SERMON VI.

Some Duties of Parents to their Little Children.

Ephe. vi. 4. And ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

RELIGION is of fuch a nature, that it extends to every age and every character. Not only does it command the attention of the mature in age, but younger years are to be directed by it. And little ones, the fweet lambs of the church, before they can appear to us to think, or reafon, are to be taken into its guardianship. O! how precious is the church of Chrift! It spreads its wings over the whole body of the faithful, but in the fofteft and tenderest manner broods the young. A

great truft is committed to parents; every infant, thrown into their fond embraces by heaven, is ever attended with this pleafing commiffion, "Bring up this babe, and nourish it for "immortality; you feel it in your arms a precious creature, "and it is given to you to render it useful in the world and

to form it for eternal felicity." The tender charge is folemn,

and the christian heart glows with affectionate gratitude, and fays, "Lord, with pleafure I undertake the business, it shall be my delight, to do all in my power to answer the gift, and ful fil my truft."

Allow me here to make one remark arifing from long experience and much obfervation. That a people accustomed to hear the doctrines of grace, to be taught the firft principles and experimental views and exercises of internal and vital religion, all which are invifible to their fellow men, they will bear in this refpect, the moft clofe and fearching preaching; but when the visible parts of religion and external duties are explained and inculcated, none more grated and offended than these. Their bearts are among the firft to pronounce it carnal and legal preaching. Multitudes in all our congregations, wish their minifters to dwell more upon the moral duties, and vifible virtues of piety than they generally do. This has its fin ifter origin in two motives; the one is, that in this, they will be equal to their neighbours; and in the other, they will ftand on apparent and vifible ground in certain refpects fuperior to many blazing and experimental profeffors. The fubtilties, and tortuous windings of the human heart are exceeding hard to unfold; fome are all for invifible exercifes, and for experimental preaching, and others for morality, and the exterior duties of religion. Both in certain refpects are right, and both wrong. What God has joined together ought not to be put afvnder. The feparation is dangerous and ruinous. The one cannot fecure the glory of God and the happiness of the creature without the other. No internal experiences, be they what they may, can introduce to heaven, without the vifible works of righteoufnefs, where there is time for their manifeftation; and no outward exhibitions of morality, however fplended, without holiness cf heart, will ever bring the foul to the fruition of God.

I fear thefe remarks, however juft and proper in themfelvés, are eftraying me from my fubject, one defign of which is to fhow that the nature and evidences of true religion confift much in the faithful performance of relative duties. And ministers are not only to warn against perfonal and relative, but alfo against every inquity which is a tranfgreffion of the law of Chrift. Let minifters ever have the folemn charge given by God to Ezekiel upon their minds, “Ol "Son of man, I have fet thee a watchman unto the house " of Ifrael, therefore thou fhalt hear the word from my mouth, " and warn them from me; when I fay unto the wicked, O! "wicked man, thou shalt furely die: If thou doft not speak to "warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man fhall die "in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand; "nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn "from it; if he do not turn from his way, he fhall die in his "iniquity, but thou haft delivered thy foul." O! that God would impress these fentiments upon my heart, and that I might fee them engraven upon my hands, that they may be ever before me, while I treat of the relative and moral duties of our holy religion.-One of these duties must engross your attention for the prefent. The words of our text evidently contain a comprehenfive and compleat exhortation to parents, respecting the education of their offspring. The proper and wife education of children, in all the extenfion of usefulncfs, arifes far beyond our conception. They are hereby formed to be blefings in this world, and often to be stars of glory in the next. The evil and unhappy confequences of omiffion or negligence in this business are beyond the powers of imagina tion to defcribe.

The divine counsel given, is addressed to parents in general, who are here defignated by the term fathers. Although fathers are only expressed, yet undoubtedly mothers are herein included. The fuperior parent often involves the inferior.

Perhaps the Holy Spirit felected the word fathers, because it is probable they are most apt to deviate from, and neglect the counfel here adminiftered. The matter of this exhortation wholly respects the education of children. "They are not to "provoke their children to wrath." This cannot be underftood as the practice of fome would feem to expound it, that parents ought by no means to do thofe things which may dif please their children, and rather than their children should be croffed or diffatisfied, they neglect their duty. When they do evil they must not be chided, and when guilty of mischief, they must not be corrected. The apoftles meaning is evidently this, and it is the conftruction of common fenfe. We are not by paffionate, unreasonable, morofe, and humorfome commands, improperly on our part, to irritate their tempers or provoke them to wrath. We ought to watch against their ill humours as well as against our own." But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." The word nurture fignifies nourishment in its utmost extent, both with regard to their bodies and minds. Nature directs that we should feed and cloath their bodies, reafon dictates that we should nourish and inftruct their minds, and the holy fcriptures command that we should furnish their immortal fouls with divine knowledge and train them up in the fear of God. The words, "Of the Lord," ought to have a powerful influence upon christians in the extenfive circle of the education of their offspring, both in respect to their minds and bodies, and in regard to their moral, civil and religious inftruction. The word admonition intends to exprefs the counfel, advice, and direction, which it behoves us to afford them, in all the relations which they do or may fustain in life, especially in regard to spritual duties towards God and Jefus Chrift with a view to their acquifition of eternal falvation. This is not merely on occafional business, but ought to be a habitual practice as far as in our power, confiftent with other duties and avocations, that we give our chil

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dren all fuitable inftruction for time and eternity.-The word rendered bring up, fignifies to fofter or nourish them up, and intimates that rational and religious nourishment ought to be administered to their minds, as well as common provisions to their bodies. The latter fhall not be much attended to, being a natural duty, and generally well obferved and in fome cafes perhaps even to excess, but the former shall employ the few obfervations that will be made on the subject.

First, one of the primary duties of christian parents is openly to acknowledge Gods right unto their children, early dedicating them by faith to him in the holy ordinance of baptism, hoping and trusting in Chrift, that he will bestow upon them the faving bleffings of the covenant of grace. Was the ordinance of circumcifion profitable to the Jewish church in every way? So alfo is baptism which was instituted in the room thereof. Hereby they are initiated into the vifible church, brought into a covenant relation with God, are placed under the bleffings granted to his people, and are by parents, under the watch of the church, to be educated for God. Children are now as capable of a covenant relation to God as when in ancient times they were circumcifed. Neither the facrament nor the fubject of it has been abrogated to this day, only the form of it has been changed from a typical and bloody rite, to a moderate ule of pure water. Children are furely as capable of this relation now, as they were when that covenant was made in the twenty ninth chapter of Deuteronomy, "Ye ftand this day, "all of you before the Lord your God, your little ones, your "wives &c. that thou fhouldt enter into covenant with the "Lord thy God, and into his oath." Thefe little ones were entered into the covenant, and no reafon can be advanced, why they are not ftill as capable of that bleffing as they were then; efpecially as Chrift commanded little children to be brought to him and fharply rebuked those who forbade it. And in teflimony of his approbation of the dedication of chil