Parents Groans over their Wicked Children, Part

Parents Groans over their Wicked Children · Part

p. 778 Directions.

1. Abhor it as a great ſin to faint under this affliction; that is, either to be diſabled for thy duty, or to ſink in thy comforts; for it's a ſign that thou didſt place too much of thy happineſs in thy children, if their wickedneſs make thee faint under this calamity. I ſhall only plead with thee, as Joab did with David, when he made that bitter lamentation for his ſon Abſolom, 2 Sam. 19.6. Thou haſt declared this day, that thou regardeſt neither princes, nor ſervants: So I ſay to thee, thou hereby declareſt that thou regardeſt not God and Chriſt, if thy ſoul faint under the burden of a diſobedient child.

2. Conſider what I have proved, that this is an affliction which ordinarily befalls Gods deareſt children: ye muſt not think of this, as if ye were the firſt godly parents of ungodly p. 78children; or as if herein ſome ſtrange thing happened unto you. I confeſs where a calamity ſeems ſingular or extraordinary, it is more apt to overwhelm the afflicted, becauſe they will be then apt to think that there is ſome extraordinary diſpleaſure in God againſt them; and to ſay with the Church, Lam. 4.12. Behold and ſee if there be any ſorrow like unto my ſorrow, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger: But this affliction is ordinary, and is conſiſtent with the ſaving and diſtinguiſhing grace of God to them; and is a rod that hath uſually lain on the lot of the righteous.

3. Conſider that there might have befal'n thee greater miſeries than this.

I ſhall inſtance in three greater Evils which would have made thee more miſerable.

p. 791. Thou mighteſt have been a wicked, an ungodly wretch thy ſelf; and for the great Jehovah to have curs'd and damn'd thee for ever, would have made thee unſpeakably more miſerable, than to be tormented a▪while with a wicked child.

2. Thou mighteſt have had an ungodly yoke-fellow to be as rottenneſs in thy bones: Solomon ſeems to ſpeak of a troubleſome yoke-fellow, as more grievous than a wicked child, Prov. 19.13. A fooliſh ſon is the calamity of his father, and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping: This is like the conſtant dropping of rain into a houſe, which rots the building, ſpoyls the goods, and ruins both houſe and inhabitants: and foraſmuch as thy yokefellow is nearer, and ought to be dearer to thee than thy child; to be afflicted therein, is a greater calamity.

p. 803. God might have left all your children to periſh in their ſins: but if ye have but one godly child, your joy in that ſhould much abate your ſorrow for your other wicked children.

4. Conſider, thou haſt greater things to affect thee with grief and ſorrow than thy wicked children: there are whole Empires and Kingdoms of men, and women, and children who have as precious ſouls as thine, or thy childrens: theſe diſhonour the ſame God, and periſh under his wrath; and multitudes that have the Scriptures and Ordinances, deſpiſe the ſame Chriſt, and the ſame Goſpel as thy children do: and why ſhouldſt thou be more concern'd for one, or more of thy wicked children, than for the whole world that lies in wickedneſs?

5. Let your ſorrow be guided by Scripture and Reaſon, that ye may not provoke God, and defile your p. 81ſouls, and wound your conſciences by ſinful groans and tears. For this end obſerve two Rules.

Firſt, Mourn more for their ſins whereby they provoke and diſhonour God, and defile and deſtroy themſelves, and others, than for any ſhame or loſs in worldly things that befall you hereby; that it may appear that the love of God, and your childrens ſouls, and not the love of the World, hath the greateſt influence on your ſorrow; for I fear that there is uſually in good parents too much of carnal ſorrow, and too little of godly ſorrow in their mourning under this great calamity.

Secondly, Let not thy ſorrow diſeaſe thy body, and impair thy health: God doth not require us to mourn more for our childrens ſins, than our own; and he never makes it our duty by ſorrow for either, to deſtroy p. 82our bodies, which are the Temples of the Holy Ghoſt: and the truth is, that godly ſorrow is the health of the ſoul, and never hurts the body; for Grace is always a friend, and never an enemy to nature; and therefore do not deprive thy ſelf of all opportunities to honour God, and ſerve his Church; do not make thy yoke-fellow deſolate, nor thy children Orphans by ſuch ſorrow, that will neither pleaſe God, nor eaſe thy ſelf, nor do any good to thy wicked and miſerable children.

6. Labour to get your Graces ſtrengthened under this great affliction; for ye have need of more knowledge, and wiſdom, and faith, and hope, and love, and meekneſs, and patience, to inable and fit you to bear this, than moſt other affections; and ye muſt ſee and enjoy more of God and Chriſt, to keep up your hearts under this, than under moſt other troubles; yet by the p. 83ſtrength of Chriſt ye may be inabled not only to bear, but to glory in this tribulation; and the greater the trouble is, the more good ye may gain by it.

7. Comfort thy ſelf, in that the greateſt and beſt things which thou haſt moſt pray'd for, and truſted unto, and expected, and chiefly loved and deſired, are all ſafe and ſure.

