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<DATE>2013-06-20</DATE>
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<NAME>Corinne Vieracker</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<P>JOSHUA'S RESOLUTION; Or the DUTIES of Hou&s;hold-Governours, Di&s;cour&s;ed of, and fairly &s;tated; Their Failures therein mildly con&s;ider'd, and without favour or affection impartially weighed.</P>
<P>The Subject &s;uited to the Capacities of <HI>Tamworth</HI> Auditory, and Preached there, and el&s;ewhere,</P>
<P>By <HI>John Wag&s;taffe,</HI> A. M.</P>
<P>And Rector of Little <HI>Wenlock,</HI> in <HI>Shrop&s;hire.</HI></P>
<P><HI>In Sep.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">. &s;aith King <HI>Solomon</HI> in his <HI>Proverbs, ch.</HI> 24.26. He will be befriended <HI>(not frowned on)</HI> that declares the Truth.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>Thomas Snowden;</HI> And are to be &s;old by <HI>Henry Mortlack</HI> at the <HI>Phaenix</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-Yard. 1684.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>THE Epi&s;tle Dedicatory: To Religious, Con&s;cientious Governours, of all Ranks and Degrees among us, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">To the Meane&s;t, as well as to the Greate&s;t.</HEAD>
<P>NO Pre&s;ent too great for &s;o worthy Patrons, <HI>(and in particular to my own, and that Loyal one, where it was fir&s;t Preacht)</HI> yet, &s;uch as I have, with all heartine&s;s I humbly pre&s;ent to you, you who experimentally know how far ea&s;ier it is to obey, than command. Tho it be a Parents Prerogative to command his Children, yet it is duty in him to obey a Father or a Magi&s;trate, place't in Authority over him, tho it be a Magi&s;trates Pri|viledge to controul, and call to account, all under his Juri&s;diction, yet it is his bounden Duty to obey Sove|raignty, and Kingly Government; and tho it be the b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t Jewel, and the very Diadem of a Crowned King to
<PB REF="3">command his Subjects, yet it is his Intere&s;t, and grea|te&s;t Happine&s;s to obey his Maker and Creator, that mo&s;t glorious Maje&s;ty of Earth and Heaven<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 8.15.</NOTE>, that you may ea&s;ily ob&s;erve, that no Mortal, no not the greate&s;t Grandee, but a Deity him&s;elf<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">21.1.</NOTE> that is ex|empted (one time or other) from obeying and &s;erving as well as commanding and ruling; Therefore what's offered you in the&s;e following &s;heets, 'tis to plea&s;ure <HI>(Friends)</HI> the befrienders of Godline&s;s and Chri|&s;tianity, of Prote&s;tanti&s;m and &V;nity<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Phil. 2.</NOTE>, and not at all to pretend to inform the Nation of any thing that it knows not, but to remember them that are in it, that they do what they know. It is true, the Land abounds in Knowledge, I wi&s;h I could &s;ay the &s;ame, for the honour of it, that it did &s;o too in practice, then we &s;hould be as happy<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Joh. 13.17.</NOTE>, and as flouri&s;hing as now we begin to be declining, and contemptible, but that poor <HI>England</HI> may redeem its lo&s;t Reputation, let each of us di&s;charge tho&s;e particular Duties that are incumbent on us; and every &s;ingle per&s;on take their own parts that are allotted them; and that their own Con&s;ciences carve out for them, and not to in|trench upon anothers right, that all of us may act and do like Rational men that have Immortal Souls to &s;ave, like the true Profe&s;&s;ors of Chri&s;tianity, like tho&s;e that do heartily prote&s;t again&s;t Rebellion and Popery, Faction and Phanatici&s;m, Enthu&s;ia&s;m and Athei&s;m; nay, again&s;t Irreligion, and all manner of Prophanene&s;s what&s;oever, and not to look one way, and with all might and main to row another; for we had not been hitherto &s;pared, if kind Providence had not &s;tept in between, and watcht over us for good, &s;afeguarded us one time after another, from
<PB REF="3">tho&s;e apparent dangers wherewith we were compa&s;&s;ed, that we our &s;elves do now plain enough &s;ee; we had ere now been engag'd, imbroil'd in another Civil War, our Hands and Garments by this time, to have been dyed in each others Blood, which would have been &s;mall Credit to Chri&s;tians, or to our Engli&s;h Nation *.</P>
<P>But if after all, there be only a &s;hew of Sanctity, a meer &s;hadow and Mock-pageantry of Piety, and that the Sub&s;tance and Glory is wanting, <HI>viz.</HI> (the practice) have we not &s;till great cau&s;e greatly to fear (that under the colour of Religion, which it utterly di&s;owns) of having the old abhorr'd Tragedy &s;ham'd upon us afre&s;h, if it were not for the prudent Conduct and Mercifulne&s;s of one of the mo&s;t indulgent Princes that did ever &s;way a Royal Sceptor, that I hope will yet vanqui&s;h the bittere&s;t of his Enemies, by the wonders of his kindne&s;s and for|bearance<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 19.11, 12.</NOTE>, that ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> been hitherto already &s;tretcht out to a miracle, that if we at any time mi&s;carry, it will &s;oon be found, detected, to be our di&s;&s;ervice, untowardne&s;s, di&s;obedience, ingratitude to Powers. Ordained of God<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.1.</NOTE>, <HI>(to God-like Clemency and Authority)</HI> there|fore if we &s;till per&s;i&s;t in our di&s;ingenuity, inhumanity, to put him upon any thing which his Kingly Con&s;ci|ence cannot yield to<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rom. 14.23.</NOTE>; and for all that, what do we do more by our Jealou&s;ies and Whi&s;pers<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 16.28, 29, 30.</NOTE>, but &s;till con|tinue to tre&s;pa&s;s, dun and harra&s;s the Lords Anointed<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 24.6.</NOTE>? and then what do we do le&s;s but dare Maje&s;ty it &s;elf at length to puni&s;h us, and provoke him to that which he is loth to undertake, <HI>viz. (our Ruine)</HI> yet if we peri&s;h, (<HI>if we peri&s;h</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">E&s;ther 4.</NOTE>) whom have we to blame but our &s;elves?</P>
<P>And to me 'tis as clear as noon-day Light, that the wickedne&s;s, ungovernablene&s;s, hate and haughtine&s;s of the Peoples Spirits does &s;trangely portend, if not
<PB REF="4">timely prevented, our mi&s;ery and downfall, which that &s;o dreadful a &s;torm<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jonah 1.</NOTE> may be diverted, and rather lighten on the Prote&s;tant Foes, I am not &s;hy in own|ing my &s;elf one of that Loyal Praying number<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">3.10</NOTE> <HI>(th&ocirc; Prayers and Tears, by &s;ome, are made light of al|ready;)</HI> That is, an humble Petitioner at the Foot&s;tool of Heaven, where it is no crime to be a Supplicant, tho one of the meane&s;t, yet willingly would be one of the Humble&s;t, True&s;t Servants</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>To the GREAT JEHOVAH, And to all his Vicegerents here below, (To the</HI> Pater Patriae, &amp; Pater Familias,) <HI>To the Governours of Kingdoms, And to the Governours of Families.</HI> JOHN WAGSTAFFE.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="4" MS="y">
<HEAD><HI>Jo&s;hua</HI>'s Re&s;olution, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Jo&s;hua 24.14.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Now therefore, fear the Lord, and &s;erve him in &s;incerity and in truth, and put away the Gods, which your Fathers &s;erved on the other &s;ide of the floud, and in <HI>Egypt;</HI> and &s;erve ye the Lord.</P></Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Jo&s;hua 24.15.</HI></BIBL>
<P>And if it &s;eem evil unto you to &s;erve the Lord, chu&s;e you this day whom you will &s;erve, whether the Gods which your fathers &s;erved, that were on the o|ther&s;ide of the floud, or the Gods of the <HI>Amorites,</HI> in who&s;e land ye dwell: But as for me, and my hou&s;e, we will &s;erve the Lord.</P></Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Jo&s;hua 24.16.</HI></BIBL>
