Second Commandment. thine own Ch ildren to be made the fame fad Spe£tacles of Divine Wrath and V en~ gcancc, fo go and _fin them i~to the fa'?e condition. Certain.ly, Wol~cs and Tiuers arc more merc1ful to the1r Off-fpnng, than wretched Man ! It IS thou thY (elf, 0 cruel Man! who haft: cripled, and maimed, and torm'ented, and beggered, 3nd undone thine own Children; and perhaps every fin tllou committeft, either murthcr s or tortures a poor helplefs Infant, one whofe greateft mifery it i~, that ever he was born of thee. I befeech you, Chriftians, think ferioUfly of this thing; and as ever you would wifu well to thofe dear Pledges which are as y0ur own Bow- {:Js fo beware how ever you provoke the holy and jealous God, by any known and wilful fin, who will be fure to repay it home, either in your own Perfons hy his immediate Judgments upon your felves, or thatwhich w1ll go as near the hea rt of every tender and compaffionate Parent, by his fore Judgments on the poor Children and Pofteriry. &condly, Sec here what great reafon thou haft to render Thanks and Praifc unto 2. God, that thou art born of holy and pions Parents; fuch as treafi1re not np \:Vratli for thee, but Prayers: Poffibly they were but poor and low in the \:Vorld; hut yet th~y have ~equeathed. thee a ri~h Patrim_ony, and made God Exe~utor, who will fiuthfnlly d1fcharge h1s Trnft, 1f thou difcharp;e thy Duty, and g1ve thee a . Bleffing _poffibly in this life, bllt certainly in the life to come. Let others bo.1ft their Blood, and their Parentage, and reckon np a long row of Monuments and Anceftors, if they have been wickcd, . lcwd and ungodly, but thine vertuous and the Jincerc Servants ~[God; they poffibly may be the !aft of their Family, and thou the firfr of thine: Howfocver, know that it is far more noble to be born of thofe that have been horn of God, than to be Grand-children of the Devil : Thou h:tft better Blood running in thy Veins, even the Blood of them whom Chrifl: hath judged worthy to be redeemed, and warhcd with. his own Blood, whofe Names arc written in Heaven in ~he Lamb's Book of Life; a greater Honour and Dignity, than if they were written in the Worm~eatcn Pages of idle Heraldry: And if thou followeft their good Examples, thy Relations, and Portion too are greater and richer, for thou haft God for thy Father~ Chrift for thy Brother, and the whole Heaven of Stars for thine Inheritance. And thus much for the fccond Gener:tl, what is here thrcatned in thc ·Command~ ment, viz... The vifiling the ;niquity ofthe fathers Upvn the childrm; I fhall be more brief in the two remaining. Therefore, · Thirdly, Let tis confider the Perfons againfi: whom this Threatning is denonnccd, Vifiring the iJ?iquity of the fathers t<pon the cbildroz . of thofe that hate me: And who thofc are, is explained in the Antithcfis fitbjoined, Keeping mercy for thoufonds of thofe t!~at itJvc me, and keep my t·ommtmdments. If then thofc that keep God's Commlndmcnts arc Lovers of God, (which ,our Sav iour cxprcfly affirms, John r 4 • 2 I. He that hath my commrmdments, and keepcth them, he it is thttt ioveth me; ) by direlt col}fequence it follow~, that thofe "'ha tra,nfgrefs the Commandmen ts ofGod, are haters of God. And what worfc can be fa id of the very Devil himfclf? Let them pretend never fo fair, and fpeak words full of refpeCt and reverence, yet bring them to this Tryal, do they obfcrve and keep the Commandmea ts of God or no? If not, they are h.atcrs .of God and q.oodncfs. And indeed it is impoffible, that thofe who arc dJfobcdicnt .and rebelhous, j :fhonld love'God; f6r can they love him who bath requlrcd from them What they do fa cxtreamly lolth ? Can they love hi_m whom they muft needs appr_ehend armed . with Wrath and Vengeance, to p~mlh and torment th~e.m cv~:laftmgly for their fins? Can they love him, who 1f they have any Confc1enccs m them, they muft needs know hates them with a perfetl: hatred, and will be avenged on them in their eternal ruin and dCftruCHon? Certainly if we love God, becaufe he firft loved us, thefe cannot but hate him, to whom their own Confcienccs muft needs atteft, that God hates both them and their ways. Gg Fourthly, 3·
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