endanger you for ever Do you desire the prosperity of your Houses your Families and yet connive at sin and permit sin there O let your souls be all on fire with an holy zeal against sin Do not suffer your nearest and dearest Relations to sin improve your Authority against sin if you suffer it you must suffer for it you may let it alone but it will not let you alone Omissions here are Commissions Thus I would have you to keep sin out of your Houses and instead thereof let there be even steddy fixed Vniversal Holiness kept up and practised in them Holiness becomes God's House Psal 93.5 Ah and it becomes your Houses too O that your Common Houses might be Holiness to the Lord Zach. 14.21 21. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the Horses HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD and the pots in the Lords House shall be like the bowles before the Altar Yea every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be Holiness unto the Lord of Hosts c. That which I drive at is this Let you and yours be Holy carry it in all things as a people consecrated to the Lord Let Piety be liv'd by your selves and by all that belong to you Let nothing be seen in your Houses but what becomes the Gospel and savours of God and Religion How are Houses bless'd when a trade of Godliness is driven on in them when Husbands and Wives Parents and Children Masters and Servants all set themselves as with one shoulder to an Holy Course it cannot go amiss with such Houses But no more of this CHAP. X. The last Branch of House-Dedication urged IN long Chases Doggs are apt to lose the Scent Reader that thou mayst not think in this long Discourse we have lost our Matter and Method let me tell thee where we are The Dedication of the House I made to consist in four things In a Religious Entrance upon it by Prayer and Praise In the solemn commitment of it to God's Protection In the setting up of Religion in it In a right carriage under Domestick mercies Hitherto I have been speaking to the Three first of these and I have very largely insisted upon the Third Head because of its vastness and comprehensiveness and also because of its special reference to the Duty in hand namely House-Dedication I come now to the fourth and last thing to stir you up to a right deportment and carriage under Domestick mercies I told you that House here is not to be limited to the bare walls to the external structure but 't is to be considered as it includes those several blessings mercies comforts accomodations that are enjoy'd there Now all these must be dedicated to God I need not tell yon that a fixed Habitation to have an House to dwell in is a great mercy 'T is that mercy which Christ himself had not Math. 8.20 The Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head He that made the world and was Lord of all things had not an House to be in He that went to Heaven Joh. 14.2 3. to prepare a place for us there had not a place here on Earth prepared for himself 'T is that mercy which the Apostles and Primitive Saints had not for they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins being destitute c. Heb. 11.38 Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffetted and have no certain dwelling place 1 Cor. 4.11 Blessed be God it is not thus with you yon have your Houses to dwell in and some of you very convenient beautiful Houses too Is not this mercy I hope you do not forget how it was lately with you when you had not an House to be in if God had not in your straights graciously provided for you And further your Houses are full of Mercy God fills them with good things as 't is Job 22.18 they are richly furnished with all kinds of Mercies Personal and Relative Spiritual and Temporal c. There 's good food to nourish you good apparel to cloath you good beds to ease yon good Relations in whom you take much comfort every day your Tables are spread mercies are new upon you every morning Lam. 3.21 God loadeth you daily with his benefits Psal 68.19 you live under a constant succession of mercies My God thou art all Love Not one poor minute ' scapes thy breast But brings a favour from above You have Mercies not only ultra merita Bernard but also supra vota such as are not only undeserved but undesired and unexpected too Your enjoyments are above what you could well have looked for As Jacob said to Joseph I had not thought to see thy face and lo God hath shewed me thy Seed also Gen. 48.11 I appeal to many of you when you first came up to this City did you then expect such Estates as God hath now blessed you with your beginnings were very low and now you are greatly advanced as to wordly possessions Shall not all now be dedicated to God Shall not Domestick mercies pass under this holy Dedication If you ask me How is this to be done Take a short account of that in three things 1. Let God be owned and acknowledged in all your Mercies Ascribe all to Him as the proper Fountain from which all doth flow Thus David did Psal 87.7 All my springs are in thee And so your All it is of God The Wife that lies in your bosom that is the desire of your eyes Ezek. 24.16 God gave her to you Prov. 19.14 Houses and riches are the inheritance of Fathers and a prudent wife is from the Lord. The Children that are so dear to you are the gift of God Psal 127.3 Lo Children are an Heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward Psal 128.2 3 4. The estate you possess is not so much the fruit of your own industry as of God's blessing Prov. 10.22 The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich Instance in what mercy you will you may say of it what Jacob said of his Children this is that which the Lord hath graciously given to me Gen. 33.5 O let your eye be upon God in every comfort 't is the property of gracious persons to do this as the bird hath no sooner sipp'd a little water but it looks upwards and falls a chirping And here 's one great difference betwixt a godly man and a wicked man The latter looks no higher than Self he ascribes all to Self Dan. 4.30 Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the Kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of my Majesty The former ascribes all to God and admires God in all O the different language of David from that of Nebuchadnezzar 2 Sam. 7.18 19. Who am I O Lord God and what is my House that thou hast
