A Great deal might be said from this Text; that concerns Parents, and other grown Persons; but I shall only take Notice of that which concerns Children. Note here, (1) The Lord Jesus Christ observes [...] Chil­dren: He takes Notice of them, and [...] his [Page 4] Eye always upon them. (2) He has a great Love for good Children. The Child spoken of in the Text, was doubtless a good Child.

DOCT. Christ takes Notice of little Children, and loves them dearly, if they be good Children.

Your Parents don't love you a thousandth Part so much (nor you yourselves) as Christ does, if you be good Children.

First Proposition. Jesus Christ takes Notice of all little Children. He observed you, before you came hither, and as you were in coming: And he takes Notice of you now while you are here. If any of you are weary, and want to be gone Home, or to get out to Play, Christ observes it. He minds who are affected with the Sermon, and who are not; who they are that are careless, and don't mind what is said; and especially if any are so wicked as to play, while they should be hearing. He takes No­tice how you behave yourselves at Home: Whe­ther you are dutiful to your Parents, & loving to your Brothers and Sisters; or whether you be disobedient and fretful, rude, or quarrelsome. He minds what you say and do when you are Abroad, and as you are going to School. He [Page 5] sees how you spend the Saturday Night, whe­ther you are willing to say your Catechism; and on Sabbath Day Morning, how you spend your Time, whether you get alone, and read and think and pray; or are idle, and do no­thing, or play, which is worse; and what you do all Day. You read (Mal. 3.16) The LORD hearkened and heard, and a Book of Remembrance was written before him. He sets down in his Book, all that you say, and do, and think, when you are alone, and when in Company, and where­ever you are. It appears that Jesus Christ takes Notice of all Children.

First, Because he is every where present. As David speaks in the Beginning of the Hundred and thirty-ninth Psalm; O Lord thou hast search­ed me, & known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine up-rising; thou understandest my Tho'ts afar off. Thou compassest my Path, and my lying down; and art acquainted with all my Ways. For there is not a Word in my Tongue, but O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast be­set me behind and before, and laid thine Hand up­on me. Such Knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy Presence? Or whither shall I flee [Page 6] from thy Spirit? If I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there: If I make my Bed in Hell, behold thou art there. If I take the Wings of the Morning, and dwell in the uttermost Parts of the Sea, even there shall thy Hand lead me, and thy right Hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the Darkness shall cover me, even the Night shall be Light about me. Yea, the Darkness hideth not from thee; but the Night shineth as the Day; the Darkness and the Light are both alike to thee.—Children, I see you now sitting before me: Your Parents that are at Home, don't see you: But Christ sees you always; for he is every where. The An­gels can't be every where; they can't be in two Places at once; but Christ can. He knows your Tho'ts. He knew a Thousand Years ago, what you would be thinking of now. He knew how many Times you would wish in your Hearts, O that God's Spirit would help the Minister in preaching! O that I might get some Good to Day! and the like. And he sets down your Tho'ts in his Book.—He knows all the Words you speak, good and bad; and from what Heart they come. You can't understand how he can be every where at once; but he is so, he is all over the World, here and [Page 7] at Boston, and at the farthest Part of the Sea; we must believe it. He is in Heaven, and in Hell, at the same Time; in the Dark, as well as in the Light. He sees all the Sins, that you commit in secret, and sets them all down. Yet if you believe in Christ, and are truly sorry for your Sins, they will be all blotted out: But your good Tho'ts, Words, and Actions will be set down, and never blotted out. There is Room enough in his Book, to set down all the good Things done by you; more Room than there would be in this great Bible, if it were all clean Paper.

Good Children, you are Christ's Disciples, his Scholars; and he knows that you love him. It may be your Parents don't know that you love Jesus Christ; but he knows it. When you pray alone, you may say as Peter did, Lord thou knowest all Things, thou knowest that I love thee. And if Christ knows all Things, then be sure he always observes little Children. In the ninth of Matthew, and the fourth Verse▪ 'tis said, Jesus knowing their Tho'ts said, Why think ye Evil in your Hearts? He observes every particular Child. There was one Nathanael, once▪ that used to go alone, under a Tree to pray; and [Page 8] Christ saw him, and told him of it. He did not then think, Christ could see him, but he did. Some of you love to get alone among the Bushes to pray; and you did not think it may be, that Christ see you; but he did. Christ can say, I saw you John, you Sarah, whatever your Name is. I tell you so in his Name; and that's all one as if he told you so. He saw you there last Night, in such a Place alone, and this Morning in such a Place alone.

