I do earnestly desire you to spend now and then a little time in thinking seriously with your selves what sad wretched miserable Families those are in which there is a great many Creature-comforts Epicurean Provisions for the Table and the Belly there is eating and drinking to excess if not to drunkenness there is Cards and Dice Chambering and Wantonness a great deal of Mirth and Jollity Vanity and Folly but there is no Praying there no Reading of the Scriptures there is great dressing of Meat and decking of the Body but in the midst of all this there is no duty done to God no Honour brought him no care taken for precious and immortal Souls I do pity them and oh that my Soul might weep in secret for their sinful neglect And I do earnestly desire them to remember and lay to heart that which God hath spoken and will certainly stand to He will make that word of his good to the comfort of his People and confusion of his Enemies 1 Sam. 2.30 Them that honour me I will honour but they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed From whence it is plain that God takes special notice of Persons their Spirits and Actions and as they carry toward him so will he to them That Tree may expect to fall under a blasting withering Curse from which the Lord Iesus doth gather no Fruit. III. My third and last Reason shall be drawn from the equity of the thing Family-worship is God's due as you heard before the Prophet said Who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee it doth appertain it doth of right belong to him Man cannot lay claim to any Comfort or Blessing as due to him from God for any thing that he hath done for all is Mercy than the least of which Man is less yea the best of Men but God may lay claim to fear and honour and service as due to him from Man and I may say the same in the present case what Family is there that should not serve and worship thee O thou King of Nations O thou King of Saints for to thee it doth appertain It is too true and a sad truth it is that too many Families in England yea and in London do not do it and I am afraid when all is said that can be said will not worship God they are setled upon their Lees but what Family is there that should not do it There is none not the greatest not the poorest not those that have most leisure not those that have most business not those that live in the greatest fulness and splendor nor those that are forced to earn their Bread with their hard labour and in the sweat of their Brows The more any have the more abundant they should be in praises and the more any want the more frequent and fervent they should be in prayers whatever their case and condition is still they do owe this to God I may very well call it and House-â—ent which they are bound to be continually paying to their great Landlord and for a neglect or default therein he may justly turn them out of Doors cast them into the open Street yea bring them to a Dunghil and Morsel of Bread I am not censorious nor do I charge any one but this is apparent many that have been topping Men yea and made a great Profession have come to nothing to a Goal the Mint the White-friers they have broken scandalously and by that means have made Religion to stink in the Nostrils of those who are no Friends to it and I would advise them to reflect upon time past and consider whether they were not wanting to or remiss in Family-duties and if they were let them humble themselves and justifie God and say Righteous art thou O Lord why should they think that God would bless and prosper them to the enabling them to pay their Debts to Men if they do not make any Conscience of paying that Tribute which they owe to him but that is only a serious and seasonable hint by the way I am to shew you that Family-worship is due to God and it is so upon these accounts First Vpon the account of their Being I before proved that they are of God he made you and them too Now the Prophet saith Psal. 145.10 All thy works shall praise thee O Lord our Families are his work and therefore they should praise him Secondly Family worship ought to be conscienciously and constantly performed to God upon the account of those Mercies which they do receive from God We have personal Mercies preservation and supply health and strength food and raiment and these do engage us to personal services Iacob thought so when Gen. 28.20 21 22. He vowed a vow saying If God will be with me and will keep me in the way that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my fathers house in peace the Lord shall be my God and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house and he accordingly did afterward there Build an Altar which was for the Service and Worship of God Now by a parity of Reason Family-mercies do oblige unto Family-worship Alas what miserable Houses would ours be if God should not look after them and befriend them how would they be exposed should he withdraw his protection and not cover them with his Wing How would they be straitned and pinched did not he reach out to them his Hand of Bounty they soon would turn into Houses of Mourning and Places of Confusion it is God that by his shining upon our Tabernacles makes them comfortable and pleasant to us and doth commend and sweeten our Communion together so that we lye down and rise up and live in peace therefore it is fit and highly becoming that we should serve and worship him together Those that are drawn with the same Cords of Kindness should draw in the same Yoke of Obedience Methinks the Father should of his own accord without a Monitor say to his Family as in Psal. 34.3 O magnifie the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together Thirdly Family-worship is due to God upon the account of his continuing and repeating his Mercies to our Families How much doth he do for them And how unwearied is he in doing We deserve nothing we have forfeited all yet his compassion doth not fail nor is the Stream of Mercy cut off Must you not say have ye not reason to say he daily loads you with his Benefits and he causeth Mercy and Goodness to follow you It is his Mercy that maketh us dwell in safety and sets an Hedge about us and our Houses and about all that we have on every side else we should become a prey to the Sons of Violence or fuel to the greedy devouring Flames It is he that continueth the peace of our Families else a perverse froward Spirit would be conjur'd up
