an Heaven for the good no other than the Habitation of his own Holiness and Glory in which there are many Mansions and Crowns and Thrones with unconceivable Felicity in his presence a fulness of Joy and at his Right Hand Pleasures for evermore and besides that an Hell for the wicked a bottomless Pit where there is a gnawing Worm that shall never die and a Fire burning that is unquenchable in which they shall for ever fry scorch and burn without being ever consumed and consequently they shall have weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth Secondly Instruct them concerning the miserable lost and undone condition of all Man-kind by reason of the Fall of the first Man That when God had formed Man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life so that he became a living Soul he was pleased not only to make him upright and in his own Image induing him with all Natural Excellencies and Perfections befitting one who was to have Communion with his Creator and Dominion over this Inferiour World and to put him into a state of Happiness appointing Paradise for the place of his Residence or Royal Seat but also to enter into a Covenant of Friendship with him thereby binding Man to a continuance in a course of Personal and Perfect Obedience to his great Lord and thereupon by promise insuring to him an endless duration of his Life and Happiness but withal threatning that in case of failure and disobedience He should die the death viz. Temporal Spiritual and Eternal That this Covenant was not made with Adam alone but with all Mankind who were to descend from him and were considered as being then in his Loins and He as the great Parent and common Person representing them and so Adam breaking the Covenant by transgressing the Law of his Creation and in particular that positive Law which commanded him not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil All Mankind sinned in him and fell with him in that first Transgression and so all the World is be-become guilty before God and obnoxious to his Justice and Wrath all the World is become filthy and abominable Primitive Righteousness is lost and the Primitive Order broken and we are all unclean all of us by principle and disposition Children of disobedience and all by Nature Children of Wrath. And bring this home to them and let them know that it is as much their Case as the case of any persons in the World that they have the guilt of sin upon them the sentence of Death denounced against them a vile Heart and Nature within them the Seed and Principle of all sin which renders them prone to all manner of evils even the vilest and most monstruous This will tend to the hiding Pride from them and preventing those high towering Conceits which they are ready to hugg and swell with through their self-unacquaintedness this may awaken them to the greater vigilance and care and bring them to keep a stricter Eye upon their hearts and this may keep them from being much taken with and doting upon those trifling childish vanities and youthful follies which the Souls of others are so much addicted and devoted to while they hear there are things of infinitely greater importance and nearer concernment unto which they must attend Thirdly Make it much your business to convince them of the evil of Sin In order to their loathing it and themselves for it before God do you as much as you can set it before them in its ugliness and deformity look upon it in the Glass of God's Law and of Christ's Blood and then draw its picture and shew it to them History tells us this of the Lacedemonians that when they saw a filthy drunken Sott stagger and reeling in the Street vomiting like a Dog falling and tumbling in the Mire like a Swine they would run into their houses and fetch their young Children to the door that they might behold how much he was unman'd how like a Beast he made himself and by the way know it is far better to be a Beast than to be like a Beast that so they might betimes learn to abhor and detest that brutish practice Do you do the like I mean make unto them a true representation of the odiousness of Sin in general yea and of some Sins in particular specially those which are most rampant raging and abounding in the times in which they live and those Sins too with which they are most in danger of being infected paint them out in the blackest Colours that you can as black as Hell for indeed so they are You cannot disparage Sin beyond its demerit you cannot speak too bad of it you cannot make it look worse than it is As we cannot exceed nor rise too high in the commendation of God our greatest words are too little our highest thoughts are too low Angelical conceptions of God are infinitely short of his Perfection He is exalted above all blessing and praise So on the other side we cannot speak too much in the dispraise of Sin our greatest anger against Sin is not hot enough and our sharpest words against Sin are not keen enough There is not to be found so great an evil in all the World as Sin is Afflictions are not so bad as Sin Poverty Plague Fire Sword Famine all the desolations that be made in Towns Cities Countreys not matter of so great Lamentation as Sin They are Physick to cure this the Disease to destroy they are Fire to purifie this is Filth to pollute Death it self doth only kill the Body Sin ruins the Soul Death sends the Body to a Bed of