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
to be paid in a way of ingenuous Gratitude But the Service of God this ever comprizes all our Duty in it It is the same that the Wise man refers unto in Eccl. 12. 13. Fear God and keep His commandmens for this is the whole duty of man. There are diverse comprehensive and synonymous Terms by which our Duty to God is expressed in the Scripture of Truth Our Duty is called A Serving of God as it refers to the Acts of our lives in which but it s also called A Fearing of God and A Loving of God as it refers to the Frames of our hearts with which we are to do it It is called A Knowing of God as it refers to the principle of it it is likewise a Living to Him and Walking with Him on the same accounts that it is a Serving of Him. The Service of God notes two things which are to accompany our whole Duty to him It notes first the Homage therein done to our God. The Service of God is His Worship Hâ—s natural Worship and His appointed Worship Hence the Septuagint so translate our Text I and my house will worship the Lord. We serve God when we render to him his Natural Worship So t is intimated in Deut. 10. 12. Fear the Lord thy God walk in His waies love him serve the Lord thy God with all thy Heart When we hope in God when we call on God when we cleave to God then we serve Him. And we serve God when we render to Him his appointed Worship This was intended in Exod. 8. 1. Let my people go that they may serve me We serve Him when we observe the Ordinances of God when we adore him according to the Rules of His Word in His House and wait upon him in the use of his blessed and sacred Institutions It Secondly notes the Honour therein brought to our God. Service is perform'd to God when Glory is procur'd for Him. His Essential Glory we can by no means advance we may His declarative and therein we serve the Lord. T is a passage in Isa. 43. 10. Ye are my witnesses saith the Lord and my servant Our Testimonies to God's Excellencies are the things by which we serve Him. We serve God when we acknowledge Him as our Best Good and our last End and our Omnipresent Iudge We serve him when we think and speak well of him our selves and obtain many others to do so too A Witness for God is a Service to him SECT IV. THis being thus explained I pass on to a Second Proposition PROP. II. Every man should engage HIMSELF in the Service of the Almighty God. The purpose and study of every man should be this I will serve the Lord. We should all be able truly to say of God as in Act. 27. 23. His I am and Him I serve A Servant of God this was the Title not of Ioshua alone but of other Worthies too when Abraham is mentioned it is Abraham the Servant of the Lord. When Moses is mentioned it is Moses the Servant of the Lord. When God speaks of Iob he says Iob my Servant Thus was Ionah thus was Eliâ—jah thus was Zerubbabel also styled And it is a style which Wee too should be ambitious of If we would not be miserable for ever we must be the mystical the Spiritual seed of Israel but such are so saluted in 1 Chron. 16. 13. O ye seed of Israel his Servant As our Fathers Friend so our Fathers Lord we must not forsake We must all be the Servants of God as our Father before us was And this especially for the three ensuing causes REASON I. We are to serve God because God hath Madâ— us The Argument with which Paul perswaded Philemâ—n to receive a Run-away Servant of his own was that in Phil. 1. 19. Thou owest unto me even thine own self By that Argument should each one of us be perswaded to become a Dutiful Servant of the Lord We owe unto him even our own selves Man 〈◊〉 most fit thing that thy Maker should be thy Master There are two Questions which I hope every Child within these Walls can give some right Answer to The Answer to them will render it unquestionable That you and I are to Serve God for ever One Question is By whom were you made We have an Answer to this in Psal. â—00 3. Know ye that the Lord he is God and it is He that has made us and not we our selves Thus 〈◊〉 the Psalmist once argue O come let us worship before the Lord our maker Why If he be our Maker He is to be the Object of our Service And this the rather because of another Question which is For What were you made We have an Answer to this in Isa. 43. 21. This people have I formed for my Self they shall shew forth my praise When we praise God we serve God. Why This is the very business which we were sent into the world upon We had never appeared in the Rank of Actual Beings if God had not propounded some Service to be done unto Himself by creatures of our shape and mould We are Created by God and Endowed by him What could it be for but this That God may have some service from us T is said in Act 17. 