entercourse of gods mercy iudgement most healthfull to the soule of euery Christian. Mercie and trueth haue mette together righteousnes and peace haue kissed ech other Let all Christians reioyce at this happy meeting Let the sea make a noise and al that is therein let the flouds clappe their handes and reioyce their fill let the mountaines skip before the Lord like yong rammes and let euery mouth confesse vnto the Lord and sing mercy and iudgement Oh if Gods mercy had not met his iustice by the way and kissed and imbrased it wee had all of vs bin swept away with the whirlewinde of his wrath long ere this day but with thee is mercy saith the Prophet Gods mercy hath staied his iustice from dealing extremely with vs. Who can sufficiently praise this mercie of God The Lord is gratious righteous saith the prophet therfore will be teach sinners in the way Oh what a glory is it to the Lorde to saue poore soules that were wandring downe to hell and oh what cause haue we now aboue all creatures to sound out the praise of this mercifull God who were brought euen to deaths doore are nowe lifted vp againe by his grace this name gratious and mercifull is Gods sweete name and soundeth as much as Iesus whom y e church in the 1. of the Canticles describeth after this manner Thy name is as ointment poured out therefore the virgins loue thee because God hath mercie in store for poore sinfull creatures therefore wee will runne after him by the smell of his garments and remember his loue more then wine all our talking shal bee of him and his mercie and of his praise there shall be no ende Wherefore now you good parents you which are the Lords deputies sing mercie and iudgement to your families continually and sing not onely mercie but sing iudgement also and againe sing not iudgement alone but sing iudgement and mercie both together If you teach your children Gods iustice and iudgements only then they shal fall vpon the rockes of despaire and so goe mourning downe to hell Againe if you learne them onely Gods mercie then will they sinke in the sands of securitie and so bee cast away eternally Wherefore if your desire be to haue your children passe the dangerous sea of this world that so they may arriue in the quiet hauen of blessed rest you must teach them to saile both by Gods iustice and mercie And now hauing taught you out of the former verse the way by the streight line of Gods iustice now we are come to the calme and pleasant sea of his mercie But with thee is mercie Now then looke to your wounds for here is the baulme of Gilead whereby our soules are cured euen Gods mercie Is the candle of thy soule the light of thy mind put out through the darknes of sin so that thou canst not tel how to walke in the course of this life acceptably to God and inoffensiuely to thy neighbour here is Gods mercie in Christ Iesus readie to enlighten thee but with thee is mercie As if the Prophet should haue said with thee is Christ Iesus in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge With thee is mercie with thee is Christ Iesus who is made vnto vs wisedome and righteousnes With thee is mercie with thee is that light that shineth in a darke place vntill the day dawne and the day starre ariseth in our hearts With thee is mercie that is thou art hee which commanded the light to shine out darknes and thou art hee which shineth in our hearts to giue the light of the knowledge of the glorie of God in the face of Christ Iesus And to conclude with thee is mercie that is thou art that louing God which doest counsell vs for our owne good to buy of thee eye salue and to annoynt our eyes therwith that the sight of our vnderstāding may recouer againe to beholde all thy wonderfull mysteries in thy sonne Christ Iesus the which the Angels desire to beholde And with thee is the well of life and in th light shall we see light 2. Secōdly are thy will affections out of frame so that thou hast no power of thy selfe to will desire any heauenly good behold Gods mercie is at hand againe to repaire thē and to put a new power and facultie in them as the Apostle teacheth Phil. 2. For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do euen of his owne good pleasure 3. Thirdly are all thy members distempred with sinne by reason of that law of sinne and bodie of death which hath setled it self in euery part member about thee so that thou criest out with the Apostle O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death Christ Iesus the son of this merciful God being sent down from heauen by his mercifull father hath taken vpon him our whole nature euery power of our nature and hath sanctified it all for vs as the Apostle teacheth vs Heb. 2. For he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one wherefore he is not ashamed to call them brethren And againe in the same chapter For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud he also himselfe likewise tooke part with them that he might destroy through death him that had the power of death that is the diuell So that now if thou wile lay holde on Gods mercie and Christs merits which he once purchased for thee in thine owne nature the power of sinne shall euery day more and more dye in thee and thou shalt grow into the image of Christ thy Sauiour all thy members which before were the instruments and weapons of vnrighteousnes now they shall be chaunged into the instruments of righteousnes fight for God Now thine eyes shall beholde the thing which is right now thine eares shall be open to heare the word now thy hands shall make peace now thy lippes shall speak truth thy mouth shall blesse thy feete shall be swift to all goodnes and euery member shall bee sanctified vnto the Lord. Oh great is this mercie of God that hath giuen his son Christ Iesus to doe so great things for vs. 4. Fourthly doth the multitude of thy sins which thou hast brought forth out of this bodie of death lye boyling in thy conscience so that thou cāst take no rest neither night nor daye come againe hither to the mercie of God In that day saith the Prpohet Zachary there shall bee a fountaine opened to the house of Dauid and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for vncleannes That day is this blessed time of the Gospell in which wee now liue hauing his pretious word sounding vnto vs on both eares this fountaine is that pure righteousnes and merits of his sonne Christ Iesus which he wrought for vs while he
