If we mistake not, there is very wide-spread failure in this respect, for which we have to judge ourselves before G.o.d. Whether through a false tenderness, or indolence, we suffer our children to walk according to their own will and pleasure, and the strides which they make along this road are alarmingly rapid. They pa.s.s from stage to stage with great speed, until, at length, they reach the terrible goal of despising their parents altogether, throwing their authority entirely overboard, and trampling beneath their feet the holy order of G.o.d, and turning the domestic circle into a scene of G.o.dless misrule and confusion.
How dreadful this is we need not say, or how utterly opposed to the mind of G.o.d, as revealed in His holy word. But have we not ourselves to blame for it? G.o.d has put into the parents" hands the reins of government, and the rod of authority, but if parents, through indolence, suffer the reins to drop from their hands; and if through false tenderness or moral weakness, the rod of authority is not applied, need we marvel if the children grow up in utter lawlessness?
How could it be otherwise? Children are, as a rule, very much what we make them. If they are made to be obedient, they will be so; and if they are allowed to have their own way, the result will be accordingly.
Are we then to be continually chucking the reins and brandishing the rod? By no means. This would be to break the spirit of the child, instead of subduing his will. Where parental authority is thoroughly established, the reins may lie gently on the neck, and the rod be allowed to stand in the corner. The child should be taught, from his earliest hour, that the parent only wills his good, but the parent"s will must be supreme. Nothing is simpler. A look is enough for a properly trained child. There is no need whatever to be continually hawking our authority; indeed nothing is more contemptible whether in a husband, a father, or a master. There is a quiet dignity about one who really possesses authority; whereas the spasmodic efforts of weakness only draw out contempt.
We have found, through many years of experience and careful observation, that the real secret of successful training lies in the proper adjustment of firmness and tenderness. If the parent, from the very beginning, establishes his authority, he may exercise as much tenderness as the most loving heart can desire or display. When the child is really made to feel that the reins and rod are under the direct control of sound judgment and true affection, and not of a sour temper and an arbitrary will, there will be little difficulty in training him.
In a word, firmness and tenderness are the two essential ingredients in all sound education; a firmness which the child will not dare to question; a tenderness which takes account of the child"s every real want and right desire. It is sad indeed if the idea which a child forms of parental authority be that of an arbitrary interference with, or a cold indifference to, his little wishes and wants. It is not thus that our heavenly Father deals with us; and He is to be our model in this as in all beside. If it be written, and it is written, "Children, obey your parents in all things;" it is also, in beautiful adjusting power, written, "Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be discouraged." Again, if it be said, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right;" it is also said, "Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." In short, the child must be taught to obey; but the obedient child must be allowed to breathe an atmosphere of tenderness, and to walk up and down in the sunshine of parental affection. This is the spirit of Christian education.[9]
[9] For further remarks on the deeply important subject of domestic government, the reader is referred to a small pamphlet ent.i.tled, "Thou and Thy House; or, The Christian at Home."
Also an excellent little paper, "The Training of Children," by a Mother. Price of the first is 10 cts; the last is 4 cts.
Most gladly would we dwell further on this great practical subject; but we trust sufficient has been said to rouse the hearts and consciences of all Christian parents to a sense of their high and holy responsibilities in reference to their beloved offspring; and also to shew that there is a great deal more involved in bringing our children out of Egypt, and taking G.o.d"s ground for them, than many of us are aware of. And if the reading of the foregoing lines be used of G.o.d to lead any parent into prayerful exercise in this most weighty matter, we shall not have penned them in vain.
4. We shall close this paper with the briefest possible reference to the enemy"s fourth and last objection, which is embodied in the following words, "And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you." He would let them go, but without resources to serve the Lord. If he could not keep them in Egypt, he would send them away crippled and shorn. Such is the enemy"s last demurrer.
But mark the n.o.ble reply of a devoted heart. It is morally grand. "And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our G.o.d. Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind: for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our G.o.d; and"--ponder these suggestive words--"_We know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither._"
We must be fully and clearly on G.o.d"s ground and at His stand-point, before ever we can form any true idea of the nature and extent of His claims. It is utterly impossible, while surrounded by a worldly atmosphere, and governed by a worldly spirit, worldly principles, and worldly objects, to have any just sense of what is due to G.o.d. We must stand on the lofty ground of accomplished redemption--in the full-orbed light of the new creation--apart from this present evil world, ere we can properly serve Christ. It is only when, in the power of an indwelling Spirit, we see where we are brought by the death and resurrection of Christ--"three days" journey"--that we can at all understand what true Christian service is; and then we shall clearly see and fully own, that "all we are, and all we have, belong to Him."