<P>And the people an&s;wered and &s;aid, God forbid that we &s;hould for&s;ake the Lord, to &s;erve other Gods; <HI>Amen, Amen.</HI></P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THE Text is too long for a &s;ingle Sermon, therefore mo&s;tly to enlarge on that com|prehen&s;ive pa&s;&s;age; <HI>But as for me, and my hou&s;e, we will &s;erve the Lord;</HI> as if he had &s;aid, As for others, let them do what they will, the vain ob&s;tinate world do as they think good, but as for his particular part, and his whole hou&s;e, he had undertaken for them, to &s;erve the Lord; a rare, but
<PB N="2" REF="5" MS="y">yet an excellent Copy &s;et before us; therefore let Ma&s;ters and their Families endeavour to the utmo&s;t to tran&s;cribe it into their practice; to be religious, devout and godly, to &s;erve the Lord, the great <HI>Jehovah,</HI> and not the world, them&s;elves, or the like, which is the be&s;t way of expre&s;&s;ing our thankfulne&s;s for the many Deliverances, that the King and Kingdom has been ble&s;t withal, by our Homage and Obey&s;ance to the Soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth; which does include the &s;ame to all that are plac'd in Authority under him, our Loyalty and Ser|vice to them; &s;o that ob&s;erve,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Here's a Re&s;olution to be religious and ver|tuous, <MILESTONE N="1"> not to be wicked, vicious, or factious.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. By whom? <MILESTONE N="2"> By one going the way of all the Earth<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jo&s;. 23.14.</NOTE>; nay, by a Commander, the Chief General of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> Forces, for him&s;elf, and his Family; not for the Army, or the Nation, or the Country in ge|neral, or for any part of it in particular, as the <HI>Amo|rites,</HI> or the <HI>Perizzites,</HI> for the <HI>Canaanites,</HI> or <HI>Hittites,</HI> or for the <HI>Gerge&s;ites,</HI> the <HI>Hivites;</HI> or the <HI>Jebu&s;ites,</HI> &amp;c<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ver. 11.</NOTE>.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. But Thirdly; <MILESTONE N="3"> On what was re&s;olved on; Ser|vice, not the Military and War-like, but on the Wor|&s;hip and Service of God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. To whom in the la&s;t place? <MILESTONE N="4"> To the Lord; not one word of &s;erving of &s;elf, of Parties, or Factions, of Pa&s;&s;ions, or Prejudices, of Intere&s;ts, by &s;ini&s;ter ends, or the like.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>I do now expect that you will look for it, that I &s;hould inform you in what particulars the Service of the Lord &s;hould be expre&s;t in, th&ocirc; none be expre&s;t in the Text. Be&s;ides, the people five or &s;ix times over in the &s;ame Chapter confirm the &s;ame, promi&s;e
<PB N="3" REF="5">and prote&s;t to &s;erve the Lord<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ver. 16, 18, 21, 22, 24.</NOTE>, but did not particu|larize in what; only in general again&s;t &s;inning, Su|per&s;tition, and Idolatry<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ver. 19, 20.</NOTE>, which we mo&s;tly ought to level our di&s;plea&s;ure again&s;t; at which we will make &s;ome attempt before we have done. <MILESTONE N="1"> But fir&s;t of all to intimate and in&s;inuate with &s;ome takingne&s;s, if it might be, what we &s;hould do. And then after|wards &s;econdly in the Application, <MILESTONE N="2"> (without giving any ju&s;t offence) to &s;hew you what we have done, and what the very be&s;t of us all are too &s;ubject for to do.</P>
<P>But with the fir&s;t, What we &s;hould do as to &s;er|ving of God? All of you know, 'tis well if you did it, that you your &s;elves, your &s;econd &s;elves, your Children, your Servants, &s;hould &s;erve the Lord; As old Father <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;et you long ago a pattern as to him&s;elf and his hou&s;hold<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gen. 18.19.</NOTE>. And that pious <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> did the &s;ame, and that we &s;hould do &s;o too; not on|ly to lay down Precepts, to give them good Rules, but fir&s;t of all, to give them a good Example, and not to re&s;t there, but take care of them afterwards, to Read to them, to hear them Read, to Catechize (Catechize) in&s;truct, to pray with, and for them; to Preach to them, direct them, and the like, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I mean, frequently to mind them of their Duty, and ear|ne&s;tly pre&s;s them to it, and as eagerly to put them on it: But the&s;e things I &s;hall not &s;tand to in&s;i&s;t on, th&ocirc; of great con&s;equence, they are &s;o commonly known, yet the Lord knows, too &s;eldom practi&s;ed; th&ocirc; in the New Te&s;tament you are told, he is wor&s;e than an Infidel that does not take care of his Family and Kindred<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 5.8.</NOTE>. Now, if provi&s;ion for per&s;ons bodys be &s;o nece&s;&s;ary and rea&s;onable, what is then due, and of ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity for the good and welfare, for
<PB N="4" REF="6">the well being, and well doing of our precious long-liv'd Souls, the others being only the &s;hells and carka&s;&s;es, at be&s;t but the Cabinets and Lodgings for the&s;e, if the breach of the former; if the over-look|ing of the Body be &s;o cen&s;ur'd and condemn'd for wor&s;e than Heatheni&s;m, what <HI>(What)</HI> will then the neglect of the other be, the Soul, but termed the highe&s;t ingratitude, the mo&s;t notorious Crime ima|ginable, the mo&s;t capital offence that a man can po&s;&s;ibly be guilty of, a kind of &s;piritual unnatural|ne&s;s and inhumanity, of butchery and Soul murder, that few, or none would willingly be taxt withal, totally ruining the better part of you and yours, and that for ever, and ever?</P>
<P>Therefore train up your Children in the way that you would have them to go, and they'l not depart from it when they are old<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 2.6.</NOTE>. And Servants, be not men-plea&s;ers only, but &s;uch as know that you have a Ma&s;ter in Heaven, that &s;ees all, and will fir&s;t or la&s;t call you unto an Account<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Eph. 6.6, 7, 8.</NOTE>.</P>
<P>And again, How &s;hall a young Man clean&s;e his ways, but by taking heed unto God's Word, and walk|ing accordingly<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.9.</NOTE>?</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, To you that are Old; 'tis the Lords &s;ervice only that crowns your gray hairs, and hoary heads with glory<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 16.31.</NOTE>.</P>
<P>But now you Governours of Families, if you can|not by threats, or promi&s;es, by kindne&s;&s;es, or puni&s;h|ments, reclaim tho&s;e about you, and under your Roof, or Charge, will it be much ami&s;s if you fol|low godly <HI>David</HI>'s practice,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ver&s;e 7.</NOTE> as it is in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 101. not to &s;uffer a Lyer, by naming one, I conclude it com|prehends all; a Swearer, a Drunkard, a Fornicator, an Adulterer, no not a Purloiner, a Bate-breeder, a Tale-bearer,
<PB N="5" REF="6">a Libeller, a State-mender, <HI>that goes out of his own &s;phere,</HI> an Evil-doer, to lodge within your doors<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 4.10, 11.</NOTE>, &s;o as to countenance or encourage them; but &s;uch either reform and change, or, as you have opportunity, to di&s;mi&s;s and bani&s;h out of your pre|&s;ence and &s;ociety, company or cu&s;tody.</P>
<P>Having now gone &s;o far towards the explaining this phra&s;e of &s;erving the Lord, I will further unra|vel my meaning.</P>