If they see them poore or sicke they sorrow and sigh but though they see them sinne they sorrow not And in this they shew that they brought foorth the bodies of their children but not their soules 3. The third vice is committed of such poore parents which make no great choise with what masters dames they place their children so they haue meate and drinke enough and wages thereto competent and are neither backe beaten nor belly beaten as they say Alas such poore children while they serue for their bellies they may lose their soules because they want godly masters and dames to giue them holesome instruction to hold them in by good example and to gouerne them continually in the feare of the Lord. Wherefore here let all parents learne that it is their duetie to make choise of such masters and dames for their children as are godly and religious wise hearted such as are both able well disposed to traine vp youth in all good nurture Gods seruice and not onely this for the greatest care of al lieth vpon the parent but also they must so often as conueniently they may repaire vnto them and see how they profit and hold them vp by their good counsell be carefull to entreate those which haue the gouernmēt of them to be good vnto them in this chiefe point aboue the rest For as Salomon saith Life and death is in the power of the tongue So wee may well say life and death is in the education of our children If they be well brought vp it shal be life vnto them but if it be otherwise they are trained vp to euerlasting death 4. The fourth vice is the fault of many masters dames who make no further reckoning of their seruants then they doe of their brute beasts For so long as their worke and busines bee well done by them they care for no more and they will teach them no further then may serue for their owne turne and benefit that is to be a profitable seruant vnto them Such masters make their seruants drudges to the world and the diuell and the life of such youth dieth while it shooteth vp All these sinne and trespasse against this commandement of the heauenly father because they are contrarie to good nurture and godly instruction Now hauing shewed what parents and all other gouernours of youth are to shunne in the education of children and seruants wee must come to the second poynt which is to shew wherein this carefull and diligent instruction is to bee executed and this is contained in these words in the trade of his way I will not trouble you with the idiome of the originall the words are faithfully translated and significant enough Vnder these words are contained three diuers instructions in all which the Lord here commaundeth parents to bring vp their children The first is that which we commonly call an occupation or profession of life and this is either mechanicall which wee call handicraft or liberall which is the learning of Schooles and the end of this is either to get his liuing honestly and in Gods ordinance or else if he wanteth no maintenance to applie his profession and trade of life to the benefit of the Common-wealth No childe of what birth and stocke soeuer he be of ought to want this instruction and bringing vp If thou saiest my childe hath no neede of any trade yet the Common-wealth and Gods Church hath need of him and the very Heathen Philosophers will teach thee that no mā is borne for himselfe but his friends will require one part his kindred another and his coūtrie the third And if handicrafts like thee not thou hast the Liberall Sciences of which no man euer was yet ashamed but many haue made them their crowne of glorie Mithridates the great King of Pontus was trained vp in Phisicke and hath left vnto all posterities that worthie confection which is called of his own name Mithridate a treasure more worth then Princes Crownes Iustinian the Romane Emperour was that great Lawyer which by his owne industrie gaue perfection to the law of Nations Quintus Cincinnatus was called from the plow to beare that high office of the Dictatorship in Rome Saul was annointed King while he was seeking his fathers Asses and Dauid was taken from the sheepfold to feed with his wisedome and gouerne with his prudence that honourable people of the children of Israel And againe we reade that those two famous Prophets Elisha and Amos the one was called from the plow and the other from keeping of beasts Which examples do plainly teach vs that the great and reuerend God despiseth no honest trade of life bee it neuer so meane but crowneth it with his blessing to drawe all good minds to his holy ordinance But now adaies such is the pride of our hearts a thing to bee lamēted through all our land that our gentle mens children may not be brought vp in any trade oh it is too base beggerly for thē they must liue of their lands they must maintaine their gentrie a small learning will serue their turne but while this ordinance of God is neglected what miserie from hence ensueth who are the wasters of patrimonies who are the robbers and reuers in the Common-wealth who are the deflowrers of maidens who are the defilers of matrons who are y e corrupters of youth and to speake in one word who are the seedes men of all mischiefe in our countrie but these children of gentlemen who haue not beene taught and trained vp in the trade of their way while they were young For euen as a weede if it grow in a ranke soyle will waxe out of measure noysome so these children comming of honorable parents brought vp in ease and pampered with the delights of gentrie they waxe immeasurably vitious and who may keepe them vnder neither lawes nor Magistrates nor any other good meane Wherefore here the Lord that he might hold all youth vnder his obedience which otherwise would runne out into all maner of extremities he streightly commaundeth all parents whosoeuer 〈◊〉 bring vp their children in some honest 〈◊〉 and profession of life that so thereby they might bee kept from committing much euil and that when they be come to yeares of gouernment God might bee glorified by them and the Common-wealth in which they liue receiue the common mutuall duetie Now then you plainly see here what God requireth none must liue idly but all must bee taught to benefit Gods Church and the common-wealth and such a one is not worthy to liue in any wel ordered and good Common-wealth which cannot one way or other discharge the common duetie thereof The second thing which the Lord requireth at the hands of parents towards their children vnder the name of the trade of their way is that they should teach thē good manners and ciuill behauiour to rise vp to their betters to vncouer the head to make obeisance to be
