are broken and they smitten and beaten because of the fruit that grew upon them so we should be punished for the transgression of our children 1 Sam. 2.31 as Eli was who neglected to prune and correct his sonnes and therefore the Lord did threaten to cut off his arme and the arme of his fathers house hee did not chastise them for their apostasie and back-sliding from the right way and therefore he himselfe by Gods judgement upon him fell backward and his neck brake and hee died The chiefe care of the parent must be to bring up that young nurcerie in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Ephes 6.4 Persicus prunus ex ossibus optimae Scal. in Theop. that as the peach and some plumbs are good arising from the kernell so they from their childhood may know the holy Scripture which is able in that tender age to make them wiser than their teachers and to understand more than the ancients Trees not regarded become crooked and unfruitfull but duely tended they grow to perfection The branch at first shooting out is tender and flexible but at last it growes to a hard and stubborne bough Ut corpora ad quosdam membrorum flexus formare nisi tenera non possunt Quintil. In the beginding if any member of their body grow out of order we will be carefull to seeke for help before their joynts be knit and their bones bee stiffe Oh let us be as provident for their soules as we are prudent for their bodies What is Absaloms beauty or Sauls stature without Solomons wisedome David saith Psal 128.3 thy children shal be like Olive plants round about thy table not like the tall Cedar but the fruitfull Olive Their praise and dignity shall not consist in outward forme and comelinesse but in heavenly endowments and divine gifts and being so qualified they may well be likened to the Olive the fatnesse whereof was used to honour God in sacrifices and to make the face shine in annointing Judg. 9.9 They doe seeke to advance Gods glory Psal 104.15 and they make their father rejoice and have a cheerefull countenance when they behold them walking in all the commandements and ordinances of God blamelesse Psal 144.12 If we desire our sons may bee as plants growne up in their youth we must command them to keepe the way of the Lord and as wee are burning lights by godly instruction so we must be shining lights by vertuous example For what they have seene us doe they will make hast to doe as we have done Be not too indulgent you see how Adonijah rewarded his fathers love 1 Kin. 1.6 who had not displeased him in saying Why hast thou done so And yet he would displease his father and though not in word yet in deed would question his authority in disposing of the kingdome to Solomon who was chosen by the Lord God of Israel We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us Heb. 12.9 and we gave them reverence It may be the more reverence for their correction when it was without provocation or discouragement There is no young tree that doth not send forth some twigs that would be cut off In youth there is something to be taken away Doe not adde the evill of rioting and excesse unto the vanity of youth Such as bring them up in luxury Vinoirrigare consuevit Macrob. Tantumque honoris increvit ut mero infuso enutriantur Plin. Sec. Esay 16.9 deale by their children as Hortensius did by his trees who powred wine to the roots of them in stead of water We should rather imitate the Prophet who saith I will water thee with my teares O Heshbon We must bewaile their offences and be humbled for our former sins Consider from what stocke they did proceed and when we behold their infirmities let us remember that such were some if not all of us But we are washed 1 Cor. 6.11 but we are sanctified but we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God Our planting and watering and all our labour about them will be vaine unlesse God give the increase Multae istarum arboaum meâ manu sunt satae Cicero Plutar. in Artax Cyrus might speake of the trees planted by himselfe but his owne name in the Persian tongue did put him in mind of the Sunne without whose influence the work of his hands could not prosper God is able to change Benoni into Benjamin to make thy sonne become a plant of righteousnesse The child of so many prayers of so many teares cannot miscarry Thou maist thinke thy sons heart to be as dead and barren as Sarahs wombe The Lord who strenthened her to bring forth Isaac is able by the operation of the Spirit to forme Christ in his heart causing you both to laugh and rejoyce There is some fruit that is harsh and unsavoury when it is gathered but usefull and pleasant after it hath been kept a long time Although for the present thy son bee as grievous unto thee as Esau to his mother yet through the Lords mercy hee may hereafter prove as comfortable and obedient as Joseph to his father In the last place I will adde another care and charge of the Parent which is the first and last yea the onely aime and desire of most men who labour to perform or rather to pervert that place where it is said Fathers ought to lay up for their children that as the branches derive their sap and nourishment from the root so children should receive some estate means