PARENTAL
DESIRE, DUTY, AND ENCOURAGEMENT
John Angell James, April 28, 1810
This, the first of Mr. James's printed works, was preached
on the occasion of his son's baptism.
"I will be a God unto you, and to your children after you."
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is
old he will not depart from it."
"And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live
before You!"
How discordant have been the voices with which the
religious world has answered the momentous question, "What is truth?"
Unhappily for the peace of the church, the various sects of which it is
composed, in replying to this enquiry, seem to have tried how jarring they
could render the sacred tones of religion, by repeating those sentiments in
which they differ—rather than how harmonious, by dwelling on those points in
which they agree. It would be well to consider, how many notes there are
which we could all strike in unison—and among many of this kind, one is, the
importance of the rising generation; or, which is indeed the true meaning of
that expression, of the instruction and government of youth. In
whatever point of view we contemplate this subject, it appears supremely
grand and interesting.
Our children, according as their future character
shall be, must eventually live either in endless happiness--or eternal
woe; and therefore a regard for their welfare should rouse our attention
to their improvement. They are the blossoms of either our earthly
comfort--or distress; therefore a concern for our own peace should induce us
to train them up in the way they should go. They are to be the actors in the
great drama of human life, when we shall have closed our parts, and have
made our exits; therefore benevolence to the world should make us cautious
what characters we send to act upon its stage. If the Redeemer shall have a
church upon earth, after the present generation of believers--our children
are to compose that church; therefore zeal for the divine glory should
engage our most serious application to this part of Christian duty.
If these considerations impress your mind, listen with
solemn and candid attention to the DIRECTIONS with which they are followed.
The text presents us with the example of a father pouring
out to God the warmest wishes of his heart on behalf of his child. That
father is the venerable Abraham. God had just declared to the patriarch his
intention of giving him a son by Sarah his wife. The news was at first
received with joyful astonishment, and adoring gratitude, but a fear soon
arose in his bosom, which damped all his pleasure—What is now to become of
Ishmael? Must he die to make room for the child of promise? Or what would be
still worse, must he become another Cain, and go out from the presence of
the Lord?
We notice here, that much of our present distress arises
from hastiness and impatience of spirit. We are for rushing to the end at
once, and will not wait until God has opened his own designs, and
illustrated his own meaning. We look at detached parts of the embroidery of
Providence, and distress ourselves because we discover a little shade.
Whereas, if we would but permit Jehovah to go on unfolding the whole piece,
we would soon discover that there was no ground of complaint. If Abraham had
waited but a few moments longer, his pleasure would not have experienced
this admixture; but nature struggles, the affections of the father are
troubled for his son, and he exclaims, "Oh that Ishmael might live before
you!" We may, therefore, judge, that this petition expressed a desire, both
for the natural and spiritual life of Ishmael. It seemed to say, "Oh let
this my son live and share the blessings of the covenant, with him who is to
be born of Sarah."
Having thus explained the import of this prayer, I shall
consider—
What blessings a Christian parent should desire from God
on behalf of his children.
What means must be used by him in order to obtain them.
What encouragement the word of God affords him, that the
means will be connected with the end.
I. What BLESSINGS should a Christian parent seek from God on behalf of his
children?
Is it forbidden to desire the continuance of their
natural life? Certainly not; provided that desire be entirely under the
control of submission to the will of God. To shudder at the thought of
seeing the blooming countenance of life exchanged for the pallid face of
death, is the operation of that principle which God himself has planted in
the parent's heart—it is the irresistible impulse of nature—and we are not
required by Jehovah to tear up with indiscriminate violence every natural
feeling of the human bosom; but only to weed out the bad ones, and so to
check and direct the growth of the rest, that they may not attain a wild and
noxious growth which would overtop the judgment, or cast a cold destructive
shadow upon religion itself. What but this strong desire in the bosom of the
parent for the life of the child, is it that prompts to all those unwearied
exertions which are necessary for its preservation? But for such a principle
as this, how many would allow the 'kindling lamp of life' to expire through
neglect, or would extinguish it with violence, rather than endure all the
solicitude and fatigue which are necessary to cherish the vital spark, and
fan it to a flame!
Nor is it forbidden to ask those things for our children
which would contribute so much to their temporal comfort; provided, that
desire be also in entire submission to the will of Jehovah. Industry is part
of religion—indolence one of the vices which it brands with indelible
infamy. "He that provides not for his own household has denied the faith and
is worse than an infidel." Now what is it that keeps the hive of society
from swarming with workers? What is it that braces the arm of industry, and
makes it willing to ply at the oar of labor? What is it that enables you to
refrain from discontent, as you wipe away from your brow the memorial of a
cursed earth? Is it not your children? Is it not a kind concern to provide
for their future needs, or to help them to provide better for themselves.
Who, when he looks over that valley of tears, into which his child has
entered, and through which he must pass, and contemplates squalid poverty,
dire disease, frantic madness, the iron hand of oppression, the eye of envy
rolling in its socket, seeking whom it may devour, the forked tongue of
slander, all like dreadful bandits, infesting his path, and waiting to
assault him; who, I say, can help spreading over him the shield of such a
prayer as this?—'Oh! that Ishmael might live before you!' and have
accomplished in his experience your own words, "He Himself will deliver you
from the hunter's net, from the destructive plague. He will cover you with
His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be
a protective shield. You will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow
that flies by day, the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence
that ravages at noon. Though a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand
at your right hand, the pestilence will not reach you." (Psalms 91:3-7)
Still, however, these things are but secondary objects of
desire with him who contemplates, in its true light, the character and
destiny of that being which with rapture he calls his child. By the aid
of revelation he penetrates the disguise which the helplessness and
unconsciousness of infancy seem to have thrown around the noblest part of
his nature, and discovers through all this--the grandeur and the dignity of
IMMORTALITY. He sees a spark of being which shall go on kindling, until it
has witnessed the extinction of the sun itself--blazed out into eternal
existence. He sees in his countenance, that face which is to shine with the
glory of God, like the sun in the skies--or to be clouded with the infamy
and horror of the divine curse. He hears a voice which is to be forever
hymning the praises of its Creator--or to be forever venting blasphemies
against its Judge. In short, he contemplates a being born for eternity; one
who will be forever towering from height to height of glory in heaven--or
sinking from gulf to gulf of despair in hell.
He reflects that his child is born with the latent seeds
of corruption in his nature, which await only the advancing spring of life
to vegetate, to strike root, to spring up under the fatal warmth of
temptation, and bear the bitter fruits of rebellion against God. He sees, in
imagination, the world, the flesh and the devil, gathering round the very
cradle of his infant, fixing their murderous eyes upon his immortal soul and
going out to prepare for his ruin.