expressed in the 6. verse of the first chapter And his father would not displease him from his childhood to say why hast thou done so And here I cannot but iustly finde fault with most parents who though they bee somewhat carefull for their children while they be tender yet when they beecome to some yeares of discretion as to fifteene or sixteene which time is most fit for reprehension because then by all reason it should soonest enter and which time againe is most dangerous because then our affections are most strong in vs oh then they bee growne to mens and womens estate they may not bee reprehended they may not bee disgraced But knowe thou O wise parent that so long as thou hast a childe so long thou art a parent and so long as thou art a parent so long thou must carrie a fatherlie authoritie and power ouer him 5. The fift adiunct or helpe is chastisement and it may well bee called a helpe because where reprehension will not serue that must helpe and this must bee vsed in order and method as the Phisitian worketh for as the skilfull Phisitian will not giue his strong and bitter pill before his preparatiue least the working of it should bee hindred by the stubborne and indurate obstructions so the wise parent in curing his sonnes vices must not strike before he hath reprehended or premonished least either hee bee too much cast downe and discouraged or waxe obstinate This kinde of Phisick as it is more strong then the former so it hath a more forcible and excellent working The Councell of Turon saith worthily Magna est in ipsa seueritate pietas per quam tollitur peccandi facultas Great is the godlines in that seueritie by which the power of sinning is taken away And againe Salomon in the 22. of the Prouerbes saith more worthily Foolishnes is bound in the heart of a childe but the rodde of correction shall driue it away And againe in the 13. chapter Hee which spareth the rodde hateth his sonne that is he is an enemie vnto him Wherefore know thou this O thou father that when thou seest thy sonne dangerously sicke with the disease of sinne and doest not vse this helpe and remedy which God in his holy word hath prescribed vnto thee thou art accessarie to thy childes death as an enemie and his blood shall be required at thy hands because that where thou mightest haue saued him thou hast wilfully cast him away for Gods loue good parents looke to your children Oh that parents had lesse naturall affection or more wisdome for euery parent is blinde in his owne children oh is it not a pitifull thing that parents should themselues make graues for their owne children and burie them quick without all compassion and think they do well in it And is it not a folly aboue all follies that while the parent layeth his hand vpon his childes mouth to keepe away the colde winde hee presseth it downe so hard that he strangleth him therewith Thus many a father and mother in the world haue killed their deare ones by their inordinate loue and cockering of them and thus many poore infants must still be murdered because parents will not bee warned Wherfore now I wil lament with the Prophet Ieremie my soule shall mourne in silence and mine eyes shall cast forth riuers of waters while I walke solitarie because I see the destruction that is to come vpon the children of my people for want of good education and gouernmēt The yoke is too heauie breaking is violent chiding discourageth the rod maketh bluenes therefore while wee contemne the Lords helpes death breaketh in vpon vs. Now let vs fall downe before the Lorde and beseech his pittifulnes that hee would euen without meanes saue some of those poore infants which knowe not the right hand from the left and whom the inordinate loue and blind folly of cursed parentes haue destinate to destruction c. Onely let your conuersation bee as it becommeth the Gospell of Christ. Phil. 1.27 Now hauing finished the first parte of the trade of childrens way wee are come to the second to teach good manners Wherein I minde not to trouble you with courte fashions and new fangles and toyes of curious heades but onely to teach such nourture and seemely behauiour as Gods word commendeth and well becommeth the Gospell of Christ Iesus The duties of nurture in which parentes are to bring vp their children are either priuate to themselues or common to all The dutie which the parent must teach his childe priuate to himselfe is vnfayned obedience without any semblance of disliking in all things that hee shall commaunde him not being contrarie to the worde of GOD yea though hee seeth no reason of the thing commaunded as Isaack went obedientlie with his father to the altar though hee sawe no burnt offering nay though his owne reason goeth against it For the parent should giue his childe to vnderstand that God himselfe hath so disposed of him in his holy ordinance that hee shoulde not growe vp in his owne will and gouernement but bee subiect vnto them in all things And this is commaunded Colossians 3.20 Children obeye your Parentes in all thinges for that is well pleasing vnto the Lorde And here Parentes must remember to chastise and banish awaye from their children all murmuring and reasoning of the matter or answering againe for this is the breach of good manners and forbidden of the Lord Phil. 2. Doe all things without murmurings and reasonings There must bee no grumbling and there must bee no debatings or delayes as why may not hee goe why may not shee doe it this is a foule and a shamefull hearing but euery one so soone as hee is commaunded must goe or bee made to goe without any more adoe This is good nurture and Gods commaundement and example of this wee haue in the seruants of that worthie Centurion whose praise is in the Gospell and I saye vnto one goe and hee goeth and to another come and he commeth and to my seruant do this and he doth it Now the rest of the duties which parents must teach their children not onely towards themselues but also towards others consist in reuerence and courtesie and this is to bee shewed in these two heads either in speech or gesture Againe the duties of our speech are to be diuided into other two heads which are fayre speech and conference 1. The first dutie of fayre speech is to call our betters by an honorable name And thus we reade that Abigaile called Dauid Lorde at euery worde yea fourteene times together in that small speech 1. Samuel 25. And thus againe wee reade in the tenth of Marke that that ciuill and well nourtured ruler vsed this courteous speech vnto our sauiour where hee sayth Good Master what shall I doe that I may possesse eternall life And when hee made answere againe hee saide Master all
