by many to â—â—â—cuse their Prayerless Conversation with a Want of Time a Want of Confidence and a Want of Vtterance The First Excuse One man doth so Excuse himself I want Time for Family-prayer especially in a Morning I can't spare the Time. This is a most horrrid and wicked Excuse Thou Madman From Whom hast thou all thy Time All thy Time is given by God and shall None of thy Time be given to God What No Time to pray with thy Family God â—uowes thou canst find time to eat with thy family time to sleep with thy family perhaps time to smoke with thy family and no Time to pray with â—em Once more What is it that does engross thy Time and put by thy Prayer T is the World the World And is that such a Portion indeed as to bespeak thy Contempt of an Eternal GOD and of an immortal Soul in the pursuance of it Thou shalt quickly take an everlasting Farewel of all this World This World will not stand thee in any stead ere long when thy Soul thy Soul shall â—e trembling on thy cold lips just ready as the Atheist said to â—ake a great leap in the Dark Yea That very Day wherein thou goest abroad without thy Family Prayers may prove the very Day wherein an Angry God may say This day shall thy soul be required of thee And what a phrensy is this To be extreme busy earnest about the trifles of this world while a precious never-dying soul is unprovided for I wish that all Prayerless Houses had this Admonition engraved on their walls What is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul Could you see it engraved on those walls with an Hand writing like what Belshazzer saw of old it would no doubt amaze and startle you Look into these leaves and see iâ— with a sharp Style engraven here Besides Family Prayers are no real prejudice to Saecular Affairs They should not be Long Tedious Burdensome and they 'le hinder no Iourney no concern all will prosper the better for them In short God will find an Eternity to Damn the man that cannot find a Time to Pray The Second Excuse Another man doth so excuse himself I waâ—â— Confidence for Family prayer I would pray but I am Asham'd This Excuse is little beter To be ashamed of Prayer is to be ashamed of Christ And it is the plain Word of our Lord JESUS in Marc 8. 38. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed O direful Doom Will not such a smart Thunder clap cause â—hee and thâ— Familâ— to fall down â—pon their knees Never be ashâ—mâ—d of Prayâ—r but be ashamâ—d of sin t is a 〈◊〉 to live without prayer If you have any Scoffers in your Houses whom t is not fiâ— you should pray before then do as Abraham did e'en â—urn â—em out of the doors Better Turn them out than Turn Goâ— out They that use not Family-prayer say to the Almighty Depart from us The Third Excuâ—e But the Excuse of some is I want Utterance for Family-prayer I would pray but I am not gifted for it I cannot pray To this I answer we often say I cannot when I will not is the Bottom of it Suppose a sevcre pâ—nalâ—y were by the Magistrate laid upon every prayerless Family Daniel because he would pray with his Family was thrown to the Lions for it Suppose a lighter punishmâ—nt far away were to be inflicted on all them who do not pray in their Family Suppose a God or a Fine were inflicted on you for it Would you then continue Prayerless Behold the great God has by the Statute Lawes of Heaven ordeined that a Prayerless Family sahll have all manner of Calamities inflicted on it The Lions the Devils of the pit below shall devour the unhappy Master of such a Family And will not this make you pray Besides When you find that you Want things then you don't wanâ— Words the poor man does not want words when he is to Ask Alms. O sit down and look upon the the Wants Woes of your pooâ— Family you cannot then but have something to say for them And what tho you cannot pray Quaintly Yet you may pray Gracioâ—sly and pray Acceptably Florid Elegant Orations in your Prayers God expecteth not a few humble penitent broken-hearted Groans are of more account with Him Tho you Chatter like a Crane or a Swallows 〈◊〉 once Hezekiah did yet the success may be wonderful and glorious What shall I say Moses was unwilling to do what God bade on this very Score in Exod. 4. 