THE EPISTLE ΤΟ THE CHRISTIAN READER, ESPECIALLY TO Householders professing Religion. FOR your sakes, dear Friends, I presume again to appear upon the public stage, to be your faithful monitor, to prompt you to your duty, and to promote the work of God in your souls, and the worship of God in your families and I know not how a minister can employ his time, and studies, and pen better, (next to the conviction and conversion of particular souls) than in pressing upon householders a care of the souls under their charge. This hath a direct tendency to public reformation; religion begins in individuals, and passeth on to relatives, and lesser spheres of relationship make up greater, churches and commonwealths consist of families. There is a general complaint of the decay of the power of godliness, and inundation of profaneness; and not without cause. I know no better remedy than domestic piety: did governors teach their inferiors by counsels and examples; did they severely discountenance and restrain enormities, and zealously promote holiness, and then call on God unitedly and earnestly that he would efficaciously work what they cannot effect; who can tell what a blessed alteration would follow? In vain do you complain of magistrates and ministers, while you that are householders are unfaithful to your trust. You complain that the world is in a bad state, what do you do to mend it? Do not so much com plain of others as of yourselves; and complain not so much to man as to God, and plead with him for reformation, second also your prayers with earnest endeavours; sweep before your own doors; act for God within your sphere. As you have more opportunity of familiarity with the inmates of your house, so you have more authority over them, from their dependance on you, to influence them; and if you improve not this talent, you will have a dreadful account to give, especially as their blood will be required at your hands, because their sin will be charged on your neglect. Oh sirs! have you not sin enough of your own, but you must draw upon yourselves the guilt of your whole families? It is you that make bad times, and bring down judgments on the nation. Would you rather see the agonies of your children, and hear them crying amidst infernal torments, than speak a word to them for their instruction, hear them cry under your correction, or supplicate God for their salvation? Oh cruel tigers and barbarous monsters! you may imagine yourselves to be Christians, but I cannot judge that man worthy to be a fit communicant at the Lord's table, that maintains not the worship of God ordinarily in his family; and he deserves admonition and censure for this sin of omission, as well as for scandalous sins of commission, for he bewrays his base hypocrisy in pretending to be a saint abroad, when he is a brute at home for a right-bred Christian is a universalist, "having respect to all God's commandments:"* such as are righteous before God, "walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."+ Let these then go amongst the herd of the profane, and fare as they do at the last, that make no conscience of family or relative godliness. Such as will not pray now, will cry too late, "Lord, Lord, open to us," + ," + when the door is shut; yea, they that now will not cry for a crumb of mercy, shall in hell cry out for a "drop of water, to quench their scorched tongues in those eternal torments." || To these self-destroying hypocrites, I recommend the serious consideration of Prov. i. 24–31. Job viii. 13—15. xxvii. 8—10. I shall address myself to honest, well-meaning householders, who make conscience of serving God with their families. You may look on this as your privilege, as well as duty; I hope Psalm cxix. 6. + Luke i. 6. Matt. xxv. 11, 12. || Luke xvi. 24. * you do. David thought it a great mercy that he and his people had any thing to offer, and any hopes of acceptance. O what an honour is it, that the King of heaven gives you an admittance into his presence-chamber with your families twice a day! to confess your sins, beg pardon and supplies of mercy; to give him the glory of his goodness, and to lay your load on him, and get ease: I hope you will never be averse to it, or weary of it. God forbid you should: you are not weary of meal times, if you be healthy; know and keep these appointed times of coming to God. If you promise to meet a person of quality at such an hour, when the clock strikes, you rise up, crave pardon, and tell the company one tarries for you, you must be gone. Oh take not more liberty with God than you would do with men; and keep your hearts continually in a frame for duty, Rambling in the day indisposeth your spirits for duty at night. So act, as to think you must go to a heart-searching God before you sleep; and so pray, as if it were the last time you should approach to God with your family in this world. Study the frame of your hearts; be not content with lip-labour: rest not in the work done, without communion with God: presume not upon your own goodness, you that are the holiest despair not because of your wickedness or guiltiness, you that think yourselves the worst of men: remember, Manasseh prayed, and God was entreated of him, when he humbled himself greatly.