Friends, consider how the blessing of the Lord came upon the obedient and faithful to the Lord, and rested upon them. The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and <224> from thy father's house, &c. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, &c. And thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee and thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed [Gen 12:1-3].’ Abraham obeyed the Lord, and went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, and so he left all the religions, and worships, and teachers of the country of the Chaldees behind him, and followed the Lord. And the Lord said unto Abraham, ‘Walk before me, and be thou perfect [Gen 17:1].’ Gen. xvii. 1. And again, the Lord said unto Abraham, ‘Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him [Gen 18:18].’ Gen. xii. 1, 2, 3. and xviii. 18. And again, the Lord said unto Abraham, ‘That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore, and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice [Gen 22:17f].’ Abraham obeying God's voice, brought this blessing upon him, as in Gen. xxii. ‘And the Lord said, I know Abraham that he will command his children and his household after him, that they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham all that which he hath spoken of him [Gen 18:19].’ Now you may see here what it is that brings the blessing, and kept the blessing upon Abraham and his seed, &c. Now if you be of the true faith, you are of Abraham, and are blessed with faithful Abraham [Gal 3:9]. Gal. iii. 9. And in this seed and faith of Abraham, you will command your children and your household after you, to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring the blessing upon you and your household and children; keeping in the same faith and seed of Abraham, and you and your children and your household, keeping in the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, then, I say, the blessing which came upon Abraham will come upon you, and upon your children and your household, and then you will know the promise of God fulfilled; ‘Cursed is he that curses thee, and blessed is he that blesseth thee [Gen 27:29];’ and therefore live and walk in the seed, ‘which bruises the head of the serpent [Gen 3:15],’ . . . <225> . . . . ‘And the Lord said to Isaac, I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, &c. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed [Gen 26:4].’ Gen. xxvi. 4. Now here you may see that Isaac inherited his father's inheritance in the seed, and in the faith and way of the Lord; in which seed all nations are blessed: and so do all they that are of the faith and seed of Abraham, that walk in the steps of faithful Abraham, in the way of the Lord, and obey his voice, inherit the blessing of Abraham; for you may see it was not the only care, that their children might inherit a little earth after them, but that they might inherit the seed and the faith, which had the blessing. And Isaac said to Jacob, ‘God Almighty bless thee, and give the blessing of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed with thee [Gen 28:4].’ Gen. xxviii. And this Isaac spake to Jacob before Jacob had any children; and here you may see Isaac's care, that Jacob and his seed might inherit the faith and blessing of Abraham and Isaac; and this should be their first inheritance, and then they should inherit the outward land. . . . When the Lord said unto Jacob, ‘Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and in thee, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed [Gen 28:14].’ So here you may see Jacob's possession, who did inherit the blessing of Abraham and Isaac; and they that are of the seed and faith, which keep the way of the Lord, they do inherit this blessing in the seed, in which all nations are blest. And this is according to Christ's doctrine, ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you [Mat 6:33],’ to wit, ‘what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewith shall ye <226> be clothed; for after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things [Mat 6:31f].’ And here Christ, (who was of the seed of Abraham, and of David, according to the flesh [Mat 1:1],) would have people to seek their inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, and its righteousness, before they seek outward things. And they were to ‘lay up for themselves treasure in heaven [Mat 6:20], &c. And to know that portion for them and their children. Matt. vi. And the apostle saith, ‘The children of the promise are counted for the seed [Rom 9:8].’ Rom. ix. 8. ‘For in Isaac shall thy seed be called [Gen 21:12, Heb 11:18].’ Gen. xxi. 12. And Christ saith, ‘The good seed are the children of the kingdom [Mat 13:38].’ Matt. xiii. 38. And this is the seed in which all nations are blest, who keep the way of the Lord, and justice, and judgment, such the Almighty hath blessed with ‘the blessings from above, the blessings of the deep, the blessing of the breast, and of the womb [Gen 49:25].’ Gen. xlix. And he will also bless the fruit of the land, ‘thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, and the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep [Deut 7:13].’ Deut. vii. And they that serve the Lord their God, he will bless their bread, and their water [Exo 23:25]. Exod. xxiii. And ‘a faithful man shall abound with blessings [Prov 28:20].’ Prov. xxviii. 20. So you may see, they that are in the faith, and in the holy seed, which keeps in the way of the Lord, and command their children and household to do the same; they have the blessings from heaven above, and the blessings below, yea, the blessings of the eternal inheritance, and of the kingdom of God. And that was their chief inheritance, that all the faithful seed of Abraham sought to possess their household and their children in, who did command their children and household to keep the way of God, that they might inherit the blessing. David saith, ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth meditate day and night [Psa 1:1f].’ Now here is the condition of them that do enjoy the blessing, they must keep from the counsel of the ungodly, and the way of sinners, and the seat of the scornful. Now here you may see David's instruction, how people might inherit the blessing. Levit. x. ‘That you may put a difference between the holy and unholy, and between the clean and unclean, and that you may teach your children all the statutes, which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses [Lev 10:10f].’ And it was so in the old testament, that they might learn the statutes there. Surely much more they are to learn the commands of Christ in his new testament. And in Deut. iv. 9, 10. ‘they were to teach their sons, and their sons' sons [Deut 4:9];’ and again, they were to ‘teach their children, that they might learn to fear God all the days that they lived upon the earth [Deut 4:10],’ <227> &c. This they were to teach their children; and again, in Deut. xi. it was the command of God, that they were to teach their children the commandments of God, and they were to speak of them, when they sat in their house, and when they walked by the way, when they lay down, and when they rose up [Deut 11:19]. And in Deut. xxx. Moses told them, that ‘the word was nigh them, in their mouths, and in their hearts, that they might do it [Deut 30:14].’ And David said, ‘Come, you children, hearken to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord [Psa 34:11]. O fear the Lord, you saints; there is no want to them that fear him [Psa 34:9].’ Psalm xxxiv. 9.11. ‘Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; he is their help and their shield [Psa 115:11].’ Psalm cxv. 11. And you may see all along in the Old Testament, they that feared the Lord were commanded to teach and instruct their children the way of the Lord, that they might walk in it, and inherit the blessing; which was a better portion than outward riches which will pass away; for ‘they make themselves wings and fly away [Prov 23:5].’ Solomon saith, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it [Prov 22:6]. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him [Prov 22:15].’ Prov. xxii. 15. ‘He that spareth the rod, hateth his son; but he that loveth him, chastiseth him betimes [Prov 13:24].’ ‘By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged out; and by the fear of the Lord, they depart from evil [Prov 16:6].’ Prov. xiii. 24. and xvi. 6. And the apostle's command is, ‘for children to obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right [Eph 6:1].’ Eph. vi. 1. and Col. i. 3.20. It is well pleasing to the Lord, children to obey their parents [Col 3:20]. And the bishops or elders, were to rule well their own houses, and to have their children in subjection, with all gravity [1 Tim 3:4]; and likewise, the deacons were to rule their own children and their own houses well [1 Tim 3:12]. Tim. i. 3. And likewise you may see the good report of the widows bringing up children, which followed every good work [1 Tim 5:9f], &c. And in Titus, such as were elders or overseers, their children were to be faithful, not accused of riot, or unruly [Tit 1:6]; and the aged women were to be of good behaviour, as becometh holiness, &c. and teachers of good things; and that they teach the younger women to be sober, &c. And that the word of God be not blasphemed [Tit 2:3-5]. And Titus was to exhort young men to be sober minded [Tit 2:6]. ‘For the grace of God which brings salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world [Tit 2:11f]; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life [Tit 3:7].’ And Peter saith, ‘As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts, in your ignorance; but as he who hath called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation [1 Pet 1:14f]; and be not like them, feeding themselves without fear [Jude 1:12], which <228> are the clouds without rain, and wells without water, and trees without fruit [Jude 1:12/2 Pet 2:17], whom Jude declares against; such cannot eat and drink to the praise and glory of God [1 Cor 10:31],’ &c. So you see what care, both in the old and new testament, the faithful parents had, to teach their children the way of the Lord; and the Lord hath a confidence in all them that fear him, and are of the faith and seed of Abraham, that they will not only admonish their children and household, but command their children and household after them, to keep the way of the Lord [Gen 18:19], &c. Gen. xviii. And to keep out of the wicked ways of the world. The apostle saith, ‘They which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham [Gal 3:9].’ And so are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus; ‘and if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise [Gal 3:29].’ Gal. iii. And so the children of God are counted for the seed [Rom 9:8], which the good seed Christ saith, are the children of the kingdom [Mat 13:38]. And the apostle spake to the Romans, that they should walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham [Rom 4:12]. Again, the apostle saith to the Corinthians, concerning Titus, ‘Walked we not in the same spirit, walked we not in the same steps? [2 Cor 2:18]’ And in the first epistle of Peter, ‘Christ hath suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps, who did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth [1 Pet 2:21f].’ So these were holy steps, and are a religious holy people that walk in the steps of faithful Abraham, and of Christ and the apostles; and these have the pure religion, and do visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and keep themselves unspotted from the world [Jas 1:27]; and these are they that are circumcised with the spirit [Rom 2:29], and baptized with the holy ghost [Mat 3:11], and serve God night and day [Rev 7:15], and worship him in spirit and truth [John 4:24]. And these are the religious families, which are of the holy, divine, pure, and precious faith, which Christ is the author and finisher of [Heb 12:2], which faith purifieth their hearts [Acts 15:9], and is their victory [1 Jn 5:4], by which they have access to God [Rom 5:2], in which they please him [Heb 11:6], in that faith which Christ is the author and finisher of, which is called the gift of God [Eph 2:8]; and they that are of this faith, the same are the children of Abraham, and are blessed with faithful Abraham. And Abraham was called the friend of God [Jas 2:23]; and so are all his children that are of his seed and faith, they are not friends of the devil, the wicked and unrighteous one, but him and his works they forsake, who are friends of God, they are friends of righteousness and holiness, &c. And such the blessings of God rest upon, them that are of the seed, and walk in the seed, Christ, that bruises the serpent's head, and in that seed are all nations blest; and out of the mouth of the seed's seed, shall not God's word depart [Isa 59:21]; but it shall abide in the mouth of the seed's seed, (this living word of God.) But the word of God do not abide in them, who make a profession of the scriptures, but live not in the power and spirit of the holy ghost, that gave forth the <229> scriptures [2 Pet 1:21]; such are like the Jews, John v. and such think to have life in the scriptures, but they will not come unto Christ that they may have life [John 5:39f]; for none come to Christ, but by believing in the light, which is the life in him the word. . . . G. F.