10. I am not Eloquent â— But the reply of God was Go and I will teech thee what thou shalt say O that you would make a Tryal of it Friend By'nd by Call thy Family together Tell them That you must not let them remain prayerless any longer lest the Wrath of God break out upon them So Fall down before the Lord among them all and pray as well as God shall enable thee go I am verily perswaded God will teach thee what thou shalt say I am sure thou wilt never have cause to Repent of the Attempt SECT XII YOu have not so much as a shadow of Reason to render why you should not pray with your Families Let me now a little repreâ—â—â—â— why you should for I am III. To propound some Incentives unto Family-Prayer And there are cheefâ—y Two Considerations which I have to set before you Consider First the Direful grievous Curses which prayerless Families are exposed unto Such Families they are the very Suburbs of Hâ—â—â— it self A Prison A Dungeon is to be chosen before a Living in them There is a Words aâ— awfull Word which a Prophet of God haâ— written in a certain place Methinks that Word 〈◊〉 like a Thunderbolt of Death upon the Families in which God is not prayed unto 〈◊〉 t is Written in ler. 10. 25. O Lord pour out â—hy fury on the beatheâ— which know thee not on the Families which call not on thy name Strikes it noâ— cold unto the heart of the Reader Man These are the Treful and the direful words of the Lord Tesus Christ himself He counts thy Prayerless Family no better than a Pagan Family And now he speaks not as an Advocate for thy poor Family He saies not Lord vouchsâ—se thy â—itty and thy pardon to that Family But He saies Lord pour out thy fury upon that family because it calls not on thy Name Alas have yoâ— no more Kindness for your Families than to lay them open to the Fury of a great and a terrible GOD cruel people that you are We read in Zech. 5. begin about a Flying Roll Twenty Cubits long Ten Cubits broad entring into these and those Houses to consume them I am to tell you That Prayerless Houses are to feel the force of this Flying Roll. An huge Roll of Curses belongs to that House in which Prayer is not
that Charge of God in 1. Joh. 3. 23. This is His Commandment that you believe on the Name of his Son. Charge them to accept of Christ Jesus as their Prince and their Saviour Charge them to repair unto Christ Jesus for Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption Lay also upon them that Charge of God in Mat. 6. 6. Enter into thy Closet and pray to thy Father in secret Charge them to Retire for their Devotions every day Charge them to let not a day pass them without Crying to God for His Mercy and Pardon and Salvation Once more Lay upon them that Charge of God in Prov. 1. 10. My son if Sinners entice thee consent thou not Charge them that they be not the Companions of Fools Charge them that they do not associate themselves into an Intimacy and a Familiarity with any but such as may be sober discreet blameless persons Finally Lay upon them that Charge of God in Hag. 1. 5. Thus saith the Lord of hosts Consider your waies Charge them that they Consider what their present Condition is and what their future Condition is like to be Charge them that they consider of their past Behaviours and of the Death and Iudgment and Eternity which is yet before them A young man has become a real Convert by being obliged unto Consideration for one Quarter of an Hour in a Day Wish for them say to them Oh that they were wise that they would Consider In a word Let your Charge on them be that which Holy Bolton gave to his Children when he dyed I charge you that at the Day of Iudgement none of you dare to meet me in an Unregenerate estate Secondly The Manner of Family-Instruction T is to be performed in such a Manner as may best Attain the Ends of it Particularly First We are to Instruct our Families very Seasonably We are told in Matth 24. 45. The Ruler over the Household is to give them their meat in due Season There lies much in the Time we take for the Work. We should indeed have our Frequent Times to do it We should speak what may be for the Instruction of our Families every day and often in a day and on various occasions be dropping our savoury Admonitions Even when we sit at the Table we should rarely Rise without feeding the Minds as well as the Mouthes of our Attendents Much more at the Hâ—urs of Prayer we should do something that may make them more acquainted with Divine Objects then they were before But we should likewise have our Stated Times to do it Especially Sacred Time will be very properly a Stated Time for it On the Dayes of the Lord we should instruct our Houses in the Things of the Lord that were infinitely better than to be Sleeping or Talking at an idle rate as then too many do But about the Stated Time for Family-Instruction there is a double Discretion to be used It is to be dispatched in a Quiet Time in a Time when there is no Disturbance by Passions within or Noises without It is said in Eccles. 