28. In him we live and move and have our being Most absurd shall we be if it be not for Him too REASON II. We are to serve God because Christ has Bought us Indeed the Arminian universal Redemption we reject with a just abhorrence The Satisfaction of our Lord Redeemer was not Intended by Him for the Redemption of all mankind nor was it Intended any further than his Intercession is which reaches only to the Elect of God. The Virtue and Success of our Lords death depends not wholly on something to be done by men which God is not the Doer of otherwise men would themselves be the Principals in procuring their own Salvation But one scope of our Lord's Death was even to purchase for us that Grace that Faith that Free-Will which may qualifie us to enjoy the Virtue and Success of it Certainly Peter was more beholden unto the Merit of Christ for his Redemption than Iudas was for his Yet the Purchase of Christ wonderfully binds us all to the Service of God. For First the Redemption of Christ has made our Serving of God a possible thing Had it not been for this poor fallen undone man had never been in a Capacity to serve the Lord. We had never heard this Call from heaven O Repent Return Reform this voice from on high O set your selves now to the serving of that God whom you have been sinning against it had never sounded in our Ears if the Lord Jesus had not made Himself a Sacrifice We must have continued the Slaves of the devil for ever if the Stings of the Dragon had not fastned on the Lord. The Lord Jesus has bought us all into such a Condition that the Proffers and
their Master as thosâ— Marâ—ners did upon the Passinger in 〈◊〉 1 6 Arâ—â—e 〈…〉 God that we perish 〈◊〉 Let the Master of 〈◊〉 School also Remember That the Scholars are his Family He should pray with them and bless them in the Name of the Highest God provides Angels and will not you afford Prayers for the safety of those little ones We read of some in Mark. 10. 13. who brought young children unto the Lord Iesus Christ The Children that are brought to you by Parents or Guardians these are by you to be brought unto the Lord Jesus that He would lay His Blessing and saving hands upon them Yea the Captain of a Train'd Band is to esteem the Souldiers as his Family That good Captain Cornelius could sâ—y in Act. 10. 30. I prayed in my House As for those that will not pray in the Field t is to be questioned whether they will Fight there Trainings without Prayings are like to degenerate into meer Debaucheries The Prayeresâ— Captain gives a very dangerous and desperate Word of Command when he saies Follow your Leader Briefly All Superiors generally have a Family in the Kind of their Superiority which they are to attend Prayers withal The Second Rule Let all the Matters that would hinder Family-Prayer be put far from our Tabernaâ—les There are diverse Impediments of our family-Prayers â—hiâ—h â—e are to be Cautioned against As now Let not family Iarrs hinder family-Prayers The Aposâ—â—â—â—aith to them that are in â— Câ—njogal Reâ—lation that they should be meek tender lovâ—ng for this cause in 1. Pet. 3. 7. That your Prayers be not hindred if Peace be gone from a family then Prayer is gone How can Scolding and it may be Striking too agree with Praying in which we are to lift up pure â—ands without wrath Again Let not family Scabs hinder family-Prayers Bad-Members in a family often cause that there are no Prayers in it Many men will not pray because others will scoff and flout But let your Houses have no such In-mates no such Ishmaels in them It is recorded of Elisha in 2 King. 4. 33. he would not have a servant with him which he could not pray withal If any profane graceless Despisers of Prayer would impose themselves upon us let us then say to them Depart ye workers of iniquity for I will call upon the Lord. Once more Let not Family-Prayers be hindred by unsuitable Times The earlier we dispatch them the easier We should not ordinarily let Business royl us in the Morning nor â—roâ—siness drown us in the Evening before Family Prayer be over As To every purpose â— thus to every Prayer there is a time and judgment and a wise mans heart will discern it The Third Rule Be frequent enough and yet very serious in your family Prayers Very shameful is their neglect who have Prayers in their Families but once a day The Apostle saith in Col. 4. 