<P>Th&ocirc; 'tis true, one &s;ays it is this, to be of this Party and Faction, another, 'tis that, to be of that Side and Intere&s;t; a third declares, it is neither; a fourth cannot tell what it is, is at a lo&s;s, and &s;o far to &s;eek upon the account of the former, and &s;o onwards to many more.</P>
<P>Now, notwith&s;tanding all the&s;e variety of diffe|rent Opinions, of thwarting, cla&s;hing, and jarringly contradicting one another, it is probable it may &s;eem to &s;ome &s;omewhat hard to direct you to keep the Mean and Mid-way among&s;t the&s;e faulty Ex|treams; but (with God's A&s;&s;i&s;tance) I'le venture to &s;tate the ca&s;e, and it may, I hope, plea&s;e and con|vince, or at lea&s;t all Parties,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 4.11.</NOTE> the mo&s;t querulous gain&s;ayers &s;hall have nothing material to object a|gain&s;t it; whil&s;t I am minding my own bu&s;ine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 2.15.</NOTE> and from the very bottom of my Soul &s;tudying to be quiet and peaceable; whil&s;t I am imploy'd in my Calling<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">As ye may &s;ee in the <HI>Gentleman and Lady's Calling,</HI> Which is worth the frequent per|u&s;ing and practi&s;ing.</NOTE>, for there is none that are, or &s;hould be without<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 7.24.</NOTE>; whil&s;t I am innocently diverting my &s;elf in company; whil&s;t profitably di&s;cour&s;ing, ha|ving my conver&s;ation in Heaven<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Phil. 3.20.</NOTE>; whil&s;t I am boa&s;ting what the Lord hath done for my poor Soul<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 66.16.</NOTE>, that I am not given up to my &s;elf, to run with the vile world, to all exce&s;s of Riot; to be taken with
<PB N="6" REF="7">the Vanities, Fopperies, Follys of an abu&s;ed Age; how he has re&s;cued me as a Firebrand out of the Jaws of Death and Hell; whil&s;t I am in&s;tructing the Ignorant, reclaiming the Extravagant, and ad|vi&s;ing the Runagate and Prodigal in my Family to return, I am &s;erving the Lord; whil&s;t I am letting them know, what plea&s;ure I have in being truly Re|ligious, what &s;ecret Raptures, ravi&s;hing Tran&s;ports, unknown Pa&s;times and Exta&s;ies of Joys I have in do|ing the will of my heavenly Father; it is &s;uch a pious Fea&s;t, and delightful Banquet, that the greate&s;t Epi|curean knows not of<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luke 14.</NOTE>.</P>
<P>That I would not be hired off by the wealth of the <HI>Indies,</HI> though a large bribe, to do as I have Done, or to be as vain, &s;imple, and fooli&s;h, as the world, to be as earthly, &s;en&s;ual, and Devili&s;h, as they that are in it.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jam. 3.15.</NOTE> I am &s;erving rhe Lord while vi&s;iting the Wid|dow and Fatherle&s;s, relieving and comforting of them<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.27.</NOTE>, whil&s;t reaching out mine hand, and admini&s;tring to the nece&s;&s;ities of the weak, &s;ick and needy, whether in Soul or body Whil&s;t I am Sympathizing and &s;trong|ly phancying my &s;elf in their deplorable circum&s;tan|ces, and then calling to mind my own happy Con|dition; I cannot chu&s;e but be chearful, Ble&s;s and A|dore my God it is not &s;o with me, whil&s;t I am &s;etting my hand to the Plow or to the Needle.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 31.</NOTE> Doing good Offices at home for them; Catering for my &s;elf, the family, any body towards clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, nay giving but a Cup of cold water to the thir&s;ty, a poor bu&s;ine&s;s, yet &s;ufficient If I have no bet|ter<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 10.42.</NOTE>. (Now no Divine or humane Law with us, that I know of, forbids or re&s;trains any of us from do|ing any of the&s;e things.) And la&s;tly to in&s;tance in no more, whil&s;t I am giving a good Example to all that
<PB N="7" REF="7">are round about me that either conver&s;e with me, know me or hear of me, and do as I would be done by<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luke 16. Luke 17.10.</NOTE>; and when I have done all<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Col. 3.11.</NOTE> (as if I had done nothing at all) to look for &s;alvation through the Merits onely and In|terce&s;&s;ion of a mighty Saviour and the ble&s;&s;ed Spirit, and not by my own worthle&s;s works and &s;ervices. I am more truly &s;erving my God, and doing what he requires of me, then were I with my weak hands, with my feeble power upholding a tottering Ark<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 6.6, 7.</NOTE>; though hone&s;tly meant, poor <HI>&V;zzah</HI>'s life dearly paid for it, or more plainly thus, were I with my &s;houl|ders &s;upporting a reeling Church unle&s;s extraordina|rily called thereto, which if otherwi&s;e, 'tis to &s;u&s;pect or Di&s;tru&s;t the Lords Ability, and that the Almighty God has need of our poor help.</P>
<P>But more particularly, whil&s;t I am Doing the afore|named things, I am as &s;incerely &s;erving and honour|ing my God, and doing that which is as well plea&s;ing to him, as if I was hearing a Well compo&s;ed Sermon, that did hit my humour in every <HI>punctillio,</HI> or as if I was in my &s;tudy, or clo&s;et reading a good book, or upon my bended knees Devoutly praying, or pri|vately keeping a voluntary Fa&s;t; th&ocirc; the&s;e are excel|lent things in their places, and mu&s;t by no means be neglected (I Repeat it that I may not be mi&s;taken, th&ocirc;ugh the&s;e are excellent things in their places, and mu&s;t by no means be wholly neglected) (and will not be by any Godly Per&s;on, yet truly the others are the main ones that mu&s;t be done, remembring too that the&s;e may not be left undone<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 23.23.</NOTE>, for if Compari|&s;on, (are not too di&s;ta&s;tful) may but be admitted of. The very Life and Soul, the vi&s;ible Effects, and ble&s;&s;ed fruits the very juice and quinte&s;cence of all the&s;e, as of Praying, Reading, Hearing, Fa&s;ting, and the like, are
<PB N="8" REF="8">the former: As it is notably confirm'd in <HI>I&s;aiahs</HI> pro|phe&s;y ch. 58. at large, from one end to the other, and let this one place &s;uffice for many, becau&s;e it takes in all others.</P>
<P>But now to encourage you in &s;o noble a &s;ervice as Serving the Lord, that is an ea&s;y &s;ervice fir&s;t<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 11.30.</NOTE>; Not onely ea&s;y but &s;econdly plea&s;ant<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 3.17.</NOTE>. And 3. Not onely plea&s;ant,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 4.8.</NOTE> but profitable. And la&s;tly, Not only profitable, but honourable<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 2.30.</NOTE>. What would any of us de&s;ire more in any &s;ervice? They are &s;uch &s;pecial Ingredients, and taking qualifications that would highly recommend to us any Cour&s;e of life be&s;ides. And now what &s;trange ill humour'd Creatures are we that are &s;o aver&s;e, and ob&s;tinately bent again&s;t our own Intere&s;t, here and happine&s;s hereafter?</P>
<P>But to come to the other thing that was promi&s;ed, Application; &s;urely 'tis now needle&s;s, yet for the &s;ake of the meane&s;t I'll make bold with the quicke&s;t of Apprehen&s;ion as formally to tell you the fir&s;t u&s;e will be of Exhortation, the next a mild way of re|prehen&s;ion, little expre&s;t, but a great deal to be under|&s;tood, and the la&s;t a general and particular Direction or two.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To begin with the u&s;e of Exhortation, to ex|hort us to the &s;ervice of God, whether of <HI>Paul, Apollo,</HI> or <HI>Cephas</HI> or Chri&s;t, for I conjecture all the&s;e kinds and perhaps many more that make up this flouri&s;hing Congregation; I do not now call you to an&s;wer to tho&s;e unhappy unchri&s;tian-like names, that you have branded each other withall, and as if you delighted in what you have done, taking a kind of a &s;ecret vaunt|ing pride in being &s;o termed, paying it off in thinking and foreca&s;ting what you will do<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jam. 4.</NOTE>. But whatever your private &s;entiments may be of the tran&s;actions of the