from their parents Which ought to be done decently and in order Not that the father Quae quantum vertice ad auras Aethereas tantum radice in tartara tendit Virg. like an earth-worm should be hidden as the root under ground living in wilfull penury and obscurity that afterward his branches may flourish in greatnesse and spread themselves abroad He is worse than an Infidell that provides not for his family and hee is worse than an Infidell that doth provide for his family in this manner when hee forgets to distribute to the necessity of the Saints and excludes all works of piety and charity thinking that there is but one thing needfull which is to bee troubled about many things to be overcharged with cares to bee entangled with worldly affaires to eate the bread of sorrowes that he may heap up riches and the glory of his house may be increased He seekes not for the beginning and increase of grace but placeth his godlinesse in gaine and useth all crooked waies and sinister meanes to obtaine his wretched ends viz. that his estate which formerly was small as a grain of mustard-seed may wax a great tree Ramorum pondera adeo in terram curvantur ut annuo spatio infigantur novamque sibi propaginem faciant circa parentem Scal. exer de Indica ficu Mangle in Purchas and
pathes Hos 2.6 than to permit us to runne greedily after licentious errours Psal 23.3 Blessed is the man whom God leadeth in the pathes of righteousnesse for his names sake He doth alwaies heare a voice behind him saying This is the way Isa 30.21 walke in it Having once entred into the way of truth we must persevere in it alwaies going on cheerfully without fainting or wearinesse like the Cherubims in Ezechiel Ezech. 1.9 which went straight forward and returned not againe Although in our walkes we goe first forward and then turne againe yet in this passage we must proceed constantly without turning backe Luke 9.62 for then we are not fit for the Kingdome of God Having begun well who should hinder us from persisting in our obedience It had been better not to have knowne this way than having knowne it 2 Pet. 2.21 to turne from the commandement delivered unto us Gen. 5.22 Did Enoch walke with God three hundred sixty and five yeeres and shall not we walke in his ordinances the short terme of our life which is but a span long He had a spacious ground to walke in of a vast extent like Paradise it selfe whereas we are concluded within narrow bounds and can never goe farre but that we are called backe Psal 90.3 Returne yee children of men Although we cannot keep pace with him and Abraham Gen. 24.40 Psal 116.9 and David yet if we walke in the steps of their faith and obedience we shall in the end finish our course with joy In the meane time Rom. 4.12 as we are preserved from discouragement so we must be awakened from securitie there ought to be a continuall pressing forward in the good way By using our legges in walking we become the more fit and able to performe that exercise So we setting our selves in the right way it pleaseth the Lord to establish our goings and to strengthen us for the better discharge of all holy duties We walke with speed and agility when we desire to obtaine heate thereby so there must be a cheerfull forwardnesse in Gods service and a fervent zeale after his glory that our hearts may be warmed by his grace our soules refreshed by his love Thus by revolving such pious thoughts in our minds we may be preserved from evill as the sea by its fluctuation is kept from putrefaction Hic motus aquas maris à putrefactione tuetur Magir. but how few be there who retire into their owne hearts when they goe forth into their walkes and doe more desire the influence of the Spirit to come upon them Cant. 4.16 as the North wind purging them from the infectious settlings of corruption and to blow upon them as the South wind watering their roots by sweet showers that their graces as spices may flow out than they do the gentle breath of coole aire for the refreshing of their bodies It is the common practice of most men in the very beginning of their daies to enter into an intricate Maze of endlesse wandring walking on every side Impii ambulant in circuitu Psal 12.8 as the Psalmist speakes Running round in a circulation untill they waxe giddy and fall into extreme perill or else be as farre in the end from any true rest and solid comfort as they were in the beginning Job 1.7 It was the Divels vagrant course to go to and fro in the earth and to walke up and downe in it Whom doe these men chuse for their leader while they subject themselves to these serpentine windings being involved and invironed with the turbulent affaires of this life out of which they know not how to extricate and unfold themselves and yet they thinke their way to be safe while they seeke to compasse their designes in this turning Labyrinth when as they have never set foot into the path of life but are as farre from arriving at the port of blisse as they be from good success who would presse thorow the North-west passage and at last if ever returne backe with nought but emptinesse and desolation These men seem to be driven with the unsettled errour of Copernicus Quod terra moveatur sol sit omnis