we are no farther fit to live than as we can surrender up our selves to God and in all things submit to his good pleasure I told you this submission relates either to that which is past or present or to that which is to come the former is Patience the latter is an humble referring our selves to Gods dispose 1. You must resign up your selves to Gods will as to what is past or present that is you must with an holy patience bear whatever evils trials troubles afflictions it pleases him to lay upon you This is included in self-dedication and is one of the most difficult parts of it We are not so obstinately set against Gods preceptive will but we are as peevish fretful discontented under his providential will Now are you afflicted or may affliction hereafter befal you Do you suffer for God or from God Doth he put any bitter cup into your hands as sickness want loss of relations c. look to this Luke 21.19 Jam. 1.4 that in patience you possess your souls Let patience have its perfect work Be still and quiet and silent however things go take heed of murmuring repining fretting under Gods hand keep the heart * Patientia est malorum cum aequanimitate perlatio Lact. l. 5. cap. 22. Est virtus conservans bonum rationis contra tristitiam Aquin. 22. Qu. 128. sedate calm let your condition be what it will That I may help you on in this great duty of patience I will only hint a few things Gods will is in every trial affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground Job 5.9 it comes not by chance or only by second causes but by Gods appointment and ordination he hath an hand in the inflicting of all evils who is the fountain of all good Is there any evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3.6 He that measures out our comforts doth also measure out our crosses Should not this quiet us It did so in those great examples of patience which you read of in the word 1 Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seems him good saith Ely I was dumb and opened not my mouth Psal 39.9 because thou Lord didst it saith David The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Job 1.21 blessed be the name of the Lord saith Job what a strange inference was that This evil is of the Lord 1 Kings 6.33 why should I wait on him any longer When God was in the premisses that impatience should be in the conclusion nothing could be more absurd nothing more sinful If all our troubles be the issues of Gods will there 's all the reason in the world we should be patient under them Considering farther what a kind of will this will of God is 'T is a soveraign righteous wise faithful gracious will shall not poor creatures submit to such a will O the soveraignty of God should awe us who shall say unto him what dost thou Job 9.12 Should it be according to thy mind Job 34.33 Nay but O man Nisi Deus hominibus placuerit non erit Deus Tertull. who art thou that repliest against God Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus Rom. 9.21 The righteousness of God should keep down all passion and perturbation Afflictions may be sharp but they are always just and God is righteous in them He will not lay upon man more than right that he should enter into judgment with God Job 34.23 The Lord is holy in all his works and righteous in all his ways Psal 145.17 The wisdom of God should further patience he never afflicts but 't is in wisdom and he never acts his wisdom more than when he is afflicting he 's a God of judgment Isa 30.18 Let the trial be what it will the faithfulness of God is in it Psal 119.75 In very faithfulness thou hast afflicted me Ah and there 's mercy in it too an afflicting God is a gracious God Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth Heb. 12.6 We are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world 1 Cor. 11.32 He for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness Heb. 12.10 By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin Isa 27.9 If the will of God be not sufficient to keep down all storms in the soul then look into your afflictions are they not deserved I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him Mic. 7.9 Why doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Are they not less than what you deserve Ezra 9.13 Could ye be without them 1 Pet. 1.6 Will they continue for ever 2 Cor. 4.16 Will not God do you good by them Rom. 8.28 Have they not been the common lot of all the people of God Joh. 16.33 O that men would * Eccles 7.14 consider when 't is a day of adversity and patiently rest in Gods will and quietly resign up themselves to it What an * Magna praecipua virtus â—st patientia Lactant. Vidâ— â—ypr de Bono Patientiae p. 362. c. excellent grace is this patience there 's a complication connexion of many graces in it speak patience you speak faith humility self-denial love and several others It argues not only the truth of grace but the strength of grace The Christian that hath this is perfect and entire Jam. 1.4 'T is the ballast of the mind that which keeps a man steddy in the greatest storms 't is the soul at rest it gives inward serenity under outward troubles it shortens and * Leve fit quod bene fertur onus Ovid. Levius fit patientia quòd corrigere est nefas Vide Plutarch Mor. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lessens affliction no affliction is great where patience is nothing can much trouble that man who resolves to acquiesce in Gods will what pleases God shall please him That which makes afflictions to be so heavy is the clashing and jarring of our wills against Gods will These things which I have here hinted might fill up a volume the subject is vast but I must take up Will you now endeavour to live this self-surrender to the will of God Doth not your dedication to God call for this Do you not in that profess the submitting of your wills to the will of God and that you will quietly undergo all crosses troubles that he shall think good to lay upon you that you will give no way to the sin folly madness of impatience or any entertainment to aestuations discomposures of spirit mutinous thoughts against God that sin only shall be the object of your passion O what * O virum putrem integrum o foedum pulchrum O vulneratum sanum O in
of a Prophet coming to the Captains of the Host and he said I have an errand to thee O Captain And Jehu said unto which of all us And he said to thee O Captain I a poor Minister bring a message from the Lord to sinners namely that God would have them to enter into Covenant with him Now will these ask me To which of them I bring this message I answer To thee O sinner whoever thou art that hast not yet engaged thy self to God This is every mans duty and let men think what they please till they have done this they have done just nothing in religion The Scripture speaking of the conversion of the Gentiles sets it forth by this Psal 68.31 Princes shall come out of Egypt Aethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God h. e. they shall enter into Covenant with God Isa 44.5 One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord. Zech. 2.11 Many Nations shall be joyned to the Lord in that day and shall be my people O that in these days we might see more of the accomplishment of these Prophesies that the poor Heathens might be brought to joyn themselves to the Lord and that Christians living under the Gospel they also might subscribe with hand and heart to God and enter into the obligation of the Covenant 'T was prophesied of the Jews upon their coming out of Babylon they should be so affected with this great mercy that they would renew and heighten their Covenant obligations Jer. 50.5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward saying Come and let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten Sinners will you speak this as to your selves and make it good will you joyn your selves to the Lord in an everlasting Covenant God incline your hearts thus to dedicate your selves to him I will press this upon you by a few Arguments 1. 'T is an unspeakable mercy that God will deal with the Creature in the way of a Covenant As he is our Soveraign he might have imposed a Law upon us and dealt with us only in that way But such is his mercy and condescension he will deal with us also by a covenant A Law obliges the creature whether he consent to it or not but now a covenant presupposes consent Man being a free and rational agent God deals accordingly with him and sets a covenant before him which if he will consent to he shall be happy for ever Doth not this hold forth infinite goodness in the great God that he will thus treat with us And after all this shall not we be willing to enter into covenant with him Besides this consider the Nature of a Covenant 'T is as the * Pactum est duorum pluriumve consensus in idem placitum Civilians define it the consent of two or more to something that is agreed upon but this is a very imperfect description More fully therefore A * Vide Zanch. in Hos 2.21 Cloppenb in Syntag. Disput Selec de Foedere Coccei de Foedere Camer de Tripl Foedere Wendelin Theolog Christ l. 1. c. 19. Tilenum p. 2. Disput 54. Ames Med. l. 1. câ— 38. 39. quamplures alios de Foedere inter Deum Creaturain tâ— actantes Covenant is a mutual stipulation or compact between two parties as to something wherein they do agree upon which they are mutually obliged each to the other Such a Covenant there is betwixt God and the Creature these two do interchangeably indent and stipulate each to the other the one for mercy the other for duty and so there a mutual obligation passes upon both Says God here is pardon reconciliation eternal life which I offer upon such and such terms and I am willing upon those terms to engage to give out these mercies Says the Creature I accept of those terms and I solemnly bind my self to make them good according to the utmost of my strength Then says God 't is a Covenant betwixt us I bind my self to thee and thou bindest thy self to me be thou faithful to me I will be faithful to thee What an Ocean or Treasury of love and goodness doth God manifest in this federal transacting of things that he should be willing to stipulate with us and to enter into an obligation to us O the heights bredths depths lengths of this love Here 's another difference betwixt a Law and a Covenant a Law binds the subject but it doth not bind the Lawgiver quatenus Lawgiver the obligation there