<PB N="9" REF="8">world let me prevail with you in this one thing, 'tis no unrea&s;onable reque&s;t at all, for then I &s;hould not Ex|pect to &s;peed,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 3.</NOTE> that we all unanimou&s;ly agree in this to &s;erve the Lord [to &s;erve the Lord] And in that way too which he him&s;elf hath appointed, yea in tho&s;e very things which I have in&s;tanced in be|fore,</P>
<P>As for impo&s;ing, or &s;o much as glancing on mens Con&s;ciences, they are &s;uch nice delicate compo&s;itions, that they mu&s;t be gently touched, very tenderly dealt withal; 'tis done to my Hands by a more Able Pen called a Di&s;cour&s;e on a &s;crupulous con&s;cience. Therefore to wave that;<NOTE PLACE="marg">By my wor|thy Tutor Dr. <HI>Callamy.</HI></NOTE> My De&s;ign is only to &s;trike at Mens &s;inful Actions and practices, and I pray you, &s;o forward and encourage me in &s;o good a work, sa to bring home the blow. If you will not for Gods &s;ake, for the Churches, for the Kings, nor for the Kingdoms, nor for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, nor for your poor im|mortal Souls &s;ake; yet out of intere&s;t and advantage, for by &amp; &s;ini&s;ter ends, &s;erve the Lord. And when once you have ta&s;ted how good his Service is,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 34.</NOTE> you will then out of more noble, generous principles, as I hin|ted to you before, it being not only an ea&s;y, plea&s;ant, profitable, but an honourable &s;ervice; &s;o that if you love your &s;elves, and, who is there that does not? then thir&s;t after your own real good and happine&s;s; love God with all your Souls and Minds, and &s;erve him with all your &s;trength and might; expre&s;s it in your Chri&s;tian Charity, in your hearty love and &s;er|vice to one another, and to love your Neighbour as your &s;elf<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>Jam. 2.8.</HI> Non habet cha|ritatem Dei qui Eccle&s;iae non diligit &V;nitatem. <HI>I met with this in that inoffen|&s;ive Learned Author Dr.</HI> Barrow <HI>on Unity.</HI></NOTE>; and as you do expect, and would fain have the like from him, and to the utmo&s;t endea|vour for Unity<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Eph. 4.</NOTE>, to be of one mind, &s;o great is the advantage of it, but if that is almo&s;t impo&s;&s;ible, and
<PB N="10" REF="9">that offences mu&s;t, and will come, as the Saviour of the World informs you<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luke 17.</NOTE>; but give none, and then you'l be &s;ure to &s;ave your own Souls, having chari|table thoughts of all, con&s;truing every thing in the mo&s;t favourable &s;en&s;e that it is capable of<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.7.</NOTE>; and if there mu&s;t needs be Emulations, and Contentions among you at any time, let them be of the better &s;tamp; &s;trive which &s;hall out-&s;trip each other in the ways of Piety, and real Holine&s;s, and frequently of|fer to overcome one another (which is the be&s;t &s;ort of Conque&s;t) by abundance of love and conde&s;cen|&s;ion, by frequent acts of kindne&s;s, and repeated fa|vours, to weary out your very Foes with love, to load them with Gratuities and Courte&s;ies, to do good Offices for bad ones, and the like.</P>
<P>Thus to per&s;evere, and hold out to the end, is in good earne&s;t to &s;erve the Lord, our &s;elves, our Fami|lies, all that we have to do withal, the place we are in, the Neighbourhood, the Country, the King, and the Kingdom.</P>
<P>But in the next place, <MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="&V;&s;e"> by way of Reprehen&s;ion, to calm it with &s;ome Advice, and to &s;hew you how we have gro&s;ly mi&s;taken the &s;ervice of God.</P>
<P>Now if mi&s;erablene&s;s and covetou&s;ne&s;s, <MILESTONE N="1"> if dome&s;tick Jars and Di&s;cords, if little Pikes and Quarrels with our Neighbours, if taking that for &s;in which is duty<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.13.</NOTE>, if looking upon that to be duty which is none<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jam. 2.9.</NOTE>; as for In&s;tance; If fondne&s;s to a Party, and di&s;gu&s;t to a con|trary Per&s;ua&s;ion; if hating and di&s;daining; if proud, humility, and phanta&s;tick conceitedne&s;s; if throwing our &s;elves upon the ground, like a Tennis-ball, with a de&s;ign to rebound &s;o much the higher; if ba&s;e Apo&s;tacy, and downright Revolting; if notorious Hypocri&s;ie, and famous Di&s;&s;embling; if this be
<PB N="11" REF="9">&s;erving of God, we have whole &s;hoals of &s;uch Pro|fe&s;&s;ors to produce daily.</P>
<P>If di&s;contents and murmurings, if whining, and being on the complaining key, if di&s;obedience and untowardne&s;s to Superiours, in Office, Age, or Gift, to Parents, Mini&s;ters, Magi&s;trates, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> if burlesquing and buffooning, if mi&s;calling and nick-naming, if rai&s;ing fal&s;e Reports, and &s;preading them for true ones<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">James 3.</NOTE>, if lying and back biting, if bla&s;ting mens Credit, and plundering them of what is more dear to them than their lives, their good Names; if cen&s;uring, ca&s;ting darts and firebrands at one another, as <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Pro|verbs phra&s;eth it<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Pro. 26.18, 19, 20.</NOTE>; if this be &s;erving God, we have enough of this Tribe and counterfeit Stamp to pre|&s;ent you withal.</P>
<P>If &s;candalous Reflections, and boldly &s;peaking evil of Dignities<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> Jude.</NOTE>; if inveighing, and letting flie at the Government after a &s;trange rate, and &s;aying as it is in the Book of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ch. 7. &amp; 10.</NOTE>, What is the cau&s;e why former times were better than the&s;e, we do not do wi&s;ely in &s;o doing, as that place informs you; yet if all this be &s;erving of God, (as 'tis matter of fact,) there's many, too too many do this to &s;ome pur|po&s;e, that do, or &s;hould know better.</P>
<P>And tho&s;e too that are pleas'd to &s;tile them&s;elves the only true Prote&s;tant Chri&s;tians, th&ocirc; they act clear contrary thereto, they will think me &s;urely never the wor&s;e Friend, or greater Enemy<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.</NOTE> for &s;peaking the Truth; but to reprieve your dying Fame, tran&s;gre&s;s, &s;in no more in this kind, or any other; be no more &s;uper&s;titious, le&s;t a wor&s;e thing befall you<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">John 5.14.</NOTE> than ever you dreamt of yet, by lo&s;ing of both worlds, the pre&s;ent <HI>Canaan</HI> in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, and the eternal one in rever&s;ion<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Deut. 30.19, 20.</NOTE>.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="10">
