A Treatise of Family Instruction, Chapter 3 · Section 5 – Section 6
SECT. 5. The Advantages that come by having the Word of God in our Memories.
Direct. 5 CAuſe your Children and Servants to commit to their memories thoſe Scriptures which you teach them, and to keep them in remembrance. We are often commanded to treaſure up Gods Word in our Memories, Job 22.22. Receive, I pray thee, the Law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart: Deut. 6.6. Theſe words which I command thee this day, ſhall be in thine heart: And becauſe this duty of committing Gods Word to our Memories, is much neglected both by Parents themſelves as well as their Children, to ſtir up both the one and the other to the practice of it, let me ſhew you how much this duty is urged upon us, and what advantages will come by it. The Prophets of God charge us in Gods name to remember the word of the Lord, Mal. 4 4. Remember ye the Law of Moſes my Servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Iſrael, with the Statues and Judgments. Jeſus Chriſt when he was in the world charged us to remember his word, John xv. 20. Remember the word that I ſaid unto you. The Apoſtles alſo call upon us to keep in memory Gods word, Jude 17. Beloved remember ye the words that were ſpoken before of the Apoſtles of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt: Acts 20.35 I have ſhewn you all things, how that ſo labouring ye ought to ſupport the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jeſus: Heb. 2.1. Therefore we ought to give the more earneſt heed to the things we have heard, leſt at any time we let them ſlip. The holy Angels when they appeared to thoſe that came to Chriſts Sepulchre, bid them remember the words of Chriſt, Luke 24.6. Remember how he ſpake unto you, when he was yet in Galilee. One great benefit which we have by the holy Ghoſt, is, his helping us to remember Gods word: John 14.26. The Comforter, which is the holy Ghoſt, whom the Father will ſend in my name, he ſhall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatſoever I have ſaid unto you.
We have ſeen how earneſtly this duty is preſſed upon us, now let us ſee what advantages will come to us by remembring Gods Word.
1. It will be an help to Faith, John 2.22. When he was riſen from the dead, his Diſciples remembred that he had ſaid this unto them, and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jeſus had ſaid.
2. It helps us in our obedience; Numb. 15.40. That ye may remember, and do all my Commandments, and be holy unto your God: Pſal. 119.55. I have remembred thy name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy Law.
3. It is an help to Repentance, Matth. 26.75. And Peter remembred the words of Jeſus,—and he went out and wept bitterly.
4. It promotes our Comfort, Pſal. 119.52. I remembred thy Judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted my ſelf.
5. It will breed a ſpiritual frame of heart; for if Gods word be treaſured up in our hearts, it will be in our minds night and day: Prov. 6.21, 22. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck; when thou goeſt, it ſhall lead thee; when thou ſleepeſt, it ſhall keep thee; when thou awakeſt, it ſhall talk with thee.
6. The abiding of Gods word in our hearts and memories, will help our perſeverance: 1 John 2.24. If that which ye have heard from the beginning ſhall remain in you, ye alſo ſhall continue in the Father and in the Son: The way to abide in Chriſt, is to let his word abide in us, John 15.7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.—
7. It will help forward our ſalvation to keep in memory the word of God; 1 Cor. 15.2. By which alſo ye are ſaved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you. It is not only uſeful to ſuch as are in a ſtate of Grace, to treaſure up Gods word in their memories, but alſo to the Unconverted, for it may be a means of their Converſion and turning unto God: Pſal. 22.27. All the ends of the world ſhall remember, and turn unto the Lord— Seeing therefore it is ſo advantagious for all ſorts of perſons to have Gods Word treaſured up in their memories, cauſe both your Servants and Children to commit to and keep in memory, what you teach them out of the Scriptures, and to that purpoſe cauſe them often to reherſe thoſe Scriptures wherein they have been inſtructed. The Hebrew word which we tranſlate teach diligently, Deut. 6.7. Thou ſhalt teach them diligently to thy Children; ſignifieth alſo to repeat often one and the ſame thing, to inculcate it again and again with much diligence. And let not the rehearſing of the ſame Scriptures by and to the members of your Family be irkſome and tedious to you, ſeeing it will prove beneficial to them: For what the Apoſtle faith of writing the ſame things to the ſame perſons, viz. to the Church at Philippi, Phil. 3.1. To write the ſame things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is ſafe: The ſame I may ſay of repeating the ſame things in our Families, it ſhould not be grievous to you, ſeeing it is ſafe for them.
SECT. 6. The neceſſity of watching over our Families.
Direct. 6 WAtch over your Families, and ſee whether they live according to thoſe Inſtructions which you give them out of the Word of God. Solomon ſpeaking of a vertuous Woman, ſaith of her, Prov. 31.27. She looketh well to the ways of her houſhold: A Governour of a Family muſt not only inſtruct his Houſhold, but look, yea look well to the ways of his Houſhold, that he may ſee that none of them live in any vice, or in the neglect of their duty to God or their Neighbour. We read of a man which ſowed good ſeed in his field, but while men ſlept, the Enemy came, and ſowed Tares among the Wheat, Matth. 13.24, 25. Though we ſow the good Seed of the word in our Families, yet if we ſleep when we have done, that is, if we be ſecure and careleſs, and do not watch over them, the Enemy will come and endeavour to ſow Tares; either the Tares of Error, or the Tares of Strife and Diſſention, or ſome other evils.
To quicken you to this duty of watching over your Families, conſider,
1. How prone mans nature is unto that which is evil, our proneneſs to ſin is ſo great, that they which have had good and wholeſome Inſtructions given to them, are very apt to turn aſide, and go aſtray, if they be left but a little to themſelves. A remarkable inſtance of this we have in the Children of Iſrael, who upon Moſes his abſence by the ſpace only of forty days, fell into the ſin of Idolatry, and made a golden Calf, and worſhipped the ſame for the God that brought them out of the Land of Egypt, Exod. 32.1. to verſ. 9. And yet Iſrael had received many good inſtructions from Moſes; yea, they had heard God himſelf ſpeaking to them from Mount Sinai, and delivering his Law to them, wherein he had expreſly charged them not to make to themſelves any graven image, &c. And to beget the greater Reverence of his Law, there were ſuch Thundrings and Lightnings, and ſuch dreadful fire, as that Moſes and all the people quaked and trembled with fear. And notwithſtanding this ſolemn delivery of the Law of God, they quickly fell into this fearful ſin of Idolatry, Exod. 32.8. They have turned aſide quickly out of the way that I commanded them. It was not above ſix weeks, as ſome compute the time, after the delivery of the Law, that they made this Calf; not above ſix months after they came out of Egypt, as Rivet obſerves. This ſin of theirs was the more to be wondered at, becauſe they had ſeen the mighty works of God upon the Egyptians, whoſe gods could not deliver them out of the Lords hand; they had alſo ſeen his wonders at the red Sea; beſides, they bad in a ſolemn manner promiſed obedience to all the Commands of God, Exod. 24.3. All the people anſwered with one voice, and ſaid, All the words which the Lord hath ſaid, will we do. And yet after all the Inſtructions and all the Ingagements that lay upon them to obey the Lord, they quickly fell into that foul ſin of Idolatry.
2. Conſider what a mighty charge you have to look after: It is beyond Silver, or Gold, or precious Stones, you have the Souls of your Families committed to your charge, you have ſuch a charge of them as that you muſt give an account to God for them: Heb. 13.17. Obey them that have the Ruleover you, and ſubmit your ſelves, for they watch for your ſouls, as they that muſt give account.