Dust but Sin if unpardoned unmortified sends both Soul and Body into a Bed of Flames The Devil himself is not so bad as Sin For he was an excellent Creature a glorious Angel There never was any thing of goodness in Sin nor ever will He was the Workmanship of God himself but God had no hand in the making of Sin It was Sin that turned him into a Devil Hell is not so bad as Sin For though it be a place of gross utter Darkness yet there is seen the Purity and Holiness of God in his hatred of Sin the Justice and Righteousness of God in the condemning and punishing of Sin there he declares his Wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness but there is no good not the least good in Sin it is a meer Anomia disobedience to and transgression of such a Law as is holy just and good it is evil throughout only evil and that continually Sin is evil in its Nature being contrary to the pure holy infinitely perfect and glorious Nature of God There is nothing in all the World contrary to God but Sin and what Sin hath made so It s Nature is so bad that nothing can rectifie it nothing can mend it nothing make it good It is so bad that God would not allow it a
intents and purposes their Families have precious Souls as well as comely Bodies craving Souls as well as hungry Bodies and they should so provide for their Souls as that it may not be their fault if it be not well with their Souls and that both in time and to Eternity in the 2 d of Peter 1 2 ver the Apostle Peter speaking of God saith His Divine Power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto Life and Godliness O let us learn to admire and endear this God who is so gracious and liberal unto us now let us be followers of him as dear Children this is an excellent Copy for us to write after who are House holders let us provide for ours all that is necessary for this their Temporal Life yea and all that is necessary for Godliness But now can any one tell how they provide for the Souls of their Families which are under their Government and committed to their care who do not set up the Worship of God in their Families who do nothing towards their instruction and sanctification nothing towards the making of them understanding gracious and holy Are those Families well provided for in which there is no serving of God no religious exercises no Praying no Catechising nor reading of the Scriptures no Repeating of Sermons no Singing of Psalms no holy Discourses about God and Jesus Christ and the things of God no Holy Instructions nor good Councils nor provoking one another to love and good works we shall indeed sometimes hear people say of such or such a Man O he is a Man of a generous Spirit a brave House-keeper but ask them wherein how doth that appear the Answer is by his keeping a good Table a great Table he buyeth the best Meat the Market doth afford and a great deal of it so that the Servants have enough and to spare and you may see many poor lying at his door who are relieved there and this is indeed good and commendable and it is to be desired that all whose Estates will reach it were such they would be no losers by it it is one way to bring down a blessing upon their Callings and the works of their hands but give me leave to tell that Man if this be all if he stop here and his brave House-keeping amount to no more than this in a word if he doth not set up the Worship of God in his Family he is a pitiful a miserable House-keeper his House is the way to Hell though he keeps a Great Table yet he keeps a wicked House a godless graceless House he fills Bodies and starves Souls his Dogs have as much reason to commend him as his Wife and Children and Servants Well that is the first thing and oh that it may abide with you who are Governours of Families sit down and think seriously upon it that your Families are your charge you are charged with the Souls of your Families God hath put them into your hand and committed them to your care and therefore you are obliged to look after them and as God hath given them to you so it is your duty to train and bring them up for God But this will meet us again in the way of this Discourse and then I shall speak something more to it II. You are accountable for your Families as charged with them so responsible for them We read in the 25th of Matthew 14 c. of a Man Travelling into a far Country who called unto him his Servants and delivered unto them his goods to one five Talents to another two and to a third but one after a time he returned and reckoned with them God hath committed to every one of us some Talents to some more to some fewer and he will reckon with us all for them and enquire what we have done with them one hath a Talent of Parts another of Power another of Interest a fourth of Riches do not you let them lie dead upon your hands but be good Husbands Trade with them my Friends trade with them for God and know as God will reckon with you for your Talents so for Persons that are committed to your Charge and as God said to Cain Gen. 4.9 Where is Abel thy Brother so he will say to thee where is thy Wife where thy Son where thy Daughter where is thy Man Servant where thy Maid Masters of Families are accountable both for the Bodies and the Souls under their roofs First they are accountable for the bodies that are in their Families you know they are so not only to God but likewise to the Magistrate