Amidst the throbbing anguish which such reflections
produce in the heart of a believing parent, one thought cheers him, that his
child has entered upon a world where a Savior, wise, powerful and gracious,
waits to offer his grace and guidance, as the "Captain of Salvation," to
conduct him, through all the successive stages of human life, to the
possession and enjoyment of everlasting bliss.
With such reflections as these in his bosom, the truth of
which he can no more doubt, than he can of his own existence, what can, or
what ought a Christian parent to desire for his child, as the grand
ultimatum of all his concern and solicitude, short of everlasting bliss? It
is in this sense that he uses the prayer of Abraham, "Oh that Ishmael might
live before you." If he possesses an immortal soul—if that soul is in danger
of being forever undone—if there be a possibility of his being made
eternally and inconceivably happy—to desire anything for him less than grace
here and glory hereafter is cruelty of the blackest kind.
The salvation of the soul being thus pointed out as the
object which should constitute the first wish of every parent's heart on
behalf of his child, I shall now mention–
II. Those MEANS which must be used by him in order to obtain it.
In the distribution of his favors to the human race, God
generally connects his bounty with our exertions. This remark applies both
to temporal and spiritual benefits. Nor can we expect that even our children
will be blessed, independently of our efforts. If, therefore, it be asked,
what can be done by us that our children may participate in spiritual and
eternal blessings? I answer, in the language of inspiration, "Train up a
child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from
it." This exhortation enjoins the whole extent of religious education; on
which I shall now insist; as an attention to this subject forms the only
rational ground for expectation of the divine blessing on your offspring.
Religious education includes, Discipline, Instruction, Example, and
Prayer—and any system defective in either of these important particulars is
not likely to be attended with success.
1. If we would have our children grow up as we desire, we
must maintain DISCIPLINE
in our families. By discipline, I mean the
exercise of parental authority in enforcing obedience to all suitable
commands and prohibitions.
This part of religious education should begin EARLY.
The importance of this is written upon the whole system of nature, and is
repeated on every page of the history of Providence. The 'supple twig' bends
to your will, while the 'sturdy oak' laughs at your authority. A radical
mistake with many, who see the importance of discipline generally, is an
error as to the period of life, when it ought to commence. They forget that
children are to be brought under the control of authority, long before they
are capable of instruction. The 'tempers of the heart' sprout before the
judgment begins to bud; and therefore before the parent can attend to the
latter, all his care should be directed to the growth of the former. And as
'conscience' at a very early period of childhood ascends her throne in the
bosom, cites the little culprits before her tribunal, and makes them
sensible of her verdict—we should as early, join the exercise of
parental authority with the power of this inward monitor, and impress their
minds with the distinction between right and wrong.
Discipline must be REASONABLE in all its commands,
and that reasonableness should, as much as possible, be seen upon the face
of the command. We should particularly guard against enjoining anything
obviously ridiculous or impracticable. There are few impressions to which
the minds of children are more susceptible than those of ridicule—and any
command, which, when it is attempted to be obeyed, subjects them to the
mortification of either derision or despondency, is destructive of all
confidence in parental discretion; a lack of confidence is soon followed by
contempt, and that as soon by rebellion. As frequently, therefore, as
possible, when the child is capable of reflection, let the reasonableness of
your commands be manifest. But as this cannot always be the case, and where
it cannot, your authority must not give way, I exhort you, by a line of
consummate wisdom towards your children, to transfuse into their minds that
lesson which you have learned with respect to Jehovah--to trust His heart,
where you cannot trace His hand.
Discipline, to be successful, must be STEADY and
UNIFORM. This is of the utmost importance—for depend upon it that a
parent, whose commands spring only from his mood, will soon find to his
cost, that he has taught his child to obey from no other principle.
The first thing to be attended to in a command is, that
it be reasonable; and the second, that it be obeyed. All parents ought to
consider themselves invested by God with a degree of authority, which they
can at no time allow to be trampled under foot by their children, without
despising an ordinance of God. I have been shocked to see some families,
where parental authority seemed to be the result of no principle, subject to
no rule, directed to no end, but caprice. These alternate fits of stern
severity and ruinous indulgence were following each other with most
destructive influence, like a frosty night succeeding a sunny day in the
early spring--to the injury of every tender plant exposed to its baneful
attack. There was nothing belonging to parental authority but the scourge,
and that never used, but in seasons when it ought never to be used at all—in
moments of passion! There were the arms of a weak mother affording an asylum
to the young fugitive, fleeing from the displeasure of a stern father; there
the child, placed between these two extreme sources of ruin--undue severity,
and foolish fondness--was learning to abuse the indulgence of the mother,
and to detest the authority of the father. Christian parents! is it thus you
cause your families to become the nurseries of the church of Christ? alas!
they look more like the hotbeds of sedition, and the schools of political
tyrants.
The great defect in the administration of public justice
in this country is, that the penalties of the law are too severe to be
executed—hence it is that such multitudes are condemned, and compared with
this number so few executed. In consequence of this, the severity of the
threatened punishment loses all its effect in deterring from the commission
of the crime; because of the chance of mitigation which the general practice
of our courts holds out to the offender. Take heed that you do not make this
the fault of your domestic discipline. Never command what you do not mean
to have performed—never threaten what you do not mean to inflict.
Discipline should always be maintained in a spirit of
LOVE. For if indulgence has slain its tens of thousands--severity has
slain its thousands. Man is a creature formed to act more by the constraints
of love than fear; hence says God in speaking of Israel, "I drew them with
cords of love, with bands of a man." Do we not thus learn from him who
constructed the human mind, and of course, best knows the principle on which
its operations are to be directed--that it is to be governed by affection?
Of all the incorrect, unnatural, disgusting associations, which the
disordered state of the moral world ever presented to the eye of an
observer, there is not one more repugnant to the feelings than "a tyrant's
rod, grasped in a father's hand!" We shall generally find that the harsh
language, and frowning countenance, with which a command is uttered, are
more irksome than the command itself. I would entreat you never to forget a
line, which I doubt not you have often repeated to your children, "Let love
through all your actions run."
The nearer you live to their hearts, the more likely you
are to impress them—for the words of our Savior will apply in all their
force to this case, "If you love me, you will keep my commands." Attract
them to love you; and then their own affection will constrain them to obey
you. A child will generally feel no wish to escape from a system of
discipline, which springs entirely from the tenderness of his father.
Parental authority should, to a considerable degree, resemble the magnet,
which while it has all the hard inflexibility of the steel, acts only by the
attractive influence of the loadstone.
