YOU are so well Instructed, O our Afflicted Neighbours, that you can­not be ignorant of this Truth; Sickness and Weakness carry's in it, very strong Obligations to Duty: And Sickness in a Family bespeaks Duty from no less than all the Family. When Sickness comes into any Family, tho' but One Person should be Visited, it administers a Manifold Occasion for Serious Religion to be Exercised by the whole Family, even by every Person belong­ing unto it. We have tho't it therefore a part of our Pastoral Watchfulness over you, our Dear Flock, to put into your Hands, (for, alas, how many do Forget the Exhor­tations delivered by us, when we manage the Publick Exhortations!) a Brief, a Plain, a Faithful Monitor of the Duty, whereto the Voice of God by Sickness among us, is [Page 2] aloud calling of us. These are the Admo­nitions, whereto your Attention is now demanded in the Name & Fear of God.

I. There is a Duty incumbent upon the whole Family, even upon every Person that can understand their Duty, when Sickness comes upon any Person in the Family. If any One Person in a Family be under any Sickness, there is an Holy Improvement of it, and an Improvement in Holiness on it, whereof every Soul in the Family should be studious. Particularly;

First. Let the whole Family acknowledge, that the Sickness of any one in the Family, is by the Providence of the Great GOD bro't upon them. When there was only a Child Sick in a Family, it was said, 2 Sam. XII.15. The Lord strook the Child, and it was very Sick. Tis Atheism in us, if we do not own, that a Sparrow falls not unto the Ground, without the Providence of God; and we are Blinder than the Owl, if we see not the Providence of God in it, when Sick­ness threatens to lay any of us or of ours, in the Ground. The Providence of God is to be eyed, as in all the Comforts of a Fami­ly, [Page 3] so in all the Troubles of it. When Sick­ness does Happen in a Family, it comes not meerly by Hap. It was said, Amos III.6- Shall there be Evil in a City, and the Lord hath not done it? We may say, Shall there be Sick­ness in a Family, and the Lord hath not sent it? When Health is taken away from any of us, tis by the Hand of Him, who is, The God of our Health. It was the Creation of God, which put our Body's in their good Order at the first: If Sickness put our Bo­dy's out of Order, there is the Providence of God, ordering of it. Are we Sick? We must Esteem our selves to be Stricken and Smitten of God, and Afflicted. Indeed, there are some Diseases, in which the more Im­mediate Hand of God, (and of His Angels,) may Scourge the Sinful Children of men. The Leprosy, as it often Arrested, first, the Houses, and then the Garments, and then (upon Impenitency) the Body's of the Is­raelites, in the Holy Land, seems to have been one of those Diseases. And even the most Famous Pagan Physician, advises the Practitioners of Physick, to mind, whether there be no extraordinary Stamp of a Di­vine Hand in those Diseases, which they [Page 4] undertake to meddle with. But every Di­sease, whatever be the Next Cause of it, must be look'd upon as proceeding from God, the First Cause of all. Is any one Sick in a Family? Let every one there say, 'Tis the Hand of God that is now upon the Family. GOD is now fulfilling that word; Mic. VI.13. I will make thee Sick in smiting thee.

But then, Secondly. Should not this Ac­knowledgment be accompanied with a suit­able Humiliation of the whole Family, when Sickness is in a Family? Tis highly Reaso­nable that it should be so. Where Sickness comes, the Complaint is that, Psal. CXLII.6. I am bro't very Low. Certainly, it becomes a Family to lie very Low before God, when He shall send Sickness into it. Sickness in a Family, does cause no little Sorrow to the Family. Tis an unspeakable Encumbrance unto a Family, to have Sickness in it; it Encumbers a Family with a multitude of Inconveniences. The Pale, the Swollen, the Wasted, & perhaps the Spotted Faces of the Sick in the Family, are such as our Heavenly Father has been Spitting upon: Shall He Spit in our Faces, and shall we not be Ashamed? A Family under the Rebuke of [Page 5] God by Sickness, is then to take that Ad­vice, 1 Pet. V.6. Humble your selves under the Mighty Hand of God. No Weary Murmur­ings, I beseech you, when weary Days, and weary Nights, thro' Sickness are appointed for you! Tis GOD, that hath appointed 'em. Humbly own the Sovereignty of God; Say, Lord, Thou mightest have made All Sick, as well as One! Humbly own the Righteous­ness of God; Say, Lord, We all deserve to be Sick, and are Punished less than our Iniquity's deserve! Humbly own the Wisdom of God, & Submit unto the Sickness in the Family, as a Cross of His lying upon us. The Sick­ness may be called a Potion, which our Lord Himself has mingled for us: It becomes us to say, The Cup which my Heavenly Father orders for this Family, shall not I drink of it? Imitating the words of the Psalmist, [Psal. XXXIX. 9, 10, 11.] Humbly say; Lord, I will be Dumb, and not open my Mouth, because thou dost what is done in the Family; Tis the stroke of thy Hand, that is upon us in our Sick­ness; We are consumed by the blow of thy Hand. Tis thy Rebuke, that makes what is desirable here to Melt away!