Secondly, Little Children are committed to him to keep; and therefore he takes Notice of them. In some Places there is a Shepherd ap­pointed to keep the Sheep. Christ is the good Shepherd. Your godly Parents are the Sheep, and you are the Lambs. The Devil is the Wolf, that goes to carry you away by his Temptati­ons; but if you love Christ, he will watch over you, to keep you from Satan's Temptations. All the Angels in Heaven could not keep you; but Christ can. And he does keep you from a [...] any Harms. You are Christ's own little Lambs, and you are now in his [...] when you come to Meeting, and he is [...] you with his Word: He brought you here [...] Purpose to feed you. How sweet will this be [Page 9] to them that love Christ? You are some of those other Sheep that were not of that Fold of the Jews, which Christ says, He must bring in. A Shepherd will look after his Sheep. That is spoken of Christ, in the fortieth of Isaiah, and the eleventh: He shall feed his Flock, like a Shepherd; he shall gather the Lambs in his Arms, and carry them in his Bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with Young. If there be a Lamb that is left behind, or one that is Weak, or Lame, or Sick, and can't go, the Shepherd will look after it: So Christ will pitty and help you, when you have Souls sick and wounded by Sin, and can't help yourselves. When the Wolf comes, the Shepherd frights him away: So Christ will fright away the Devil, when he comes to tempt you, if you commit yourselves to him, and cry to him, believing and repenting. He has led your good Parents all along; and so he will do you that are good Children.

Thirdly, If Christ did not take Notice of little Children, how could he judge them at the last Day, as he must do? 'Tis said, God shall judge the Secrets of Men by Jesus Christ. And John in the Revelation, saw the Dead, small and great stand before God; and the Books were opened, and the [Page 10] Dead were judged out of those Things which were written in the Books, according to their Deeds. Now how could he judge the World, if he did not know the Thoughts, Words and Actions of all? How could he sentence wicked Children to Hell, and good Children to Hea­ven, if he had not taken Notice of them all along their Lives? You read in the twelfth of Ec­clesiastes, and the fourteenth, God shall bring eve­ry Work into Judgment, with every secret Thing, whether it be Good or whether it be Evil.

The Use of the Doctrine, is for Warning to Children. First, Be dutiful Children. Be dutiful to God; be dutiful to your Parents. Be diligent▪ at the Work you are set about. Love and mind your Book; take all Oppor­tunities to read. Do all the Good you can. Be quick and faithful, when you are sent of an Errand. Be sure don't fail to pray alone, Morn­ing and Evening, every Day. Hear what your Saviour says, in Matthew; Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy Closet, and pray to thy Fa­ther which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Think often about Jesus Christ. It is he that is spo­ken of in Isaiah; To us a Son is born, to us a [Page 11] Child is given, his Name shall be called Wonder­ful, Councellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Believe that he always sees you If you can find a Place to Sin in, so dark or secret, that Christ can't see you, you may venture to do what you will there, but indeed there is no such Place in all the World. Always remember you must have Help from him, to do every Duty, and to keep you from Sin. Don't dare to do any Thing alone that is bad, any more than you would here, when we are all looking on you. If you do, Christ will say to you in the Day of, Judgment, What! were you more afraid of Men, than of Me your Judge? If your Parents will bear with you in your Wickedness, Christ will not.—Come to Meeting always when you can; but if you hap­pen to stay at Home, remember that Christ sees you all Day long. If I were to stay at Home with you, would you play? But Christ is al­ways there. You can't think one evil Thought, but Christ will know it, & all the World will know it in the Day of Judgment. But if you repent and believe in Christ, all your Sins will be blot­ted out, and all the World shall know what good Children you have been. All the Good that [Page 12] ever you did, or said, or thought, will be read before all Angels and Men.

The second Proposition is, That Christ loves good Children dearly.

Question. Who are good Children?

Answer. These are some of the Marks of good Children: They are afraid to Sin alone, and in the Dark, as much as if every Body were looking upon them. Such are careful of what they speak, & what they think. Good Chil­dren are glad when Sabbath comes, that they may go to Meeting, and hear God's Word. They don't dare to disobey or mutter at their Parents, even, tho' they forbear to correct them for it. They fear God, who will punish wick­ed Children in Hell. They say with themselves, I had rather my Parents, or any Body, should be angry with me, than God should. 'Tis the Fear of God, that keeps them from Evil. Some Parents won't correct their Children, when they do wickedly; but God will take such Children into his own Hands. Good Children think of this, and are afraid, They think about their Souls, when they are alone; and are afraid sometimes that they have no Grace; they think their Hearts are so wicked, that there can't be [Page 13] any Grace there. They are sorry for their Sins; sorry that they have offended God and Christ, and grieved the Holy Spirit. They love to think about Jesus Christ. They think of him a Thousand Times; as they are lying down, and rising up, and going about from one Place to another. Think about their Parents or Bro­thers or Sisters that are dead and gone; think where they are now. They desire to know Je­sus Christ, more than any Thing. His Love is better to them than all the World.—Wicked Children don't love such Things. They don't really believe there is a God and Christ, a Hea­ven and a Hell; nor don't love to think of them: But good Children do. These play sometimes, a little; and there is no hurt in it; but they are often thinking of Christ, while they are at their Play.

