An Earnest Call to Family Religion, Text (3 of 6)

An Earnest Call to Family Religion · Text (3 of 6)

p. 107Quo semel est imbut a recens servabit odorem

Testa diu—

A new Vessel will for a great while retain the scent or savour of that Liquor which was at first put into it; and so young ones: and I am apt to think that many of those who after a pious Education turn aside from the good ways of God to crooked paths with the workers of iniquity do not sin at so easie a rate as others do, but offer violence to their Consciences, and call to mind again that of God himself concerning Abraham and his House, which I have already quoted more than once; He will teach his children, and his houshold after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord. His Instructions will infuse such Principles into them, that they will do it, and my Grace shall so powerfully co-operate with those Principles, and influence them that they shall do it. They shall keep the way of the Lord, the way of his holy Precepts, and the way of his instituted Worship; they shall do it after him, after his example, and after his decease, when he is dead and in his Grave; my fear and service shall be posteritiz'd in his Family. Abraham's advice and practice shall live in their Minds, and Religion shall live in their Houses, and so it did in Isaac's, and in Iacob's, and so down. and further for the strengthening of this your hope, I desire you to take along with you that passage of Solomon, Prov. 22.6. Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it▪ p. 108The Scripture sets it the next Door to an impossibility for them to learn to do well who have been accustomed to do evil; and though it be not so hard, yet it is not very easie for them to do evil who have been all along accustomed to the doing of that which is good. Zophar speaking of the wicked Man, saith, Iob 20.11. His bones are full of the sins of his youth, which shall lye down with him in the dust; which Gregory expounds thus, Usque ad pulverem non deserunt; i. e. usque ad mortem ab iniquitate non cessat: He doth not forsake his Vices as long as he lives, he doth not cease from them till he dies, his youthful sins stick close, fast to him; he continues the practice of them while he lives, and when he dies he receives the punishment of them. It is a matter of greatest moment to take heed what we do accustom young ones to; teach Children that which is good at first, and they will learn it well, and that is the way to have them keep it well. It is reported of the Harts in Scythia, that they do betimes teach their young ones to leap from Turf to Turf, and from Bank to Bank, and from Rock to Rock, and so they continue it when they come to be old, and by means thereof they cannot be taken though they be hunted, whether that be so or not is none of my Enquiries; sure I am, teaching Children their Duty toward God, and going before them, and with them in the performance of it, is the way to engage them to a perseverance therein, and to secure them from the great Nimrod of Hell, that cruel and bloody Hunter of precious Souls: so that they shall not afterwards be drawn away from it by the wiles, subtilties and temptations of that wicked one, nor seduced by the bad examples of evil Men, who know not the Lord. Do you by your Teachings and Instructions lay up the words of Gods Mouth in their p. 109Heads, so through Divine Grace they may come to lay them up in their Hearts, and then they will be preserved from sinning against God, and kept from the paths of the Destroyer. And as an happy consequence hereof,

You may at your departure from hence leave them with a comfortable hope of meeting them again with mutual and exceeding joy in the other World, in a better place, and in a far better case than that is in which you leave them; when all troubles shall be removed from the Flesh, and all corruption from the Spirit, when there shall be nothing within to disturb, and nothing without to offend, but you and they shall have a spotless Purity, and blessed Eternity. You shall be raised out of your Graves in which you have had so sound and long a sleep, and stand upon the Earth, and be caught up together with the rest of the holy Ones into the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air, and so shall you ever be with the Lord, and O the joys that will be at that meeting! The meeting of the Bridegroom with the Bride is not to be compared with it; the meeting of the Father with his penitent and returning Prodigal falls short of it; Oh the Smiles, the inward Satisfactions, the dear Embraces, the loud Triumphs, the Hosannahs and Allelujahs that will be at that meeting! All which will arise from the condition you meet together in, freed from sin, and from imperfections, deliver'd from all your Enemies, having got the last of them Conquer'd, and now under your Feet; yourselves being in a state of safety, peace, and acceptance with God; and also it will arise from the thoughts and considerations of that which you then meet together for. It is for the greatest purposes, and most glorious ends that can be; you meet to receive the Reward of all your services, and of all your sufferings, p. 110the answer of all your Prayers, the accomplishment of all your desires, the fulfilling of all your hopes; you shall meet the Bridegroom, whom though you had not seen, yet believing you chose, and lov'd, and were espoused to, and between him and you there shall be everlasting Nuptials; you shall meet together to take possession of that incorruptible undefiled Inheritance which fadeth not away, but is reserved in Heaven, of which you were new-born the Heirs; you shall meet to see, and together enjoy that God in Heaven whom you served upon Earth, to Sun your selves in his Beams, to solace your selves in his Arms, to Delight your selves in that fulness of Joy which is in his presence, and to bathe your selves in that River, or rather Ocean of Pleasures which is at his Right Hand for evermore. You that have walked in the same way shall come to the City of God, the heavenly Ierusalem, of which the Lord and the Lamb are, will be the everlasting light; and having set your Hand to the work of God, and having had your Heart in it, you shall enter into the same rest. You that have mourned together, and together mingled your Groans and Tears, and poured out bitter Complaints against your Sins and your Selves, shall then rejoice together, and that with exceeding Joy, because of your own and each others thorough Cure, and perfect Health. You that have confest your faults together, both Heart and Life-sins, shall then be deliver'd from them, and triumph over them all. You that have prayed together upon Earth, and with all the power of your Souls Besieged the Throne of Grace, shall in Heaven sing praises together, even Eternall Allelujahs, and to make the Consort compleat, and that melodious Harmony the more ravishing, you shall be joined with an innumerable p. 111Company of Angels, and all the Saints that were Redeemed unto God by the Blood of the Lamb.

Oh! how deliciously sweet will it be to your Souls who have been the Father of a gracious Family, or the Mother of it, if at the last and great day, when the whole World shall be summon'd to appear, and give up their account to God, you shall be able to say, Lord here am I, and the Children which thou hast given me; these thou gavest to me in thy goodness, and these I gave up to thee in Covenant, and accordingly I brought them up for thee; I am not ashamed to own them for mine, and I trust that in Christ thou wilt be graciously pleased to call them thine, now thou art making up thy Jewels; these I did carefully teach thy fear, and did also lead them in the way that thou didst chuse, and they were willing to learn, and ready to follow: they were my hope, when but little, and my comfort when grown up, and now, Lord, we present our selves before thee in hope of being accepted by thee, and finding favour; and then our Lord Jesus shall look upon you with a gracious Eye, and say, I know you, you are some of my old Friends and Acquaintance, you did rejoice and work Righteousness, and remembred me in my ways, and in those ways I did meet with you; Come ye blessed of my Father, you are welcome to me, and you will be so to him, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, you have been industrious seekers, and now you shall be successful and happy finders; you have been running the Race, now you shall receive the Prize; you have been sowing in Prayers, and Tears, and a Consciencious performance of Duty, and now you shall with joy reap the Harvest, your Faith shall be swallowed up of Vision, and your Hope of Fruition. This is no more, my dearly Beloved, p. 112than what you, and such as you may with good ground hope for, and live in the joyful expectation of, and the lively hope of it may very well allay the bitterness of Death, and afford you that comfort, which may through Christ keep your Souls in perfect peace, even when you are in the greatest agonies and strugglings with the King of Terrors. When you are ready to draw your latest Breath, and to bid farewel to all the world, and to set up your Sails for the other world, and to shoot the Gulf, your Conscience can bear you witness that you have heartily submitted your selves to God, and believingly closed with the Lord Iesus Christ, renouncing all confidence in the Flesh, and making mention of his Righteousness as that only by which you must be justified; yet that you have not had an idle and unactive Faith, but endeavoured to walk in all the Ordinances and Commandments of the Lord blameless, and that you have been sincerely desirous to improve your interest and power for the honour of God, and accordingly have order'd and brought up your Family for him, and so have spent your time together in his fear and service: I say, you may hereupon chearfully commit your own Souls to him as to a faithful Creator, and also your Children to him; them you may leave in his Hand as the proper Objects of his Covenant Love, and Fatherly Care, hoping that you shall meet again in his Blessed Presence, and live for ever in his Kingdom and Glory. You see I have brought from your selves, you that are Masters, Mistresses, Parents, Heads and Governours of Families, Eight Arguments for your setting and keeping up in them the Worship of God, and Religious Exercises, and upon every one of them I have insisted long, and enlarged much▪ that if it be possible I might convince your Judgments, and p. 113work upon your hearts and affections. Now the question is, what you think of, and say to these things. For mine own part, though I do not, and hope never shall overvalue any of my own labours, yet I would set a great estimate and high price upon all the truths, of which I am sure these things which I have brought to you are some, how much soever they may taste of the Earthen Vessel in which they come to you, yet know assuredly they are of God. And let me add, it is a common Saying and a true one, that Interest governs the World; though it is no less common and true, that men are greatly mistaken about their real and grand interest, placing it where it is not. But I say, if your own interest have any place and power with you, if you would secure and promote it, you will find not only good but abundant reason for the doing of that which I am pressing upon you. viz. Setting up the Worship of God in your Families.