Thirdly, Sickness bringing such an Hu­miliation [Page 6] upon a Family, methinks, it should also bring a Reformation into the Family. When a Distemper comes into a Family, tis very certain, it should Cure every Disorder in that Family. All the Griefs & Groans of a Sick Person in the Family, are so many Pungent Sermons, for the Reformation of all that is amiss; Lively Sermons upon such a Text as that; Job XXII.23 Thou shalt put away Iniquity far from thy Tabernacles. When Sickness comes into a Family, it is a Day of Adversity, wherein every one in the Fami­ly should Consider, how they have Miscar­ry'd, & Reform all their own Miscarriages. But especially, it now concerns the Master of the Family, so to take the Warning from the Sickness in his Family, as to Reform e­very thing that may be there Provoking to God. My Friend, Let the Sickness there put thee upon awful Tho'ts, what shall now be done, that Family Piety, and Family In­struction, and Family Government, may more flourish in thy Family, than heretofore. Most of all, If any Master of a Family, hath been so very Criminal, as to neglect Family Prayer, let him hear the Cry of the Sickness in his Family unto him, thus Articulated; [Page 7] Oh! Neglect Family Prayer no Longer! Now call thy Folks together; tell them that thy Family, whereto the God of Heaven speaks by the Sickness now upon it, shall be no longer Prayerless; tell them thou art afraid lest God go on to pour out His Fury in some­thing worse than Sickness, upon a Family that Calls not on His Name: Fall down upon thy Knees in the midst of them, & spread the Sins, the Wants, the Fears, & the Desires of thy Family, as well as thou canst before the Lord. Happy & Healthy, that Sickness, which thus Reforms the Family that it comes into!

More than so; Fourthly. If it be a Time of General Sickness, we should all in General joyn in the Methods of Devotion, to obtain a stop to the Judgment, by the Efficacy of the Great Sacrifice for the Congregation. Some­times a Sickness rages in a Place; and not one or two, but many Family's are Visited. Now 'tis a Time for all the Family's in a Neighbourhood, Unanimously to Concur in more than ordinary Supplications. The Cry of a Raging and Spreading Sickness to a whole Neighbourhood, is that, Jon. III.8. Fast, and Cry mightily unto God, and turn every one from his Evil Way. But that the Sup­plications [Page 8] may become Effectual, there is one Signal and Glorious point of Christia­nity to be observ'd. There are Destroying Angels, as with Drawn Swords, by a Commis­sion from God, inflicting of such a Sickness, for the Destruction, or at least the Vexation of the Inhabitants. The way to prevail with God, for the preventing of such a dreadful Commission, is to Bring & Plead a Sacrifice. It was of old said, Numb XIV.46. Bring Incense, go quickly, & make Atonement; for there is Wrath gone out from the Lord; the Plague is begun. But what Sacrifice have we to Plead in this Case? None truly, but the Alsufficient Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are then to Plead this with God; O Most Glorious God; Our Lord Jesus Christ hath Suffered that just Wrath of thine, which is due to us for our Sins: Let the Suffer­ings of our Lord Jesus Christ save us from thy Wrath: Oh, Pity us, and Pardon us, and let us be saved from horrible Sicknesses, for the sake of those Expiatory Sufferings wherein our Lord Jesus [...] born our Sicknesses. Christi­ans, [...]; The Believers who so Pre­sent before God the Sacrifice of the Lord Je­sus Christ, on the behalf of the Towns where [Page 9] they Live, are the very Gapmen of the Towns. And by this Faith in that Great Sacrifice, we may particularly procure our own Houses to be Sprinkled with that Blood, be which our Family's may be preserved in Jesus Christ. Oh! Nothing so Grateful to the Blessed God; no Plea so Powerful, as to mention the Blood of His Beloved Son before Him.

