whether you will serve Him and praise Him for it God is Trying whether you will now often say Bless the LORD O my soul and all that is within me God is Trying whether you will now think What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits Let us be as Gold by affording now a good Experiment Secondly Let them that are in Adversity likewise behave themselves as under the Tryals of the Lord. We may most or all of us Lament I am the man that hath seen Affliction there is a Variety of Calamity which we are try'd withal God forbid that we should procure to our selves the Brand set upon that wicked man of old In the time of his Distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD Never was there in this world a more doleful sight than that of a Theef on a Cross yet Neglecting and Affronting the Son of God. We that have been lately under Affliction particularly under that Affliction of Sickness have as it were lain among the pots God has as it were laid us by among the meanest Lumps of clay but O that we may now come sorth Doves having Wings covered with Silver and Feathers with yellow Gold O that we may come forth of our Tryals more gracious more Savoury more Heavenly than ever we were in our lives before that the Iron-Age of Grief may issue in a Golden-Age of Grace unto us that our Adversity may procure more grace to to us than ever the Prosperity of Solomon did gold to him T is to be desired that the Transmutation of Metals may be Exemplified in us and that the most exquisite Vitrioliâ— powder may not be so powerful to make Natural gold as the Dust of Affliction may be to make Spiritual gold of our souls Look to it Lest our Character be that Reprchate Silver which is rejected by the Lord. The First DESIRE Let us come forth more out-of-Love with Gold which perisheth Our GOD hath taught us that no gold will deliver from Death and Hell and that no gold can be carried away with us at our Departure hence Our God hath told us That though we should have never so much gold about us we may in a moment be taken away from all Wherefore Let us become Indifferent unto gold and all the Delights of this miserable World. Look Look upon thy most golden Comforts and imagine thou hearest that Voice of GOD in Prov. 23. 5. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not When one of the Martyrs had money proffer`d unto him he Refused it saying The Coyn is not current in the Countrey to which I am going O despise all gold but what will be Current there The Second Desire Let us come forth more Admiring of more Affected with such things as are better than gold The Fear of God is one of those things Whereof t is said it Job 28. 16. It cannot be valued with the Gold of Ophir Let it be then our prime and cheef Study to be daily acting of it yea Since we have lately seen Time loudly calling on us to Redeem it Let a Respect to God now ennoble all the Actions of our Lives The Word of God is another of those things Whereof t is said in Psal. 19. 10. It is more to be desired than much fine Gold. Let us then set an unspeakable Value thereupon Yea since we have lately seen an End of all Perfection elsewhere Let the Bible of God be now more than ever the Companion of your Solitary Hours Finally The SON of GOD is the Pearl of great price which no Gold is to be equaliz'd unto We read of a Brazen-Serpent or more truly a Coper-Serpent marvellously useful to Israel of old O let us now Esteem the Antitype of that Brasen or Coper Shadow before the Richest Gold. The holy God has newly sent me back from the Sides of Eternity to tell you That One CHRIST is worth ten Worlds T is a thing whereof you have been heretofore advised with frequent solemn lively Warnings from the Eternal God As Ioshua could say in Cap. 24. 27. Behold this stone shall be a Witness for it hath heard all the words of the Lord. So may I say Let this Pulpit and these Walls and Seats and Pillars Remember if you have forgotten That you have been often told All the gold in the world is not worth one Christ. And behold I repeat unto you one Warning more Let this House be a Witness and be you witnesses of it O ye Angels that are invisible here That it has been earnestly affirmed in our Hearing A Christ is better than a Thousand Worlds and they that slâ—ight Him will be miserable for infinitely more than ten Thousand Ages LIFE DESIRED Vpon the Death of a Relation Psal. CXIX 175. Let my Soul live and it shall praise thee and let thy Iudgements help me SWeeter Words than these could not come from the Sweet Singer of Israel himself The Hundred and Nineteenth is the longest and yet if the Comparison be not odious the sweetest of all the Psalms and perhaps the Psalm like the Grace wherewith it was Composed has a growing Sweetness towards the Conclusion of it The one and twentieth Octonary in this excellent Psalm is a Bundle of Heavenly Affections this two and twentieth Octonary is an Heap of Holy Petitions There are especially Six Petitions in this last part of the Psalm The fourth and fifth of them are in the words now before us He begs First for his Life then for God's Help The Life petition`d for may be understood as Two-fold it is called The life of the Soul both Natural Life and Spiritual Life may be intended in that Expression But cheefly the former Let my soul live it is q. d. Let my Self live T is an usual Hebraism In that signification it was the Choice of Sampson Let me dy in the Hebrew it is Let my Soul dy with the Philistines The Help petition'd for has Two Things declared concerning it We have the For-What of this Help this is That he might attend the Business for which he desired to live namely To praise God. And we also have the From-Whence of this Help this is From the Iudgments of God. Thy Iudgments this is one of the Ten various Phrases used here to signify the Wayes and Means whereby God reveals Himself unto the world In short the Doctrine before us is That While we pray to live we should account the Praises of God to be the Cheef End of our Life in which the Judgments of God are to be sought and used as our Help The Propositions which may shape this Truth unto our minds are these Prop. I. The Praise of God is to be accounted the cheef end of our Life on Earth If our Souls do live in our Bodies if we enjoy that Life which is an Union between Soul and Body this is to be the End of it That we may praise the God of our lives It was the pious