"We know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither."
Precious words! May we better understand their force, meaning, and practical application! Moses, the man of G.o.d, meets all Satan"s objections by a simple but decided adherence to Jehovah"s demand, "Let My people go, that they hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness."
This is the true principle we are called to maintain spite of all objections. If that standard be lowered, ever so little, the enemy gains his point, and Christian service and testimony are undermined--if not made impossible.
"THYSELF AND THE DOCTRINE"
(_A Word for the Workman._)
"Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine (or teaching); continue in them: for in doing this thou shall both save thyself, and them that hear thee."--1 Tim. iv. 16.
These are solemn and weighty words for all those who labor in the word and doctrine. They were addressed by the inspired apostle to his beloved son Timothy, and contain most precious instruction for every one who is called of G.o.d to minister in the a.s.sembly, or to preach the gospel. It is a.s.suredly a very high and holy privilege to be permitted to take part in such a ministry; but it involves a most serious responsibility; and the pa.s.sage just quoted sets before the workman two deeply important duties--yea, absolutely essential duties, to which he must give his diligent, constant, prayerful attention, if he would be an efficient workman in the Church of G.o.d--"a good minister of Jesus Christ." He must take heed to himself; and he must take heed to the teaching.
1. And first, then, let us consider the solemn clause, "_Take heed to thyself_." We cannot adequately set forth the moral importance of this. It is, of course, important for all Christians; but for the workman preeminently so; for to such it is here particularly addressed. He, above all, will need to take heed to himself. He must guard the state of his heart, the state of his conscience, his whole inward man. He must keep himself pure. His thoughts, his affections, his spirit, his temper, his tongue, must all be kept under the holy control of the Spirit and word of G.o.d. He must wear the girdle of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. His moral condition and his practical walk must answer to the truth ministered, else the enemy will most a.s.suredly get an advantage over him.
The teacher ought to be the living exponent of what he teaches. At least this should be his honest, earnest, constant aim. He should ever keep this holy standard before "the eyes of his heart." Alas, the best will fail and come short; but where the heart is true, the conscience tender, and the fear of G.o.d and the love of Christ have their due place, the workman will never be satisfied with anything short of the divine standard for his inward state and his outward walk. It will ever be his earnest desire to exhibit the practical effect of his teaching, and to be "an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Tim. iv.
12). With this he should ever remember that "we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants, for Jesus"
sake."
We must never for a moment lose sight of the weighty moral fact that the teacher ought to _live_ the truth which he teaches. It is morally dangerous, in the extreme, for a man to teach in public what he does not live in private--dangerous for himself, most damaging to the testimony, and injurious to those with whom he has to do. What can be more deplorable or humiliating than for a man to be characterized by contradicting in his personal history and in his domestic life the truth which he utters in the public a.s.sembly? It is simply fearful, and must inevitably lead to the most disastrous results.
Hence, then, may it be the deep-seated, earnest purpose and aim of all those who minister in the Word and doctrine to feed upon the precious truth of G.o.d; to make it their own; to live and move and have their being in the very atmosphere of it; to have the inward man strengthened and formed by it; to have it dwelling richly in them, that thus it may flow out in living power, savor, unction and fulness to others.
It is a very poor, yea, a very dangerous thing to sit down to the word of G.o.d as a mere student, for the purpose of preparing lectures or sermons for other people. Nothing can be more deadening or withering to the soul. Mere intellectual traffic in the truth of G.o.d, storing up certain doctrines, views and principles in the memory, and giving them out with a certain fluency of speech, is at once deluding and demoralizing. We may be drawing water for other people, and all the while be like rusty pipes ourselves. How miserable this is! "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and _drink_," said our blessed Lord.
He did not say "_draw_." The true spring and power of all ministry in the Church will ever be found in drinking for our own souls, not in drawing for others. "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." We must abide close to the eternal fountain, the heart of Christ; drink deeply, drink continually. Thus our own souls shall be refreshed and enriched; rivers shall flow for the refreshment of others, and streams of praise ascend to the throne and to the heart of G.o.d by Jesus Christ. This is Christian ministry--yea, this is Christianity; all else is utterly worthless.
