made so publick a profession It would make them more afraid to do bad things against which they had protested so solemnly And not only fear but shame in this case would restrain them from doing wickedly This would be to young People a great defence against Temptations Bad men would not so boldly ask them to sin if they knew they had openly and solemnly disowned and renounced them and all their wicked Courses and if they were tempted they would be more apt to say in their own minds Shall we do such wicked things and run the hazard of being Covenant-breakers and perjured persons Shall we commit such Villanies and practice such Abominations and thereby break our solemn Vow and Engagement Shall we by our folly and impiety give occasion of offence and scandal to the Church of Christ which he hath purchased with his Blood Shall we renounce the Captain of our Salvation and prove Deserters who have so lately vowed to renounce the Devil and all his Works What a mighty defence would this be to your Children when assaulted by the fiery Darts of the Devil the Vanities of the World and the lusts of their own deceitful hearts to consider that by their own actual Consent they have renounced all these and given up themselves into the hands of God to be kept by his mighty Power through Faith unto Salvation They have vowed and they ought to perform it to keep his righteous Judgments These things being impartially considered should mightily excite Parents to see that their Children do openly and solemnly profess their Faith in Christ crucified their resolution to obey him to serve him and love him to fight under his Banner against sin the Devil and the World and to continue his Faithful Souldiers and Servants unto their lives end Is not this your Glory that your Children are Christians and do you think it a shame or dishonour for you or them if they make a solemn profession of their Christianity that they avow their Religion and will by Gods help make good the promise which was made in their Name in Baptism Of so great importance is this Custom that the greatest men amongst the Reformers did highly commend it and did earnestly with that it might be restored as a thing of great use towards the reviving the true Spirit of Christianity 8. Duty to encourage them to come to the Lord's Table Eighthly When they are fit for it you should encourage them to come to the Table of the Lord that they may be strengthened in their most holy Faith and further assured of the love of God that they may make a publick profession of their Christianity of their love to their Lord and Master Jesus of their Charity to all Men and of their sincere affection to those who are Christs Members and Followers They ought to make use of this holy Sacrament that their love to their dearest Lord and Saviour may be kindled and enflamed by remembring his Love and shewing forth his Death that they may bind themselves more strictly to serve and obey him and to fulfil their Baptismal Engagement How glad should Parents be to see their Children advanced to this honour to eat and drink at their Lord's Table to partake of so great a Testimony of his Kindness and Friendship How earnestly should they encourage them to embrace this opportunity of renewing their Covenant with the Lord to live and to dye his faithful Servants Do you not desire to have them saved to have them delivered from their Lusts and Passions their Pride and Revenge Uncharitableness and Malice their Hatred and Envy and from all manner of Sin and Folly to be made pure and clean in Heart and Life to be made meet for that holy place where no unclean thing can enter Do you not desire that their Sins may be blotted out that they may be washed with the Blood of their Saviour And yet do you not advise and entreat them for their Souls Health and Safety to come to the Holy Communion which is designed for these excellent and great Ends and Purposes But alas how far are too many Parents from doing this for their Children How many do either wholly or for the most part neglect and slight this holy Ordinance themselves as if our Lord had without any just or necessary ground appointed it How can such Persons expect the precious Fruits of the Death of Christ who will not remember his Death when he so lovingly and kindly calls and invites them to do it Do this in remembrance of me What a great Argument is it of a wonderful decay of true Piety and Religion in the World when Men do thus despise and set at naught the kindness of their Lord and Saviour When they refuse to do a thing so just and reasonable and so easie as this is which tends so much to his Glory and their own true Happiness and Welfare both here and hereafter 9. Duty to take care that they accustom themselves to Self-Examination Ninthly When they are fit for it see that they accustom themselves to Self-Examination that they spend a few moments every night if another time of the day be not more convenient for them to do it in in calling themselves to an account That they may see what good or what evil they have done That they may give praise and thanks unto God for any thing they have done which was good and right and that they may confess their Sins and Follies begging his gracious pardon and renewing their purposes and resolutions to do better for the time to come But besides these daily short Reviews of their Heart and Life 't is fit to call upon them when they are well advanced in years to a more strict and solemn Examination of themselves to Prayer and Fasting as their Age and Strength