1. Thy God is, and will be bleſſed and glorious for ever, whatever becomes of thy child; all his infinite perfections are working for his glory: Chriſt himſelf is Gods, and doth the whole work of a Mediator as his ſervant, and for his glory; all the bleſſed Angels and Saints will for ever honour, and admire, and love, and praiſe him.

2. God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt, are for ever thy own, and will to all eternity be glorified in making thee bleſſed and glorious: p. 84thou haſt a bad child, but a good God; all thy work will be done, thy ſins pardoned and kill'd, thy graces perfected, and body and ſoul glorified: and ſhall an ungodly child make all thy conſolations herein ſmall to thee?

Laſtly, Conſider, this trouble will laſt but a little while. I confeſs I do not know, or can upon ſearch find any thing that can lift up the heart above this trouble, but the knowledge and ſenſe of the infinite love of God in Chriſt to a mans ſelf, and of that holy and glorious eternity which this love will ſhortly bring him unto; to tell you, that this is and hath been the caſe of other godly parents, may allay ſomething of your grief: But what is this, but to tell you, that others are, and have been as miſerable as you? or to tell you, that as wicked children as yours have been ſanctified and ſaved, yields ſome hopes; but p. 85it can amount to no more than to think they may be ſav'd, or thy may be damn'd; and there is as much reaſon to fear the one, as to hope for the other: But for a man to ſee a gainful death, ready to looſe him into that world, where there is none of this ſorrow; and to know that at the day of judgment his wicked children will be no more to him than bloody Bonners, or Gardiners, or damn'd Devils, and that he himſelf ſhall ſit with Chriſt to judge them; and that he ſhall love and delight in the holineſs and juſtice of the Judg of all the World, in paſſing that ſentence upon them, Depart ye curſed into everlaſting ſire, prepared for the devil and his angels: This is ſufficient to overcome all immoderate grief for his ungodly children.

Laſtly, I ſhall finiſh this diſcourſe in a ſerious exhortation to theſe ungodly children, who are the grief p. 86and bitterneſs of their good parents: And herein I ſhall,

1. Endeavour to convince them of their ſins.

2. Of their miſery.

3. Perſwade them to forſake their ſins, that ſo they may be freed from that miſery.

Firſt, I ſhall ſet before you the greatneſs of your ſins in theſe four particulars:

1. Ye have broken your Covenant with God.

2. Ye have broken the Bonds wherein ye were bound to the Church of God.

3. Ye have broken the Bonds of your duty to your parents.

4. Ye have broken the Bonds of your duty to your other relations.

p. 87Firſt, Ye have broken your Covenant with God, whereinto ye were ſolemnly enter'd by baptiſm; for it's clear by that Scripture before mention'd, Levit. 19.3. That by caſting off the authority of your parents, ye have diſowned the Lord to be your God. Your breach of Covenant with God appears more fully in theſe four particulars.

1. Ye do in your hearts and practices deny the Being of God; the firſt Article of the Covenant is, that ye ſhould acknowledge and believe that the Lord he is God; for he that cometh to God, muſt believe that he is, Hebr. 11.6. But this is the language of your hearts and lives, That there is no God: Ye deny God to be the firſt and beſt Being, in preferring the creatures before him; and ſaying in effect, That the creatures are all, and the great Jehovah is but as a cypher to you.

p. 88Ye deny his Omnipreſence; he fills all places where ye are, but ye take no notice of him; the preſence of a Father or Maſter hath ſome influence upon you; but it works not at all upon you, that there is a God in the room.

Ye deny his infinite Wiſdom, that Wiſdom of God in contriving the work of Salvation by Jeſus Chriſt: I ſay that Wiſdom which is ſo glorious and wonderful to the principalities and powers of heaven, is to ſuch proud and ignorant boys and girls as you, but a fooliſh and ridiculous thing.

Ye deny his Power, in daring to war againſt him; and like thoſe hectoring Atheiſts, Job 15.25, 26. Ye ſtretch out your hands againſt God, and ſtrengthen your ſelves againſt the Almighty: ye run upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick boſſes of his buckler, as if ye were able to fight God, and overcome the Almighty.

p. 89Ye deny his Holineſs, and think that God is altogether ſuch a one as your ſelves, Pſal. 50.21. And that ye may not be terrified by your enmity and unlikeneſs to him, ye will pleaſe your ſelves in fancying that God is like you; as if ye muſt rather be a pattern to him, than he be a pattern to you; and ſo ye will perſwade your ſelves that he is the God of Atheiſts, and Whoremongers, and Drunkards, and Lyars, and Thieves, and not the holy God of a holy people.

Ye deny the Truth of God; one of the greateſt and beſt truths that ever God ſpake to man is that, 1 Joh. 5.11. God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son: and yet herein ye would make him a liar, in not believing this ſolemn record which he gave of Chriſt; a liar is one of the worſt characters of the devil: and this ye give to the true and holy God. Theſe things I write, p. 90as it were, upon the brazen faces of all ungodly and diſobedient children.