2. Masters continue in prayer he speaks with a manifest Allusion to the daily Offering under the Law of old which was both morning and evening We should have Morning-Prayers and Evening-Prayers correspondent unto the daily Sacrifice And hence because the Sacrifice was doubled on the Sabbath I have known some pious people pray four times every Lords-Day with their Families Be sure Twice a day is ordinarily the seldomest and slenderest Repetition that our Family-prayers are to have O but we should therein stir up our selves to take hold on God. When you keel before the Lord you should not be rash hasty sudden in it you should not be sleigâ—ty in this great Excercise of of Religion Before we pray we should think Think seriously To WHOM am I to pray and For What am I to Pray and How soon may I dye and my praying seasons all be over And before we pray we should Read. Read seriously something of the Things which are commanded you of God. The Scriptures are to accompany our prayers T is said They are to dwell with us The Bible is to be one of the House When we betake our selves to our Pâ—ayers we should not let the Bible say I should have been as one of the Family pray why was not I called in The Fourth Rule Let not your Family-prayers be your only prayers Understand that Seâ—ret Prayers â—s â—â—ll as private Prayers are to be performed by â—s all For this the word of our Lord is very positive in Matth. 6. 6. When thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door pray to thy Father which is in secret T is a great fondness and folly in any of us if private prayer cause us to lay aside secret prayer No There is Closet-Prayer as well as Parlour-Prayer which we ought to labour in I would say as our Lord in another case One you ought to do not leave the other undone We have special Transâ—â—issâ—â—ns to be confessed in our prayers these are 〈◊〉 to be confessed To divulge a secret 〈◊〉 is to add a further sin Our secret sins do call for our secreâ— Prayers We have special Tempâ—â—â—â—s to be bewailed in our prayers and these 〈◊〉 secâ—etly to be bewailed Our Desires are sometimes to be too secret for our Neighbours Our secret Griefs and our secret Fears call for our secret Prayers And as one of the Ancients elegantly expresses it Invisible prayers are to be often made to an invisible God. Secret prayer is one good sign of a gracious heart Let the Lord oft see you like Nathanael at secret prayer under the 〈◊〉 and He will say Behold an Israelite iâ—deed Would you get Internal Blessings then pray in secret Solomon got his Widom his Vertue by secret prayer Peter by secret prayer in 〈…〉 carâ—ied with Tranâ—es and Raptures into the other world Would you get External Blessings Then pray in secret Hâ—â—nah with secreâ— prayer asked one Son and had six Iacob had all his House preserved by secret prayer Yea Would you be General Blessings Pray then in â—â—câ—et Moses by secret prayer diverted wrath plagues from all the Congregation That infamous Apostate Iulian was killed by the secret prayer of a good man at that hour very far distant from him What shall I say No Supe sedeas no Diversion should ever be given to your secret prayers Moreover besides your Prayers with all the Family you may do well sometimes to Reâ—â—râ— unto prayers with this or that particular person in it Some do so translate that passage in Gen 25. 21. Isaac entreaâ—ed the Lord with his wife It were but a discreet and a decent practice foâ— married persons to 〈◊〉 likewise Thus holy Pâ—rents have often taken their Children one by one alone and there pray'd and wept and pour'd out their souls over the poor lambs in secret places before the Lord. Thus are we to do Thus to pray SECT XI BUt the Sluggard will pretend A Lion in thâ— way Wherefore I pass on II. To Remove some Objeâ—ctions against Family-Prayer A Threefold want is pleadâ—d
Times we should see ouâ— young ones well informed in Give them at this day to be sensible who is the Supreme Head and King of the Church and what Orders He has appointed to be observed there Secondly There are ferious Questions with which we are to Instruct our Families And there are peculiarly Two Things which we are to question our young ones about Some Questions we are to put unto them First Which Concern their Souls And here yet further to particularize We are to try them with Questions about their Vnderstanding Our Lord Jesus asked his Disciples in Matth. 13. 51. Have ye understood all these things Thus are we to ask our young people Do you understand the great Mystery of Godlinessâ— O keep up the great Ordinance of Catechising in your houses Before your little Folks have left off living upon Milk let them be so well versed in their Milk for Babes that they may readily answer any Question there The Echoes of this Exercise are a most refreshing Melody in the ears of God himself Ask we our young ones What they think of God and of Christ and of Themselves and let them be able to refound the Words of Truth We are to search them also with Questions about their Experience As our Lord asked His Family in Joh. 16. 31. Do ye now believe So should we ask our young people Have you Experieneed a work of Regeneration in your souls Ask them Have you ever yet carried a labouring and heavy-laden soul unto the Lord Iesus Christ It was the Advice of Wisdom Know the state of thy Flocks Thus we should endeavour to Know the state of the Souls which we are to be concerned for to know whether they are in a Natural or a Renewed state Once more We are to help them with Questions about their Temptations It was a Question once given to some in Luc. 24. 