9. 16. The words of wise men are heard in quiet and no wise man will speak when there is not Quietness enough to allow an Audience for him And it is to dispens'd in a Lively Time in a Time when Spirits are stirring and Affections are vigorous T is said in Rom. 12. 11. Be â—ervent in spirit serving the Lord thus this peice of Service for the Lord is to be done when there is a Fervency of Disposition thereunto Secondly We are to Instruct our Families very pertinently Accommodate our Instructions to their Conditions Are there any Vnconverted persons in our Families Let them be Suitably Instructed Say to them as in Psal. 34. 11. Hearken to me and I will Teach you the Fear of the Lord. Let them be warned of the Dangers which do threaten their miserable souls and let them be stirred to the Duties that may lay them at the Pool in the way of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are there any Converted persons in our Families Let them too be suitably Instructed We read in Joh. 8. 31. Iesus said unto the Iewes which believed on Him continue in my word Let them be quickned to continue in their Faith and Love and Zeal Let them have Weapons â—o furnish them against all their Difficulties and Cordials to Revive them under all their Discouragements Are there any Vnfruitful Souls in our Families Instruct them suitably by setting before them what is the Doom of the Barren Free and of the Barren Ground even to be cut down and burnt up for ever And say O glorifie your heavenly Father by bringing forth much fruit Are there any Back-sliding Souls in our Families Instruct them suitably by setting before them the Displeasure of God at such as draw-back and His extreme Wrath on them whose Goodness is as the Morning cloud and the early dew and say Remember whence thou art fallen repent and do thy first works Thus are we to suit the the case of those whom we give Instruction to Thirdly We are to Instruct our Families very Diligently T is a thing that we are to labour in T was enjoind in Deut 6. 7. The words which I command thee thou shalt teach them Diligently unto thy Children It calls for our Hearts and our Pains When we set about it we should think with our selves We know not how short our Opportunities may be we know not whether we shall ever speak more to those whom we now direct our selves unto In this as well as in other such Cases we should hear the voice of our own Vncertainty Mortality t is that in Eccles. 9. 10. Do with thy might what thy hand finds to do for there is no work nor wisdom in the grave whither thou art going T is the Work of the Lord about which we are when we are Instructing our Families t is not to be done slothfully we find in Ier. 28. 10. cursed is the man who doth it so t is to be done heartily we find in 2. Chron. 31. 21. that is the way to prosper in it O let us be as Diligent in Instructing of our young people as the Emissaries of Hell are in Seducing of them Fourthly We are to Instruct our Families by Exemple Be Exemplary and follow the Directory of that geat man who said in Psal. 101. 10. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart Let our Walk as well as our Talk show the young people with us how they are to walk and to please God and let us be able to call upon them Do you follow me as I follow Christ. Let us give such Expressions of Love to God and his Truths and His Wayes that our Families may come after us in the like Let them discern how to seek the Face of God and how to bear the Hand of God and how to prize the Word of God by seeing how We do it our selves When Elisha would get for
Expectation of the Psalmist in Psal. 118. 17. I shal not dy but live and declare the works of the Lord. This is to be the Resolution of every man. Can we say I do not dy but live We should add I will then declare the Praises of the Lord. The first Question that the Thoughts of men should be employed upon is What is the Cheef End of Man The true and Just answer To that Question is The Cheef End of man is to glorifie God. Well put the Question so What is the Cheef End of Life The Answer to that Question too will be the same It is to glorifie God. To praise God What is that To praise God is to Render and Procure a due Acknowlement of His Excellencies Indeed all the Duties of Religion are Contained in this Comprehensive thing When we own when we serve when we Adore the Great God in any or all the waies of His Worship Then we praise Him and we further praise Him when we provoke others to join with us in doing so This This Praise of the LORD is the End of our Life in the World. This is the End of our Being We are told that We have our Being in God. Of all things whatever this is then most Reasonable that We should have our Being for God and our Being for Him is not expressed without our praising of Him. The blessed God looks from on high upon mankind and saith as in Isa. 43. 