<P>But again, to direct my Di&s;cour&s;e to tho&s;e, who in their Judgment are for Church-Di&s;cipline, but in their practice again&s;t it, which truly does the grea|te&s;t di&s;&s;ervice, more by far than the mo&s;t enraged of our Enemies. Now if prodigality and intempe|rance, if rioting and drunkenne&s;s, if dallying and fornicating, if cur&s;ing and banning, if &s;waggering and &s;wearing, hectoring and rallying at tho&s;e that are not of their Judgment in every nicety and pun|ctilio (and when did we ever &s;ee two faces &s;o alike, but that they might be di&s;tingui&s;ht by a Mole, fea|ture, a look, or the like?) If this be &s;erving of God, there are tho&s;e that do it with a witne&s;s, thinking them&s;elves too the be&s;t Loyali&s;ts; but ah poor de|luded Souls! 'tis neither to God nor their Sove|raign.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e that are bad to them&s;elves, cannot be good to their great Lord and Ma&s;ter. <HI>Take away the wicked from before the King</HI> (&s;aith King <HI>Solomon</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Pro. 16.12, 13, 14, 15.</NOTE>) <HI>and his Throne &s;hall be e&s;tabli&s;ht</HI> (for ever) <HI>in Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s.</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 25.5.</NOTE> So that it is our &s;ins that do mo&s;t prejudice our Dread Soveraign, and do undermine his Govern|ment, &s;hake his Kingdom; and unle&s;s we be truly penitent, 'tis well if we and our mo&s;t glorious King do not peri&s;h<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 12.25.</NOTE>, which the Lord long pre&s;erve Him and all his that are truly Loyal (whatever Con|victions may be upon their Spirits, to leave that to God and them&s;elves.) But how can it be imagin'd they that are fal&s;e hearted, treacherous, and di&s;loyal to their own Souls, that they &s;hould be either true or con&s;tant to God in Heaven, or to Man on Earth? How can it be po&s;&s;ibly expected, that they that carele&s;ly de&s;troy their own lives, &s;hould take care of, and charily pre&s;erve Him, His, or any others.</P>
<PB N="13" REF="10">
<P>Therefore in&s;tead of condemning Providence for being too exact and &s;evere with the poor Church of <HI>England,</HI> or with the King or Kingdom at any time. Let's &s;trive to be religious, that's the only way to appea&s;e it, to be &s;ucce&s;sful and pro&s;perous<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 11.11.</NOTE>, and mo&s;t &s;erviceable to all three. 'Tis Righteou&s;ne&s;s that (that great Politician <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;ays) exalts a Na|tion.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 14.34.</NOTE>. 'Tis our back&s;liding and revoltings that is the downfal and overthrow of any people. 'Tis &s;in (&s;in) that makes breaches in our poor Prote&s;tant walls, overturns our bulwarks, and mo&s;t fortified places; &s;o that I need not apologize to &s;uch for my plain deal|ing, when calm and &s;ober as they are. Now, they will &s;carce forgive them&s;elves, but &s;adly bewail, the&s;e their former mi&s;carriages, as their imbecillity and weakne&s;s, as their great frailty, and inexcu&s;able folly, taking the&s;e rebukes and buffettings as the highe&s;t expre&s;&s;ions of the greate&s;t friend&s;hip, and the heartie&s;t kindne&s;s<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 9.8. Pro. 27.5, 6.</NOTE>. For every one can act the part of a Sycophant, to &s;ooth and cajole; but few, or none that of a faithful friend, or true Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pel: to blame, reprove, as there is occa&s;ion<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 5.20, 21.</NOTE></P>
<P>Be&s;ides, &s;uch knowing that the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Church of <HI>England,</HI> (as to its Doctrine) in her lowe&s;t ebb, will not di&s;pen&s;e with &s;uch oblique, crooked practices, (this her Sons and Daughters well enough know.)</P>
<P>If our Practices could but reach our Principles, oh what manner of per&s;ons &s;hould we then be in all ho|ly conver&s;ation and godline&s;s! There would then be more difference betwixt them and too many others, as there is betwixt the glorious Sun at noon day in all its bright &s;hining lu&s;tre, and the poor Glow-worm that is crawling up the ditch bank, that mo&s;tly &s;parkles and glitters in the darke&s;t night; this is the
<PB N="14" REF="11">happine&s;s of ours, that is by Law enthron'd, I hope &s;o firmly fixt, that the Gates of Hell may never prevail again&s;t it<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 16.18.</NOTE>; though 'tis true, there is none without its &s;pots and flaws, yet tho&s;e that entirely love her, will never cea&s;e praying for her peace and welfare<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;. 122.</NOTE>: But by our &s;ins, oh my particular friends! we are very unkind, nay cruel to her, that we in&s;en|&s;ibly &s;tab, give the deepe&s;t wounds to our Religion and Chri&s;tian Profe&s;&s;ion<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gal. 2.14.</NOTE>, that are almo&s;t incurable, by our irregular, unaccountable lives; &s;o that for the future, let the innocency of our lives be the Churches be&s;t Scutcheon, and greate&s;t glory, the &s;weetne&s;s, ob|ligingne&s;s of our conver&s;ation win upon Pro&s;elite, di&s;&s;atisfied Brethren<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rom. 15.2.</NOTE>, Heathens, Runagates, and the like, to gain a Soul, Souls: And if one be of more worth than a world<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 9, 29,</NOTE>, what value &s;hall we then put upon thou&s;ands, that will amount to more than ten thou&s;and Kingdoms or Worlds; therefore let &s;uch a &s;pirit of Godline&s;s, Conde&s;cen&s;ion, Moderation<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mal. 16.26.</NOTE>, Bro|therly Love<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">See what the Reverend Bi&s;hop <HI>Wil|kin&s;on</HI> &s;aith on that &s;ubject, recommen|ded by the very much admired Dr. <HI>Tillot&s;on.</HI></NOTE>, Chri&s;tian Piety, Hone&s;ty, Charity, So|briety, &s;o fill our veins, as to run through all our actions, yea through all the Stages of our life, and &s;o brightly &s;hine forth upon all the by-&s;tanders, as to influence them to do the &s;ame.</P>
<P>But again thirdly; If the wor&s;hiping Stocks and Stones, being form'd, hammer'd out into a God, or a Saint, which is no le&s;s than Idolatry; if perjury or for&s;wearing, which the Land ought to mourn for<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 4.9, 10.</NOTE>; if Trea&s;ons or Con&s;piracies,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jer. 23.</NOTE> which are almo&s;t as com|mon with &s;ome as drinking to one another; if Mur|ders and Ma&s;&s;acres again&s;t tho&s;e that will not be guil|ty of the &s;ame things; if unwearied Plotting and Counter-plotting to help forward a bad Cau&s;e; if de|po&s;ing of Kings, overturning of Kingdoms, may pa&s;s
<PB N="15" REF="11">for Reformation; if doing the&s;e things them&s;elves, when trac'd to the head, yet now and then confi|dently fathering the &s;ame on others.</P>
<P>Now if all this be an Ordinance of God, and do|ing God good &s;ervice, there are tho&s;e that do it to the life.</P>
<P>I am not &s;o meal mouth'd as to be afraid of naming of them<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luk. 12.4, 5.</NOTE>, but to do Ju&s;tice to a <HI>Jew, Greek,</HI> or a <HI>Turk</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Lev. 19.15.</NOTE>. Th&ocirc; Popery had got the whip hand of Presbytery,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Deut. 1.17.</NOTE> and was ready to out-top the Reformed Epi&s;copacy, which God forbid,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 24.</NOTE> <HI>(God forbid.)</HI> yet a true Engli&s;h Chri&s;tian like Spi|rit<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rom. 10.12, 13.</NOTE>, will &s;oon tell you they are the <HI>Roman</HI> Fa|ctors, the Popes Prie&s;ts and Je&s;uits, his Va&s;&s;als and Hackney Agents<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luk. 12.9.</NOTE>.</P>
<P>Or by tho&s;e that fain would be &s;o, or the mo&s;t genuine con&s;truction that can be put upon it, that act, and formally do the &s;ame things, th&ocirc; they know it not. If this be &s;erving of God, there is no doubt but they out-do us all, and ac|cording to their old, Stale State Tenets, Beloved Prin|ciples, Wedded Politicks, they think they merit Heaven by it, con&s;ecrating the very In&s;truments for &s;o holy (or rather horrid) imploy. But the Lord pre&s;erve us from &s;o much as being tainted with &s;o bloody, bla&s;phemous, lying, Idolatrous<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Look into Dr. <HI>Stilling|fleet</HI>'s works, the Prote|&s;tant Cham|pion again&s;t Idolatry on<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> the one hand, and Super&s;ti|tion on the other.</NOTE>, &s;candalous and tyrannical Religion, that is, for Lording it over mens Con&s;ciences, as well as Lives and E&s;tates.</P>