38. Why do Thoughts arise in your hearts Even so we should Enquire of our young people What Thoughts are you most troubled with Enquire what Fears enquire what Snares they are most endangered by Be alwaies jealous lest as the serpent beguiled Eve so their minds be corrupted Moreover Some Questions we are to put upon them Secondly which concern their Lives It was once an Interrogatory which some were put unto in Luc. 23. 17. What manner of communications have ye Thus we are to Examine our young people about the Words and the Works that fill their Lives There are especially three things which they should be Examined about their Prayer their Time and their Company Ask them whether they live without Prayer or no Whether in Prayer they secretly and sincerely pour out their souls before the Lord Ask them How they spend their Time How much Idle Time and how much useful Time they allow unto themselves And ask them What their Company is Whom they sit withal Whether vain Persons and Fools or the Saints which are the excellent and all those that fear God Our Question will prove their Safeguard if it be well administred Thirdly There are faithful Reproofs with which we are to Instruct our Families T is said in Prov. 6. 33. The Reproofs of Instruction are the way of life When we give Instruction we shall have occasion to give Reproof too often with it There is no Family that has not Miscarriages that are to be reproved in it Young people too commonly are wild people and without some Castigations they will rarely be kept in order To some of them smart Worâ—s to others of them smart Blowes will be too often due T is said in Prov. 13. 24. He that spareth his Rod hateth his sâ—n but he that loveth him chastens him betimes Frowns are due to all and Rods to some Transgressors in the Family But there are two Negative and two Positive Rules to be minded in Reproving of them The Negative Rules are these two First Reprove not Furiously It is said in Iam. 1. 20. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Remember Nothing will be so well done in a passion but what may be done better out of it If you are to chide yet chide not in a Fury Do not call vile Names much more do not swear do not curse do not Rage with a Tongue set on fire of hell If you are to smiâ—e yet smite not in a Fury Bloody wounding outragious Buffettings are to be avoided lest there be cause to say of you Cursed is their Anger for it is fierce and their Wrath for it is cruel Secondly Reprove not for ever T is said in Ps. 103. 9. God will not alwaies chide neither will He keep his anger for ever To be alwaies finding faults is the way never to be curing them A perpetual Warngling is a continual Dropping which there is no enduring of it prejudices the minds of them that feel it against all that shall be said unto them The Positive Rules are these Two. First Reprove Reasonably Let there be just Cause for it When you reprove it must be for a true cause As it was said of our Saviour in Isai. 11. 3. He shall not reprove after the hearing of His ears Thus we may not go by meer Hear-say when we reprove those that are under us And it must be for a great Cause T is said of the Spirit in Ioâ— 16. 8. He will reprove the world for SIN The sinful thing the thing for which the wrath of God comes the thing which the soul of the Lord hates this we are to reprove We must not throw away Reproofs upon Nothing or upon Every thing Secondly Reprove Scripturally T is said in 2. Tim. 3. 16. All Scripture is profitable for Reproof A Reproof with a Scripture comes with a more than ordinary Majesty and Authority When we Reprove those that are under us First make them read a Text which does Condemn what we would rebuke and then set it home with a very warm lively vigorous Application Fourthly There are solemn Charges with which we are to Instruct our Families It was the Character which the Lord gives of Abraham in Gen. 18. 19. I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord. O that this might be said of every Householder here I know him that he will take all of his house one by one and Charge every one of them to keep the way of the Lord What saies the Apostle in iâ— Thes 2. 11. We charged every one of you as a father his children We should call aside our young people and lay upon them the Charge of David in 1. Chron. 28. 9. My son know thou the God of thy Father and Serve Him with a perfect Heart and a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all Hearts if thou seek Him He will be found of thee if thou forsake Him He will cast thee off for ever Charge them and this especially about four Things Lay upon them
