Children run into How conscientious have some been to reprove their Fellows that have been involved in these and such like Vices and that to the Admiration of such as have observed them How careful have some been to avoid the Company of those that could not be reclaimed from their early Prophaness They have had no mind to Play or Converse or keep Company with such tho' under many Temptations thereunto What Construction can be made of this early Tenderness but that it is some line or stroke of the New Creature drawn in the Heart of such young ones which may justly encourage Parents to entertain a Comfortable Hope concerning them It 's observed as a Character of a Gracious Import in the young King Josiah 2 Kin. 22.19 That his Heart was tender When Conscience is so early impressed with the Sense of Sin and Duty it is a good Sign It 's taken notice of as an early Appearance of Goodness in this young Prince and it is the like in others where-ever it is found Jer. 32.40 Being a Branch of that Fear which God hath promised to put into the Hearts of his own People 7. An Obediential Regard unto Parents is another Argument for Good As it is a frequently-repeated Charge upon Children Eph. 6.1 Col. 3.20 To obey Parents in the Lord so it is a very Promising Intimation when they are early affected with the Conscience of their Duty in this particular Disobedient Children as they are the Grief and Heart-break of their Parents for the present so they generally give but a very poor Prospect of Hope for the future especially when their Disobedience is attended with Contempt and Obstinacy Accordingly it is very observable that among the Persons whom the Children of Israel were to pronounce Accursed upon Mount-Ebal Contemptuous Undutiful Children are set almost in the very Front of the Black Catalogue Next to the Idolater that Maketh and Worshippeth any Graven or Mosten Image Deut. 27 16. is He that setteth Light by his Father and Mother And what blacker Mark of Infamy and Hopelesness can be put upon any Persons than to be set in the Forefront of such as the Curse of Heaven is upon To bear any Place in that miserable Beadroll is sad enough But to be the very second Rank of the Accursed Crew bespeaks the Case to be particularly dreadful and discouraging But on the contrary dutiful obedient Children as they are the Joy and Crown of their Parents while they live so they give very good Ground of Hope when they come to die For they are the Children of Promise And if they have not the Promise made good to them in a long Life upon Earth it cannot but be comfortably hoped that a Gracious and Faithful God will fulfil it in that which is better even Life everlasting in Heaven I know the Exterternal Acts of Obedience may proceed from different Springs or Principles whichmay often vary the case A Child may yield outward Obedience from Fear as well as from Love The dread of the Rod may overawe them when Love and the Sense of Duty does not incline them and in that case we cannot make so hopeful a Conclusion But when a Child's Obedience evidently springs from an Obediential Disposition when it is influenced not so much by a slavish awful Fear as by Principles of Conscience Love and Reverence Love and Reverence to Parents and Conscience to the Command of God it cannot but be reckon'd a very encouraging Symptom It 's recorded to the Honour of our blessed Saviour That he was Subject to his Parents Tho' the Advancement of his Humane Nature into the Person of the Son of God advanced him above any Obligations of that kind yet to testifie how natural how amiable how becoming Obedience to Parents is himself yielded all the Subjection and Obedience that could be expected from the Relation He was Subject that was Lord over all to leave a blessed Example to Children to be and do likewise And it cannot but be esteemed an Hopeful sign to be conformable to so good a Pattern It 's a part of the Image of the blessed Son of God Rom. 8.29 to which all the Children of God are predestinated to be conformed And any Branch of Conformity to that Image cannot but afford a good Hope concerning those in whom it is found Do you see then Children giving all becoming Proofs of their inward Acknowledgment of and Veneration for their Parents Do you see them careful to please and fearful to offend and grieve them When other Children are Proud and Stomachful and Self-will'd impatient either of Advice or Reproof Do you see these listning to their Parent 's Exhortations and melting under their Reproofs When others make no matter of disobeying and offending and provoking their Parents Do you see these efflicted and grieved at themselves for grieving theirs When the Obedience of others lasts no longer than while their Parents Eye is over them Do you see these bear a tender respect to their Parents Pleasure and Favour as well from under as while they are under their Parents Eye In a word Do you see them Fearful of or Penitent for any thing that looks like Undutifulness Such Children but be lookt on as leaving a good Testimony behind them tho' snatcht away in their Morning-age 8. A particular Love to good People is another hopeful Appearance in Children That Love to the Saints is made an evidence of Grace in Adult Persons is so plain in Scripture that nothing can be plainer Particularly it 's the Mark mainly insisted upon by the Beloved Disciple John whose own Heart being much affected with Love to God and the Brethren he makes this a Principal Tryal with respect to others I need not point to all the places that occur in his Epistles to this purpose That one is enough 1 Joh. 3.14 We know that we are pasled from Death unto Life because we love the Brethren Observe he lays it down not meerly as a probable but as a Damonstrative Argument