motus expers Clavius who thought that the earth did move and the sunne stood still so they are whirled about with the world and doe compasse sea and land for gaine or to accomplish their designes but they stirre not in pursuit of heavenly blessings 2 Cor. 4.4 their minds being blinded by the god of this world lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them like the Egyptians Exod. 10.23 which rose not from their place in the three daies of thicke darknesse so they during the three daies of their youth middle age and old age never rouze up themselves to seeke for the treasure in heaven or to discover the sweet light of Gods Word whereas they make haste to obtaine the fading benefits of this transitory life with such violent forwardnesse that the swift pace of Asahel or Jehu doth not exceed their furious speed Having spent their breath and tired themselves in following this shadow that flyes away from them it were their onely happinesse to consider their erroneous waies And as Alexander did cut that knot he was not able to untie so if they can find no place where they may goe forth then to breake the circle and free themselves from that restlesse succession of worldly cares in which they were before entangled Homines tibi molesti Hic apud te eris Occupatio exhausit hic replevere Lips and having escaped those tumults and vexations whereby they formerly wasted their vigour and consumed their best strength now to repose themselves under the shadow of the Almighty Psal 91.1 as in an arbour of rest and refreshing where they may cast off those tedious molestations which formerly oppressed them and being exempted from the throng of the multitude Psal 4.4 may commune with their own heart and so come to discern that sore travell wherewith all they are exercised under the Sunne who spend their vain life as a shadow and their daies in sorrow and griefe while they seeke after leasing Judg. 9.15 and trust unto the shadow of Jothams bramble that will rend and teare them or of Manasses thornes 2 Chron. 33.11 Jonah 4.7 that will deceive them or of Jonas gourd that will soon forsake them placing their confidence in the instable benefits of this life which before the morning may be dried up from the roots like the barren figge-tree Mar. 11.20 Luke 12.20 Thou foole this night thy soule shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be that thou hast provided Such as relye upon these outward helpes for the fruition of good and protection from evill declare plainly from what stocke they are come viz. that they be the off-spring of
am sure the Lord hath been unto us a wall of fire round about Zech. 2.5 and not of fire only but as the waters were a wall unto the Israelites on the right hand Exod. 14.22 and on the left so he hath surrounded us with his favourable protection on every side whose providence and love towards us have been a surer defence than a wall of brass could have been When our cruell enemies beset us round and thought to have laid waste defenced Cities into ruinous heapes God knew their rage against us and their tumult came up into his eares he put a hook into the nose of that great Leviathan and a bridle into his lips driving him whither he pleas'd and turn'd him backe though not by the same way by which he came Since that there arose a generation who were the Serpents in this our Paradise full of all subtilty and all mischiefe such as attempted to beat through a stone wall to overthrow the foundation Winter in Bishop Carltons Remembrance to strike at the root as one of them spake to overturne and dissipate the Royall state and chiefe supportation of the Land but God turned their councell into foolishnesse they who were folden together as thornes and strengthened themselves in their wickednesse are devoured as stubble fully dry The Lord did pluck them out of their dwelling place and root them out of the land of the living Now praised be the Name of the Lord for these former deliverances and blessed be the Lord for the benefits and comforts which at this present wee doe enjoy that peace and prosperity that are within the walls and palaces of this our Sion and above all that our Land doth flow with the sincere milke of the Word and we have the righteous judgements of God which are sweeter than honey and the honey-combe without which though our Vines did bring forth clusters like them at Eshcol Numb 13.23 though we had abundance of all outward helpes yet we were most miserable In former times there have been manifold rebellions and insurrections in the Land when the trees would annoint a King over them the subjects would depose one and exalt another and though England were then a garden of deliciousnesse unto the Popes Innocent 4. Hortus deliciarum puteus inexhaustus Abbot against Hill as one of them boasted and a faire flower in their garland yet in it self it was a vally of slaughter where thousands did fall on the right hand and ten thousand on the left And besides them which were cut off in the civill wars as in the destruction of the Moabites 2 Kin. 3.19 every faire and good tree was felled so here some of the most fruitfull and godly were hewen down as unprofitable trees and cast into the fire