A Christians Walk and Work on Earth, Conclusion
The Concluſion.
1. UPon the Review of the whole, If you be the governour of a Family, your great concern is to ſee that both your ſelf and your Family do ſerve the Lord (in walking all thoſe pleaſant and profitable walks of a Chriſtian,) Joſh. 24. 15. the Reaſons be three. 1. 'Tis your duty. 2. 'Tis your beauty. 3. 'Tis your ſafety ſo to do. 1. Your duty as you are Gods Tenant at Will, only [quamdiu te bene geſſeris] ſo long as you behave your ſelf well; your Gold is his, and your Silver in his, Hag. 2. 8. your Land is his, Lev. 25. 23. and your houſe is his, he appoints it you. Act. 17. 26. Gen. 49. 13. God is the true proprietary of all Ezek. 21. 27. and your ſerving of God is your Pepper-corn, you pay to your great Landlord. 2. Reaſon 'tis your beauty, holineſs hath a beauty in it and therefore are they oft put together, 1 Chro. 16. 29. 2 Chro. 20. 21. Pſal. 29. 2. & 96. 9. & 110. 3. That Family which worſhips the Lord in the beauty of holineſs, hath a Church in their houſe, as Rom. 16. 5. 1 Cor. 16. 19. and to turn an houſe into a Church is a beautiful thing. 3. Reaſon 'tis your ſafety. (1) From Gods wrath, his deſtroying Angel ſhall not break in upon you, Exod. 12. 12, 13. but he doth break in upon the Families that call not upon his name, Jer. 10. 25. (2) From the Devils malice, ſuch houſes as are haunted with evil-Spirits, what-ever other Reaſon there may be thereof, yet ſure I am this is one, that the worſhip of God hath not been duly and truly obſerved in that houſe; where the fear of God is not, there all evil, and any Devil may prevail to play their pranks, Gen. 20. 11, 17. and Iſa. 13. 21. Babylon may be a place for Satyrs, or Devils in borrowed ſhapes and hideous apparitions, but Sion is a place of Songs. No Lyon ſhall be there, not that roaring Lyon, (the Devil,) Eſa. 33. 13. & 35 9, 10. 2 Theſ. 3. 3. 1 Joh. 5. 18. Pſal. 118. 15.
2. If you be the Father of the Family, then are you as the Sun, if the Mother thereof, then are you as the Moon, and if Children, then are you of the Stars, as in Joſephs dream, Gen. 37. 9. [the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars] as before. Shows the duty of each, beſides the Governours of Families, ſhould be King, Prieſt, and Prophet, in their own-families; (1) You muſt be a King (or a Queen, if a Female) to make Laws for your Family, and to ſee to the Execution of them, as you have power to make Laws, ſo you have the Sword to Execute them, Gen. 16. 6. (ſhe is in thy hand) to correct her for her fault; though this Lady or Queen (as the word (Sarah) ſignifies) ſhewed too much wrath to her maid and too little Reverence to her Husband, in dealing ſo roughly with her; correction given in Anger hath uſually more of rigour then of right; Socrates ſaid to his offending Servant, but that I am angry, I would ſtrike thee. (2) You muſt be a Prieſt (the word is uſed in Latin for he and ſhe) to Sanctify your Family and familiarity, by the Sacrifice of Prayer dayly. Thus did Job. Chap. 1. 5. well knowing he was bound to the preſervation of Gods precepts as well as to the Obſervation of them, and to ſee that all his (under his ſhadow, Hoſ. 14. 7.) ſhould keep them as well as himſelf; he ſues for pardon even of ſuſpected Sins in his Sons, and turns his ſuſpicion into a ſupplication; and this Job did [Kolhajomim] continually or every day. This alſo was our Lord Chriſts cuſtom as before, not being weary of well doing, yea further you muſt by your Prieſtly Office admoniſh offenders; and excommunicate thoſe that are Incorrigible, (caſt out the bond-woman and her Son) Gen. 21. 9. 10. The Son was a mocker and derider of the Covenant, a fault it was no doubt and a great one too, otherwiſe the Apoſtle would not have cal'd it perſecution, Gal. 4. 20. nor God have puniſhed it with Excommunication, and the Mother was (likely) the Author, or (at leaſt) the abettor of her Sons Sin, in ambitiouſly ſeeking the Inheritance and therefore out they muſt go together. Thus likewiſe David would not ſuffer; a wicked Servant to tarry in his ſight, Pſal. 101. 4. 8.
3. And thirdly you muſt be a Prophet (or Propheteſs) to inſtruct your Family in the knowledg of God and (with Abraham) command your Children and your houſhold to keep the ways of the Lord, Gen. 18. 19. The lips of the Righteous feed many, Prov. 10. 21. Ruth carries her gleanings home, Ruth 2. 17, 18. and the Bee carries all her gatherings to the Hive; ſo a good Houſholder, what he gathers abroad he carries home, knowing that all the Souls in the houſe are given to him (to care for) as all the Souls in the Ship were given to Paul, Act. 27. 24. 'Twas a notable ſaying of Mr. Stocks, that many Houſholders in London while they are taking care, of preſerving the health of their own bodies (in their Countrey houſes) they are all that time ſtarving their Servants Souls. O conſider, how may Servants Dog, cry after, and curſe their Maſters in Hell for Murthering their Souls, (which is worſe then body-murther) and for doing no more for them, then they did for their Beaſts, to wit, in feeding their bodies only; but (as Gallio) not caring for better things, Act. 18. 14, 17. O how did the Queen of Sheba admire the order of Solomons houſe, and the Apoſtle commend the order he ſaw in ſeveral houſes, and would they not as much wonder and diſcommend, the diſorder an perturbation in many houſes (that pray not apart, Zech. 12. 10, 12.) but Moon and Stars above the Sun, water above the Earth, all Ataxies or diſorder, and brawling about triffles. Thundrings, rending the middle Region (while alls quiet in a well ordered houſe, as in the upper Region) Mox, longe, tarde, Cede, Recede, Redi. Such an houſe hath the Plague of Leproſy in it, Levit. 14 35, to 42. If it be matter of choice to you, depart quickly … of it, remove a great way from it, and let it be throughly cleanſed before, you return to it again.
FINIS.
End of the text · Christopher Ness, A Christians Walk and Work on Earth (1678)