We know that is with an Holy Confidence and Assurance that we are passed from Death unto Life from a State of Sin unto a State of Grace because we love the Brethren that is the Children of God as such or under that Consideration and Character And as this is a Character so express in Scripture so in Experience it has been so singularly useful that it has supported the Spirits and quieted the Fears of many doubting Souls when all their other Graces not being so perceptible in their Operations have been able to afford them little or no Relief Now if it be an Argument of such Evidence in grown Persons why may we not allow it the like evidentialness with respect to Children It 's true Love may be caused by such Motives as may prove too weak a Foundation to build upon in this case as when it proceeds from nearness of Natural Affinity or from a sweetness of Temper and
were so you prayed that they mighâ— get to Heaven and they are gon thither only you Mourn that they are there sâ— soon Weep not for them but for youâ— selves you may live to see dismaâ— times and heavy Judgments which maâ— occasion a general Amazement and Consternation and which may make manâ— a Mother say Blessed is the Womâ— that never bear and the Paps thaâ— never gave Suck Remember that thâ— time is short and it signifies little thâ— one Rose wither in the Morning anâ— another in the Afternoon seeing aâ—… will certainly decay If you see somâ— dye in the Bud and in the green oâ— Youth you must be satisfied tho' yoâ— begg'd that they might not be gather'â— till they were laden with a great deal of Fruit. It must comfort you to think that they are like the Early Dew exhaled to Heaven betimes though the shining Drops are vanished These young Heirs of Glory peep'd into the World they saw nothing here but Vexation Sin and Misery and so they went out again If you say we Mourn for our Loss as being a sad Discovery of Wrath against us we are afraid our Children were taken away from us in Anger but is it not a Testimony of Love to deliver any out of Pain betimes and not to suffer them to Languish very long Those that God has dearly loved have died soon the first Person that went to Heaven died in the Flower of his Age even Abel the Righteous so did Abijah Josiah and our Excellent King Edward the VI. These all died Young and was it an Argument of Divine Displeasure to let them Conquer and Triumph almost as soon as they began to Fight whilst others must endure the heat of the Day and many a furious Combat e're they march from the Field of Battle That God would by his own Gracious Presence supply the want of all outward Comforts to those who are bereaved of their Dear and Hopeful Children and that he would Bless this Sermon and the Author and that he may long shine in the Sphere where he is placed for the Good of many Souls Is the hearty Desire of Timothy Rogers Comfort for Parents Mourning over their Hopeful Children That Dye Young JER 31. XVII And there is Hope in thine End saith the Lord. THE two great Supports of a Christian in this Vale of Tears are a lively Faith and a steady Hope For as a Christian's highest Happiness lies within the Vail 2 Cor. 5.7 so Faith and Hope alone can give him a Comfortable Prospect of what Sense and Sight cannot yet reach unto They minister a singular Support both in Life and Death In the greatest Troubles of Life Psal 42.10,11 Faith in the Perspective of the Promise can spy Light thro' the darkest Cloud And Hope being encouraged by Faith can wait with Patience for an happy Issue In the Approaches of Death Faith can cast its Eagle-Eye over this Dead Sea unto the Fragrant Mountains of Spices beyond 2 Tim. 1.12 And Hope can animate the Thoughtful Soul with a Gracious Expectation that a few Moments will waft it safe over the Gulph and make it Possessor of those Glorious Mansions Does God send his grim Messenger Death to summon our selves to come away It 's an Encouragement beyond Expression Psal 17.15 to have Faith and Hope lead us through the dark Passage till Faith be Converted into Vision and Hope advanced into Fruition Is it our dear Relations or Friends that God sends the tremendous Summons to What a blessed Stast of Support is it to the Surviving Mourners when we have Hope in their Latter End The Departing Soul can venture comfortably upon Psal 23.4 and walk chearfully thro' the Gloomy Valley of the Shadow of Death when attended with two such Refreshing Companions as Faith and Hope truely grounded upon the Promises of the Word and the Experience of a Gracious Principle in its own Heart And we that survive can part with our Dying Relations with a more chearful Resignation when we are encouraged with some Comfortable Grounds of Faith and Hope That their Departure hence is but their happy Passage into a far better State and Place Accordingly This is the very Consideration which a Gracious God Administers for the Support of the Mourners in the Text. And there is Hope in thine End saith the Lord. In opening the Words we shall consider 1. The Primary and Litteral Import of them 2. What Practical Improvement may be made of them 1. We shall take a short look into the Primary Original Sense of the words For the understanding whereof you need only to have Recourse unto v. 15. of the Chapter where you have Rachel i. e. The poor distressed Tribe of Benjamin who were Descendents from Rachel Mourning for her Children because they were not A great many of them were very probably cut off by the Fatal stroke of Death and the rest were ready to be carried away Captive into Babylon which was as a civil Death Upon which doleful Occasion this Bereaved Tribe breaks out into a most bitter Lamentation the Ditty of whose Mournful Elegy was That her Children were not There were lost and gone and she was