592 The `?ighteous e.`lifans Service men, Hufha, Adrniram; vvorthy Prophets, Nathan, gad, &c. Whereas flive iu fuch a Generation, that all the bad Epethites in the old and ncvv Tcftament may truly be applied thereunto. Aflabberngeneration, afrowardgéneration, PIaI.78.8. A rebelliousgenerationi á generation thatlet not their heart aright, andwhofe Spirit ds notfledfaßwith God. A generation ofvipers, e...124t. 3.7. A faithlefs generation, LAtat. t7. 17., Whether you take it in Divinity for lack ofbelief tovvards God, or in moralityfor vvantoftruth and truly tovvards man ; and vvhocan find inhis heart to ferve fo vvicked a generation ? Some vvill fay, (further to improve this Obje&ion) O that I had been born fotneyears after the perfecution in the Reign of Queen e912ary,, that fo my thre4- fcoreand tenyears, the age ofman, might have run parallel vvith the profperous times of Queen Elizabeth , King James, and King C'harle;, and have determined andexpired tome years before the beginning ofour late Civil Wars; Had mynati- vity been fixed in that peaceable pofition, O then I vvould vvillingiy, and readily, and chearfully; and joyfully , and thankfully have ferved my ovvn generation; vv;-.ereas nove I have no lift, and lets comfort to do it, being condemned to live in fo vvicked an age, made upof the dregsof time, the badnefs vvhereof is more dan- gerous thandifficult to defcribe,and may vvith more fafetybeconfclt by the hearers, thanexpreft by the Preacher in his place. Anfw. I havethree things toreturn inanfvver hereunto. 32. Firft, grantthe Objeftor fpeaketh very much of truth herein, yet if the times be fo bad as he complaineth, their badnefs will ferve for a foyl to fet offhis good- nefs, and render it the more confpicuous, making him, 'Phil. z. t5. to fbine the brighter, ac a light in the world, in the modfl of a crooked andptrverfe Nations A- las, thy little faith would have made no ¡how, hadit thou lived in the age ofe4l- brabam ; thyPatience would have Teemed but a dwarf to the Gyantpatienceofjnb, hadft thoubeen his contemporary ; thy meeknefs had appeared as nothing, ifmea- fured with themeeknefs ofs.02ofcs, had you been partners in the fame generation: Whereas nowa littleFaith, Patience, Meeknefs, and fo ofothergraces, will make a very goodprefence inthe publick, ifthe Age thou liveft in be fo badas thou doll complain, andothersperchance do believe. Secondly, I fufpe& this to be nothing elfe but a device of thy deceitful heart, thereby to cozen thine own felf. TheObje&ion fpeaks the{late of thy foul to be much like the temper of the Scribes and Pharifees, , 31at. z3.3o. If we (fay they) hadbeen in thedayes ofear Fathers, we would not have beenpartaker with the blood ofthe Prophets. Yet thefe pretended pitiful perlons were indeed more cruel than their Anceftors. Their Fatherskilled the Men,they the Mailer ; their Fathers the Servant, they the Son ; their Fathers murdered the Prophets ofGod,they the God of thofeProphets, fo farforth as he was murderable inhis humanenatetre . and it is vehemently to be fufpefted, that if thou beeft bad now, thouwouldft not have beengood, had the timeofthy Nativity anfwered thine owndefire. It is a áhrewd prefumption, that he whobehaved bimfelfas aWolfin hisown generation, would not have been a Lamb in what Agefoever he had lived. 34. Laftly , Beggars mull be no choofers ; thou art not to ferve the generation be- fore thee, nor the generation after thee, nor any other of thy own elcftion, but thy own generation, wherein Divine Providence hath been pleated o place thee, SaintTaal faith, Ephefiant 5. za. Wivesfubmityourfelves unto your own Hatbands. Some will fay, had I fuchan one to my Husband, I could willingly obey him, he is of fo meek, mild and Tweet a difpofstion, but mine is of fomorofe and frowarda nature, it goes againfl my nature to be dutiful unto him. However, though the pathnot the fame comfort, the hath the fame caufe offubmi¡fion, obliging incon - fcience to Gods command; husbands mull lovetheir own wives,wives obey their own husbands; husbands and wives with Dawid,muft ferve their own generations 35 Butnow that my fword may cut on bothfides, as hitherto we have confuted fuch whoare faulty in their defe&, andwill not ferve their generation ; fo others offend in the excefs, not being only fervants, but {laves and vale is to theage they live in, proftituting their confciencesto do any thing (howunjufi foever) tobe a Favourite to 3,t.
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