And if any of you have hitherto been strangers to it, I earnestly beseech you to shew your selves persons of teachable and tractable Spirits, easie to be intreated, and evidently to manifest your fear of God, and love to your selves, by your speedy doing it; take not up with some inclinations towards it, or good purposes or resolutions for the future, but up and be doing, fall presently to practice for Gods sake, and for your own sake, and for your Families sake do not defer and put off, do not say you will do it afterward, for though that should stop the mouth of a sleeping lazie Conscience, it will by no means please an holy God. Besides, that is no other than a wretched fallacy, and base cheat, that a malicious Devil and a treacherous deceitful heart would put upon you; that Old Saying carrieth a great truth in it.

p. 114Qui non est hodie, cras minus aptus erit.

He that is not fit and willing to day, will be more unfit and unwilling to morrow; Convictions will wear off, and the heart will grow harder, and corruption stronger, and the Devil will clap the faster hold, and the Spirit of God may withdraw and move no farther; strive no more, and where are you then? Thou saidst, seek ye my face, and my heart answered, thy face Lord will I seek. So David, here was a sudden compliance, he did not stand arguing and questioning, he did not take time, but immediately arose and girded himself to the work. O! that it may be so with you, strike Man, Woman, strike while the iron is hot, as soon as the wind blows spread your Sails. I beg of you, yea, with utmost importunity I beg, that you would go home to day and do it, do not dare to lie down in your Beds this night without the performance of Family-duty, considering that it is Duty which I am calling you to▪ it is not a thing indifferent. I do not think it worth my while to contend for matters of that nature, but this is none of them, this is not a point of liberty, no, no, it is Duty, and Duty must be done, Duty is Debt, you owe it to God, to your Families, and Debts must be paid, otherwise Divine Justice will Arrest you, and you shall answer for it. Now, seeing it must be done, the sooner it is done the better, you do not know how soon you may die, it may be too night, and I am sure it is best and safest for you, that when ever Death comes, it should find Faith in you, and you in the way of your Duty. Blessed, for ever blessed is that Servant, whom when his Lord cometh he shall find so doing.

p. 115But I shall now proceed (as indeed it is high time) to a third head of Arguments, drawn from your Children, who are near, and ought to be dear to you, unto whom you were in the hand of God Instruments of conveying life and being. Children that are parts of your selves, that are your selves in a second Edition, whose welfare therefore and happiness you are by all imaginable bonds obliged while you live to study, and promote even as your own. They likewise will in part be drawn from your Servants, particularly your Apprentices, who are under your roof, and committed to your care, and imployed for some time in your service, and about your work. And here I desire you seriously to ponder upon these following Particulars, and to lay them close unto your hearts, and wisely judge what there is of strength in them, what a rational inforcement of this holy practice upon you.

1. Think with your selves what they are by Nature, both your Children, and your Servants, more particularly your Children, because the nearness of the Relation doth strengthen the engagement upon you. And here we will consider them both as to their Bodies, and their Souls, and that in three Particulars. We will begin with their Bodies, and outward Man, which are indeed but dust, but the Workmanship of Gods hands wonderfully made. now

First, Some of them peradventure are objects of pity in the eyes of all that behold them, some are defective and imperfect, an integrating part is missing, others of them are crooked, or their Members are misplac'd, or very much deformed; so that Spectators turn away their faces from them, as from loathsom and odious Creatures, not fit to be exposed to the sight of any; others of them are lame in their hands, or feet, one or both, or blind; others of them p. 116came excellent out of the hands of God, and the wombs of their Mothers, but since a disease hath seised them, as the Small Pox, or the Scrofulous Humour, which have made sad work in them, and utterly defac'd their Beauty, digging pits and making seams in their faces, distorting their mouths, eating off a finger from this hand, and another from that, and so devouring them by piece-meal. Now let me ask you, is not this enough to draw out your compassions toward them, and to cause the sounding of your Bowels; could you be content that there should be no sound part in them, but all throughout nothing but botches and boyls, and putrifying Sores; would you have their Souls as bad as their Bodies? would you be content that they should have ignorant blind Souls, crooked and perverse Souls, ugly filthy and deformed Souls; that as nice and curious Persons cannot abide to look upon them; so the great and holy God should not endure to look upon them neither, but say, cast them out of my sight, my mind cannot be towards them. Methinks you should bestir your selves to the utmost, and do all that in you lies, that the loveliness of their Souls may compensate and make an abundant amends for the deformity of their Bodies; look out for the best Beauty for them, that Wisdom, and Grace, and Holiness may make even their faces to shine; yea, that their beauty may be perfect, through Christs comeliness put upon them. But

Secondly, There be some of your Children which are amiable and pleasant to behold, curious pieces of God's Work: Sons that are Plants of Renown, and Daughters as Corner-Stones polished, after the similitude of a Palace, as you read in Psal. 144.12. They have bodies of a comely stature and exact shape, p. 117Limbs of a due proportion. Countenances lovely and lively, in which you see excellent Features and admirable Complexion; the Lilly and the Rose having met, and concurr'd to render them accepted and desirable in the eyes of men, and certainly this is a great Mercy, for which you and they have cause to bless God, only let them have a care they do not abuse it to Pride and Wantonness. Besides this fair out-side, this well-built Tabernacle of Clay, they are inwardly adorned with good Tempers, smart, brisk and exquisite Parts, which greatly accomplish them and render them fit for Converse, so that all who know them are delighted with their Conversation.

And now sit down, yet Parents, sit down and consider, is it not a thousand pitties that such Tabernacles should stand empty, or be possess'd with an evil Spirit? Is it not pity such Bodies should have in them wicked and vile Souls; that those lovely persons, who have so much without to commend them to Men, should have nothing within to commend them to God? Would it not be sad, if these Persons, who have almost Angelical Countenances, should be no other than Cages of unclean Lusts, Sinks of Sin, Habitations of Divels, meer painted Sepulchres, fair to the eyes, but within there is nothing but filth, rottenness and a stink? Oh, how much better is it for them to resemble and take pattern by the King's Daughter, mentioned Psal. 45.13. who hath not only her garments of wrought gold, but is likewise all glorious within. This is the way for them to become precious in God's sight, and honourable; this is the way for Jesus the Lord of Glory and King of Saints greatly to desire their Beauty, though he himself is the cheifest of ten thousands, and deserves to be the Desire of all Nations. And then,

p. 118Thirdly, let your Children be what they will as to the outward man, fair or black, compleat or defective, beautiful or deformed, what are they as to their Souls? the very best part about them is stark naught, indeed it is the very worst; that which David called his Glory, and should be theirs, is their Shame; alas there is cause enough why it should be so. Be they as lovely as you think them, they are not Paradises, but Desarts and Wildernesses over-run with Briars, Thorns, and Weeds, not Cedars but Brambles; by nature they are Crabstocks, and is it not pity but they should be grafted upon with holy Instructions, and religious Principles? that so, instead of wild grapes, the grapes of Sodom, and the clusters of Gomorrha, they may become Trees of Righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that by them he might be glorified, which will also turn to their own singular Advantage; for having their Fruit unto Holiness, the end will be everlasting Life; for such Trees when their bearingtime is come to its appointed Period, will be sound not Fewel for the Burning, but Timber for the Building; or, if you please, Death shall take them, and Grace transplant them into the Paradise of God.

You that are Parents and have beautiful Children, look upon them with a great deal of Pleasure; you look and like, you look and doat, you see your selves in them, and several curious strokes and pretty tricks, and all these please you highly. But I remember when Samuel was greatly taken with Eliah, 2 Sam. 16.7. the Lord said unto him, Look not on his countenance or on the heighth of his stature, because I have refused him. So say I; do not look upon this or that natural or acquired Excellency in your Children so as to rest satisfied with that; but see if you p. 119can discover any thing of Christ in them, any thing of a new and divine Nature; as for their natural state you will see in them more of the brute than of the man, if you do but look upon them through a Scripture-glass; that will help you to the best prospect. To this purpose let us make use of that which we find in Iob 11.12. Vain man would be wise, though man be born like the wild asses colt. In which words there are three things worthy of our observing; what Man is, what he would be, and what he was born.