Petitions water the Seed you sow and bless both you and yours and make you Blessings to one another and all of you Blessings to the City and the Nation I do heartily pray for you I need your Prayers too and earnestly beg them do not deny me do not forget me in praying for me you pray for your selves The gracious Good-will of him that dwelt in the Bush be upon you let God compass you about with his Favour as with a Shield and make you Rich in Blessings of the Right Hand and of the Left And Oh! that you and I may at last meet in Heaven and there together with the Saints and Angels Sing Eternal Allelujahs to God and the Lamb so prays Your Souls Friend and Servant in our Dearest Lord Samuel Slater From my Study Mar. 23. 1694. Family Worship Joshua 24 15. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. THese are the words of Ioshua once the Servant afterward the Successor of Moses a great Man and good too and this is an excellent pair how sweet and amiable in a conjunction like pure White and Red they make a curious complexion and render a person indeed Noble and Illustrious Goodness with Greatness is like a rich and sparkling Diamond sett in a Ring of Gold This good and great Man had followed the Lord not halting nor by halves but fully and it pleased God who takes special notice of his faithful Servants to reward him by exalting him Moses having as an Instrument in the Divine hand brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt and carried them through a wast and howling Wilderness to the very Borders of the promised Land God called him off having no more for him to do commanded him to go up to Mount Nebo and die there in order to his happy Transportation to a better Countrey the Celestial Canaan the Inheritance of the Saints in Light and chose Ioshua for the Man that must compleat that great and glorious work and put that beloved People into the actual possession of that good Land This being done and Ioshua now grown old and finding himself after so many tedious Journeys and hard Labours sit and ready to go to his Long home to his Everlasting Rest He gathered all the Tribes of Israel and the Chief Men among them unto Sechem if any ask why thither I answer it is by some conceived and not without an appearance of reason because after that Abraham had in obedience to the Divine Command gone out of his own Countrey and from his Fathers house God did there first appear to him and gave him the Promise of the Land of Canaan and upon that he did there first build an Altar unto the Lord as you may read in Gen. 12.6 7. And also because not long after their entrance into the Promised Land Ioshua himself had in Mount Ebal which was near unto Shechem built an Altar unto the Lord God of Israel and wrote upon the Stones a Copy of the Law of Moses and so renewed the Covenant between God and them as we find Iosh. 8.30 31 32. But that may suffice to be spoken as to the reasons of his gathering them unto Shechem Having there assembled them He began with giving them in the Name of the Lord a very short but pithy Narrative of those great and wonderful things which had been by God done for them all along from the mercy that had been shewn unto Abraham their Father to his giving them the Land of Canaan according as he had promised And then in his own Name He followed that Relation with a very serious and warm Exhortation grounded thereupon verse 14. Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth and put away the Gods which your Fathers served on the other side of the Flood and in Egypt and serve ye the Lord. He knew what an uncertain and fickle People they were and so did endeavour to fix them and if they had any ingenuity any sense of kindness to bind them to God with these Silken Cords of Love and Goodness In this 15th verse He bids them chuse in case they did not like what he had propounded then think of one under whose Government and Protection they might promise themselves a secure and comfortable Being If it seem evil to you to serve the Lord chuse you this day whom ye will serve whether the Gods which your Fathers served that were on the other side of the Flood or the Gods of the Amorites in whose Land ye dwell which you must not look upon as a permission or allowance or leaving them to themselves as in a matter indifferent whether they would worship the true God or turn Idolaters For in the preceding Chapter he had earnestly persuaded and charged them vers 6. to be very couragious to keep and do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses not turning aside therefrom neither to the right hand nor to the left And vers 7. That they come not among the Nations that remain among them neither make mention of the Name of their Gods nor cause to swear by them neither serve them nor bow themselves to them But vers 8. cleave unto the Lord Jehovah their God And v. 11. to take good heed unto themselves that they liv'd the Lord their God And again in this Chapter v. 14. Fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth But in this way he endeavours sweetly to insinuate and to get within them and by an holy Art prevail with them to oblige and bind themselves to God very well knowing that People care not for doing what they are forc'd to do but without a blush depart from that which they were brought to by meer constraint whereas they are pleas'd with their own choice and are most likely to stand firm to that unto which they have in Judgment and upon due deliberation engag'd themselves In order therefore to a wise Election which they may never have cause with sorrow and shame to reflect upon he doth on the one hand set before them the greatness excellency and glory of God together with those many and singular advantages that will accrue to them who are his faithful Servants and on the other hand he sets before them the vanity and baseness of Idols the folly of those that own and serve them and the mischiefs which do pursue them and will for certain overtake them and hereupon after a due weighing and comparing of things he would have them make their choice of one or the other being guided therein by right reason and their true Interest He knew that God would have his People serve him out of choice as he chuseth them so he would be chosen by them And for a motive and inducement he acquaints them with his own fixed and unalterable resolution whom they had by long experience found to be a gracious and holy Man a prudent and loving Governour a valiant and successful
Man make that Covenant his plea or argument or rationally expect Life and Happiness from it who himself hath violated and broken it that Person whose own sin hath cast him out of Covenant hath no more interest in nor right to the Blessings thereof than he that was never in it Nay Fourthly The condition of such an one is far the worse and more dismal of the two as his sins are more accented more black more provoking and crying than the sins of another being breaches of Covenant sins against greater Obligations so there is less hope of him his case is more dangerous and desperate the Wound that he hath made looks as if it were altogether incurable and the Wrath that such an one is like to suffer may well be more fiery and fierce the Judgments more severe not Rods but Scorpions are proper in such a case what will God do when he comes to avenge the quarrel of his Covenant I have thus largely shewn you that are Parents and Governours of Families what Obligations you are under for the setting up and continuing of the Service and Worship of God in your Families upon the consideration of the young ones the Children and Servants which are in your Houses and under your Care and I am not a little confident that if you will be so just to the Cause and your selves as to weigh the arguments your Consciences will tell you the Obligation is very strong and oh that the truth deliver'd may be so upon you and upon many more that you may not be found rebelling against the light nor holding the truth in Righteousness but falling before it and to your work There remains but one Obligation more to this great and