9rounds againfi unfeafonable en/loaning 67 deprived him of all that Efface his Father left him oy Unrtghteoufncts, Now I fay,hcre is a judgmentupon the Father,and yet a mercy upon thechild. A ) dgmetat upon the Father, that all that he Math laboured for, that which he loft his Soul for, fh,ould be vain, thould come to nothing, and'not benefit his poftericy as he thought. Yet it is a mercy to the child, to the child of God ; He by this means is ,umoled, it draweth him from the world ; Nay, when God emptieth him,of theft chins that were unrighteoully gotten, he giveth him (it may be) an diveanother way, wherein he (hall fee God his Father provide for himwithout any indireh and unlawful courfes. So fometi mes the very lhame and reproach that falfeth uponwicked children here, it is a judgment to the Parents, and to thechildren too. Upon the Parent, as far a: he is gu il: y of the negle&ofhis duty, and ofevil example, and the like, fo he ispantfh. td in the íhtme that befalleth his'poflerity. As it is a ble(fing upon a man that he it not slimmed to lit in the Gaper( as So/vitae fpeaks ) noman can.upbraid him with his children So it is a correction foGods children, even when their childrenprove ungodly, fo far as they have been negligent, andcarelefs of their duty. Thiswas The cafe of old Eli,a good man, yet neverthelcfs the hand of God was gone out agafnft his Houle and läpnily,and what was the reafonof it ? Becaufe th,u honoureff thy' Sons above me, therrnade>themfelvet vile and thou reflraineff them not, thereforewill I bring a judgment upon both thy houfe,at which both the ears of every ene that heareth t fhalltingle. I fay it may come to país (and that by reafon of that natural affeótion that isin Parents) that that milery that-befalleth their Children, may bean exceeding crofs and afitiCtion to them. God lays (harp coat Mons- on them, when ,he makes thofe Childrenwhich they account as comforts, and the hope of their life, to be the very crofs and vexation of their life. There is then ye fee, filch a eourfeof Godsdealingwithmen, co vifit thefins of the Fathers upan theChildren s that is, if theChildren in their Fathers Reps if theChild and the Father agree in a eourfeof fin : If the Father by omifiion or commiflion make himfclf guiltyof the finof theChild,&c. And fo if the Child, either by imi- tation, Or allowancego on in his Fathers way, he draweth a greater judgment upon hìmfelf,by adding to his Fathers fin: And as theyarealike in fin, fo they (hall be alike in judgment. - You fee likewife for temporal judgments, that God may, and often-times Both lay many fickneff s, and croffes upon the Children, for the fin oftheir Parents, that they may be (mitten by the judgment that is upon their Children, and yet never- theleis the Children may be free from fin, Fir who ever Will ',Piledbeing inno- cent Is this fo t then inthe fief+ place it (hould teach Parenti to take heed of makinf hemfelvesmiferable in theirpofterity by finningagainft God. There are fpecially three forts of fin in Scripture, for which God continueth his judgments upon mens Pofterities and Families. The fielt arc, fins agaipft the fief+ Table, againft the worfhipof God, Idolatry, and fbch like ; for thcfe God fr,iteth,mens pofterities, as we may fee in jeroboam andothers; And fo the negle& of duty, prophanefs and negligence in Gods wor- hip : Get thy wrathcome upon the Heathen, and on the Families that call not upon ehy.name. A Family Iknow, in a large fence, ftgnifieth a Nation, but in a ItridI Croce a Family, orPofterity; in that place it fagnifieth both. A Familyor'pee- ple, that lay afide the worfhipof God, and the fan&ifyingof his Name, thole that lie under this charge efnot calling sopenthe Name of God: Let thy wrath come upas them. A fecund fort of fins, are thole againft tltefepnd Table, unrighteoufnefs, injaticc; uncleannefs, and the lice : For chofefins GSd-vificeth menspofterities, punifheft them in their Children: Sometimes by taking them away, fometimes by fruiting them with filch fickneffes, and temporal afli&ions, and chaftifements, as Parents have continual matter of forrow, and humiliation, and calling their fins tomind; The Scripture is full of inftancesof this kind. K 2 Thirdly, Pro, 31; t Sam.2,29. chaP3.ta,ta. vfe. T. To Parents. The finsChas being judg- ments upon mens poßcrity
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