is but to one party but now a Covenant binds both there the * Mutua foederatarum partium obligatio est forma foederis so all express it Foedus propriâ— obligationem duarum partium certis utrinque conditionibus complecti certum est Gomar Haec est mutua reciproca conventio foederis ut homo intuitu promissae mercedis alacrius operetur Deus intuitu operis det mercedem Cloppenb Disp 1. Th. 7. obligation is reciprocal It hath pleased God to deal with man this way and so he binds himself As to his Law we only are bound but as to the Covenant he out of the riches of his grace is willing to be bound as well as we How should the consideration of this immense love of God engage the Creature to Covenant with him 2. The matter of the Covenant on Gods part is very high the terms or conditions on our part are very just and equitable If this be so surely then men will be willing to enter into Covenant with God one would think this should carry it against all opposition and frivolous objections In every Covenant there is something promised and something demanded in order to the making good of what is promised In this Covenant that which is promised is on Gods part and this is the matter of it what is that No less than that God will be your God O admirable transcendent mercy what can be higher than this I will open it under the next particular The terms or conditions are on the Creatures part what are they That the sinner will break off all his leagues covenants with sin and Satan and the world and that he will enter into a league of friendship with and subjection to the blessed God Surely these are very fair and reasonable terms the sinner cannot well object against them God offers very high he goes no lower than the making over of himself whatever I am saith God it shall be all yours but the terms spoil all God stands upon too high conditions and that keeps us of doth he so that would be something indeed for he that promises something upon impossible and unreasonable conditions promises nothing But can you make good what you say Take heed of belying God what doth he require of you Is it to burn in Hell a
bring forth for trouble The good Lord accomplish this word to you in this City 5. Life is very uncertain He that was to go out to fight with the enemy he especially was to dedicate his House because of the uncertainty of his Life Deut. 20.5 I hope this will not be be your case but however your Life is very uncertain you live to day Can you say that you shall live to morrow who knows how soon this poor thred of Life may break in pieces Every man at his best state is altogether vanity Psal 39.5 Life and all the Comforts of it are fluid transitory uncertain Here we have no abiding City Hebr. 13.14 Nihil in hac vitâ possidemus quod di cere possumus futurum diu nostrum Quae uolis videmur firmissimè tenere ea quoties Deo libuit temporis momento nobis è manibus offluunt Omnia nos relinquunt vel à nobis relinquuntur J. Capel in Hebr. 13.14 Linquenda Tellus Domus placens Vxor Horat but we seek one to come O enter upon your Houses as those who have death in your eye They are built of Brick and firm materials and may stand long but you your selves are made but of brittle things you are but earthly Tabernacles a little breathing clay you would fall every moment if God did not underprop you Suppose it should please God to send such a plague as we had a few years ago we have had a strange unusual Winter what it may produce I know not would you be impenetrable against the arrows that fly and wast at noon-day Psal 91.5 6. Can you build your new Houses so that the destroying Angel shall not be able to get into them If you can secure them from Fire cannot God kindle a fire in your Bodies send a Fever upon you that shall consume you presently O what an uncertain thing is Life how many ways hath God to put a period to it Surely therefore it lies upon us to dedicate our selves our Houses to God to advance him in our Hearts and Families to improve all we have to his glory to be faithful in the matters of Religion for we know not how soon Death will come and what shall we do in a dying hour if we have liv'd in the neglect of these things Thou that hast not given thy House to God and set it apart for him Canst thou expect that he will give thee that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that House which is not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 6. House-dedication is the best Housesecurity Would you have your Houses safe dedicate them to God thereby you prevent God's Anger and entitle what is yours to God's Protection You have liv'd to see dreadful things God of his infinite mercy grant you may never see the like again A City burnt this City burnt this City burnt with such Circumstances Many Thousands of Houses in the space of three days utterly consum'd O What was it that kindled this fierce anger of God against us What shall we do that the like may never again befall us Surely these are two Questions which with the greatest seriousness we are often to propound to our selves I shall go no further than that which I am upon for an Answer to them One cause I fear I dare not be peremptory in assigning the causes of a judgment so unsearchable was our not-dedicating of our Houses to God Non-dedication brings desolation Had Religion the power of Godliness been set up and kept up in your Houses they might have stood to this day for ought I know This as to the first Question As to the second I say only this If you would not drink of this bitter cup again dedicate your Houses to God Do not think your