to express it Though a full Vessel may for a time want vent yet when a little is given it runs apace at the tap This you may gather from those passages of Elihu Iob 23.18 19.20
your being upon whom you have your dependance and unto whom you must be accountable for your time and talents and all that you have done in the Body make God your choice this is your chusing time oh chuse well chuse God for your sweetest Companion walk with him as Noah did and Enoch and all the Saints in their several Generations When you awake be still with him be continually with him let your fellowship be with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Eye God as the most perfect pattern and study imitation be ye followers of him as dear Children holy as he is holy and live to God as your noblest end do all to his glory if you make his glory your end he will make use of your Salvation as a means thereto so that both means and end shall be secur'd count his fear your treasure Hezekiah valued it more than his Royal Exchequer or his Peoples Purses be you in it all the day fear him now as a Father that you may not at last tremble before him as a Judge nor be glad to have Rocks and Mountains fall upon you and hide you from his face and wrath Oh! let Jesus Christ be precious to you as he is to all them that believe sell all for that Pearl of Price part with your sins and your own Righteousness all confidence in the Flesh yea and whatsoever you have in the World rather than go without him take him in all his Offices learn of him as your Prophet trust in him as your Priest and submit to him as your King follow him in all his ways and be expressive of him in your own shew forth the vertues the humility meekness patience holiness heavenly mindedness of him who hath called you unto his Kingdom and Glory Ask of God that Holy Spirit which is a Spirit of Love and Power and a sound mind that he may convince you of Sin and Righteousness and Judgment lead you into all truth help your infirmities strengthen you with all might in the inner-Man quicken and inlarge you revive and comfort you sealing you up to the day of Redemption and beware of resisting quenching or grieving him Acquaint your selves well with the Scriptures read them every day study them meditate in them pray for the opening of your eyes that you may see the wondrous things of the Law and the precious things of the Gospel make them your delight and your Counsellors receiveing no Doctrine as true but what they own nor any practice as good which they do not allow eye them as the rule of Faith and Manners hide them in your heads and hearts that you may not sin against God know the truth love and live in it Get Consciences rightly inform'd and consult them and be ready to hear them do not cross them but make it your daily exercise to keep them void of offence both toward God and toward Man remembring that Conscience is Gods Deputy which curiously observes and carefully records thoughts words and actions is more than a thousand Witnesses will be a sweet Comforter or dreadful Tormentor In short set God always before you live by faith upon him in obedience to him and communion with him frequently and seriously think of Death Judgment Heaven and Hell So carry that you may not be a curse to the World nor a grief to your Friends while you live nor a terrour to your selves when you come to die My hearts desire and Prayer for you is that God would doth bless you and make you blessings FINIS
have the dew of Heaven and the fatness of the Earth may you be richly stor'd with grace and come behind in no gift thoroughly furnished for every good work yea and fill'd with all the fulness of God but withall be very humble great in value and usefulness but little in your own eyes that will not be to your loss but much to your advantage for God gives grace to the Humble and no less to your Honour Humility eclipseth and obscures no Mans glory but sets a singular lustre and gloss upon it making it shine with a greater brightness Holy and Humble Paul was one of the most Eminent Servants God ever had in the World and his speaking of himself as being less than the least of all Saints detracted nothing from his real worth nor did it hinder his being equal with the chief of the Apostles if we may speak of a chief among them among whom our Lord appointed a Parity at that time there was no such thing as a Pope I would not speak one word to swell or puff any of you up if you study and know your selves as you ought you will soon find defects infirmities corruptions enough to keep the best of you down yet I cannot but say you are my Joy and Crown and as I do every day make mention of you in my Prayers so I can and frequently do bless and give thanks to my God upon my remembrance of you and that upon sundry accounts which I speak of for your encouragement and the promoting your farther progress I have reason to hope it is the true grace of God in which you stand and as you have a Name to live so you have been made partakers of the Life it self for as you do all make a good and excellent Profession so I know none of you that stain and contradict it by a scandalous walking You have been stedfast in shaking and falling Times some did indeed go off in the Days of sore Persecution not having on the whole Armour of God nor being able to indure Hardship as the good Souldiers of Jesus but they were few so few that we did not miss them we do not want them the Lord grant that they may find Mercy of the Lord at the great Day I shall be glad to meet them in Heaven You have received and owâ—â—d me as an Angel or Messenger of God and the delight you take in my Ministry hath evidenced it self and still doth by your constant attendance upon it In this Sceptick Age you have been Wise to Sobriety in this Erroneous Age you have been sound in the Faith neither admiring the pretended new Lights nor falling in love with those old rotten Errours which some have dig'd out of their Graves In this dividing Age you have kept the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace you are not for