And as this applies to the whole of domestic discipline,
so with peculiar force to the PUNITIVE part of it. If there be one
act of paternal authority, which ought to display more affection than the
rest, that act is correction—because there is no act so much in danger of
misconstruction in the mind of the child. And if he be once impressed that
his sufferings are inflicted more to gratify your resentment, than to cure
his faults, he will be likely to feel towards you, as you would towards the
surgeon, who, you were persuaded, tortured you for his pleasure, and not for
your benefit. Let him be convinced that it cost you much anguish to inflict
the least punishment—for as we sympathize with those around us in the
feelings of their mind, a correction given in a rage will be generally
received in a rage. Genuine repentance will be most likely to respond to
genuine affection.
And here I would caution you against the injudicious
conduct of those who substitute the divine threatenings of Scripture, for
parental correction. To resort with a promptitude which has at last the
effect of profaneness, to these awful ideas, on every recurrence of
carelessness and perversity, is the way both to bring those ideas into
contempt, and to make all faults appear equal. It is also obvious, that by
trying this expedient on all occasions, parents will bring their authority
into contempt. If they would not have that authority set at defiance, they
must be able to point to immediate consequences, within their power to
inflict on delinquency. Perhaps one of the most prudent rules respecting the
enforcement, on the minds of children, of the conviction that they are
accountable to an all-seeing, though unseen Governor, and liable to the
punishment of obstinate guilt in a future state--is to take opportunities of
impressing this idea the most cogently, at seasons when the children are not
lying under any blame or displeasure, at moments of serious kindness on the
parts of the parents, and serious inquisitiveness on the part of the
children; leaving in some degree the conviction to have its own effect,
greater or less, in any subsequent instance of guilt, according to the
greater or less degree of aggravation which the child's own conscience can
be made secretly to acknowledge in that guilt. And another obvious rule will
be, that when a child is to be solemnly reminded of these religious
sanctions in immediate connection with an actual instance of criminality in
his conduct, that instance should be one of the most serious of his faults,
and one which will bear the utmost seriousness of such all admonition.
Discipline should respect each child in particular
according to his individual disposition. In the same family, there may
be a variety of dispositions, which will require a varied method of
treatment--in addition to the general principles of education which apply
alike to all minds. And therefore, as the farmer consults the nature of his
land, adapting the seed to the soil; and as the physician studies the
constitution of his patient, suiting the remedy to the disease; so ought
every parent to study the dispositions of all his children, that he may
adapt his discipline to the peculiarities of their respective tempers. And
it requires no unusual amount of wisdom to discover wherein those
peculiarities consist; for as the sun is seen most clearly when rising and
setting, so the dispositions of mankind are discovered most distinctly in
childhood and in old age.
Almost every child has some predominant feature of mind,
which should be most assiduously checked or cherished, as it is either
amiable or hateful. All have their besetting sins, which will be likely to
expose them, in future life, to peculiar danger; and which, in dependence on
divine grace, the parent should endeavor to tear up as roots of poison. And
they each have some distinguishing traits of excellence, which should be
seized as the helm of the mind, to steer it in safety, through the dangers
with which it is surrounded.
It may, perhaps, after all that I have said, be asked by
some, what has this to do with religion? To this it might be sufficient to
reply--Did not Jehovah, with most emphatic marks of his divine commendation,
mention the order of Abraham's family? "I know him, that he will command
his children, and his household after him; and they shall keep the way
of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." On the other hand, with what awful
marks of divine displeasure did he punish the lack of discipline in Eli's
family! "I am about to do something in Israel that everyone who hears about
it will shudder. On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said
about his family, from beginning to end. I told him that I am going to judge
his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are
defiling the sanctuary, and he did not restrain them. Therefore, I
have sworn to Eli's family. The iniquity of Eli's family will never be wiped
out by either sacrifice or offering." (1 Samuel 3:11-14) Heart-rending doom!
Parents, take warning!
That discipline is connected with religion is plain—for
what, in truth, is religion? Is it not choosing the will of God in
preference to our own—bending our will to his absolute authority—implicitly
obeying his commands—cheerfully acquiescing in his determinations without
murmuring? And is not every parent to his child in God's stead? And thus by
being trained up to consider and obey the authority of his parent as
absolute, the child is gradually taught to bow down to the will of
Jehovah.
2.
INSTRUCTION
is the next branch of religious education. It would be
quite needless to combat the absurdity of those who would have children left
altogether untaught in religious opinion, until they arrive at years of
mature judgment to choose for themselves their own creed. If religion were
nothing but speculation—if the mind were inaccessible to sin and Satan until
adult age—if the character could grow up lovely in the sight of God
independently of the very means which he has established for this end—if a
system of education, in which religion is totally neglected, be more likely
to engage their attention to it hereafter, than one, where it is held up as
an object of supreme importance—only then could we admit the idea that no
pains should be taken to teach them the principles of religion. Such a
sentiment may do very well for those who hold that the child is innocent and
indifferent to error; but not for those who believe that good conduct can be
expected only from right principles.
I shall consider,
1. The MATTER of instruction. And this must be the
doctrines and the duties of Scriptural revelation. Many think that only the
preceptive part of Scripture should be taught to children—as if the morality
of the Bible were in its own nature, or could be taught to us, totally
independent of its doctrines. The foundation of all the precepts of the New
Testament is laid in its great fundamental doctrinal truths. The morality of
the Christian religion is not of that flimsy kind which many imagine—it is
not merely action; but action springing from good principles, flowing in a
right direction, and tending to a proper end. To teach a child Christian
morals, and leave him ignorant of every truth which identifies its nature,
by distinguishing it from every other system, is a deplorable manner of
training him up, "in the fear, and nurture, and admonition of the Lord."
You are bound by the sacred authority of God's word, to
instruct your children in the knowledge of the divine character, as an
omnipresent, omniscient, holy, just, wise, powerful, gracious being, the
true God, and God of truth—in the character, the work, and the love of
Christ—in the degenerate state of the human heart, with the necessity of an
entire renovation of the mind, by the influence of the divine Spirit—in the
way of acceptance with God, through faith in the great Mediator—in their
accountability to God, as the judge of human conduct; and a future state of
happiness and woe.
Let not your minds be diverted from an attention to this
important duty, by supposing that such points are entirely beyond the
capacity of children; for, in addition to the observation that they
understand more than we are aware of, I may remark, that it is entirely a
mistake to imagine, that in order to derive benefit from a doctrine revealed
to our faith, it is necessary that we should comprehend that doctrine in its
full extent. Who can grasp the thought of omnipresence, as an attribute of
Jehovah? and yet, who may not derive the most extensive benefit from a
belief of this unfathomable idea? And the same observation might be made
with respect to many other important truths of revelation, the existence of
which is all that is the object of faith--while the mode of that existence
is left for the discoveries of eternity to unfold.