walls and bricks will secure you if sin be harboured and God kept out of doors If there should be no malicious men or rather incarnate Devils here upon earth there is a just and jealous God in Heaven This duty will be your best security Do you dedicate and God will protect I always submit to God's Soveraignty and to his secret Reserves which are best known to Himself and how much there was of these as to the dealings of God with many Families in this City in the late judgment I cannot determine But as to the ordinary methods of God and as to his revealed will we have great encouragement to hope for Protection and Preservation whilst we sincerely desire to come up to House-dedicating duty O my Brethren be not offended either at my largeness or plainness in this my advice you have not my Pen but my heart in what I write And I shall think though I am sensible of many defects that I have wrote well if I may but see you to do well All that I aim at is success in bringing you to Dedication-work Lib. 6. c. 31. * Vt se diceret quasi hominem tandem habitare coepisse Suetonius tells us a passage of Nero which I shall make use of When he had built him a brave Palace and had dedicated it he said Now he began to live like a man I allude not to his sense for that was naught but to his words You are now preparing new Houses and e're long you hope to dwell in them Oh when ever it shall be so dedicate them to God then you 'l live and act like true Christians 'T is better to be without an House than without an Heart to dedicate it to God 'T is never right ordered and managed till it be dedicated * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cognationem habet cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rectus nam initiare aliquid est illud recté disponere Aven This in General but I must not leave the Exhortation thus I will go over the Particulars that make up this House-dedication and press them upon you distinctly CHAP. V. The Particular Branches of House-Dedication urged 1. FIrst therefore Enter upon your Houses by solemn Prayer and Praise These two are as it were the staple Duties of Religion In the One we acknowledg what we want in the other what we have In the one we testifie our own emptiness in the other God's goodness In the one we take from God in the other we give to God But 't is not for me to run out upon these in the general nature or notion of them I am only to speak to them according to the present consideration That which I have to do is this to exhort you as the good Providence of God shall fix you in New Habitations that you would make your Entrance by Solemn Prayer and Praise You know what I mean by Solemn Prayer and Praise that hath been already opened You must have the foundations of your Houses twice laid they are first laid by your workmen in a common and literal sense then they must be laid by your selves again in a spiritual and religious sense
Family-worship is a duty incumbent upon every Master or Governour he is to take care of it to see that the blessed God in his House have that Religious respect and homage which is due unto him Indeed this is the main the first thing that he is to look after The Jews besides their Temple-worship had also their Family-worship which the Master of the House was to perform The Paschal-Lamb was to be eaten in every Family there was to be a Lamb for an House Exod. 12.3 this was Family-worship in part You read of David 2 Sam. 6.20 He returned to bless his Houshold Upon the bringing of the Ark into the Tabernacle O his heart was full of joy and this he had made great discoveries of before the people now he 'l go to his own Family and bless them and spiritually rejoyce with them in Prayer and Praise in the sense of this great mercy O that every day your Housholds might be blessed by you by the administration and performance of Worship and Duty in them I will not any longer insist upon Generals but presently come to those particular Family-duties which I would press upon you The first is Prayer Family-Prayer for I intend not to meddle with the other kinds of Prayer but only to limit my self to this Set up Prayer in your Houses let your Families be praying Families O if it was the Lords will that we might not have in all this City one Non-praying Family God will have his House to be an House of Prayer Mat. 21.13 My House shall be called the House of Prayer Isa 56.7 Even them will I bring to my holy Mountain and make them joyful in my House of Prayer u. Let it be so with you let your Houses be Houses of Prayer then they will resemble the House of God You must enter upon them by Prayer that I have spoke to but besides this there must be a constant course of Prayer maintained and carried on in them 'T is true we have not any positive or express Command in the Word in which this duty of Family-Prayer is in so many Letters and Syllables enjoined but we have enough in it to ground solid Inferences upon which are sufficient to evince and prove the duty Eph. 6.18 we are commanded to pray with all Prayer and Supplication i. e. with all kinds of Prayer Family-Prayer is one kind of Prayer and therefore we are bound to the performance of it The Prophet imprecates wrath upon the Families that do not call upon God Jer. 10.25 Therefore 't is a duty lying upon Families so to do for it can only be the omission of an unquestionable duty that exposes a person to wrath Many such things might be insisted upon but I shall wave them my business being rather to exhort than to argue That I may prevail with you to set up Prayer in your Houses consider the