they fall to their earth againe Here you must teach your children that whē all we euen al the nations of the world were in the hole of Adams side and as yet vncut out God gaue vnto Adam and so vnto vs being in his loines a law with two conditions the lawe was this that wee should not eate of the tree of knowledge of good and euill standing in the middest of the garden of Eden as we may read Gen. 2. The conditions of this law were these the one life euerlasting if we would keepe this law figured out vnto vs by the tree of life of which it was lawfull for vs to eate euery hower the second was that in the same daye wherein wee shoulde breake this law we should dye the death It was not long after this lawe was made but Adam broke it as we may read in 3. chapter of Genesis and so death presently seazed vpon Adam and al vs his posteritie being yet in his loynes according vnto Gods word who said in the same day that thou shalt eate of it thou shalt dye the death and as it is saide 1. Cor. 15. In Adam all di and as it is said Rom. 5. By one man sinne entered into the world and death by sin and so death went ouer all in whom all men haue sinned So that now if wee would looke vnto our fountaine and to our original pit from which we were first digged we should soone see our miserable estate which is nothing els but deadly And now that we might come to the bottom of this pit that so wee might the more fully and cleerely see all our miserie to humble vs vnder the mightie hand of God I must shewe you howe death hath entred vpon vs and howe it hath killed vs and giuen vs the deadly wounde euen while wee liue and yet wee perceiue it not This death hath first seazed vpon our reason and vnderstanding and put out the light of it so that nowe wee bee as blinde as a stocke to beholde anie heauenly thing For Saint Iohn sayth in his first chapter of the Gospell The light shineth in the darkenesse and the darkenesse comprehended it not that is Gods word shineth into our minds and yet wee cannot see it so blinde are wee of our selues Now if we cannot see the light it selfe though it shineth into vs which light is the cause why all other things are seene as the Apostle sheweth Ephesi 5. For it is light that maketh all thinges manifest then much lesse can wee truely beholde any other thing else And whereas the Apostle here calleth our reason and vnderstanding darknes which is all the light of our soules if it were light then howe great is our darkenesse Our Sauiour sayth in the fift of Matthew The light of the bodie is the eye wherefore if the light that is in thee be darkenesse how great is that darkenesse so wee may here say if our reason and vnderstanding which is the eye of the soule bee darkenes how great is this darkenes oh death hath killed vs it hath put out all our light in heauenly things Secondly our miserie which hath fallen vpon vs through this death is so much the greater for that though all our light be put out yet we thinke we see and therefore we doe not with the two blind men in the gospell crie out vnto our Sauiour O Lord the sonne of Dauid haue mercie vpon vs. For the whole hath no need of the phisition and so we walke in blindnes all our dayes to our destruction and goe on without anie mistrust euen as the sheep that are driuen vnto the slaughter vntill we fall from the darknes of this life vnto that vtter darknes in the life to come where is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth Oh great misery A demonstration of this doctrine wee haue in the ninth chapter of the gospell after Saint Iohn where our Sauiour saith I am come vnto iudgment into this worlde that they which see not might see and that they which see might bee made blind Then some of the Pharisies saide are we blind also They could not beleeue that they were blinde and therefore our Sauiour there telleth them that their sinne remained And thus much to shew you how death hath taken the possession of the minde and reason of man in so much that it hath spoyled it of al light in heauenly vnderstanding Secondly this death hath passed from the vnderstanding and reason and hath entred vpon the will and affections and giuen them also the deadly blow so that now we cannot will or affect any thing that good is and profitable to life eternall no more then a stone that is without life vntill such time as Gods preuenting grace repaireth vs and giueth vs a new power from heauen And therefore our Sauiour saith in the sixt of Iohn No man can come to me except the father which hath sent mee drawe him And Saint Augustine vpon these words saith Non trahimus nisi nolentem Wee doe not drawe any thing but that which is vnwilling So that now we hauing lost the life of our will we must be haled and drawen by Gods grace euen as men hale and drawe a logge that hath no moouing in it or else we can neuer come to heauen This doctrine is confirmed by the saying of the Apostle Rom. 7. where hee speaketh of the same thing Who shall deliuer me from the body of this death as if hee should haue saide all is dead euerie part and member of it Moreouer this death hath not onely made the will vncapable of all good things but also it hath so disturbed it that it is become like a furious or mad man repugning and striuing against all reason and therefore the Apostle sayth Gal. 5. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirite against the flesh and these are contrarie one to another so that yee cannot doe the same things that ye would And againe Rom. 8. The wisedome of the flesh is enimitie against God for it is not subiect to the law of God neither in deed cā be 3. This death hath not rested in the reason will but it hath gone further takē hold on the body also euery member of the body and strooken them all out of frame so that now our eares are the eares of folly our eies are the eies of vanity our hands are the hands of strife our mouth is a mouth of cursing our lippes are full of poyson our throate is an open Sepulchre and our feete are swift to shed bloud and generallie al our members are the instruments and weapons of vnrighteousnesse as the Apostle speaketh Roman 6. euery one being captiues to sinne and standing fighting against God and our owne saluation so that now if the Lord shold streightly marke what were amisse in vs Oh Lorde who shall stande 4. This death hath not onlie