2. We shall now dwell for a few moments on the second point in our subject, namely, the doctrine, or teaching--for such is the true force of the original word. And oh, how much is involved in this! "Take heed to the teaching." Solemn admonition! What care is needed! What holy watchfulness! What earnest, prayerful, constant waiting upon G.o.d for the right thing to say, and the right way to say it! G.o.d only knows the state and the need of souls. He knows their capacity. We do not.
We may be offering "strong meat" to those who can only bear "milk,"
and thus do positive mischief. "If any man speak, let him speak as oracles of G.o.d." He does not say, "_according_ to the oracles of G.o.d."
A man may rise and speak for an hour in the a.s.sembly, and every word he says may be in strict accordance with the letter of Scripture, and yet he may not at all speak as an oracle of G.o.d--as G.o.d"s mouthpiece to the people. He may minister truth, but not the needed truth, at the time.
How solemn is all this! How it makes us feel the seriousness of the apostle"s admonition, "Take heed to the teaching"! How it sets before us the urgent need of self-emptied dependence upon the power and guidance of the Holy Ghost! Here lies the precious secret of all effective ministry, whether oral or written. We may talk for hours, and write volumes,--and talk and write nothing unscriptural,--but if it be not in the power of the Spirit, our words will prove but as sounding bra.s.s and a tinkling cymbal, and our volumes as so much waste paper. We want to lie much at the Master"s feet, to drink deeply into His Spirit, to be in fellowship with His heart of love for the precious lambs and sheep of His flock. Then shall we be in a condition of soul to give the portion of meat in due season.
He alone knows exactly what His beloved people really need at all times. We may perhaps feel deeply interested in some special line of truth, and we may judge it to be the right thing for the a.s.sembly; but this might be quite a mistake. It is not the truth which interests us, but the truth which the a.s.sembly needs, that should be given out; and for this we should ever wait upon our gracious Lord. We should look simply and earnestly to Him, and say, "Lord, what wouldest Thou have me to say to Thy beloved people? Give me the suited message for them."
Then would He use us as His channels; and the truth would flow down from His loving heart into our hearts, and forth from us, in the power of His Spirit, into the hearts of His people.
Oh that it were thus with all who speak and write for the Church of G.o.d! What results we might look for!--what power!--what manifest progress in the divine life! The true interests of the flock of Christ would then be thought of in all that was spoken or written. Nothing equivocal, nothing strange or startling, would then be sent forth.
Nothing but what is sound and seasonable would flow from the lips or the pen. Sound speech that cannot be condemned, that which is good for the use of edifying, would alone be sent forth.
May every beloved workman throughout the length and breadth of the Church of G.o.d take home to himself the apostolic admonition, "Take heed to thyself, and to the teaching; ... for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee"!
"Of these things put them in remembrance, testifying earnestly before the Lord, not to have disputes of words, profitable for nothing, to the subversion of the hearers. Strive diligently to present thyself _approved to G.o.d_, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. ii. 14, 15).
THE THREE CROSSES.
Luke xxiii. 39-43.
We want the reader to turn aside with us for a few moments and meditate upon those three crosses. If we mistake not, he will find a very wide field of truth opened before him in the brief but comprehensive record given at the head of this article.
1. First of all, we must gaze at the centre cross, or rather at Him who was nailed thereon--Jesus of Nazareth--that blessed One who had spent His life in labors of love, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead, feeding the hungry, drying the widow"s tears, meeting every form of human need, ever ready to drop the tear of true sympathy with every child of sorrow; whose meat and drink it was to do the will of G.o.d, and to do good to man; a holy, spotless, perfectly gracious man; the only pure, untainted sheaf of human fruit ever seen in this world; "a man approved of G.o.d," who had perfectly glorified G.o.d on this earth and perfectly manifested Him in all His ways.
Such, then, was the One who occupied the centre cross; and when we come to inquire what it was that placed Him there, we learn a threefold lesson; or rather, we should say, three profound truths are unfolded to our hearts.