Another Question is, How does it appear, that Jesus Christ loves good Children, and why does he love them?

I Answer, First, It is because his Father gave them to him. If a Father gives his little Child a Lamb, he will be very choice of that Lamb: So Christ loves little Children, the Lambs that his Father gave him.

[Page 14]Secondly, Christ loves good Children because there are so few of them. Of all the Children that are here, it may be, there are not above two or three in a Seat, that are Good: And won't Christ love them, think you? It may be, there are not above twenty good-Children in all this Town; and surely Christ loves them. It may be, all the Children in the Fa­mily are wicked, but you: And will not Christ love you then? Men prize Gold, be­cause there is but little of it; so does Jesus Christ value his Jewels: Luke the twelfth, and the fortieth, Fear not Little Flock; it is your Father's good Pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

Thirdly, Jesus loves good Children dearly, because they cost him dear. If a Man buys a Creature at a dear Rate, he will set much by it. Good Children cost Jesus Christ more than all this World. He bought them with his precious Blood. All the Gold and Silver in the World, would not have purchased one of Christ's Lambs.

Fourthly, He loves little Children that are good, because they are like him; his Image is stamped upon them. Parents love their Chil­dren, that are like them, and act like them: So does Jesus Christ.

[Page 15]Again, He loves them because they are related to him. They are his Children. He says con­cerning them, Here am I, and the Children that God has given me, Some of you have no Fa­ther on Earth; but if you be good Children, Christ is your Father.—You are his Sister, his Spouse. Never any Man loved a Spouse, so as Christ loves good Children. Paul says to the Corinthians, I have espoused you as a chast Vir­gin to Christ.—And as I told you before, he is the good Shepherd, and you are the Lambs of his Flock.

Sixthly, Good Children do what pleases Christ; and therefore he loves them. They are often thinking with themselves, Will this or that be pleasing to Christ? and if they think it will, they do it; or else, they will not. Wick­ed Children don't care whether they please Christ or no; if they can but please themselves, and their wicked Companions. But good Children are of another Mind: They go alone, and pray, Morning and Evening, because Christ has bid them do so; they do it to please him. As Christ always did those Things that pleased his Father so to his Children; and will not he love them then?

[Page 16]Seventhly, and lastly, Christ loves little Chil­dren, because he will love them. He says to his Disciples, Ye have not chosen me, but I have cho­sen you. They are as bad by Nature, as others; but he loves them freely. When my Father and my Mother forsake me (says David) then the Lord will take me up. And in the sixteenth of Eze­kiel, the Lord says to his People, When thou wast in thy Blood, cast out to the loathing of thy Person, I said unto thee, Live: Yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy Blood, Live: And the Time was the Time of Love. He might have loved others, and have left you to perish in your Sins.

Use First. If Christ loves good Children, then surely he hates wicked Children. Poor wick­ed Child, dost think that Jesus Christ loves thee! No, he hates the Wicked. And if you live & die wicked, you'l find at last that he hates you as bad as he does the Devil. You serve the Devil; you do as he bids you; you are his Child, and Christ is angry with you for doing his Works. He may send Indians to kill you. He threatens to kill wicked Children with Death. As the Wolf comes and catches and carries away the Lambs; so God may send the Indians to carry you away. [Page 17] God sent two She-Bears once to tare forty and two Children in Pieces, because they mocked an old bald-headed Minister. Sometimes, it may be you mock Folks. You may be carried away by the Indians, and die in the Woods; and the Ravens of the Valley may pick out your Eyes, and the young Eagles may eat them. So it was with a Child at Cape-Neddick: and so it may again.

Use Second. If the worst Children that are, will leave their wicked Ways, and become good Children, then Christ will love them. He will forget & forgive all their Sins. Tho' they remem­ber their Sins, and bemoan themselves, yet he will forget and forgive. He will say, as in Jere­my thirty first and eighteenth, I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus: Thou hast chas­tised me, & I was chastised, as a Bullock unaccustom­ed to the Yoke; Turn thou me, and I shall be turn­ed; for thou art the LORD my GOD. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; after that I was instructed, I smote upon my Thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the Reproach of my Youth. Is Ephraim my dear Son? is he a pleasant Child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my Bowels are troubled for him; I will [Page 18] surely have Mercy on him, saith the Lord. So Christ will speak of you, if you become good Children. He will say, It is my dear Child, I will surely have Mercy on him. This I tell you to encourage you. Tho' you have been very wicked, yet if you return to him, he will receive you into the Arms of his Love.