and to the Law So that if any of them doth miscarry and dies a violent death there is a very strict search made into it the Coroners Inquest sits upon the body all suspected Persons are called and examined and the great Question is How did this Person come by his death though it be the meanest Servant in the House the Scullion or Kitchin-Boy yet it is not past by nor is it fit it should No Murtherer ought to be Pardoned that is a standing Law which binds in all Ages and Places Gen. 9.6 who so sheddeth Mans blood by Man shall his blood be shed let the man destroyed have been never so poor and mean and despicable for his outward Condition and let the Murtherer be what he will tho' a person of never so great Quality as they Phrase it yet he must die for it God hath said by Man shall his blood be shed If the Master himself was the cause of his Servants death he shall answer for it and life shall go for life blood for blood if he Poisoned the meanest Servant he had or if he starved him it must be so and that Scripture tells you the reason of the thing lieth in this because Man was made in the Image of God and there was afterward another Law made Numb 35.31 Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a Murtherer which is guilty of death but he shall be surely put to death so that as the Iewish Doctors say though he could give all the Riches of the World and the Avenger of Blood were perswaded into a willingness to pass it by yet it could not be done Let Magistrates therefore consider what they do when they Pardon Murtherers whom God himself hath devoted to destruction But Secondly they are accountable for the Souls that are in their Families for God doth highly value the Souls which he hath Created and as carefully and curiously looks after Souls as his Law enjoyns and requires Men in place of Power and Authority to look after the Bodies of Men and to judge and avenge their blood when it hath been shed by wicked and cruel hands and when they do miscarry as too many do thousands myriads millions do he will make inquisition for their blood and see how it came to pass and if their Parents or Masters be guilty of it he will require it at
hath crowned your Conjugal Relation with Posterity but what is your Posterity but the Seed of evil doers Children of those that have corrupted themselves those pure Souls which were created by God were polluted and spoiled as soon as they entered into those bodies that came of you you did convey a cross froward depraved nature to your Children who therefore are so bad because they are yours It is said Gen. 5.3 Adam begat a Son in his Image and after his likeness not in the Image and likeness of God as Adam himself had been made at first but in his own Image in his Image not only as he was Man but also as he was lapsed Man his Son was like himself in Body and in Soul and in Sin and thus have the Sons of Adam done ever since Iob saith Iob 14.4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean Man being unclean cannot make himself clean let them wash in tears let them wash with Snow water he cannot fetch out the dirt the spots and stains he cannot wash himself clean and being himself unclean he cannot produce and bring forth that which is clean That which is born of the flesh is flesh weak flesh sinful flesh that water which is soil'd and muddied at the Spring cannot be pure and clear in the Stream Aethiopissae Filius nigrum ab eâ Colorem trahit The Son of a Blackmoor will be a Blackmoor too You know there are hereditary Diseases as the Gout Stone Spleen Lethargie which commonly run in the blood and are transmitted by the Parents to their Children Sin is one of them it is the worst of them it sticks close and descends from Parents to Children and that from Generation to Generation without interruption without exception unless that of our dear Lord Jesus who was to be holy harmless undefiled and separate from Sinners that he might be a Sacrifice and a Saviour and in order thereunto came into the World in an extraordinary way of generation being formed in the Womb of a Virgin by the power of the Holy Ghost who over-shadowed her otherwise Sin doth inseparably follow Nature and never goeth out of the blood So that I may call Parents the Channels the Kennels the Common-Sewers in and through which all that abominable filth runs which defiles their otherwise lovely and desirable Children rendring them odious and abominable unto God And never carry your heads high because your Children are of a Noble or Gentile descent come of such a Family bear such account or because you can leave them a great Estate there is one thing alass that stains and spoils all that Glory viz. It is from you they have it that they are born Sinners And truly as there is a great deal of joy at the birth of an Infant because a Man-Child is Born into the World so there is reason why that joy should be upon this account somewhat allay'd and mingled with grief and sorrow that a Sinner is born into the World Secondly Let us consider you as the Heads Governours of Families are not your Families the worse for you you that are Husbands and Wives should be the better for one another and fill your Relations and carry in your places as those that are Co-heirs of the grace of life that you may have cause of blessing God you ever came together But reflect and curiously enquire are not you the worse