2. Ye break the Covenant, in refuſing to take God for your God and happineſs; the greateſt promiſe that ever God made to man, is that Hebr. 8.10. I will be to you a God: but this ſignifies nothing to you, ye will not accept of him for your chief honour, and treaſure, and joy; it is no honour to you to have the great Jehovah for your F…ther; ye ſee no good in him, and account not your ſelves the better for him; and if ye loſe him, ye think ye loſe nothing; ye neither love, nor deſire him, nor take any delight or pleaſure in him.

3. Ye have broken the Covenant, in renouncing God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt, in whoſe Name ye were baptized: your lives declare that ye had rather have the love of a debauch'd companion, than the love of the Father of Jeſus Chriſt; p. 91ye deſpiſe the Lord Jeſus, and account the great price of redemption to be worth nothing; and would rather keep your ſins, than be ſaved from them: ye defie the wrath of God, and ſcorn that the Mediator ſhould make your peace with him: ye reſiſt the Holy Spirit, and would rather be made filthy, and wicked, and be taught to lye, and ſwear, and ſteal, than that the Spirit ſhould teach you to love, and ſerve, and delight in God.

4. Ye have broken the Covenant, in taking part with the devil, and the world, and ſin, againſt the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt: and this ye have done two ways:

1. In believing the promiſes of the devil, the world, and ſin, and in not believing the promiſes of God; the devil, the world, and ſin, are the three great cheats of mankind, and they deceive men by making ſeemingly p. 92great and high promiſes: and by theſe they have prevail'd with man to break both the Covenant of Works, and the Covenant of Grace: the devil tempted our firſt parents not to believe that word of God which he gave them to deter and keep them from ſin, which word is written, Gen. 2.17. In the day thou eateſt thereof thou ſhalt ſurely dye: the devil tempted them to look on that word as a lye, and makes them that great promiſe, Geneſ. 3.4, 5. wherein he promiſeth them, that if they eat the forbidden fruit, they ſhall not only be ſafe from all evil, ſaying, Ye ſhall not ſurely dye; but that they ſhall alſo be preferr'd to greater happineſs than God had then placed them in; for, ſaith he, your eyes ſhall be opened, and ye ſhall be as gods, knowing good and evil: and by believing this promiſe of the devil, they brake the Covenant of Life, and brought that deluge of ſin and p. 93miſery which came upon all mankind; and ſince he prevail'd with men not to believe the word of God, which he ſpake to keep them from ſin and deſtruction; now his work is to tempt them to make God a lyar in the word which he hath ſpoken to ſave them from ſin and ruine by Jeſus Chriſt: and this is the word of the Covenant of Grace, which promiſeth eternal life and ſalvation to all that believe in Chriſt, and repent of their ſins, and live the lives of new creatures, according to the rules of the Goſpel: but the devil tempts men to break this Covenant by promiſing them life and all happineſs in a courſe of ſin; and theſe wicked children believe the devil herein, and bleſs themſelves in their ſins, ſaying with thoſe bold ranters, Deut. 29.19. We ſhall have peace, though we walk in the imagination of our own hearts, to add drunkenneſs to thirſt: and thus ye break your Covenant with God, p. 94and make a Covenant with Death and Hell.

2. In obeying the devil, the world, and ſin, and in diſobeying God; ye call God your Father in heaven, but ye do the luſts of the Devil your father in hell; ye walk according to the courſe of this world, Epheſ. 2.2. and are the ſervants of ſin, Rom. 6.20. and ye hate, and fight againſt God your Maker and Redeemer; and were it poſſible for you, ye would every day kill him who only hath immortality: And thus like a company of renegado's ye live as if ye were baptized in the name of the devil, the world, and the fleſh, to renounce the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt.

Secondly, Ye have broken the Bonds of your duty to the Church of God; ye were born members of the Church, and ſubjects of the Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt; and by baptiſm were ſolemnly admitted into that p. 95great, and holy, and victorious, and bleſſed ſociety, Hebr. 12.22, 23. Mount Sion, the City of the living God, the heavenly Jeruſalem, the general aſſembly and Church of the firſt-born written in heaven; but ye have forſaken this Church, and turn'd your ſelves out of the family and houſe of the living God, and are become of the ſame party with the devil and his ſeed, and have laboured to fill the world with ſin, and the kingdom of Satan; and ye would have Jeſus Chriſt to have no Name, or Kingdom, or Miniſters, or Ordinances, or People in the world.