himself a double Portion of the spirit in Elijah he said in 2. King 2. 10. If thou see me it shall be so unto thee O that the Sight of us that the Sight of our Piety and Gravity might Instruct our Houses and help them to a double Portion of those Graces and Vertues which are the Fruits of the Spirit We shou'd study an Instructive Conversation and we should never permit a Cham a young Cham in our families to see us overcome with Drink Disguised with Vice or naked with Folly but In all things we should show our selves a Pattern of good works Fifthly We are to Instruct our Families with Authority As the Minister is to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ of whom t is said in Mat. 7. 29. He taught as one having Authority So should the Householder do And hence we are to keep up our Authority in our families not permitting the child to be have himself proudly against the Ancient It is required in Lev. 19. 3. Ye shall fear every one his Mother and his Father the Mother is here put before the Father because commonly she first loseth her Authority but neither Mother nor Father should suffer themselves to be trampled upon T is an intolerable thing for a saucy impudent unmannerly child to reply I wont when a Parent bids him do this or that You sin grievously if you do not curb and break the Wills of them that you are to bring up in the nurture of the Lord and if you don't make 'em tremble to break any of your commands Wherefore let there be that Wisdom that Meekness that Reservedness and Seriousness in our Deportments with which we may Rule well our own house and have our Children in Subjection with all gâ—â—vity This is that Family-Instruction and Family Government by which we must bring our Houses to serve the Lord. SECT XV. ONe might Rationally imagine that no Exception could be taken at such a profitable and necessary thing as Family Instruction is Yet this also has Exceptions made against it and therefore I am endeavouring II. To Remove some Objections against Family Instruction Diverse things are by many pleaded wherefore they take no care to have their Families parâ—akers of Instruction in Righteousness The First Exception One person will for this Plea Exempt himself The Inferiors in my Family are very Dull T is an hard thing to beat into them any sense of Eternal Concernments On this Pretense it is that poor Negro's especially are kept Strangers to the way of Life they are kept only as Hoâ—ses or Oxen to do our Drudgeries but their Souls which are as white and good as those of other Nations their Souls are not look'd after but are Destroyed for lack of Knowledge This is a desperate Wickedness But are they dull Then instruct them the rather That is the Way to sharpen them T is said in Psal. 119. 130. The Entrance of thy word gives Understanding to the Simple Be they never so simple you may increase their Wit by God's Word And are they truly Dull Then be not you so too Let your Labour be equal to their Dulness We are told in Eccl. 10. 10. If the Iron be blunt then a man must put to the more Strength You must be at the Trouble to stoop unto their Capacities Be you as plain be you as breef in your Instructions as they are dull in their Intellectuals And be frequent be patient in them give Line upon line and Precept upon precept here a little and there a little Even Gutta cavat lapidem a Stone will receive the mark of the Drop that shall often fall upon it The Second Exception Another person will for this Cause Exempt himself The Inferiors in my Family are very Young. T is too soon to begin with them we shall only make them take the Name of God in vain by teaching them to talk like Parrots of Religion before they can conceive better of it To this I answer No You can't begin with them Too soon ` T was said in Isai. 28. 9. Whom shall hee teach knowledge Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts They are no sooner wean'd but they are to be taught and God may give them righter and riper Conceptions of things than you are well aware What saies the Wise man Traiâ— up a Child in thâ— way he should go Let the first liquor that is put into them be sweet and good and they will keep the tang of it all their dayes Quo semel est imbuta recens Are they Young Yet the Devil has been with them already T is said in Psal. 58. 3. They go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies They no sooner step than they stray they no sooner lisp than they ly Satan gets them to be proud prosane reviling and revengeful as young as they are And I pray Why should not you be afore-hand with him And this the rather since the Lord Jesus calleth for them He saies in Marc. 10. 13. Suffer little children to come unto me For know T is not an Affront but an Honour unto the Name of God for such young ones to Learn the truth as it is in Iesus It was very pleasing unto the Lord Jesus Christ when in Matth. 