God should refer it to you reply'd I would then refer it to him again USE II. Let us all be now Exhorted that the Praise of Ged may be duly accounted by us as the End of our Life in our Prayers for it Let us not shoot beside our Mark or live beside our End. Let us pray that we may live and let us live that we may praise It is the most lamentable plight in the world that a man should spend his Life in Sinning against God rather than in Praising of Him. But alas This is the case of Multitudes Multitudes among us How few of us Consider of in seriously How sew of you that are now before the Lord ever seriously thought with your selves What is the Errand that I am come into the world upon Hast thou not lived above a Score of years in the world and never yet seriously thought What is it that God sent me hither for Every man here I suppose desires to live let your Prayers express those Desires and say after the Psalmist Ps. 32. 8. My Prayer is to the God of my life But more than so Let those Desires be for the sake of your Praises and say after the Psalmist again in Ps. 119. 17. Deal bountifully with thy Servant that I may live and keep thy Word Three things are you to be advised unto yea Four things are to be impoâ—tunately prest upon you First Mark and Prize your Opportunities to be Prâ—â—â—ing of God. Every man has his Opportâ—nities Some have an Instrument of a Thousand Strings but the meanest of us all has an Instrument of Ten strings for our God to be praised with Let every man often enquire What are my Opportunities to glorify God And let every man alwaies conclude My Opportunities are my Treasures Secondly Let the Word of God Direct you in His Praises Be often Consulting of that Peace will be on alâ— and Praise will be from all that walk according to this Rule A Bible Christians let That be your Counsellour on all Occasions The Psalmist could say in Ps. 119. 164. Seven times a day will I praise thee O Lord because of thy Righteous Judgements Thirdly Let the Rod of God provoke you to His Praises If you cannot Bless God for your Afflictions which yet I think is a thing attainable nevertheless I 'm sure you should praise God in your Afflictions Let God gain some Glory and we shall gain some Good by all our Sufferings Take the counsil in Isa. 34. 15. Glorifie the Lord in the Fires To Enforce these Three Things Consider that Thing wich is intimated in the Text. The Lives of your Souls are enwrapped in the praises of God. Saies the Psalmist Let my soul live and it shall praise thee So I may say Let thy Soul praise and it shall live A praising Soul is a Thriving Soul. In this consisteth Life Eternal it self The Life of thy Soul in the Third Heaven will be the praise of thy God for evermore Praise God for thy Life it is a mercy well worth praise Praise God by thy life so thou wilt begin Heaven upon Earth But there is a Fourth Counsil which more immediately concerns that part of the Congregation which are of my own Age and have therefore a more peculiar interest in my Loves and Cares T is to Young People here that I take leave to say Fourthly Begin You now Betimes to live unto the Praise of the everliving God. My Brethren you have not yet begun to live at all if you have not begun to praise the Lord. You are Dead in Trespasses and Sins you are stark dead in the rotten hideous loathsome Graves of your Unregeneracy if you have not yet begun to order your Conversation aright and to ponder How may I so offer praise as to Glorify God But is not this the deplorable Condition of many many Young people here Conscience do thine Office Is not the Hour yet to come is not the Day yet to dawn when that young person whom thou art the Officer of God unto did by an hearty Covenant bind himselfe unto the Serving and the Praising of the Lord But what mean you O ye inconsiderate Youths to delay the Remembring of your Creator so In the Language of the young Prophet whom God sent unto the Iews of old let me say thus saith the Lord Consider your waies Consider the Vncertainty of your Life which you have to be praising of God withal As young as you are you may dy before the most aged person here It hath been truly noted That The old man has Death before his face but the young man has Death behind his back The stroak of Death may sooner lay you in the Dust than some whose Heads old Time hath snow'd upon O look and see and let thy heart shake at the Apprehension of it Thy Death stands just behinâ— thee there with an Horrible Pole-Ax ready lifted up saying as the Prince of old Shall I smite them shall I smite them If the great God utter the word Smite smite thou art gone beyond all Recovery The Blessed God hath newly caused me to look into the Coffins of two very near and sweet Relations neither of which had ever seen Twenty Winters in the World and with a strong hand He then said unto me Go Go tell the young people of Boston and Charlestown that this is that which they are all expos`d unto Behold I am now come in Bitterness and in the heat of my spirit I am come to Warn you of it That You may dy before you are aware of such a dismal Change at hand O do not procrastinate the praises and the Vertues which the God of Heaven Expects from you put not off until Tomorrow For t is the admonition to be now set before you in Prov. 2. 7. Bâ—ast not thy self of Tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth But Consider also the Dreadfulness of a Death ensuing upon a Life not spent in the praising of God. O this Dying t is a solemn thing 't is A thing by it self What followes it But that in Heb. 9. 27. After Death Iudgement That Iudgment will be Eternal and if it come upon thee before thy turning and living unto God it will be very Terrible Hearken to this awful Truth and Voice of the Almighty God and let thy heart quiver as under the loudest claps of Thunder at it If thou Dy before thy peace be made with God and thy praise be given to Him t is impossible thou shouldst escape the Vengeance of Eternal Fire Small Chipâ— as well as great Logs are horribly burnâ—â—◠〈◊〉 there must thou too undergo most exquisite Anguishes for infinitely more than as many Millions of Ages as the Huge Ocean has Drops of Water in it O Consider these Terrors of the Lord and immediately set upon His Praises Now that you would come to these Resolutions before you go from the present Exercise Entreat me not to leave you or to turn from following after you but give me leave to press upon you at least this one Consideration more Consider seriously How exceeding Acceptable it will be to the great God for such Young persons as you to set upon praising of Him Your Praises they are very much desired by the Lord and not a little delightful to Him. He declares My soul desires the first ripe Fruit and He seem'd to express as it were some Hast for the First Fruits under the Law of Old. The Lord in a sort longs to see you serving of Him with the First Fruits of your Age and of your Praise He saies as in Cant. 2. 14. Let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice The Voice of your Praises makes a matchless melody in the ears of the God that has call'd for them The very Chatterings of our infants are pleasant unto us the Praises and the Devotions of young persons are so unto Our Father which is in Heaven and he asketh for them with ungainsayable Importunities 'T was said unto a young man in 1. Chron. 28. 9. If thou seek the Lord He will be found of thee Even so If thou that art a young person praise the Lord he will be pleased with thee One that owns an Orchard full of many fruitful Trees will take a most particular and affectionate Notice of a young Tree beginning to have some little Fruit upon it Our Father is such an Husband man. Young Iohns are they that prove the Disciples whom Iesus loves Young Iosiahs will have special Comforts in this and special Honours in another world And yee Hearts of Adamant are you not yet overcome to resolve I will now praise and serve the great God! O let not your Answer be I am almost perswaded but become Altogether so As t was said of him Behold he prayes thus let it be said of you Behold he praises How How can you be deaf Adders before the Charms of these Considerations Lord visit the hitherto-unperswaded young people here O make it the Day of thy power with them and keep these things in the Imagination of the thoughts of their hearts for Evermore FINIS