But while I enjoin an attention to the foundation, I
would be equally solicitous in calling your notice to the superstructure.
Assiduously inculcate upon your offspring every moral, relative and every
social duty. Teach them that holiness is necessary both to our felicity on
earth and in heaven; and that it includes everything we owe to God as
creatures and as sinners—everything we owe to man, in all the different
relationships by which we are connected with the human race.
2. The MANNER of religious instruction should also be
regarded with attention. This of course, should be as much adapted to the
capacity of the child as is possible. The historical parts of Scripture may
be employed by every judicious parent, as a medium of conveying instruction
to the youthful mind. Children are generally more attached to these parts of
God's Word than to any other; and as they contain so many instances in which
the anger and the grace of God are displayed, they should be pointed out as
exemplifying the divine attributes and displaying in striking colors the
degenerate state of the human heart. And when the characters of Scripture
are set before us on one page, acting under the dreadful power of sin; and
on the next, converted by the grace of God; they afford an opportunity of
explaining what man is by nature--and what he must be by grace. In the
conduct of eminent believers, and especially in the actions of our blessed
Redeemer, are examples to which we might direct their attention for a view
of Christian virtues. And by teaching them to observe the workings of their
own minds, how much of the deceitfulness and wickedness of the human heart,
might they be brought to discover.
Catechizing, by the experience of all ages, has been
proved to be an excellent method of communicating religious knowledge—and
what advantages do you possess in the incomparable productions of the
children's spiritual friend, Dr. Watts! I should also advise you, not merely
to allure your offspring to read the Word of God—which certainly ought to be
most assiduously done—but also to learn to memorize select and
impressive portions of Scripture. You thus give them a Bible in their
minds, which they may find of essential service to them, long after they
have lost that which you committed into their hands. To enliven the task,
one of Dr. Watts's hymns should be occasionally taught; but, for the most
important of all reasons, because it is the Word of God, I would have their
memory chiefly stored with Scripture.
Instruction should not be confined merely to stated
seasons, as in other branches of education; but it ought to occupy a
considerable share of the common conversation of the parent. I
greatly fear that there are multitudes of Christian parents who never open
their lips to their children on the subject of religion, except on a
Sabbath-day evening. This grand and important topic, all the rest of the
week, is "lost in silence and forgotten." And is not this training them up
to follow to perdition the millions who have plunged into remediless ruin,
by the mistake, that godliness is only a Sunday's concern; a thing to be put
on and off with the Sunday dress?
Observe, I entreat you, the method which Infinite Wisdom
has prescribed for this interesting duty, "You shall teach these words
diligently unto your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in
your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when
you rise up." The occurrences of every day, of every hour, would present a
proper occasion of instructive observation. Afflictions, and remarkable
dispensations of mercy, which follow each other in our own, or in our
neighbor's circumstances, in such rapid succession; the ravages of disease,
the visits of death, which in this mortal state are scenes so frequently
before our eyes; these and innumerable other events may, by a judicious,
holy parent, be made the constant preachers of religion—and when it is thus
taught, it is represented as an every day's concern.
Still, I do not mean to say, that for a work so important
and necessary as that which I am now enforcing, there should be no stated
seasons. Among various other gracious and wise purposes for which the
Sabbath was instituted, one is, that we might have more than ordinary time,
to attend to the religious instruction of our families. And O how many
things combine to render this a season peculiarly suitable. Then, when
entirely detached from worldly concerns—when the parent's own mind is
devoutly impressed with the supreme excellence and importance of eternal
things, by looking through the veil of ordinances into eternity itself—when
he returns to the bosom of his family, with all the savor of true religion
on his mind—when he has just been stimulated to parental duty, and animated
with the sweet theme of parental encouragement—when the subjects of public
discussion form a topic for private instruction—then let every father, every
mother, not squander away the precious moments which occur between the
public services of the day; nor trifle away the 'golden season' by
frivolous, idle conversation; but, dividing their little charge between
them, endeavor to lead their minds to God.
Here I must also seriously admonish you to attend to the
'spirit of instruction' as well as to the letter of instruction. In this
particular, I must again express my fears that many parents are criminally
neglectful. Instruction itself is but a means to an important end—that end
is impression—serious, lasting, deep impression. Religion is a thing to be
felt, as well as known. It is not merely an outward form, but an inward
principle! But, alas! this is forgotten by multitudes, as it applies to
themselves; and by multitudes more, as it applies to their children. One
would be led to imagine, from a survey of their actions, either that their
offspring were naturally incapable of feeling the power of true piety, or
that it was no part of their duty, as parents, to endeavor that they should
experience this influence.
The only faculty of their children's mind which many
attempt to bring under the control of religion, is the memory. And with
others, who rise one step above them, the highest object of their pursuit is
to give them knowledge, without attending at all to its influence upon their
heart and conscience. It is flattering, no doubt, to a parent's vanity, to
hear a child astonish us by the strength of his memory, in repeating
catechism and hymns; but what does it profit his immortal soul, if
'repetition' be all that he is taught? For my part, "I would rather hear him
speak five words with his understanding, than ten thousand words in an
unknown tongue." It is with them, as with ourselves, "Though they understand
all mysteries, and all knowledge, and have not love, they are nothing."
To have a knowledge of the truths of Scripture, without an experience of
their influence upon the heart, is only walking to the bottomless pit with
the torch of truth in our right hand! If, then, you would come up to the
scriptural standard of religious education, admonish them with earnest,
affectionate, persevering entreaty, "To remember their Creator in the days
of their youth."
I particularly recommend separate advice to each child
alone. General addresses are frequently evaded by the very people to whom
they are directed—we are apt to hide ourselves in a crowd; and are too much
engaged in applying reproof to others, to remember how suitable it is to
us—thus using their guilt as a broad, impenetrable shield, to ward off the
arrows of conviction from ourselves. Take your children separately into your
closet; and there, when they can find no shelter from reproof, no shield
against conviction, no possibility of forgetting that they are the single
objects of parental advice and affection; there pray with them and for them;
there pour out to God the wishes of your heart on their behalf; there
entreat them to cheer their parent's heart by choosing the God of their
fathers as their portion and their friend. Oh! the moving, melting power of
such admonition!
And, as you wish not to counteract all the efforts which
you are using for the salvation of your children, do not teach them to think
lightly of the work and character of their public instructors. Convince them
that these are seeking, in public, what you are in private, their eternal
happiness. Take them constantly to the house of God, and instruct them to
listen with solemn attention to the exhortations which come from the pulpit.