taking up a Yoke of Bondage but for standing fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free yet no Friends to Licenciousness While you flee to the Gospel for Relief and Comfort you own the Law for your Rule you do not divide Christ but take him just as God hath exalted him and doth offer him Prince as well as Saviour and not only to be an underling to pay your Debts and bear your Burdens and die for your Offences but likewise to be a King upon his Throne Commanding and Ruling you And as you rely only upon him for Righteousness so you desire to imitate and follow him in his Holiness and to shew forth his Vertues who hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light Am I mistaken in any of you as to these things I hope I am not the Lord grant I may not I know of no wild Notions nor loose Opinions among you may there never be any but all of you have as one said Heads well-hearted and Hearts well-headed and so a soundness throughout May you approve your selves to God and Men being good Christians good Subjects good Citizens good Husbands and Wives good Parents and Children good Masters Mistresses and Servants good Friends and Neighbours filled with the Holy Ghost and Goodness and all the Fruits of Righteousness Love God Father Son and Spirit with a supreame intire and most intense love think the most vehement flame of your love too cold here Love the Church of God study seek and pray for her good Love all that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity though in some things they differ from you let not that cause any alienation in Affection so long as they hold the Head count them Brethren and be dear over them as such love one another help one another quicken strengthen comfort one another provoke one another to Love and good Works rejoice in one anothers Mercies sympathize with one anothers Afflictions bear one anothers Burdens and so fulfil the Law of Christ. Most dearly Beloved my Mouth is open to you and my Heart enlarged The great God knows I do as really desire and pray for the Prosperity and Salvation of you all and of all yours as I do mine own and in the following Sermons I have commended no other things to you than what I believe and know to be both your Duty and Interest and would my self be found in the practice of if we call our selves Christians let us be Christians Israelites and Israelites indeed what signifies the Name without the thing Gird up I beseech you gird up the Loins of your Minds make no trifling Objections listen not yield not to any wicked Temptations but apply to your Work act for God in your Places to the utmost shine bright in your own Sphere keep your Hearts continually in an holy frame fit for Communion with God in Duty be not now backward to it nor hereafter weary of it Though you have but a little stock of Knowledge and Parts fall to Trading and you will increase it Be not discouraged because you cannot do what you would God accepts of the Will when the Disciples were offended with a good Woman Christ's plea for her was She hath done what she could The Lord told his Servant he had been faithful in his little and thereupon gave him an entrance into his Joy Your little will find great acceptance and be rewarded with great Blessings so it be your Best In short would you stem the Tide of Profaneness which breaks in upon us with fury Would you save the Life of Practical Religion which is brought very low and in a deep Consumption Would you be instrumental for the preserving of a Seed to serve the Lord Would you be able to give a good account of your selves in the Day when God shall come to Reckon with you And do you desire the present and future welfare of those precious Souls which are committed to your Care then observe the Rules and follow the Counsels of God which are given in this Book And the God of Heaven accept you in the Beloved grant your
benumm'd are cast into a profound sleep and have no fear of God before their Eyes And let them know that sooner or latter the present Calm will be followed with a most terrible Storm the Wrath of God and the Rage of Conscience will cause it and that will blow away all your comforts and throw down all your hopes and who can tell but it may carry you to Hell with the People that forget God But on the other side an hearty Love to the Name Honour and Interest of God and the setting up of his Worship and Service in your Families from such an excellent and holy Principle is the direct and ready way to a sweet inward peace the way to have a Calm and Serenity in your Souls though the Clouds may be black and the Storms great which are upon your Tabernacles Let things issue how they will in your Families as to your Children and Servants whether they do get good or no whether they go to Heaven or to Hell yet this will be a quieting and comforting consideration to you that you in some good measure have done your duty I have been much taken with those words of Samuel to Israel after they had rejected the Lord from being King over them and he had made Saul King 1 Sam. 12.23 As for me God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you but I will teach you the good and the right way O! do you so my dear Friends let it be the same with you set this excellent Copy before you and write after it frequently considering with your selves what an hearty reviving Cordial it will be when you are able to say to your Families Blessed be God I have not ceased to pray for you many a Petition I have put up and many a Tear I have shed in my Closet nor have I ceased to pray with you your selves are my Witnesses how frequent and earnest a Suitor I have been to God on your behalf I have been pleading and wrestling every day morning and evening and I have also been teaching you the good and the right way that of Truth and Holiness that of God's Commandments the Scripture way which is good because it is clean and pure and right because it brings to Heaven and Happiness all those that travel and are undefiled in it And yet further it will make the Cordial much more strong and prove a singular addition