Thirdly, Ye have broken the Bonds of your duty to your parents: This appears in that thoſe black characters already given of wicked children are found on you; whereunto I ſhall add this one, which includes all the particulars of your diſobedience which can be mention'd, namely, p. 96Ye do not love your parents; for love worketh no evil unto, but always willeth and ſeeketh the good of the beloved: Love ever inclines perſons to pleaſe them whom they love, and to love and delight in their company; and cauſeth ſuch looks, and words, and behaviour, as are expreſſions of love; how pleaſant hath it been ſometimes to me to ſee, as it were, the heart and ſoul of a child running out in his pleaſant and loving looks to his parents! but ye diſobedient children do not love your parents, but do them more hurt, and cauſe them more ſorrow than all the malicious enemies and perſecutors they ever met with in the world; ye are always vexing, and croſſing, and provoking them, and are as continual pricks in their eyes, and thorns in their ſides; and had rather be with lyars, and ſwearers, and drunkards, and with your wanton and idle companions, than with your wiſe, and p. 97grave, and holy parents; how merry and jovial are ye in the company of ſuch who will joyn with you to ſerve the devil, and diſhonour God, and deſtroy your ſouls? but how uneaſie, and lumpiſh, and ſowre, and diſcontent are ye in the preſence of your parents? your ſpiteful looks, and ſullen words, and ſcornful carriage doth betray your hatred, and anger, and envy againſt your good parents: Ah wicked wretches! that ye cannot find in your hearts to love your parents, from whom ye had your Beings under God, and who have us'd all holy means to make you holy and bleſſed.

Laſtly, Ye have broken the Bonds of your duty to your other relations, and to all men; ye cannot be good brothers, or ſiſters, whil'ſt ye are ſuch bloody children to your parents; ye cannot be good ſervants or apprentices, or good husbands or wives, or good ſubjects to Magiſtrates, whilſt p. 98ye are bad children; for the ſame ſins that debauch you in that relation, will debauch you in all, and will make you an incumbrance to your place, the troublers of the world, and a very plague and curſe to your generation.

2. I ſhall now endeavour to convince you of your miſery; and oh that I had a heart and tongue to think and ſpeak of this as the matter doth require! Conſider, ye are curſed children, Deut. 27.16. Curſed be he that ſetteth light by his father or his mother, and all the people ſhall ſay, Amen: Obſerve, God himſelf doth here proclaim you curſed; he only can curſe or bleſs you, having all curſes and bleſſings at command; and can ſet his love, or pour out his wrath where he pleaſeth; he is able and faithful to fulfil his own threatnings; and he knows you to be curſed, for he knows all the children of his Grace, and all the children of p. 99his Wrath. Obſerve further, that all Gods Miniſters are to pronounce you curſed, verſ. 14. The Levites ſhall ſpeak and ſay to all the men of Iſrael with a loud voice, Curſed be he that ſetteth light by his father or his mother: The Miniſters of God muſt with a loud voice, as if they would ring in the years of all, declare you to be curſed; and I, a Miniſter of the Goſpel, do hereby proclaim all wicked and diſobedient children, (though ſome of them may be the fruit of my own body) to be curſed. Nay further, all people, yea your own ſelves are to judge you curſed; and all the people ſhall ſay, Amen: They and you are to believe it, and to approve of it as moſt juſt and righteous, that ye be curſed. But that I may convince you of your miſery, I ſhall further ſet before you theſe four things:

1. Ye are out of the way of all good: God hath his way of mercy, p. 100and his way of wrath; and ye are out of the way of his mercy, for ye do not ſtand in the grace and love of God, which cauſeth all good; and are children of his wrath, which cauſeth all miſery; and (as I have told you) ye have broken that Covenant which conveys all Grace and Mercy: ſo that no good can come to you, except ye turn to God and your parents.

2. Ye are in the very way and road to all wickedneſs: Many of the moſt horrid ſins in the world firſt began in diſobedience to parents; and moſt of thoſe who have proved Lyars, Drunkards, Whoremongers, Thieves, Murderers, were firſt ungodly and diſobedient children.

3. Ye are in continual danger of ſome remarkable judgment of God in this life, Exod. 21.17. He that curſeth (or revileth) his father, or his mother, ſhall ſurely be put to death. Prov. 20.20. Who ſo curſeth his father, p. 101or his mother, his lamp ſhall be put out in obſcure darkneſs. Your lamp of life and pleaſure may ſeem to burn and ſhine at preſent, but there is a black and diſmal night haſtening on all diſobedient children, Prov. 30.17. The eye that mocketh his father, and deſpiſeth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley ſhall pick it out, and the young eagles ſhall eat it: None are more like to paſs into the eternal world, through a ſhameful and untimely death, than diſobedient children; when God leaves children to diſobey their parents, it's a dreadful ſign of their approaching ruine: it's recorded of Eli his ſons, 1 Sam. 2.25. That they hearkned not unto the voice of their father, becauſe the Lord would ſlay them.

