Only general directions can here be given.  Much will be left to the discretion of those concerned.

Some of the principal parental duties are, Dedication of their children to God, followed by instruction—­restraint—­good example, and prayer.

We shall treat on each of these briefly in their order.

1.  Of dedication of children to God.  By a godly seed, children consecrated to the service of God, and set apart for him, is commonly intended, This implies some rites of consecration.  These there have been, probably, from the beginning; though we have no information what they were, till the days of Abram.

Before the flood we read of “sons of God” who married “the daughters of men;” a sad union which led to the universal degeneracy of mankind.  The “sons of God” are supposed to have been the descendants of Seth; “the daughters of men,” to have been of the family of Cain.  But why the distinction of “sons of God, and daughters of men?” It arose, no doubt, from external differences.  The former had the seal of godliness set upon them, whatever that seal might be; and were trained up to attend the worship and ordinances of God—­they were visibly of the household of faith; none of which were the case with the latter. * That the former were all renewed, and children of God by regeneration, is not probable—­they are termed sons of God, on account of their covenant relation to him.

* Tenders of pardon and life were made to the whole human race, through a Mediator, and the church at first included the whole family of Adam; but this did not long continue.  Cain, enraged that his offering was not accepted, slew his brother, and “went out from the presence of the Lord”—­left his father’s house, in which God was worshipped, and where his ordinances were administered—­cast off religion, and taught his children to disregard it.  His progeny were not deficient in worldly wisdom.  They cultivated the arts of life, and made improvements in them, as appears from the sketch of their history given by Moses. + But they were without God in the world; having cast off his fear, and the apprehension of his presence, and their accountableness, which often follow the dereliction of the divine institutions.

+ Genesis iv. 17-22.

So the posterity of Jacob were called “the children of God—­the people of God—­a holy seed—­a royal priesthood,” because of their external, nominal distinctions.  These appropriate terms continued as long as they remained God’s visible people, and had the seal of his covenant set upon them, though they had so corrupted themselves as to be even worse than the heathen.  And Jerusalem is called the holy city even after it had filled up the measure of its wickedness by murdering the Lord of glory. *

* Matthew xxvii. 53.

From the days of Abraham, we know the seal of God’s covenant, and how parents have been required to dedicate their offspring to him, as a visible sign of their being consecrated to his service, and as a bond on parents to train them up in his fear.  And those who have been of the household of faith, and been duly instructed, have considered themselves obliged to discharge these duties; nor have they neglected them.