can bear it This may be done once a Month or once in two Months or once a Quarter at least As to their abstinence from Food on such days there 's no Rule can be given to serve all persons if they can fast one meal or two it is well if not then they may eat less at a time and of such things as are less apt to be a hinderance to their Devotion That is to be done that serves most to render them fit for Prayer and Meditation It will be convenient in order to their doing this to good purpose to be directed to a method that so their Thoughts may not wander and be unfixed For which end it will be of good use to have the direction of their Minister if he be a discreet and good Man or of some other prudent serious Christian Friend Or you may recommend to them some plain and easie short Treatise on this Subject such as you shall find written discreetly with due moderation of Spirit There is not any one method can be prescribed for all persons nor fit for all times But in general upon such days it 's fit for them to
to make them proud cause them to yield and to submit to your Will or to the Will of others whom you think fit they should obey If you find them peevish and passionate teach them to be meek and gentle to be of a sweet and mild disposition to love those who have done or said somewhat that crossed them not to seek revenge but to forgive them and to be kind to them to be ready when they have occasion to do them good for evil If they be given to Lying shew them the evil of it that a lying Tongue is an abomination to the Lord Prov. 6.17 That the Devil is the Father of Lyars and that they are in the number of those that are shut out of the new Jerusalem and have their part in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 and 22.15 Shew them how great hurt it will do them and what shame it will bring upon them That if they be found Lyars people will not believe them even when they speak Truth Encourage them to confess their faults if they have done any thing amiss be apt to pardon them when they confess and tell the Truth and commend them for doing so But if you find them in a Lye be sure to chastise them for it especially if they have done it oftner than once Nothing tends more to the spoiling of Children than their getting into such a habit This is a Vice that grows up apace if not timely cured by good Education Thereby they learn to grow so false and disingenuous that they are not fit to be trusted or employed If you find them to be of too prodigal a Temper apt to be too profuse in their Expences ready to throw away their Money upon Trifles and when there is no reasonable occasion for it you ought by all prudent and proper Methods to endeavour to make them a little more discreet and careful That they waste nothing in vain that may be of use to poor people That they do not throw away that which may do good at some time or other Suggest often to them that we are Stewards of whatever God bestows upon us that he will call us to an account and that therefore we ought to employ to good purpose all those good things he gives us Shew them what our Saviour said to his Disciples after he had sed five thousand men with five Loaves and two Fishes Joh. 6.12 When they were filled he said unto his Disciples Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost He would not have any thing lost or thrown away unnecessarily which might be useful afterwards to one or other If you find them of a covetous Temper endeavour to enlarge their thoughts by the Principles of Christian Charity Shew them what an excellent thing it is to do good to shew mercy and kindness to make peoples hearts glad Accustom them to the doing such kind and charitable offices for which end give them now and then money and other things to bestow on those who are poor and needy Shew them the evil of Covetousness that it 's the root of all evil that it takes the heart off from God and rendereth it unfit for the consideration of Divine things and for all worthy and useful designs that it disposeth a man for the basest and vilest actions and undertakings as it did Judas to betray his Lord That it bereaves him of true repose and satisfaction of mind and pierceth him through with many sorrows 1 Tim. 6.9 10. If you perceive them to be naturally melancholy and fearful of every little thing endeavour to chear up their Spirits Suggest to them such considerations and possess them with such Maxims and Principles as tend to fortifie their minds against those things which are apt to make them uneasie and are the occasion of their fear If their distemper proceed from some bodily indisposition as oft-times it does use such helps as are necessary When such evil habits of body are once rooted and strongly fixed and when the blood and spirits are deeply infected therewith they are a very grievous clog to the Soul and a great hindrance to that chearfulness and liberty of Spirit wherewith people ought always to endeavour to serve God If you see them to be of too gay and airy a Temper so that they cannot fix and be stayed at any time you are to use a great deal of prudence and discretion to compose and settle their Spirits See that they use their Wit and Fancy without giving offence and that they hurt no body by indecent reflections Let them by no means take liberty to indulge their humour in jesting about things that are Sacred or that have any relation thereto But you are to take heed lest your endeavouring to cure one fault occasion another lest your striving to deliver them from one extream drive