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like olive plants round about thy table. Whose secret has been upon thy tabernacle? Whose providence has blessed the labour of thy hands? Whose vigilance has suffered no evil to befall thee, nor any plague to come nigh thy dwelling? And will you basely refuse him the glory which is due unto his holy name? Will you refuse to honour him in a family in which he has scattered so many blessings? Shall thy house, which should be the temple of his praise, be only the grave of his mercies !

The third is a relation of dependence. For can you dispense with God in your dwellings? Are not all your schemes, your exertions, and the assistances you secure, less than nothing, and vanity, without his aid and his blessing? Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so he giveth his beloved sleep. The wisest course, therefore, is to secure his favour, who has all events under his control, and is able to do for us exceeding abundantly, above all we ask or think. And is this to be done by irreligion?

Observe his promises, and his threatenings.Or rather let us observe one of them. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked; but he blesseth the habitation of the just. What a dreadful look has this scripture towards a wicked family! What a benign aspect towards a righteous one ! What a tremendous thing is the curse of God! and this does not hover over the building, does not look in at the window, does not stand at the door-but is in the house; spreading through

every apartment, and feeding like a worm upon all the possessions. You may see the appearance of pleasure, and as you draw nigh, you may hear music and dancing-but there is no peace, saith my God, unto the wicked. Magnificence may reign there; there may be rich furniture, and a table spread with dainties-but what are all these when the divine anger has said, let their table be made a snare, a trap, and a stumbling-block, and a recompense unto them? And, if this be the case with their good things—what will they do in the evil day? What can be expected under their disappointments, and afflictions, but impatience, and rage, and despair.

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But he blesseth the habitation of the just: and his blessing with bread and water is a good portion. If they have but little, it is sanctified.Their enjoyments are relished. Their trials are alleviated. Religion opens a refuge, when every other refuge fails, and applies a remedy to evils, otherwise remediless. They have a God in trouble; his grace is still the more; and his providence is making all things work together for their good. "Their walls are continually before him.

-The voice of rejoicing, and of salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous!" This brings you,

II. To consider family religion in reference to yourselves.

And here, in the first place, you ought to be concerned for your spiritual welfare: you ought to value that which has a tendency to restrain you from sin, and to excite you to holiness. Now it is easy to see that the practice we are recommending has such an influence. Can he who is going to prayer with his family, swear or scold?

-Why he will be upon his guard, if it be only to preserve himself from the charge of hypocrisy. Another feels no such motive: he can indulge himself in bad words, and vile tempers, without incurring the reflection of inconsistency. And because he makes no pretensions to virtue, he may imagine himself at liberty to practise vice.

And upon this principle it is that many refuse to make a profession of religion-to come to the table of the Lord-and to adopt family worship. They reason properly enough-that in consequence of this they must become more watchful, and circumspect. But what can we think of the principle? What can we think of a man who fears to be restrained from the commission of sin, and to be urged to the performance of duty ?

Such a practice also will secure tranquillity of mind. The omission of this duty leaves a sting in the conscience, occasions many a bitter reflection through life, and plants a dying pillow with thorns. When you see those who were placed under your care going astray, becoming the victims of error, and vice, and misery, it will not be easily in your power to suppress the rising, or to soothe the painful accusation. "Ah! this might have been prevented, had you discharged your duty. Does not their destruction lie at your door?" But, the man who has faithfully discharged his obligation, feels an internal composure. If, indeed, his ef forts be not crowned with success, he will lament, but his grief differs very materially from that torture which springs from self-condemnation, for a trust betrayed, for opportunities neglected, for exertions omitted. He has a satisfaction under all his distress; and his " rejoicing in this, the testimony of his conscience, that in

simplicity and godly sincerity, not by fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, he has had his conversation in the world, and more abundantly" towards his own family.

But surely you are not indifferent to your temporal circumstances. You wish to have peace and order in your dwelling: you wish to have your property secured, and your business well performed: you wish to see fidelity, diligence, submission; you wish to be honoured and obeyed. But "do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" Surely you cannot expect these things to be produced without principle; and what principle can so certainly and fully produce them as religion?-what else can enforce them by sanctions, and motives, so awful, so binding, and which operate equally in all places and at all times?—and thus secure the performance of duty, when you are absent, as well as present? By teaching them to regard God, you teach them to regard yourselves. Piety is the firmest basis on which to build morality. To which we may add, that when religion is fairly exemplified in character, there is a majesty, and a force in it: it surrounds the possessor with an awe that represses a thousand impertinences, and extorts respect. Abraham commanded his children and his household after him—and what a son had he in Isaac; what a servant in Eliezer !

Let us, therefore, consider this subject, III. In reference to your family. The members which compose it, are in reality parts of yourselves; children are natural parts, and servants are civil parts of yourselves. These have, therefore, peculiar claims upon you; and were you to avow, that you had no regard for them, and would do

nothing that could advance their welfare, what would people think of you? If in the cold you denied your servants warmth; if you gave them bad food, and short allowance: if you turned them out of doors as soon as they were sick, and they knew not where to lay their head, the world would cry, "You wretch!" If you were to suffer your children to go naked, to beg their bread, to perish with hunger in a ditch; or to take your little ones, and dash them against the stones, you would be shunned, as a monster. But you act a far more criminal, and a far more infamous part by disregarding their spiritual and everlasting welfare. Doubtless, Herod, after killing the infants in Bethlehem, was viewed and shunned with horror, but he was far less cruel than you he only destroyed the body, you damn the soul: he only slew the children of others, but you murder your own! "If any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." And can you imagine you have done this, when you have endeavoured to answer the question, What shall they eat, and what shall they drink, and wherewithal shall they be clothed? What is the body to the soul? What is time to eternity? You may amass for them riches; you may leave them an estate, but your house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

Under this article, let us observe, more distinctly, two things.

The first is, the importance of religion to the individuals under your care. Is it not the one thing needful? Is it not profitable to all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come? You cannot deny this.

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