to your comfort when you are able to say I have not only shewn and taught you that good and right way but I have likewise taken you by the hand and led you into it You and I have had a communion in holy Duties We have gone to the House God in company and at home we have walked in the way of God in company How chearfully may you converse together and go about the work and business of the day after you have in the morning offered up your Sacrifice unto God and how may you at night part with one another in peace and lye down to rest in your Beds after you have desir'd the spreading of the Divine Wing over you and committed your selves to the protection of that God who is the Keeper of Israel and doth neither slumber nor sleep If there be not wilful commission of known sins nor a wilful omission of other known duties but a sincere desire and endeavour of approving your selves to God in all holy Conversation a due and constant care of performing Family-duties will afford you great peace so that nothing need to offend you And let me add this that constancy in this work will be a soveraign Antidote against many of those things that cause convulsions and broils and disorders in too many houses What passions are there in them and how unruly and exorbitant by which all is put into a flame What discontents what animosities what quarrels and contentions that people are so far from enjoying one another that they cannot enjoy themselves by means whereof the nearness of the Relation becomes a great aggravation of the affliction but joynt-fellowship in Family-duties and execises of Religion may very much help in this case both to the purpose of preventing those feuds if you do but consider that of the Apostle 1 Tim. 2.8 I will that men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting As you must pray in Faith so in Love You must not in wrath pray to him that is the God of Love It will also help to the repairing of a breach and healing of a wound when there is one made if you duly consider that of our Saviour Matth. 5.23 24. If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy gift Reconciliation must go before supplication if we would have audience with God How can you think your Father should be pleased if you live at variance with his Children Peter would have Love between Husband and Wife that their prayers might not be hindered 1 Pet. 3.7 They that quarrel together will not be fit to pray together Observe Iames his method laid down for general observance among Christians Iam. 5.16 Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed Seek peace with one another by confession and then peace with God by prayer But to return this Family-serving of God will promote inward peace in them that are Governours it cannot but be a comfort to you to think that while other houses have been the sink of sin yours have been the dwelling places of the most High Others have been Bethavens houses of vanity yours have been Bethels the houses of God in others there hath been the serving of divers lusts and fellowship with Devils and the unfruitful works of darkness but in yours there hath been the serving of God and a fellowship kept up with the Father and with his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. In a word while other houses have been the Synagogues of Satan yours have been the Temples of the Living God and the Churches of Christ. As we do find godly Religious Families dignified in the Scriptures and honoured with the illustrious name of Churches Thus Paul Rom. 16.3 bids them greet Priscilla and Aquila his helpers in Christ Iesus and also verse 5. the Church that was in their house And again in Col. 4.15 He ordered them to salute Nymphas and the Church that was in his house i. e. the Family which was Christian and Godly and besides their joyning together in Manual Labour and houshold business did unite and joyn together in the Worship and Service of God And I have read that in the last Century before this the House of George Prince of Anhalt for the good Orders that were observed therein was said to be Ecclesia a Church for the Religion
Will of God Hearing is not the whole work of a Christian The Scripture indeed saith Hear and your Souls shall live but if you would live you must do something more than hear Your much hearing is a sign of a good Appetite but there are some Bodies that have a caninum Appetitum a greedy ravenous Appetite and yet are meer Skelletons nothing but Skin and Bone You that have so great an Appetite will do well to look to it that you also have a good Concoction Under the Law those Beasts were by God declared clean that did chew the Cud. Hear and then ruminate do not only let Truths come crouding into your Ears for then one may thrust out another but ponder them in your hearts as Mary the Mother of our Lord did and hide them there as David did You should spend some considerable time in meditation that so what Truths you have heard you may chafe in and work upon your hearts Secondly I would speak unto you by way of Question thus When you spend all your time in hearing abroad what is done at home Where are Family-duties who is it that prays there who teaches and catechizes the young ones there Know O Soul no good thing is thy duty out of season nor art thou to prog for thy self by robbing thy house And know this also we that are Preachers of the Gospel have but little hope of doing much good upon your Children and Servants by our Labours in the Church if you who are Governours over them and have the power will be careless and negligent and do nothing at home How can we think that they will follow our counsels when you will not second them Alas their weak leaking Memories let them slip and their corrupt Natures reject them There had need be Precept upon Precept Precept upon Precept Line upon Line Line upon Line here a little and there a little and all little enough yea and all too little unless accompanied and set home by the All-conquering Power of the Eternal Spirit God indeed can do his work alone needs neither you nor us but as he did by his