for one another and are not your Children and Servants in some respects the worse for you both You that have no Religious Duties performed in your Houses are for certain very injurious to them by that your omission for you teach them Atheism neglect and contempt of God you teach them to live without God in the World like so many Brutes you do thereby teach them to neglect their precious and immortal Souls and to mind nothing but the concernments of a vile and perishing Body and the inferiour good things of a Transitory World But what do you think of your selves who are the best who walk most closely with God do you foot it so right that you do not sometimes tread awrie do you demean your selves with so much exactness that nothing amiss is to be discerned in you do you order your carriages and conversations with so much judgement and circumspection that they are without fault and blameless David saith Who can understand his errours and if thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities O Lord who shall stand and have you not read such passages as these in the Scriptures There is not a just Man upon Earth that liveth and sinneth not In many things we sin all If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us There are too many graceless Persons in the World but there is not one sinless Person there are many holy Persons who have been washed and justified and sanctified but not one that is cleansed from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and who hath attained to a perfection in his holiness and can you think that your blemishes and miscarriages are invisible do not those that live and converse with you observe you yes they do and see more spots in your faces than you do in your own though you look in the glass and they will be exceeding apt to tread in your steps and to imitate you especially in that which is evil for unto that their own corrupt Nature doth incline and like a strong Bias carry them that way yea and your example shall be made use of and pleaded as their sufficient Warrant If they should be reproved by some sober judicious Persons for doing that which they should not they will justifie themselves thus I saw my Father or my Mother do so my Master or my Mistress do so and therefore I may do it too Poor things they do sometimes think of their Parents and Masters above that which is meet and not considering their imperfections and that body of Sin and Death which they carry about with them they do not in their following them make use of that caution which they ought to do Be serious my dear Friends be serious and consider whether your Children and Servants be not the worse for your Pride discovered in your haughty looks and lofty words and stately gestures and costly garbs and dresses the worse for your Passion shewn in sharpened Eyes furious Countenances and words like Swords and Daggers the worse for your mispence of time in vain visits frothy discourses games and recreations and lazy lying in Bed upon the Lord's Day till much of the morning is lost and a considerable part of the Publick Worship be over before you come into the Congregation In short are they not the worse for this and that and the other yea for many things which your own Consciences if you please to consult them and give them free leave to speak can and will inform you of far better than I can being every day
many among them to make Vessels of Honour fit for his Use and Service here and for his Kingdom and Glory hereafter 2. For that great and most blessed End he chose and sent his own Son his only Son his infinitely beloved Son who was the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his Person Man not being in a capacity to help himself nor all the Angels in Heaven able to relieve him their back was too weak to bear that burden of guilt which lay upon him and their whole Stock too little to discharge those Debts which he had contracted and their Arm infinitely too short to reach him and draw him out of that horrible Pit into which he had cast himself and all his Posterity Now I say when things were at this pass God was pleased to send his Son to humble himself to empty himself to become poor to become our Brother and to assume our Nature with its sinless infirmities and to be in the form of a Servant of no reputation made under the Law that he might fulfil all Righteousness and be the End thereof for Righteousness to all that are found in him and to be made sin for us i. e. a Sacrifice for sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him a Ransom that he might be a Redeemer 3. The Son of God being thus chosen by the Father and sent did come he most readily and freely came in the fulness of Time and according to the Counsel of Peace which had been between them both he came to do the Will of God he was incarnate was manifest in the Flesh yea in the likeness of sinful Flesh and was numbred among Transgressors the Iniquities of all his People were laid on him and he did bear them in his own Body upon the Tree becoming obedient to the Death even the Death of the Cross he did die the Prince of Life did die his Blood was shed that therein might be opened a Fountain for Sin and for Vncleanness 4. Neither is there Salvation in any other there is no other Name under Heaven by which Man may be saved but his no Blood by which he may be washed but his nor Righteousness