A Treatise of Family Instruction, Title page – Errata
A TREATISE OF Family Inſtruction: Wherein it is proved to be the Duty of Parents and Maſters of Families to Train up their Children and Servants in the Knowledge of the SCRIPTURES.
With Directions how this Work may be done ſo as to promote the Converſion, Edification, and Eternal Salvation of all ſuch as are under their Charge.
Uſeful for Parents and Maſters of Families.
By Owen Stockton, Miniſter of the Goſpel.
Deut. 6.6, 7.
Theſe words which I command thee this day ſhall be in thine heart, and thou ſhalt teach them diligently unto thy Children—
LONDON, Printed for H. Brome, at the Gun at the Weſt End of St. Pauls. MDCLXXII.
To Parents and Maſters of Families, more eſpecially to ſuch as are Inhabitants of Colcheſter in Eſſex.
Men, Brethren, and Fathers,
IT is God that ſetteth the ſolitary in FamiliesaPſal. 68.6.. And when he buildeth us houſes, and committeth to our charge the Education of Children or Servants, he repoſeth a great truſt in us. For our Children are more his Children than ours. bEzek. 18.4.Behold all ſouls are mine; As the ſoul of the Father, ſo alſo the ſoul of the Son is mine. And our Servants are more his Servants than ours. As the ſoul of the Maſter, ſo alſo the ſoul of the Servant is his. Both children and ſervants are committed to us, not ſo much for our own uſe and ſervice, as that we ſhould train them up to know, ſerve and glorifie God. What Pharaoh's daughter ſaid to Moſes his Mother. cExod. 2.9.Take this child and nurſe it for me, and I will give thee thy wages The like God ſaith to us, Take theſe children, Take theſe ſervants, and educate them for me, and I will give you your reward, Your labour ſhall not be in vain in the Lord. The charge which the Lord giveth us concerning every one that he commits to our truſt is ſtrict and weighty, much like that which is mentioned, 1 Kings 20.39. Behold a man turned aſide, and brought a man to me, and ſaid, Keep this man, if by any means he be miſſing, then ſhall thy life be for his life. At the Day of Judgment every one of us ſhall give an account of himſelf to God. dRom. 14.12.And not of our ſelves only, but of all the ſouls alſo that are under our charge, as we may learn from the words of the Apoſtle, eHeb. 13.17.Obey them that have the rule over you, and ſubmit your ſelves, for they watch for your ſouls as they that muſt give an account. At that day, when we, the children, and the ſervants, whom God hath given us, ſhall appear before the Judgment Seat of Chriſt, if any of them be miſſing, and it be found that they periſhed, either through our negligence, or our evil example, or any other way through our means, our lives ſhall go for theirs. When Laban committed the keeping of his flock unto Jacob, he required at Jacob's hands, every beaſt that was loſt, although he was his near kinſman. fGen. 31.39.That which was torn of beaſts I brought it not unto thee. I bare the loſs of it, of my hands didſt thou require it, whether ſtoln by day or by night. If Laban required at Jacob's hands every beaſt that he loſt, God may much more require at our hands every ſoul which he entruſts us withal, and if any be loſt through our careleſsneſs, cauſe us to bear the loſs of it; for one ſoul is of more value than all the beaſts in the whole world. Wherefore the Apoſtle Paul called unto Timothy,g1 Tim. 6.20. O Timothy, keep that which is committed unto thy truſt. So may I call unto you, my beloved Brethren, O keep thoſe children, keep thoſe ſervants whom the great God hath committed to your truſt. Keep them from ſinning againſt the Lord. Keep them from walking in the broad way that leads to deſtruction. Keep them from periſhing by ignorance, error, or a ſinful converſation, leaſt their bloud be required at your hands, for not ſhewing them the path of life, and hEzek. 3.17, 18.warning them to turn from their evil ways. Keep them as our Lord Jeſus kept thoſe whom his Father committed to him, of whom he ſaith, iJohn 17.12.While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy Name, thoſe that thou gaveſt me, I have kept, and none of them is loſt but the ſon of perdition. And how did Jeſus Chriſt keep thoſe whom his Father had given him? By praying for them. kVer. 92.11.I pray for them — Holy Father, keep through thine own Name, thoſe whom thou haſt given me, that they may be one as we are. And by inſtructing them, I have manifeſted thy Name unto the men which thou gaveſt me out of the world — And whence did he draw the Inſtructions which he gave them? Out of the Scriptures. lLuke 24.27.Begining at Moſes and all the Prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himſelf. He gave them his Word, whereby they were brought to know and believe in him. mJohn 17.8.I have given them the words which thou gaveſt me, and they have received them, and have known ſurely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didſt ſend me. He did not only teach them to know but alſo to obey the Word. nVerſ. 6.They have kept thy Word. And they keeping his Word, were kept by his power through faith unto ſalvation.