own Word without Means and Instruments call the World out of nothing and raise Lazarus out of his Grave so he can by the same Power in the same Way convert most obstinate Sinners and turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the Just or if he please to make use of Ministers for that end he can make them prosperous He honours us by imploying us and if he will doubly honour us by making us successful no difficulty shall be insuperable no opposition an impediment great Mountains in our way shall sink into Plains and Iron-Gates shall be opened His concurrence is enough alone through God the Weapons of our Warfare will become mighty so that strong holds shall be demolished and imaginations cast down carnal reasonings silenced and subdued together with those high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God and every thought brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.4 And therefore though some though many of you stand idle with your hands in your bosoms we will into the Vineyard and follow our business as long as we have any being sure our Labour shall not be in vain something will come of it Though Israel be not gathered yet shall we be glorious But as Paul said in another case Phil. 4.17 We desire fruit that may abound to your account and to the account of yours even the Salvation of you all the Conversion of the Youths and from thence Comfort to the Parents And as we love our work so we would do it with delight and we shall do so when you set your hands to it because when all hands are at work we may the more hope that God will work together with us and that his Spirit and Blessing shall accompany our joynt-endeavours and while we prophesie upon dry Bones he will cause breath to enter into them so that they shall live Up therefore I beseech you up and be doing come ye forth to the help of the Lord and of his Servants against that gross Darkness those corrupt Principles that are in the Minds of Young ones and those potent Lusts that are in their Hearts Do you teach as well as we that they may know the Lord do you back our wholesom and holy Counsels that they may follow them And while the Masters of the Assemblies come with their Nails of Truth which were given by one Shepherd even Jesus Christ who is the great Shepherd of the Sheep and take much pains for the driving of them home in order to the uniting them to God by Faith and to one another by Love do you who are Parents and Governours come with your Hammers and do what you can toward the fastening of them I am now at length come to the end of this discourse wherein I undertook to prove That setting up the Worship and Service of God in our Families is no other than our reasonable service Whether I have performed what I undertook you will judge and what evidence there is in the proof if I do not mistake you will find it clear and full And now my dear Friends may I hope I am indeed very willing to hope and I shall be exceeding glad to hear that by all these pains that I have taken and all these Arguments which I have used some of you who have been altogether strangers to this work hitherto and liv'd in the total neglect thereof have been persuaded the doing thereof is without question your duty and that therefore it is your present yea your fixed Resolution through the Grace and Assistance of God to set upon the doing of it And that since you are convinced and satisfied about it in your Judgments and your own Consciences do vote and plead for it you will take it into your practice The good Lord grant it may be so And I bless his Name I do hear something to that purpose and that these Labours have not been in vain oh that I might hear more and more that so my Joy both in the Lord and in you might be increased Will you begin this Evening I say this Evening for delays in Soul-matters are by no means to be allowed Whatsoever is Duty ought to be done and if it ought to be done why not presently Possibly you think afterward will be soon enough but God is not of your mind He saith in Psal. 95. To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts and when God saith to day what art thou that thou shouldst say to morrow Come my Friends that sooner the better Hath not the great Majesty of Heaven waited long enough upon you for his Service and Honour oh do not make him wait any longer It is a dangerous thing to abuse Mercy and tire out Divine Patience Wo be to that Man concerning whom God saith My Spirit shall no more strive with
his Talent in a Napkin That Gods Service is perfect Freedom and then do Men and Women walk at liberty when they keep his Precepts Whereas the Service of Sin is no better than Slavery and its work a drudgery the Sweet-Meats of Sin are wrapt up in a Curse and its most pleasant ways lead down to the Chambers of Death Whereas the Yoke of Christ is easie being lin'd with Love and his Burthen is light having both Wings and the Shoulder of God to help them to bear it In the service of Sin a poor Creature spends all at his own cost like the poor Israelites under Pharaoh and his Cruel Task-Masters who were not only forced to make Brick but likewise to find Straw to make it with and then the Wages given at last will be death Whereas God doth cut out Work for his Servants and give them strength to do it he chalks out their way and inlargeth their hearts to run it he giveth power to the faint when they have none of their own he supplies them with enough so that Paul said He could do all things thro' Christs strengthning him Shew to them the reasonableness of the Law of God which hath been given out to Man for the Directory of his Life and the Rule of his Actions that it is pure and perfect and worthy both of our obedience and our Love yea doth and will afford great singular delight to a person of a right frame and constitution and well it may seeing the Law is holy and the Commandments holy just and good Rom. 7.12 It is such a Law was fit for God to give and fit for Man to receive it being purity throughout and is suitable to the Nature of God who is an Infinite Holy and Righteous