like to enjoy them no more Now to stem the Tyde of these Swelling Waters of Mara God seasonably suggests this Relieving Ground of Comfort in the Text There is Hope in thine End saith the Lord. The Sense whereof amounts to this purpose Why dost thou Mourn as one utterly undone or as one whose Case admits of no Relief or Comfort Tho' thou be as a Desolate Mother bereaved of her Children yet there is Hope both respecting thy self and respecting those whom thou concludes to be utterly lost and gone Those that are Dead and must return to this Life no more if they be transplanted to a better what Reason is there to indulge an Immoderate Sorrow for them And those that are carried into Captivity and ready to be put into their dismal Graves in Babylon they shall have a seasonable Resurrection and shall return unto their own Border in due time which may be a sufficient Ground of Consolation as to them This being the Literal Import of the Words we come now 2. To consider what practical Improvement may be made of them with respect to Cases of a like Nature Now in order hereunto you may observe from the Account that 's already given that the Words are a Supporting Cordial reach'd forth by the Compassionate Hand of Heaven to Disconsolate Parents bleeding over the Loss of their dear Children And tho' there may be a considerable difference in some Particulars betwixt the Case in the Text and other Cases that may bear some Proportion thereunto yet from the general Design of the Words we may without any great Force deduce from them this useful Observation Observ That it is a Soveraign Support to surviving Parents under the Loss of their Departed Children That there is Hope in their Latter End Children are Parts and
Dawnings of that Glorious Day but to breathe after clearer Discoveries of the Love and Favour of God in and through a Saviour This must certainly be a Frame of Soul that carries not a little Encouragement in it It 's a very encouraging Symptom in grown Persons and much more in Children What was it but the sweet Breath of a Gracious Heart when the Holy Psalmist address'd himself in such a Pathetick Prayer to Heaven Psa 106.4,5 Remember me O Lord with the Favour of thy People Oh visit me with thy Salvation that I may see the Good of thy Chosen Two Evidences of a Sincere Gracious Soul are observable in the Prayer First That no less would satisfie his Panting Heart than the Favour that was peculiar to God's own People the good of his Chosen And secondly that could not content him neither but he must have the sensible Refreshing Evidence of that Favour Such Heavenly Breathing have sometimes appear'd in young ones that nothing could satisfie them but some chearing Glimps of the Salvation of God and what can be the Spring of such Divine Bubblings but an Heart season'd with an Heavenly Tincture from above It 's an Argument that Christ lies near the Heart when the Desires are so strong after Clearness of Interest Heaven must both be understood and valued where the Soul is so sollicitous for a sure and clear Title and would not only have some Hope but rejoyce in Hope in the Glory of God 11. Willingness to be gone to be with Christ is the last Gracious Symptom I shall mention It 's not to be doubted but Death in its self must be as terrible to Children as to others The Separation of two such dear Intimates as Soul and Body cannot but look with a frightful Aspect upon them as well as more grown Persons the utter Extinction of all Worldly Relations and Earthly comforts cannot but be very unwelcome and uneasie to Flesh and Blood Isa 38.11 To be taken from the Land of the Living and lodged in the Dark and hideous Mansions of the Grave where they shall see Man no more with the Inhabitants of the Earth cannot but make recoil in them as well as others And yet it 's very remarkable how welcome this Grim and Melancholy Messenger has been to some young Ones and how willing have they been to leave the World and to go to the House prepared for all Living tho' they have but just begun to taste the Sweet and Pleasure of the World and have felt little of the Bitter to wean their Hearts from it yet how contented have they been to bid it Farewel with all its Delights and Pleasures and have entertained Death with a very sweet and resigning Composure of Mind Now what could thus reconcile the King of Terrors to them but the Thoughts and hopes of something beyond the Grave to recompence the loss of what they leave here It 's an argument of their Faith that they believe a future State and that the Happiness thereof infinitely exceeds all the Felicities of this present state of Time It 's an Evidence they have got some Peep within the Vail where they have seen great and wonderful Things far surpassing all the Enjoyments of this lower Region It 's a demonstration of their Love to and Valuation of Christ that they esteem the Fruition of him more worth than all the World and are willing to be absent from the Body that they may be present with the Lord. 2 Cor. 8. 