As ſoon as Manoah had but the promiſe of a child, he went to God and deſired to be taught how he ſhould order and educate his child. oJudg. 13.8.Then Manoah intreated the Lord, and ſaid, O my Lord, let the Man of God which thou didſt ſend come again unto us, and teach us what we ſhall do unto the child that ſhall be born. Would you that have not only a promiſe, but the actual enjoyment of children and ſervants, know what God would have you do unto them? You need no Angel or Man of God to come from Heaven to tell you; Do but ſearch the Scriptures, and there you ſhall find that the Lord requireth you to inſtruct and train up your children and ſervants, in the knowledge, belief, and obedience of his holy Word. Hear what God himſelf ſaith to you concerning this matter. pDeut. 6.6, 7.Theſe words which I command thee this day ſhall be in thine heart, and thou ſhalt teach them diligently unto thy children—qEph. 6.4. Ye Fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And as God commands you to teach your children, ſo he hath put great advantages into Parents hands for doing this work, in regard of their daily preſence with their children, their authority over them, the intereſt they have in their affections, and their dependance on their Parents for their preſent and future ſubſiſtence.
How much it conduceth to the glory of God to train up our children and ſervants in the knowledge and obedience of the holy Scriptures, what bleſſings it will bring upon our ſelves and Families, what exceeding great benefits will accrue thereby to our children, what good we may do to the generations that are yet to come, how much it tends to the propagating of Religion and the power of godlineſs, and how Family Inſtruction may be carried on ſucceſsfully to the Converſion, Edification, and eternal Salvation of ſuch as are under charge, you may ſee in the peruſal of this enſuing Treatiſe, which I have compoſed for the uſe of ſuch Heads of Families as are not provided of better helps, but more eſpecially for you my dearly beloved Friends, among whom I have lived, and with whom I have converſed: My humble and earneſt requeſt to you is, that if you have any love to the Lord Jeſus, you would expreſs it by feeding his Lambs with the ſincere milk of his Word; if you have any zeal for the glory of God, if any bowels towards your poſterity, if any deſire of their ſpiritual and eternal welfare, if any regard to the generations that are yet unborn, if you have ever found any comfort in or benefit by the Word of God, that you would bend your minds, and ſet your hearts to this good work of inſtructing your children and ſervants in the knowledge, and training them up in the obedience of the Scriptures. And that you (and all others, into whoſe hands the Providence of God ſhall bring this ſmall Treatiſe) may by the peruſal thereof, be quickned to, directed and encouraged in this work of Family Inſtruction, and be enabled to manage the ſame to the glory of God, your own and your Families Edification, ſhall be the prayer of
Your Servant in the work of the Lord, Owen Stockton.
ERRATA.
Page 17. line 15. for 1 Cor. 5.7. read 1 Cor. 1.5, 7. p. 23. l. 27. for 1 Pet. 2.22. r. 1 Pet. 1.22. p. 75. l. 15. r. Cocceius. p. 105. l. 20. for Prov. 15.20. r. Prov. 13.20. p. 144. l. 2. r. fortifie.
Some other ſmall faults have eſcaped the Preſs, which the judicious Reader will eaſily correct.