Use third, of Caution. It's dangerous delay­ing to become good Children. If you put it off one Fortnight, or one Day longer, God may cut you off, or give you up; and hear none of your Cries, when you come to be in Distress. There was a little Boy at Hampton, that was at play with the Children, and he told them, They must be good Children, because if they were not good now they were Children, they might never be good; for they might never live to grow up. And within a few Days after he died.

USE fourth for Direction. You must pray to God and Christ, to make you good Children, to teach you to love, & fear, and serve him. And do you think if you do earnestly seek to him, that he will not do it for you! Your Parents will be glad of it: and will not Christ rejoyce in it? Ask Counsel of your Parents and Neighbours, how you shall do to be good Children: And [Page 19] desire them to pray for you. You must mourn for your Sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must believe, that he always sees you. You must believe, that he is able and will­ing to save you, and you must depend upon him for Grace, and Glory, and all that you want. Remember what you have heard, and say within your selves, Christ always sees me. It is the Devil that tempts you to forget Christ, and to Sin against him. Think of dying in a short Time. Little Elizabeth Banks and Richard Banks are dead and gone: you don't know, how soon you may be called to go after them.—Don't please your selves with childish Vanities, with fine Cloaths, and the like. But get the Wedding Gar­ment of Christ's Righteousness: and come to his Supper. You may come to the Lord's Supper, if you are not above thirteen or fourteen Years old: some have done so—Think how dread­ful it will be to go to Hell. You can't bear to hold your Hand in the Fire one Minute: and how will you bear to lie in a Lake of Fire and Brimstone for ever?—When you are tempted to neglect praying alone, say, No, I cannot, I must not. It may be, there may be some Child here, that has a Thousand Prayers set down to [Page 20] his Account. And if you will begin now, your Prayers will be set down too.—Own the Cove­nant, and so give up your selves to Christ.

Use the fifth, for Encouragement. Tho' it be a very hard Thing to be good Children, yet Christ can make it easy, and he will do so. Wisdom's Ways are Ways of Pleasantness, & all her Paths are Peace. Christ has said, I love those that love me; and they that seek me early, shall find me. You'l say, I find more Comfort in reading, praying, & think­ing about CHRIST, than ever I did in playing and sinning. The Service of CHRIST is more Pleasant, even for the present, than the Service of the Devil. And it is easier to turn to God now, than it will be when you are grown older. The longer you live in Sin, the harder your Hearts will grow, and the less Mind you will have to repent. You must come to Christ presently, or it may be too late for ever. If your Parents see you begin to be concern'd, & to seek God, they will pray for you, and encourage you. And good Children will be helpful to you. A little Boy not above four Years old, was found teaching his Sister what he knew about God and Christ, and heavenly Things. You are older than that, and therefore, 'tis high Time for you to seek the [Page 21] Lord. If you once begin, all God's People will pray for you. God has promised to pour out his Spirit on his People, & his Blessing on their Offspring. God will rain down his Grace upon you. He has said, All thy Children shall be taught of GOD; and great shall be the Peace of thy Children. Christ is praying for you now in Heaven.

But for your Terror, let me tell you, that if you don't speedily turn to the Lord, it will not be long before you will be burning and roaring in Hell: Then you will think of what you now hear, and will think of it for ever. Christ is angry with you every Day. Can you bear to go to Hell? Your Hearts are harder than Iron if you can think of it without trembling. I am perswaded some of you will be gone for ever in a few Weeks, if you are not converted. Some of you I'm afraid, are grown dead ripe in Sin alrea­dy: And when you come to stand before, the Judgment Seat of CHRIST, I will witness against you; and your Parents will witness against you. And what will you do, when you come to be bound Hand and Foot, and flung into the Mouth of the burning bottomless Pit? You'l cry but, O I can't go down there! but go you must, and lie there forever.

[Page 22]USE last, Of Comfort to good Children; and to wicked Children too, that will now be­gin to be good. Some of you have good Parents now in Heaven. And if you are good, Christ loves you, and will send his blessed Angels to look after you. Christ says, that good Children's Angels always behold the Face of his Father which is in Heaven. You will have the Good of every Thing, Mercies will do you Good, and Afflictions will do you Good.—You shall live with CHRIST, and lie in his Bosom forever: When Christ comes again, and that will be quickly, then he will own you before all the World, and tell of your Love to him, and of all your good Tho'ts, your good Words and Deeds; and when the World is set all on a light Fire (as the Bible tells us it shall be at CHRIST's coming) He will take you up to be with him, and with the good Angels, and with your good Parents, and with all good People, for ever and ever.

AMEN.