by which he may be justified but his and therefore it is altogether in vain meer lost labour to look for Salvation any where else Whither shall we go Lord said Peter with Thee alone are the words of Eternal Life And as it is in vain so it is altogether needless for Christ is able to save to the utmost all those that come unto God by him Mark it them that come unto God by him them without exception all them one and another be they never so many and be they what they will never so bad he is able to save them and that compleatly to the full perfection of Salvation to the utmost of their dangers to the utmost of their desires to the utmost of Eternity he is the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him and truly be that hath a Salvation which will reach as far as Eternity doth not will not need one any longer 5. This Salvation doth come most freely from him to all thâ—se that humbly seek it Zech. 9.9 Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just having Salvation He comes to poor Sinners and brings his Salvation with him He once came into the World in Person to work Salvation for them he still comes by his word and Spirit to bring Salvation to them We before said he is able to save and he is full out as willing as able Oh! that lost ruin'd Sinners were as willing to accept Salvation as he is to bestow it indeed what should hinder his being willing all the charge is over it did cost him a great deal but it will cost him no more no more blood no more sweat no more tears no more sighs no more sorrow or shame it is having the joy that was set before him it is seeing the fruit of the travel of his Soul that will issue in his satisfaction It is but his own taking possession of that which he purchased for himself and giving his People possession of that which he purchased for them Hence we have reason to conclude that his heart is in the work and that he doth it with joy and delight be much and often in speaking to your Families concerning this most sweet and precious Iesus and the good will which he bears to the Children of Men. How he stands with his gracious arms stretched out to receive and embrace them that are willing to accept of him and of Salvation upon the terms propounded in the Gospel and hath given us his faithful word for it which he can no more deny than he can deny himself that whosoever cometh to him he will in no wise cast out tho' he hath been never so vile though his Sins have been never so great yet if he will but come he shall find Grace to welcom him and meet with a most kind reception he will spread his skirt over him for the covering of his shame and nakedness and his wings too for the security of his Person and the healing of his wounds 5. Carefully instruct them about the Covenant of Grace that there is a two-fold Covenant 1. A Covenant of Works 2. A Covenant of Grace A Covenant of Works which had Grace in it upon this account that God should deal in a Covenant way with Man which he needed not to have done He was Mans Creator gave him his being and therefore was his undoubted and Sovereign Lord and might have proceeded with him altogether in a way of Sovereignty exacting obedience of him and let him refuse it or fail in it at his peril It was a gracious condescension in God to act in a Covenant-way and oblige himself to reward man for his obedience this is called a Covenant of Works because therein Life was promised to Man upon the terms of his personal perfect obedience and his perseverance therein Now this Covenant was transgress'd and broken by our first Parents soon after that it was made so that no good no happiness is to be hoped for from it by us or by another the Penalty indeed threatned upon the breach thereof may be most righteously exacted and so it will of all those who are found guilty and continue still under it not having fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hopes set before them i. e. not having closed with Christ and by Faith taken Sanctuary in him but no life is to be had by it the Law cannot justifie because it is grown weak through the flesh Rom. 8.3 weak to the purpose of justification and this was by accident through Mans fault Mans weakness is the reason of the Laws weakness the Law was able to have justified innocent perfect Man but it cannot justifie lapsed sinful Man Homo est impotens ad praestandam legem Lex ei Vires
glorious Religion but woe be to the Men and Women who give the occasion and by whom the offence cometh it had been better for them they had never been Born Woe to the Men and Women that pray in their Families and then contradict their own Prayers by an unsuitable Conversation that give very wholesom Counsel and Advice but live quite contrary to it What these Men Build with one hand they pull down with the other these are the Persons that do Religion a mischief through them it is that the Name of God is Blasphemed among others Rom. 2.24 Therefore here also I will give you some Directions and desire you carefully to follow them First Look to it that you be of an unblameable Conversation I know that while you are here you cannot be altogether sinless Paul groaned under a Body of Death but he could not get rid of it but if you will walk so wisely and circumspectly as you ought and have power to do you may be blameless Daniel was so so accurate in the management of himself so true to his trust