5. It 's an argument they have some Inin God as their God they are so willing to go to Him though it be through such a Gloomy Passage And that they love their Fathers House since the Messenger is so welcome tho' but a frightful One that 's sent to fetch them thither It 's an intimation they know and have felt something of Heaven when they can be so content to exchange Things seen for unseen the visible sensible Comforts of this World for the invisible Delights of Heaven In a Word I'ts an evident Proof that Christ is their Life their Joy their Hope their Happiness their Portion their All when they can so freely throw off all the Courtships of Flesh and the World Phil. 1.23 that they may be with their Exalted Redeemer as the best of all The pale Horse of Death could not meet with such a welcome and submissive Reception but that he carries them thither whither their Hearts are already gone And siher their Hearts are Above it is an Argument their Treasure is there also It is not to be expected that Children should hove such clear and explicite Apprehensions as more mature Christians But however when they know so much as to esteem it a Being with Christ and upon that account not only Heaven is truly desirable but Death is welcome as the Way thither it cannot but be reckon'd as a very hopeful Presage And what can suggest more affecting and refreshing Hopes to Mourning Parents than to see their departing Children thus preter being with Christ before their Continuance in this Vain and Changeable World Thus I have endeavoured to take afflicted Parents by the Hand and to lead them to some of those Cordial-Springs of Hope which may minister good Encouragement as to the good Estate of their Dying Children And tho' it 's a rare Happiness to find all these Blessed Symptoms in a sweet Conjunction yet where there is any of them it may give some Support and Hope And the more that appears the higher may our Hopes advance towards an holy Confidence 2. I come now to shew In what respects these Grounds of Hope in Dying Children minister Matter of Support and Comfort to their Surviving Parents and Relations 1. Having such Grounds of Hope Parents may be satisfied that their Children are not lost but laid up It 's a Thought that oftentimes perplexeth the Minds of tender Parents not a little what becomes of their dear Children when they go hence into what Hands they fall and whither they are transported and carried And that which renders the Parting many times more Bitter and Afflictive is the Perplexity of this But having the forementioned Grounds of Hope the Perplexity is presently removed Your Children though gone out of your Sight and Care yet they are not lost but safely lodg'd up Not lost among the Infernal Apostate Fiends of Hell those Robbers and Murderers of precious Souls Malach. 3.17 but safely laid up amongst God's Jewels who will have them all forth-coming another Day Psal 57.4 Not lost in Satan's Territories among those raging Lyons of Prey but happily conducted to their Heavenly Father's Bosom where they are laid up in Peace and Safety As God has stamped the Lineaments of his own Image upon them in True though not in such Large Characters so will he not take care of those whom he has set his own Child's-mark upon Will he lose his Children whom he hath adopted into the Line of
Heaven and set his own Superscription upon or suffer the Mortal Enemy to rob him of what 's so Dear and Precious to him Joh. 10.28,29 No no they have all the Safety that Infinite Love in Conjunction with Infinite Power can give them Tho' Death have removed them from this Region of Sensible Supports and Comforts yet Death has not put an utter end to them They are not perish'd by the Removal nor relaps'd into their First nothing but still live in the Divine World and another kind of Life than they liv'd here in this Vale of Sin and Sorrow 2. Having such Intimations of Hope Parents may be comforted That their own Loss is their dear Childrens Gain We can part with our Children here to Places and Countries at a remote distance and comfort our selves with this That it is for their Benefit and Gain though but a poor Worldly Gain And may we not more comfortably part with them to Heaven where their Gain infinitely exceeds any thing we can propose here below Phil. 1.21 You Tender and Sorrowful Parents you lose their Sweet and Delightful Company you lose their Charming and Refreshing Converse And as a Person that has been conducted by the Light of a Candle in the Night is the more sensible of the Darkness when it is taken away so it may be you are the more over-clouded with Sorrow by the Loss of your Hopeful Children after the sweet of your Enjoyment than if you had never enjoyed them But do you duely consider what you do You think you express your dear Love to them in your Sorrow for parting with them But should not true Love oblige you rather to rejoyce in their Gain than to grieve for your own Loss Though you are Losers yet they are infinite Gainers And should not the Thought of that diffuse a sensible Pleasure into your troubled Minds and reduce them to a Serene Calm They exchange Earthly Parents who it may be have wanted no Tenderness towards them but it is for an Heavenly Father who is not only Loving but pure and perfect Love it self They bid adieu to their Dear but Imperfect Friends here below but it is to go to better and more desirable Friends above where there is all Perfection and Pleasure and Harmony They put off their filthy Garments of sinful Mortality but it is to be arrayed with shining Robes of Immortality and Glory They are called from a State of Sin and Sorrow and Temptation here but it is to pass into an endless State of perfect Purity and Joy in the Blessed Mansions above They are snatch'd out of your tender and Compassionate Arms but they are received into the dearer Embraces of a Glorified Redeemer They are taken from your Charge and Care but they are taken under the immediate Wing and Care of a Faithful Covenant-keeping God Oh Blessed Exchanged Who would not take Comfort at the Thoughts of their Children or Friends making such a Glorious and Happy Change 3. Having this Hope Parents may be supported that they and their Children shall meet again with Rejoycing Though you and they are separated for the present yet it 's not an Everlasting Separation You shall meet again not indeed by their Return unto you but by your going unto them 2 Sam. 12.23 as afflicted David comforts himself as to his Child And your Meeting shall be in another