Frustrà dicens folia decuti ramusculos amputari Radicem hanc Haereticorum spem unicam excindendam Bishop Godwin Yea that cruell GARDINER who then raged could not be satisfied with shreading off so many branches but he would have laid the axe to the root and have taken away the life of Her who was overshadowed by the rich mercies of the Almighty that she might afterward excell all the Daughters in doing vertuously and become a refuge for them in distresse Since the beginning of whose reigne our Kingdome hath been as a watered garden Isa 58.11 and like a spring of waters Our speares have been turned into pruning-hookes Mic. 4.3 and here have been the happy Islands Apud Graecum Gram. reperi Insulas Fortunatas in Britaunia esse ubi frondent arbores c. Muretus where all things have flourished in excellent beauty and perfection So long as we have the dew of Heaven we may expect the fatnesse of the earth while we have the Sunne we may hope for precious fruits to be brought forth thereby while we have the Word of truth we may hope for the blessings that do attend upon the same But as there was a figge-tree Quamdiu ea viveret libertatem pop Rom. incolumem mansuram Festus Jos Scal. which was ominous to the Romanes if it withered so there is a Vine that the Lord brought out of Egypt and hath planted it amongst us causing it to take deep root and fill the Land If this be laid waste we may justly feare the anger of the Lord if wee being freed from the darknesse of Popery shall become unfruitfull we may looke for judgement and fiery indignation Where God bestowes great cost Luke 20. he requires fruit proportionably Isa 5. if we be planted as against a wall where the heat of the Sunne is more strong and united if we have powerfull meanes to helpe us forward in producing good fruit and yet continue barren then our sinnes will soon be ripened thereby like the basket of summer fruit which Amos saw Amos 8.2 and Gods vengeance will more speedily fall upon us like the rod of an almond which Jeremiah saw Jer. 1.11 12. for he will hasten his word to performe it he will take away the hedge and break downe the wall and leave us as a prey to our enemies Now where is that good Nehemiah who laboureth night and day to repaire the breaches of the wall Where is the man that makes up the hedge Ezech. 22.30 and stands in the gap before the Lord for the land that he may not destroy it Who is there like Israel that hath power as a Prince and prevailes with God for blessings Who is there like Moses that is mighty and potent to hinder Gods punishments from entring in amongst us By variance dissention we raze downe the wall and are subject to ruine and destruction Oh that we were strongly knit and firmly joyned under our head corner-stone Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unitie Such as shall raise up the partition wall formerly demolished and shall cause difference and opposition to grow up may feare that curse to fall upon them which is denounced against the builders of Jericho Josh 6.26 We ought rather to be as a firm and sure wall fixed and immoveable standing fast in the faith supporting and strengthening the weake restoring such as are overtaken in a fault Gal. 6.1 2. in the spirit of meekness bearing one anothers burthen reflecting that warmth and influence we receive from above for the benefit of them that are nigh unto us to bring them to maturity and not to be wavering-minded and instable in all our waies like a bowing wall Psal 62.3 and a tottering fence not to be malicious against others Eccles 10.8 like that hedge which hath a serpent hidden in it not to be fierce and violent in sharpe invectives like a thorne hedge piercing them through with many sorrowes Mich. 7.4 which come nigh unto us Wicked men are often compared to briers and thornes Ezech. 2.6 increasing and multiplying upon
were performed so likewise although men may be labourers and workers with God and some builders 1 Cor. 3.9 10. 2 Cor. 6.1 and some master-builders yet God is the supreme Agent working in us both to will and to doe of his good pleasure Hee that built all things is God who doth still uphold them by the word of his power who likewise planted Paradise and the whole world who sends us yeerly the spring and makes our gardens green and our trees to flourish Exod. 15.17 He hath planted us in the mountaine of his inheritance in the place which he hath made for himselfe to dwell in Terram pressit minus movetur ob hoe nascentes radices exire patitur ac solum apprehendere Senec. epist 86. And as trees in the beginning are surely fixed that they may not be carried about of every wind by meanes whereof the roots cannot be fastened in the earth so wee ought to stand fast in the faith which grace must bee wrought in us by the Almighty God Rom. 16.25 who is of power to stablish 1 Pet. 5.10 Heb. 13.21 strengthen settle us and to make us perfect in every good worke to doe his will He is able to supply all our wants and to work in us that which is well pleasing in his sight Wherefore in the first place wee should seeke unto the Lord for his supportation that we may stand complete before him and be thorowly furnished unto every good work 2 Tim 2.6 and then as the husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits so we being enriched and strengthened by the divine blessing and power working in us mightily must offer up our first-fruits in a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord. Now as in the parables the Lord of the Vineyard hath his husbandmen and vine-dressers under him So God requires that we should be diligent and industrious in labouring to bring forth good fruit 2 Chro. 27.28 Item vinitoribus Schimhi i. exercentibus opus vinearum Jun. David the King appointed Baal-hanan over the Olive trees and Sycomore trees and Shimei over the Vineyards who ruled and directed the inferiour labourers which did the worke that belonged thereunto The Lord hath ordained his Ministers to instruct us in the truth and to declare all his counsell not keeping backe any thing that is profitable unto us and he expects our paines and endevours in reforming what is evill and in seeking for helpfull meanes for our furtherance in all godlinesse and honesty Redit agricolis labor actus in orbem Virg. There must be a continuall care and attendance in planting of an Orchard the young trees must be assisted and defended against the power of the wind and watered in time of drought Falce rescindendum ne pars sincera trahatur such branches as wither should be cut off if any of the trees be dead they must be renewed and supplied Luke 13.8 if barren they must be helped as the fig-tree was Also by pruning and other cost we should repaire such as begin to decline and cease from yeelding fruit Even thus is our condition Psal 104.23 Man goeth forth unto his work to his labour untill the evening I speake not of bodily labour and the sweat of the face without which we should not eat our bread but of the inward labour of the mind which is more difficult when we worke out our salvation with feare and trembling And although we begin at the third houre or early in the morning yet we persevere untill the evening that we may be workmen which need not be ashamed being approved of God when he commeth and finds us so doing If we did consider the quantity of worke to be done the manifold duties to be performed the brevity of the time and our owne weakenesse and unsufficiencie we would not be sloathfull in this businesse nor expect any ease or forbearance untill the appointed time in which we shall rest from our labours Herein we ought to be followers of that chosen vessell who never desisted from his office and therefore might well joyne his watchings to his labours and painfulnesse For he was vigilant in his labours 2 Cor. 6.5 11.27 and laborious in his watchings When he had an auditory he ceased not to warne them night and day Act. 20.11 31. 16.25 continuing his speech untill midnight yea till the break of day and when absent from them 2 Tim. 1.3 at midnight he praised God and night and day prayed for himselfe and others In so doing he was a follower of Christ who that hee might finish the worke for which hee was sent he daily taught the people and when others slept he continued whole nights in prayer If some men did thinke upon this it might restraine them from consuming many nights in works of darknesse that shall not be so much as named by me and from spending many precious hours and from spending many good dayes and from spending many happy yeers and from spending a long life without the least profit unto their soules When there are so many expences and nothing comming in all the time no inward grace or blessing what account will be given in the conclusion The wicked Steward was commended for his wisedome and providence but these ungodly servants will be condemned for their folly Let us lay this to heart and shew forth our moderation in our lawfull and seasonable use not in our inordinate and excessive abuse of worldly pleasures Insectatio hostium vel ferarum Jun. Although pursuing might hinder Baal from regarding of his sacrifice let it never take away our due regard of Gods sacrifice To keepe us from love of vanity and seeking after leasing we should remember that work whereunto we are called and reflecting upon our selves should search every part of the inward and outward man seeking for redresse and amendment in that wherein we have revolted and are defective Wherefore we will begin with that part which is deepe and hidden and requires most exact enquirie as being the chiefe fountaine of all For though the decay of a plant appeares first in the withering of the twigs and branches yet it ariseth for the most part from a decay in the root so the decay of grace may appeare to the view first in our speeches and carriage yet the originall cause of the same is want of Gods feare and weakenesse of faith in the heart As the Mariners went downe into the sides of the ship where they found Jonah fast asleep who was the cause of all their trouble so let us enter into the bottome of our heart by strict examination let us search every corner thereof as with a candle that we may discover our deadnesse and security from whence this barrennesse in our conversation and uncomfortable walking before the Lord doe proceed when wee find any coldnesse or backwardnesse in Gods service we must be more