208 FORGIVENESS OF SIN. it, and accompanying it. And it was such a promise as had a peculiar foundation, through God's ordinance, in the thing itself. It is, that the parents should prolong the lives of their children that were obedient. Exodus, 22 : 12. (Hebrew, They shall prolong thy days;) that is, by praying for their prosperity, blessing them in the name of God, and directing them in those ways of obe- dience whereby they might live and possess the land ; and this promise is now translated from the covenant of Canaan into the covenant of grace : the blessing of parents going far towards interesting their children in thepromise, and so prolonging their days unto eternity; though their days in this world should be of little con- tinuance. And as the promise annexed to that com- mand renders it singular, so also doth the especial in- stancing of this duty in our prayer : for though, as all the commandments had a promise, so we are to carry a testimony with us of our sincerity in universal obedi- ence in our addresses to.God; yet the singling out of this duty renders it exceedingly remarkable, and shows what a value God puts upon it, and how well he is pleased with it. God requires this forgiveness in us, on account of the forgiveness we receive from him; which is to put the greatest obligation upon us that we are capable of, and to give the strongest and most powerful motive possible to its performance. See Ephes. 4 : 32. This duty is more directly and expressly required in the New Testament than in the Old. Required then it was, but not so openly, so plainly, so expressly, as now. Zechariah, when he died, cried, " The Lord look on it, and require it ;" but Stephen, dying in the same cause, said, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Elijah called for fire from heaven; but our Savior re- proves the least inclination in his disciples to imitate him. And the reason of this difference is, that forgive-
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