God may justly draw up a black bill of indictment against me, pass sentence upon me, and execute it as against an apostate; but "Lord, heal my backslidings, love me freely, turn away thine anger from me,”* and deal with me according to the tenor of this new cove nant. (3.) Plead your fathers' covenant, prayers, and practice; "The Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers, let him not leave us, nor forsake us;"† Psal. xxii. 4, 5, "our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them, they cried unto thee, &c.” Blessed be God, the God of my fathers, that gave them a believing, praying heart, and signal answers of prayer; I will build on that foundation, and surely my Lord will not be worse to me than he was to them. How strong a plea this hath been accounted, see in David's case, 1 Chron. xii. 17; Jehoshaphat's, 2 Chron. xx. 6, 7; thus may you plead, Lord, my pious father was in many straits, and still he made thee his only refuge, and thou didst not leave him. O cut not off this blessed entail from me his child, be as good to me as thou wast to him. (4.) Walk in the steps of your pious ancestors, plead and practice as they did, say as Moses, Exod. xv. 2, "He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him;” “God forbid that I should sell the inheritance of my fathers;" "my fathers' friend I will not forsake" || by sinning or apostatizing, he never gave me occasion to withdraw from him, "what iniquity have my fathers found in God?"§ shall I disoblige an old friend, to gratify an inveterate enemy? no, God forbid, I will own, love, and serve "the God of my fathers for ever;"¶ * Hos. xiv. 4. +1 Kings viii. 57. 1 Kings xxi. 3, 4. Acts xxiv. 14. the God of my fathers help me to adhere close to my dear Lord in duty. 3. This doctrine concerns persons that are married, who yet have no children to pray and care for, and in this class, I shall also rank unmarried persons; both these may learn these four practical lessons: 66 (1.) Be sure you lay hold of this covenant for your own souls, be concerned for yourselves, if you have none else to care for, yet you have a great charge upon your hands; you are either gods or devils to yourselves; either God or Satan is with us, even when alone; yea, every man is the worst devil to himself, * every man is tempted when he is drawn way of his own lust and enticed;"† your business is therefore to secure your best interests, whether you shall have children or not; and the only course is to lay hold on this gospel covenant; Isa. lvi. 4, 5, "For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in my house, and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters;" mark it, you both secure your own souls and your name. How much is this better than Absalom's pillar, which became an eternal shame? You obtain honour for yourselves by embracing covenant terms, practising covenant duties, improving covenant promises, and spiritualizing covenant seals, believing in Christ the mediator of the covenant, being sprinkled with the blood of the covenant that you may enjoy covenant privileges; then shall your names be enrolled in the sacred calendar, and "written among the living in Jerusalem." God and good men will esteem and honour you, yea, your name shall be had in everlasting remembrance; your memory shall Quisque sibi Satan. VOL. IV. + James i. 14. 21 Isa. iv. 3. . be blessed on earth, and your souls happy in heaven.* O how much is this better than sons to perpetuate your name? that is but a temporal, this a spiritual mercy; that common to all, this peculiar to saints; that uncertain, this fixed; that temporary, this eternal; be sure of this and you are happy. (2.) Be humble and mortified. You are without children, they are an earthly blessing,† Psal. cxxvii. 3, 4, 5, "For children are the heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward, as arrows are in the hands of a mighty man, so are the children of youth, happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them." These are not contemptible, though temporal mercies, you must not throw up the head, and say, tush, I care not, I have more ease, and draw a light arrow, I may take my pleasure, and make even with my estate, for I have no family of my own to leave it to when I die. This is perversely spoken, God would have you humbled under the want of children, though but a temporal mercy; God's servants have looked on it as an affliction. You may hereby take occasion to exercise repentance, and inquire what sin he is now punishing you for; thus you may make a virtue of necessity. Your deficiency of family may prove an increase of your graces; but beware of despising the blessing, or taking occasion of revelling away your estates; that is an extreme one way, as penuriousness is unreasonable in you on the other hand; both are sins to be avoided, and mortified; study Col. iii. 5, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry." Away with all licentious practices; live chastely, modestly, moderately, humbly, diligently in all circumstances. (3.) Adopt some child or children, if you be persons * Prov. x. 7. + Psal. cxxviii. 3, 4. of any estates; this is Mr. Paul Bain's advice, "they must, saith he, not revel with their substance, nor must they live like idle persons aud busy-bodies for want of employment, but they must save the matter of their estate, and depute some as adopted children, and be helpful in educating others;" thus he. Adoption hath been used in all civilized nations, and it is "a passing legally out of one family into another."* And amongst the Romans it was done either by the pretor or by the people; that which took place through the pretor was called adoption; that which was through the people was called arrogation. They had many formalities about it, needless here to be recounted. But by this means you may have children whom you may account as your own. You rich men, to whom God hath denied the fruit of your bodies, have you no near kinsmen, or poor neighbours to whom God hath granted a lovely offspring? surely it would be acceptable both to God, to them, and yourselves, to select an ingenuous child, to help him to learning, to train him up for God, to make a trial of him while you live, and to bequeath your estates to him; so may you have comfort of him, and he may bear up your name. Do good with your estate, and be serviceable in church and commonwealth. I know some rich men grudge and envy any that are likely to enter into their labours; but as their glory will not descend after them, so usually those estates do no good when they are gone; "For who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool, that shall have rule over his labour."+ (4.) Take more time and pains for the good of your own souls, and lay out yourselves for the good of others; if you be unmarried study that text, 1 Cor. vii. 33-35, "He that is unmarried careth for the things * In alienam familiam transitus. + Psal. xlix. 17. Eccl. ii. 19. that belong to the Lord," how he may please the Lord Not that married persons have an exemption from soul concerns; but the unmarried have more leisure and a fairer opportunity for immediate acts of devotion. Married persons have some avocations in themselves lawful, from which the unmarried are free. The married may have numerous children, and so have many distractions, which childless persons are not entangled with, and so may be more at leisure for God, or as the words signify, "attend on the Lord without distraction;"* like the faithful servants who depart not from their master's side. O happy individuals who have a heart and leisure to keep so close to God! you have more time than others, see that your feet and hands, and heart coincide; your opportunities are double to those of others, let your improvement be doubled; you have no children to lay up for, lay out the more for God; he expects more from you than from others. You have no children to maintain, “honour the Lord with your substance;"† buy bibles, and catechisms for poor children, maintain them at school, relieve the poor, encourage a gospel ministry, give the tenth part at least of your yearly incomes to charitable uses; let your own hands be your executors; trust not others when you are dead; for as there are no thanks. due to you for bequeathing legacies when you are forced to leave all, so you know not how they will be squandered or disbursed; besides, you lose the opportunity of shewing your charitable disposition. Living springs send forth streams liberally; dead pits afford nothing but what is drawn out with buckets. Watch and seize objects and occasions of doing good. Be sparing in laying out upon yourselves, but be liberal in good uses, Ευπρόσεδρον τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀπερισπάστως. Indivisâ cum Domino conjunctione vivatur. + Prov. iii. 9. |