21. This people have I formed for my self they should show forth my Praise Now that which is the End of our Being is the End of our Living too Two things are to be affirmed of it First The Law of God doth Appoint this as as the End of our Lives Unto every man living this is the Voice of God I spare thy life that so thou mayst live my praise It is said in Rom. 14. 7. If we live we are to live unto the Lord. What the Apostle saith of Eating and Drinking may much more be said of Living as in 1. Cor. 10. 30. It must be unto the Glory of God. God gives our Lives God keeps our Lives and this is His reveled His Preceptive Will concerning our Lives Man I suffer thy life yea I support thy life that I may be praised loved admired by thee as long as thou livest It was an heavy dismal Charge against Belshazzer in Dan. 5. 23. God in whose Hand thy breath is thou hast not glorified The Almighty God gives us notice of this Thy Breath is in my hand at the same time He also requires this of us Let thy life be to my prâ—ise That man makes a sacrilegious Incroachment and Invasion upon Gods Right who makes not Godâ—s Praise the End of his living upon God`s Earth There is therefore Secondly this to be added thereunto The Heart of man should Embrace this as the End of our lives It becomes every man to say I live that God who is worthy to be praised may have the praises of my Obedience to Him. It was the godly purpose of the Psalmist in Psal. 147. 2. While I live I will praise the Lord. And a kin to this is the Right Thought which every man should entertain I do live that I may praise the Lord. Hence this is one of the principal Pleas which the Saints have used in their Supâ—lications for their Lives Good Hezekiah pray'd in his Distress Lord let me live And what was his Argument It was that in Isa. 38. 17. 18. The Grave cannot praise thee the living the living he shall praise thee The heart of man should readily close with such an End for the life of man. Satan saies Thou livest only to Enjoy the delights of the Flesh in the world thou livest only to seek to get and to tast the saecular pleasures provided for thee The soul of man should rise with unspeakable Indignation at this wild proposal On the other side our God saies The Business of thy life is to magnifie Mee to make my Praise glorious Here now Here the Soul of every man should fall in and Reply This is all my Salvation and all my Desire But this leads to PROP. II. Prayers for life are then and only then rightly qualified when they have Respect unto the Praises of God. To clear this matter there are these things to be conceived One Conclusion is That the Living on Earth have many peculiar Opportunities to be Praising of God. Indeed Blessed are the dead who dy in the Lord for they too are alwaies praising of Him. But yet they rest from some Praises when they rest from their Labours here The departed Saints are continually shouting Hâ—llelujah Hallelujah before the Throne of God. The Saints they are joyful in glory and the High Praises of God are perpetually Proceeding from those blessed Souls But Christians in this world have their peculiar Opportunities to be Glorifying of Him that made them This did the Psalmist speak in Ps 88. 11. Shall the dead praise thee To instance in some particulars The Living here may be praising of God by the Discharge of many Relations which the dead Saints are strangers unto We may now praise God as Parents as Masters as Officers in the the Church or Common-Wealth All those Capacities will dy with us when we shall go hence and be-no more Again The Living here may be Praising of God by Bearing many a Witness to the Truths and Wayes of the Lord Jesus Christ. We may now bestow many Rebukes upon the Errors and the Evils of a sinful World. We may part with and esteem an Estate with our Ease and our Life it self out of Respect unto the Name of God. But our Testimonies expire with our Lives Once more The Living may be Praising of God by Advancing His Kingdom here below In this Life we may be instrumental to Convince and Convert Vnregenerate Sinners to build up the Church of the Lord Jesus and to Do good among the ignorant by an Exemplary Conversation But this is to be done only below the stars Furthermore There are Graces proper to this Life which God is praised