21. 15. The Children cryed Hosannah to Him. If your Children do not cry Hosanna they will call wicked Names they will curse and lie and take the Name of God in vain and which is best Iudge ye Besides we have the Call of God in Psal. 148. 12. Ye Children praise the Lord. The Third Exception A Third person will urge this against it I want Abilities to manage this work my Parts and Gifts are too mean to go thro it To this I answer God will Accept you thoâ— you do it meanly The Prophet made this Apology for himself in Jer. 1. 6. Ah! Lord God I cannot speak But God answered Say not so Tho you have but one Talent yet let it not ly by Though you have only Goats hair or Badgers skins yet employ them for the use of the Tabernacle The Apostle tells the Hebrews You need one to teach you the first principles of the Oâ—â—cles of God yet unto them he said Exhort one â—nother Moreover God will Assist you to do it better T was affiâ—med to him in Ioshua 1. 9. Have not I commanded thee Be strong and of a good Courage for the Lord thy God is with thee Thus be it affirmed here God has commanded thee Do it as courageously and as comfortably as thou canst His Presence will continually cause thee to grow in thy Accomplishments To him that hath shall be given Keep watering the Olive-plants about thy Table He that watereth shall be watered also himself The Fourth Exception A Fourth person perhaps will not blush to say I want Opportunity to attend this Work my Employment will not suffer me But let no man argue so Man hast thou Time to Feed thy Family and
no time to Teach them The poorest among you all should say as in Psa. 119. 92. The Law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of Gold and silver T is better to lay up for thy Family the Riches of God's Law than Thousands of pounds Nothing nothing should put by their Instruction in the way of peace If you do not want an Heart you will not want a Time for the Instruction of your Families No man could have more business lying on his hands than David had who had the Affayrs of a mighty Kingdom to distract him yet of him could his own Son say as in Prov. 4. 4. He taught me The Fifth Exception T is possible a fifth person may have uncomfortable cause to plead I have those in my Family that will not be Instructed I can't Order them so far as to make them submit unto it In this unhappy Case What shall be done but this We are to pray for these Creatures that their Hearts may be tamâ—d and bowâ—d by Him that has them in His Hand We are also to watch when some Affliction or some Amazement is come upon them then God opens their ear to Discipline then the Wild Asses are in the Month where you may find them We may likewise call in the help of some grave pious holy Minister who may come to them with the spirit and power of Elias To turn the hearts of the Children to their Fathers Finally If your Children refuse to be Instructed What saies the Wise man A Rod for the fools back If your Servants refuse to be Instructed What saies the Good man He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house SECT XVI BEfore I have done I must Endeavour III. To propound some Incentives unto Family-Instruction Wherefore Consider first the Needfulness of it Christians Instruct your Families for I may say This is the Will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you And as Gods Will so their State calleth for it O look upon the Ignorance of your Families May it not be said of them as in Psal. 14. 2. The Lord looked on the Children to see if there were any that did understand they are all gone aside Instruct them lest they be destroyed for lack of knowledge Look upon the Corruption of your Families May it not be said of them as in Eccles. 5. 3. The hearts of the Children is full of Evil. Instruct them lest they be the Children of Belial to consume your eyes and grieve your hearts In a Word Instruct your Families or else the Blood of their Souls will be required at your hands It was complain'd of old in Jer. 2. 34. In thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of poor innocents What a dreadful word is that and what a dreadful thing will it be for your poor Families to follow you in the ever-burning Lake below shrieking and roaring If you had done your Duty to us t is like we had never arrived here Consider Secondly the Vsefulness of it Instruct your Families and it will issue in their Good. They shall be brought home to God. As he said in Psal 51. 13. I will teach them and they shall be converted unto thee You may see converted Children and converted Servants filling of your Families They may bless the name of God for ever that ever they knew your House or saw your Face because you have promoted in them that Knowledge which is Life Eternal Instruct your Families and it will issue in your Ioy. They shall afford you that â—ight of which the Apostle said I have no greater Ioy. T is said in Prov. 10. 