4. If ye go on in your courſe of diſobedience, ye will for ever be damn'd in Hell; for (I ſay) ye have broken that Covenant which promiſeth p. 102eternal life to all that believe and obey the Goſpel, and doth as certainly bind over to the wrath and vengeance of God all that live in diſobedience to God and their parents. Miſerable children! I have ſent this poor little book to overtake you, before the wrath and vengeance of God do overtake you: I am not altogether a ſtranger to the terrors of the Lord, but do know what is before you, and what a meeting there will quickly be between God and you, better than ye do; and have laboured to affect my heart, in ſeeing what lies at your door; I know that whilſt ye are following the chaſe of your filthy pleaſures, evil from God is hunting you, and will find you out to deſtroy you; and I dare not damn my own ſoul by not warning you of thoſe ſins, which will be the damnation of yours: Fooliſh boys and girls can now laugh at the hearing of death, and hell, and p. 103judgment to come; and when Miniſters ſound the trumpet in their ears, to give them warning of theſe things, they can, like the War-horſe in Job, ſay among the trumpets, Aha; for the devil tempts his children to make ſport of thoſe things at which he trembles himſelf: but when I remember how I have ſeen in ſome of you your down-looks, your pale-faces, your ſhivering-limbs; and as Job ſpeaks of the Adulterer, when he comes to be known, Job 24.17. that ye have been as in the terrors of the ſhadow of death, when your mortal parents have found you out in your ſins: I cannot but think how your countenances will fall, and your ſtout ſpirits ſink, and your mettal fail, when ye come to fall into the hands of the living God.

Laſtly, I come now to exhort and perſwade you to abhor and forſake your ſins, that ye may eſcape this p. 104miſery. I would have you to repent and believe with the Saints of God, that ye may be ſaved, before ye come to repent with the damned in hell; and with the devils, to believe and tremble. For this end I ſhall, 1. Endeavour to convince you of your Folly. 2. Direct you how to attain true Wiſdom.

Firſt, I ſhall endeavour to convince you of your Folly: ye ſee the Text calls a wicked ſon, a fooliſh ſon; God who knows you beſt, and hath a true judgment of you, calls you fools, and would have all the world to be of the ſame judgment with himſelf, and therefore to account you fools; and ye will at laſt call your ſelves fools, when ye come to have the portion of fools; and except ye judge your ſelves fools, ye cannot be wiſe. And that ye may, as in a glaſs, ſee your own folly, I ſhall propound to you theſe five Queſtions; and as God ſaid to Job, ſo do I p. 105in his name ſay to you, Job 38.3. Gird up your loins like men: I will demand of you, and anſwer ye me.

1. Are ye not very fools in that ye do in your hearts and lives deny the being of God? There are no worſe fools than they that ſay in their hearts, There is no God, Pſal. 14.1. For ſuch a one ſaith in effect, that there is no Religion, no Sin, no Heaven nor Hell; yea, he ſaith, that he himſelf is nothing, and that there are neither Heavens, nor Earth, nor Seas, nor Men, nor Beaſts, nor any other creatures; for if there be no God, there can be nothing elſe; ſo that ye have the name of fools written on your foreheads; and as it's ſaid, Eccleſ. 10.3. Ye ſay to every man that ye are a company of fools.

2. Are ye not fools to make ſuch a fooliſh choice? It is the infinite goodneſs of God, that ye have life and death, bleſſing and curſing ſet before you; and that ye have a God p. 106and Chriſt, and the Holy Spirit, and the heavenly glory to chuſe; and ye have Beings capable to chuſe them, and may take them for your own, and uſe them as your own every day, and that ye are called and commanded to chuſe them, and have time and opportunity to chuſe them, and ſhall certainly have them, if ye chuſe them: and yet theſe, as Solomon ſpeaks, Prov. 17.16. are but as a price in the hands of a fool that hath no heart to it. Conſider, there are two ſorts of Affections in all humane creatures, and all are wiſe or fools, according as they ſet and place theſe; there are affections of union, as love, deſire, and delight, which do unite the heart to their objects; and there are affections of oppoſition, as hatred and anger, which do ſeparate the heart from their objects: And are ye not monſtrous fools, in that ye hate and abhor God and your Redeemer, in whom there are all reaſons for p. 107your love, and deſires, and joy; and in that ye love, and deſire, and delight in ſin, and the devil, and death and hell, in whom there are all reaſons for the hatred and revenge of your ſouls? To love thoſe things which are altogether loathſome, and and to hate what is altogether lovely, is a plain argument of your madneſs and folly.

3. Are ye not fools in ſuffering every thing to deceive you? The Scripture tells you, that the devil is a deceiver; it tells you of the deceitfulneſs of your hearts; of the deceitfulneſs of ſin; of the deceitfulneſs of riches; of the deceitfulneſs of wine and ſtrong drink; of the deceitfulneſs of harlots, who promiſe pleaſure, but prove a deep ditch, and a narrow pit; of the deceitfulneſs of a lying tongue, which promiſeth that lyes ſhall ſerve the lyars turn, and do his work, but proveth to be but for a moment; of the p. 108deceitfulneſs of theft and unjuſt gain, which ſeems ſweet at preſent, but ſoon after proves as gravel in the mouth: and yet notwithſtanding all the ſhame, and rags, and ſtings, and torments of conſcience, which have come upon you by truſting in theſe; yet ye will ſtill believe them, and ſuffer your ſelves by theſe deceivers to be cheated of God and Chriſt, and of your ſouls, and of your time, and of heaven.

