Holy Dedication Both Personal and Domestic, Part 2 · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. The Fourth Branch of the Exhortation urged.
THat which I have ſpent ſo much Time upon, is this, to excite ſuch as are Heads of Families, to be zealous for the advancing of Religion in their Houſes: In order to which I have urged three things upon them: 1. That they would (as far as 'tis poſſible), fill up their Houſes with ſuch as fear God. 2ly. That Holy Duties be in them daily duly performed. 3ly. That they would Religiouſly educate thoſe who are under their charge. There is yet one thing more to be enforced, (viz.) That they would keep ſin out of their Houſes, and inſtead thereof keep up piety, and holy walking with God. I might as much enlarge upon this Head, as I have done upon any of the former: but I reſolve to contract. You then who have Houſes, and are in Authority there, keep ſin out of them; ſhut the doors upon ſin, barr it out, give it no admittance; let not ſin dwell where you dwell; 'tis the worst gueſt that you can harbour or give entertainment to. You have excellent Promiſes made to them, who will not admit of ſin in their Houſes. Job 22.23. If thou return to the Almighty, thou ſhalt be built up, [thou ſhalt put iniquity far from thy Tabernacles;] Then ſhalt thou lay up Gold as the duſt, &c. Yea, the Almighty ſhall be thy defence, &c. So Job 11.14. If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, and let not wickedneſs dwell in thy Tabernacle; Then ſhalt thou lift up thy face without ſpot.
Are you in your old Habitations? O remember how graciouſly they were preſerved, when the flames were just ſeizing upon them; The knife was laid to the throat (as it were), and yet they were ſpared; You were ſaved from fire, yet ſo as by fire, (if I may allude to that of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 3.15). that is, with a great deal of danger and difficulty, (God knows). Now after ſuch a deliverance as this, ſhall ſin be in your Houſes? Ezra 9.13. Deut. 32.6.will you thus requite the Lord for ſo eminent a mercy? Are your Habitations continued to be Habitations of Sin? After ſuch mercy to your ſelves, and ſuch judgment to your Neighbours, ſhall ſin yet abide with you? God forbid! Are you to enter into your New Habitations? let your great care be to keep ſin out of them. O that all the Inhabitants of London, might wiſely conſider of Gods doings, (Pſal. 64.9.) that they would hear and fear, and do no more ſuch wickedneſs, (Deut. 13.11.) that all would ſet themſelves againſt ſin, with the greateſt dread and abhorrence of it. Give me leave to plead with you, for ſurely God is pleading with you (to ſome purpoſe) about this very thing: After ſuch dreadful evils (as you have ſeen and felt) will you yet ſin againſt God? Hath he ſo emptyed his quiver that he hath no more judicial Arrows to ſhoot againſt you? though he hath puniſhed you thus and thus, cannot he yet puniſh you ſeven times more? (Levit. 26.21.) will you provoke the Lord afreſh, and force him to strike again? Will you lay in new fewel for another Fire? Is it not enough to ſee the City once laid deſolate? Have you ſuſtained ſo much loſs, and cauſed God to do ſuch terrible things againſt you, and yet ſhall Sin be little in your eye? Hath it cast you out of your Habitations, and will not you caſt it out of your Habitations? Can you build ſo ſtrong, as to have your Houſes ſafe, if ſin be in them? O, I beſeech you take heed of this: Do not carry your old ſins into your new Houſes; you'l bring your goods to them again, your Wares, your Selves, your Families bring what you pleaſe, but do not bring your ſins to them; your pride, your luxury, your covetouſneſs, your extortion, &c. If you would have your Habitations to be peaceable, ſafe, comfortable, let not Sin be in them. Job. 5.24. Thou ſhalt know that thy Tabernacle ſhall be in peace; (How ſhall this be brought about)? thou ſhalt viſit thy Habitation, and ſhalt not ſin; (ſo it follows): O if you viſit your Habitations and defile them, God will viſit your Habitations and conſume them: If ſin come in at one door, judgment is ready to come in at another; Sin no more, least a worſer thing befall you; …(there are mo…ſer flames for your ſelves than thoſe which lately laid your Houſes in aſhes). Job 21.28. Where are the dwelling places of the wicked? Sin will undermine all your Buildings,… 'tis that Leproſie which will eat out the walls, the stone, the timber thereof, and rot the foundation thereof. We read of Phocas, he built a very ſtrong wall about his Palace, and then he thought he was ſafe; but this voice came from Heaven to him, Though thou buildeſt thy walls as high as Heaven, Sin is within, and that will pluck it down. O do not flatter your ſelves with fooliſh confidence, that now you build in Brick, and ſo you are not liable to danger; for Brick and Timber are all alike to God; he can as eaſily fire the one as the other; and if ſin be in your Houſes, they lie open to Gods judicial hand; they are under that flying Roll, which Zachary ſpeaks of, Zach. 5.2. &c. Cuivis Patri Familias incumbit, ut operam det, quo puras habeat aedes. Scultet.and this ſooner or later will fall upon them. How therefore doth it concern you, the owners and maſters of Houſes, to keep ſin out of them, to keep your ſelves, and your Houſes too, pure from Sin! And whereas there are ſome particular and ſpecial ſins, which you may be very liable to (through Satans temptations and the corruptions of your own hearts) when you enter upon your New Houſes, as Pride, Security, not eying of God, (and the like); be ſure that here you be very watchful. Deut. 8.11, 12, 13, 14 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, &c. Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, [and hast built goodly Houſes, and dwelt therein], &c. Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God.