Never, never, in their hearing, indulge a criticizing, faultfinding spirit,
or you will soon induce them to believe that they go to the house of God
only as fault-catchers. "If you take a malignant pleasure in flinging your
censures on your minister, and caviling at his discourses, you are
scattering round your families the seeds of damnation, and are not to wonder
when you see them gathering the fruits, by despising religion, and
preferring a novel, or a play, to those sermons which you have taught them
to revile."
3. If you would give either meaning or force to anything
you say, add to instruction a holy and suitable EXAMPLE. We are all,
to a very considerable degree, influenced by example, and especially
children—for 'imitation' is the regent of their soul; and those who are
least capable of reason, are most swayed by example. They are remarkably
acute in observing the slightest deviations in others from those precepts
which are enjoined upon them, and more readily believe their eyes than their
ears.
Example derives much of its force from these three
circumstances—the regard we feel for the person in whom it is exhibited; the
agreement of our taste with his conduct; and the frequency which we possess
of witnessing that conduct—and when these things all combine, we are
irresistibly carried away by their force, like the little rivulet swelling
into the mighty torrent of the mountain. Parents, remember that all these
circumstances meet in your example, to give it power over the minds of your
offspring, if your conduct be any way inconsistent with your profession as
Christians. Such, alas! is the degeneracy of man by nature, that evil has
abundantly more power over us than good; it falls in with the current of the
heart. Hence there is in their minds a principle which gives amazing force
to everything wrong in your conduct; for, at the same time, it is an example
always before their eyes, and the example of one whom duty constrains and
nature prompts them to love. They are much more likely to do as you do--than
as you say. While they are able to reply, "You who teach others;
don't you teach yourselves?" all the convictions which you would fasten upon
their minds will bound off, like arrows from an impenetrable shield.
And I am fearful that it is too necessary to say
something on the nature of that example which every Christian parent should
place before the eyes of his children. It is not sufficient that the copy be
without the foul and dismal blots of immorality; it must exhibit all the
lines and characters of the beauties of holiness—a mere blank may not teach
them any flagrant vice, but it will not instruct them in any spiritual
excellence. The example of many seems only to guard their offspring
against going to perdition in the broad high road of profanity, while it
leaves all the more secret, though not less ruinous paths of destruction
open to their choice. I would recommend, as a most important point, a
constant, sincere, unostentatious display of eminently spiritual religion—a
line of conduct, throughout the whole of which, true godliness is seen to
reign; in which there should be knowledge guiding affection—the ardor of the
Christian, without the wildness of the enthusiast—holy joyfulness, without
sinful levity—exemplary holiness, without monkish gloom—vigilance in serving
God, without indolence in worldly duties—piety towards Jehovah, blended with
meekness, benevolence, and affection towards mankind—religion surrounding
with its radiant glory, the father, the husband, the master, and the
neighbor; like the brilliant gem, sparkling amidst the polished gold—in
short, morality, in all its branches, springing from sterling godliness.
There should be uninterrupted consistency of conduct. A
Christian in the church, a worldling everywhere else—a saint at the family
altar and a cruel tyrant at the family table—always at public worship and
never in private worship—fawning and courteous towards the richer brethren,
and contemptuous towards the poor—one day all for God, and the next, all for
the world, Satan, and self. Such an example as this, if it does anything,
will do mischief—for your children will soon find out whether there be
consistency in your conduct; and a defect here will counteract all the
influence of partial and occasional godliness. I entreat you therefore to
consider the importance of consistent spiritual religion; for as your
offspring very soon understand that divine aphorism, "Out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaks."
If they hear and see nothing in your conduct, except on a
Sabbath day, that directs their minds to eternal objects, they can hardly be
persuaded that those objects engage much of your affection. When they see
you so absorbed in worldly concerns, as to secure scarcely any time for the
duties of the closet or the family, running through them with negligent
haste, sometimes omitting them altogether--what can they imagine, but that
religion is merely a thing to talk about. If you thus convert your house
into a temple of Mammon, can you wonder to see them growing up the
worshipers of that idol, which, by your conduct, you have taught them to
adore? When they see you indulging in as much conformity to the world as you
can, without giving up the very profession of Christianity, what force will
your exhortation carry with it, when you thus admonish them, "Be not
conformed to this world?" When your house is never the resort of the
righteous, but only of the mirthful, the worldly, and the rich, how can you
expect that they will listen to your advice, to choose only the the godly as
their companions?
If then, you would wish your children to go to heaven, do
not think merely of sending them there, but lead them; for, as
Tillotson observes, "to give them good instruction, and a bad example, is
but beckoning to them with the head, to shew them the way to heaven; while
we take them by the hand, and lead them in the way to hell."
Before I leave this part of my discourse, I would also
insist upon the necessity of not only setting them good examples at home,
but of using the utmost caution that they be not exposed to the contagion of
bad example abroad. It should therefore be your business to select for them
suitable companions. "He that walks with wise men, shall be wise; but a
companion of fools shall be destroyed." One bad associate, negligently
admitted to your children, may be the first step to irretrievable ruin. Many
a wretch, from the scaffold, has traced back his infamy to this source—and
many, in a still more dreadful situation, are cursing the day in which they
first formed an unsuitable connection with a companion who led them astray
from God.
Of course, this establishes also, the importance of
choosing a proper person to superintend the general education of your
children. I wish there were no just ground for reproach on many Christian
parents, for neglecting this momentous subject. It is a lamentable fact, to
the existence of which the experience of multitudes can testify, that one
single week at school has frequently effaced from the mind the good
impressions which were the result of years of parental solicitude and
instruction at home. There is scarcely one single act of a parent's conduct
which requires so much holy caution as the choice of a school, and yet with
many people scarcely one that receives so little. What a shameful neglect is
it, both of Christian principle and parental care, to make choice of a
situation for the benefit of a few showy and useless accomplishments, or, at
best, literary advantages, where the soul, the immortal soul, is the last
object of regard. Christian fathers and mothers! how can you ask of God with
any degree of confidence, that he would save your children from being
devoured by the roaring lion, when you yourselves have thrown them into his
very den?
4. Let it not be supposed that any system of education
can be complete without PRAYER.
"Every good gift, and every perfect gift, comes down from
the Father of lights." Without the sacred influence of the Divine Spirit,
the most judicious, affectionate, and persevering efforts will fall short of
the desired end. It is, however, an encouraging thought, that, as no heart
is so hardened by age and sin, but that the omnipotent grace of God can
renovate it; so there is none so tender in childhood but that he can
inscribe upon it his name and his image. Let us therefore "pray without
ceasing;" since it holds as true, with respect to children, as to the most
aged and obstinate transgressor, that "Paul may plant and Apollos water--but
God gives the increase." Not one soul was ever converted to God
independently of his grace. This work is entirely his own, yet he generally
performs it by blessing human means. But I need not enlarge on this head, as
it is, perhaps, that part of parental duty which is less neglected than any
other by real Christians. Multitudes pray, who do nothing else; but let such
remember that we must seek as well as ask.