4. Are ye not fools in being ſo ſet and bent to ruine and deſtroy your ſelves? Prov. 18.7. A fools mouth is his own deſtruction, and his lips are the ſnare of his ſoul. Eccleſ. 10.12. The lips of a fool ſhall ſwallow up himſelf: ye are ſo bent on your own ruine, that your hearts riſe in anger and hatred againſt your good Parents and Miniſters, and all that labour to ſave you; and ye account them your worſt enemies, who would not have you damn'd. Miſerable p. 109children! allow your ſelves but one hours ſerious conſideration of your eternal eſtate, and ye will ſee reaſon to condemn your ſelves for a company of proud and ignorant fools, in attempting to run down God, and his Kingdom, and Religion, and in valuing your cups, and luſts, and lies at ſuch a rate, as for them to exchange the eternal life and happineſs of your ſouls.

5. Are ye not fools in not preparing for death and judgment, which are ready to overtake you? To convince you of this, be inform'd, That men are prepared for death and judgment, who by faith, and repentance, and holineſs, are become heirs of the promiſes of the Goſpel, and ſo have a right unto, and fitneſs for all that glory, which in performance of theſe promiſes, God will give them the poſſeſſion at thoſe great days; but men are unprepared when they are under the wrath and curſe of God, p. 110and are condemned to thoſe eternal torments which are threatned in the Scriptures, and will at death and judgment be executed upon them. Now prove your ſelves by theſe things, and ye may then ſee what fools ye are, in not preparing for theſe days; for if ye were prepared, ye ſhould then enter into a world where all will love you; God, and and Chriſt, and all Angels, and all Saints will love you, and ye will for ever be holy and bleſſed in their love to you, and in your love to them; but being unprepared, ye muſt then be caſt into a world where all will hate you, and where you will hate all the holy and bleſſed; God will there hate you, and be a conſuming fire againſt you; the devils, and all the damned in hell will hate you, and you will hate them; and we find that our Saviour brands him for a fool, Luke 12.20. who promiſeth to himſelf an eaſie and merry life for p. 111many years, when that very night he was to loſe his ſoul: and he gives the character of fooliſh virgins, Matth. 25.2. to thoſe who were unprepared for that great, and terrible, and ſudden cry, The bridegroom is come, go ye out to meet him. Poor children! let theſe common things be imprinted on your hearts; Death is certain, the day of death is as certainly appointed, as was the day of your birth; and as your birth kept its time, ſo will your death keep its time; ye cannot ſin away death, though ye ſin away the ſenſe of death. Conſider alſo, that death is near; whatever ye think of your lives, they will be but as a vapour, or ſhadow, or ſmoke, as God ſpeaks them to be; and though ye put death far from you, yet it will be within a hands-breadth of you; one day or hour may put an end to your ſpace of repentance, and conclude your day of grace and ſalvation, and diſpatch p. 112you into that world where no new creatures are made: ye now defie death, as if ye were a fit match for the king of terrors; ye ſcorn the grave, and ſcoff at the day of judgment, and deride everlaſting burnings; but when God ſhall pour upon you your own wickedneſs, Jer. 14.16. then ye will too late condemn your ſelves for fools, when ye come to reap the fruit of your own folly.

Secondly, I come to give you directions to direct you to true Wiſdom, that ye may be ſuch wiſe children, as to make glad fathers, and not to be the heavineſs of your mothers.

1. Do not dare to put off your repentance any longer; it is not too late to repent, ſo long as God calls you to repentance, and gives you time for it: Yet is the accepted time, yet is the day of ſalvation: God, and Chriſt, and Angels, and the Church, p. 113and your bleeding parents are yet ready to receive you in love and joy: but it will ſhortly be too late to repent, though it can never be too ſoon. Dear children! ye muſt either perſwade your ſelves that the word of God is a lie, and ſo think ye are ſecure from hell, becauſe ye deny the Bible that threatneth it; or ye muſt preſume that ye are not ungodly children, as indeed ye are; or elſe ye muſt conclude that your preſent ſtate is not ſafe and good, and that therefore ye muſt either repent or be damn'd; and perhaps the devil himſelf doth not tempt you to reſolve, that you will never repent, but to think that it is yet time enough, and that therefore ye will repent hereafter. I have ſometimes dreaded to hear debauch'd children confidently ſay, That they do not queſtion but they ſhall be converted, and become good, when at preſent they hate to be reformed; yea, I am p. 114perſwaded that ſome ſecure them ſelves in their ſins, by preſuming that the prayers of their good parents for their converſion and ſalvation will at laſt be heard: but how many ſuch have been, as Solomon ſpeaks of others, Prov. 14.32.—driven away in their wickedneſs; in whom that dreadful Scripture hath been fulfill'd, Prov. 29.1. He that being often reproved, hardneth his neck, ſhall ſuddenly be deſtroyed, and that without remedy. I ſhall here ſeriouſly reaſon this caſe a little with you; Why ſhould ye continue one moment longer in thoſe ſins which ye muſt repent of, or periſh; and defer repentance, for which ye ſhall have cauſe for ever to rejoyce and bleſs God when it is done? Are ye not wicked enough already, that ye muſt ſtay to be worſe? Have ye not defil'd your ſelves, and provok'd God, and refus'd Chriſt, and afflicted your parents long enough already? Poor p. 115ſouls! if there be one hour yet left wherein ye are ſure that ye ſhall not die, and fall into hell; or one hour wherein ſin is better than grace; and wherein it is better be a child of the devil, than a child of God; or if ye can come into the kingdom of God, and begin an eternal life an hour too ſoon, take that hour, and ſpend it on your luſts; but if not, ſtop preſently, and let this be the hour wherein ye begin to believe, and repent, and reform, and wherein ye begin to ſet your faces towards heaven, with an unmovable reſolution, to walk in the way of faith and obedience till ye come there.