our Inspection God does Command us to command them thereabout Secondly The Interest of God calls for it Our Lord said unto a Peter in Ioh. 21. 15. Lovest thou me Then Feed my Lambs The like may be said unto a Master If thou doest love God then bring thy lambs to serve Him. To propagate Religion is to magnify and glorify the Lord. It is said in Prov. 14. 28. In the multitude of people is the Kings honour as t is said of an earthly so may it be said of the Heavenly King. Now if we cause our Houses to serve God in Conjunction with our selves hereby we propagate Religion yea to many generations I remember Solomon assigns this as one Cause why he did well educate his own Children t was because his father had so dealt with him Saith he in Prov. 4. begin Hear ye children the instruction of a father for I was my father's son and he taught me Let us fix our children in the Service of God and they will afterwards do do so by theirs Thus the Lord will alwaies have A seed to serve him which Will be accounted for a generation Our Children did I say yea our Servants too may in like manner carry on a Succession of Service to the Lord. It was the Commendation of Solomon in 1. King. 10. 8. Happy are these thy servants which hear thy wisdome Now many ages after we find the posterity of them Servants retaining a savour of Devotion and Affection to the House of God. REASON II. We should engage our Houses to the Service of God out of Respect to our Houses too T is said A righteous man regards the life of his beast How much more will a righteous man regard the state of his House We have two things also to be particularized here First our Houses are miserable thro' us if they do not serve God. It is hinted as a most extraordinary misery upon any person in Prov. 5. 35. He shall dy without instruction Fearful and woful will be the case of those in our Houses whom our Instruction shall not endear the Service of God unto Our Houses are starving while our God is not serving in them The Prophet said in Lam. 2. 11. Mine eyes do fail with tears because the children swoon in the streets of the city they say to their mothers where is the corn O doleful spectacle But while our Children are strangers to God there is a worse Famine in our Houses we suffer their Souls to pine and perish without the Bread of life Yea our Houses are Burning while our God is not Serving in them What a terrible desolation was that on Sodom in allusion to which t is said of a wicked man in Iob. 18. 15. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation Why there is a dreadful storm of ardent Brimstone ready to fall upon those Houses where the Children are not bringing up for God the Wrath of God like an horrible Tempest of burning Brimstone is impending over them What shall I say more Our poor Children are enslaved unto Satan until they come to be serving of God. If a Devil had a Bodily Possession of our Children how impatient should we be to see them delivered We should cry out like the Woman of Canaan in Matth. 15. 22. Have mercy upon me O Lord my child is grievously vexed with a devil But know the Devil has a spiritual Possession of our Children till they come to serve the Lord the evil spirit he takes them he tears them and they fome and pine and are thrown into the water and into the fire O pitty them if we are not more stupid than the Ostrich pitty we our forlorn Houses and let not the Service of God be wanting throâ— any fault of ours Secondly We are Accountable for our Houses if they do not serve God. As the Daughter of Pharaoh said unto the Mother of Moses in Exod. 2. 9. Take this child and nurse it for me and I will give thee thy wages Thus does the Lord say unto us Take these children take these young ones and bring them up to serve me I will reward thee for it The Apostle saies of Ministers They watch for souls as they that must give an account so it may be said of all House-keepers They must give an account of the souls that belong unto their Families T was confessed by the Prophet in the Parable 1. King. 20 39. Behold a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said Keep this man if by any means he be missing then shall thy life be for his This This is a thing certainly to come to pass in the dreadful Day of God. Man Thy life shall be for his life who did not serve God because thou didst not teach him and Thy soul shall be for his soul who is lost for ever because thou didst not look after him Iacob could say to his Uncle about his Lambs That which was torn of Beast of my hands didst thou require it Behold thou hast Lambs in thy Fold Little ones in thy House God will strain for it if wild beasts and Lusts carry any of them away from the Service of God through any neglect of thine thou shalt smart for it in the fiery prison of God's terrible Indignation Wherefore as Paul saies O keep so I say O Save that which is committed unto thy trust SECT VI. IT is now Time that we make a due Application of these Faithful Sayings And there is a double Exhortation which I have to manage The First Exhortation is Let us all Resolve to engage OUR SELVES in the Service of God. To Quicken you to it Consider seriously Who your Fellow-servants are when once you serve the Almighty God. O come in and serve God for shame lest in the whole world you have none but Devils to bear you company And will you be of their side of their sort Rebellion truly is as the sin of Witchcraft for this peice of Madness in it All other Beings make a Surrender of themselves unto the Service of God and it is said of theâ— in Psal. 119. 91. All are thy Servants O do not you stand out Hearken ye immortal souls You have the call of Christians to entice you into this happy Service All the Eminent Believers of the By-past-Ages the men of whom the world was not worthy all these do with one voice and a loud one urge this upon you Come and serve our God as we have done before you Even Iames himself the Kinsman of the Lord is ambitious rather of this Denomination The Servant of the Lord. And puissant Emperours before now have gladly espoused such a Title as that The Vassals of the Lord. More than this you have the Call of Angels to incite you thereunto Those bright Morning stars ask this of you Will you come and move in our Sphaere They all are the servants of the Lord and they do his pleasure At his Beck they clap their silver wings