1. A wise Son makes a glad Father T is a taught son that proves a wise son What a joyful thing will it be for you to see all your Children and Servants calling you their spiritual Father here But what a much-more joyful thing will it be for you to meet them all at the Right Hand of our Lord in the day of His Appearing O Consider of these Things and go away determined I hope you are now determined Thus I and my House will serve the Lord. TIME DISCERNED ECCLES VIII 5. A wise man's heart discerneth TIME THe Famous Writer of these Words was that Royal Preacher Solomon After much Experience of the World and after much Repentance for that Experience he drew up a Treatise De summo bono concerning the chief Good of man. The penitent and inspired Monarch having arrived unto the Top of this world pitties the poor men whom he sees toiling and sweating to get up the rocky hill after him and expecting to find Happiness there with a loud voice he gives this warning to them Sirs You will be all mistaken you will meet with nothing but Vanity and Vexation here The Context here contains the Reflections of this wise prince on the Countenance which he had given to publick and open Idolatry in Israel and the compliance which they that should have advised the contrary yeilded thereunto Men seek out many inventions to excuse themselves from bearing an humble but a faithful Testimony against any sinful thing which their Superiors may invite them to One of these Inventions is mentioned in the fourth verse of this Chapter it is drawn from the Vncontrouleable Power of them that sometimes enjoin a sinful thing To this Excuse we have a two-fold Answer in the fifth verse We have two things in it First the Good of Religion T is saiâ— Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing q. d. Be true to Gods Commandments thy own Conscience let who will be offended at it the wonderful providence of the Almighty will in the mean time be concerned for thy Safety and Security A man gets no real Hurt by doing of his Duty Secondly the Need of Discretion T is said A wise mans heart discerneth both Time and Iudgment q. d. In the doing of this and every other Duty two things are to be much regarded Mind the Season of the duty and mind the Manner of the duty much harm will thereby be prevented in discharging of it T is the former of these two Regardables that I would now insist upon Behold a general Rule apply'd unto a particular Case the Case is the Rebuking and Refusing of Sin but the Rule is A wise man alwaiâ—s will discern his time to do what he has to do To Discern the Time it must needs also signifie to Improve the Time. Wherefore the Doctrine is A wise man will discern and improve his Time to do what is incumbent on him Our Propositions are to be such as these Prop. I. The Blessed God affordeth to men in this World a Time to discharge the Duties incumbent on them There are two things incumbent on us to Do good and to Get good The good we are to do is to Honour God and the good we are to get is to Enjoy God. Those two things comprise all our Duties and they make up the Errand
Word Let us labour now to Regain the Time that we have been cheated of The cheef way to do that is By a double Diligence for the time to come Make up the time we have made an ill market of by an extraordinary Industry and Activity in the time yet before us The Israelites in their Journey to Canaan made more way the last year or two than they had done in almost forty years before All the many Sermons in the Book of Deuteronomy seem preached by Moses in the last month or two before he dy'd O sit down and think well How shall I lay out my time for the best Advantage Let that be said of us when we dye Diu vixit licet non diu fuit He lived long in a little time To Purchase our time is to discern our time Direction IV. Let us Discern our time and let us Improve the Present time to make our peace with the Eternal God. Alas All the sinful and woful time of our Vnregeneracy is Lost time One that was converted but about seven years before he dyed ordered that Epitaph to be inscribed on his Grave Here â—â—es an Aged man who dy'd but seven years old Thou dost not live till thou dost repent till thou dost beleeve Be sure there is no Duty so much incumbent on us as that of Turning from Sin to God in Christ. Well the great God hath stated the present time for the doing of it T is the Warning the solemn warning of the Holy God unto us 2. Cor. 6. 2. Behold Now is the Accepted time Now is the Day of Salvation Let those that are not yet born-again discern this their time O yee souls in peril What is it that ye resolâ—e upon Your time is to Day to Day if you will hear the voice of God. Let me say about this Time as Boaz about that Land in Ruth 4. 