<P>Now contrary to all the&s;e, which the Church &s;trictly enjoyns, and which the well con&s;tituted Laws of the Nation does approve of, and highly recommend to us, and which God him&s;elf does ab&s;o|lutely command, are the&s;e that follow, which without
<PB N="16" REF="12">hyperbolizing, and more gentilely &s;training, are the be&s;t &amp; &s;tronge&s;t Bulwarks to Prote&s;tani&s;m, &amp; the be&s;t of Religions, if crowned Loyalty, and mo&s;t renowned Fidelity; if upright Hone&s;ty.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 15.</NOTE>, and un&s;haken Piety; if excellent Sobriety, and admirable Charity; if courteous Affability, and friendly Corre&s;pondency; if the deepe&s;t unfeigned Humility, and bountiful chearful Liberality<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gal. 6.10.</NOTE>; if univer&s;al Charity, and a true generous Spirit of Chri&s;tianity,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.</NOTE> is that which pa&s;&s;es currant with all men for the Service of God, how have all, or at lea&s;t mo&s;t of us &s;werv'd, warpt, and &s;trangely digre&s;s'd from it, yea gone a whoring after our own Inventions<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 106.38.</NOTE>?</P>
<P>Again, if thinking well of every body, and &s;peaking &s;o too, &s;o far as Truth will bear us out, or otherwi&s;e to be &s;ilent<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Titus 3.</NOTE>; for Chri&s;tian Love will cover a multitude of &s;ins and mi&s;demeanours<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 4.8.</NOTE>. if bearing and forbearing, if real patience and long &s;uffering, if forgiving and forgetting, if good turns for bad ones, if &s;incerely loving Ene|mies<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 5.15. Matth. 5. Matth. 18.</NOTE>, the Di&s;&s;enters, nay the very Papi&s;ts, their Per&s;ons, th&ocirc; not their Principles, in&s;tead of down|right hating them; if heartily pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ying for their Conver&s;ion, in&s;tead of their Confu&s;ion; if readily ble&s;&s;ing of them, in&s;tead of cur&s;ing them; and at la&s;t ga&s;p with the famous Martyr St. <HI>Stephen,</HI> on our knees to beg of the Lord not to lay it to their charge<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Acts 7.60.</NOTE>; th&ocirc; at the &s;ame time they were killing, butchering, and &s;toning of us to death; if this be to &s;erve the Lord, as really it is, and that all of you know it too in the highe&s;t In&s;tances; if of Self denial, and Mortification, which far exceeds all Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Cen&s;ures, Popi&s;h Pennances, or
<PB N="17" REF="12">Pilgrimages to &s;eal the Lord's Service with our Blood, which is &s;o very precious to us, that we are loth to part with the lea&s;t drop of it, unle&s;s it be in the defence and quarrel of our lu&s;ts, or for our dearly beloved pa&s;&s;ions; &s;o that we may cull out of the thinne&s;t, or if you plea&s;e, out of the fulle&s;t Congregation, tho&s;e that are Doers of thy Word, O Lord, and do thus &s;erve thee to their lives end, and they would &s;carce be mi&s;t; much more would it be &s;o, &s;hould we &s;earch into For|reign Countrys, how few, or none, would then be met withal of &s;o choice a number? nay, it is well in &s;ome mea&s;ure, in&s;tead of meeting with Pro&s;elites, and Profe&s;&s;ors to Prote&s;tani&s;m, if they were not Rengeadoes, a kind of Heaven Traitors, to &s;erve the Lord as Chri&s;t's own Di&s;ciples did, that in&s;tead of owning, and boldly confe&s;&s;ing him, &s;neakingly to de&s;ert and for&s;ake him, yea ba&s;ely, cowardly to abandon and for&s;wear him<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Math. 26.70, 72, 74.</NOTE>. Nay, who is there among many, among all the&s;e that we have taken notice of, that are but devoutly praying and prai&s;ing God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 6.21.</NOTE> praying to the Almighty to amend and rectifie what is ami&s;s among&s;t us, and at the &s;ame time to prai&s;e him<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 2.</NOTE>; that it is no wor&s;e with us, who&s;e &s;ins do &s;o abound, &s;uperabound, &s;o loudly call, cry for vengeance &s;peedily to be executed upon us. He has born long, he will not bear always<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gen. 6.</NOTE>, yet we have not as yet forborn &s;inning, but the more incen&s;t him by our daring Crimes, and repeated Provocations<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 5.19.</NOTE>, as if we would defie Heaven it &s;elf to puni&s;h us; th&ocirc; he is long lift|ing up his hand, yet upon that very account, it will at la&s;t fall the more heavy upon us.</P>
<PB N="18" REF="13">
<P>If you think this now too high a Charge, it is well if the be&s;t of us all can come forth, one &s;ingle per&s;on, and &s;ay, that he has done this or the other duty, or ab&s;tain'd from this or the other &s;in, &s;o as to become a new Man, that was a bad one before, becau&s;e he &s;ees God is angry with his People, or the Nation, and threatning them very &s;orely; and that a di&s;mal Cloud is hanging, hovering over our heads by a twined Thred only, that if it be once &s;uffered to pour forth its Vials of Wrath and Fury upon us, as if it were Fire and Brim&s;tone, to humane appearance, it would con&s;ume us, and our po&s;terity, if not fea&s;onably prevented by a real Reformation.</P>
<P>There's no que&s;tion at all now to be made but many of us would, do, dare talk for our Reli|gion, and, if need were, could fight for God, the Country, the King and Kingdom; but th&ocirc; we name all the&s;e, yet it would be with mo&s;t at la&s;t found, to their la&s;ting di&s;grace, and eter|nal infamy, that it was mo&s;tly for their near and dear &s;elves; for, where are the&s;e? in what corner of the World are they to be met withal, that would chearfully &s;uffer and die for it, that with their Weapons in their hands, could lay them and their Lives at the foot&s;tool of Heaven, and &s;ay as they profe&s;s, &s;o for to do, daily, thy Will, thy (Will,) not ours, be done? Chri&s;tianity a&s;&s;erts it, I wi&s;h and pray, that my heart and yours, when it comes to it, may &s;ay &s;o too. For St. <HI>Paul</HI> to <HI>Timothy,</HI> a man of &s;ufferings, in that known place<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 3.12, 13.</NOTE>, tells us po&s;itively, <HI>All that will live godly
<PB N="19" REF="13">mu&s;t &s;uffer per&s;ecution.</HI> That all of us mu&s;t expect to be buffetted, either in the act, or in the in|tention, or in both, as there is occa&s;ion; or as we are call'd to it, but upon no pretence what&s;o|ever, to run head-long upon it; yet at la&s;t how many more will be found Martyrs to their lu&s;ts and Phancies, to their unruly humours, and unto|ward pa&s;&s;ions, than to their God, their Saviour, to their King or Country. You may ea&s;ily ga|ther by what has been already tendred you, I do not at all intend to befriend any Party or Fa|ction; I had rather my faltering Tongue &s;hould cleave to the roof of my Mouth<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 137.</NOTE>, than &s;o for to do; my de&s;ign is only to pre&s;s on you uncoun|terfeit Piety, and real Holine&s;s, Chri&s;tian Loyalty, and ready Obedience, whatever comes on't; that I would have you not to be bya&s;&s;ed, to flag, or be turn'd a&s;ide at any thing, but to weather-beat, and to endure the brunt and &s;hock of the mo&s;t threatning dangers<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Eph. 8.6.</NOTE>; for had I &s;o much as a thought to become a popular Preacher, to be the Worlds<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jam. 4.4.</NOTE> Minion or Favourite, and to &s;erve my &s;elf, in&s;tead of &s;erving my God<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gal. 1.10.</NOTE>, I would go ano|ther way to work<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 82.6, 7.</NOTE>, to keep at as great a di|&s;tance as might be from mens &s;ins, or &s;ore pla|ces. As to give you but a ta&s;t<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 24.23.24.</NOTE>, like a fair &s;po|ken Je&s;uit in Ma&s;querade, that has his full Com|mi&s;&s;ion to act any part, whether Athei&s;t, Fanatick, or Papi&s;t; that makes nothing at all of wre&s;ting the mo&s;t Sacred Records, &s;o as to force them to &s;peak as he would have them; 1. As fir&s;t to one Club rendezvouz of boon Companions, I would comply with them as far as I could; And by my