following Motives 1. This is that which the people of God have always done Where Grace hath been in the heart prayer hath been in the House as Personal Prayer so Family Prayer hath always accompany'd the work of regeneration The Scripture sets many examples before us for the proof of this Mention is often made of Abraham's calling upon God as Gen. 12.8 Gen. 13.4 Gen. 21.33 26.25 We may well suppose that this was done sometimes in conjunction with his family they being with him in his intinerant posture Esther the Queen fasted and pray'd with her Maidens Esth 4.16 Job that offered Sacrifice continually for his Children as 't is Job 1.5 doubtless he did not omit the offering of Sacrifices with his Children What was David's blessing of his Houshold mentioned but now but his praying and praising with his family 'T is said of Cornelius He feared God with all his House and he prayed to God alway Act. 10.2 The connexion seems chiefly to refer to family-prayer If these places of Scripture and examples be not so convincing and cogent as to the duty in hand and its inseparable conjunction with the truth of Grace then you may add what your observation and experience doth readily offer to you Look abroad a little into the world observe how it is with men upon Conversion As soon as ever God hath wrought a saving work in them Behold they pray Acts 9.11 and that in their Families too Before this work alas they pray'd not in their Houses from week to week from year to year but no sooner did God seise upon them in a saving manner but immediately they set up Prayer in their Houses Vniversal experience offers it self for the proof of this Well then let this quicken you to this practise Pray in your Families for if you be gracious renewed sanctified you will do thus this is to carry it as regenerate persons this will be a good evidence that you are really God's people whereas the neglect of this will be a sad evidence that you are none of them I will trust a godly man for Family-prayer He may indeed for sometime being under the power of some Temptation or having taken in some erronious principle omit this duty but if he be a truly godly man he will come to it again 2. Family-prayer hath much excellency in it Prayer in all the kinds of it is very excellent There 's Secret-prayer that 's excellent O for the Soul to be with God alone treating with him in private about its everlasting concernments spreading its more special and particular wants corruptions temptations burdens before him Gen. 32.24 Jacob-like wrestling with him for this and that blessing surely this is excellent There 's publick Prayer when the Saints go together in a * Coimus ad Deum quasi manu factâ precationibus ambiamus Haec vis Deo grata est Tertul. Apolog c. 39. body and offer an holy violence to the Kingdom of Heaven join all their force and strength together for the obtaining of mercy this is excellent Family-prayer comes betwixt these 't is private and yet in part 't is publick 't is publick and yet in part 't is private this is excellent too In respect of its general Nature 't is excellent for 't is Prayer and all Prayer hath excellency stampt upon it in respect of its usefulness benefits precious effects 't is excellent it procures mercies keeps off judgments sanctifies all enjoyments preserves an holy awe of God in the Soul puts a savour and rellish upon all comforts furthers Grace here Glory hereafter All this is done by Family-prayer duely performed is it not excellent will you live in your Houses without it will you lose so great a part of Religion and that too which is so much to your own advantage and to the advantage also of all that co-habit with you Fire is good you 'l have it Food is good you 'l have it Air is good you 'l have it Prayer is good too nay better than all these will you not have that also 3. There are proper
and peculiar Reasons for House-Prayer you pray in secret not only because of the Command but because of those special and peculiar reasons which attend that duty Family-prayer hath the same inducements there are such and such cases circumstances considerations which this duty doth best hit and meet with and is best suited to O therefore make conscience of it There are Family-sins to be bewailed Family-miscarriages to be reformed Family-mercies to be acknowledged Family-wants to be supplied Family-undertakings to be blessed Family-afflictions to be sanctified Family-dangers to be prevented Now are there so many cases proper to a Family as a Family and shall there not be Family-prayer to reach to all these O that Masters of Families would consider what I say 4. Mercy and Justice Pity and Fidelity call upon you to call upon God in and with your Families Have you precious souls committed to you will you let them perish where 's your mercy and pity shall so many Children so many Servants be lost for ever for want of Prayer be not so cruel for the Lords sake You feed their bodies it would be cruelty to let them starve for want of food but is not this worser cruelty to starve their souls never to pray with them never to help them onwards in Heaven's way O though you have not the Grace of a Christian yet if you have but the bowels of a man methinks you should pray in your Families to prevent the ruine of those precious souls that are under your roof Besides this consideration which is proper to Mercy Justice requires this of you Family-prayer is a debt which you owe to them who are under you they owe subjection obedience and service to you you owe prayer to them The Apostle having spoke to Masters to give unto their