Being It was also suitable to the Nature of Man possible easie pleasant to him before he was degenerate corrupt and depraved Let us run through the Commandments and at the first view it will appear they are not grievious as the beloved Disciple saith 1 Iohn 5.3 What can be more reasonable than that we should have and own love and trust in fear and serve him for our God and him only who is God indeed and God alone besides whom there is none else What could with greater reason be forbidden than the making of any Graven Image or the likeness of any thing which is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the Waters under the Earth so as to fall down and Worship them for what can be more ridiculous than to give Divine Honour to that which Man himself gave being to what more gross and egregious nonsence than to call that a God part of which is consumed in the fire Is it not reasonable that we all should sanctifie the name of God and not prophane it nor take it in vain and that we should cheerfully spend some time in his Service who is the great Lord of time and keep holy the Sabbath Day laying out that seventh part of time which he hath chosen and sanctified and set apart for himself in his service and Worship what exceptions can be made against Honouring our Fathers and Mothers Childrens honouring their Parents Servants their Masters and Mistresses Inferiours their Superiours Subjects their Governours what more just than that Men should not kill others by violence nor themselves by intemperance and excess nay that they should not hate one another nor be angry without a cause nor too much nor too long What also can be with reason objected against that Law of God which forbids Rapine Theft Robbery Adultery and all Uncleanness all Reviling Slandering Backbiting and bearing false witness against our Neighbours and also coveting those things which are not our own but commandeth us to sit down contented with those things which we have whether they be more or less till God shall please to carve out for us a larger and more liberal allowance Surely as to all these things save only the seventh part of time the light of Nature would dictate and lead to the practice of them Reason it self doth suggest and teach that to be religious righteous good temperate chast kind meek humble and lowly is fit for Men it highly becomes them and doth greatly conduce and contribute to their honour and peace and prosperity to their welfare and comfort every way these things give them boldness make their faces shine and commend them to all that know them But on the other side injustice oppression disobedience drunkeness uncleanness theft lying subornation perjury false witness swearing debauchery and prophaneness of all sorts do offend Heaven and Earth they tend to the dishonour and displeasing of God and to the undoing of Persons and Families yea to the ruine of Societies and Kingdoms and the whole World for these things sake the wrath of God comes down upon the Children of disobedience To shut up this particular let them know there is none of Gods Commandments but what doth evidently and directly make for Mans own good it tends to the preserving of his Name that it may be like precious Ointment without a dead Flye in it and of his Life that his days may be long in the Land and of his Health that his life may be comfortable as well as long and of his Estate that that may prosper and increase and not be blasted with a Curse and so consume and melt like Snow before the Sun they have a benign and kind influence upon Mans whole interest Godliness being profitable for all things for Soul Body and Calling for Time and Eternity for the Life that now is and for that which is to come and there is nothing can be named by which we can possibly so much promote our own good as by a cordial and constant respect to all God's Commandments we shall not then be ashamed nor repent Oh! how sweet and pleasant will it be when we can in truth say with holy Paul Herein do we exercise our selves to keep a Conscience void of offence both toward God and toward Man Acts 24.16 Eightly Acquaint them with the present Advantages that come by Religion and a consciencious performance of Duty God's Israel have their Manna now and their Clusters by the way in the Wilderness as well as a Land flowing with Milk and Honey at the last As there are some drops before the Storm so First-fruits before the Harvest David saith God's Commandments are right and true more to be desired than Gold much fine Gold sweeter also than Honey and the Honey-comb and that in keeping them there is great reward Psal. 19.11 There is Meat in the very Mouth of duty he doth not say there shall be a great reward though that is true it shall be in Heaven but there is so God is now a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him and are careful to obey him his Servants shall not stay for all but have something down the Feast is to come but there are foretastes
to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence Now as there is a double end so there is a double way leading to them That way which leads to Life is a narrow way and the Gate strait there is not room enough for a Man and his Lusts Nature must be curb'd and the Flesh Crucified and the Body kept under and self denied That way which leads to Hell is broad and the Gate wide there a Man may take with him his Sins and his Pleasures he may fare deliciously every day and be wicked every day he may live without God in the World and have Fellowship with Devils and fulfil the Wills of the Flesh. He need not care what he doth who doth not care what becomes of him Well assure them of this that Sin ushers in Misery and the ways of Sin go down to death its steps take hold of Hell but a Life of Holiness and Duty a Life of Faith and Obedience to God carrieth to Heaven and the Happiness above Mark the perfect Man and behold the upright see the last of him for the end of that man is peace Though the way have its difficulties an up-hill way that calls for great pains and labour though it be hedg'd up with