them to the contrary that is lest instead of their being too gay you make them melancholy and dull Their Wit and Spirit is not to be rooted out but reformed and rightly managed for this may be of use for seasoning and sweetning Conversation If you observe them to be rash and forward ready to speak and act without due consideration strive to make them more cautious and circumspect to reflect and think a little more on what they say and do lest otherwise they fall into a habit of speaking and acting impertinently and indiscreetly when they say or do a foolish thing for lack of consideration then take occasion to make them sensible what a shame it is for them to do so what a reproach to those who are reasonable Creatures to speak and act like fools without Reason and Understanding Shew them some of the bad consequences which attend speaking and acting in this manner Thus you are to make it your Business to consider what are their defects and faults and to do all that you can to cure them thereof and to direct them in the ways of Wisdom and Virtue 5. Duty to see that they be taught to Read Fifthly When once they are of an Age fit for it see that they be taught to read that thereby they may be able to make use of the Holy Bible If your condition in the World is such as disables you from doing much for them as to their outward Estate yet if you do this it may prove unless it be their own fault of unspeakable advantage to them and in some sense better than a great Portion It is sad to see how a great many bestow readily enough on their Children to learn a gainful Trade that they may get Wealth And yet they are very unwilling to give a little money to one to teach them to read that sacred Book which instructs them in the Art of being happy how to be saved how to obtain a Crown of Glory to purchase a Kingdom which cannot be shaken to obtain a Pearl of greatest price and enduring Substance The Word of God doth teach
us all this It 's given to make us Wise to Salvation that we may make our Calling and our Election sure and therefore neglect not to do this for them to teach them to read And when they can do it cause them every day to read more or less in that Sacred Book See that they do it with great Reverence as being the Word of God Cause them to consider who it is that speaketh to them therein and what it is that he commands promises or threatens direct them at first to read such places as are most easie to be understood and which are apt to make the deepest impressions After they have read see what they remember cause them to tell you what they can call to mind Explain to them so far as you are able what they do not know especially in such things as are most useful to make them wiser and better Appoint them now and then a verse or two to get by heart cause them to repeat them with due gravity let them not do it in a trifling manner as if they were telling a silly Story Do not appoint them too many things to be got by heart for this will do more hurt than good A few things well understood do better than a great many by rote Great care ought to be taken what Books they read Be careful lest they read any Books which tend to poyson their minds to fill them with false Opinions or to lead them to bad practices Their tender minds are apt very quickly to be corrupted by such Treatises Even they who are of a more fixed and solid Virtue are in danger of receiving hurt by reading such Books especially when they are writ with great Art and when their Notions are represented in fair and Beautiful Colours They are apt to impress on the fancy some Images of no good consequence to the Soul How great need therefore have Parents to restrain their Children from reading such Books as tend to pollute their innocent and chaste minds which are capable of receiving any sort of impressions either good or bad As for Books of Devotion great care is to be taken that only such be put into their hands as are writ in a plain and easie style which treat of things fit and needful to be known by them and which are most likely to make them Wise and Good They are to be accustomed to the Writings of those who are Men of greatest Moderation who do not impose their own conceits as necessary Rules of Devotion who do not require such things as absolutely needful to be done which God hath not declared to be so nor yet who shorten the Rule by cutting off such things as God hath injoyned us All Books which lead men to extreams are carefully to be avoided and such Treatises are to be made use of as contain the plain and necessary Doctrines of Christianity which tend to inspire Men with the Spirit of Purity of Truth of Peace and Love which promote Sincerity Justice Temperance Charity Meekness Humility Patience Resignation to the will of God in all things Zeal for his Honour and Glory a firm belief and trust in him c. When it is requisite to acquaint them with the different Opinions amongst Protestants that their minds may not be unfixed and unsettled when they go abroad into the World be sure not to put into their hands such Tracts as are writ with a fiery uncharitable Spirit and in a dogmatick and magisterial manner but such as are writ with great Temper and Moderation which tend to heal the Church of all Contentions and Divisions and not to kindle and increase them which do not load Mens Opinions with unjust extravagant and impious consequences which never entred into the minds of those who vouched them but such as make fair and fovourable constructions and just allowances Such Practices