<PB N="20" REF="14">Example I would encourage them to take their &s;wing, to eat, drink, play<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 32.</NOTE>, and be merry<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Luke 12.9, 20.</NOTE>, and do whatever they had a mind to<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15.32.</NOTE>, th&ocirc; one does not know what a day may bring forth, and that to morrow one may die for't<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Pro, 27.1.</NOTE>.</P>
<P N="2">2. Again, to another &s;elect number and Tribe, I would hearten them on, to take not their Chri|&s;tian<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.26.</NOTE>, but the Libertines Liberty, and tell them of lu&s;cious promi&s;es, fine plea&s;ing things to tickle their effeminate fancies; and if this did not &s;ound well, I would in Scripture Language claw their itching Ears,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4.</NOTE> by crying, Peace, peace; th&ocirc; &s;udden de&s;truction was ready to befal them<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 The&s;&s;. 5.3.</NOTE>; yet I would flatter them, that th&ocirc; they were perver&s;e and froward, peevi&s;h and pa&s;&s;ionate, &s;elf will'd and head-&s;trong in private, in their Families, if it did not come to the worlds knowledge, I would not boggle, &s;eriou&s;ly to tell and tantalize 'em too, that whatever they did, they were God's Jewels<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mal. 3.17.</NOTE>, the Heirs of Promi&s;e<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Heb. 1.6.</NOTE>, yea the very Darlings of Hea|ven, th&ocirc; to their un&s;peakable &s;orrow, and amazing di&s;appointment,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jer. 5.2.</NOTE> they'd find the bottomle&s;s Pit to be the only place of their Inheritance,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 23.14.</NOTE> and the Lot and Portion of Hypocrites to be their Doom.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 24.51.</NOTE></P>
<P N="3">3. But again, e&s;pecially to a third gang and par|cel, that I &s;hould expect the greate&s;t Harve&s;t from, that &s;tile them&s;elves the mo&s;t Chri&s;tian-like people, th&ocirc; the mo&s;t carnal and diabolical<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 4.</NOTE>, both in their Principles and Practices, I would Saint 'em, and pretend to inroll them in Heavens Calendar, bear|ing them in hand, as if it did lie in my power to
<PB N="21" REF="14">&s;et them at Chri&s;t's left and right hand, if they would but unking Kingdoms, and &s;et the World it &s;elf in a combu&s;tion<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Act. 17.6.6.</NOTE>, and on a flame, and then would have them with <HI>Pilate,</HI> wa&s;h their hands in innocency<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 27.24.</NOTE>, wipe their mouths too, and &s;ay, What have they done that &s;hould &s;o incen&s;e all Parties again&s;t them, I would further &s;trive to make them believe that they did God good &s;ervice thereby<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Joh. 16.2.</NOTE>, that they &s;hould at la&s;t have a Coronation, in&s;tead of meeting with a Damnation day<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.2.</NOTE>. If they would but, like the Evil one in the Go&s;pel<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 13.24, 25, 28.</NOTE>, &s;ow Weeds and Tares in the Prote&s;tants Wheat, (not only in private A&s;&s;emblies, but in the Publick ones, that are allowed by Authority,) and when they had done that, to bundle them up Wheat and Chaff, all of us together, e&s;pecially the mo&s;t remark|able oppo&s;ers, as the mo&s;t combu&s;tible matter, fit|te&s;t for the Papi&s;ts Bonfire, or to take that ea&s;y plau&s;ible way, as to throw Bones of Contention a|mong&s;t us, and then glory in it<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Phil. 3.18.19.</NOTE>, (which &s;ome I am afraid already have effectually done) making us to bite, tear, devour one another<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.14.</NOTE>, without &s;o much as putting to their helping hand, and then &s;uch &s;hall be &s;aid to do God good &s;ervice, th&ocirc; they were immediately imploy'd in Satan's Drudgery.</P>
<P>Thus, thus would I do, were I to &s;erve my &s;elf, or the vain World, th&ocirc; not &s;o bluntly as I have done it here, for this was done de&s;ignedly to let you &s;ee through the thin Vail that was drawn over a little to di&s;gui&s;e &amp; varni&s;h it dele, ovee but remembring, (remembring,) that I am a Servant of the high God, therefore as Heaven's Amba&s;&s;ador, I be&s;peak you,
<PB N="22" REF="15">be&s;eech you in his mo&s;t glorious Name, having to do with a better Pay-Ma&s;ter than &s;uch Bragado&s;ia's, or meer puffs of Wind can pretend to, promi&s;e me, or any other, do roundly, not mincingly tell you over again by way of general direction.</P>
<P N="3">3. In the la&s;t place; If you do not repent, you &s;hall all likewi&s;e peri&s;h<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luke. 13.3.</NOTE>. It is not enough that you have <HI>Abraham</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Matth. 3.</NOTE>, <HI>I&s;aac</HI> and <HI>Jacob</HI> for your Father; I mean no more by it than this, th&ocirc; you be born of Chri|&s;tian Parents, and bear &s;o honourable a Name of being Prote&s;tants, and would continue &s;o from one Generation to another, yet that will not &s;erve turn, th&ocirc; you be of the Church of <HI>England,</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> of <HI>Geneva,</HI> or of the Brotherhood, or of &s;eparate Con|gregations<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gal. 3. Col. 3.</NOTE>, it will be no acceptable &s;ervice at all<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 7.19.</NOTE>, unle&s;s you do the injoyned Will of your Fa|ther in Heaven, be I&s;raelites without guile in deed and in truth.</P>
<P>And that you may be throughly known what|ever Names you may go by, 'tis demanded from the Church-Party to &s;ee their Faith by their good works<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jam. 2.</NOTE>, of all others to know the Tree by its Fruit<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Matth. 7.</NOTE>; this takes mo&s;t, th&ocirc; both Scripture expre&s;|&s;ions, and the &s;en&s;e partly the &s;ame; the former to &s;ee their Principles by their Practices, the latter to know their lives by their fruit bearing, I mean, by their upright, hone&s;t, con&s;cientious living. There|fore this is known for a great truth, to be the Lords Livery, wherever 'tis worn throughout the parts of <HI>Europe, Cea&s;e to do evil, learn to do well</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.16, 17.</NOTE>. If you'l be &s;til'd the Lord's Servants, a great deal is coucht
<PB N="23" REF="15">under tho&s;e two &s;hort Sentences; as to the particulars, I refer you to what hath been already offered to you; but if you would have it over again in other words, look in the Prophet <HI>Micah</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mich. 6.8.</NOTE>; <HI>What does the Lord require of you, but to do Ju&s;tice, love Mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?</HI> That is in &s;hort, let Sobriety and Temperance be practi|&s;ed on your &s;elves, Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Ju&s;tice to your Neighbour, Piety and Godline&s;s to your Maker, and you will find<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luk. 13.13.</NOTE>, that you are not then to be found in Rioting and Drunkenne&s;s, not in Chambering and Wantonne&s;s, not in Strife and En|vy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but imitate the Lord Je&s;us, as he hath al|ready given us an Example.</P>