liued here vpon earth with vs. Here euery one may wash away all his sinnes bee they neuer so many and filthie This is that riuer of Iordan where Naaman may wash away all his leprosie and his flesh shall come vnto him againe like the flesh of a yong child And this is that poole of Bethesda where euery one may bee cured if hee wash lawfully of whatsoeuer disease hee hath Oh let vs blesse God for this fountaine of liuing waters 5. Fiftly if the law of God terrifie thee and threaten thee with the sentence of death and condemnation then appeale thou to the Gospel and to the law of faith this law is the law of life and is aboue the law of wrath and the law of death this law is like vnto the court of Chancerie which mitigateth the rigour of all other courts this is the law of mercie this is the new law which Christ brought with him from heauen and therfore he would not condemne the woman that was taken in adulterie here euen here thou maiest finde succour and reliefe whensoeuer thou art oppressed with the law of wrath if thou wilt appeale vnto it 6. Lastly whensoeuer the paines of hell catch hold vpon thee and the worme of conscience begin to gnaw within thee for some haue euen here in this life a taste of the torments of hell euen now I say after thou hast felt the sting if thou canst cast thine eyes vpō the brasen Serpent Christ Iesus and looke vpon Gods mercie all thy horrour and feare shall presently flye from thee For hee is our redemption as the Apostle sayth Ephes. 1. By whom we haue redemption through his bloud euen the forgiuenes of our sins and being redeemed ioy and peace of conscience must needes followe Wherefore sayth the Apostle being iustified by faith wee haue peace towardes God They therefore that being not content with a moderate and lawfull sorrow for sinne will by no meanes be brought to receiue the comforts that Christ hath purchased with his most pretious bloud are as much to be blamed as mad mē and contemners of this blessed work of our redemption For what man except hee were mad when hee is redeemed from his prison would goe and chaine vp himselfe againe and bight his owne flesh and so be a prison vnto himselfe I know beloued if God would and if hee were willing with it wee should bee tormented with the sight of our sinnes and with a guiltie conscience continually if hee should streightly marke what were amisse in vs euery moment O Lord who should stand wee should fall vpon our sinnes and our sins should fall vpon vs and wee should both fall vnder Gods reuenging hand and then all comfort should flye from vs but the Lord beloued hee is a God of mercie he would not the death of a sinner as the Prophet Ezechiel teacheth in his 18. chapter I desire not the death of him that dyeth sayth the Lord God With God is mercie with God is ioy with God is comfort with God is light oh who would not embrace this mercifull and sweete God And on the contrary if we fall away from him and if we now neglect his bountiful mercie in offering his grace so freely to redeeme vs from al our sinnes and miseries then it cannot be auoyded but we must needes be whurled into the pit of desolations and one destruction shal follow another Now beloued seeing that wee know our owne miserie and that there is nothing in vs which is found as I haue alreadie shewed vnto you from the sole of the foote vnto the head there is nothing whole therein but wounds and swellings and soresful of corruption they haue not beene wrapped nor bound vp nor mollified with oyle within are horrible desolatiōs without are terrors the sound of mightie iudgements and our destruction is like the ouerthrow of straungers oh why do we then sit still while we perish vtterly Is there no baulme at Gilead saith the Prophet Ieremy is there no mercie in God wherefore now beloued I witnes vnto you al here this day that the Lord is innocent from the death of you all and that if you will not lay hold vpon his mercie so freely proclaimed in your eares by the mouthes of his messengers your bloud shall bee vpon your owne heads for with God is mercie with God are all meanes of your saluation if you will sue vnto him for it Now you good fathers of families make these things knowne vnto your children that they may teach the same again vnto their children after them that God may haue the praise of his mercie through al ages and that all Israel may bee saued as it is written Make your houses little sanctuaries for Gods worship and bee telling of his louing kindnes from day to day let the mercie of God in Christ Iesus be as wel known to your familie as their meate and drinke be not ashamed to speake Christ Iesus because you cannot speake eloquētly the Gospel of Christ as the Apostle telleth you standeth not in words and wisedome of men but in power euidence of the spirite the Lord open your mouthes and fill your hearts with all heauenly wisedom that you may be helpers of Gods ministers to build vp his temple with spiritual stones and that you may lay your children and seruants the polished corners thereof Now after you haue taught your children the remedie against their own miserie which is Gods mercie for there is no other helpe besides this whether we looke to the East or to the West to the North or to the South thē you must shew them also the meane whereby they may come by this and how this mercie of GOD may bee profitable vnto their soules This meane is the hand of faith and without this hand of faith Gods mercie shall profite vs nothing at all God is mercifull in deede yea his mercies are infinite they are a multitude of mercies as the Prophet Dauid speaketh but if thou hast not a hand of faith to lay hold vpon them Gods mercies abide still in himselfe and they shall nothing auaile thee For all the benefit of Christs Gospell is in the vse and application of it Christ is called Emmanuel that is to say God with vs. Alas beloued though God be neuer so good yet without vs he doth vs no good Wherefore wee must get vs faith to draw him into our hearts and this is as the hand that layeth the playster vpon the wound and euen as it little profiteth the wounded man to haue the best medicine lying by him except he had a hand to lay the playster vpon the sore euen so the mercies of God can doe vs small good except wee had a faith to applie them vnto our sinfull soules This then you see is a speciall poynt and therefore most carefully to bee called vpon yea this is euen as necessarie for the life of the soule as
