rents for their dear children; here the affections of nature will quicken the defires of grace, to fee Chrift formed in the hearts of their children, and to have them secured of falvation. O that Ifhmael might live before thee! faid Abraham, Gen. xvii. 18. when God had just made him the promise of Ifaac: a promise so full of bleffings, that, one would think, it fhould have fatisfied all his defires at once but Abraham could not bear to think, that any child of his should be caft off by God, and be loft eternally; therefore he prays, O that Ifhmael might live before thee! I will enlarge upon this obfervation from the

I. Shew you for what reafons godly parents will earnestly defire and pray, that their children may be good and gracious. II. I fhall hint to you the peculiar arguments which godly parents have to plead with God in behalf of their children.

III. I fhall clofe with a ferious addrefs both to parents and to their children about this matter.

I. Let us confider the reafons of this prayer, and of that earnest defire which there is in all godly parents that their children may be good and gracious. Why was this fo much David's concern, that Solomon his fon might have a perfect heart ? The reafons

are

are plain, both from natural affection and grace. I will mention thefe that follow

1.) Their having been the means of con veying to their children a corrupted nature, and an evil heart, muft needs make them to be much concern'd, and greatly defirous. that God would renew them and give them a perfect heart. My friends, you know the hearts of your children by your own: your know what a corrupt nature they have brought into the world, by what your own was; or if you know not, the word of God will tell you, that it is a very finful heart; 'tis a beart full of wickedness, and foolishness and enmity. against God, which thefe children of yours are born with; and therefore their state by nature is extremely wretched, for they are children of God's wrath, Ephef. ii. 3. they are naturally haters of God, and therefore hateful to God: their heart is like a heart of ftone, obftinate and ftubborn; and if they fhould die without being born again, they are heirs of bell and will be children of perdition. And is not this a moft fad cafe! Can you think of it as the cafe of your own dear children, without a pitiful concern for them? to think what they are by nature, and what a bell they are born heirs to, 'tis a fad thought. What tears can be more juft, than those which a pious parent drops over an unregenerate child? And it muft furely be an affecting circumftance of concern to you, that you

have been the inftruments of conveying this corrupted nature to your dear offspring, and of bringing them into fo fad a ftate. 'Tis thro' your mediation that they inherit this woful depravity, which was firft occafioned by Adam's tranfgreffion. I do not fay this was properly your fault, but you will own it to be a very unhappy cafe; and if you have ever been convinc'd yourfelves, how dreadful a thing the corruption of nature is, you will be greatly concern'd that your children may be delivered from it. And O! what reafon have you to do all you can, to get them cured of this plague of the heart which they have catch'd from you. That was a most reasonable and righteous law which you find among the ftatutes of Mofes, Exod. xxi. 19. that if one man had wounded another and occafion'd his hurt, be fhall cause him to be throughly healed. Here is a deeper and more deadly wound, which fin has given to the fouls of your children; and fhould not you do all that you can to get them healed? efpecially when you have been the unhappy inftruments and occafions of it. Suppofe, that by fome accident, you had grievously hurt one of your children, fo as to endanger its life; what a vaft concern would it give you ! how anxious would you be for its fafety! "Should my dear child die, I fhould never forgive myself, " fays the tender parent: but, Sirs! fhould your dear children die

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in their fins, and perifh everlastingly thro that corruption of nature which you have convey'd to them, and you not endeavour to fave them; who could ever forgive you? How could you ever forgive yourselves? Your children would have reafon to curfe you in bell for ever, that ever you brought them into fo wretched a ftate, and took no pains to help them out of it. Confider, my friends, what an evil heart you have convey'd to your children; and if you have any fense what an evil that is, I know you will be concerned for them, and this will make you very earneft with God, to give them a perfect heart.

2.) Holy parents are very defirous that their children may be good and gracious, becaufe upon this their own comfort in them does chiefly depend. They defire it for their own fakes for 'tis a fad and hard thing for parents to bear children with pain, and breed them up with a great deal of tenderness, and expence, and care, and to deny themselves of many comforts merely for their childrens fakes, as parents often do, 'tis a hard cafe, I' fay, when all this kindness and care is requited on the childrens part with contempt and difobedience. I take it to be one of the faddeft circumftances of human forrow, when wicked and undutiful children bring down the hoary heads of their good parents with forrow to the grave; and requite their love by breaking their hearts. Now the best, and

only

1

only effectual fecurity you can have, that your children will prove dutiful, and therefore comfortable to you, is their becoming truly religious. If once they know their duty to God, they will not forget their duty to you. The grace of God will make them obedient children; and that will make them the delight of your eyes, and the comfort of your declining age. Alas! what comfort can' you ever expect in wicked and profligate children; thofe fons of Belial, who caufe fhame to themselves, and their parents too? But a wife fon, fays Solomon, maketh a glad father: and the father of the righteous fhall greatly rejoice. As nothing gives parents a more fenfible grief, than the ill doing of their children; fo nothing, in this world, gives them a more fenfible joy, than to fee their children do well, and prove well. Now as ever you hope for this comfort, you must do all that you can to bring your children to be religious and you must be earneft and importunate with the God of grace, that he would give them a perfect heart. If you can but once obtain this for them, you may then depend upon comfort in them: you may be fure they will do well, for then God will love them; He will love them as much as you do ; and can you defire that he would love them better? Yea but in this, his kindness will exceed your defires: the fondeft love of the moft tender mother to her fucking infant is

nothing