First, what man is; vain, proud man, conceited man, but still vain man. In the Hebrew it is empty man. Indeed sometimes he makes a great noise, but there is little worth: He hath nothing in him, nothing of value, much froth, much wind, but no substance; he hath too much of that which he should not have, Sin, Satan, Folly, Madness, Madness is in the heart of man whilst he lives, but there is nothing of that which he should have, nothing of that beautiful Image which was at first stamp'd upon him, nothing of that primitive Glory with which he did at the first shine, nothing of that real Excellency and Beauty which our gracious and blessed Redeemer came to advance him to; he hath nothing of the saving Knowledge of God, but his foolish Heart is darkned, and he become vain in his Imaginations: nothing of the divine Spirit, but sensual, not having the Spirit, sunk into the Flesh, immers'd, drown'd in Flesh, nothing of sanctifying Grace, nothing is made new, but all old and rotten, wholly alienated from the Life of God, dead in Trespasses and Sins; there is in him no Love to God, no Faith in Jesus Christ, but altogether throughout filthy and abominable. Again,

p. 120Secondly, there we see what Man would be, wise. Vain Man would be wise; but, perhaps, you will say, this is well, it is very good, it is a sign he is not altogether empty. Here is a Will that stands right, Desires directed to a proper and deserving object. But mark what is the meaning of the Words, take it in these two things: He would be wise, i e he affects a shew and appearance of Wisdom, and if he can attain that, he concludes he hath enough. He doth not care so much for being wise, as for being counted wise; he is wise in his own conceit, and in his own eyes, and he would be so in the opinion of all that know him. It is evident he does not care for Wisdom it self, because he doth neither pray, nor take pains, for it; he doth not dig for it as for Silver, nor doth he seek and search for it as for hid Treasures. But whatever he now would be, or be thought to be▪ what was he at first, what when he came into the World? Zophar tells us,

Thirdly, He is born as a wild asses colt. What a strange Climax or Gradation is here? He is born a Colt, that is, at best, a Brute, be it never so handsom or well made, yet is no other than a Beast, and hath not the Understanding of a Man; but that is not all, he is born an Asses colt, a dull, heavy and foolish Creature, good, fit, for nothing; nor is that all, he is born a wild Asses colt, the dullest and most untractable Creature; so of all Fools, Man is the worst and most sottish. Thus the Scripture speaks, Isai. 1. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his masters crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. And again, Ier. 7. The Stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed season; and the Turtle, and the Crane, and the Swallow observe the times of their coming, but my people know not the Iudgment of the Lord. Now then I will leave it to you, O Parents, p. 121to Judge, whether you have not need betimes to break these Colts, if you would have them come to good; have you not need to take a great deal of pains with these Asses, and the taming of these wild Asses. Is there not reason why you should do what you can to bring them to bear the yoke in their Youth, and to draw in it. I mean not only your yoke, but Christs too, which is easie, and none of his Commandments grievous; and so to turn these Beasts into Men, yea, into Saints; certainly you should, because they are yours, and if you love them you will; natural affection accompanied with religious Principles, will put you upon all diligent use of means to so blessed a purpose, viz. Bringing them out constantly to the publick Ordinances, and at home taking care to pray for them, and with them, and to instruct, command, exhort and catechize them, together with the setting before them holy and good examples.

II. Add this Consideration to the former, How much you have contributed to their corruption and defilement, they are indeed degenerate Plants, but the Plants of a strange Vine, and that is you, Ier. 2.21. Now here I will consider you both as Parents, and how much your Children are the worse for you, and as Masters, and so how much your Families do suffer by you.

First, you are Parents, God hath crowned your Conjugal Relation with Posterity, but what is your Posterity but the Seed of evil doers, Children of those that have corrupted themselves? those pure Souls which were created by God, were polluted and spoiled as soon as they entered into those bodies that came of you; you did convey a cross, froward depraved nature to your Children, who therefore are so bad because they are yours. It is said, Gen. 5.3. p. 122Adam begat a Son in his Image, and after his likeness, not in the Image and likeness of God, as Adam himself had been made at first, but in his own Image, in his Image not only as he was Man, but also as he was lapsed Man, his Son was like himself in Body and in Soul, and in Sin, and thus have the Sons of Adam done ever since. Iob saith, Iob 14.4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Man being unclean, cannot make himself clean, let them wash in tears, let them wash with Snow water, he cannot fetch out the dirt, the spots and stains▪ he cannot wash himself clean; and being himself unclean, he cannot produce and bring forth that which is clean. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; weak flesh, sinful flesh; that water which is soil'd and muddied at the Spring, cannot be pure and clear in the Stream. Aethiopissae Filius nigrum ab eâ Colorem trahit. The Son of a Blackmoor will be a Blackmoor too. You know there are hereditary Diseases, as the Gout, Stone, Spleen, Lethargie, which commonly run in the blood, and are transmitted by the Parents to their Children; Sin is one of them, it is the worst of them, it sticks close, and descends from Parents to Children, and that from Generation to Generation, without interruption, without exception, unless that of our dear Lord Jesus, who was to be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from Sinners, that he might be a Sacrifice, and a Saviour, and in order thereunto, came into the World in an extraordinary way of generation, being formed in the Womb of a Virgin, by the power of the Holy Ghost who over-shadowed her; otherwise Sin doth inseparably follow Nature, and never goeth out of the blood. So that I may call Parents the Channels, the Kennels, the Common-Sewers, in and through which all that abominable p. 123filth runs, which defiles their otherwise lovely and desirable Children, rendring them odious and abominable unto God. And never carry your heads high, because your Children are of a Noble or Gentile descent, come of such a Family, bear such account, or because you can leave them a great Estate, there is one thing, alass! that stains and spoils all that Glory, viz. It is from you they have it that they are born Sinners. And truly, as there is a great deal of joy at the birth of an Infant, because a Man-Child is Born into the World; so there is reason why that joy should be upon this account somewhat allay'd, and mingled with grief and sorrow, that a Sinner is born into the World.

Secondly, Let us consider you as the Heads & Governours of Families; are not your Families the worse for you? you that are Husbands and Wives should be the better for one another, and fill your Relations, and carry in your places as those that are Co-heirs of the grace of life, that you may have cause of blessing God you ever came together. But reflect and curiously enquire, are not you the worse for one another, and are not your Children and Servants in some respects the worse for you both? You that have no Religious Duties performed in your Houses, are for certain very injurious to them, by that your omission; for you teach them Atheism, neglect and contempt of God; you teach them to live without God in the World, like so many Brutes; you do thereby teach them to neglect their precious and immortal Souls, and to mind nothing but the concernments of a vile and perishing Body, and the inferiour good things of a Transitory World: But what do you think of your selves who are the best, who walk most closely with God; do you foot it so right that you do not sometimes tread awrie? do you demean your selves p. 124with so much exactness, that nothing amiss is to be discerned in you? do you order your carriages and conversations with so much judgement and circumspection, that they are without fault, and blameless. David saith, Who can understand his errours? and, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? and have you not read such passages as these in the Scriptures? There is not a just Man upon Earth that liveth and sinneth not. In many things we sin all. If we say we have no sin, we deceive our selves, and the truth is not in us. There are too many graceless Persons in the World, but there is not one sinless Person; there are many holy Persons who have been washed, and justified, and sanctified, but not one that is cleansed from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit, and who hath attained to a perfection in his holiness, and can you think that your blemishes and miscarriages are invisible? do not those that live and converse with you observe you? yes, they do, and see more spots in your faces than you do in your own, though you look in the glass; and they will be exceeding apt to tread in your steps, and to imitate you, especially in that which is evil, for unto that their own corrupt Nature doth incline, and like a strong Bias carry them that way; yea, and your example shall be made use of and pleaded as their sufficient Warrant. If they should be reproved by some sober judicious Persons for doing that which they should not, they will justifie themselves thus; I saw my Father or my Mother do so, my Master or my Mistress do so, and therefore I may do it too. Poor things, they do sometimes think of their Parents, and Masters above that which is meet, and not considering their imperfections, and that body of Sin and Death which they carry about with them; they do not in their following them p. 125make use of that caution which they ought to do. Be serious, my dear Friends, be serious and consider whether your Children and Servants be not the worse for your Pride, discovered in your haughty looks, and lofty words, and stately gestures, and costly garbs and dresses; the worse for your Passion, shewn in sharpened Eyes, furious Countenances, and words like Swords and Daggers; the worse for your mispence of time, in vain visits, frothy discourses, games and recreations, and lazy lying in Bed upon the Lord's Day, till much of the morning is lost, and a considerable part of the Publick Worship be over before you come into the Congregation. In short, are they not the worse for this, and that, and the other; yea for many things, which your own Consciences (if you please to consult them, and give them free leave to speak) can and will inform you of far better than I can, being every day with you, and in you, and keeping a Book of Accounts, in which is inserted and recorded what it observes.

Now then, ought you not to repair this damage to your utmost? and since you have done, and go on to do them so much hurt, should you not do them all the good you can, and be heartily glad when it is in your power to do it? have you shewn them many things by which they have offended God? and will you not shew them by counsel and practice those things that will please him? I beseech you to bestir and lay out your selves and your all for the making of them amends, and the recovering them out of that Snare of the Devil into which you have helpt to bring them.