necessary Work of Family-Worship and Duty which I shall take notice of in this Discourse and speak unto and that doth arise from the consideration of the Publick the City the Nation the Church of God unto which you are so nearly related as being Parts and Members of them and in which you are so highly concerned your Relation is not so near but that your interest is as great ponder on these following Particulars Let this I beseech you return often upon your thoughts and lay it near your hearts you are Citizens of London Famous London which Enemies have done much against and God hath done great things for what will you do for it In London you have many Mercies many Priviledges many Comforts you are the Natives of England the Free-born People of England a sweet and pleasant name be dear over it both name and thing It was in this Countrey that you first drew your breath here that you were planted by the gracious hand of Divine Providence and grown and flourished and you would be exceeding unnatural and inhumanely cruel to this poor City and to this pleasant Land the Land of your Nativity if you do not heartily desire its welfare and to the utmost seek its good The Iews were to pray for the peace of Ierusalem which was their Metropolis their Capital City where there were the Thrones of Judgment the Thrones of the House of David and whether the Tribes went up the Tribes of the Lord to the testimony of Israel See how David excited others and resolved himself to contribute what might be to its happiness Psal. 122.6 7 8 9. Pray for the peace of Ierusalem they shall prosper that love thee peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy Palaces for my Brethren and Companions sake I will now say peace be within thee because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek thy good We are as much bound to Pray for London which is our English Ierusalem was that the literal Ierusalem the City of their Solemnities so it is called Isa. 33.20 London through the goodness of a gracious God hath been and in spite of Hell and Rome yet is the City of our Solemnities and I beseech you read and think upon that which the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel said unto them who were carried away Captive from Ierusalem to Babylon Ier. 29.7 Seek the peace of the City whither I have caused you to be carried away Captives and pray unto the Lord for it for in the peace thereof ye shall have peace Now if they were to pray for the peace of Babylon which was the place of their Captivity we are in reason much more bound to pray for and by all means seek the peace and welfare of London and England which is the place of our Nativity Secondly Cast your eye upon the present State of London and of England have not our iniquities brought us low the hand of God hath been for many years and in many ways heavy upon the Land and it is stretched out still the truth is our preservation is wonderful and the Lord hath done great things for us of which we have reason to be glad and to give him glory but for all that we are brought low the Crown is fallen from our head our honour is under an Eclipse In some respects England is scarce to be found in England there is a withering blast upon us and a sad dismal face of things How many Judgements doth this Nation lie under both Spiritual and Temporal O! the sad Divisions that are among us which grow wider instead of an healing Spirit behold a perverse Spirit is gone forth in the midst of us how do errours and all manner of false Doctrines abound and swarm there the Serpent hath cast out of his mouth like a flood that he might drown and swallow up the Church of God among us Now that she is in her wilderness State What a Spirit of Atheism hath possess'd Men We have a company of wretches that rather than they will own God will hold they themselves shall die like Beasts these are none of the old Fools who said in their hearts there is no God these have far out done them in speaking it with their mouths I have indeed been told that some of these are very sensible Men and indeed I do conclude that not only some Atheists are so but that they all are so yea and that they are altogether so men immerst and quite sunk into sense they have shaken hands with reason quite blinded and put out the eye of reason for otherwise in the very things before them they would see the invisible things of God even his Eternal Power and Godhead Rom. 1.20 To which I might add that general and monstrous prophaneness which hath broken all banks and overflow'd us which hath risen up to that highth of impudence that it can out-face the Sun and walk unveil'd at noon and what do you feel hath not God think you risen out of his place to punish the Inhabitants of London and of England for their iniquities Hath he not revealed his wrath from Heaven against the ungodliness of Men doth not his Providence frown dreadfully hath he not in legible Characters written
too much with God nor do too much for him you cannot pray too much so that you have a prudent and cordial respect to all his Commands and to all the parts of your Duty not suffering one to justle out another as the Body is not all one Member so Religion is not all one Duty it doth not consist altogether in Prayer nor altogether in Hearing and as that is a lame Body which wants one Member so he is a lame Christian that is careless as to any one piece of Religion such a wilful defect is a great deformity Set your hand to all the work of God and in particular be much in Prayer David gave himself unto Prayer as a Man much set for it and devoted to it Daniel the Man greatly beloved of his God was at it three times in a day Dan. 6.10 His Windows being opened in his Chamber toward Ierusalem he kneeled upon his knees three times in a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did afore-time He loved Prayer so well that neither danger nor death no not a violent death being cast into a Den of Lyons could affright and deter him from it David the Man after Gods own heart was much more at it Psalm 119.164 Surely he had great encouragement so to do from his experience he sensibly felt that it very greatly tended to his advantage he saw begging was a good trade he did thrive upon it and therefore he follow'd it close the oftner he went to God the more he got from him and of him he never rose off his knees nor returned from the Throne of Grace without an Alms. The most Praying Christian is certainly the most growing Christian as he hath his expectations I will direct my Prayer unto thee and will look up so he hath his answers and sees something is coming but let the Morning and Evening of every day be your stated and set times for Prayer there is a great deal of reason for that viz. First The Divine Order and Appointment of this we did before take notice in Exod. 29. God required there should be two Lambs offered up every day in Sacrifice the one in the morning and the other in the Evening which was called the continual Burnt-Offering and shall we be exceeded and out-done by them shall the dispensation now be more glorious and shall we be more penurious that live under it shall God now more magnifie his grace and shall we grow poorer in our returns their Sacrifices were more costly and chargeable and shall ours be fewer surely since in the times of Messiah there is a more plentiful effusion of the Spirit there should at least be an equal abounding in the work of the Lord our Sacrifices of Prayer and Praise the Calves of the Lips and the lifting up of our Hearts and hands to God should be as frequent as those bloody Sacrifices Secondly This Practice is commended to us in the Scripture we are directed to think upon those things that are of good report Now this hath obtained a good report in the World and as it is with Men so it is with things to be well spoken of by the word is more than to have all the World speak well of one look then into the 92 d Psalm 1. v. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing Praises to thy Name O thou most High to bless God to exalt God to give him glory is good it is duty it is the employment of Angels the Work of Heaven and Eternity and those that have good hearts will delight in good work If you would know what are the fittest and most convenient times for the doing of this good work for that tends much to the adorning and setting off a work every thing being beautiful in its season He tells you in the next words to shew forth thy loving kindness in the Morning and thy faithfulness every night and when we do in the sincerity of our Souls thus begin and end our days we are like to find them good throughout Thirdly God visits us every Morning it is no less than Gods humbling himself to behold those things which are above the glorious Angels much more to look upon Man sorry dust what is it then for God to visit him the Prophet admired it Psal. 8 4. What is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou visitest him Great Princes are not wont to go into a Beggars Hovil they reckon it below them but the Great God stoops much lower and Oh! how necessary is this for us Iob 10.12 Thy Visitation hath preserved my Spirit By this he meant a gracious Visitation a Friendly one this reviv'd him this preserv'd him his Spirit his Life his Courage his Comforts all were upheld and maintain'd by the gracious visitations of God Again how frequent are these with us how many gracious Visits doth God bestow upon his poor People Iob 7.18 Thou visitest him every morning there is never a Morning that we miss him as often as the Morning returns God comes to visit us yea he is with us before we are up and since Gods visits are so frequent shall ours be few shall he come to see us and see to us and shall not we wait upon him shall the strangeness be on our side let us visit God every Morning and pay him visit for visit and let us be sure to carry our Family with us for so we shall be the more welcome Fourthly The continuation and constant succession of Mercies doth oblige to this and call for it Gods Mercies are new every Morning upon us and shall not our returns shall we not follow hard after him and delight in our approaches to him when he draws us with the Cords of a Man yea with loving-kindness the very pouring out of his Name which is as a precious Oyntment should make us love and run after him Oh! let the pouring out of his Grace and Mercy do it Day unto Day utters speech and Night unto Night sheweth knowledge and one would think that when both Day and Night speak in the Language of Love we should answer them and not be silent God soweth his Seed in the Morning and in the Evening he witholdeth not his hand and surely that Heart and House is a very barren Soil and near unto a Curse that doth not twice a day pay its acknowledgments to him Lastly methinks there is not any one who hath the use of reason and believes a God but hath a Monitor in his own bosom to prompt him to this and not need a Minister in a Pulpit to press it upon him or a Friend at his elbow to jog him your own reason should and would direct you to it if you did but consult and hearken to it It is fit that we should make God the Alpha and the Omega the first and the last for so he is and therefore we ought to begin
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
should delight to do his work because He gave us Being Now if there be so much reason in God's making them why every individual every particular single Person should serve and worship God why they should thus come before him with praises and thanksgivings there is as great reason why Families should do so too nay there is the very same reason For God made Families too Families have their Being from God Nay there is a double reason for he hath put forth a double act of Mercy and Power He did both make the Persons and the Family Psal. 68.4.5 Sing unto God sing praises to his Name extol him that rideth upon the Heavens by his Name IAH and rejoyce before him One well observes that our thoughts of God should not be low and mean but high and heavenly lifting up his Name above the most excellent and glorious Creatures because they all are his Servants and he makes use of them as he pleaseth riding upon the Heavens as his Chariot and because he only hath Being of himself and gives Being to all those things that are But what other reason is to be given for this read on A Father of the Fatherless and a Iudge of the Widdow is God in his holy Habitation So then he is a God of Bowels his Compassions work and fail not he is a good Friend to the Poor and Helpless Orphans and Widdows whose Tears and the Cries of whose Necessities sometimes and among some persons can hardly obtain the consideration of their case but God will be a careful Father of the Fatherless and a righteous Judge for the Widdow But what is this to the present purpose though it be not yet I was willing to take notice of it as that which may be comfortable to some and now look into the next Verse and we shall meet with something apposite to our case Sing unto God and extol him that rideth upon the Heavens by his Name IAH But why so God setteth the solitary in Families He sets them in an House those that were destitute so some render it poor wretched destitute were not worth a foot of Land had not where to lay their head he provides a place for them and an Habitation others read it those that were solitary and so do our Translators such as are all Solitary single Persons and all alone and upon that account lead a melancholick and uncomfortable life God sets them in Families they were once poor Servants in other mens Families where they were fain to labour and toil and some of them were beaten unmercifully and pinched in their Dyet but since God hath been graciously pleased to raise them and to give them Families of their own they have now Yoke-fellows to delight in and Children to rejoyce in and Servants to work for them and wait upon them Nay it is God that doth not only set in Families but doth for many multiply and magnifie them they have numerous Families and plenty for them Those that had but a small matter to begin with are now arrived at a very considerable Estate and have not only wherewith to answer their necessities and to silence the lamentable bitter heart-piercing Cries of hungry craving Children but enough and to spare and therefore these should worship at his footstool and both speak and live his praise Psal. 107. The Prophet doth in a pang and rapture as it were for several times one after another break