manner than now you part Your parting indeed is sorrowful and attended with a great deal of Bitterness and Exercise what by dying Agonies on the one side and what by cutting Resentments on the other But the Comfort of your Meeting will infinitely countervail the Sorrow of your parting You part in the vile Rags of perishing Mortality but your Meeting will be in the Royal Robes of Immortal Holiness and Glory You part in Tears and Fears and Complaints and Sorrows but you meet again with Everlasting Joy upon your Heads with all Tears wiped from your Eyes and with all Fears banish'd from your Hearts never to sin never to Sorrow any more You part so as to expect to see one another no more in this Lower Region but you shall meet again in the Coelestial Regions above never to be separated any more but to enjoy God and one another in God for ever You part from one another Mourning though bearing your precious Seed but you shall meet again Rejoycing bringing your full Sheaves with you Oh Triumphant Meeting How reviving must the Thought of it be What Mournful Breast is there whose Soul springs not within him at the Prospect of such a Meeting Set the Joys of Meeting against all the Afflictive Circumstances of Parting and refuse to be comforted it you can Having thus dispatcht the Doctrinal Part it remains now that we make some short Application 1. Let me address a few words to you Mournful Parents both you who are immediately concerned in the present occasion and all others in the like case Your Faces are covered with Sadness and your Hearts ready to bleed within you over the Loss of your Dear and Hopeful Children But let Consideration govern your Passion and while you are shewing your Parental Affection in your Mourning labour to express your Christian Moderation in carrying your selves like Mourners of Hope And therefore 1. Indulge not an unbounded Sorrow For the same Hand that hath made you to bleed hath not left you without an Healing Balsam seasonably to close up again the gaping Orifice You need not take on as those that have no Hope or as those that have bruied their Children and their Hopes both in the same Grave 1 Thess 4.13 You may not sit down in your Despondency with Hagar Gen. 21.16,19 as if you had no Well of Consolation by you when the Well is so near you though your Children be gone and gone never to return more yet God call'd them not away till they had left with you some Blessed Pledges of Hope to let you know whither they were a going Tho' you are never like to see them nor to hear from them nor of them any more till you go where they are yet they were not sufifered to leave you till they had dropt some sweet Tokens into your Bosom which may be a sensible Support till you meet again And having such Encouragement does it become you to Mourn as if the Swelling-Waves knew no Bounds There be many that Die who neither carry any good ground of Hope with them nor leave any good ground of Hope behind them to their surviving Relations And indeed I scarce know a more humbling afflictive Case that can befal Godly Persons then when they have the bitter Occasion to mourn over Hopeless Relations who neither had any Comfort in their own Death nor left any matter of Comfort behind them This was probably the wounding Ingredient 2 Sam. 2.23 that made David so passionate in his Resentments when he had lost his Absalom But this is not your Case though the
Cloud that God has drawn over you be Dark yet it s not all Darkness it has its Bright as well as its Dark Side And while the One ministers matter of Sorrow to you the reviving Beams of the Other may give you Light and Comfort in the midst of your Sorrows 2. Bless God that hath given you such Hope instead of Grieving and Repining for what you have lost Adore Divine Goodness for what you have left you You have lost a Child but you have a Legacy of Hope left you to help you to bear your Loss Be more in Blessing God for the one than in mourning for the other It might have been otherwise with you that you neither might have had Child nor Hope But since God has been more gracious to you take heed of carrying it as if either you had no sense of Divine Goodness or your Relation Dyed without Hope As there is a Debt of Tears owing to your Hopeful departed Children so there is a Debt of Thankfulness owing to the God that made them such Be not over-liberal in paying the One while in the mean time you forget the Other Tho' God have taken away the tender Olive-Plants that should have adorned your Tables yet as good old Jacob said in another case it 's enough that you have a Comfortable Hope that they are transplanted to a richer Table in their Father's Kingdom They have taken their flight never to make their Return to Earth any more But it 's enough that you have Hope in their Latter End Bless God for and comfort one another with that Hope 2. Give me leave now to improve this Point more generally to all to whom it may be useful and that 1. To Parents 2. To Children 1. Here 's Matter of Exhortation to you Parents That you would use the utmost care in the Holy Education of your Children that whether they live or die you may have Comfort if they live you may have Comfort in their Lives if they die you may have Hope in their Death Or however you may have this Support in your own Spirits that you have discharged your Duty As soon therefore as they arrive to a Competent measure of Capacity take all Opportunities prudently to instil Divine Truths into their Minds such as their tender Years are most capable of receiving that their Minds being so early tinctured with things of Eternal Moment may derive a suitable Impression to their Hearts Take all convenient Seasons to acquaint them that there is a Great and Glorious though invisible God who