art that wilt bee a good souldier of Christ Iesus and doe him true and faithfull seruice because he hath raunsomed thee from the tyrannie of the diuel thou must renounce and denie from thy heart all vngodlines and that is all that prophanenes of mind wherein before thou diddest liue whē thou regardedst not God nor religion and all worldly lustes that is all the lustes of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life as Saint Iohn teacheth vs 1. Epist. 2.16 all which are the verie armes ensignes which the deuill the prince of darknes beareth against thy deere Sauiour and redeemer Now after that thou hast washed thy hands from all vncleanenes and renounced the deuill with all his adherents the world the flesh art now become embāded in the Lords troups now thou must next learne how to stand in Gods aray what is the whole duety seruice which he requireth at thy handes This consisteth in these three parts as we are here taught in this text first in liuing soberlie to our selues secondly in liuing righteouslie to our neighbours and thirdly in liuing holily or godly towards god In these three points wholy standeth the seruice of God so much as of man is required The first second parts are contained in the second table of Gods law the third is contained in the first Now in the first part of Gods seruice following the order of our text beginning at our selues and rising as it were by steps from the lowest to the highest is to liue soberly towards our selues this is to gouern our own bodies and persons in such measure and comely behauiour as that the Lord who is the continuall beholder of all our actions as well priuate as publike and as well secrete as open bee not offended at vs. Wherefore here euery man must learne to temperate and moderate himselfe in his speech in his gesture in meate and drinke in apparell in pleasures in paines and labors and generally in whatsoeuer concerneth a mans owne person and in all his lawfull liberties so that our speech may not be too rough nor too ridiculous our gesture may not be too light nor too lowring our meate and drinke neither too much nor too delicate our apparell not too gay nor too sluttish our pleasures neither too long nor in bad causes our sorrowes not for euery vain losse nor in any defect or excesse and our labours such as may rather preserue life then quench it in all which we must alwaies hold this rule to consider not what we are able to doe but what is most meete to bee done agreeable with our estate wherein wee may not flatter our selues and seemelie both before God and man This sweete sobrietie is the honest grace and flower of our life which whosoeuer wanteth hee commeth too short of that duetie which God requireth at his handes being vnthankefull to God who hath redeemed him to liue in such an honorable estate offensiue to men and angels and hurtfull to his owne soule and body For what is the cause why our soules corrupt and stinke in the filthie lustes and pleasures of the flesh in al manner of excesse riotous kind of liuing but because they want this sale of sobriety wherby they shold be kept sweet why canst thou not endure to beare the labours of Gods seruice why dooest thou waxe faint in prayer why doest thou thinke it long to heare why doest thou thinke much to streine thy heart vnto God in the zeale of thankesgiuing and why canst thou not away to carie patiētly the easie yoke of Christ Iesus why thou hast not beene acquainted with sobrietie which is as it were the yoke to holde all men within their religious and vertuous endeuours Againe let vs come to the duties of the second table and aske what is the cause why wee cannot liue within the compasse of them Why doe some lift vp the heele against their gouernours like the vntamed horse why doe others liue in continual contentions and fightings like the sauage wolues and Tygers Why do some wast their strength in pleasures as the flame which consumeth the tallowe and why doe other neglecting the tender budde of their decaying stocke draw all through their owne throats while their wife and children starue for hunger and why doe other enuying the age to come gape vpon all things present like Behemoth as though they would make an end of the world with themselues and why do other some kindle such discord amongst their neighbours by that fire of the tongue as Saint Iames calleth it that it can neuer after bee quenched vnto the death and why is hell let loose within our selues to disturbe all the powers and sences about vs with wicked thoughtes lusts why this vertue of sobriety is absent from vs. So that take away sobriety and you vndoe all Religion Wherefore you good parentes you which haue a care of the posteritie and of the Church of God to come and you which thinke nothing too deere for the redemption of your own soules and the soules of your children shewe your thankefulnes vnto GOD in instructing your houshold teach them holines towards God and righteousnes towardes men and teach them not onely holines and righteousnes towardes God and men but also traine them vp in sobrietie towards themselues for this is the locke and key to religion it is the yoke of our life it is the salt of our soules it is the grace of all our actions O you good youth I call to you which loue the Lorde I call to you which honour all those which giue you good instruction and I call to you who had rather dye an honest and godly death while you are young then to liue in the filthie pleasures of sinne for a season and in the ende to bee cast awaye eternallie embrace this noble vertue of sobrietie if there bee anie vnderstanding if anie loue of vertue if anie zeale of chastitie if anie courage for good thinges fulfill my desires in the Lorde who loue your soules so deerely and God almightie raine downe a blessing vpon you 2. The second part of Gods seruice is to liue righteously towardes men and that is to giue euery man his due and right Giue to euerie man his due saith the Apostle Rom. 13. Tribute to whome yee owe tribute custome to whom custome feare to whome feare honour to whome vee owe honour Owe nothing to anie man but to loue one another for hee that loueth another hath fulfilled the lawe Nowe this whole duetie of louing our brethren and in giuing euery one his due we may generally comprehende in this diuision First in honouring and obeying our superiours and gouernours secondly in relieuing our inferiors and all such as stand in neede of our helpe and thirdly in being kinde to our equalles and louing to all For the dueties towardes our superiours the subiect must honour his magistrate with obedience