that though his great Preferment drew upon him the Envy of the Court and his high Place render'd him the more conspicuous and visible and those that were his Enemies watch'd him narrowly yet they despair'd of finding any occasion against him save in the matter of his God Dan. 6.5 He would break the Laws of Men when they did cross the Law of God and that was his Duty and still will be his Honour It is an excellent thing that which nearly greatly concerns us all so to carry as that our own Consciences may not blame us one of which is more than a Thousand Witnesses and will be a greater evidence see that you do not arm them against you that they do not reproach you this was Paul's daily care and study his constant Employment and Exercise to keep his Conscience void of offence Acts 24.16 he would by no means offend his Conscience nor give it any cause of chiding and being angry with him It is also highly our Interest so to carry as that God may not blame us at the last that he may not reproach us when we come to appear in open Court before Angels Men and Devils and to be Tryed for our Lives and Sentence as to our Eternal State that God may not say You called your selves my Children but you were a company of disobedient Children you were a dishonour to me and now before all I do disown you you are none of mine I know you not Oh! do you please God now and obey him now and honour him now that he may not blame you at the last 1 Pet. 3.14 Be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless this doth require and deserve all the diligence you can use But that which I would press upon you now is an unblameable walking before Men that you may be able to look any Man in the face and being righteous be as bold as a Lion and do so in your Families behave your selves wisely by walking within your houses with a perfect heart and in a perfect way Some when they go abroad put on a Cloak of Morality and Religion but when they come home again they put it off they look like Saints good Men sweet temper'd Men in other folks in other Mens houses but they are Tygers or Devils in their own Be you every where what you should be in the fear of God all the day and in all places good every where best at home Let Godliness be no Underling but Commander in chief ordering and ruling both your words and actions See that your selves be not guilty of Lying Swearing Cursing Gaming Drunkenness Uncleanness neither let any filthy Communication proceed out of your mouths for it is infectious tending to the debauching of others and the corrupting of good manners The holy Scriptures which are the best and most exact Rule of Faith and Manners do very much insist upon this and loudly call for it 2 Tim. 2.19 Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity Whatever he did before while he was an Atheist an Heathen though he loved Iniquity and liv'd in it though he drew Iniquity with Cords of Vanity and Sin as with Cart-ropes yet now that he is a Christian he must turn over another Leaf if he would prove himself a Man in Christ he must lead a new Life and be a new Creature he must now be divorced from Iniquity and depart from it from all Iniquity from all sorts of Iniquity and that as far as ever he can saying of his Iniquity what Ephraim said of his Idols What have I to do any more with them Hos. 14.8 His very naming the Name of Christ professing Faith in that Name and calling himself by it doth strictly oblige him thereunto Again this blessed Scripture which is as Gold tryed seven times in the Fire doth require you to have the same Mind in you that was in Christ Iesus and to work out your Salvation with fear and trembling and also to be blameless and harmless the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation among whom ye live and to hold forth the Word of Life Phil. 2.15 16. Though your Lines are cast in a debauched place though you live among a company of profligate Wretches yet do not you learn their Manners they will not be the better for you be not you the worse for them keep you your selves pure though you live in a dirty World that lieth in wickedness be you as spotless as is possible imitating Noah of whom this admirable account is given that when the wickedness of Man was great upon the Earth which was filled with violence and all flesh had corrupted their way Gen. 6.5 12. yet he was a just Man and perfect in his Generation and walked with God Gen. 6.9 Indeed even he miscarried afterward for there is not a just Man upon Earth that liveth and sinneth not but hitherto he pleased God and set you an excellent Copy write after him This my dear Friends is the least that all Men have to expect from you who call your selves Christians and make a Profession of Godliness therefore I beseech you not to fail herein be sure to do this be ye blameless Secondly Be you always grave and serious Keep not only clear of Sin but also of Vanity which will abate your esteem and render you less valuable Really I have not seldom thought it more than enough to offend and turn the Stomachs of sober and wise persons to see the foolish tricks and Antick gestures of some whose Age and Stature did speak them Men. That is evidently true which Elihu said Great Men are not always wise neither do the aged understand Iudgment Iob 32.9 There may be and too often is want of Brains in an hoary Head Paul saith when he was a Child he did as