Having thus considered the means which should be used by
every Christian parent for the salvation of his children, I will,
III. Exhibit the
ENCOURAGEMENT
which the Scriptures afford, that such exertion will be
blessed to the accomplishment of their desired end.
How frequently is it the case, that when we admonish you
to the use of such means as I have mentioned, you turn away and exclaim,
"Ah! but we cannot give grace to our children." Sometimes this is the excuse
of indolence and cruel indifference. You do not act thus with respect to
their bodies, although it is as much beyond your power to make their food
nourishing as it is to make the means of salvation useful; and no one could
stand acquitted of the charge of murder, who starved his child, because he
could not bless his food. But this exclamation is sometimes the result of
ignorance and error; and thus, through mistaken views of divine truth, many
go with a forlorn hope to that work which affords the greatest encouragement
to success. One would be led to suppose from such people that education,
carried on with a view to real religion, were an experiment upon the human
mind altogether beyond the directions of Scripture; and the success of which
was not only doubtful, but very unlikely. What then, does the Word of God
give us no encouragement to attempt the salvation of our children? Has
Jehovah, ever attentive in other things to the happiness of his people,
passed over in profound silence a subject which involves so much of their
comfort? Has he given us no ground to hope that our exertions will be
blessed? Has he left our hearts to be tossed about upon an ocean of doubt
and agitation without a rudder or a compass? Certainly not. His Word is full
of encouragement. Everything warrants the expectation that an affectionate,
diligent, scriptural system of education will be blessed to the salvation of
our offspring. The Divine Command and the Divine Conduct, both encourage
such a hope.
1. The DIVINE COMMAND
warrants this expectation. We certainly have some ground to expect the
possession of a blessing, which is to be obtained, in the use of certain
means, when we are really using the very means which God himself has
appointed for that purpose. For while he leaves ample room for the exercise
of his own wise sovereignty, he certainly does not mean to mock us by
setting us upon the performance of certain actions, which have no tendency,
no connection, no end. It is the property of folly, and not of consummate
wisdom, to act without rule and without design. Indeed, the expectation
which I am endeavoring to excite, you indulge with respect to almost all
other ordinances. Why, when your eyes look round upon a crowded auditory,
sitting under the sound of the Gospel, why thrills your heart with this
delightful sentiment, "Surely some wanderers from God and bliss will be
gathered into the fold of Christ tonight?" Is it not for these two reasons,
that God has appointed the preaching of the Gospel for the conversion of
sinners, and that there is a fitness between the means and the end? Is it
not for the same reasons that you expect to be edified by prayer, reading
the Scriptures, sitting down at the table of the Lord, hearing sermons? Why
then should the religious education of children be the only ordinance which
fails to produce expectation of success. That it is an ordinance of God, is
evident from his Word; for was it not under the spirit of inspiration that
Solomon exhorted you "to train up a child in the way he should go," and that
Paul said, "You fathers, bring up your children in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord?" And that the means are suited to the end needs no
proof. Take heed, then, of dishonoring God, by thinking lightly of his
institutions.
2. This expectation is strengthened by a review of the
DIVINE CONDUCT. Look at the church of
God. Of whom is it chiefly composed? Do we not find that a very large
proportion of its members are the seed of the righteous? For while the curse
of God, like the air of a pestilence, enters invisibly into the families of
the wicked; the blessing of God, like the light of heaven, silently descends
into the habitation of the just. As the oil poured on the head of Aaron,
which flowed down to the skirts of his garment, so have we often seen the
blessing of God flowing from the parent down to the youngest branch of the
household. I acknowledge that, frequently, Jehovah "calls those to be a
people who were not a people; for he has mercy on whom he will have mercy,
and whom he will he hardens;" but, generally, he raises up the son in the
stead of the father. The church, like the fabled phoenix, seems to grow old,
expire, and from its own ashes send forth a successor. The instances of
conversion in advanced age, compared with those which take place in early
life, are rare; and, indeed, many of those which do occur, seem to be only
the resurrection of impressions long buried under a heap of youthful
passions and worldly cares. How often have we heard the rapturous
exclamation of the Christian father, "Rejoice with me, for this my son was
dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." The prodigal left his
father's house, but could not leave altogether his parent's instructions;
these, although apparently lost to him, were still in the keeping of his
conscience. The sun of prosperity shone out its day, and then sunk down
behind the hills of dissipation, and the night of affliction, dreary and
tempestuous, followed. And this was the time for conscience to do its
work—then, amidst the surrounding darkness, rose in rapid succession the
long forgotten counsels of parental solicitude; and the very instructions
which he once shunned as his enemies, were embraced by him as his guides, to
lead him to his father and his God.
These observations, of course, apply only to those places
where Christianity is known and professed; for when the Gospel comes to a
people who have long sat in darkness, we may expect numerous converts of all
ages; but when it has been long preached in purity and plenty, when
ordinances have been regularly kept up, few, comparatively speaking, but
those who are called in early life, are ever called at all. Mr. Baxter, in
some part of his works, has this opinion, that if family instruction were
properly and generally maintained, preaching would soon cease to be the
common method of conversion. Thus sentiment, although it be certainly rather
hyperbolical, deserves regard. And it is corroborative of all that I have
said, that most of those who are recorded on the page of inspiration as
eminent for piety, were called by God in early life; such, for instance, as
Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon, Josiah, Jeremiah, Obadiah, Daniel,
John the Baptist, Timothy; and no other reason, says the judicious
Witherspoon, has ever yet been given for our Savior's distinguishing John
the apostle by particular marks of affection, except that he was the
youngest of the twelve. (See Witherspoon's Sermons, vol. 4.)
And here it will not be amiss to observe, that the very
expectation itself which I am now encouraging, has considerable influence in
attaining the desired end. Is it not one of those means which God frequently
uses in the salvation of the children of his people? In a thousand instances
we perceive that, when God intends to bestow a great and signal benefit, he
first excites a cheerful expectation and desire. Do we not learn from his
Word that the chief qualification, if so it may be called, for receiving
many of his favors, is the earnestness of our desire, and the firmness of
our expectation of them? Generally speaking, the most hopeful parent will be
the most successful one. A mind paralyzed with despair, or even benumbed
with despondency, is likely to do very little in the way of beneficial
exertion. It is an old, but it is a very true proverb, "He that thinks he
works for a song, is not very likely to sing at his work;" and it may be
said concerning religion, as well as of everything else, that hopelessness
and lifenessness are a wedded pair. Hence, when the bosom of the Christian
parent beats high with the pleasing expectation of seeing his efforts
crowned with the salvation of his child, what fervor does such a hope impart
to his prayers! what delight, what animation, what patience, to all his
exertions! On the other hand, how dull, laborious, and irksome are those
endeavors which are carried on with a fearful despondency of success!