of the Mediator to be sufficient for me It would hurt no Godly man to set his Name with Hand and Heart to such an Instrument afterwards frequently Reflecting on it frequently Renewing of it However let every man this Day make this Confession in Psal. 116. 16. O Lord truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant The Third Rule And now demean your selves in all things as the Servants of God ought to do There is a Four-sold Concernment that will now lye upon you First Be studious to know what Service God calleth for Ly at His Feet and say as Paul of old Lord What wouldest thou have me to do or like Samuel once Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Be daily Reading of the Word be daily Thinking on the Word upon every opportunity say I will hear what God the Lord will say To all add That as your daily Petition unto God in Psal. 119. 115. I am thy servant O Lord give me understandeng that I may know thy testimonies Secondly Be ready to Do what Service God calleth for Never object never cavil against any of Gods Commands never dispute any thing that He requires but own 'T is all holy and just and Good. Be not more undutiful unto God than the servants of the Centurion were to him If He say Go then go if He say Come then come if He say Do this then do it without any Grumbling at it Say not I won't altho there be Hard Sayings pressed upon thee Albeit God may enjoin this Pluck out thy right eye cut off thy right hand and albeit the Injunction of God may be Take up thy Cross yet Comply yet Conform without any Reluctancies and say with him in Psal. 119. 128. O Lord I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right Thirdly Be greatly Contriving how to be most serviceable unto God. Ponder well What you are What you have What you can and Ponder how all may be improved in the Service of the Lord. Thus be Zealous of good Works Never be satisfied unless you can say I am at work for God. Let even your Eating your I â—â—ding your Visiting be done as a Service for the Lord and let your Time your Strength your Estates all the Powers of your Spirits and all the Members of your bodies be ingeniously laâ—â— out in that Service Often ask your own souls What is there that I may do for God Even court and hunt Advantages to be serviceable Say like the Prophet in Isa 6. 8. Say Lord if 〈◊〉 hast any Service to be done here I 〈…〉 me Fourthly Be sweetly Contented with all the Allowances of the Lord. Iohn Bapiâ—st gave this Counsel to the servants in the Roman Gaâ—â—sons Luc. 3. 14. Be content with your Wages The Servants in God's Houshold haâ—e the same Counsel in Heb 13 5 Be content 〈…〉 as you have Tho you should have but â—hort Commons and straw lodgings in the world tho you should be without many Flesh â—â—leasing Curiosities and Conveniencies let this quiet you I am a Servant Don't complain of the Lord as the slothful and wicked servant once He is 〈◊〉 hard Master Let your Wills be moulded and melted into His and cheerfully leave Him to judge What may be Food convenient for you Count that you have enough when God saies you shall have no more and alwaies have a good Opinion of Gods Disposals Learn Pauls Lesson In whatever state to be content It is not for Beggars nor Servants to be Choosers This This t is to be a Servant of the Lord. Blessed is the servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing SECT VIII BUt This is not all that we have to do We have Houses too that we ought to be concerned for Wherefore The Second Exhortation is Let us also study to Engage OUR HOUSES in the Service of God. It is the property of every Good man to desire Company in the Service of the Lord. O that we might have the Company of all that belong to our Houses in it But What shall we do In short Would we truly say with Ioshua My House shall serve the Lord We must then Do like Iesus Iesus the blessed Name-sake and Antitype of Ioshuah hath a Three-fold Offfice that of a Priest a Prophet and a King. In His lesser Family of Disciples once in His greater Family of Believers alwaies we find Him so Every Householder should be all of this in his own Family Each man pretends to he a King in his own house he should there be a Priest and a Prophet too There are Three great Cares lying upon us in our Families there is Family Prayer and Family Instruction and Family Government T is by the Discharge of these three things that we engage our Houses to serve the Lord. Family-PRAYER SECT IX FIrst then Let Family-Prayer be maintained in our Houses that they may serve the Lord. My Neighbours I have told you often and I now tell you weeping That it will be a sad thing if so much as one Prayerless-Family be found among you all The owners of that House will never be able to stand or live in the fiery day of of God's pleading with him You have been Warned and Warned full many a time that if your Houses be not Warmed with your Prayers the fierce Wrath of God abideth on them and I hope none of you will venture to meet me at the Bar of the Lord Jesus with the fearful heavy guilt of this Omission upon your souls The very Turks themselves at this day uphold a Family-Worship among themselves God forbid that any styled Christians here should be worse than they SECT X. THe Method in which I shall treat with you here about shall be I. To offer some Directions about Family-Prayer The First Rule Let all Persons that should attend Family-prayer count themselves concernd to Pray without â—easing Eveâ—y Master of an House is to carry on the Prâ—yer in it That man is not fit to have aâ— Hâ—use that cannot make a Prayer But if the Maâ—ter be absent Then the Mistress is to see â—till that Prayer be not wanting It seems affiâ—med of Eâ—ther a Woman in Cap. 4. 16. That she Pray'd with her Maidens There should not be one Prayer the less in a Family because 〈◊〉 is become the Ruler there No the Lâ—sses of a Family should increase the Prayers of it And let the Master of a Ship remember That the Sailers are his Family He should pray with them aboard every day while they are at Sea together You that see the Wonders of God together should together sing the Praises of God and together beg the Mercies of God. Methinks the poor Sea-men should be the best 〈◊〉 in the world With what face can you pray in a Storm if you do not also pray in a Câ—lm Now Master t is your Work t is part of your Order from your great Ownâ—r to see that this â—e done 〈◊〉 all Mariners call upon
Time if not their Soul. Secondly Let us mispend no Time in Idleness It was an ill world where the Apostle could say as in 2. Thes 3. 11. There are sâ—me that walk disorderly working not at all Every man should be able to make a good Answer to the Question which Pharaoh put unto Ioseph's Brethren I pray What is your Occupation A big part of our Time should be laid out on our particular Callings A Calling is an Ordinance of God Adam in Paradise had a Labour imposed on him Be diligent in some one or other No man so fully and foully falls into the possession of the Devil as the idle man. The Ants the Bees and all the Creatures exclame against him Idleness tiâ— thundred against in Ezek. 16. 49. as one of the Sins that brought Hell out of Heaven upon Sodom long ago it will carry from Earth to Hell the souls of them that in it snore away their lives When men do'nt misspend their Time then do they discern it Direction II. Let us Discern our Time and Attend every Duty in the proper Time. There is a two-fold Prudence which the Wise man's heart is to be no stranger to The First Prudence is Let no Duty be done out of its Time. We are told in Eccles 3. 11. God hath made every thing beautiful in the Time of it There is a Nick of Time that we are to take for all we do Not Snow but Fruit is beautiful in the Summer T is not beautiful for the Duty of Prayer to be done at a sleepy time or at a busy time T is not beautiful for the Duty of Reproof to be done at a time when it can do no good at all Set not upon this or that Duty at a time when God calls to another Duty T is said in Eccles. 8. 6. To every purpose there is a Time and Iudgement We may render all our Duties like Apples of gold in pictures of silver by well timing of them The Second Prudence is Let no Time pass away without its Duty Let none of our times be unaccompanied with the Duties which belong unto them As now there are Duties that belong to a time of Prosperity and Duties which belong to a Time of Adversity T is said in Eccles. 7. 