honorable and heauenly deseruings at our hands wee cannot doe it If our gracious Prince to shew her puissance against a forraine power should call forth one or two of her subiects who are most beholding vnto her to iust and turnie in her presence for her honour would they not straine all their strength in this seruice yea and their liues too Now shall wee doe more for our Prince then we would for God Hath not our God called vs out by name to fight for his honour to bee a chosen and peculiar people vnto himselfe to stand on his parts to shew foorth his vertues and to bee zealous of good workes yea and that wee might the better performe this seruice hee hath furnished vs with his owne armour and weapons yea and his owne hand is with vs too though all men see it not and shall not we now doe valiantly for our God and shall not wee nowe endeuour our best to answere the expectation of our heauenly King O my deare brethren see the ende of your calling You are not called to shewe your owne strength or your owne vertues or your own holines but you are called to shewe foorth the strength and the vertues and the holines of the almightie and to bee zealous of good workes But what is this zeale that we may know it and followe it This zeale as the Spouse in the last chapter of the Canticles teacheth vs is no small matter but a most ardent and burning loue vnspeakable ouercomming all the affections in man Loue is strong as death and zeale is cruell as the graue the coales thereof are fierie coales and a vehement flame yea the flame of God as the Hebrew worde signifieth Much water cannot quench loue neither can the flouds drowne it Now then beloued you see the end of your redemption and calling it is not only to do good works but to be zealous of good works you are called and redeemed to the heate and fire of good works you are called and redeemed to such a burning loue of them that nothing may quench it nay euen as death and the graue ouercome all things so this zeale in vs of good workes should ouercome and cast downe before vs all the lets and impediments which stand vp against vs in the seruice of our God for loue is strong as death zeale is cruell as the graue Wherefore O you redeemed of the Lorde not with golde and siluer as Saint Peter speaketh but with the pretious bloud of his owne sonne lay this vnto your hearts and stirre vp your selues vnto Gods seruice you that haue eares to heare heare and you that haue zeale within you bee inflamed for euery one cannot I call vpon you all as the Apostle Saint Iohn writeth I call vpon you little children because you are well acquainted with your fathers deare loue and tendernesse towards you I call vpon you young men because your affections are strong in you and you are best able to beare the Lordes burthen and I call vpon you olde men because you by reason of your long experience haue most knowledge of your dueties giue the Lorde his due and right and abound in all manner of good workes which he hath ordained for vs to walk in to the glorie of his holy name Teach a child in the trade of his way and when he is olde he shall not depart from it Pro. 22.6 When I began to read this verse vnto you I told you it consisted of two parts of a precept and the reason of the precept Hitherto I haue spoken of the precept and of the necessarie circumstances belonging vnto it and now I am come to speake of the reason of it that so I might stirre vp the life of the precept in his working in you And when he is olde he shall not depart from it that is if thou faithfully instructest him in his way while hee is young he shall haue the benefit of it all his life after But now that parents might bee compassed about with a cloude of exhortations I haue thought good here not onely to presse forth the principall scope of this text but also to sucke out of the bowels thereof the more hidden and abstruse collections and to gather the like arguments out of other scriptures because the whole scripture is one and lendeth hand to it selfe 1. The first reason which should moue parents to take in hand this dutie of instructing their children in this trade of their waye is drawne from the necessitie of the precept because euery child naturally is conceiued and borne out of the way as the Prophet Dauid teacheth vs Psal. 51.5 Behold I was borne in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me And the Apostle Saint Paule sayth Ephes. 2. That we are by nature the children of wrath And Moses in the 6. chapter of Gen. teacheth vs that all the thoughts and imaginations of mans hart are continually euill and the Apostle sayth 1. Cor. 2. that the naturall man cannot perceiue the thinges which are of the spirite of God And againe Rom. 8. hee telleth vs that the wisedome of the flesh is enimitie against God for it is not subiect to the lawe of God neither indeed can be Wherefore now you see plainely how euery mothers child is borne into the world blind in his vnderstanding froward in his will and affections corrupt in all the motions of his hart dead in the life of God wholy possessed with sin so that except now his nature be changed by good education hee cannot possibly applye himselfe vnto any good waye but hee must needs all his life long runne astray and in the end fall headlong into hell fire Wherefore O you parents as you haue giuen your children the worse so giue them the better also as you haue brought them forth the children of wrath and death so now teach them howe they may become the children of grace and life teach your children in the trade of their way they must needes bee taught for except their education and teaching bee better then their birth they are cast away for euer and they may curse their parents that euer they brought them into the world 2. The second reason to moue parents to this vertuous teaching of their children is taken from the oportunitie thereof For if euer they will doe their children good nowe they must doe it while they bee children The Smyth must strike wile the iron is hot and the Plowman must plowe while his ground will worke and the Sayler must saile when hee hath winde and tide and as you see euerie trade hath his proper oportunitie so this trade also of education hath childhood for his fittest time to worke vpon If you doe not teach your children and traine them vp in good nourture while they bee yong all your laboure shall bee but lost afterwardes you shall strike vpon the colde iron you shall plowe in the
