TO EXCITE OTHERS, &C. 173 he should go ; and when he is old, he will not depart from it; "(r) " Bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. "(s) Joshua resolved, that " he and his house would serve the Lord. "(t) And God himself says of Abraham, " I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord. "(u) Consi- der, it is a duty you owe your children in point of justice. From you they received the defilement and misery of their natures ; and therefore you owe them all possible help for their recovery. Consider, how near your children are to you. They are parts of your- selves. If they prosper when you are dead, you take . it as if you lived and prospered in them ; and should you not be of the same mind for their everlasting rest? Otherwise you will be witness against your own souls. Your care, and pains, and cost, for their bodies, will condemn you for the neglect of their precious souls. Yea, all the brute creatures may condemn you. Which of them is not tender of their young? Consider, God hath made your children your charge, and your ser- vants too. Every one will confess they are the mi- nister's charge. And have not you a greater charge of your own families than any minister can have of them ? Doubtless at your hands God will require the blood of their souls. It is the greatest charge you were ever intrusted with ; and woe to you if you suf- , fer them to be ignorant or wicked for want of your instruction or correction. Consider what work there is for you, in their dispositions and lives. Their's is not one sin, but thousands. They have hereditary diseases, bred in their natures. The things you must teach them are contrary to the interest and desires of their flesh. May the Lord make you sensible what a work and charge lieth upon you ! Consider what sor- rows you prepare for yourselves by the neglect of your children. If they prove thorns in your eyes, they are (r) Prov. xxii. 6. (s) Ephes. vi. 4. (t) Josh. xxiv. 15. (u) Gen. xviii.19.
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