out in this holy wish Oh that men would praise the Lord Oh that men would praise the Lord Oh that men would praise the Lord vers 8.15 21 31. But what is the matter What do you enquire and would you indeed know There is matter enough abundant matter they that have hearts devoted to the praising of God will never want matter of praise The Prophet in those Verses wisheth that men would praise him for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the Children of men His works are so wonderful that they call for admirings and there is such a goodness in them that they deserve praises And the Children of Men are greatly obliged to abound in these praises because they are no less concerned and interested in these works they being done to and for them But this is only spoken in general particulars are more affecting and if any one here hath not taken notice of many he hath been very heedless and unworthy But the Prophet doth multiply particulars in that Psalm as he will find that peruseth it I shall take only one out of the heap as serving our occasion vers 41. He setteth the poor on high from or after affliction and maketh him Families like a Flock The Man was poor before exceeding poor possibly not worth a Groat yea and he was in affliction too though Poverty is it self a sore affliction there needs no other yet it doth not go alone the poor Man is slighted by his Friends and trampled upon by his Neighbours and it is likely afraid to stir out of his own door lest a Serjeant should clap an Arrest upon his back but now after this affliction God raiseth him up and sets him on high He is now grown a considerable Person a Man of Estate a Gentleman in the Countrey an Alderman in the City it is well if he be humble now he is high and doth not forget himself and that God too who advanced him and hath given him a Family like a Flock and as a considerable Flock so a rich Pasture for him and it to feed in there you see Families are of God's making Hast thou O Woman a careful Husband that minds his business and provides well thou hadst him from God Hast thou O Man a prudent Wife that orders well it was God laid her out for thee Have you both Children that are the Crown of your Conjugal Relation it was God that bestowed them upon you they all are his Off-spring When Iacob was upon his Journey towards the Land of his Kindred Esau went out to meet him and God having conquer'd and influenced his Spirit he embraced him and fell upon his Neck and kissed him and seeing the Women and the Children he said Who are those with thee Gen. 33.5 Iacob answered The Children which God hath graciously given thy Servant Children are God's gift and they are a gracious gift which carrieth in it a great deal of goodness and mercy That is the first thing God is the Author of Families and since they had their Being from him it is fit he should have service and worship from them so long as they have a Being II. My second Reason shall be drawn from that Honour which we all should bring to God He that is the most excellent and glorious Being may challenge for he doth deserve glory at the hands of all his Creatures And they have wickedly forfeited their Being who do not make their contributions and cast in something nay all they can into the Treasury of his Glory Here
sinking and repair it when under decays and shine upon it and prosper it Seeing it is a Religious house God will make it a comfortable house seeing the incense of Prayer goeth up from the house to Heaven a shower of blessing shall come down from Heaven upon the house a variety of duties shall be accompanied with a variety of mercies and a succession of duties crown'd with a succession of blessings as day unto day shews mindfulness and night unto night gratitude so day unto day on Gods part shall shew his love and night unto night his faithfulness Not but that in those very Families where there are most holy exercises there may be many afflictive exercises Davids house was not as the clear Sun-shine or a Morning without Clouds there are among his dearest Children Iniquities and Transgressions and notwithstanding the everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure into which God hath entered with them he hath reserved to himself the liberty of visiting those iniquities with the Rod and those Transgressions with Stripes yet this doth not hinder their blessedness Though afflictions may and do come in yet they cannot crowd or shut the blessing out Iacob met with a great deal of trouble nevertheless the blessing remained upon him Nay God will take such special care of his People as that the very Rod shall blossom with Love and their afflictions shall be turn'd into advantages out of the Eater shall come Meat that which devours their comforts shall feed their graces the gains shall make a full yea abundant amends for the loss and whatever their apprehensions for the present may be while they smart and are in pain yet the day shall come wherein they shall be reconciled to the darkest and most severe dispensations when they shall see yea and feel cause with thankfulness to own that Gods smitings were a kindness and that his rebukes were an excellent Oyl that instead of breaking the head did better the heart Secondly This is the way to have the Covenant made good to you and an accomplishment of the Promises which are more worth than all the gold of Ophir or the riches of both the Indies To this purpose that calls for our consideration which God spake concerning Abraham in that place to which we have twice already had occasion to have our recourse Gen. 18.19 I know him that he will command his Children and his Servants after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgement and if he and they do so they will do well but what then what will he get by it read the very next words that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him if Abraham would be careful of his duty God would magnifie his mercy upon him Obedience to Precepts is followed with the performance of promises but what was it that God had spoken of him it was good much considerable very great and admirable things which God had spoken That he would make of him a great Nation that he would make his name great that he would bless him and make him a blessing that he would bless them that blessed him and curse them that cursed him and that in him all the Families of the Earth should be blessed Gen. 12.2 3. in thee i. e. in thy Seed in Christ who shall come of that according to the flesh shall all be blessed for Christ came to bless them in turning them from their iniquities in making peace for them with God and bringing them back to God Now saith God Abraham in this way will make all these my promises sure to him he will prevent any obstacles and rubs from being in their way Abraham will be dear over my interest and name and glory he will exalt and honour me in his family he will breed and train them up for me he will use his Authority for me and lay his command upon them to fear me and to keep my way and therefore I will be as good as my word to him of all that which I have spoken concerning him not one tittle shall fail I beseech you take notice and remember it that a care to promote the interest and honour of God the setting up