14. In the day of Prosperity be joyful but in the day of Adversity Consider In a time of Prosperity now is a time for men to Remember their Creator before the evil days come Now is a time for men to set their heart and their soul to seek the Lord who hath given them rest on every side In a time of Adversity now is a time for men to bring sin to remembrance now is a time for men to meet the Lord in all the ways of Repentance and Obedience This is to Discern the Time. But there are especially three sorts of times which we are to fill with the Dutyes of those Times First Let the Dutyes of Worshipping times be done in those times We have our times every day wherein the Lord saith seek my Face Now let the Echo of our souls be that in Psal. 27. 8. Thy Face Lord we will seek We have every day our times for private Prayer our times for secret Prayer our times for Reading of and Thinking on the Word of God. Let those things be faithfully done in those Times Especially Remember the Sabbath Day Let Sabbath-time be sanctifyed time On this day ly all the day long at the pool of Mercy Mercy Mercy and Salvation for an immortal soul is this day to be traded for T is a Time that the great God is very Jealous about He does wonderfully curse the Souls and blast the Houses and ruin the Countryes where this Holy Time is not acknowledged He will terribly break the rest of those whom His Rest shall not be regarded by Secondly Let the Dutyes of Visiting Times be done in those Times T is too commonly seen that Amici temporis Fures our Friends are our Theeves they Steal our time bâ—â—â—ause we don't use our time when then they are with us T is observable in Col. 4. 6. as soon as the Apostle had said Redeem the time he adds Let your speech be always with Grace That that indeed is a rare way to Redeem the time Let us ordinarily study to do some good whatever Company we come into It was observed of that excellent Vrsin by his renowned Friend I 〈◊〉 was in his company but I went away Doctior â—ut Melior the wiser or the better from him Abhor O abhor the useless visits that are quite contrary to all such designs Mourn if you have been in any Company without being profitable thereunto Thirdly Let the Duties of Intervening times be done in those times We have large Fragments of time that are the Intervals of our businesses about these Fragments of time I would say as our Lord said about the Fragments of Bread in Joh. 6. 12. Gather up those Fragments that nothing be lost How many thousands of happy thoughts might we have as we are sitting in the House or walking in the Street otherwise wholly unimployed The very Filings of Gold and of Time are not to be cast away To discern our time is to adapt our time Direction III. Let us discern our Time and make none but Good Bâ—â—gains about the time The Scripture once and again tells us as in Eph. 5. 16. that we are to Buy up the time or buy out the time This is to discern the Time We must be at some Cost and at some Charge for it if we would not be ill-husbands of our time We must pay down either Mony or Monyes-worth for it we must fore go and under go many things for it Many things must we give up that our time so may be well-imployed The case is ordinarily so that either we must resign many Pleasures many Profits many Honours or else we must part with our time Now rather give up all Delights than suffer precious time to be pyrated away All the things of time are sometimes Expence little enough for time Yea many things must we give back that so we may not misemploy our time The Devil and our Lusts have been trucking for our time The Devil that hellish Hucster would engross all our Time for his own He deals with us as the Europeans dealt at first with the silly Indians who leâ—â— go their â—old and Silver and Diamonds for glass-Beads and tinsil-Toyes The Answer that our Lust makes to the Tempter is Let me have the pleasures of sin for a season and every season of my time shall be thine O but we should be content to give back all that Satan has proffer'd us for our time let it be never-so-much that we might have had for the misuse of time begrutch it not 'T was the Speech of Austin Perde aliquid ut Deo vaces If you would have Time for God or any Good you must part with something for it In a
Object will decoy thee into a natural suitable Expression of thy self and as our Lord speaks in Rev. 2. 23. All the Churches shall know that I am He that searcheth the Heart Expect also that the great God will have a Bar for your Detection in another world T is confessed by all Christians as in 2. Cor. 5. 10. We must all appear before the Iudgment seat of Christ. O that we could every one of us now seriously place our selves before the Iudgment seat of God! Remember O immortal souls that you must all very shortly appear before a Iudge who hath Eyes like a flame of fire and you must then be exposed in the full view of Heaven Earth Remember that you shall then have no Vizard no Disguise to cover you but all men and Angels must hear truly what you are It was the warning in Eccl. 11. 9. know thou that God will bring thee to Iudgment Even so Know thou that thou canst not avoid the day when God shall bring every worke into Iudgement with every secret thing Know thou that when the dead small and great stand before God then thou shalt stand among ' em Know thou that tho' thou shouldst then shriek O Rocks hide me or O Mountains-defend me the the Rocks and the Mountains would be deaf unto that lamentable cry Holy Ierom could say Wherever I am or whatever I do Methinks I hear the Alarums of the last Trumpet Arise ye dead come to Iudgement O that you would often Reflect upon the Day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ. Counsil 2. Cry mightily to God that He would give you the Gold which will endure all Tryals whatsoever Our Lord saith unto us in Rev. 3. 18. I counsel thee to buy of me Gold tried in the fire That Gold is Grace let us buy that is let us beg it of Him. Let us make that our servent our frequent Prayer in Psal. 119. 80. Let my heart be sound in thy statutes that I may not be ashamed Be careful and prayerful that you may be New Creatures and have the Root of the matter in your souls Be careful and prayerful That you may have Oyl in your vessels Be careful and prayerful That you may have in you the well of water which springs up into everlasting life Let your prayers be restless till you find that you are indeed Born again indeed Converted indeed Sanctified As for the Grace of God my son seek it as silver for indeed the Gain of it is better than fine gold Counsel 3. Often bring your selves to the Tryals of a Self-Examination T is the Charge of God in 2. Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selves whether you be in the Faith prove your own selves Your souls are as Vessels then Pierce them to see what they have Your souls are as Metals then Touch them to see what they are Such are the Allusions of the Holy Spirit there Know thy self was a golden Rule of Old and it will make a golden Saint when we make much use of that Rule Try thy self We are to use the Word of God as a Glass in which we are to behold our selves and we are often to compare our selves with what is therein required of us When we are in a Meditation as we should every day be upon some Truths of God we should then examine ourselves Whether we are moulded according thereunto And when we are under a Visitation as we sometimes are by the Rods of God we should then Examine our selves as they that of Old said Let us now search and try our wayes Especially when we are approching to the Table of the Lord Self-Examination is not then to be omitted So hath the Apostle urged in 1. Cor. 11. 28. Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. T is a fearful Impiety and Presumption for a man to sit down at the Holy Supper without enquiring Have I a Wedding garment on or no Yea t is convenient for a man every Evening before he sleeps to examine himself and ask If I dy this night is my immortal spirit safe O tremble exceedingly least your doom should be that in Jer. 2. 37. The Lord hath rejected thy confidences and thou shalt not prosper in them Therefore be much in Examining your selves Examine Whether you have true REPENTANCE Wherefore Try whether you are at so much pains for no Outward and Earthly thing as you are for the mortification of every lust And Try whether Afflictions themselves are welcome to you when you see you sins thereby embittered and subdued Examine Whether you have true FAITH Wherefore Try whether your Souls are extremely affected with the blessed Fulness Glory which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Try whether your hearts most affectionately close with the Gospel-way of Salvation by Jesus Châ—ist so as cheerfully to venture the Lives of your souls upon it Examine Whether you have true LOVE Wherefore Try whether any thing that has a Tendency to promote the Honour of God be readily embraced by you as a thing more desirable than all the Riches in the world And Try whether you count no Service too much to be done for the People of the Saints of the Most High. Put the Question to your selves and let the Preface of your Answer be that Request in Psal 139. 23. Search me O God and try me and help me to know my self To be much in such Self-Examination is the way to be a Golden Christian and indeed none but such an one will have a Value for the Exercise II. Let us also approve ourselves as gold under the Dispensations of the Blessed GOD. Particularly First Let them that are in Prosperity behave themselves well under the Tryals of the Lord. It may be that you are come to have store of Gold O that you may Be like what you Have T is possible that you have been in much Distress and Sorrow But God has brought you forth as t is said He brought Israel out of Egypt in Ps 105. 37. He brought them forth with Gold. Consider That God is now Trying of your Faithfulness No doubt you have sometimes promised the God of Heaven That if you might have such a measure of Health and Strength or That if you might have such a Degree of Estate and Honour you would glorify God with a wonderful Activity Well saith our God I 'll try God is trying whether you will be true to those Professions and Engagements which you made before He so smil'd upon you God is trying whether you will not Confirm that Observation in Jer. 17. 9. The Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Consider moreover That God is now trying of your Thankfulness A very terrible Wrath is denounced against them in Deut. 28. 47. Who serve not God for the abundance of all things God gives you an Abundance of all things and it is to try
Expectation of the Psalmist in Psal. 118. 17. I shal not dy but live and declare the works of the Lord. This is to be the Resolution of every man. Can we say I do not dy but live We should add I will then declare the Praises of the Lord. The first Question that the Thoughts of men should be employed upon is What is the Cheef End of Man The true and Just answer To that Question is The Cheef End of man is to glorifie God. Well put the Question so What is the Cheef End of Life The Answer to that Question too will be the same It is to glorifie God. To praise God What is that To praise God is to Render and Procure a due Acknowlement of His Excellencies Indeed all the Duties of Religion are Contained in this Comprehensive thing When we own when we serve when we Adore the Great God in any or all the waies of His Worship Then we praise Him and we further praise Him when we provoke others to join with us in doing so This This Praise of the LORD is the End of our Life in the World. This is the End of our Being We are told that We have our Being in God. Of all things whatever this is then most Reasonable that We should have our Being for God and our Being for Him is not expressed without our praising of Him. The blessed God looks from on high upon mankind and saith as in Isa. 43. 21. This people have I formed for my self they should show forth my Praise Now that which is the End of our Being is the End of our Living too Two things are to be affirmed of it First The Law of God doth Appoint this as as the End of our Lives Unto every man living this is the Voice of God I spare thy life that so thou mayst live my praise It is said in Rom. 14. 7. If we live we are to live unto the Lord. What the Apostle saith of Eating and Drinking may much more be said of Living as in 1. Cor. 10. 30. It must be unto the Glory of God. God gives our Lives God keeps our Lives and this is His reveled His Preceptive Will concerning our Lives Man I suffer thy life yea I support thy life that I may be praised loved admired by thee as long as thou livest It was an heavy dismal Charge against Belshazzer in Dan. 5. 23. God in whose Hand thy breath is thou hast not glorified The Almighty God gives us notice of this Thy Breath is in my hand at the same time He also requires this of us Let thy life be to my prâ—ise That man makes a sacrilegious Incroachment and Invasion upon Gods Right who makes not Godâ—s Praise the End of his living upon God`s Earth There is therefore Secondly this to be added thereunto The Heart of man should Embrace this as the End of our lives It becomes every man to say I live that God who is worthy to be praised may have the praises of my Obedience to Him. It was the godly purpose of the Psalmist in Psal. 147. 2. While I live I will praise the Lord. And a kin to this is the Right Thought which every man should entertain I do live that I may praise the Lord. Hence this is one of the principal Pleas which the Saints have used in their Supâ—lications for their Lives Good Hezekiah pray'd in his Distress Lord let me live And what was his Argument It was that in Isa. 38. 17. 18. The Grave cannot praise thee the living the living he shall praise thee The heart of man should readily close with such an End for the life of man. Satan saies Thou livest only to Enjoy the delights of the Flesh in the world thou livest only to seek to get and to tast the saecular pleasures provided for thee The soul of man should rise with unspeakable Indignation at this wild proposal On the other side our God saies The Business of thy life is to magnifie Mee to make my Praise glorious Here now Here the Soul of every man should fall in and Reply This is all my Salvation and all my Desire But this leads to PROP. II. Prayers for life are then and only then rightly qualified when they have Respect unto the Praises of God. To clear this matter there are these things to be conceived One Conclusion is That the Living on Earth have many peculiar Opportunities to be Praising of God. Indeed Blessed are the dead who dy in the Lord for they too are alwaies praising of Him. But yet they rest from some Praises when they rest from their Labours here The departed Saints are continually shouting Hâ—llelujah Hallelujah before the Throne of God. The Saints they are joyful in glory and the High Praises of God are perpetually Proceeding from those blessed Souls But Christians in this world have their peculiar Opportunities to be Glorifying of Him that made them This did the Psalmist speak in Ps 88. 