In what I now say, I do not put you upon impossibilities, nor the doing of that which is without the reach of your power. I do not bid you sanctifie them by forming Christ, and planting Grace in their p. 126hearts. I do not bid you raise them out of the Grave of Corruption, and breath into their Souls the Breath of Spiritual Life; that must be effected by the Arm of Omnipotency; none else can do it, none hath a Regenerating Power, but he that hath a Creating Power; but you may pray for them in your private Retirements, and you may pray with them that God would be pleased to give them his Spirit, and to work his Grace in them: You may take your Children and your Servants with you, and carry them to God, and beg of him that he would pity and help them. As you read, when our Lord Iesus was here upon Earth, Tabernacling among Men, they came to him from all parts of the Land, begging of him a Cure for themselves, and their Children and their Servants, as the matter did require. Now Christ is in Heaven, he hath the same power, that you must needs believe and grant; for here he was in his State of lowest Humiliation, there he is in his State of highest Preferment and Exaltation. After his Resurrection he told his Disciples, all Power was given him both in Heaven and Earth, and distance of place doth not hinder. He can help afar off as well as at hand, his Arm being long as well as strong. There is no need of this great Physician leaving his Fathers Right Hand, and coming down in Person to cure Diseased Souls; by sending his Word he can heal them, as he did formerly; Psal. 107. v. 20. And his Glory hath not in the least detracted from his Mercy. His Heart is now what it was, as loving and tender; his Bowels are not shrunk up, nor do his Compassions fail. Iesus Christ is the same, yesterday, and to day, and for ever; Heb. 13.8. As his Hand of Power is not shortened, so his gracious Ear is not grown heavy; therefore go to him, taking Faith along with you, and say, Lord, my Children p. 127were born blind, O! do thou anoint them with thine Eye-salve, that they may receive their sight. Open their Eyes that they may see wonderful things out of thy Law, and the precious things of thy Gospel; that they may see the sinfulness of Sin, and the beauty of Holiness; that they may see their own undone condition, and the absolute need they have of Christ, together with the all-sufficiency of his Righteousness, and the riches of his Grace, the sweetness of his Government, and the easiness of his Yoke. Go to him and say, Lord, my Children are grievously troubled with a Devil, a proud Devil, a lying Devil, a disobedient, stubborn, obstinate Devil, O that thou wouldest make thy Power known in the casting of him out! Once more, go to him and say, Lord, My Children have got the Leprosie of Sin, it hath spread it self all over them: O do thou say, I will be ye clean. My Children are Enemies in their Minds by wicked works, Enemies to Thee and all that is spiritually good, O do thou reconcile them! that of Enemies to Thee they may become Enemies to Sin, and for the time to come they may love thy Father, thy Self and Spirit, thy Truth and Ways. Lord, My Children are the Slaves of Satan, and they delight in their Chain; they serve divers Lusts, and are pleased with their Bondage, and count their Drudgery a Recreation. O! let these Lawful Captives of the Mighty be delivered, break their Chains asunder, and bring them into the Liberty of thy Children, and, as they have yielded their members Servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity, unto iniquity, even so now and for the time to come they may yield their members, Servants to righteousness unto holiness; Rom. 6.20. And what you do to this purpose for your Children, do also for your Servants; take them up in the Arms of your Love and Prayer, and lay them at the p. 128foot of God, and beg him that he would sanctifie and save them.

And as you can thus pray and plead with God for them, so you can add hereunto if you will. There are other things which you can do: You cannot infuse into them a Principle of Grace, but you may teach them the Principles of Religion; you may shew the way in which they should walk, though you cannot put that way in their hearts; as we have that expression; Psal. 84.5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee, in whose heart are the ways of them. You cannot bow their Wills to God's, nor raise and spiritualize their Affections, nor set them upon their proper Objects, those things which are above, but you may inform their Judgments. You cannot write the Law of God in their hearts, nor put his Fear into their inward parts, but you may acquaint them with the Law of God, and read the Bible to them, and hear them read both it and other Othodox good Books, but the Bible most and rather than the best Books in the World. So again, you cannot make them good, but you may set a good Example before them, and write a very fair Copy for them to imitate, and invite them to tread in your steps, saying to them as Paul did, Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ, and walk so as ye have us for an example. It is certain, all this is in your power, you may do it; and oh that you would! Oh that you would abound in the doing of it! considering how much you have done against them, how greatly you have prejudiced them, how much they have suffered through your means, how much they have been tainted by you. Really, you are obliged to this, this is no more than what you owe to these poor Creatures, and if you are careless, negligent and wanting herein, you are unjust, you with hold that which is meet, and it tends to your p. 129own poverty, and sorrow at the last; it is in the power of your hand to do it, therefore do not withhold it from them to whom it is due; it is a Debt, and that both of Charity and of Equity; up then in your several Families, and apply to this excellent needful work; for the Lord's sake apply to it with diligence and chearfulness; what your hand findeth to do herein, do with all your might: And since your planting and watering will turn to no account, unless God give the increase, begin and second all these holy endeavours with prayer. Beg of God that he would open their understandings, and hearts, that he would work together with you, and by you, and that he would be pleased to out-do you; that he would work that in them and for them which you cannot.

III. Consid…r seriously whose your Children and Servants are; they are yours, yea and they are God's as well as yours, God's more than yours.

First; They are yours. Your Children are yours by Nature, begotten or born of you; parts of your selves; from you under God they had their Being. Your Servants are yours by Compact or Covenant. And here let us call again to mind what was said before, they are both your Charge, and therefore they ought to be your Care; you are to look to them; you will look to your Money and Goods, and not lose them if you can help it. The Countrey-man will look to his Corn and Cattel that he may not lose them, and is there not reason for as great care here, and greater too? Our Saviour said, It is the will of him that sent me, that of all whom he hath given me I should lose none; and I am sure it is so here. It is the will of him that sent you into the World, that of all whom he hath given you, you should lose none. There may be indeed, as there was in Christ's Family, so in p. 128yours, a Son, a Daughter of Perdition, who lose themselves, who will ruin and destroy themselves, and their Blood will be upon their own heads. But have you a care that you do not lose them through your wilful carelesness and neglect. For, as I have said, they are your Charge, and believe me, the Charge of a Family is a great Charge, of mighty weight and importance as all the World, all ranks and degrees of Men will find it when that day shall come in which the Eternal God will reckon with them. You know that if any one come by an untimely Death, whether it be in the City, or in the Countrey, the Coroners Inquest must be called and sit upon the Body, who ought to make a strict and impartial Enquiry about it, that the Murderer might be discovered and brought to condign Punishment, because there is not only the Loss of a Relation or a Servant, but also the King hath lost a Subject. Bring this to the present case before us; here is such an one, a Soul lost in this Family, and there is another lost in that Family, and so in a great many more, the Lord only knows how great the number of them is. How many thousand of Souls do every day drop into Hell! If people would give themselves leave seriously to consider it, it would make their hearts to ake and dissolve into Tears; and peradventure it is, nay I do not in the least question but it is the case of some of your Families. You have lost a Child, and you a Daughter and you a Servant, in that sense in which the compassionate Father said concerning his Prodigal, This my Son was lost, he was dead. He was dead in trespasses and sins; the poor mournful Father had lost him, and the Devil taken him up for a Stray; but these of yours are lost beyond the possibility of a recovery, their Souls are lost for ever; they are dead, and dead in sin; their Bodies are laid in p. 129the Grave in a Bed of Dust and their Souls are gone down to Hell, and there laid upon a Bed of Flames, which Divine Justice hath prepared for them, and the Breath of the Lord like as a stream of Brimstone doth feed. But now here God hath lost a Creature, one that was the work of his own hands; and you may be sure, that He will make Inquisition for Blood: How did this Soul, and that Soul come thus to miscarry? was it their own doing? was it through their own folly and madness, because they would not hearken to the Voice of their Teachers? or was it through the neglect of those to whose care and tuition they were committed? The guilt of every ones Blood shall be laid some where, and God will lay it where it ought to lie; and there is, as you may gather from what hath been said, reason why God should thus proceed; because,

Secondly; They (I mean your Children and Servants) are God's as well as yours, nay they are more God's than yours. He indeed gave them to you, as Iacob told his Brother, These are the Children which God hath graciously given to thy Servant. But when he gave them to you, he did not alienate them from himself, nor part with his own Right, but reserves that whole and entire to himself. He so gives them to us, that still they are his: Yea, they are more his than ours. And so it is with all our other Enjoyments. Take one Scripture or two for the proof of this; first as to our Enjoyments, some Men think their Estates are their own, and their Money their own, so that they may do with them whatsoever they please, but it is no such matter, we are but Stewards, God is the Lord of all. For this see Hos. 2.8, 9. I gave her Corn and Wine, and multiplied her Silver and Gold. They were his, and he gave them to her: But observe now, he retain'd a propriety in them, and therefore p. 132upon her misemploying and abusing them, he threatned to take them away. I will return and take away my Corn in the time thereof, and my Wine in the season thereof, and recover my Wooll and my Flax. They were hers by vertue of God's donation, but they were his also, and now she should know as much, for he will turn her out, and take the Possession of all again. This consideration should make all wary that they do not sin with their Enjoyments, nor maintain their Lusts at God's cost, nor with God's allowances make provision for the Flesh; and it should also teach rich Men to do good with what they have, and quicken them to acts of Piety and Charity: Your Estates are yours, but they are God's too, and therefore as you ought to use them for your own good and comfort, so you must lay them out for God's honour, and for God's poor; for the Sovereign right in your Estates is in God; and it is the same as to your Children, God lays his claim to them, Ezek. 16.20, 21. Thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast born unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy Whoredoms a small matter that thou hast slain my Children, and delivered them to cause them to pass thorough the fire for them? Mark it, the Lord grants they were her Children, but he doth also call them his Children, he owns that she did bear them, but saith, thou didst bear them to me; as it was then, so it is now; as the Cattel upon a thousand Hills are his, so the Children of a thousand Families, yea, of all the Families upon the Earth; particularly of his Covenanting People, Ier. 31.1. I will be, saith the Lord, the God of all the Families of Israel, and they shall be my people. He is the God of all the Children of those Families, they are his Children; remember and consider it, your Children are God's p. 133Children, they had their Being from him, he formed them, he brought them forth, and brought them up, and carried them in Arms, and taught them to go, and put them out to you to Nurse, and you are to look after them, and take care of them, and bring them up for him; you are to see to it that they have the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