the service and worship of God in your Families is the way to bring over to you the good of the Promises The Apostle Peter tells us that the Promises are exceeding great and precious so great that we cannot measure them we cannot grasp them in our understandings they are so great that they contain Heaven and Earth in them and all good things and they are so precious that you cannot rate them according to their worth we may easily overvalue our selves and the enjoyments here below that is done everyday but we cannot over-value promises and would you not my dear Friends be heartily glad of an interest in them and being able to lay a just claim to them would you not be glad to go to the whole heap of promises and with the arms of faith sweep them up and say these are all mine own these are the good things my God hath given me these are those pleasant places in which my lines are fallen In a word would you not be glad at heart if all these exceeding great and precious promises should empty themselves and unlade all their treasures into your bosoms I doubt not but you would am sure you have reason and if you would your best and only way is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to serve and honour God in your personal and domestick Capacities and then Thirdly As this is the way to bring down a blessing from God upon you and upon your Families so it is the way to make your Families a blessing to you and your Children a blessing to you Oh how sweet and desirable a thing is this What a comfort is it to Prarents to have such Children as are their Comfolts their Joy and Crown such Children as are blest themselves and blessings unto them when so many are their poor Parents grief and sorrow their curse and shame of whom them cannot think without a sigh on whom they cannot look without indignation Children who fill their Parents lives with bitterness and make them a lamentation thoroughout and at last bring down their gray Hairs with sorrow to the Grave Children that while young were their Parents hope and joy but when they were grown up became first the Companions of Fools and then foolish themselves and so prove Thorns in the sides of their Parents and Pricks in their Eyes I know you that are Parents would not have your Children such it is your duty to love them and unless you have cast off all good nature you do love them and would rejoyce in them and over them to do them good Now this is one special way for the bringing it to pass Prov. 20.3 The just man walketh his integrity his Children are blessed after him
tender Babes so that they will be quiet and give you no disturbance in the work that so you may First Present your selves before the Lord offering and dedicating them to him Secondly Enter them early and from the Cradle in his Service Thirdly Beg a Blessing from God upon them though they cannot beg one for themselves If you will consult the Scriptures you will find that God's ancient People the Iews did bring sometimes their Children with them to the great Congregations Take two instances of it one of them you have in Deut. 29.10 11. All Israel did appear before the Lord when Moses made a Covenant with them in the Land of Moab Now read what Moses there said to them Ye stand all of you this day before the Lord your God your Captains of your Tribes your Elders and your Officers with all the men of Israel your little ones your Wives and thy stranger that is in thy Camp from the hewer of thy Wood unto the drawer of thy Water Not only the Males but the Females not only the great and honourable Men but the meanest not only the Fathers but the Children not only those that were grown up but the little ones were brought before the Lord to enter into Covenant with him and into the Oath which the Lord their God made with them that day So when in Ezra 9. the Princes came to that holy Man and told him the people of Israel and the Priests and the Levites had not separated themselves from the people of the Lands but taken their Daughters for themselves and for their Sons also so that the holy Seed had mingled themselves with the people of the Lands the good Man upon the hearing thereof rent his Garment and his Mantle and pluck'd off the Hair of his Head and of his Beard and sate down astonied at the Evening Sacrifice he fell upon his Knees and spread out his Hands unto the Lord his God blushing and professing himself ashamed to lift up his Face to God because of that great trespass which had been committed by the people though he himself was not guilty of it Now consult Ezra 10.1 and you find there when he had prayed and when he had confessed weeping and casting himself down before the House of God there assembled unto him a very great Congregation of men and women and children for the people wept very sore The poor Children were brought as Persons concern'd as those who were obnoxious to the stroke of Justice and might perish in a common Calamity brought upon that sinning and God-provoking People So that it was no childish thing in them to bring their Children with them to such serious and solemn work there was much in it as might easily be shewn Now let these Examples prevail so far with you as to bring your Children with you to your Family-duties there present them before the Lord for though they can do nothing to the duty yet you cannot tell what God may do upon and in them he hath a way to their Hearts and can do that good work in them which neither they nor you do know now but both they and you may know it afterward Therefore though they cannot pray themselves though they cannot understand what you say in your Prayers yet let them be present at them there they are under the Eye of God and he may bestow upon them a look of love they are in the way of mercy and it may give them a visit the Prayers you cause to ascend may gather into a Cloud over you and when that pours down a shower of Blessings some drops may fall upon your little ones And since you should bring your little ones to Prayer it is plain that you ought to call those to it that are elder and grown up and have attained to the use and exercise of their Reason your Sons and your Daughters your Man-servants and your Maid-servants invite them to come in call them exhort them shew the goodness of it the excellency and necessity of it perswade them draw them with the Cords of a Man if they or any of them be careless refractory obstinate command them to come in compel them to come in use that power and authority with which God hath invested you Do not suffer any of them to absent themselves from one Prayer without just cause Let them not eat of your Bread nor live under your Roof who will not join with you in the service of your God You have in this Discourse heard and now read much concerning the noble and gracious Resolution taken up by that great and excellent Person Ioshua in the Text As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. I will do it and they shall I and all mine my House my whole House every Individual Person in it Let none serve you that will not serve your God as well as you For mine own part I never was a Friend to Impositions and I think and hope never shall be Not for Mens adding their Inventions to Divine Institutions and then requiring all to submit