made all things and curiously formed them in Secret and formed an Immortal Spirit within them to know and love to live unto and live with Him in an Everlasting State Be telling them as they are able to bear how their Natures are depraved and fallen off from their God and Happiness and that thereby they are become Children of Wrath by Nature and obnoxious to the Judgment and Curse of an offended Majesty Acquaint them with what Condescension to their Capacities you can what guilty perishing Creatures they came into the World by reason of Sin and if it were not for Infinite Goodness that they might have been tumbled into Hell as soon as ever they drew their First Breath Tell them that in this miserable State they might have lived and died without Remedy had not Infinite Compassion provided a Saviour to deliver poor Guilty Souls from going down to the horrible Pit Inform them with what plainness and distinctness you can possibly use who this Saviour is and what he has done and suffered and what he is still a doing in order to the Recovery of lost undone Souls Tell them that they even they must have an Interest in this Saviour or they are undone for ever and that the way of coming to an Interest in Him is by an Humble casting themselves upon his Blood and Grace for the Pardon of their Sins and the Healing of their Corrupted Natures Such Truths as these labour to possess and season their early Thoughts withal Only in the doing thereof use all the Prudence and Gentleness and Condescension you can that you neither overcharge them with too much at once nor confound them with Things that their Capacities cannot reach unto And who knows how this Divine Leaven may under the Influence of the Heavenly Blessing diffuse its powerful Vertue thro' their Tender Souls As soon as they begin to talk learn them to talk in the Language of Canaan and not of Ashdod in the Dialect of Heaven and not of a Prophane World that their early Breath be not corrupted with the rotten Communication of the Children of Belial 2 Kin. 2.23 Let it be your Pious and Early Care to teach them their Catechism as being the most familiar and methodical way of Instruction and content not your selves that they learn it by rote but labour to conveigh the Truths therein to their Understandings and Affections As soon as possible also learn them to Pray and in order thereunto Pray with them your Selves and acquaint them both what need they have to Pray and how they must address themselves to God in this Solemn Duty Carry them as soon as you can judge it convenient to the Publick Worship and Ordinances of the Gospel and esteem it a Mercy that you may carry your Young and your Old with you Observe them with what Reverence and Attention they carry themselves while they are there and call them to an Account what they have brought with them when they come home and take Advantage of what they remember though it be the less to improve it to further Instruction Above all inure them to their Bibles betimes and direct them to such Places as may be most fitted to their weak Capacities and if in their Reading any thing offer it self which may afford special Instruction to them improve it to that end And thro' Divine Goodness some Grains of the Immortal Seed may take Root e're you are aware In a word Train them up to all Religious and Divine Exercises that their tender Years are capable of And cease not to water all with your Prayers and Tears for an happy Success Would you have your Children Comfortable in Life and Hopeful in Death let these be the Particulars of your Serious and Early Care And the more effectually to excite you thereunto let me offer to you the following Cosiderations 1. Without this Religious Care of Education you cannot expect the Comfort you desire neither in their Life nor Death I know there is nothing more Natural than for Parents to place a great deal of Hope and to prosmise to Themselves large share of Comfort from their Rising Off-spring When you are pressed down with the Pains and almost wearied with the Care that 's laid out upon them this sweetens and alleviates all But seriously consider with your selves what just Ground have you for such Expectations without a Conscientious Endeavour to render them such as you
would have them by an Holy Education Can you expect to attain the End without a careful use of the means in order thereunto Has not the Holy God the Father of all our Comfort connected the Means with the End in this as well as other Cases And who dare separate what God has conjoyn'd What God may do in a way of Prerogative is one thing and what you may expect in a way of Ordinary Dispensation is another God may be Better and Kinder to your Children than your Selves are and may do that for them which you take no Care about But what Warrant have you to expect this while you are negligent in your Duty Though God promised to do great Things for Abraham his Friend and for his Posterity yet he tells you That in order thereunto he knew Gen. 18.19 that Abraham would command his Children and his Houshold to keep the way of the Lord. Intimating thereby that he was not to expect the Comfort without the Discharge of the Duty no more can you It 's in a way of diligent Performance of your Part and in an humble Dependance upon God for doing his Part that you have any Foundation for Hope that they shall be Comforts not Crosses to you It 's true it 's the Royal Prerogative of a Gracious God to give them that Grace whereby they must be rendred comfortable whether in Life or Death But tho' the Grace is his the Duty is yours and it 's by the Instrumentality of a Gracious Education that he oftentimes conveys that Immortal Seed to the Soul which though it may lie hid under the Clods for a time yet in due Season