Thorns and lin'd with Enemies yet it hath a good end The good Servant that Trades with his Talent minds his business and is faithful in his little shall be made Ruler over much and when he hath finished his work enter into the Joy of his Lord. The Reward will be sure and great what will both issue in abundant satisfaction and raise the highest admirings so that the glorified Soul shall think and say as David did upon another account O Lord who and what are all my services and what my Fathers house that thou hast brought me hitherto Bring them by degrees to understand something of what it is to behold God's Face in Righteousness and to be satisfied with his Likeness to lye at the Fountain-head of Happiness and to delight ones self in the bottomless boundless Ocean of Goodness How pleasant it will be to reflect upon the troubles of the past Life the violent Storms they past thorough the scorns and abuses of a foolish and mad World the rage and fury of wicked unreasonable Men and what a change is made how ill it was how well it is how sweet it must needs be to be above the reach of all sorrows and wants of all Enemies and fears and to be incompast feasted fill'd with the best and choicest delights What a priviledge will it be to sit down as welcom Guests with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of God at a Feast of Glory there to take your fill of Love to all Eternity when you shall see so many shut out What an Honour will it be to sit upon Christ's Throne How easie to lye in the Bosom of Abraham How comfortable to be ever with the Lord How infinitely is this beyond all the Pleasures that Sin can afford its Votaries beyond having the Belly filled with hid Treasures Will you do this you that are Governours of Families Oh! How good is it How much your Duty and how much good may you do This is the way to render them serious and thoughtful the way to make Sin odious and abominable to them so that they shall not desire to taste of those Dainties this is the way to commend Godliness and Religion to them so that they shall be like the Chariots of Amminadab this also is the way to blunt the edge and break the force of a Temptation when it would at any time draw them away from God and take them off from the performance of that duty which they owe unto him I will here add these two things and desire you to put them in practice in order to the rendering these Instructions or Teachings the more effectual First Go over with these things again and again and insist much upon them yea though they be unwilling to hear yet be not you weary of speaking nay though they cast your words behind their Backs do you still follow them with more The Prophet Ezekiel was to continue speaking to the People of Israel though they were a Rebellious House nor might he be silent till God shut up his Mouth and struck him Dumb so must you do with your Families though they be dull and slow to learn yet teach though they be obstinate and stiff necked yet counsel and perswade let there be frequent repetitions of the same Truths and the same Advice and the same Arguments Gutta cavat lapidem Drops of Rain often falling make an impression upon a Stone Immortal Souls are so exceeding precious that the gaining the saving of one is worth the labour of a Life How long did God wait upon you And how often did he speak to you before you would hear do you the like to yours As Children must be often fed so they must be often taught Precept must be upon Precept and Line upon Line here a little and there a little The understandings of young ones are weak and therefore you must deal with them in all plainness and by degrees They are like narrow mouth'd Bottles not receptive of much at a time and you cannot pour in much at once but by little and little Drop in Truths Counsels and Instructions into them according to their ability to receive them Their Memories also are labil and slippery too tenacious of bad things but not of the best like Sieves that let the Flower go and only retain the Bran as they are not capable of receiving much at once so but weak in keeping that which they have received The Apostle saw cause of writing thus to the Hebrews Ye have forgotten the Exhortation which speaks to you as unto Children Heb. 12.5 It is certain there is too much of this to be found among Men grown Men yea grown Saints we read the Word and forget what we read we hear Sermons and forget the Sermons we hear we forget the Promises we make and the Mercies we receive and the Experiences we have had of the power care and goodness of God Men and Women are apt to forget Truths Precepts Counsels and Exhortation we did stand in need of an Ordinance the blessed Sacrament to put us in mind of Christ himself and it is no wonder then if young ones be so their Memories are leaking Vessels and those impressions which are made upon their Minds and Affections do quickly wear out again and therefore there is an absolute necessity of our going over with the same things again upon this account as well as that of the backwardness and great natural aversness of their wills from that which is good daily Instructions are as needful for them as their daily Bread Secondly Back your holy Instructions with holy Exhortations and let all your gracious Counsels be followed and prest upon them with earnest perswasions and