II. There is a Duty incumbent on such in the Family, as are not lying under Sickness, when Sickness lies upon others in the Fami­ly. A Sickness of any one in a Family, gives many Healthful Counsils, to those that are yet in Health. For;

First. The Sickness of any One in a Fa­mily, should engage the rest that are in Health to be very Thankful for their Health. It would indeed be worthy of a, Lord, have Mercy upon us, on the Door, if all in a Fa­mily should be Sick. An Healthful Person, has always very great cause to be a Thank­ful Person. What says the Psalmist? Psal. XLII. 11. I will Praise Him who is the Health of my Countenance. But the Sickness of any [...] unto us, aggravates the Cause, and [...] for Thankfulness. Our Health, when [Page 10] others are Sick, as 'tis a Distinguishing Fa­vour, so 'tis an Unmerited Favour. Why me, Lord! When others are Pining in Sick­ness, there can be no Reason assign'd for the Mercy of God, in sparing our Health, but only the Meer Mercy of God. This affords a very cogent Reason, why we should be very Thankful for the Mercy! Well then; See thy Sick Friend Sweating, Hear thy Sick Friend Sighing, under Sickness, when Chastened on their Bed: Their Soul abhors all manner of Meat, they Draw near unto the Gates of Death, they Pant, they Faint, they can hardly Speak: But all this while, they Cry aloud unto thee: Oh! Prize thy preci­ous Health, and Praise Merciful God, for a Mercy that never can be Prized Enough!

Secondly. And yet, Prepare for Sickness! The Sickness of One in a Family, bids all the rest, Prepare to be Sick. The Feeble Voice of the Sick, it as Notably, as if they should Lift up their Voice like a Trumpet, Speaks unto us, that; Isa. XL.6. All Flesh is Grass, and all the Goodliness thereof, is as the Flower of the Field. Sickness in a Family, is a Lecture upon Humane Frailty: And the Language of it, is Oh! Do with thy Might [Page 11] what thy Hand finds to do, while thou art in thy Health; and leave not unto a Time of Sick­ness, the doing of those things, for which there is no Time in Sickness! If it be Necessary for us, to make, A WILL, that Right and Peace, may not be injured when we are Dead, a Sick Person in a Family will show us, that we should not have this to do, when we come to be Sick. But above all, Tis Necessary for us, to make a Timely Pro­vision for Eternity. This PROVISION is made, How? By Consenting to every Ar­ticle, in the Covenant of Grace; By Submit­ting to the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Priest, our Prophet, and our King; By Accepting of, the Righteousness which our Surety has Wrought out for us, that we may therein stand Righteous before the Judge of All; And By Complying with the Holy Spirit, who offers to Renew us, and Possess us, and Com [...]rt us to God, and Unite us to Christ, and Rescue us from Sin, and Prepare us for Heaven. Immortal Soul; Necessity is laid upon thee to do these things, and Wo unto thee, if thou do them not. But will a Sick Bed af­ford a Proper Season, for the doing of such things? It may be, you have not heard, [Page 12] (as I have) the Miserables upon a Sick Bed, Crying out with inexpressible An­guish; In my Health, I made no Preparation for Death! And, O Sir, It is not now too Late? Is it not now too Late? But the Sickness in your Family, may terribly inculcate this Cauti­on upon you; Don't, Oh! Don't put off your Turning to God, until you come to be Sick: You'll make Poor, Mean, Sickly, and most Un­certain Work of it, if you do.