So for your Servants, they are not only your Servants, but his too, they were his Servants before they were yours, and his more than they are yours, and more bound to obey and please him than you; so that if your Will thwart Gods, and your Commands be contrary to the Commandments of God, they are not to do them, they are more bound to God than they are to you, and they expect more from him than they do from you, and have a greater and more necessary dependance upon him than they have upon you, and therefore they owe him more service than they do you, Psal. 119.19. All are thy Servants, Kings and Princes are his Servants, David was free to own it, O Lord, truly I am thy Servant, I am thy Servant. And Oh that they would all lay their Crowns at his Feet, and serve him by ruling for him. You that are Masters and Mistresses are his Servants, as proud as some of you are, and how high soever you hold your Heads, yet know you are but Servants, though really it is not your disparagement to be God's Servants, but your Honour so that you are good and faithful Servants, and I beseech you look to that. And I say your Servants are God's Servants too; yea, and what the Angel said to Iohn I may to you, notwithstanding the civil distance which is now between you, they are your Fellow-servants, as you will find at the last and great day, when you come to be stript of all these outward p. 132pre-eminencies, and to stand upon even ground with them, only your account will be greater. Sit down, I beseech you, and think of this once and again, those that are bound to you are also bound to God; and will you teach them your Business, and not that which God hath given them to do? Will you take care to make them good Shopkeepers, and not to make them good Christians? Will you call upon them, and urge and press them to do your work, yea, and beat them too, in case they do it not, and will you not regard their doing or neglecting of the work of God? Shall it be nothing to you though they forget God, and let his work lye dead upon their hands, and serve the Devil and diverse Lusts all the Year round? You your selves do not serve God as you ought, if you do not promote what you can your Servants serving him, for so to do is part of your business, it is the duty of your place.

Besides, let me here add this further, if the Parents of those who are bound to you be gracious themselves, and do indeed fear God, they did expect much from you when they did bind them to you; they had a good Opinion of you as of Persons truly Religious, and of your Families as Religious, and that their Sons would meet not only with sobriety there, but also with the practices of Piety, and they did promise themselves that they had disposed well of their Children, and chosen such Masters for them as would take special care of them as to their Souls, and go on to build upon that good Foundation which they themselves had already laid, and that you would be not only giving them an insight into your Callings, but also shewing them the good way in which they ought to walk, and go before them in it, they did promise themselves that p. 133you would provide not only Meat and Drink, wholesome and sufficient Diet for their Bodies, but also that Food which would help to the nourishing of their Souls to Eternal Life. In that hope, and for that end they committed them to you, and if you be careless herein, if you do not pray with them, nor instruct and counsel them, you disappoint their expectations, you frustrate and deceive their hopes, you are false to your trust, and it is impossible that you should ever answer it to God or them, and yet answer for it you shall, but to your cost except you repent and reform.

IV. Remember and consider that those who are of your Families, and under your care are excellent and noble Creatures. How low soever their outward condition is, and how far soever they are beneath you upon worldly accounts, yet they were made by the same hand, are of the same original, the Masterpieces of the Creation in this inferiour World; and here I will more particularly offer these few things to your thoughts.

First; They have Souls as well as you. Souls to save, as well as Bodies to feed, Souls that quicken and actuate their Bodies, and render them capable of being serviceable to you; and be their Bodies never so amiable and lovely, never so robust and well built, never so lively and active, yet without the Soul they would be no other than useless Carcases, lumps of Clay; both unprofitable and unsavoury, and these Souls being the better, and by far the more noble part, are to be principally respected, to be sure not totally forgotten and neglected; and a Trade is to be driven with Heaven for them, as well as one upon Earth for the Body; and though it be no great matter whether they be great and rich in the World, yet it is necessary that they be rich in p. 136Faith, and good Works, and toward God; and since there is another World beside this, and when they go out of this World they immediately pass into that, and they must continue there to all Eternity without a remove, or any alteration, it is absolutely necessary that they be well provided before they go, and lay up Treasures in Heaven. As for the things of this World they must leave them all behind them, though they have gotten never so much; Riches take to themselves Wings, and often fly away, they leave their owners in a pitiful plight; however their owners must at last leave them. Death, when once it comes will make an Eternal separation; so Iob knew, and said, Iob 1. Naked came I out of my mothers womb, and naked shall I return thither. Hence it follows, that they are nearly and everlastingly concerned to look after those things which are better and more durable: To get that knowledge of God and Iesus Christ which is life eternal, and to be well stored with those Graces, and that everlasting righteousness of Christ, which will accompany them to the Tribunal, and to be much busied and employ'd about those works which will follow them in glorious Rewards, for otherwise it had been better for them they had never been Born.

Secondly; Do you know the Souls of your Children and Servants are as precious as yours? Whatever difference there may be in your Bodies, as to their stature, and strength, and comeliness, and beauty, yet your Souls are the same, and theirs come not into the World more corrupt, guilty, and depraved than yours; Original Sin is the same in all the Sons and Daughters of Adam, their Souls are as precious as yours; for,

First; The same God made them, Ezek. 18.4. Behold all souls are mine, as the soul of the father, so also p. 137the soul of the son is mine; and as the Soul of the Master, so also the Soul of the Servant; and as the Soul of the Mistress, so the Soul of the Maid, they are all Gods; as he is the Creator of them, and the Lord of them, and the Supream Judge of them: And he hath a respect to them all as they are the work of his hands, as an Artist hath to a curious piece of his own making.

Secondly; Their Souls have the same Faculties and Powers that yours have; Understanding, Memory, Conscience, Will, Affections; they are intelligent and rational Souls, though they have not had the same opportunities, means and advantages for their accomplishments, which some of you have had and slighted, and not improved as you ought.

Thirdly; Their Souls cost as great a price to redeem as yours; supposing them to be some of Christ's purchased ones, God did not set several Rates upon the Souls of Men, nor did the Lord Jesus pay a greater Ransom for the Soul of David a King than he did for the Soul of Lazarus a Beggar, not a greater for the Soul of the Master than for the Soul of the Servant, for the Soul of the Mistress than of the Maid, but the very same, both the one and the other did stand him in no less than his Heart-blood; and he rejoiceth over the one when Converted, Sanctified, and brought into his Fold, and under his Government as the other; and he will at last as much welcome the one into his heavenly Kingdom, and as abundant an entrance into it shall be ministred to the one as to the other.

Fourthly; Their Souls may have the same Capacities; and allowing them the like advantages for improvement, and the like opportunities for action, they may be as useful in the World while they live, and very serviceable, bringing a great deal of glory p. 136to God, and doing a great deal of good to Man. Valleys are usually fertile, when lofty Mountains are barren; and those that are poor in this World, are frequently rich in good works; and they are receptive of as great Preferment, Happiness and Glory in the World to come. They may, and will be as quick and nimble in their flight to Heaven, they may as sweetly and comfortably enjoy God, and be as much fitted and prepared for the Divine Presence and Bliss, and for a setting upon the Right Hand of Christ, as the Master or the Mistress; nay, some of them may be advanced to an higher degree of Glory, and Eternally shine with brighter Beams: but on the contrary, if these their precious Souls do not go to Heaven, they must be packt down to Hell; if they are not Sav'd they must be Damned; if not taken up to the Enjoyment of God, then they are Companions for Devils; if not Timber for the Building, then Fewel for the Burning; if they be not taken up into the Arms of Divine Love, they will be the miserable Objects of Divine Wrath and Fury, and lye restless and roaring under unsufferable Torments, in which they can have no relief, not so much as a drop of Water to cool their Tongue, and from which they shall have no deliverance.