4. If you will redeem it redeem it O Delay not Dally not Trifle not about this grand Concern Do not say as the unhappy Felix did I 'le mind it at a more convenient season No No Discern it that the most convâ—nient season is just NOW O that all unconverted men would consider the Danger the Madness of their Procrastinations T is said in Eccles. 9. 12. Man knoweth not his time Man discern thy time as a flying time and an uncertain time A Jewish Rabbi gave that Coâ—nsel to a Scholar of his Besure you repent at least a day before you dy Truly t is a fearful thing for a man when he comes to dye not to be able to say T is at least a day since that I made my peace with God. Well who of us can say that this day is not our last day We cannot be sure that we repent a day before we dy unless we repent this very day Suppose you were to suffer an horrible Death in case you had not finished some notable Undertaking before night O how would every stroke of the Clock strike to your very hearts within you Behold O Sinner be amazed stand Astonished and take the present time to get out of thy present state T is possible thou mayst be a dead man before to morrow t is possible this night thy soul may be required Horrid will thy condition be if this happen before thy peace be made with GOD. There are Graves in the Burying-Place shorter than the youngest of us all Thou mayst Conclude with saying as David to Ionathan As the Lord lives there is but a step between me and death Wherefore let me Conclude with saying as Michal to David O save thy self to night for to morrow thou mayst be slain Let no man Repent too late but let every man Discern the time T is the sigh of our GOD over us O that they understood that they would Consider their Latter END The TRYED CHRISTIAN A Discourse delivered upon Recovery from SICKNESS IOB XXIII 10. When He hath Tryed me I shall come forth as GOLD THere was a Man in the Land of Arabia whose name was Job and that man was perfect and upright The Church of GOD is enriched with an excellent History in an elegant Poesie relating the great Prosperity the sad Adversity and strange Recovery of that perfect and upright man. T is probable that he was an Edomite and the very Iobab whom Esau was Great-Grandfather unto but this I am sure of He was an Israelite indeed From a Rich and Fair estate He suddenly became As poor as Iob and while he was in this poor Condition his noble Friends gave him their friendly Visits and Respects Many admirable Dialogues now passed between them wherein they endeavoured to Accuse and Convince him of some remarkable Iniquity as the Cause of his Calamity and he laboured to vindicate himself to assert his own Integrity and Sincerity In our Context here the good man is expressing his Willingness and Readiness to appear before the Judgement-seat of God and in our Text he declares what he expects would be the Result of his Tryals by the Lord. He comforts himself by those two Considerations First that God's Knowledge did reach him He saith God knowes the way that is in me q. d. Tho I cannot see God yet God can see me and the most inward Purposes or Appetites of my mind are not concealed from Him. And Next that God's Tryal would clear him This is the Article that lyes before us to be Explained and Improved and the Doctrine which may guide our Discourse upon it is That Good men come forth as GOLD under and after the Trials of the Almighty God. It is by the ensuing Propositions that we may arrive to right thoughts about the Truth before us Proposition I. There is a various Tryal which the God of Heaven causes to pass upon His people No Christian can be without his Tryals But there are especialy two sorts of Tryals which ouâ— God will subject us all unto First There are the Trials of Divine Examinations Which will be critical upon us T is said in Psal. 11. 4 5. The Lords eyes behold and His ey-lids try the children of men the Lord sounds as the French Translation hath it both the righteous and the wicked Every man in the world falls under the Notice and so under the Tryal of the omniscient God. The all-seeing Eyes of God as it were Examine us and His Ey-lids knit themselves for a Scrutiny into our Hearts and lives The blessed God will pass a Iudgment after a Trial upon us whether we truly love Him and seek Him or no. We are told in Psal. 7. 9. The righteous God trieth the Hearts and the Reins an Assertion an Expression it may be more than seven times repeted in the Word of God! The Examination and Observation of God extends it self to the most interior parts of men the motions of their very Hearts and Reins come under His exactest Cognizance Every man may so far say after that godly man in Psal. 17. 3. Lord
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