514 Motil!es to further the Sal11ation of eac/,· other. on you, the: next time to forbear ; You will furc be atharilcd to do that which you havefo confdfed and asked forgivcnefs for , of God and man. If you will bur practice thefe ten DJrcd:ions, your conju~ gal and family peace may be preftrved. Dire[i. 6. . ?· 10. Direct. 6. A prin:ipal duty betwee;, huJb..J.1td and wife ir, with fpecial c.Jre anrl Jk._iU a 11 d dzltgeme, t.o ~tip each _ather ~ft tbe /tnowledge and worflnp and obedwz~e of Gad in order to tbcir falvatlon. ~t:caufe thts ts a duty m whtch Y?u are the greatell. helps a~d bleflm~s to each other, i! you perforrp Jt. I {hall 1o Endeavour to qmcken you to m1ke Confcicncc of It, and then z, Din:ct yoU: hoW to do it. ~- n. l· Confider, t. H.ow little it can ~and with R11tional Love, to neglect the fouls of one anot_hcr ? I fuppofc you btlteve that you have tmmortal fouls, and an cndlefs life of joy or mifi:ry to hve: _And then you ca~not choofe but know tha~ your great Concer_nment and bufinefi is, to make fure pro~lfio~1 for .tho~e jnul1, an~ for the endlefi. l1~t- . Therefore if your Love do not help one another m thts whtch IS your mam concerilntent, H JS httle worth, and of little ufe. Every thing in this world is valuable as it is ufeful. Aujelcfs or unprofitable Love, is a worthlejf Love. It is a trifling, or a childijh or a het,jily Love, which helpeth you bu_c in trifiinz, childijh, or beajlly things.: J?o you loveyour \Vife, and yet will l.:avc her in the power of Satan, or will not help ro f.tve her toul? Whiit ! Love her~ and yet let her go to hell? and rather let her be damned dun you will be at the pains to endeavour her falv.uion? If fhe were but in bodily pain or miferr> and you refufed to do y_our put to fuccour her, fhe would take it but fOr cold unproticable love, though rou were r.ever io kind w her in complements and nifles. The Devil himfelf maketh n1ew of fi1ch a love as that: He can vouchfafc men pleafures and wealth and honour, fa he may but fee tl1e perdition of their fouls. And if your love to your wife or husband do tend to no greater matters than rhe pleafurcs of this lift, while the foul is left to perifh in fin, bethink your felves ferioufly how little more kindn.efs you fhcw them than the D~vil doth. 0 can you fee the danger of one that you love fo dearly, and do no more to fave them from it ? Can you think of the damnation of fo dear .a friend, and not do all that you are able to prevent it? would you be fepuated from them in the World that you arc go:ng to? would you not live with them in Heaven for c:.ver? Nc:.ver fay you loVe them, if you will not labour fqr their falvation. If ever they come to Hdl, or if ever you fee them there, both they and you will then confefs, that you behaved not your fdves like fuch as Loved them. 1r doth not gefcrve the name Qf Love, which can leave a foul to cndlcfs mifery. 1 King. 11. -'!-· 9· 12· What then thall we fay of them, that do not only deny their help, but arc hinderers of the ~~·iJ";d.lins ho/i;ufl and falvatiou of each other! And yet (the Lord have mercy on the poor miferablc world!) how common a thing is this among us? If the wife be ignonnt and ungodly, Chc will do her worfl to make or keep her hu•band (uch as (he is her [elf: And if God put any holy inclinations into his heart, fhe will be to it as water to the fire, to quench it or ro keep it under: And if he will not be tempter. Job 1. 9· as finful and miferable as her [elf, he fhall have liule quietncfs or reil. And if God open the eyes of the wife of a bad man, and Chew hc:r the amiablendS and ncceifiry of a holy life, and !he do but refolve.to obey the Lord, and fave her foul, what an enemy and ryr:wt will her husband prove to her (if God reftrain him not ) : fo tharrhe Devil himfelf doth fcarce do more againft the faving of their fouls, than ungodly Husbands and Wives do againll each other. 9· I3· 2• Confider alfo that you live not up to the End1 of Marriage, nor of humanity, if you arc not helpers to each others fouls. To help each other only for your bellies, is to live rogether ·but like beatls. You are appointed to Jive together as beirs vf the grace of lift, 1 Pet. 3· 7· And bHf bands mufi loz,ethcir Wives as Cbrijl lovedhis Cburcb, rvho golve hlmjllf for it that he might /an[iijie it 4J[d clean{e it, that he mi,ght ptejeltt it to ~im{df aglurivus Cburcb, wi_tbout fpot o.rwrinkJe, boly rmd without blemijh, Eph. 5· 2 s, 26, 2 7. That whtch IS _the end of your very life and bcmg, mull be the end of your relations and your daily converre. 9· 14 . 3· Confider alfo, if you neglect each others fouls, what enemies you are to one another, and how you pnparc for your everlaHing farrows: When you fhould be pnpuing for your joyful meet– ing in qeavtn, you arc laying up for your fdves everlafiing horrour. Wh:J.t a dreadful meeting ar.cl greeting will you have at the bu of Chrin, or in ~he fl1mes of hell,when you (hall find there how 1 ThcC ~- 1 r. pervcri1y you have done ? Is it not better to be ~rathng God ro_geth_er m Glory, than to be rage1.ng Heb, t:.. IS· againfi each other in the honou~ of yourConfc1ences, an~ Aymg t_n the fa_c_es of one another With Co_l. :.. 19· fuch accufations as thcfe, [" 0 cruel Husband! 0 mcrc1lefs decc1tful W1fe! It was long of you E~·4' 1 '· ((that I came to this miferable woful End! I might have lived with Chrill: and his S.lints in Jor, ~cn~r~ t 1: 4 • et and now I am tormented in thcfe flames in defpcrati?n ! You were commanded ~y _God to have lcv. 19· 17. "given x:ne wa_rnint, and told me of my fin and m1fery~ and never _to let me rdbn tt, but eo have '' inftruCled and intreated me, till I had come homi by Chrtfl, that I m1ght not have come tO this place '' oftorment : But you never fo much as [pal{_e eo me Of God .and my falvation, unltfs it were lightly "in jea!l or in your common talk! If the houfe had been on tire, you would have been more earnefl to ~' have quenched it, than )'ou were to fave my foul fro.m hell ! You ncvet told me ferioufly of rhc mifery '~ of a narur.al unn:ncwcd i\ate! nor of 'the great neceifi:y of regcccration and a holy life! nor ne– '' vcr ralkt to me ()f tJeaven aild Hdl, as matters of fuch confcqucnce Chould have been mentioned ; ''But morning and nigrr, your taW: was nothing but about the world and the things of the world; Numb. 1 6. ~')'OUr idle ta\!{ and jeOingand frOward and carnal and unprotitahle difi:ourfr:, was it that titled up all "the time; and we had not one fobcr word of our falvation. You nevtr ferioufly foretold me of "this day ? You never prayed with me, nor read the Scripture and good Books to me; You took no '' pains tl> help me to knOwledge; nor tO humble my hardcn·cd heart for my fins, nor to f1ve me 1 ' from
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