by the Exercising of The Tears of Sorrow for Sin will be dry`d up when we come to the State in which all Sorrow shall flee away Charity in Giving and Forgiving to them that need it there is no occasion for that Charity among them that are above they are all perfect and happy there Patience under Tryals belongs to our present Condition only there are no Afflictions to trouble us when our few dayes full of trouble are passed away In a Word Our Spiritual Warfare is to be attended only in this Valley of the Shadow of Death We cannot fight the Battles of the Lord and therein we cannot shew the praises of the Lord when we are arrived at the End of our Faith the Salvation of our Souls Our Fight is done our Crown is come when we have been Faithful to the Death A Second Conclusion is That Opportunities
God should refer it to you reply'd I would then refer it to him again USE II. Let us all be now Exhorted that the Praise of Ged may be duly accounted by us as the End of our Life in our Prayers for it Let us not shoot beside our Mark or live beside our End. Let us pray that we may live and let us live that we may praise It is the most lamentable plight in the world that a man should spend his Life in Sinning against God rather than in Praising of Him. But alas This is the case of Multitudes Multitudes among us How few of us Consider of in seriously How sew of you that are now before the Lord ever seriously thought with your selves What is the Errand that I am come into the world upon Hast thou not lived above a Score of years in the world and never yet seriously thought What is it that God sent me hither for Every man here I suppose desires to live let your Prayers express those Desires and say after the Psalmist Ps. 32. 8. My Prayer is to the God of my life But more than so Let those Desires be for the sake of your Praises and say after the Psalmist again in Ps. 119. 17. Deal bountifully with thy Servant that I may live and keep thy Word Three things are you to be advised unto yea Four things are to be impoâ—tunately prest upon you First Mark and Prize your Opportunities to be Prâ—â—â—ing of God. Every man has his Opportâ—nities Some have an Instrument of a Thousand Strings but the meanest of us all has an Instrument of Ten strings for our God to be praised with Let every man often enquire What are my Opportunities to glorify God And let every man alwaies conclude My Opportunities are my Treasures Secondly Let the Word of God Direct you in His Praises Be often Consulting of that Peace will be on alâ— and Praise will be from all that walk according to this Rule A Bible Christians let That be your Counsellour on all Occasions The Psalmist could say in Ps. 119. 164. Seven times a day will I praise thee O Lord because of thy Righteous Judgements Thirdly Let the Rod of God provoke you to His Praises If you cannot Bless God for your Afflictions which yet I think is a thing attainable nevertheless I 'm sure you should praise God in your Afflictions Let God gain some Glory and we shall gain some Good by all our Sufferings Take the counsil in Isa. 34. 15. Glorifie the Lord in the Fires To Enforce these Three Things Consider that Thing wich is intimated in the Text. The Lives of your Souls are enwrapped in the praises of God. Saies the Psalmist Let my soul live and it shall praise thee So I may say Let thy Soul praise and it shall live A praising Soul is a Thriving Soul. In this consisteth Life Eternal it self The Life of thy Soul in the Third Heaven will be the praise of thy God for evermore Praise God for thy Life it is a mercy well worth praise Praise God by thy life so thou wilt begin Heaven upon Earth But there is a Fourth Counsil which more immediately concerns that part of the Congregation which are of my own Age and have therefore a more peculiar interest in my Loves and Cares T is to Young People here that I take leave to say Fourthly Begin You now Betimes to live unto the Praise of the everliving God. My Brethren you have not yet begun to live at all if you have not begun to praise the Lord. You are Dead in Trespasses and Sins you are stark dead in the rotten hideous loathsome Graves of your Unregeneracy if you have not yet begun to order your Conversation aright and to ponder How may I so offer praise as to Glorify God But is not this the deplorable Condition of many many Young people here Conscience do thine Office Is not the Hour yet to come is not the Day yet to dawn when that young person whom thou art the Officer of God unto did by an hearty Covenant bind himselfe unto the Serving and the Praising of the Lord But