216 Chap... .How Godpunifhes thefins ofFathers, &c. Com.2. Áás15. 36. the A&s , where the Apoftles went from City to City,'to vilit the Brethren,which i; 41. like to theBitops Vifitation, whichprefuppofeth an abfence before. So God inter- mitteth his Judgments for a time ; and though force ftick not to fay, that he is long Pfalm to. 14. in coming,and others, that he will not come at all, that Godwill never via, he hideth Ecci. 8. t1, his face and will never fee it ; becaufe(as the Wife man fpeaketh)Sentence is not execu- 2 Pet. 3.4 tedagain{ an evil work fpeedily: and therefore they cry out, where is the Promife of ECay 26.10. his coming .? yet (as the Prophet).Behold the Lord cometh to punifh the inhabitants Habbak. 23 of the earth for heir iniquity : And he will furely come, he will return, and give ten - Luk 19,44 Rev. 22,12. fence onxhofe that know not the time of their vifitation. And let not thè wicked de- Pelm69.25. calve themfelves ; for, as our judges, thoughrthey arc partof the year away,yet they Haggai t. 6. furely come at the time of the Afflict, fo much hirer is God in vifiting. For behold Levis, 26.16 (faith he) I comequickly. And his Judgments me t will not only be upon their goods, but a Sam:a2i4, ( ) 9 y g y Matth.21.43. upon their bodies, and upon their children, as this is. And, which is worfe, he will bereavethem Offpiritual bieflings t laftly,(which is worlt)in faying,as in another cafe, Rev. an. I L. He that is filthy, let him be filthy {till ; fo will he lay, Oirjodio meperfsgaritur, odio me perfequatur ádhac, hethat hates me, let him hate me Rill. -.Quando paw (edit eft ocüuir, when he punirlies one fin with another, this fin of hatred with further hatred, this is the greatest judgment and heavielt vifitationof all. Thefisi of the . The Devil plaid the Sooth- fayer, when he caufed Peter to fay to Chrilt, Parce tibi, Fathers upon Domnine, let none of this befall thee . he thought by this to fave himfelt : But here the Children. you fee, that though the Fathers dope themfelves, yet they (hall bè punifhed in their Children fo that God tellsthem, as neither they, foneither` their Sons nor their Sons 'Sons, nor their Sons Nephews Thall efcape. So that the threat of his puniihment extends not only to the party offending, but to his pofterity. r. For hunfeif, He Deuc7.to, repayetlt them that hate him to their face. -2. Gods Jealoufieis compared by the Pfal. "milt to a fireburning for ever ; which leaveth not with the party himfelf, that hates God but takes hold of his-Children, and burns,to the thirdand tourds generation. So that when men think they have belt provided for their Children, by laving their Effaces, with the breachof this Commandment, they {Ball find , they have brought a Curfe upoel their Children , and that they have brought evil upon them by that whereby they thought to avoid it. . The meafure of every puniflament is known by thefe three figns. 1..Gravitae, the grievoufnetsof it. 2. Mxltiplicitas, the variety. 3. Prolàxitáe, the continuance. 1. The Grievopfnefs of it, is even in this, that it is faid to be upon the Children , Luke-8:42, (though the Parents efcape)who are dear to their Parents, as we fee in Gáirta,that fell P; 38. down at-our Savioursfeet, and befought him' for his fick`Daughter : fo did another, for his Son that was poffeffed. But we may gather more fully out of Sr. L,7fatthea+, Match 15.22. howdearaChild is to aParent, in the ifory of the Wotti a!of Canaan; that came to Chrift for theCure of her Daughter : flit faithnot, Have mercy upon my Daughter, but have mercy on me, O Lord, for my Daughter is grievoufly vexed withthe Devil, flit accounted.her Daughter as her fell. boxing David,'hearingof theDeath of his Samt8.33. Son Abfalom( though a rebellious Child) fallsinto a bitter'pafhon,and cries, Would God I had dyed for thee, O Abfolom; my Son, my Son heèould have been content to die for his Son. Thefe examples thew, that Children are moft dear and precious to Parents. We account it a heavy lofs, when ought ofourdúbitance is taken from us , Abraham re- Gen. 21.25. proved Abimelech, becaufe of a Well ofWater taken fromhimby his Servants. The a' 23. lofs of a Wife (as being boneof our bone; and flefh of our Beth) is more grievous : but when the lots of Childrencomes, it-strikes deeply, and the reafon becaufe they are both bone of our bone, and flesh of 'our- flefli, and the principal part of our fubitance, the Seed , as though a Man werebut Chaff , after a Child born. The Prov. 17. 6, Wife man faith,Childrens Children are the Crown of old risen ; their Crownwhile they live; and, as the Heathen man faid, áyeia tee ra vâ arareis vktatheir.itnage or re- membrance when they are dead. a. The multiplicity, or varietyof ir, may be illustrated by that in the Gofpel, as Luke ía:47. there isa diftinc4ionof few, and many ftripes :' and fo here to have the puniihment ex- tend to many generations, flieweth, that theywill be many {tripes, and therefore ag- gravates it a degree further, 3. The Continuanceof it. As our Saviour faid of the Scribes, that theydevoured lslatk ta, 40. Widows Houfes, cub fpecie prolix4 arationie , under pretence of long Prayers : and therefore
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