But now, what shall I answer to the objection which some,
perhaps, may oppose to all that I have said, by asking, "Is not this
reasoning against fact; for do we not see the children of many eminent
believers living 'without God and without hope in the world?' Do we not read
of such instances in Scripture? Was it not the case with the very child for
whom the prayer which forms the text was uttered?"
It is painful to force the wounded spirits of those who
are conscious of sinful neglect, to bring sufficient arguments to confute
this objection. Many, I am persuaded, are feeling all the agony of a
bleeding heart, in seeing their children walking in the broad road to
destruction; to whom it may seem an unnecessary and wanton renewal of their
anguish, to hear it said that the dagger which wounded them was their own
neglect. But, for the instruction of others it must be declared, that many,
very many of the instances alluded to, may be traced to parental
delinquency.
Look into the practice of Christian parents in general,
and you will not search long without finding various obstacles to the
success of religious education. By how many are the means of instruction
totally neglected, with how many more is it nothing else than a lifeless
form; a part of the employment which is destined to fill up the hours of the
Sabbath not devoted to public worship! The relaxation of domestic discipline
with some; the opposite extreme of undue severity in others; the limitation
of instruction to principles, while their influence on the heart and
character is disregarded; the unsuitable temper and conduct of many who
impart the best instructions; the neglect of choosing proper companions,
schools, and situations in life for children; these, and various other
sinful defects are sufficient to account for a very large proportion of the
cases, to which I have been directed by the objection.
And if you refer to the examples produced from Scripture,
in which the children of the righteous knew not the God of their fathers,
you will find some glaring impropriety in parental conduct. Who can wonder
to read of the crimes committed by Hophni and Phinehas, when he recollects
the want of discipline in Eli's family? Who is surprised to hear the
sorrowful accents of David's confession, "My house is not so with God," when
he considers the awful backslidings of that great man, and reads, besides
this, "that he had never displeased the wicked Adonijah, by saying, why have
you done so?" Did not a wicked Esau descend from a partial father, and
Simeon and Levi from an indulgent one? And with respect to Ishmael, his
circumstances were so peculiar that his future conduct forms no objection
whatever to the principle which I have endeavored to establish.
Still, however, it must be admitted that there are not a
few instances in which the most judicious system of education has been quite
unsuccessful. The most affectionate discipline, the most scriptural
instructions, the most holy example, the most fervent prayer, have sometimes
proved no obstacles, or at least but ineffectual ones, in the career of a
profligate child. And where this is unhappily the case, we can only
recommend to such afflicted parents the consolation of David, who, even upon
this dark and dismal cloud, saw as it were the beauteous colors of the
rainbow, the emblem of the covenant, and exclaimed, "Although my house be
not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in
all things, and sure; for this is my salvation, and all my desire, although
he make it not to grow." Such cases only prove that God is a sovereign in
the distribution of his favors, but do not at all destroy the connection
which he himself has established between the means and the end—they do not
disprove the sentiment as a general principle, but only prove that it is not
an invariable rule—they excite just so much fear as is sufficient to
preserve our hope from degenerating into unwarrantable presumption.
I will now
CONCLUDE by addressing—
1. Those parents who altogether neglect the religious
education of their children. Unnatural fathers! wicked mothers! I
address you as the advocate of those whom you are solemnly bound by every
tie of nature and religion to conduct to the highest bliss of which their
nature is susceptible, but whom your cruel neglect abandons to the most
horrid misery which they can possibly endure. This is a species of cruelty
to be found no where else in the whole universe but in your bosom; every
other creature teaches its young to seek the highest good which their nature
can enjoy, and to exercise the chief faculties of which it is capable. "The
sea monsters draw out their bosom to their young. The eagle stirs up her
nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears
them on her wings. The young lions roar after their prey and seek their
meat," taught by the parent beast; while you habitually neglect to instruct
your offspring in everything which can establish and perpetuate their real
felicity.
But for the kind instruction of some benevolent stranger,
or the mere accident of their falling into association with others better
taught than themselves, your children would to this hour have remained
almost entirely ignorant that they had a soul, or that it was necessary to
make any effort for its salvation. "You would not have your love for them
suspected; but wretched indeed are those children who share only in a
solicitude which asks, 'What shall they eat; what shall they drink; or with
what shall they be clothed?' What is the body to the soul? What is time to
eternity? What is it to dispose of them advantageously in life, and leave
them unprepared for death; unprovided for a new, a never-ending, a
changeless period of existence? Are you the instruments of bringing these
hapless beings into existence--only barbarously to sacrifice them? Such
parents are more cruel than Herod. He slew the children of others, these
slay their own. He only destroyed the body, these destroy the soul." (Mr.
Jay.)
Permit me to mention to you one of the cruel practices of
the ancient Carthaginians. They had a detestable idol, to which they offered
up their children in sacrifice, and which was so formed that an infant put
into its hands stretched out to receive it, would immediately fall into a
gulf of fire. The mothers themselves performed the dreadful rites, by giving
their own offspring into the hands of the idol, and always thought it an
unfortunate omen if the little victim were offered weeping, and therefore by
apparently fond kisses and caresses endeavored to extort a smile at the
dreadful moment when it was given into the hands of the hideous image. You
shudder at the recital. You call such parents savage monsters.
But pause for a moment, and enquire if there be nothing
like this in your conduct. Is not sin an idol more dreadful still? Are not
its hands ever stretched out to receive its unhappy victims? Is there not a
gulf of fire below, to receive them as they drop from its grasp? Are you not
sacrificing your children to this dreadful idol? Is not all your concern for
their temporal interest, while you neglect their souls, only a cruel
solicitude that they may pass smiling into the hands of the destroyer?
Imagine, said Mr. Flavel, that you had carried the plague
into your family, and lived to witness your children lie dying by the walls
of your house, surely if not possessed of a tiger's heart, such a spectacle
must pierce you to the very soul. Oh consider! that very scene, only of a
moral kind, is before you—your children are infected with the plague of the
heart, and they derived the disease from you. Yes, they have derived from
you a depraved nature, and can you witness them with indifference sinking
into eternal death through the malady which they caught first from you? Can
you be satisfied to have been thus accessory to their ruin, and now make no
effort by religious instruction to stop the spreading contagion? What
cruelty! What barbarity!