and comply with them Let themselves use them yea and all those that like them only may they grant liberty to such as are otherwise minded and count that worship best most pleasing most profitable and most glorious which is of God's own appointment But I am for requiring what God hath required it is the duty of Magistrates in Nations and of Governours in Houses to see that Gods Laws be observ'd and obey'd and therefore be you very careful in that respect and strictly command all under you to be constantly present If any of them will not let them know your displeasure and that you will not endure it whether they refuse to join with you out of a Spirit of Errour with which too many at this day are acted or out of a Spirit of Profaneness it is all one for that if they will not with you seek and serve the Lord let them not continue in your House nor tarry in your sight they are no other than Plagues in your Families and may spread the Infection others are in danger from them They are rotten Members cure them or cut them off bring all to Prayer III. Be sure to make Family-prayer the work of every day God loves your Company therefore be not strangers to him He never thinks you come to him too often why then should you go but seldom Do not content your selves with praying only upon the Lord's-day and bringing all your service of God within the compass of a Sabbath as if the other six days were so your own and for your own work that you must spare none of them for God This indeed as I have been informed is the manner of some among us upon a Lord's-day they will call their Families together and then they will do something for God but they must give me leave to think what they do then is pitifully shamefully done they are so seldom
it be jarring in their ears so long as it is musick in his know thou hast to deal with a good Master the God of all grace who if there be a willing Mind doth accept according to what a Man hath and not according to what he hath not The poor Publican was very short he had much to desire yet little to say his dejected looks and sorrowful gesture spake more than his Tongue did but though he was short yet he was sweet we read but of one Petition that he put up to God God be merciful to me a Sinner but he accompanied it with his heart and it came before God as incense who sent him home to his house justified Luke 18.13.14 God took away the filthy garments he came in and put on him a Robe of Righteousness The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite Heart O God thou wilt not despise Psalm 51.17 despise it no no he is so far from that that he requires it and approves it and will bind it up A broken Prayer from and with a broken Heart makes Melody in Heaven God will count it his delight Alas he seeth not as Man sees looks not at the flourishes of words but at the life fervency and Zeal of the Soul for those flowers may be strewed upon a dead and rotten carcass Indeed if a Man bring the Torn and the Sick and the Lame for an Offering to the Lord when he hath better it shall not be accepted Malach. 1.13 but if that Torn and Lame and Sick be the Male of the Flock if it be the best he hath God will receive it graciously and have respect to the Person and to his Offering and Grace will say he hath done what he could as our Lord pleaded for the Woman when his Disciples did absurdly trouble her Mark 14.8 Not only those Richer Persons who brought Gold and Silver and Silk and Precious Stones to the service of the Tabernacle were welcome but those also who came with their Goats-Hair and Badgers-Skins if they had no better I am willing to hope that by what hath been said the mouth of this Objection is stopt the edge of this Argument blunted and so this untoward rub removed which lay in the way of thy Duty therefore I beg earnestly of thee that thou wouldest defer no longer but get up break thro' all opposition and since God hath said seek ye my face let thine heart answer thy face Lord will I seek Before I go off from this Subject I shall direct my Discourse to two sorts of Persons First I would speak something to you whose hearts God hath touched so that you love your work and do it making Family-Prayer your every day business I bless you in the name of the Lord and the God of Heaven bless you while I beg it for you may he bestow it abundantly upon you and pour it out till you be rich in blessings the good Lord strengthen your hands and hearts more and more in this work and encourage you by his gracious answers may you find by frequent and large experience that he hath not said to you seek ye my face in vain The Lord teach you to pray and assist you by his Holy Spirit the Lord send you help from the Sanctuary and strengthen you out of Sion remember all your Offerings grant you according to your own hearts and fulfill all your Petitions which are according to his Mind and Will may you by the Bucket of Prayer draw Water with joy out of the Well of Salvation let him never turn away your Prayer nor his Mercy from you Secondly Do you also suffer the word of exhortation who have your lines cast in those Families in which there is Prayer and the Worship of God do you take special notice of it as a choice mercy and accordingly value it and bless the Lord for disposing you so graciously planting you not in a dry and barren Wildâ—erness where there is no Water but in a Paradise an Eden that is so well water'd You that are Wives and Married to Praying Husbands do you bless God and you Children who have been begotten by Praying Fathers and you Servants who work for and wait upon Praying Masters let all that is within you bless his Holy Name and see to it that you improve the Mercy lose not such a Season such an Opportunity Oh! how much good may you get how much the better may you be in case you be not wanting to your selves and who can tell how much Mercy such an Husband such a Father such a Master may obtain how many Blessings he may procure at the hand of God for you read what the Queen of Sheba said to King Solomon in the 1 of Kings 10.8 Happy are these thy Men and happy are these thy Servants which stand continually before thee and that bear thy Wisdom She had seen the House he had built and the ascent by which he went up to the House of the Lord and the Meat at his Table and the sitting of his Servants and the attendance of his Ministers and their Apparel but there was something above all this that she admired She did not look upon the happiness of his Servants as consisting in beholding the greatness of his State and Honour and the Splendour and Glory of his Court or in feeding every day upon his Royal Dainties and Drinking his Generous Wines but in hearing of his Wisdom I may as well yea and much more say of you in case you are your own Friends happy thrice happy are you who live in such a Family though as the lowest and meanest Members of it in which you may every day hear the Master of it speaking to God and conversing with Heaven and every day perfuming the House with the precious Odours of his gracious and holy Prayers So much may suffice to be spoken concerning that great and excellent Work of Family prayer and Oh! that it may not be in vain as to any of you if it be you must answer for it another day But that is not all Christians the whole of your work doth not lye in Prayer this you must do and not leave the rest undone no none of it undoneâ— I remember the holy Apostle Paul speaking of Epaephras whom he calls a Servant of Christ and of them a Citizen of Colos a Member of their Church and Teacher much set for their good saith Col. 4.12 He always labour'd fervently for them in Prayer that they might stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God which is a great thing and deserves our utmost endeavours and his so labouring in Prayer for them to this end spake him a good Man and a singular Friend of theirs and it is my Hearts desire and my frequent Prayer that it may be so with you And this should be the Desire and Prayer the Care and Endeavour of every one of you who are Godly Parents and Religious Governours