And Thirdly. Have they that are in Health, nothing to do for the Sick in the Family? Yes; We should Exhort one ano­ther, whom we see under Sickness; and so much the more, as we see the Day approaching, wherein they are to take that Important Step, which their Everlasting Weal or Wo turns upon. Oh! Drop as many Sound Words as we can, upon our Sick Friends. And Speak For them, as well as To them. Carry them to our Lord Jesus Christ, by our Prayers for His Help, as they did of old, and found it not in vain to do so. Yea, Pray With them too, as well as For them, if it may be done with Decency. Husbands, and Parents, and Masters in the Family, can do no less. It is said, Jam. V.16. The Prayer [Page 13] of Faith shall save the Sick. Nor should we with-hold any Charitable Assistences, that we can give towards the Relief of the Sick. To Relieve the Sick, is an Angelical Office and Service! When the Pestilence made horrid havock in Alexandria, 'twas noted, That the Heathens ran away from their dearest Relations, under the dread of the Infection; when the Christians bravely ex­posed their Lives in looking after the Sick, and with a sort of Martyrdom, even Dy'd themselves to save others from Death. Yea, our Charity should look Abroad, as well as at Home; and be able to say, My Soul is grieved for the Poor. The Sickness in thy own Family, O Good Man, should awaken thy Consideration of the Sick Elsewhere, whose Poverty and Penury is greater than thine, and who are destitute of such Com­fortable Supports as thy Sick ones are sur­rounded withal. There is a Wonderful Encouragement; Psal. XLI. 1, 2, 3. Blessed is he that Considers the Poor, the Lord will De­liver him in time of Trouble; the Lord will Pre­serve him, and Keep him Alive, and he shall be Blessed upon the Earth; The Lord will strength­en him upon the bed of Languishing; Thou wilt [Page 14] make all his Bed in his Sickness. Every Syl­lable is a Cordial, beyond the Richest E­lixir in the World! Will you take Notice of it, O ye who Devise Liberal Things!

And, Fourthly. With their Alms, there should go up the Prayers of them that are in Health, as a Memorial before God, that He may keep them in Health. It is a due Course, Psal. XLII. 8. My Prayer is unto the God of my Life. Let the Sickness of a­ny one in a Family, set all the rest a Pray­ing, that they may be Preserved from Sickness: A Praying, Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my Trust: A Praying, Lord, Deal bountifully with thy Servant, that I may Live and Keep thy Word. In thus Praying, we should urge the agreeable Pro­mises of our God; such Promises as we find in the NINETY FIRST PSALM; A Psalm, which may be of Singular Use to us, especially when Epidemical and Pesti­lential Sicknesses, are formidable among us.

III. When Sickness is in a Family, there is a Duty incumbent upon the Sick them­selves, as well as upon the rest in the Fa­mily. Perhaps, O Languishing Persons, you [Page 15] may hear these Lessons Read unto you, if you are thro' Sickness not able your selves to Read them.

First; Repentance! Repentance! That is the Sick Mans main Duty & Interest; tho' tis well if Repentance then come Soon E­nough, to Be Good, or to Do any Good. Now to carry on this Repentance, there must be several Actions. If Sickness be come upon you, Examine the Cause of the Sickness, I mean, the Sin that is the Moral Cause of it. When Sickness overtakes us, there is usually some Cause to be enquired after. God will have us to know, That He hath not without a Cause done all that He hath done unto us. [See 1 Cor. XI. 30.] Upon the Arrest of any Sickness then Conclude, Here is a Sickness come for Something! And immediately fall to enquiring what Contro­versy of God with us may be the most pro­bable Cause of our Sickness. Make that Petition, Job X. 2. Shew me wherefore thou Contendest with me. And then, Let both Scripture and Conscience have a fair Hear­ing upon it. It is said, Fools because of their Transgressions, and because of their Iniquities are Afflicted with Sickness. When we have [Page 16] Discovered the Folly that has bro't our Sickness upon us, Oh! Confess it and Be­wail it before the Lord, and Ask the Par­don of it, thro' the Blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God, which Cleanseth from all Sin. Yea, but the Sick Man must express this Repentance of Every Sin. Sickness causes Loathing. O Sick Man, Let all Sin become of all things the most Loathsom unto thee. If thou hast any measure of Strength for it, Let the EXPOSITION of the TEN COMMANDMENTS in the Catechisms be distinctly Read over unto thee; Make a pause upon every Clause, and ponder, Have not I Omitted what is thus Required by God? And, Have not I Committed what is thus Forbidden by God? Judge thy self be­fore God, as worthy to be Judg'd unto E­ternal Misery's, for these thy Sins. But be sure to Reflect upon that Fountain and Bundle of all Sins, thy Original Sin, and Know the Plague of thy own Heart. Thus Mourn for all thy Sins, even till thou dost Water thy Couch with thy Tears. And espe­cially Mourn for thy Loss of Time: A Sin big with bitter Lamentations. In Sickness we lose much Time, and are threatned that [Page 17] we shall have but little more Time. Now is a Time for us to Mourn, Lord, I Mourn that I have so Sinfully Mispent my Time. When the Ax is laid unto the Root of our Tree, in Sickness, what can we do, but Mourn for our Unfruitfulness? Behold now the Lord JESUS CHRIST, that Saviour and Great One, making a Tender of Him­self and of His Great Salvation, even unto the Chief of Sinners. Oh! Hearken to Him; for now He says to thee, Distressed Sinner, Look unto Me, and be Saved! Let so Gracious a Tender, Melt thy very Heart within thee; with a Distressed, an Agonizing, an Astonished Soul, declare unto the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, I fly to thee as my Refuge, my Helper, and my Portion, and by thy Help, I give my Self back unto thee! Do this once, Do it again, Do it a thousand times over, Do it as long as thou hast a Breath to draw in the World. Thy Life, the Life of a Never dying Soul depends upon it.