+ Be not discouraged because you cannot do so well as others: "God despiseth not the day of small things."‡ God hath babes in his family, that chatter like a crane or swallow. || A child's lisping is understood by an indulgent father and if a distempered child, stoop down, and reach us up any small thing, we take it kindly; so doth God when a sick soul falls low in humility, and reacheth high in heavenly-mindedness. You cannot be always actually on your knees, or speaking with your tongues, but still maintain a praying frame of heart. Mr. Greenham saith, When one asks how your family doth, let this put you in mind to pray for them; thank God for mercies; reflect on yourselves, what have I done for their welfare? how are the 1 Chron. xxix. 9-14. +2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, 13. souls of my children, servants? and lift up an ejaculation for them. Be much in prayer: give yourselves to prayer: prayer is your physic, your armoury, your ammunition, your antidote against Satan, the world, and the flesh. This is your way of trading with God for the richest commodities for yourselves and yours; the profit will be yours, the glory God's. * To help you in this work, I have written this Treatise, not having seen any directly upon this so needful a subject, and was requested to do something this way; but after I had completely finished the following work, there came to my hands a very learned and elaborate discourse, of Mr. Thos. Doolittle's, on Josh. xxiv. 15, to rivet this nail, which may seem to render this Essay needless; yet for the following reasons if it be judged convenient, I am willing it should go to the Press. 1. That excellent discourse full of sinewy arguments may be more suitable to learned, this plain Treatise to vulgar capacities, being adapted to the common use of country people. 2. Both matter and method are far different, as I perceive upon reading and comparing both. 3. That discourse is inserted amongst the voluminous books of Morning Lectures; this being a small thing by itself, is more attainable and portable. 4. Possibly this may fall into some hands, into which the former hath not fallen, and may be an appendix and supplement to that choice piece, which I do earnestly recommend to the reader to purchase and peruse; and if this my slender attempt may provoke any to purchase that, and both together may but attain this great end of setting up family worship in the power of it, I have my end, and shall follow all these spiritual helps with my earnest prayers, that the God of all would pour grace into your souls the Spirit of grace and supplication; make the members of your families conscientious in joining; and governors and governed orthodox in principles, sincere in their spirits, and holy in their practices, to the glory of God, and good of his church; which is the hearty desire of thy soul's friend, Feb. 2, 1692-3.. OLIVER HEYWOOD. Supplement to Morning Exercises at Cripplegate. Printed 1676 RECOMMENDATORY EPISTLE. THIS Discourse, and that other by the Reverend Mr. Newcome on Prov. xxv. 28, do very opportunely come out together, both in reference to one another, and to the time we live in, and to that which should be aimed at in all times, the reviving and keeping alive of serious, practical religion, but most of all in this time wherein it so much languishes. They that know the Reverend Author of this work, or have perused, (with desire to profit,) those pious practical Treatises, which he hath formerly published, will think as we do, that there is no need of any letters commendatory to bespeak a favourable acceptance of the following Discourse. The design of which is to persuade and engage those that are heads and governors of families, to take up Joshua's resolution; that whatever others do, yet "they and their houses will serve the Lord," in daily, faithful, fervent prayer, with thanksgiving. It is a word in season; for it is a common complaint, and that too, by many, who are not a little guilty of it themselves; that the power of godliness, the life of practical religion, is at this day under a lamentable decay; and amongst the many causes of this decay, there is scarcely any that hath been more perniciously influential thereunto, than the neglect of family worship of God, which is one most proper means to promote seriousness in religion. Frequent solemn addresses to God, having a tendency to keep God in remembrance, and to cause the apprehensions of God to make the deeper impressions, and to have the stronger influence upon the hearts of those who have not quite lost all sense of a God, or forgotten that they have souls to save, or lose. Prayer also being a means of God's appointment, to obtain family blessings and mercies, as well as personal and national, according to the many promises which God hath made of audience and acceptance of the prayers that |