are chiefly to be chosen for them which dispose Men to be humble and modest not to be stiff and pertinacious in their own private Sentiments not rashly and severely to condemn others who have different thoughts and never on the account of any such particular Opinions to break the peace of Christian Society nor to grow more cold in their respect and affection towards those who have not the same thoughts with themselves in lesser matters They are as it were to feed upon Books of this sort and carefully to digest them 6. Duty to bring them to the place of publick Worship so soon as they are fit for it Sixthly You are to bring them to the place of publick Worship so soon as they are fit for it that they may have the benefit of the Prayers of God's People and may learn as they are capable somewhat that may make them wiser and better Take heed how they carry themselves in the House of God that it be with all possible silence and reverence and that they perform their publick Devotions in a decent manner When they come from Church see what they remember if they have got any thing by heart encourage them If they remember nothing you may tell them somewhat or other of the Sermon which is fit for them to learn Endeavour by their constant attendance on the publick Worship to beget in them a mighty regard thereto as being one great means appointed of God to increase in them true Knowledge and Piety Let them not spend the rest of the Lords day in rambling about but so far as their age can bear it let them be imployed usefully 7. Duty to make them understand their Baptismal Covenant Seventhly Do all that you can to make them understand their Baptismal Covenant and if there be opportunity to own and renew it publickly and solemnly fail not to encourage their doing it It 's of great importance for them to make a solemn profession of their Faith and to declare their Resolution of performing their Baptismal Promise It is of great advantage to them at such an occasion to have the Prayers of the Church and particularly of those who are appointed of God to bless the People It is true the great abuses which have been committed in the performance of this ancient Ceremony have made many people to slight and neglect it but if Confirmation were performed with that care and seriousness which ought to be used on such an occasion it is a custom which might be of marvellous benefit in the Church both to stir up Parents to instruct their Children and Ministers to Catechise them and acquaint them with those things that are needful for them to know to believe and to do The careful and Religious use of it would tye Children more strictly to mind the great concerns of their Souls it would afford them occasion to consider what it is to have been baptised and to be a Christian It would work in them a more powerful sense of the Obligations of Christianity and make them more careful to live up to that holy Religion whereof they
folly is it for Men to consume to disquiet and to torment themselves where it is to no purpose at all to do so And not only do you thereby no good at all to your selves but you do your selves a great deal of mischief and prejudice You provoke God to anger against you to bring upon you yet heavier and more grievous punishments and to deprive you of other Mercies and Comforts which you still enjoy You do thereby no small hurt to your Bodies you bring upon your selves very dangerous Distempers which will make you unfit for the actions of Life and the Duties of your Calling You likewise do unspeakable mischief to your Souls you deprive your selves of that vigour and chearfulness of Spirit that is needful to make you fit to serve God acceptably You thereby weaken your Memory and darken and disorder your Reason and Understanding and so expose your selves to all the sad consequences of a disordered and distracted Mind Your Example does also a great deal of hurt to others Your impatience and immoderate sorrow and mourning teacheth others to do so upon the like occasion Hereby you bring no small reproach upon our holy Religion as if it were not sufficient to support and fortifie us against our crosses and afflictions and to comfort us amidst the uneasie things which God sees sit to exercise us with in this World What an excellent Example is David unto you in this matter When God struck his Child so that it was very sick he fasted and prayed but when the Child died he arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came unto the House of the Lord and worshipped Then he came to his own house and when he required they set bread before him and he did eat Then said his servants unto him What thing is this that thou hast done Thou didst fast and weep for the Child while it was alive but when the Child was dead thou didst rise and eat bread And he said While the Child was yet alive I fasted and wept for I said Who can tell whether God will be gracious unto me that the Child may live But now he is dead Wherefore should I fast Can I bring him again I shall go to him but he shall not return to me 2 Sam. 12.15 16 c. Thus ought all Parents to do who fear God When the Lord layeth his hand upon your Children you ought to pray to God for them and to use all lawful means for their recovery But when he sees fit to take them away by death you ought patiently to submit to his Will and to say with Job The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1.21 This is your wisest course It is the way to make your selves happy and to enjoy comfort and satisfaction of mind under your crosses This is the likeliest and readiest way to obtain new Mercies and Favours from the Lord instead of those you are deprived of Thus you see the Lord dealt with Job Jam. 5. 11. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord That the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy And Job 42.12 13. The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning And vers 16 17. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years and saw his sons and his sons sons even four generations So Job dyed being old and full of days But if God see it more fit to withhold from you the blessings of the Womb and to bestow no more Children upon you he can and will make up this want with much greater and better Blessings What you want in Temporals you shall have in Spirituals As Elkanah said to Hannah 1 Sam. 1.8 He will be better to you than ten Sons He will give you a Name better than of Sons and Daughters even an everlasting Name that shall not be cut off Isa 56.5 SOME FORMS OF PRAYER WHICH Parents may teach their Children according to their Age. A Morning Prayer to be taught Children when they begin to speak O Lord I praise thee for all thy Mercies and for thy Care of me this Night Watch over me this day Forgive me all my sins and make me thy Child for Jesus Christ his sake This Prayer may be used likewise at Night only changing that petition watch over me this Day into watch over me this Night When Children come to be four or five years old the following Prayer may be used O Lord my God what shall I render unto thee for all thy Mercies I bless thee for giving me Life and all things needful to keep me alive But above all I bless thee for sending Christ to dye for me that he might wash me with his Blood and make me fit for the Kingdom of Heaven For his sake have mercy upon me and forgive me all my sinful thoughts words and deed Give me Grace to serve thee as I ought to do that I may not do nor say a naughty thing lest thou be angry with me and cast me into Hell fire Lord bless and preserve my Father and Mother * If there be Brothers and Sisters let them pray for them likewise and all my Friends and Relations I praise thee O God for preserving of me this Night watch over me this day save me from every evil thing Good Lord hear me and grant me whatsoever thou knowest to be best for me for Jesus Christ his sake in whose holy name and words I pray Our Father c. This Prayer may be likewise used at Night by changing only two words and saying instead of preserving me this night preserving me this day and instead of watch over me this day watch over me this night A Morning Prayer for Children when they come to twelve or fourteen years of Age sooner or later according to the ripeness of their understanding LORD teach and assist me to worship thee as I ought to do Lift up my heart unto thee What shall I render unto thee O most gracious God and most merciful Father for all thy mercies to me and to all the World I bless thee for making me a reasonable Creature and for affording me all things which be needful to support my Life I bless thee for my health liberty and safety for my Food and Rayment for the use of my Reason and Vnderstanding and of my Senses for thy corrections and deliverances and for all the advantages I have had by good Examples and good Instructions But chiefly I praise and bless thee for the redemption of Mankind by the Lord Jesus Christ That I was born within thy Church where I was early given to thee in Baptism that I have had the benefit of Christian Education that thou hast afforded me the means of Grace and called me to the hope of Glory But notwithstanding thy goodness and love I have gone astray from thee I have not cared so
his Life and Estate would he not improve with great care and diligence that little time To be sure he would not lose one moment of it And tho' perhaps at other times he was wont to give up himself to his pleasures and pastimes and to mind little else but the gratifying his Lusts and Passions and his vanity and folly yet now that his Life and Fortune lye at the stake you should see such a man changed in a moment You should see him with great application of mind with the utmost diligence imploying his time running from place to place from one person to another according as his great and important business and concern required How readily would such a person redeem his time not only from idleness from gaming from impertinent Visits and from dressing and adorning of his Body and the like but even from eating and drinking and from his rest and repose in the night The desire of preserving his life would so fill his thoughts as to make him forges almost every thing else What would you 〈◊〉 or say if you should see a man in such circumstances wholly unconcerned and careless spending his time in gâ—ming or idleness in making impertinent visits in rioting and drinking and the like and doing nothing at all to obtain his pardon and to secure his life and fortune Doubtless you would look upon such a man as void of common understanding fit only for Bedlam or not worthy to live who knew no better to make use of his short time to preserve his life which Nature teacheth all men to do by all honest and lawful means It is easie for you to make application of all this to your selves You are by your sins Enemies to God Rebels against your Lord and King whereby you are in danger of everlasting death and destruction But God in his infinite mercy gives you time to sue out your Pardon which he offers you upon the most