contend with their Masters they have saith he not only reason to despise and dislike them but unless they amend to rid their hands of them and put them out of their Houses Therefore we have cause to conclude Iobs meaning was this Fourthly When any Servant had matter of complaint as to any Household grievance he gave them free liberty to acquaint him with it they needed not be afraid to present their case to him whom they should find to be their Patron as well as their Master and as ready to do them right as to expect service from them as the same Author saith Sometimes Servants complain that their Reward or Wages is too little sometimes that their Work is too much and lieth too hard or heavy upon them When Iobs Servants contended with him about those or any such matters he did not bid them hold their tongue or get them gone much less did he say as Pharaoh did there shall be more work laid upon you that you may labour therein but he heard them patiently and gave them redress if their Complaints were just which many Masters would not do or else he convinced them by his Wisdom and the weight of his Arguments that their Complaints were causeless and unreasonable which most Masters could not do He was always willing and ready to rectifie whatever was amiss and to remove every thing that was really a grievance go ye and do likewise It is past dispute that Masters and Mistresses have a place above their Servants God himself hath by the all-disposing hand of his wise Providence set them upon the upper ground and they have a power over their Servants so long as they continue such but yet they are not to abuse them nor trample them under their feet no no you ought to be humble meek and lowly though never so great so high and rich The Sun is a glorious Creature and much above the Earth yet how comfortable is it to the things therein how kind and benign its Beams and Influences be you so in your Places not only righteous to them but courteous not Labans not Nabals To this end frequently remember and consider that as you are Persons in Authority so you are under Authority you your selves have a Master too you are above your Servants but there is a God in Heaven who is infinitely more above you and hath Persons Times and Things in his own hand and at his own dispose and doth make frequent turns and changes in the World and it is his delight to abase the Proud If any of you will pride it in the place of Masters and Mistresses God can easily and he quickly may bring you down into the place rank and condition of poor Servants and such an alteration will be very uneasie to you unless God brings your Spirits down to your Condition it will be very uneasie a strait Shooe drawn upon a big foot pincheth it and puts it to pain Fifthly Be loving and Kind in all your Carriages Love like Varnish puts a beauty and gloss upon all things and like Sugar or Honey a sweetness into them it is a most glorious representation of God to us the Scripture saith he is Love It was an excellent Chariot which King Solomon made for himself Cant. 3.9 10. of the Wood of Lebanon there was sweetness the Pillars thereof were Silver and the bottom was Gold and the covering of it of purple there was Richness and Princely State but what follows sets off and commends all the rest the middest of it was paved with Love for the Daughters of Ierusalem Yes had there been no love there one might as well have rode in a Cart as in Solomons Chariot Love goeth with the Holy Soul to Heaven and there it is perfected and there it eternally abides and is the Heaven of Heaven it is the brightness of its glory and the sweetness of all its delights Faith and Hope are two excellent Graces and of singular use here but they will both cease Faith being swallowed up of Vision and Hope most gladly resigning its place to Fruition but Love remains Heaven would not be Heaven without Love call that place Hell where Love is not that House Hell where Love dwells not You that are Husbands and Wives be loving and kind to one another in your looks and in your lips let there be the law of kindness that will strengthen your interest in your Family and power over it as well as sweeten your own life and Relations whereas your quarrels and contentions do and will render you mean cheap and contemptible in the eyes of your Inferiours Some may think it great to ride Master and to have their will but they lose much more in their honour than that comes to Therefore if at any time there happen a disagreement between you keep it close and private between your selves not suffering it to take air if there be a spark of discontent kindled put it out with all speed and let it not break forth into a flame Be also kind and loving to your Servants and to your Children when you give out your Orders to them do not do it in an imperious way some think it becomes them to speak altogether in thunder but let them remember that it pleased the great God to speak to his Servant Elijah in a still voice To command with Love is the most likely way to be obeyed with delight and cheerfulness When you Teach and Instruct them do it with gentleness the moderate Rain doth more sweetly soak into the Earth and refresh the Fruit of it than Thunder-Showers which falling with violence lay the Corn and the Grass and damnifie both it is better to instill into them knowledge and good Principles than to knock and beat them in Love doth most sweetly unlock and open the ear and makes a free and easie passage for Instructions and Councels to enter in and it doth mollifie and soften the heart so that it is rendred more ready to receive impressions more faithful and careful to retain them When you do reprove them as reprove them you must when they do deserve it silence in such a case is sinful He that suffers Sin to rest upon his Child or Servant brings guilt upon himself and becomes a partaker with him in his evil deeds He that doth not reprove for Sin encourageth in it and for not reproving shall be reproved But whensoever you do reprove let it be done in Love Adam had disobeyed God in eating the forbidden Fruit God did not wink at it resolved to punish him for it and did yet he came to him in the cool of the day Always dip the Nail in Oyl for that is the way to make it drive best and pierce deepest otherwise the Board may split or the Nail bow and break through a stubborn resistance When you are angry with them moderate your passion and mingle it do not stir up all your wrath but in the midst thereof remember
