Addresses to old men, and young men, and little children. In three discourses ...…

Indeed-sundry such little Children, have there been among us; but now, as he that heard a story of two faithful Friends, presently said, I would I were a third with them! So, I hope every one of the little Children that have seen these Examples, will say, O that I may be a third! O that I might be like one of these happy Children! But,

Secondly, There are few little Children, that have and own God for their Father. Indeed, those few little Children, that are descended of Believing Parents, have the same God that their Parents have chosen both for themselves & theirs, until they are old enough to revoke or to renew the choice; the Children are included in what their Parents do, and have, until they can stand upon their own Legs; and at what age that is, our God has not, that I remember, expressly spoken; which ought therefore to hasten the cares of little Children, about their own Salvation. Hence we read concerning the children of Believers in I. Cor. 7. 14. They are holy; God accepts them, & regards them, as consecrated unto himself. But of those little Children that are come to a Capacity of acting deliberately and rationally about Eternal Matters, how few are there that carefully say, Let God be a father to me! We may with a special Reference to little Children speak in such terms as those, in Psal. 14. 2,3. The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see of there were any that did understand and seek God; they are all gone aside, they are all-together become ⟨p. 113⟩filthy; there is none that doth good, no, not one. Even so, 'tis a rare thing, an hard thing, among little Children, to find so much as one that has an awful Respect unto all the Commandments of God. About the generality of little Children, it may be complained as in Jer. 4. 22. they are sottish Children, and they have no understanding, they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge or it may be complained as in