If nothing else will move you to a consideration of this
subject, permit me now to direct your view forward to that time when the
guilt and punishment of such neglect will be felt in all their tremendous
weight. The solemn period is rapidly approaching when you must meet those
very children at the bar of a justly offended God, whose souls form no
object of your present regard. It will be a dreadful interview. No language
can describe, no imagination can conceive the horrors of that scene when
they, dreadful idea, shall be your most violent and bitter accusers. In
addition to all the weight and torment of your own curse, what unspeakable
anguish will your hearts feel when such language as this issues from the
lips of your now loving and beloved child. "There stand the guilty beings
whom I once honored as my parents, but whom I now execrate as the murderers
of my immortal soul! Cruel monsters! Is this the end of your parental
affection? See to what misery of your own offspring you have been
instrumental. What avails it now that you provided for me a fortune? Riches,
honors, pleasures, are now forever gone. Why did you keep me in fatal
ignorance of true religion? Why did you choose for me only such companions
as would be fellow-workers with you in the dreadful business of my ruin?
When did you ever admonish me to seek the Lord? Had you attended to my soul,
as you ought to have done, instead of training me up in the way of
ignorance, pride, and wickedness--I might have now been with yonder happy
throng, and not thus branded with the infamy and horror of the divine curse.
Since you have dragged me into the vortex of perdition, you have only
brought me to be your eternal tormentor; for while I feel any sense of the
happiness which I have forever lost, or of the misery to which I am forever
condemned, I shall never cease to execrate the names of those who had so
large a share in my damnation!"
Avoid this dreadful scene! Escape, I beseech you, this
terrible accusation! But ah! what can I expect from you, with respect to the
souls of your children, while your own soul is neglected, abandoned, and
despised! Here the mischief begins. You see no danger in your own condition
as a sinner, and are not likely to see any in theirs. You feel no joy, you
perceive no beauty, you estimate no worth in religion, and how can we expect
that you should recommend it to them. Ignorant, you cannot teach; blind, you
cannot guide; dead, you cannot animate. In your own pursuits the salvation
of the soul is the last object of desire and exertion, and it is not
probable that you will make it the first in your attention to them. Begin,
then, I entreat you, this vital, this important, this necessary duty--by
fleeing to the Savior for that mercy which you have hitherto despised.
"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved and your house."
Do not, I beseech you, by neglecting religion, as with the same fatal
dagger, commit suicide on your own soul, and murder on the souls of your
children. But rather like Noah, enter into the ark provided against the
deluge of divine wrath, taking with you your sons and your daughters.
2. Christian parents! you whose greatest felicity in the
possession of children is derived from devoting them to God, and training
them up for him, I earnestly admonish you to go forward in this good work.
A variety of motives might be adduced to urge on your persevering and
vigilant exertions; but I will now name only one, and that shall be, the
prospect and consequences of success. What if God should hear your prayer!
What if Ishmael should live before him! What if you should soon encircle in
the arms of affection, children doubly yours--yours by the ties of nature,
and also by the bonds of saving religion! O with what sacred raptures of
delight will you mark the dawn of reason, followed by the day of grace! O to
see the character of the man gradually forming under the influence and
guidance of true piety! What new pleasure will you derive from all your
fellowship with your children, when you realize in them your fellow soldiers
in the Christian combat, your fellow laborers in the Christian employ, your
fellow travelers in the Christian pilgrimage, and your fellow heirs to the
Christian inheritance. Now you feel considerable joy in leading them in your
hand to the house of God, and hearing them join the sacred melody of the
service, with lisping and perhaps unmeaning praises; but what is this to the
joy which you will experience when you hear them exclaiming from choice, "I
was glad when they said unto me let us go up into the house of the Lord!"
What new pleasure and interest will you find in our
social meetings for prayer, when your own sons are the leaders of your
devotion, and your advocates with God! With what fresh relish will you
partake of the sacred Supper, when the very next guests at the table are
your own children! With what pleasing emotions will you bow before the
family altar, when you seem to hear the sincere and fervent Amen responding
to your petitions from the lips of your worshiping offspring! What delight
will thrill through your soul, when in your own closet you hear the soft
murmurs of their secret devotions, sounding like the sweet fellowship of God
and man! And when many a heartbroken parent sees his profligate son issuing
forth to the midnight revel, or reeling home with the vacant stare of the
drunkard, and the lascivious appearance of the debauchee, you will see yours
retiring to commune with God, or descending from the mount, with his face
shining with the glory of Jehovah.
Should prosperity be your lot, and a kind Providence
bless all your exertions, with what pleasure will you lay up the overplus
wealth, after religion and humanity have received their proportion,
recollecting that it is for those who will not squander it away in the
pleasures of sin, but who will use it in part for the support of the Gospel
and the alleviation of human sorrow. Or should adversity be your
inheritance, how soothing to all your griefs will it be to hail to the
sorrowful abode your own children with the language of Scripture, "How
beautiful are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace,
who brings good tidings, who publishes salvation, who says your God reigns,"
and thus receive the consolations of the Gospel at their hands.
Should God call you to weep around their dying beds, and
close their eyes in death, you will assuage the anguish of separation, by
recollecting that a few more rolling years will unite you with them, to part
no more. Or perhaps you may be called to take the precedence in death and
glory; then I see you struggling amidst the agonies of dissolution, yet
cheered and supported, not only with the near approach of all those
brilliant prospects which faith holds up to your view, but also with the
sweet assurance that your children are following on in the same road to
endless rest. I see you in your last encounter, as you fall beneath the
stroke of death, smiling, through joy, that your sons are nobly fighting in
the same field and under the same banner.
The progress of time soon sends your children after you.
One after another you welcome them to the celestial city, and conduct them
into the presence of the Lamb; until at length, the happy number all
arrived, I see you presenting the dear objects of parental affection, and
the sweet reward of parental duty, before the presence of his glory, with
this grateful and adoring language, "Behold I, and the children which you
have given me." O what imagination, in its most vigorous sallies, ever yet
could form any tolerable conception of the bliss which attends the meeting
of a family in heaven! Like shipwrecked mariners who have survived the fury
of the storm, assembling on the shore of safety, with what mutual and
delightful salutations will they congratulate each other! There they shall
meet beyond the power or the fear of separation; there they shall renew
their accustomed communion, without any of those imperfections which
disturbed it upon earth; there they shall feel their mutual attachment
drawing them closer to each other, as they draw nearer to the central point
of their affection; there they shall adore and triumph together, with the
innumerable company that encircle the throne forever; and there, as united
fires brighten each other's blaze, and as many concordant sounds make the
finer harmony, so their union in bliss will make the heaven of each the more
delightful. "It will be joy which no eye has seen, no ear heard, and which
has never entered into the heart of man to conceive!" Amen.
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