great God doth thus when he had been at much cost and charge upon his Vineyard He looked it should bring forth Grapes and what Grapes it did bring forth Isaiah 5. our Lord Iesus doth so too Cant. 6.11 I went down into the garden of nuts to seek fruits of the valley and to see whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded And when the laborious Countryman hath Sown his Seed and committed it to the Earth he freequently goeth into the Field to see how it comes up and what crop he is like to have So when the Merchant hath sent his Commodities to Sea he longs to hear of their safe arrival at the intended Haven and then waits for a rich return and what shall your Prayers and pains be neglected and forgotten as things meerly thrown away I grant they are not worthy God's regarding but are they not worthy your own Therefore I say when you have been taking pains in your Families and scattering holy truths and counsels there which are as so much precious Seed take notice what place it hath in them and what power upon them whether it passeth away as a tale that is told or roots and abides and what good comes of it what fruit there is like to be And though you meet with no success as yet be not weary of well doing but go on duty is yours success is Gods who gives it when where and as he pleaseth follow one counsel with another one instruction with another one reproof with another and one prayer with another do not sin in ceasing and giving over Something may come of it at the last The Husbandman waiteth fâ—r the precious fruit of the Earth and hath long patience Iames 5.7 He 〈◊〉 not Sow and Reap in a day the Seed lies a considerable time in the Furrows buried under the clods follow then the Wiseman's advise In the morning Sowe thy Seed and in the evening withold not thine hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper this or that or whether they both shall be alike good Eccles 11.6 Fifthly When you set upon holy duties particularly that of prayer see that you be well composed and enjoy a calmness of Soul we are required to lift up holy hands as in faith without doubting so in love without wrath I have known and heard of some that would go chiding and scolding to their Prayer in a chafe and fret but are they like to be welcome Sure it would be more adviseable to stay till they were cooler God did in a most tremendous manner destroy Nadab and Abihu for Offering Incense with strange fire what then must thou expect who Offerest thine with Hell-fire The same Persons will fall into a scolding fit again as soon as the Prayer is over what think you doth this speak Grace in their Hearts did they pray their Hearts into Heaven had they any communion with God sure if they had they would have risen off their knees more like to him When Moses had been in the Mount with God Forty days at his coming down his face shone there was a Light Beauty and Glory upon his Countenance he did not look speak nor act like a fury besides how can such an 〈◊〉 think that others should get good by his Prayerâ— when he himself gets none or that he should 〈◊〉 any one of this Family into Godliness when he doth noâ— pray himself into quietness Thou O Man being under such a distemper wouldest not go to thy King how then darest thou go to thy God If thou beest touchy and froward at in and after thy Prayer God is not like to be pleased Psal 18.26 With the froward He will shew himself froward Sixthly Do not chuse to live in those Families where there is not the Worship of God nor Religious exercises if thou art only a Lodger in such an house deal with the Master and in a Friendly manner put him upon it if he will not be persuaded thou hast cleared thine own Soul that Family is none of thy charge therefore that neglect shall not be charg'd upon thee only be thou careful to pray by thy self and with thy Family if thou hast one yea and with his too if he either desires it or will permit it but why dost thou chuse to lodge there couldst thou find no other place to pitch thy Tent in If thou canst why dost not go to it Suppose there be where thou now art more outward conveniencies consider God is not there and it cannot be good living where God is not for the pleasantness of the place Lot had a mind to dwell in Sodom but had not God been more merciful to him he had been consumed in the Flames of that vile City It was a dismal time with the Egyptians â—â—en in every one of their Houses there was one dead and must it not of neccessity be very uncomfortable to thee if alive unto God to live in a Family where they are all dead How did David bemoan himself while in the House of Saul though a Family unto which he was related yet because wicked he reckon'd it his unhappiness to be there Psalm 120.5 Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar Seventhly Take none into your Family but those who will keep you company while walking with God Carnal respect sway with many after which much mischief follows and the repentance of an whole Life Accept not of him for thy Husband who cannot or will not live with thee as a man of Knowledge a Child of God How shall He help thee on in thy journey to Heaven who will not himself walk in the way that leads thither Neither do thou O man if fearing God take her for thy Wife who will not draw with thee in the Yoke of Christ but rather despise thee in her Heart or mock and flout at thee when serving and honouring of the Lord. Some indeed good natur'd men do take such in hope of gaining them afterward but for certain they run a desperate venture let the Portion be never so great thou hadst better be without it than fasten a Clog to thy Heel or take a Viper into thy Bosom let Birds of a Feather get together what have Birds of Paradise to do with Vultures and Owls Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain but a Woman that fears the Lord shall be praised and should be chosen The like for Servants their skill parts strength and fitness are to be look'd to but Godliness is not to be overlook'd A wicked Servant may be a curse a moth to the house whereas a gracious one will be a blessing a treasure Lastly You that are Servants in Prayerless Families supply that defect if you may have leave only do it humbly and double your respects to your Governours if leave for that be denied be more in secret Communion with your God tho' they keep a bad House keep you a good Chamber and if thou mayest honestly