himself to have and own the Lord for his God And Abijah the Son of Ieroboam in whom there was found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel An Obadiah that fear'd the Lord from his youth a Iosiah whose heart was tender so that he humbled himself and wept before the Lord a young Iohn that was the Beloved Disciple of our Lord Jesus and lay in his Bosom and a Timothy who knew the Scriptures of a Child And this Age as vile as it is is not altogether barren but some such are to be found among us though too few the Lord knoweth too too few if compared with the rest of the World do you dear hearts add to the number be you Trees of Righteousness Plants of Renown Two things I do earnestly desire for you viz. that you may be holy now and happy for ever that you may spend your time as you ought and then have a blessed Eternity live to purpose and die in peace Husband and lay out this life wisely and make sure of a better I wish you the good things of this World full out so far and so much as will be good for you but withal better things too for really such is my esteem of you that however the Sons of the Earth rate them I look not upon them as good enough to make up a Portion for you they are too little and low and fading they perish in the using may Iehovah whose is the Earth and fulness thereof bestow upon you such a part as will make you serviceable to him and life comfortable to you and while you have it so use and improve it that when it shall fail you you may not miss of the delights and glories of Eternity To this end I beseech you begin betimes do not imbezzle and squander gway your choicest Seasons your golden hours lay not out the very best you have upon the World the Flesh and the Devil thinking to reserve for God the dregs and refuse Oh! how sweet is early Religion how beautiful a green head found in the way of Righteousness how pleasant to see tender Plants bringing forth Fruit unto God Are you descended of good Parents do not degenerate let the Faith that was in them be in you also like precious Faith are your Lines cast in Religious Families walk worthy of the mercy and keep peace with them in the way of God It is your unhappiness to be in wicked Families do not learn their ways partake not with them in their Sins be not tainted by them nor worse for them remembring there were Saints in Nero's House and that it is great indeed truly noble to be good in the midst of bad examples of many discouragements and of great opposition such I would fain have you to be and the more such the better That you may be such beg of God by Prayer and consider what I can but hint to you Study well your own case the vileness of your hearts and the miserableness of your State by Nature whatever you have to commend you unto Men there is more than enough to render you odious and abominable unto God Abhor therefore your selves bewail your condition and get out of it as fast as you can which you can no other way do but by getting into Christ who is the only City of Refuge unto which Sinners may flee for safety the Rock of Salvation in which they may hide and upon it build who died that he might redeem from Sin and Wrath and lives to receive and embrace all those that come unto him go then to him and beg of him that you may be washed with his blood and sanctified by his Spirit that he would please to be a Principle of Spiritual Life in you and the Author of Eternal Salvation to you Be thankful for restraints that you are not so bad as others but rest not in them nor in any external performances or the most lovely form of Godliness but look after a saving change that there be in you the root of the matter an heart sincerely set against sin and for God Avoid all loose bad Company even as you would the Devil for his Children they are and the works of the Father they will do and his designs they will be carrying on in all places where they are Can a Man touch Pitch and not be defiled therewith or familiarly converse with with wicked Men or lewd vain Women and not be in danger of learning their manner walk with wise Men so you may learn wisdom delight in them that fear the Lord and associate with those here with whom you would chuse to be in the other World Be not strangers to the necessary and excellent duty of Prayer but delight to make it your business every day keep not away from Family-duties but bless God for them and be serious and fervent in them yet think not your selves by them discharged from attendance upon God and seeking his face in your private retirements honour your Parents and other Governours and study to please them well in all things in the Lord. Open your ear to Doctrine and be ready to learn and practice all that is good Hear the instruction of your Father and forsake not the Law of your Mother let them not depart from your eyes but keep them in the midst of your heart for they are life unto them that find them and health unto all their Flesh. In your behaviour be sober modest and chast humble and loving to all you have to do with faithful to your trust and diligent in your business mind your Masters interest as much as if it were your own God will bless you the better for it when you are removed from all Spectators so that no body on earth sees you remember there is one above that doth and let that awe and preserve you from sin for he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity Love all vertue and goodness hate all vice all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit govern your selves well keep your hearts with all diligence make a Covenant with your eyes set a watch before the door of your lips give honour to Superiours be respective to your equals courteous to your inferiours civil and obliging to all morose and imperious froward and quarrelsom with none wise and prudent in looking to your Concerns and managing all your Affairs consider every motion that is made to you before you embrace and close with it ponder your actions before you do them that you may not make more work for Repentance than you need and weigh your words before you speak them Moses suffer'd greatly for speaking unadvisedly with his lips keep your selves from Sin as that which tends to your destruction and avoid vanity and lightness as that which will issue in your disparagement Sweet youth let me perswade and prevail with you to remember your Creator in the days of your youth own him as your great Lord from whom you had