<P>I can only now touch on things, and as it were, dart Truths at random; yet as you have it in the fir&s;t Book of <HI>Samuel</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 17.</NOTE>, a &s;tone being &s;lung by a contemptible Stripling, what effect it had. Now God's Spirit, and your own Con&s;cience levelling this and the other Truth, that it may hit the white, the mark, &s;ink down into the heart, and kill a <HI>Goliah,</HI> a Gigantick &s;in, whatever you may tearm me for throwing my poor Mite into the Trea&s;ury and Corban of the Lord's Service.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mark 12.</NOTE> I'le not go on in reparteeing as to call you uncircum|ci&s;ed Chri&s;tians, whil&s;t I am upon &s;erving <HI>Eng|land</HI>'s living God, but acco&s;t you with all the re|&s;pect and tenderne&s;s that the Subject is able to bear. I'le treat you, yea addre&s;s my &s;elf to you, not as you are the poor de&s;picable Subjects of a great Prince, but as if ye were &s;o many Grandees and Monarchs of &s;everal little Worlds and Countrys,
<PB N="24" REF="16">which was the fir&s;t Original of Families, as you may &s;ee at large in the Old Te&s;tament; every Head of a Family, being a kind of a petty God or King; and &s;till in many re&s;pects you are &s;o with|in your Precincts and Provinces, within your own proper Stations and Boundaries, within your own Dominions and Dome&s;tick Territories, if you do not forfeit your right and title thereto by a fal&s;e Religion, by Rebellion, Sacriledge, or the like, which is cry'd out again&s;t as much as the deadly &s;in of Sorcery or Witchcraft<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 15.23.</NOTE>.</P>
<P>Therefore 'tis to you pious Parents, and worthy Governours of your Families, th&ocirc; you have never &s;o mean thoughts of your &s;elves, the more you are &s;o for being humble, meek, lowly, and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive, that my &s;uit is in the behalf of the great Maje&s;ty, not only of Earth, but Heaven, that you and your hou&s;es would re&s;olve<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">In what manner Dr. <HI>Calamy</HI> has done't, you may &s;ee on that Text, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.8. pag. 28, 29, 30, 31. 'tis with that confe&s;&s;ion, &s;olemnity, prote&s;tation, &amp; noble|ne&s;s of &s;pirit, that it de&s;erves to be ingrav'd in Letters of Gold, if it would but excite all others to take up the &s;ame Chri&s;tian alike re&s;olution in the behalf of God, the Church, the King, the pre&s;ent Government, the Coun|try, again&s;t either Popery or Fanatici&s;m.</NOTE> to &s;erve the Lord; There <HI>(There)</HI> there you are &s;o many petty Kings to controul and com|mand according to your own private will and plea&s;ure, and your dutiful Children are as &s;o many little Princes about you, and your tru&s;ty Servants are as &s;o many Lords, not Slaves, at|tending on you. Now is it not great pity that &s;uch a glorious Equipage, heavenly Retinue, &s;hould be badly im|ploy'd in Satans drudgery in&s;tead of the Lords ho|nourable &s;ervice; yea every poor man in his wea|ther-beaten Cottage, has as much Command and Authority there under his thatcht Roof, and narrow
<PB N="25" REF="16">Confines, as the Peer and Noble man has within his &s;pacious Mannor, or Princely Pallace.</P>
<P>Therefore all of you, I humbly be&s;eech you, Rule well within your own Stations and Territories, keep up their good Order and Kingly Government, and in&s;truct all under you, in Obedience and Duty, in Ju&s;tice and Hone&s;ty, to your &s;elves, and others; and what you expect from them, to you, accord|ing to that golden Rule, Doing as you would be done by; it does not repent me, th&ocirc; this be the &s;econd or third time: I have had it on this Sub|ject, that you by your Examples pre&s;s it the more on them, by doing it, and continually practi&s;ing the &s;ame, your &s;elves to tho&s;e above you; e&s;pecially to tho&s;e to whom you owe &s;ubjection, to Kings and to all that are plac'd in Authority under them, and then this will be to the honour of God, to the Advancement of your Religion, to the Well being of your &s;elves, to the promoting of your Families, to the Benefit of your Neighbours, to the Glory of our Nation, and at la&s;t to your own Eternal Salva|tion. And till you have done all this in your own hou&s;es, be not under any pretence what&s;oever drawn out to the reforming, and new-modelling of Na|tions: It is too great a work for every Mechanick or &s;ingle States-man to undertake, &s;uch grand matters are for the whole Nation to con&s;ult on, or at lea&s;t for their Repre&s;entatives imbodyed into one; For what &s;ays the wi&s;e man, that great States man of all others, King <HI>Solomon</HI> by name, That <HI>in the multitude of Coun&s;ellors there is (much) &s;afety</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 11.14.</NOTE>. So that now for you that are pre&s;ent, th&ocirc; many, yet &s;carce the thou|&s;andth
<PB N="26" REF="17">Man of them that are in His Maje&s;ties Do|minion: Therefore it behoves you, in&s;tead of mend|ing and new molding of Kingdoms, let your Eyes be turned within doors; begin at home, and you will find &s;uch need of repairs there, that you'l not ea&s;ily be tempted to look abroad for want of better Imployment, as the Lord knows all of us too fre|quently are. Grant that the Nation is bad, very bad, but do not you make it wor&s;e by being &s;o too. Nay further, admit of it, that it not only has a Mote, but a very great Beam in its Eye, that it is not at all &s;en&s;ible of it, and almo&s;t blinded with it, that it begins to be frantick and raving, with its pricking pain; what then, &s;hall we like Quacks and Mounte|banks, long to be medling and tampering with it? No, no! I hope we are all of us &s;o ingenuous, and I do not at all doubt of it, but that we will free|ly acknowledg that there is &s;omething, th&ocirc; it be never &s;o little in our own Eyes, that each &s;ingle per&s;on in the Kingdom would be pleas'd to pluck out that which is in their own, or in their Families; and when we come to &s;ee clearly, by that time there will not be &s;o much as the lea&s;t Speck, Iota, in the Eye of the Nation left.</P>
<P>To conclude; We have hitherto been too prepo|&s;terou&s;ly imploy'd, and begun undi&s;creetly, very odly at the wrong end, as if we would Tile the Hou&s;e, or Thatch it with Straw or Stubble, and then daub up the Walls with our untemper'd Mortar, and not only &s;o, but to hang it too in the fleeting Air by Geometry, before we have &s;o much as laid the very foundation, the fir&s;t corner Stone. The
<PB N="27" REF="17">New Te&s;tament tells you, this is not like a Ma|&s;ter-builder<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luke 14.</NOTE>. We may hold up the&s;e light &s;hingles, or whiffling &s;traws, that the wind blows to and fro up in our hands, or &s;upport them for a &s;hort time, with the &s;trong bla&s;ts of our foul mouths, but in time weary of the Imploy, and &s;lavi&s;h Service, they will at la&s;t, (if not timely taken down,) fall like heavy Slates, upon our heads, and da&s;h us, ours, our Religion, our threatned Church, our tottering State, our poor King, and poorer Kingdom, into a thou&s;and piece-meals<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Nahum.</NOTE>, making all our Habitations <HI>empty, void and wa&s;te,</HI> which the Lord in his mer|cy prevent, and grant that we and our Hou&s;es may forth with &s;erve the Lord, in that manner that may be mo&s;t acceptable to him, that he, and his Church, has appointed, to his Glory, and to our own Salvation: The Lord grant &s;o great a ble&s;&s;ing to the whole Nation, for Je&s;us Chri&s;t his &s;ake. <HI>Amen, Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="18">
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