appears above Ground Though God sows the Seed you may Act in a Holy Subserviency in Cultivating the Ground in order to a Blessed Crop 2. Without this holy Care of Education you do not answer the Charge of Heaven that 's incumbent on you If you are Relious Parents your Consciences cannot but be affected with the Command of God as well as your Hearts influenced with the Consideration of Comfort Add this therefore to the former and labour to impress your Spirits with the Ponderous Thoughts thereof your Children are not so much yours as God's they are not so much born unto You as to the Blessed God Ezek. 16.20 And as they are born unto him so they are given in charge to you to train and bring up for him Prov. 22.2 Train up a Child in the way that he should go c. Eph. 6.4 Ye Fathers bring up your Children in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. What can be more express Your Children are not meer Gifts but a signal Trust You may not do with them nor carry towards them as you please but the Charge of Heaven is upon You to Educate and breed them up for the God that gave them And how will you answer your Neglect to the Great and Sovereign Law-giver if you live either in the Wilful or Careless Violation of so Solemn a Charge Or with what Reason can You expect Comfort either in their Enjoyment or in their Removal if You be guilty of a provoking Disobedience to so plain a Command Can God be pleased with such Parents or can You expect that He should make Your Children pleasing unto you 3. Without this Pious Care of Education you do not answer your Care for them in other Particulars You are careful to Feed and Cloath them without needing any Arguments to press you thereunto You can take Advantage of their First capacity to learn them some External Civilities and to form their flexible Years into some Decenoy of Carriage which you call good Manners You are careful to provide not only for their present but for their future Livelihood and to breed them up to some way of Comfortable Subsistence in the World as your Abilities and their Capacity will admit And while all this Care is bestowed upon the Outward Man should there not be a proportionable Concern for the better part Should the One ingross all and the Other be neglected as a Matter of no great Moment Our Saviours Rule is Matth. 6.36 Seek first the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof and all other things shall be added unto you Seek first for the Kingdom of God and if for your selves then for you Children Which should challenge the highest Care but the best Part whether of our selves or Children And whether is the better the External Mortal part or the Internal Immortal Spirit Whether is the more Valuable their Present Temporary Being If Eternity be of more Importance than Time then surely their Eternal State should be the largest Sharer in your Thoughts and Cares or how will you answer the Inequality You would have them do well in this World that is the Motive of all the Thought and Pains and Expence which you bestow upon their Outward Being And would you not have them to do well in the Eternal World Why then does not your Care for that bear some Proportion to your Concern for the other You esteem it a Natural and a most Becoming Office of Parental Affection to study and endeavour their Temporal Welfare And so it is But should not Your Love travel in more earnest Endeavours and Agonies for that which is infinitely better the Everlasting happiness of their Immortal Souls Whether should be Dearer to you the Cabinet or the Jowel The Perishing Earthly Tabernacle or the Inestimably precious Soul How then will you answer it either to your own Consciences or to the Supreme Judge if you are more Liberal in your Care about the Worse than the Better part 4. Without a Conscientious Care of Education your Affliction will be doubled in their Miscarriage As they are so Near and Dear unto you you cannot but be deeply afflicted if either they should prove Crosses in Life or should be snatch'd away in their Sins by a Premature Death But what a cutting Addition will it be to your Affliction if you have Reason to accuse your selves as being Accessory to their Ruin by your Sinful negligence It will be Grief enough to think that you have nourished and brought up Children for the Destroyer But it will be a far more sensible Grief when you are forced to take the Guilt of their undoing very much upon your selves for want or a due Performance of your Doby to them It cannot but go very near your Hear as that those who are as it were Limbs and Pieces of your selves should become a Prey to the oruel Murtherer but it must break your hearts to the very Dust when by your own Neglect you have as it were murdered them with your own Hands or at least have not done what in you lay to save them from the Murtherer's Hands That you have neither Comfort in their Life nor Hope in their Death will be Sorrow and Bitterness enough But when your own Consciences fall upon you with the outting Reflection that