Direct. 2. Judge whether ye have more reaſon to obey the devil, or to obey God, as the Apoſtles ſaid to their Perſecutors, Acts 4.19. Whether it be right in the ſight of God, to hearken to you more than unto God, judge ye: So ſay I to you, whether p. 116it be right to obey the devil rather than God, judge ye. Conſider, God hath authority to command you, for he is your Maker, your Preſerver, and Redeemer, and ye owe your ſelves to him; but the devil neither made, nor kept, nor bought you, and therefore can have no right to command you. Conſider further, that all the Commands of God, are the Commands of his Love; for he doth not only command you as your Lord, but alſo as your Father and Saviour; and therefore he commands you to take himſelf to be your God and happineſs, to take his Son Jeſus Chriſt to ſave you from all evil, and to make you for ever holy and bleſſed: but the devil commands you out of hatred and malice, and all his commands are the commands of a Murderer, and therefore he commands you to defile, and to deſtroy, and to damn your ſelves; he commands you to be blind and ignorant. p. 117to hate and ſcorn God and Chriſt, and to love ſin, and death, and hell. Conſider alſo, that God is able to reward your obedience, and to puniſh your diſobedience; he is that only law-giver, who is able to ſave, and to deſtroy, James 4.12. He can crown you with eternal glory, if ye obey him; and can caſt you into everlaſting flames, if ye diſobey him; but the devil, who is curſed and tormented himſelf, cannot make you happy, if ye obey him; nor miſerable, if ye do forſake and renounce him.

3. See the great difference betwixt thoſe wiſe and holy children, who live in obedience to God and their parents, and you who live in diſobedience to both; it is not wealth, or poverty, or beauty, or deformity, or ſickneſs, or health, but ſin and grace that make the greateſt difference betwixt perſons; and ye muſt know God and Chriſt, or elſe ye p. 118cannot underſtand the worth of a Saint, nor the vileneſs of a Sinner: Some of you may look into your own families, and there ſee ſome of your brethren and ſiſters like pleaſant and fruitful plants about your fathers table, when ye are as briars, and thorns, and weeds in the family; they are the crown and joy, and you the calamity of your parents; all that ſee them, may look upon them as a ſeed whom the Lord hath bleſſed; but all that ſee you have reaſon to judge you to be a curſed generation. Poor children! is it better to be like Cain, than like Abel? or like curſed Canaan, than like Shem? or like Iſhmael, than like Iſaac? or like Eſau, than like Jacob? Are not your ſouls and bodies as precious as the ſouls and bodies of your good brethren and ſiſters? or can the devil, and ſin, and the world be better to you, than to them? or is not death and judgment as near you, as it is to them? p. 119or have not ye as much reaſon to love and obey God and your parents, as they? or can ye endure the loſs of Heaven, or torments of Hell, better than they? if not, why ſhould not ye be as good as they are?

4. Do nothing but what ye are willing ſhould be known; if ye would not have your Parents, and Maſters, and the Magiſtrates, and your Friends and Foes know your lies, and luſts, and theft, and prophaning the Lords-day, and your haunting evil company, do not practiſe theſe things; ye need not fear who knows how holy, and juſt, and ſober, and chaſt ye are: Religion can boldly ſhew its ſhining face to God and man; but ſin makes you ſneak, and cowardly, and baſe, and fearful; and imprints marks of diſhonour and ſhame upon your looks and countenances, and fills you with horrour and conſternation, when ye are diſcovered. Conſider ſeriouſly, that all p. 120from whom your greateſt ſhame and miſery will come, do know you; the devils know you, and will accuſe, and diſgrace, and torment you for the ſame ſins they tempted you unto; and they will not help you to hide your ſins when time of grace, and repentance, and pardon is paſt; your own hearts and conſciences know you, and will awake out of their preſent ſleep to condemn and ſting you; and God who is greater than all, knows you, and all your ſecret ſins are in the light of his countenance, and he will bring them all to judgment: and it will then fully appear to Angels, and Devils, and to Saints and Sinners, what ye are.