11. Shall the dead praise thee To instance in some particulars The Living here may be praising of God by the Discharge of many Relations which the dead Saints are strangers unto We may now praise God as Parents as Masters as Officers in the the Church or Common-Wealth All those Capacities will dy with us when we shall go hence and be-no more Again The Living here may be Praising of God by Bearing many a Witness to the Truths and Wayes of the Lord Jesus Christ. We may now bestow many Rebukes upon the Errors and the Evils of a sinful World. We may part with and esteem an Estate with our Ease and our Life it self out of Respect unto the Name of God. But our Testimonies expire with our Lives Once more The Living may be Praising of God by Advancing His Kingdom here below In this Life we may be instrumental to Convince and Convert Vnregenerate Sinners to build up the Church of the Lord Jesus and to Do good among the ignorant by an Exemplary Conversation But this is to be done only below the stars Furthermore There are Graces proper to this Life which God is praised by the Exercising of The Tears of Sorrow for Sin will be dry`d up when we come to the State in which all Sorrow shall flee away Charity in Giving and Forgiving to them that need it there is no occasion for that Charity among them that are above they are all perfect and happy there Patience under Tryals belongs to our present Condition only there are no Afflictions to trouble us when our few dayes full of trouble are passed away In a Word Our Spiritual Warfare is to be attended only in this Valley of the Shadow of Death We cannot fight the Battles of the Lord and therein we cannot shew the praises of the Lord when we are arrived at the End of our Faith the Salvation of our Souls Our Fight is done our Crown is come when we have been Faithful to the Death A Second Conclusion is That Opportunities
for the Praising of God are the things for which we should desire to be living on Earth There is a Three-fold Desire of Life which the Living have There is a Natural Desire of Life This is common both to good men and bad men Nature it self startles at the Approach of Death Innocent Nature shivers and recoyls when this King of Terrors is ready to lay his cold lâ—y hand upon us This was Ioab's Desire that valiant Souldier The Lord-General of Israel himself in 1. King. 2. 28. being in cold blood under Apprehensions of Death fled unto the Horns of the Altar as a Sanctuary to save his Life There is also a Sensual Desire of Life This is that which Bad men are under the power of Many are loth to dye because they would not leave the Pleasures and Profits and Honours which did surround them here They are like the Miser who on his Death-Bed hugg'd his Baggs of Gold and cry'd out Must I leave you Must I leave you Their Love of their Life comes from their love of their Flesh. This was the Rich Fools Desire in Luc 12. 20. He wished for many Years that he might eat and drink and be merry here There is likewise a gracious Desire of Life And this is that which good men are affected with They desire to live because they desire to praise They would live because they would honour God in those matters those manners for which their Lives do afford them blessed Opportunities and Advantages Now this gracious Desire of of Life is a Regular Desire A Desire of Life for the Praise of God is the only Desire of Life that will have praise of God. This was David's Desire when he was visited with Sickness when he was weak and his Bones were pained then said he in Psal. 6. 5. O save me for in Death there is no Remembrance of thee in the Grave who shall give thee thanks Such Desires are the only right and chast Desires It is not fit for a Christian to say I desire to live because I am afraid to dy Much less is it fit for him to say I desire my life in the world that I may turn and wind still the Affairs of the World. But This is that which Legâ—timates the Desire of Life As every thing is to be iâ—â—roved for God so every thing should be desired for God. And thus Life it self We are daily Praying as he in Psal. 102. 24. O my God take me not away in the midst of my dayes Well Our God enquires of us Why art thou unwilling to be taken away in the midst of thy dayes We should have this to be our true Account of it Because O Lord I am loth to be taken away in the midst of my Praise PROP. III. The Judgments of God are to be sought and used by us as our Help in those Praises of God which are the End of our life There are blessed Helps which God hath provided for us by which we may be both Assisted in and Excited to the work of our lives Behold a double Help both implyed in the Iudgments of God. And he that shall consult other passages in this Hundred-and-nineteenth Psalm will find both under this Notion insisted on The Scriptures of Truth and the Troubles of Life First The Word of God is to be sought as the Help of our Praising Him. The Prophet of old could say as in Mich. 6. 8. The Lord hath shewed thee O man the thing that good is Thus the Lord hath shewed us how to be praising of Him by living to Him. But Where has he shewed it Truly in the sacred Bible The Bible is the Directory given to us Every Child is well taught to say The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the Rule which God hath given to instruct us how we are to glorify Him. To order a Life in a dark world is as hard as to manage a Ship in a dark night we are in the Dark about the Practises which our lives are to be employed in What shall we then do that we may leave no part of our due Homage to God unperformed The Apostle speaks fully to this Case in 2. Pet. 1. 18. We have a sure word of Prophecy whereto ye do well to take heed as to a light shining in a dark place There There it is our Bible is our Pole-Star keep an eye to That and we shall shape a course Right All the Directions all the Promises all the Threatnings of God will be so many Helps of our Obedience If any man ask How do the Scriptures of God help men in the Praises of God Know The Scriptures themselves give an Answer thereunto in Psal. 19. 7 8. The law of the Lord converts the soul the testimonies of the Lord make wise the simple the statutes of the Lord rejoice the heart the commandments of the Lord enlighten the eyes That Conversion that Instruction that Ioy and that Lighâ— which the Word of God affords unto us will be no little Help in the Praise of God. Secondly The Rod of God is to be used as the Help of our Praising Him. The Lord sends many Afflictions upon us An Hâ—man is afflicted in his mind a Iob is Afflicted in his Estate a Gaius is afflicted in his Body a Paul in his Credit and a David in his Children they live ill and they dy worse before him What is the Use we are now to make of these things Truly our Afflictions are to be the Help of our Devotions It is the Call of God in Mic 6. 9. Hear the Rod. As we should hear the Voice of the Rod so we should use the Help of the Rod. By our Afflictions we should be helped unto more Seriousness more Watchfulness more Fruitfulness Now those things are to the Praise of the glory of the grace of God. Our Afflictions are the purgings the prunings bestow'd by our God upon us What are they for but That we may bring forth more Fruit and we are told in Ioh. 15. 8. Herein is my father glorified if ye bring forth much fruit Observe it a Learning the Statutes of God is a Rendring of Praises to God those two things are one Now see what the Psalmist saith in Psal 119. 97. T is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn thy Statutes This then is incumbent on us under every Affliction Our study should be What Advantage what Engagement to be more holy is now put into my hands Every Afflicted man should ask How may the Sorrowes of my life promote the praises of my God But for the Vse of these things USE I. Some Evil Desires are hence Rebuked and Condemned Especially two sorts of Desires First Impatient Desires of Death are to be Reproved Something is to be said by way of Concession and something by way of Correction about such Desires First by way of Concession I would say There are some Desires of Death well-becoming