himselfe chap 19. verse 13. A foolish sonne is the calamitie of his father And againe chap. 29.15 A child set at libertie maketh his mother ashamed Wherefore oh you good children you that haue more vnderstāding then the rest take pitty vpon your deere parents y t haue taken so much paines for you suffer them not by your dissolute life to be made a spectacle of shame a gazing stocke vnto all others Againe Salomon speaking of vnnurtured children sayth Pro. 20. Hee that curseth his father or his mother his light shall be put out in obscure darknes that is in the vtter darkenes where is weeping and gnashing of teeth Againe in the 30. chap. he saith The eye that mocketh his father and despiseth the obedience of his mother the rauens of the valley shall iob it out and the eagles shall eat it vp that is he shal be slaine in the field and the birdes of the aire shall deuout him Againe Iob speaking of wicked and vngodly parents in his 27. chap. saith If his children bee multiplied they are multiplied to the sword and his posterity shal not be satisfied with bread Againe the Lord in y e prophesie of Amos saith Though they bring vp children yet will I depriue them from being men yea woe to them when I depart from them And againe verse 13. Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer Now from whence commeth all this mischiefe and the cause of this great miserie both vpon children and parents what is the cause of this ruthful sorrow whence springeth this mothers shame and how commeth it to passe that the parents own doung is cast in their faces by their own children in mocking despising of thē and whence arise all these heauie plagues and iudgements of God vpon their children to y e consuming of their eies but from this their owne negligence in bringing vp their children for it is euen iust with God that seeing they haue offended him in his greatest blessings they shuld be plagued in the same thing wherein they offended with his greatest iudgments O you vnnaturall parents Diues in hell shall rise vppe against you in the day of iudgement and condemne you for he being in hel had a care of his fathers house that they might bee forewarned and therefore desired Abraham to send Lazarus to his brethren to testifie vnto them that they came not into that place of torment but you will not admonish your children you wil not teach them Moses and the prophets you wil not shew them the danger of Gods heauie displeasure hanging ouer their heads and therefore your owne children shall be one of the furies in hel to torment you The Lord open your eyes to foresee and flie these fearefull iudgements 6. The sixt and last reason to moue parents to this excellent dutie which is the principall scop of this text is y e diuturnity of this good their children shall be the better for it al their liues after nay the worlde to come shall reape this benefite for such children as you now bring vp such parents shall they bee after you when you are gone and looke what parents you leaue behinde you the like children againe shall they reare vp Wherefore O you parents you are either the making or the marring of the world for if your children learne no good erudition at your hands how should they be good fathers after you and how should they leaue that to their posteritie by the right of inheritance which they neuer receiued from their auncestors Let no man think that I dwell too long in this thing For this is so profitable both for you and your children and for the whole Church of God as that if I should turne aside from it I know not what ground I should choose to bee so profitably occupied in againe this is a most excellent course to this busines I will lay both my shoulders and if this did so much moue you as it doth me we should shortly see a wonderfull change in Gods Church Oh whose heart would it not reioyce to see the walles of Gods kingdome raised vp Wherefore yee that are the Lordes remembrancers keepe not silence and giue him no rest vntill he repayre and set vp Ierusalem the praise of the world call vpon the Lord to moue the hearts of parents and call vpon parents to remember their duties and you parents hearken when you are called vnto and stop not your eares like the deafe Adder Your children are the seede of Gods husbandrie We together are Gods labourers saith the Apostle Ye are Gods husbandrie and Gods building Now euen as it is in the husbandrie of this world the good husband before he reapeth his crop will plowe and prepare his ground for another haruest to follow that and when he hath prepared his ground his next care is for his seede that it may be of the best he dresseth it and sifteth all the vnprofitable soile out of it that so in time to come he might receiue the more happie encrease euen so you good parents you must not liue so careles as though the world should ende with your selues no you must plow and fallow and prepare your seede for another haruest before you reape your owne crop the Lords husbandrie must not die to the end of the world and hee hath made you his plowman together with his ministers and your children are the seede Againe you parents are the Lords orchard and vineyard as we may reade Cant. 4. Esay 5. and therefore your children are the nurserie vnto it The olde trees cannot alwaies stand and the time shall come when all wee shall be cut downe with the axe of death Now as hee that will continue his orchard of good fruites vnto his posteritie will alwaies keepe a nurserie of young impes to succeede as the old shall decay and as he will be more carefull for them then for his older trees because they by reason of their tendernes may sooner catch hurt for if they should be bitten and nipped while they bee young or the canker should take them they should prooue but scrubbed trees and would neuer be fit for their roomes euen so you parents which are both the Lords husbandry and his husbands if you doe not keepe a nurserie for the Lords orchard and if you doe not looke well to your children which are the young oliue plants in this spirituall garden the canker-worme of euill vices shall catch them and the wilde beasts of the forrest the heard of diuels which stray continuallie seeking whome to deuoure shall so bite them that they shall not after vs be fit to come into our roomes and so the Lords vineyard should in time to come growe waste For Gods sake good people looke well to this if your owne children doe not moue you yet let Gods Church and his glorie for many yeares to come preuaile with you Now adaies