5. Therefore be not ſuch now, as ye dare not at the hour of death profeſs your ſelves to be: Religion and Godlineſs is at all times to be profeſs'd before God, and Angels, and Men, Rom. 10.10. For with the heart man believeth, and with the p. 121mouth confeſſion is made to ſalvation. But what monſters would ye appear to your ſelves, if ye did profeſs your ſelves to be what ye are? Suppoſe ye were reading this but one hour before ye dye, and muſt ſay, We are now falling into the hands of the living God; and by that time that the glaſs is run out, and the clock ſtrikes next, we are to give account of our ſelves to the Judg of all the World: Dare ye then ſay, We profeſs our ſelves to be haters of God, and children of the devil, and deſpiſers of our holy parents, and that we chuſe the way to hell?

6. Conſider what account ye can give in being ſuch burdens of the earth, and in being ſo grievous and chargeable to all who are concerned with you: Is it nothing to you to be as biles or ſcabs in the body, or as ſmoke, or a ſtinking ſmell, or an infectious diſeaſe in the houſe and family where ye are, or as weeds in p. 122garden, to cumber and annoy your place? Ye will pay dear one day for all the ſighs, and groans, and tears which ye have cauſed to your afflicted parents and friends; it will ſting you to think that ſo many have been loſers by you, and that your parents, and brethren, and ſiſters, have been ſo much waſted and impoveriſhed by your coſtly luſts; and that ye have given cauſe to all your wicked companions, to curſe the day that ever they knew you; and that ye have fill'd ſo many other parents beſides your own with grief and bitterneſs, by infecting, and defiling, and debauching their children: and methinks I hear all theſe ſaying to you, as Joſhua ſaid to Achan, Joſh. 7.25. Ye have troubled us, but the Lord ſhall trouble you.

Laſtly, I ſhall ask you this one queſtion, What would ye have your parents to do with you? their love p. 123makes them to be continually concern'd for you; but they know not what to do with you, for all the means which they have yet uſed for your good, hath but aggravated your guilt, and their grief; whilſt they kept you at home, ye did break all the good orders and rules of government in the family; at ſet-times for meat and family-worſhip, either your places were empty, or fill'd with ſin; ye diſquieted your parents, waſted the eſtate, defiled, or diſturbed your brethren and ſiſters, and troubled the houſe night and day: When they ſent you to School, ye plaid the truants, grieved and diſhonoured your Maſters, debauch'd your School-fellows, and were a reproach and ſcandal to the School: If they ſet you to be Apprentices, ye hated and wrong'd your Maſters, and were a plague to the family: If any of you were ſent to the Univerſity, ye were the rake-hells of the Colledge, and p. 124the Society was ſick of you, till it had expell'd and caſt you out; if after all other means were us'd, your parents ſent you to Sea, the Atheiſm and Wickedneſs of ſome of the Seamen, did you more hurt, than all the Wonders of God in the deep waters did you good; ſo that ye return'd, as if the Sea had made you like it ſelf, more raging and boiſterous than before; inſomuch, that your miſerable parents can do nothing but ſpend their days in mourning for your ſins, and in praying for your ſalvation, and in labouring to bear patiently your ruine, and to be content to live and die the fathers and mothers of fools.

And now, Children, I will take my leave of you, and ſhall leave you to the God with whom ye have to do, and with whom ye muſt have to do for ever; he is the God who will plead the cauſe of his own Name, p. 125and Honour, and of Religion, with you, and who will plead the cauſe of your diſtreſſed parents with you; a God whoſe wrath ye can neither eſcape, nor bear; there is a war betwixt this God and you; and if ye can make it appear that ye are greater, and wiſer, and ſtronger, and better than he, ye may go on: But my deſign in all this diſcourſe, is to perſwade you to believe, and repent, and obey the Goſpel and ſo to make peace with God through Jeſus Chriſt; and for your encouragement, I do aſſure you, that the grace of God, and the Merits of Chriſt are as ſufficient to ſave you from all your horrid abominations, as if ye were as innocent, as when ye were newborn: God, and Chriſt, and Angels, and your Parents, and Friends, and all Saints are ready to rejoyce in your converſion and ſalvation, and your iniquities ſhall never be mentioned againſt you; but upon your p. 126unfeigned turning to him, God will (as he is repreſented in the Parable of the Prodigal ſon) meet you in mercy, and fall on your necks and kiſs you, and entertain you with all the bleſſings of the Goſpel, ſaying, Theſe my children were dead, and are alive; they were loſt, and are found.

FINIS.

End of the text · Edward Lawrence, Parents Groans over their Wicked Children (1681)