just and reasonable conditions only believe and repent and you shall be saved He will have mercy upon you and blot out your iniquities Be therefore so wise as to husband well this short time which God bestows on you for this purpose Redeem it as much as you can from all vain and unnecessary things that you may obtain forgiveness of Sins and the assistance of the Holy Spirit to enable you afterwards to walk in newness of life But if instead of minding this great and important concern of your Souls you give up your selves to sin and folly and indulge your selves in your mad and wicked practices and thereby provoke God yet more and more against you how just will your judgment and condemnation be If you will not be saved if you will not turn to the Lord that you may live if you will not believe repent and amend what remains you shall certainly dye and be miserable for ever They that will not be happy shall not be happy The wrath of God shall abide upon them Secondly 2. Motive from the uncertainty of your Time Consider that as your time is very short so it is most uncertain What do you know whether your Sun shall decline leasurely or whether it may not go down suddenly when you think it is not yet come to the noon-tide of the day You are not sure to live till you come to a good old Age. How many sicknesses and distempers and how many sudden accidents are there in the way which may shorten your day and cause your Sun to set when you think it shines with its greatest force and lustre Sometimes a Candle is blown out by the Wind or snufft out undesignedly when it is not yet half burnt And so the life of Man is often extinguished by outward accidents when by the course of Nature it might have been prolonged much further How many come forth into the World and give great appearances of making a very considerable figure in it by their Wisdom and Sagacity their good Conduct and Address their excellent Parts and useful Learning their Courage and Valour their charming Eloquence and clear and distinct Reasoning or by their shining Piety and burning Zeal But do not you see how suddenly they are gone they are hurried away by death and you neither see them nor hear of them any more There is nothing certain as to your time but its shortness and uncertainty Nothing can secure you against an unexpected blow by death when God sees fit to give charge to the King of terrors to knock you down Youth and strength cannot do it for how many dye when their Breasts are full of milk and their bones are moistened with marrow Too great abundance of Blood and Spirits do sometimes oppress and stifle the life of Man Wealth and Riches cannot secure you How many great and wealthy men have been suddenly carried away as with a Flood when their Coffers were full of Silver and Gold when they had all that heart could wish Even their Wealth proved the bait which allured idle covetous and desperate persons to break into their Houses and rob them not only of their Treasure but of their lives Greatness of Power and earthly Honour and Dignity are not able to do it Crowns and Scepters Castles and Palaces a wise Council and great Armies are not able to protect Princes from the violent and desperate attempts of Men who are prodigal of their lives How many of those who have been most famous in the World for their Power and Greatness have been very unexpectedly removed by a violent and sudden death When they have been in their greatest heighth at the very top of Earthly Felicity and full of the deepest Projects and Designs when they made account to make the Earth as it were to tremble to humble and to mortifie their Enemies to enlarge their own Dominions or to enslave their Subjects even then Death gave them a sudden blow and so there was an end of them and their designs together But may not Wisdom and Understanding great Learning and skill in various Arts and Sciences do somewhat to secure men from the sudden blow of Death No all this cannot do it We see even Wise men suddenly and unexpectedly removed from us by death as well as others In the midst of their useful Studies and excellent contrivances and designs the King of terrors puts a stop to them and in the twinkling of an Eye they are gone and all their thoughts are laid asleep So vain a thing is Man and even the wisest Man and so uncertain is his time Consider that Death can enter by a thousand doors Every pore in your Body is a gate wide enough for Death to enter in at Do not you see what a small thing makes way for Death The prick of a Thorn or a Splinter of Wood does it sometimes by occasioning a Fever or a Gangrene How quickly are some removed by violent and unexpected Distempers and sometimes on a sudden are struck dead you cannot tell