what mean you O ye inconsiderate Youths to delay the Remembring of your Creator so In the Language of the young Prophet whom God sent unto the Iews of old let me say thus saith the Lord Consider your waies Consider the Vncertainty of your Life which you have to be praising of God withal As young as you are you may dy before the most aged person here It hath been truly noted That The old man has Death before his face but the young man has Death behind his back The stroak of Death may sooner lay you in the Dust than some whose Heads old Time hath snow'd upon O look and see and let thy heart shake at the Apprehension of it Thy Death stands just behinâ— thee there with an Horrible Pole-Ax ready lifted up saying as the Prince of old Shall I smite them shall I smite them If the great God utter the word Smite smite thou art gone beyond all Recovery The Blessed God hath newly caused me to look into the Coffins of two very near and sweet Relations neither of which had ever seen Twenty Winters in the World and with a strong hand He then said unto me Go Go tell the young people of Boston and Charlestown that this is that which they are all expos`d unto Behold I am now come in Bitterness and in the heat of my spirit I am come to Warn you of it That You may dy before you are aware of such a dismal Change at hand O do not procrastinate the praises and the Vertues which the God of Heaven Expects from you put not off until Tomorrow For t is the admonition to be now set before you in Prov. 2. 7. Bâ—ast not thy self of Tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth But Consider also the Dreadfulness of a Death ensuing upon a Life not spent in the praising of God. O this Dying t is a solemn thing 't is A thing by it self What followes it But that in Heb. 9. 27. After Death Iudgement That Iudgment will be Eternal and if it come upon thee before thy turning and living unto God it will be very Terrible Hearken to this awful Truth and Voice of the Almighty God and let thy heart quiver as under the loudest claps of Thunder at it If thou Dy before thy peace be made with God and thy praise be given to Him t is impossible thou shouldst escape the Vengeance of Eternal Fire Small Chipâ— as well as great Logs are horribly burnâ—â—◠〈◊〉 there must thou too undergo most exquisite Anguishes for infinitely more than as many Millions of Ages as the Huge Ocean has Drops of Water in it O Consider these Terrors of the Lord and immediately set upon His Praises Now that you would come to these Resolutions before you go from the present Exercise Entreat me not to leave you or to turn from following after you but give me leave to press upon you at least this one Consideration more Consider seriously How exceeding Acceptable it will be to the great God for such Young persons as you to set upon praising of Him Your Praises they are very much desired by the Lord and not a little delightful to Him. He declares My soul desires the first ripe Fruit and He seem'd to express as it were some Hast for the First Fruits under the Law of Old. The Lord in a sort longs to see you serving of Him with the First Fruits of your Age and of your Praise He saies as in Cant. 2. 14. Let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice The Voice of your Praises makes a matchless melody in the ears of the God that has call'd for them The very Chatterings of our infants are pleasant unto us the Praises and the Devotions of young persons are so unto Our Father which is in Heaven and he asketh for them with ungainsayable Importunities 'T was said unto a young man in 1. Chron. 28. 9. If thou seek the Lord He will be found of thee Even so If thou that art a young person praise the Lord he will be pleased with thee One that owns an Orchard full of many fruitful Trees will take a most particular and affectionate Notice of a young Tree beginning to have some little Fruit upon it Our Father is such an Husband man. Young Iohns are they that prove the Disciples whom Iesus loves Young Iosiahs will have special Comforts in this and special Honours in another world And yee Hearts of Adamant are you not yet overcome to resolve I will now praise and serve the great God! O let not your Answer be I am almost perswaded but become Altogether so As t was said of him Behold he prayes thus let it be said of you Behold he praises How How can you be deaf Adders before the Charms of these Considerations Lord visit the hitherto-unperswaded young people here O make it the Day of thy power with them and keep these things in the Imagination of the thoughts of their hearts for Evermore FINIS