Servants that which is just and equal presently subjoins Continue in prayer as if this was one thing that Masters in justice are to give to their Servants Col. 4.1 2. O 't is a real wrong to your Servants when you do not pray with them you are not only unmerciful but unjust in so doing not only false to God but injurious to them you may better withhold their wages from them than the duties of Religion 5. If this be nothing to you let me add further Self-love requires this of you I mean by this not so much Self-love with respect to your selves at the great day of Account though that be the main but I mean Self-love with respect to your present concerns you would have your Families blessed your Houses secured Self-love puts you upon this and can you hope for this if you neglect Family-prayer Ah you and yours lie open to judgments so long as this is neglected Jer. 10.25 Pour out thy wrath upon the Heathen and upon the Families that call not upon thy Name This imprecation is a kind of commination God will pour out his wrath upon Prayerless-families Till Prayer be set up in your Houses judgment hangs over your heads the curse of God is over you and all that belongs to you you live in the midst of dangers every moment you lie down every night liable to some sudden and sore evils O 't is not only thus with you that you are out of God's care and tuition but so long as Prayer is neglected you are under his fierce displeasure which is continually ready to break out against you O where 's your Self-love If there was nothing more than that one would think that should put you upon Family-Prayer Do you love your Selves your Houses your Estates your Relations and yet will you not fall upon the means which are proper to bring down the blessing of God upon them No Prayer no Protection from evil no communication of Good in a Covenant way The unpraying Family is the unblessed Family And are these things so what reason have I then to bewail the too general omission of this duty I speak of what is in this City Is Family-Prayer duely performed in every House in this City If one should go from House to House and ask at every House Is God here called upon Doth the Master of this House pray with his Family Oh I fear it would be answered by too many No God is not here sought unto Here we live here we feed here we trade here we rush into the world as soon as we are up and here we go to bed as soon as our business is over but here 's no Prayer O Lord how sad is this that in a City where the Gospel hath been so long so powerfully preached that in a City which hath passed under such variety of remarkable judgments there should be so many Prayerless Houses O 't is a rocky heart from which this consideration doth not fetch some sighs and tears I beseech you who have any conviction or tenderness upon your Consciences let it be otherwise with you Let the Arguments that have been used prevail with you forthwith to set up Prayer in your Houses if hitherto it hath been omitted How would it rejoice my soul might I but hear upon the reading of this That some Citizen was wrought upon to call his Family together and to say The Lord forgive me hitherto I have liv'd in the omission of Prayer with you but now the Grace of God enabling me I am resolv'd to fall upon it morning and evening we will call upon God together we will not only eat and drink together and work together but we will also pray together The good Lord work this resolution in many of you O if it be not within your doors Lord have mercy upon us there will be too much cause to write upon your doors The Lord have mercy upon you Can you read such motives as have been set down and yet not pray Have you liv'd to see and feel such terrible judgments by Plague and Fire and yet not pray Are you upon such uncertainties for the future and yet not pray I trust in the Lord some will be wrought upon 'T is your own advantage that I aime at 't is only your own souls good and your Families good that I design if you will yet go on in an ungodly course what 's that to me I have done my duty Do I come with things disputable to you do I speak as one that pursues the interest of a Party Surely no that which I urge upon you is as cleer as the light of the day and that which all parties agree in and therefore let not any reasonings or prejudices keep you off from the practise of a duty so clear so universally granted Especially you that are Professors do you pray in your Families what a Professor and not pray in thy House what a shame is this what a contradiction to thy profession what a demonstration of the unsoundness of thy Profession what mischief dost thou do to others by this how many loose and carnal persons are hardned upon thy omission what
and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Parallel to which is that Col. 3.16 Teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Here are three words Psalms Hymns and Songs concerning the * vid. Gatak Adver Sacra l. 1 c. 10 p 124. difference or distinct notions of which Divines do somewhat differ Hierome goes one way Beza another Grotius a third Zanchy a fourth He that pleases may look into them or peruse Bodius Davenant and other Interpreters upon the Places cited for 't is not my intention to stay upon this Clearly the Apostle alludes to the Hebrew Titles or Divisions of David's Psalms They were divided into Mizmorim Tehillim and Shirim which Titles the Septuagint render by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These are the words used here by the Apostle and therefore the inference is good that David's Psalms