how Have not some dyed through an excess of joy and others through immoderate grief some by excessive laughter and others by too much mourning and weeping Some have dyed with a fright or sudden fear some by the violence of their anger and wrath and others by an excess of love How many have been killed with over much care and too great watching and others have occasioned their own death by idleness and too much sleep Some have killed themselves with eating and drinking and others have done it by too great abstinence and fasting Have not some dyed while they have been at Meals by a Crumb or a little Bone or some such very small matter When they were thinking to repair their strength and to fit themselves for going on with their business and work that which they did to save and lengthen out their lives did shorten them and put an end to them May not this instance alone shew you the great uncertainty of your time and how necessary it is to redeem it But besides all this consider that when you go abroad you are in danger from innumerable accidents You may be killed by the noisom steams of the Earth by some infectious quality in the Air by the Beasts of the field by the teeth of Dogs by the horns of mad Oxen or by the heels of wild Horses You are likewise in danger from the winged Creatures the least of whom have Weapons sufficient to destroy you if God by his Power and Justice arm them against you How remarkable was the manner of the death of Aeschylus Valer. Max. lib. 9. cap. 12. an ancient Poet in Sicily who as he sate in a Sunny place without the Walls of the City was killed by a Tortoise which an Eagle let fall on his head And no less memorable is the Story which is mentioned in the Book of Martyrs of one Burton Bailiff of Crowland in Lincolnshire who pretending to be a Friend to the Reformation in King Edward's time after the King's death began to set up the Popish Mass again and would have beaten the Curate if he had not complied with his design But see how the Lord's hand overtook him as he came riding from Fenbank one day a Crow flying over his head let fall her excrements upon his face the noisom scent whereof so annoyed his stomach that he never ceased vomiting till he came home And after falling deadly sick would never receive any meat but vomited still and complained of that stink cursing the Crow that had poisoned him and in a few days he died without giving any sign of his repentance for his former wicked life Besides the danger you are in from unreasonable Creatures are you not also sometimes in hazard from men who are mad either through the distemper of their Brain or through their violent Malice and Envy Let a Bear robbed of her Whelps saith Solomon meet a man rather than a fool in his folly Prov. 17.12 And not only are your Lives in danger from unreasonable Creatures and from Men but likewise from the Spirits of Darkness unless restrained by the mighty Power of God These are Enemies of great Power and of as great Malice But your heavenly Father keeps them as it were in chains and sets bounds to their rage and fury that they cannot hurt you so much as in a hair of your head without the Divine permission But further so uncertain is your time that there is not a stone nor a block in your way but it may be an occasion of your stumbling and falling into the snares of Death And sometimes when there is no such block in your way you are not secure from danger One foot may prove a stumbling-block to the other and an occasion of your falling into the hands of Death And more than all this in how great danger are your Lives from Fire and from Water from Heat and Cold from Storms and Tempests from Thunder and Lightning and many other things the stroke whereof you cannot prevent nor foresee God hath in store the Sword the Famine and Pestilence and innumerable Judgments and Plagues whereby he can cut you off and shorten your Lives When you are in your houses and think your selves in safety you know not but that Death is even there and that your Grave is ready for you By a sudden Wind by an Earthquake or by a decay in the Foundation or some other part of the Building the house may fall down about your ears and prove your burying place From all which you may conclude that your time is the most uncertain thing in the World Ought you not therefore to make good use of it while it lasts not knowing how soon and suddenly it may be at an end Thirdly Consider how great and difficult a work you have to do 3. Motive from the greatness and difficulty of the work you have to do a work that requires a great part of your time and worthy of all your time How hard is it to work out your Salvation to make your Calling and Election sure to strive to enter in at the strait gate to be born again to be made new Creatures to be renewed in the Spirit of your mind to put off the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light to add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity To have the image of God renewed in your Souls to be made partakers of the Divine Nature to escape the corruptions which are in the World through lust to be comformed to the Example of your Blessed Lord and Master in those Virtues wherein you ought to imitate him to learn of him who was meek and lowly to go about as he did doing good to the Souls and Bodies of men to be zealous for God and holy as he who called you is holy in all manner of conversation How great a work is it to overcome your selves To become vile and base in your own eyes to think meanly of your selves and to be willing that others should think so of you too to be content with every state and condition of life wherein God does by his Providence place you to bear wrongs and injuries with meekness and patience not to be overcome with evil but to overcome evil with good to mortifie your sinful desires and sensual appetites to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts to purifie your selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit to cleanse your hearts from all manner of wickedness that they may be fit Temples for the Spirit of God to dwell in to govern your eyes that you may not thereby betray your souls into the hands of your enemies to govern your lips to take heed to your ways that you offend not with your tongue to put away from you all lying flattery and dissimulation all