And now, O ye Fathers and Mothers, and ye Masters and Mistresses, what are ye made of? Have you Hearts harder than a Rock? Are you worse than the Sea-monsters, and like unto the Ostriches in the Wilderness? Where are your Mercies? Where your Bowels? Where the yearning and the soundings of them? Will you not pity these precious Souls? Have you no kindness nor compassion for them? Do you not desire their good? Will you not seek their good? Will not you do what in you lies to prevent their everlasting ruin and destruction? p. 137It is no wonder that Devils who be…ool'd themselves into endless misery, and are inraged against God, and implacable Enemies to Men, envying them the possibility of being saved; it is, I say, not any matter of wonder at all that they do what they can to ruin them, and to bring them into the same misery with themselves; but will you do nothing to prevent it? Will not you do what you can to spoil the Devils design, and to secure these precious Souls from the Snare of the Devil, or deliver them out of it? What! Not you who have curam animarum, the care and charge of Souls lying upon you; not you, to whose oversight they are committed? Not you, who are Responsible for them, and will at last be call'd to an account, will you let them perish without endeavouring to save them, and let them go down to Hell without labouring to stop them in their Career? Will you stand by and see them drown without reaching forth an helping Hand? For God's sake be not so cruel, so hard-hearted, put on Bowels, put on Bowels.

Will it not be a bitter reflexion to you at the last, when the matter is out of your hands, and past remedy? Will it not grieve you? Will it not go to your very Hearts? In short, will it not be a Sword in your Bones, and a tormenting Sting in your Consciences, when you shall think such a Child of mine, and such a Servant of mine are now lost, irrecoverably, everlastingly lost, and they may thank me for it; they were grosly ignorant, and I took no care to teach them; they went on in a course of sin, and I did not endeavour to reclaim them, and they have now fatally miscarried, but it is thorough my fault as well as their own: had I done what I might have done, had I done what it was in the power of my hand to do, possibly it might never have come p. 140to this; as Ioseph's Brethren in their distress said one to another, Gen. 42.21. We are verily guilty concerning our brother; so may you say, I am guilty, verily I am guilty concerning these my Children, and these my Servants: and really it is strange to me that you do enjoy any peace, that you can walk about in quietness in the day, and rest in the night, and are not scar'd with frightful Apparitions. I ascribe it meerly to the patience and goodness of God, that since poor Creatures are for ever ruin'd thorough your sinful neglect, their Ghosts after their death do not continually haunt you, and dogg you from place to place, and from room to room, and undraw your Curtains, and with a ghastly Countenance and dreadful Looks stare you in the Face; for their Blood lyeth on you, yea, it is you that have been their Murderers, you have Murder'd their precious Souls, you have poyson'd them by your bad and heathenish Examples, by your living in a wretched, ungrateful forgetfulness of God, and in a sinful, vile neglect of his Worship and Service, not having his glory in your Eyes, nor his fear before them: You have been the death of them by with-holding from them that which was their due; Family-instruction which you were obliged to have given them, and other Family-duties which you were bound to have perform'd with them.

V. And lastly, I judge it worth while as to the business in hand to enquire of you that are Parents, Whether your Children have not been dedicated and given up to God in and by Baptism? And of you that are Masters and Governours of Families, whether you do not believe that the Fathers and Mothers of those who are your Apprentices and Servants have also dedicated and given them up unto God? I know there is room and reason enough at this day for such p. 141a Question; because the Administration of that Ordinance unto the Infants of Believers themselves is by so many denied and decried; and therefore I ask again, whether they have been brought under the Bond of the Covenant? And whether they have had the Seal of the Covenant ministred to them? Have they not been Baptized? I do heartily wish that the Children of all professed Christians were; and whatever dust hath been raised, and is continued, I doubt not, but when that happy time shall come wherein the Iews shall be converted, and brought to the owning and believing in our dear Lord Iesus, that Controversie will be happily determin'd, and Infant-baptism found to be not of Men but of God. But I ask now, whether yours have been Baptized? If they have, then,

First; Know and consider that God hath a special right and propriety in them. A more special Interest in your Children and Servants, and a more peculiar right to them than he hath in and to others in the World. He hath a right to others, to all by vertue of Creation and Preservation, as they are the work of his Hands, from whom they receiv'd their Being at the first, and by whom their Being is continued, and their Souls held in Life; but he hath another superadded right to these, viz. by vertue of Donation, the Parents Gift; they have a natural right to dispose of their Children, and these have disposed of theirs to God, which was an act of the highest Wisdom, and dearest Love; all indeed are Gods Servants, and let them carry toward him accordingly, but Persons Baptized are his Sealed Servants.

Secondly; Not to train such up for God, is not only cruelty to them, yea, prodigious and barbarous cruelty, but likewise it is apparent injustice to God; yea, it is Sacriledge, the worst of Sacriledge. It is accounted, p. 140and is a wicked thing to rob Churches of their Vestments, and Ornaments, and Plate, but what is that to a robbing God of Men, and Women, and Children, and delivering them up to Vanity, and Sin, and the Devil; certainly that propriety which God hath in them, your Children and Servants, is a great obligation upon you to bring them up for him, and to instruct them in his work and service, and to make them join with you therein, that by being well acquainted with it, and us'd to it, they may be expert at it, that they may carry as becomes them, and act in a sweet suitableness to that Relation in which they stand to God, and be in the better capacity of setting up his Worship afterward in their Families, when they come to have Houses of their own, that by this means Religion may be posteritiz'd, and descend among you from Generation to Generation, and when you are gone down to your Graves there may not want those who will stand up in their day to serve, own, and honour the God of their Fathers.

Thirdly; Would it not be a trouble to you if those that are yours should prove wicked? Without peradventure, if you are Christians indeed, as you profess your selves; if you have any real goodness in you, and not meerly a vain shew and empty name, if you have any Sense, if any Bowels, if any softness and tenderness of Heart, it cannot but be very affecting to you, and exceeding grievous to you to think that any of yours should prove Sons and Daughters of Belial, Persons that know not the Lord, and that fear not the Lord; sure I am, the very fear of such a thing hath made some gracious Persons go bowed down▪ and in the bitterness of their Spirits; nay, would it not grieve you that any of your Servants who are Gods, should turn Rebels against him, or p. 141that any of your Servants, who are Gods more than yours should prove desperate Enemies to him, and instead of delighting in his Service, and laying out their All for his Glory and the Interest of his Name, of whom you have had so long and ample Experience, and unto whom they also are so much engaged, should absurdly turn their Backs against him, and do the sordid, filthy works of sin, and drudge for a Devil, and after all their pains receive no other wages than death, yea, the second death, which will be followed with a Burial in Hell, out of which there is no Resurrection; and there is one thing more, which I commend to you as worthy of your solemn and frequently repeated thoughts, viz. That it will greatly add to your guilt, and by consequence no less add to your affliction and horrour, if it be imprest and set home upon your Consciences, that this miscarriage of theirs did come to pass through any gross and wilful neglect of yours, and was the bitter effect of your failure in point of duty which you did owe both to God and to them. Let me tell you, how light soever any that hear me, or read this Book may make of these things now in this damnably Atheistical and Profane Age, yet you will find them like a Talent of Lead, yea, heavier than a Mountain, when God is pleased to set them home. Unto what hath been spoken with reference both to your Children and Servants; there is something which I would add with respect to your Children in particular, and that is this.