But is it not now altogether Too [...] It is true, A Death-bed Repentance is very sel­dom True! Oh! Mourn, That thou hast made it So Late. Let the Late [...]ss of thy [Page 18] Repentance, be not the least Matter of thy Repentance. And yet Strive to enter in at the strait Gate. It may be 'tis not altogether Too Late; The Door is not yet shut: And Better Late than Never!

Secondly; It becomes a Sick Person, Sincerely, Entirely, Chearfully, to Leave unto the Great God, the Issue of the Sick­ness. Adore the Great God, O Sick Man, as the Absolute Lord of thy Life. Be wil­ling to Dy or to Live, just as the Great GOD shall Please to Appoint. Stand like a Centinel, in thy Station, ready to [...]ove just as thy Great Commander shall give His Orders concerning thee. Sup­pose God should even Refer it unto thee, whether to Dy or to Live, be ready to Reply, I would Refer it unto Him again! Say, Psal. XXXI. 15. Lord, My Times are in thy Hand; And add, Lord, It is fit, that thou alone shouldest have the Disposal of all my Times.

Thirdly; A Sick Person should be more Desirous to be Delivered from Sin, than from Sickness. Be more Sick of Sin, O Sick Man, than of any Sickness. About the Rage of thy Sinful Passions, Let this [Page 19] be thy Sense, This is worse than any Feaver. Let no Pain in thy Flesh be so Painful as This; There dwells no Good Thing in my Flesh. Sickness makes thee Listless and Feeble; Oh, Let thy Listlessness to, and Feebleness in, the Work of God, be more Uneasy to thee. It was said, Isa. XXXIII. 24. The Inhabitant shall not say, I am Sick; the People shall be Forgiven their Iniquity. Count it better to have Iniquity taken away, than to say, I am not Sick.

Fourthly; If God will have the Sickness to be unto Death, yet let it be unto the Glory of God, by your Dying in Faith: A Faith whereof the End will be the Salvation of the Soul. It is an excellent Epitaph upon some; Heb. XI. 13. They Dy'd in Faith. You Live by it: Oh! Dy in it.

The Sick bro't thus Low, are doubtless now, no longer Able to Read; But let some Faithful Attendent, watch an Op­portunity now to Read these Lines unto them.

Having thus led them into the Path of Life; Let this one more Paragraph be Read unto them.

And now, Suppose a Sickness prove Mortal to any in the Family, is there no Duty now incumbent on the Family? Yes; The Duty of the Profoundest Resigna­tion! Whatever Flower in our Garden be [Page 23] Cropt, tho' it be our Isaac, yet Resign it, and let it be said of us, Gen. XXII. 12. Now I know that thou Fearest God, because thou hast not witheld any thing from Him! A Bereavement bro't by Sickness upon a Family, must be undergone with Patience; For, If thou Faint in the day of this Adver­sity, thy Strength is but Small. Too Small is the Strength of a Rachel, when, for the Death of her Children, she Refuses to be Comforted; Yea, Too Small the Strength of a David, when he Cries, My Son, O my Son, I wish I had died for thee! Lamentations are not Amiss; We must not be Stocks and Stones: But yet, we may do much Amiss in our Lamentations. It is Enjoyned upon Christians, 1 Thes. IV. 13. Do not Sorrow as others, that have no Hope. Our Lord came upon some Immoderate Mourners, with such a Reprehension; Mar. V. 39. Why make ye this Ado? He speaks it unto our Mourners; Why make ye this Ado? May not the God of Heaven Dispose of the Potsherds of the Earth, as Pleases Him? Why make ye this Ado? Have you Lost All, and is not GOD and CHRIST [Page 24] Living still? Why make ye this Ado? Are not the Dead gone only a Little before, and shall not you Quickly follow them? Be Still then, O ye Storms of Grief in the Bereaved. Let us now hear nothing but This; The Lord has Given, and the Lord has Taken away; and Blessed be the Name of the Lord.