The best entail, or, Dying parents living hopes for their surviving children grounded upon the covenant of Gods grace, with believers and their seed, being a short discourse upon 2 Sam. 23, 5 : wherein is a collection of several covenant-promises to support the faith, and some pleas to direct and quicken the prayers of Gods covenanted people for their surviving posterity / by O.H. ...

CHAP. V. More grounds of incouragement to Parents from the Promises.

7 ANother incourageing word to Pa∣rents for their Children is, that principles of grace and profession of godliness shall continue to future generations, Isa? 59.21. As for me, this is my Covenant with them, saith the Lord, my Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy s••ednor out of the mouth of thy Seeds Seed, saith the Lord, from hence∣forth and for ever. This is a large and long-lasting charter: God Spirits within his children, and the owning of his name in their lips, and this for ever! What can godly Pa∣rents desire more? Whether this Spirit im∣port a Spirit of Prophecy or a Spirit of San∣ctification, surely it's a rich kindness, that it shall run in this straight line, and channel

to many generations, that the name of God, as well as your name may be kept up in your Family perpetually when you are dead and gone: Oh happy Parents that have such Children! Happy Children that had such Parents! and blessed be God that embraceth both in the bosom of the Covenant! That's a Soul-supporting word in Hag. 2.5. Ac∣cording to the word that I covenanted with [your Fathers, yea with] you, when you came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you: Fear ye not, be not daunted, there were as many and great obstructions in the way of mercy then as now, yet grace overcame them, and I have not taken away my Spirit from you notwithstanding your multiplied provocations this 2000. years, but still it is among you and shall continue to many gene∣rations: May not faith triumph in this pro∣mise?

8. That great observations shall be made of and remarks upon the Children of godly Parents, Isa 61.8, 9. I will make an everlast∣ing Covenant with them, and their seed shall be among the gentiles (i. e. Gentile Churches) and their off-spring among the People, all that see them shall acknowledg them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. Men shall speak to each other, Do not you see the faithful child of such a believing Father? Oh how many a precious day have we had, with such an ones Father, Mother, or Grand∣father! this is the Pious Child of a Zealous father, you see it's not in vain to seek and

serve God, I remember the prayers and tears poured out for his Child, and I see the blessed fruit thereof: God is a prayer-hear∣ing God: of some Children we may say, as Paul to Timothy, 2 Tim. 1.5. When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy Grand-mother Lois, and thy Mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also: His Grandmothers name was Lois, which signifies better, his Mothers name Eu∣nice signifying victor, and Timothy is the fear of God: If Parents chuse the better part, God will give them victory over the World, Sin, and Satan, yea they shall have power with God, and obtain God-fearing Children, which others will observe and admire the grace of God in.

9. Childrens Children to many generations are remembered with Covenant-kindness: So in the second Commandment, Exod. 20.6. Shewing mercy unto thousands [i. e. of generations,] of them that love me and keeep my Commandments: This is transcendent mer∣cy, punishment extending but to three or four of them, ver. 5. you'll say, mercy and justice are Gods two Arms, is the one longer than the other? Answer no, they are equally infinite, but he maketh his Church to feel more of his mercy, then of his justice, with the Lord there is mercy, why so? Because with him is plenteous Redemption, Psal. 130.7. It is a Covenant of Grace, and Christ inter∣poseth as Mediator of it: Oh! the over∣flowings

of Free-grace to many generations, Psal. 103.17, 18. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto Childrens Children. Mark it, it's called righteousness, to shew, it is a discharge of his obligation, by which he hath in some sort bound himself to Parents to do good to their Posterity, for it was mercy to Abraham to make a Co∣venant, but it is truth and faithfulness to per∣form it to Jacob. and his rising seed many years after: for 'tis founded in his Eternal purpose, and continues to Eternity: and this is the reason of our hopes of the calling the Jews, because they are beloved for their Fa∣thers sake, or rather because of God's Cove∣nant with their Ancestors, Rom. 11.27, 28. Oh what incouragement is this to Parents that God will not utterly cast off their seed: but will resume thoughts of love to them at last?