Fourthly; You that are Parents, consider, I beseech you, and lay to heart your own actual dedicating and giving your Children up to God. Have you not done it? I ask you again, have you not done it? And that in the most sacred and solemn way of a Gospel Ordinance; while others did satisfie themselves with p. 144giving their Children a Name, as if they had not at that time God in any of their thoughts, as a Person in the least concerned, you did present and bind them to God, out of a seeming, yea, and professed sense of duty to him, and kindness to them; did not you go to or send for a Minister, desiring of him that your Children might be made partakers of Baptism? And were they not by that made (as I said before) God's sealed Servants? You do, as I suppose and hope, at least, you should know, that Baptism comes in the room of Circumcision, and is the Seal of the Covenant, and so by your bringing them to Baptism you did, as a Learned Divine, Mr. Whiston, saith, give them up to God under your Hand and Seal; some of you have done it publickly, in the Face of the whole Congregation, which without doubt is the best way, and I do heartily wish it were universally and constantly practised, (unless where absolute necessity forbids;) because being rightly administred, and according to the Institution and Command of our great Lord, it is most for Edification, which ought to be studied in all the Churches of Christ; but others, who for Reasons best known to themselves have chosen Privacy, did Invite some of your Friends and Neighbours that they might be Witnesses of it in your own Families. Now I look upon it as being so evident that it is past a contradiction, that this your giving them up to God did not only express your belief of that right which God had to them, nor only your willingness they should be his Servants, nor only your committing them to his care and conduct; but also did necessarily imply a purpose to train and bring them up for God. If that was not in your Hearts and Resolutions, what you did therein was a meer cheat, you did in that great and solemn work act the part of p. 145vile Hypocrites, and mock'd both God and Man. Sure I am, many of you did engage your selves to do this, you promis'd it, yea, and that in totidem terminis, in so many words, the great God of Heaven is himself a Witness thereof, and so are all that were present; and what now my Friends? Have you not bound your selves? And will you play fast and loose with God? An honest Man will be as good as his word, and will not you? Will you forfeit that Name? Will you lose your Credit in Heaven, yea, and among good Men upon Earth that know you? How should any Man trust you who are not true to God, unto whom you are so much obliged, and upon whom you have an absolute dependance? Dare any of you go from your words? dare you? Again I say, dare you? What, deal falsly with God! If Covenant-bonds are no more to you than the green Withes, or new Cords were to Samson, which he easily snapt asunder; if your Promises will signifie nothing, but vanish like Winds, know, God hath other Bonds that are strong enough, Bonds of Wrath and Fury, everlasting Chains that will hold you; if your own Promises are not sufficient to bind you to your duty, your breach of Promise will be sufficient to bind you over to punishment. The Apostle Paul speaking of God, saith, 1 Thes. 5.24. Faithful is he who hath called you, that also will do it. God hath called you to a Fellowship and Communion with him, and he hath made many great and precious Promises, and he is a faithful God, a Covenant-keeping God, a Promise-performing God, and he also will do it; do it, what will he do? That which he hath promised, all that he hath promised, no one iota or tittle shall fail; consider this, and let it not be said of you, that you have indeed promised, but you are unfaithful, and you will not do it; you are very strict with Men, expecting they should p. 146keep their word with you, and keep day too, but you make no Conscience of keeping your word with God. Consider again what the same holy Apostle saith, 2 Cor. 1.20. All the promises of God are in him, i. e. in Christ, yea, and in him, Amen, to the glory of God. They are all so, God is not off and on with his People, his Promises are immutable, things in which it is impossible for him to Lie, he can as soon deny himself as them; they shall all be performed in their season, and to the full. Christians, do you trust this God, and rely upon these Promises, and rejoice in them as assurance enough? But withal, do you study an holy conformity and likeness to this God? And never let it be said of you, that your Promises are Yea and Nay. Once more let me propound to you the Example of that excellent Person Hannah, who was a Woman of a sorrowful Spirit, her Adversary Peninnah provoking her sore to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her Womb. We find, 1 Sam. 1. that in her affliction she prayed, which is a proper course, a good vent to an oppressed Soul, a Sovereign Remedy in distress. In her Prayer she begg'd that God would look on her affliction, and remember her, and give her a man-child; and as she prayed so she promised, that if God would fulfil her desire in giving her a Son, she would give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and she did so. When God had granted her Prayer she performed her Promise; when she had the desire of her Heart, God had given her a Son, whose Name she called Samuel, she and her Husband Elkanah brought him to the House of the Lord which was in Shiloh, and so having obtained him of God by Prayer, she returned him unto God with Thankfulness, and while he was a Child, a very young Child, soon after he was weaned she carried him thither, viz. unto p. 147the Tabernacle, 1 Sam. 1.25, 26, 27, 28. The Child was young, and they slew a Bullock, and brought the Child to Eli, and she said, O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the Woman that stood by thee here praying unto the Lord; for this Child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him, therefore also have I lent him unto the Lord as long as he liveth he shall be lent unto the Lord; and there she left him with good old Eli the Priest, that by him he might be tutor'd, educated, and brought up for God, and instructed in the Law, and so the better prepar'd and fitted for the work and service of God in his Generation. But that I may shut up this Particular, I will look upon this Congregation as having in it Persons of different Perswasions about the Ordinance of Baptism, or the Persons unto whom it is to be administred, the Subjects capable of it, and I shall speak something to both.

First; There are possibly some Persons, though I suppose not many of them, here present before the Lord, who are not satisfied in their Consciences about Infant-baptism, and therefore have not that sacred Ordinance administred unto their Children during that their Minority, that Sign or Token of the Covenant is not set or given to them, as apprehending them to be in the same condition with those who are Aliens to the Commonwealth of Israel, and Strangers to the Covenants of Promise; though the truth is, the Children of Believers are the holy Seed, born Members of that Commonwealth, and within the Covenant of Promise. But I dispute not the Point with them, having in mine Age something else to do than to spend my few precious hours in Controversies; but this I would say to all those that are of that Perswasion, that it doth very greatly concern them to be very careful and constant in p. 148the performance of Family-duties, and I should be very glad to hear that they are consciencious, and as diligent therein as the matter doth require. Oh! that they would take pains and spend a convenient portion of time in praying with their unbaptized Children and Servants, and in Instructing and Catechizing of them, and in using all the means which God hath appointed, and that are within the compass of their power, that so they might be brought to the knowledge of God, and to a believing in, owning of, and submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to a laying hold upon the Covenant; that so they may, when grown up, have a right to the benefits of it, and partake of the Blessings of it, and be fit to receive the Seal of it; and my hearty Prayer to the Father of Mercies, and God of all Grace on their behalf is, that they may lay it to their Hearts as they ought, and often think with themselves how much it stands them in hand, and what an obligation resulting from their own Principles, lyes upon them to be very holy in their Lives, and very industrious in their Places for the good of their Families, and in order to the working of Knowledge in their Heads, and Grace in their Hearts, and Holiness in their Lives, that of those concerning whom they do now say, They are none of God's people, God may be graciously pleas'd to say, They are my people, and I am the Lord their God; But,

Secondly; There are others here, with and for whom I am more concerned, as being of that Flock of God, over which the Holy Ghost hath made me an Overseer; and these are for the Baptizing of Children in their Infancy, and so for an early dedication and binding of them to God and his Service; you are my Charge, and I can say as to many of you, you are my Joy and Crown, and, I hope, will be p. 149so in the day of Christ: and it is my hearty Desire and Prayer that you may adorn the Gospel, and walk unto all well-pleasing, and make it your endeavour to stand compleat in all the Will of God. Now I would have you all to know, and do intreat you to consider and remember that (as a worthy Divine, as yet I hope in the Land of the Living hath observed) there is an equal Tye, and full out as strong an Obligation to an holy care and diligence this way, lying upon those Parents that are for the Baptizing of Children in their Infancy, as there is upon those that are against it; you ought not to be more slack and remiss in teaching and rightly principling your Baptized Children than they are in instructing their unbaptized Children; you ought to be as diligent in bringing them up graciously whom you have bound to God, as they are or can be in the Education of them whom they do thus far leave at liberty, though indeed you do not drive on the same design with them, nor level and aim at the same end they do, for as he saith, and it is true, Antipaedo-baptists, who are consciencious, and do indeed love and fear the Lord, ought and will endeavour to bring up their Children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and earnestly to seek their conversion and turning from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, and their personal embracing and laying hold upon the Covenant, that thereupon they may be brought into a Covenant-state, that they may be admitted and taken into Covenant, and that they may come under the Wing, and Benefit, and Blessing of it.

Whereas those holy Parents who have their Children Baptized in their Infancy have not that in their Eye as their end, for they do not doubt of their Covenant-state, for they do firmly hold their being p. 150Born in Covenant with God, as they are the Children of Believers, and they also know that that Covenant hath been sealed to them; yet notwithstanding they do reckon themselves greatly concerned and no less obliged to endeavour the Instruction and Conversion, and their own personal owning and embracing of the Covenant, and Cordial, Chearful coming up to the terms and requiries of it; and that for these Considerations and Reasons which I shall name, and lightly touch, and so pass on.

First; That they might understand their Duty, what it is that the Lord their God requires of them, and what their Parents did in their young and tender years bind them to the observance and performance of, that through their own folly and default they may not be cast out and cut off, as Ishmael was tho he had Abraham for his Father, and had himself been Circumcised; and so it was with Esau afterwards. Now these Parents do not think it enough that the Covenant between God and their Children hath been struck and sealed, but they would have it established, everlasting and sure, they would have their Children kept, preserved in a Covenant-state, live and die in it.

Secondly; It is the earnest desire of such holy and gracious Parents, not only that their children might be preserved in a Covenant-state, but also that they might be happy sharers in the good of it, and the Benefits and Blessings thereof may descend upon them; for Persons may be in a Covenant-state, and yet fall short of the best and richest Blessings of it, such as are the fruits of special love, and distinguishing. As a Man may be in Christ the true Vine, and yet not partake of his sap and fatness, Iohn 15. So he may be in Covenant, and yet not have Covenant-grace, nor a Covenant-spirit; a Man may be p. 151externally in a Covenant-state, and yet in an unregerate, and unjustified-state; and therefore that which doth most strongly engage Parents to teach their Children, and endeavour the bringing them up to the terms of the Covenant, is that they might so honour, obey, and please God as withal to reap and enjoy all those great good things, precious Mercies, and singular Blessings which are contained in the Covenant, and conveyed by it.

Thirdly; A being faithful to the Covenant, and a living up to its terms, and performing its conditions, is the Duty and Interest of all those who would be savingly the better for it; unto that a continuance in the Covenant is of equal necessity with an entrance and admission into it. How can any Man make that Covenant his plea or argument, or rationally expect Life and Happiness from it, who himself hath violated and broken it; that Person whose own sin hath cast him out of Covenant, hath no more interest in, nor right to the Blessings thereof than he that was never in it. Nay,

Fourthly; The condition of such an one is far the worse and more dismal of the two, as his sins are more accented, more black, more provoking and crying than the sins of another, being breaches of Covenant, sins against greater Obligations, so there is less hope of him, his case is more dangerous and desperate, the Wound that he hath made looks as if it were altogether incurable, and the Wrath that such an one is like to suffer may well be more fiery and fierce, the Judgments more severe, not Rods but Scorpions are proper in such a case; what will God do when he comes to avenge the quarrel of his Covenant.