all this is but the sad Fruit of your own Remisness and Negligence how will you he able to bear a Charge of so wounding a Nature If they should prove uncomfortable or unhopeful after the Conscientious Discharge of your Duty though your Affliction will be great yet you will have one Support at least under your Burden You may comfort your selves that you have discharged your Duty and it is not thro' your Default that they Perish and though they miss of the Benefit of your Cares and Prayers and Endeavours Psal 35.13 yet the Blessing may return in your own Bosom but if you contribute to their Miscarriage by your neglecting the appointed Means of Heaven for the Prevention thereof your Burden may weigh heavier than you will be able to bear Why might not this be one imbittering Ingredient in Davids Sorrow 2 Sam. 18.33 that might cause him to take on so heavily at the Death of his Son Absalom Possibly he might be under some bitter Reflections of his own Failure in his Duty which might make the Stroke pierce so deep And it will be no less an Aggravation of your Bitterness if it should prove your case But thus much may serve to Partents who would have Hope in their Children 2. I come now to direct my self in a few Words to You Children You have heard how much your Parents Comfort is bound up in the Proof of your Blooming Years labour therefore after that which may afford the most solid Consolation both to Your selves and them whether in Life or Death Next to their own Souls you are the great Object of your Parent 's Cares and Fears of their Prayers and Thoughts of Heart And if God should see meet to pluck you away in the Bud you had need to make your Death as comfortable both to your selves and your concerned Parents as you can It will be Sorrow enough to them to part with you when they should come to enjoy the sweetest and most comfortable part of your Life You had need to make it as easie as you can by leaving them some Gracious Pledge of Hope behind you And that you may do so I cannot give you more proper Advice than now in your Morning-years to look after the best things Heb. 6.9 even the things that accompany Salvation I suppose you to be capable of apprehending and enquiring into things of this Nature Know therefore that you as little and young as you are have a Real and Everlasting Concern in such things as well as others And it 's not too soon for you to take your selves to be concerned about them Now to enquire after God and to mind the things of your Peace is God's Call to you as well as more grown Persons Eccles 12.1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy Youth Observe the little Word now it takes date from the Morning-Twilight of your Day as soon as your Rational Powers peep forth into Competent Exercise And from the time it takes date it admits of no delay Now remember Now delay not for you cannot assure your selves of another Moment Say not It will be time enough to Morrow for to Morrow as short a time as it seems to be you know not but you may be under the Arrest of Death and ready to be shut up in your silent Grave where there is no Wisdom nor Knowledge Eccles 9.10 Say not Such work will be more proper for Riper Years For who can give you assurance that you shall live to more Maturity Death comes not by Order of Nature but according to the Divine Commission As Young and Sprightly as you are and as many Daysas you seem to have before you yet for ought you know your Glass may be running out its last Sand And this may be the last Month or Week or Day that you have to live As young as you are gone to the cold Mansions in the Grave and what Security have you from the fatal Stroke more than they Go into the Shops and see if there be no Coffins of your size Go into the Church yard and see if there be no Graves of your Length If there be as your own Eyes will soon convince you consider with yourselves that a few Moments may bring it to your Turn And then how comfortable will it be both to your selves and Friends that you have so Early secured your Everlasting Interest Your Parents will be better able to part with you when your Early Goodness gives them Hopes that you are going to a better an Infinitely better Father And you your selves will more Comfortably shoot the Dismal Gulph when you have Reason to believe that you have committed your Souls into those Blessed Hands that will land them sare on the other side In order hereunto let me recommendun to you a few seasonable Instructions and beg of you to put them into serious and speedy Practise 1. Begin to entertain your Early Thoughts with Soul-Matters God having Mercifully preserved you beyond the Incapacity of your Infant-Age and having brought you to some Competency of Understanding it 's time for you to apply your scrious Thoughts to things of the most concernful Moment And what can be of more Indispensable Moment than the Everlasting Concerns of your precious Souls It 's not too soon for you to know that you have Immortal Souls in your Bosoms which though Invisible to an Eye of Sense yet are not only Real but the most Precious and Valuable Part of your selves It 's not too early for you to understand and consider that these Spiritual Beings are formed on purpose for an Everlasting State and that when the Dreggy Carcasses are thrown to the Dust yet these Immortal Spirits survive to pass into the Invisible World there to be the Subjects of unexpressible happiness or Misery for ever It 's not improper nor impertinent for you to lay to Heart that Eternity must be of greater Importance than Time and that the State which must last for ever is of more absolute necessity than that which is but like to last for a few Days Let it be your endeavour therefore to apply your Early Thoughts to such things as these instead of suffering them to be carried away with those Vanities which too ordinarily get the start of more serious Matters It 's impossible for you to be truly Religious till you begin to be serious Thinkers as you may see in the Instance of the Prodigal Son And what more meet more proper more concerning to entertain Your first Thoughts with than what we are and what will become of us for ever What are we Bruits that have only a Life of Sense or Reasonable Understanding Creatures What will become of us Shall we perish with the Beasts and there be end of us or shall we live beyond the Grave And if we must survive the Grave what will be Our Condition in that Future State Such Thoughts as these will neither be unbecoming nor