10. That God will reduce the wandring Children of his People by seasonable and sanctified correction, Psal. 89.29.—35. If his Children for sake my Law and walk not in my judgments (i. e. if they forfeit the Privi∣ledges promised by non-performance of the conditions) then will I visit their transgression with a Rod, and their iniquity with Stripes, nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail: God hath adopted Affliction to be a branch of Covenant affection, 'Its a promise [I will visit] not so much a threatning, for in faithful∣ness

he afflicts his Children: he will not take so much pains with a slave as with a Son: he will make his Children thank God for a whipping, Lord; saith a godly Parent, bring home my Child though it be by weeping cross: starve my prodigal son, or feed him with husks, that he may reflect on his Fa∣thers plenteous Table: oh break his Leg or Arm rather than damn his Soul: cast him on a sick bed, rather than cast him into Hell: let his Purgatory be here and his Heaven hereafter: now our gracious God answers his Childrens Prayers: good Hezekiah's Pray∣ers for his extravagant Son Manasseh were answered by Gods taking him among the Thorns, binding him with Fetters, carrying him to Babylon, till he had humbled him to purpose, and made him know that Jehovah was God, 2 Chron. 33.11, 12, 13. doubtless the natural as well as the spiritual Father of the Prodigal will welcome home the Child, tho' broken on the Wheel.

11. The Covenant ingageth for a blessing on Parents instruction and correction of their erring Children: this is of great use, 1. For instruction, Prov. 22.6. Train up a Child in the way he should go: [There's the Parents Du∣ty, do thy duty to set him right in the be∣ginning of his way, so some read it,] and when he is old he will not depart from it, i. e. not easily, ordinarily, q. d. if thou that art the Fa∣ther wilt do thy duty faithfully, I will un∣dertake to do my part: set thou their faces in the right road, and I will keep them in it; or∣dinarily

I will bless thy instructions admoni∣tions, counsels, examples, see Gen. 18.19. God saith of Abraham, I know him that he will command his Children, and his houshold after him, you'll say what is he better for that? they'll chuse whether they'll obey or no: nay saith God, but I will undertake for them, [And they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do Justice and Judgment.] His labour shall not be in vain; I live, saith God, to make his words take impression on his surviving Chil∣dren when he is dead? For correction you have a notable promise in Prov. 23.13, 14. With-hold not correction from the Child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not dye [I will take care of him;] thou shalt beat him with the Rod, and shall deliver his Soul from Hell: O blessed whipping! surely such a scourge as fetcheth blood is easier than hell-torments: but my benediction shall be upon that correction: that's a cruel Parent, that will rather see his Child a flaming Faggot in the scorching fire, than try to whip folly out of him, that's cruel pity, better he should cry here, then roar hereafter, yea and curse thee for ever, that wouldst not speak a word or give him a tap, to prevent these intoler∣able torments: Oh the good that seasonable correction may do! if thou prevail not to make thy Child good, yet thou wilt have comfort in the discharge of thy duty, there's good hopes of both by the blessing of God, Prov. 29.17. Correct thy Son, and he shall give thee rest, yea he shall give delight unto thy Soul:

yet take this caution, that these promises must not be understood absolutely, necessa∣rily, and universally producing this effect, but ordinarily so it is, and this is sufficient motive to Parents to do their duty, and in∣couragement therein.

12. The last incouragement to Parents from the Covenant of God, for their survi∣ving Children, is, that God will take care of their outward concerns in the World, Prov. 20.7. the just man walketh in his in∣tegrity, his Children are blessed after him, if their Father hath not heaped up riches by cunning and covetous devices, and so leaves them but little in the World, yet he hath left them in the hands of a good Father, who will take care of them, when their earthly Parents are gone: for this blessed Covenant is not confined to the persons of the Godly but entailed on their Posterity, Psal 112.1, 2. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments, his seed shall be mighty upon earth, the generation of the upright shall be blessed: answerable to this, I call to mind a passage, told me by a Reve∣rend Minister in London, who knew a poor and pious Preacher in Wiltshire, who had ma∣ny Children, and little to maintain them, one askt him, how he thought they could shift when he was gone, he answered, I am not at all afraid of that, I am more afraid of them when they shall ride up and down Lon∣don streets in their Coaches: which came to pass, for some of them came to be Aldermen

of that Famous City: our frequent experi∣ence confirms this truth, what care God takes of his upright-hearted Servants Seed when they are laid in the dust: let us take holy David's Experiment, Psal. 37.25. I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. If there have been some few excep∣tions, these yet do not destroy the truth of a general proposition: howbeit temporal promises were more express and positive to the Jews of old, than to christians in Gospel-times, which consists more in spirituals: But this will remain a truth that Children of Godly Parents are usually provided for com∣fortably even in things that concern this life, if it tends to Gods glory, and their good, and if God see it good in his Infinite Wisdom, which limitations must always be annexed to temporal promises: but if they be poor, defamed, sick, in prisons, banished, yet all these work together for their good. Rom. 8.28.

Notes

• Deut. 7.9.
• Mic. 7.20.
• 2 Sam. 7.14, 15.
• Psa;l. 119.75.