I have thus largely shewn you that are Parents and Governours of Families what Obligations you are p. 152under for the setting up and continuing of the Service and Worship of God in your Families, upon the consideration of the young ones, the Children and Servants which are in your Houses, and under your Care; and I am not a little confident, that if you will be so just to the Cause, and your selves, as to weigh the arguments, your Consciences will tell you the Obligation is very strong; and oh! that the truth deliver'd may be so upon you, and upon many more, that you may not be found rebelling against the light, nor holding the truth in Righteousness, but falling before it, and to your work. There remains but one Obligation more to this great and necessary Work of Family-Worship, and Duty, which I shall take notice of in this Discourse, and speak unto; and that doth arise from the consideration of the Publick, the City, the Nation, the Church of God, unto which you are so nearly related, as being Parts and Members of them, and in which you are so highly concerned; your Relation is not so near, but that your interest is as great, ponder on these following Particulars.

Let this I beseech you, return often upon your thoughts, and lay it near your hearts; you are Citizens of London, Famous London, which Enemies have done much against, and God hath done great things for, what will you do for it? In London you have many Mercies, many Priviledges, many Comforts; you are the Natives of England, the Free-born People of England, a sweet and pleasant name, be dear over it, both name and thing. It was in this Countrey that you first drew your breath, here that you were planted by the gracious hand of Divine Providence, and grown and flourished, and you would be exceeding unnatural and inhumanely cruel to this poor City, and to this pleasant Land, the Land of p. 153your Nativity, if you do not heartily desire its welfare, and to the utmost seek its good. The Iews were to pray for the peace of Ierusalem, which was their Metropolis, their Capital City, where there were the Thrones of Judgment, the Thrones of the House of David, and whether the Tribes went up; the Tribes of the Lord, to the testimony of Israel. See how David excited others, and resolved himself to contribute what might be to its happiness, Psal. 122.6, 7, 8, 9. Pray for the peace of Ierusalem, they shall prosper that love thee, peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy Palaces; for my Brethren and Companions sake, I will now say, peace be within thee, because of the House of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good. We are as much bound to Pray for London, which is our English Ierusalem; was that the literal Ierusalem, the City of their Solemnities, so it is called, Isa. 33.20. London, through the goodness of a gracious God hath been, and in spite of Hell and Rome yet is the City of our Solemnities; and I beseech you read and think upon that which the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel said unto them who were carried away Captive from Ierusalem to Babylon, Ier. 29.7. Seek the peace of the City whither I have caused you to be carried away Captives, and pray unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof ye shall have peace. Now, if they were to pray for the peace of Babylon, which was the place of their Captivity, we are in reason much more bound to pray for, and by all means seek the peace and welfare of London, and England, which is the place of our Nativity.

Secondly, Cast your eye upon the present State of London, and of England, have not our iniquities brought us low? the hand of God hath been for many years, and in many ways heavy upon the Land, and it is stretched out still; the truth is, our preservation p. 154is wonderful, and the Lord hath done great things for us, of which we have reason to be glad, and to give him glory, but for all that we are brought low, the Crown is fallen from our head, our honour is under an Eclipse. In some respects England is scarce to be found in England, there is a withering blast upon us, and a sad dismal face of things. How many Judgements doth this Nation lie under, both Spiritual and Temporal? O! the sad Divisions that are among us, which grow wider instead of an healing Spirit; behold a perverse Spirit is gone forth in the midst of us; how do errours and all manner of false Doctrines abound and swarm there? the Serpent hath cast out of his mouth like a flood, that he might drown and swallow up the Church of God among us. Now that she is in her wilderness State. What a Spirit of Atheism hath possess'd Men? We have a company of wretches, that rather than they will own God, will hold they themselves shall die like Beasts; these are none of the old Fools, who said in their hearts there is no God, these have far out done them in speaking it with their mouths. I have indeed been told that some of these are very sensible Men, and indeed I do conclude, that not only some Atheists are so, but that they all are so, yea, and that they are altogether so, men immerst and quite sunk into sense, they have shaken hands with reason, quite blinded and put out the eye of reason; for otherwise, in the very things before them they would see the invisible things of God, even his Eternal Power and Godhead, Rom. 1.20. To which, I might add that general and monstrous prophaneness which hath broken all banks, and overflow'd us, which hath risen up to that highth of impudence, that it can out-face the Sun, and walk unveil'd at noon; and what do you feel? hath p. 155not God, think you, risen out of his place to punish the Inhabitants of London, and of England, for their iniquities? Hath he not revealed his wrath from Heaven against the ungodliness of Men? doth not his Providence frown dreadfully? hath he not in legible Characters written his high displeasure in those temporal Judgements that are among us? what else means his not going forth with our Armies, the unsuccessfulness of our Fleet, the taking of our Merchants Ships, the loss of our Trade, the scarcity of Corn, the dearness of all Provisions, so that Poverty comes in upon us like an Armed Man? let not Men grumble at these things, but lay them to heart, humble themselves, and reform, mourn, and amend their ways and doings.

Thirdly, You are Members of the Church, as well as Citizens of London, and Natives of England. Some of you are come into stricter and closer Communion than others, in order to the better promoting of your Souls good, and your enjoyment of Ordinances purely administred, and, as you think, more according to the mind of God reveal'd in Scripture. However, all of you do profess your selves belonging to the Church of Christ, and so to be Members of his Mystical Body; and you ought to study the good of the Church; if you do not, there is no life in you, but you are dead members, you may have some kind of being in the body, but you are not of it, you do not receive Spirits and Life from the Head, no vital influences. And Oh! how did Paul complain and groan, because men were wholly selfish, confin'd and shrivel'd up into a narrow interest, seeking their own things, and not the things of Iesus Christ, i. e. the glory of his Name, and the good and prosperity of his Church, which is not a separate but a joynt interest, so that the promoting of one, is the promoting p. 156both, and you ought to study it, and do all that you can to contribute to it.

Fourthly, Do not you know that a great many among us are the burthens of the Land, and that under them it groans? we see England is sick, yea. it is heart sick, oh! how faint it is, what convulsions hath it, what struglings are there, even as for life, but who is it sick of? of the Fanaticks will some say, and I say so too, only understand it of them who are Fanaticks indeed, not of them who are Israelites indeed; the Fools Cap is many times through a wilful mistake put upon a Wise Mans head; but they will say, England is sick of the Dissenters, the NonConformists, and it will never be well till they be suppres'd, and purged out; but those that are thus minded, go by very wrong measures, and are Physicians of no value. Ahab told Elijah that he troubled Israel, but the Holy Prophet did very justly and honestly return it upon the wicked King. I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy Fathers House, in that ye have forsaken the Commandments of the Lord, 1 Kings 18.18. And I dare also say, concerning those good men, which some have given that undeserved name to, what in another case Paul said to the Centurion, and the Souldiers, except these abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved, Acts 27.31. I am not for making Parties, nor widening or continuing unnecessary differences, but desire to love every one that loveth the Lord Iesus in sincerity; and I dare affirm, that those who are godly in the Nation are the strength thereof, the strength both of King, and Kingdom, Isa. 6.13. the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. But I was saying, too many are the burthen of the Land, I mean, those that have suckt in, and do belch out damnable Doctrines, and the Prophane Crew, the Debauchees of the Age, the p. 157Land is sick of them, and perhaps will not be well 'till it hath eas'd it self, I say not of their Persons, but of their Principles and Practices; those, those be the Persons that are the Pests and Plagues of the Nation, and may they be so accounted, in order to their being avoided, that so the spreading of the infection may be prevented? but since there are such as these, multitudes of them, you that profess Religion, should desire, and pray, and labour to be the blessings of the Nation, and so to be, will be your honour.

Fifthly, To fill up the places in which God hath been pleased to set you, is the way to make you blessings, publick blessings; the way for the whole to thrive, is for every one to do his part; when the Spring, Wheels, and Ballance move regularly, the Watch goes well, there is the honour of the place, and the profit of the place, and those that are high will expect that; but there is also the work of the place, and let them and others also do that. It may be thou art but in a low and mean place, however, be thou contented with the disposal of Providence, that is the way to have a blessing from God for thy self, and to be thy self a blessing to the Nation. Consider then the place in which you are set, and study the duty of that place, and to that do thou apply thy self, and labour to do it all. Are any of you in publick place in City or Country, cloathed with Authority and Power, in a capacity of encouraging Vertue and Godliness, and of punishing and suppressing Vice, fill up your Place, it is pity there should be any Wicked, Profane, Idle, Careless Sloathful Magistrates, they are common Nusances. Have you none but a little Cock-Boat to manage? being only Governours of Families, do you fill up your place, and do the duty of that. If you have but a little, it p. 158is the more easily done, be you faithful in your little, that is the way to advance, God may make you Rulers over much, to be sure you shall not miss of his joy.