were in his eye and that he directs Christians under the Gospel to the singing of David's Psalms when he enjoines them to speak to themselves in Psalms and Hymns and Songs these being the Titles commonly applied to those Psalmes and by which they were usually understood You have another Precept for the Duty Jam. 5.13 Is any afflicted let him pray Is any merry let him sing Psalms So that you see we have an Institution to ground our practise upon upon which the singing of Psalms becomes not only a thing lawful but also matter of duty And what the * Affirmabaâ—â— hane fuisse summam vel culpae suae vel erroris quod essent soliti stato die ante lucem convenire carmenque Christo quafi Deo dicere secum invicem Pliny in that most remarkable Epist Lib. 10. Epist Ep. 97. Tertul. speaks of Hymni antelucani Apol. c. 2. c. 39. Vt quisque de Scripturis sanctis vel de propriâ— ingenio potest provocatur in medium Deo canere This as to the manner was something extraordinary vid. Just. Mart. in Quaest. Resp ad Orthod Quaest. 107. p 462. practise of the Primitive Christians was in their Assemblies as to this is very well known out of Pliny Tertullian Justine Martyr and others I should very much swell up this Discourse should I fall upon the drawing out of the full strength of the Scriptures alledged upon the vindicating of them from all those cavils by which some would evade them upon the answering of all objections made against the duty and the explication of all difficulties about it for brevity sake I will pass by all this and only refer you for fuller satisfaction in all these things to those who have to very good purpose written upon this Argument as Mr. Cotton Ford Sydenham Dr. Manton upon James 5.13 with several others That this Singing of David's Psalms was used in the Temple-worship cannot be deny'd for 't is said 2 Chron. 29.30 Hezekiah commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the Seer That 't is now to be used in publick Worship as a part of it cannot be denied neither David in Psal 95. reckoning up the parts of publick Worship he instances in Prayer v. 6. in Hearing v. 7. in Singing v. 1. c. That it ought to be used in Family-Worship also cannot be deny'd neither Surely they that grant the duty must grant also that 't is very necessary proper useful in private as well as in publick O therefore let me desire you to setup this holy exercise in your Houses Pray there read the Scriptures there and sing Psalms too there The general omission of this is much to be lamented what through profaneness in some and groundless scruples in others how few Families are there in this City in which 't is practis'd How many Houses may a man pass by upon a Lord's day before he come to one where he hears this Heavenly Musick You that are Masters of Families be perswaded to make Conscience of this duty let the praises of the most High God be sung in your Families O what a blessed duty is this how is Heaven delighted with it how is the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And much he adds touching the excellent effects of this Ordinance Just Martyr ut suprà heart raised the affections excited and warmed by it how doth it please God to come in upon the soul in this as well as in other ordinances O the sweetness delight that the sincere Christian finds in it and the profit advantage that he reaps by it To my thinking saith one there is not a more lively resemblance of Heaven upon Earth than a company of godly Christians singing a Psalm together You rejoice in God you rejoice in those many mercies you receive from God Singing is the best expression of your rejoycing Are you merry let not your mirth run out in vain frothy things but in the singing of Psalms Paul and Silas were full of joy and they fall upon singing The Church upon the receipt of eminent Mercy vented her joy this way Psal 126.2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing Let it be thus with you The holy Spirit of God puts men upon this rejoicing That of the Apostle in the connexion is very observable He had dehorted from drunkenness with Wine Eph. 5.18 by way of opposition he exhorts to be filled with the spirit what will follow upon this He tells you ver 19. Speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns c. Where any are full of the Holy Ghost this will certainly put them upon holy expressions of their joy in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs Look as men that are full of Wine or Drink they 'l be singing and venting their mirth in their carnal and sinful way so they that are full of God they 'l be singing too but 't is Psalms and spiritual Songs 't is not chanting to the viol Amos 3.5 't is not Songs that God will turn into lamentation as he threatens Amos 8.10 but 't is that which is spiritual in which their holy joy doth run out It would grieve a man as he walks in your streets by your Taverns and Alehouses Lord what tearing ranting cursing singing in a scurrilous and filthy manner may he there hear from day to day 'Pray let something else be heard in your Houses you that profess God and have any sense of Religion O let men hear you singing of Psalms and therein celebrating the memorials of God's mercies to you If you be filled with the spirit you will as certainly do this as men that have drunk to excess do the other And especially upon the Lord's day let this duty be performed in your Houses this is work very proper to to the Sabbath See Psal 92. The title of it is A Psalm for the Sabbath day And how doth it begin thus It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and