And as you muſt not ſin your ſelves, ſo you muſt not let others ſin, (ſo far as it lies in your power to prevent it). You have Children and Servants in your Families, do not ſuffer them to ſin, you muſt ſuffer for that ſin which you may hinder, and do not. You have a ſad proof of this in Eli; 1 Sam. 3.13.His Sons made them vile, and he reſtrained them not; O what dreadful judgments did God inflict upon him for this! He did reprove his Sons, (as you may ſee, 1 Sam. 2.22, 23, &c.) but he did not do it with that ſharpneſs, which the hainouſneſs of their crime deſerved; and he did not interpoſe his Paternal Authority for the reſtraining of them from ſin, and therefore, (though he himſelf was a good man), God threatned, he would do that, at which the eares of every one that heard it, ſhould tingle, 1 Sam. 3.11. (and what befell him and his, you know very well). The Apostle dehorts Timothy from being a partaker of other mens ſins; 1 Timothy 5.22. This foreign, lies in two things, either in the committing of the ſame ſins which others do, or elſe in bearing a part of their guilt, in what they do: 'Tis the latter of theſe, that I meddle with; You that are Parents and Masters take foreign heed how you involve your ſelves in the guilt of your Childrens and Servants ſins; may be, they lie, they curſe, they ſwear, they profane the Sabbath, keep bad company; Do you let them alone? Do you not reprove them,Vitia aliorum ſi feras, facis tua. correct them, reſtrain them? Alas, you ſin in their ſin; they commit the fact, but the guilt of that lies upon you as well as upon them: Non-impedition is interpretatively an allowance, or approbation of what they do, a conſenting to what they do; nay, 'tis a tacit command; (According to that known ſaying, Qui non vetat, jubet; and according to that maxim in the Civil Law, See Tayl. Duct: Dub. B. 4. Ch. 1. Rule 2d. Ameſ. Caſ. Conſ. l. 5. c. 10.In maleficio Ratihabitio mandato comparatur). This is agreed upon by all Caſuiſts, He that omits what is to be done for the preventing of ſin, or doth that which is not to be done, upon which ſin follows in another, this perſon is acceſſary to the ſin of others, and a partaker with them. Now think of this I intreat you, and do not ſuffer thoſe who are under your power, to ſin againſt God. Have you not ſin enough upon your own account? have you any need to take in the guilt of your Childrens and Servants ſins too? where is your zeal for God, if you may hinder ſin, and yet do not? Do you love your Children, and yet ſtand ſtill, and look on, and let them damn their ſouls for ever? what Parent would ſuffer his child to drink poyſon, or to run into the fire, and he reſtrain him not? Are unquenchable flames nothing to you? Do you love your ſelves, and yet contract and bring that guilt upon you, which will endanger you for ever? Do you deſire the proſperity of your Houſes, your Families, and yet connive at ſin, and permit ſin there? O let your ſouls be all on fire with an holy zeal againſt ſin! Do not ſuffer your neareſt and deareſt Relations to ſin; improve your Authority againſt ſin; if you ſuffer it, you muſt ſuffer for it; you may let it alone, but it will not let you alone; Omiſſions here are Commiſſions.
Thus I would have you to keep ſin out of your Houſes; and inſtead thereof let there be even, steddy, fixed, Ʋniverſal Holineſs, kept up and practiſed in them; Holineſs becomes God's Houſe, (Pſal. 93.5). Ah, and it becomes your Houſes too: O that your Common Houſes might be Holineſs to the Lord, Zach. 14.21, 21. In that day ſhall there be upon the bells of the Horſes, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD, and the pots in the Lords Houſe ſhall be like the bowles before the Altar. Yea every pot in Jeruſalem, and in Judah, ſhall be Holineſs unto the Lord of Hoſts, &c. That which I drive at is this, Let you and yours be Holy; carry it in all things as a people conſecrated to the Lord; Let Piety be liv'd by your ſelves, and by all that belong to you: Let nothing be ſeen in your Houſes, but what becomes the Goſpel, and ſavours of God and Religion. How are Houſes bleſs'd, when a trade of Godlineſs is driven on in them! when Husbands and Wives, Parents and Children, Maſters and Servants, all ſet themſelves, as with one ſhoulder to an Holy Courſe, it cannot go amiſs with ſuch Houſes. But no more of this.