a Child of God. Such were the Desires of Paul in Phil. 1. 22. I desire to be dâ—ssolved and be with Christ. When we think of the day in which we shall go to the the Spirits of just men made perfect and to Iesus the Mediator of the New-Covenant When we think of the day in which the Lord will deliver us from the hand of all our enemies and from the hand of SIN O the thoughts of it should fill our Souls with Raptures of Joy they should cause our hearts to leap and spring within us In is an allowable thing to be almost angry with Time to call upon slow Time and say Fly apaces Fly away O Time Come O Eternity come and fetch me into the presence of the Lord. The Visions of the Lord Jesus may cause us to say humbly with aged faithful Simeon Lord let thy servant depart in peace The Chariots of Death sent by the Lord Jesus to fetch us unto Himself should be as welcom to us as the Waggons of Ioseph were to Iacob of old It should cause us to Rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory when we think of the unspeakable joy and the full glory which we are going unto There are holy longings and lookings of Soul with which we may cry out Why why are His Churiots so long i'coming Why tarry the Wheels thereof But yet Secondly By way of Correction If these Desires are with Impatience much more if they are thro' Impatience they become sinful before the Lord. The embittered spirits of Christians have been sometimes too prone unto such Desires It was an inordinate passion in Moses when a froward people under his charge provoked him to say in Numb 17. 14. Kill me I pray thee out of hand Had God granted his Desire he had lost Thirty years of eminent Service in the World. It was an irregular passion in Elias when the persecutions of wicked men so tired him as to make him say in 1. King. 19. 4. O Lord take away my life It hath been an Observation that Many good and great men sit under Elias's Iuniper tree As culpable was the Passion of Ionah when the Withering of a Guord had that Effect upon him in Cap. 4. 8. He wished to dy The like pang of Impatience did that Pattern of Patience Iob fall into be spake as if he could hardly for bear laying violent hands upon himself Even so far do the distempered unbridled Wishes of many run Their Desire of Death is a sort of Revenge on God they would as it were deprive God of the glory which He might have of them Compose these desires O ye raging Souls compose these Desires Allay this Fever this phrensy It s not only an irreligious but an unnatural passion which you are carried away withal You desire to dye Well are you sure that the Death which you desire now will not prove a Death which you shall Deplore throughout eternal Ages It is said of the Believer in Psal. 91. 19. With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my Salvation It is a very disordered heart that will be dissatisfied with so great a mercy Secondly Vnsanctified Desires of Life are to be Reproved also Of these Desires there are Three Sorts to be Reprehended There are first Carnal Desires of Life to be blamed Some desire to live and wherefore is it It is because they desire to eat and drink and be merry They cann't part with such Relations and Possessions as are here to be enjoyed The Comforts of Life are the things that cause their Desires of Life One once beholding his fine Accommodations made this Reflection thereupon Haec faciunt invitos mori these are the things that make us unwilling to dy Unmortified Corruptions are the causes of these desires Remember what the Lord hath said in Matth. 10. 37. He that loveth Father or Mother or Son or DAUGHTER more than me is not worthy of me Thus may the Lord well say to the Subject of these Desires If you had rather be with your friends on earth than with your Father in Heaven you are not worthy to be with me at all And this by the way is to be said of them that desire the life of their Friends as well as of them selves It is for the Interest of the Lord Jesus Christ that the dead Children which you lament are dead or else they had not dyed at all Now sais the Lord Jesus If thou lovest those CHILDREN those Relations more than me and hadst rather have them with thy self to my Prejudice than to have them with me to thy own Bereavement thou art not worthy to have them with me at all Secondly There are Careful Desires of Life to be likewise blamed Many desire to live only upon this account Some Child or some Charge they are concerned for They have this or that Child which they cannot believe will be well provided for when they are dead or they suspect what will become of such or such a Charge There is indeed a Desire of Life on such a Score which is not alwaies very severely to be found fault withal But oftentimes there is too much Distrust in such a desire Why cannot we venture our Families and the Concernments thereof in the Hands of the faithful God The Lord has said in Jer. 49. 11. Leave thy fatherless Children I will preserve them alive And he still saies I will be a better Father and a better Friend unto them than thou thy self canst be Thirdly There are Fearful Desires of Life which are blame-worthy too When Death comes with that message Set thy Soul in order for thou shalt dy and not live many persons are so terrified as to be even at their wits ends O how they groan I cannot dy Indeed Sinners that have not been born twice may well tremble to dy once no body can blame them there is a Second Death ready to sieze upon the forlorn souls that are not Regenerate But such as have been truly turn'd to God in Christ should not entertain Death with such Reluctancies Can you not uprightly say That if you were sure to be freed from Sin you could be content to be struck by Death O then be cheerfully willing to Dy. Thy soul will no sooner pass into Eternity but it shall experience that thing in Rom. 6. 7. He that is dead is freed from Sin. It is often pretended by men I would live because I would be more holy before I dy T is well but there is not seldom a Deceit in the Pretence often something else is in the Bottom A Rebellion against the Will of God. Wouldst thou really and earnestly be holy Be willing then to dy as well as to live Death is the way to Holiness in the Perfection of it In short Good was the Temper of that sick person who being asked Which do you desire to live or to dy answered I refer it to God and when it was again said But suppose