In the first place, we are taught, as nothing else can teach us, what man"s heart is toward G.o.d. Nothing has ever displayed this--nothing could display it--as the cross has. If we want a perfect standard by which to measure the world, to measure the human heart, to measure sin, we must look at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot stop short of the cross, and we cannot go beyond it, if we want to know what the world is, inasmuch as it was there that the world fully uttered itself--there fallen humanity fully let itself out. When the human voice cried out, "Crucify Him! crucify Him!" that voice was the utterance of the human heart, declaring, as nothing else could declare, its true condition in the sight of G.o.d. When man nailed the Son of G.o.d to the cross, he reached the full height of his guilt, and the depth of moral turpitude. When man preferred a robber and a murderer to Christ, he proved that he would rather have robbery and murder than light and love. The cross demonstrates this tremendous fact; and the demonstration is so clear as to leave not the shadow of a question.
It is well to seize this point. It is certainly not seen with sufficient clearness. We are very p.r.o.ne to judge of the world according to its treatment of ourselves. We speak of its hollowness, its faithlessness, its baseness, its deceitfulness, and such like; but we are too apt to make _self_ the measure in all this, and hence we fall short of the real mark. In order to reach a just conclusion, we must judge by a perfect standard, and this can only be found in the cross. The cross is the only perfect measure of man, of the world, of sin. If we really want to know what the world is, we must remember that it preferred a robber to Christ, and crucified between two thieves the only perfect man that ever lived.
Such, beloved reader, is the world in which you live. Such is its character--such its moral condition--such its true state as proved by its own deliberately planned and determinedly perpetrated act. And therefore we need not marvel at aught that we hear or see of the world"s wickedness, seeing that in crucifying the Lord of glory, it gave the strongest proof that could be given of wickedness and guilt.
It will perhaps be said, in reply, the world is changed. It is not now what it was in the days of Herod and Pontius Pilate. The world of the nineteenth century is very different from the world of the first. It has made progress in every way. Civilization has flung its fair mantle over the scene; and, as respects a large portion of the world, Christianity has shed its purifying and enlightening influence upon the ma.s.ses; so that it would be _very_ unwarrantable to measure the world that _is_ by the terrible act of the world that _was_.
Reader, do you really believe that the world is changed? Is it really improved in the deep springs of its moral being--is it altered at its heart"s core? We readily admit all that a free gospel and an open Bible have, by the rich mercy of G.o.d, achieved here and there. We think, with grateful hearts and worshiping spirits, of thousands and hundreds of thousands of precious souls converted to G.o.d. We bless the Lord, with all our hearts, for mult.i.tudes who have lived and died in the faith of Christ; and for mult.i.tudes who, at this very moment, are giving most convincing evidence of their genuine attachment to the name, the person, and the cause of Christ.
But, after allowing the broadest margin in which to insert all these glorious results, we return, with firm decision, to our conviction that the world is the world still, and if it had the opportunity, the act that was perpetrated in Jerusalem in the year 33, would be perpetrated in Christendom now.
This may seem severe and sweeping; but is it true? Is the Name of Jesus one whit more agreeable to the world to-day, than it was when its great religious leaders cried out, "Not this man, but Barabbas!"
Only try it. Go and breathe that peerless and precious Name amid the brilliant circles that throng the drawing-rooms of the polite, the fashionable, the wealthy, and the n.o.ble of this our own day. Name Him in the steamboat saloon, in the railway carriage, or in the public hall, and see if you will not very speedily be told that such a subject is out of place. Any other name, any other subject will be tolerated. You may talk folly and nonsense in the ear of the world, and you will never be told it is out of place; but talk of Jesus, and you will very soon be silenced. How often have we seen our leading thoroughfares literally blocked up by crowds of people looking at a puppet show, or listening to a ballad singer or a German band, and no policeman tells them to move on. Let a servant of Christ stand to preach in our thoroughfares and he will be summoned before the magistrates. There is room in our public streets for the devil, but there is no room for Jesus Christ. "Not this man, but Barabbas."
Can any one deny these things? Have they not been witnessed again and again? And what do they prove? They prove, beyond all question, the fallacy of the notion that the world is improved. They prove that the world of the nineteenth century is the world of the first. It has, in some places, changed its dress, but not its real _animus_. It has doffed the robes of paganism, and donned the cloak of Christianity; but underneath that cloak may be seen all the hideous features of paganism"s spirit. Compare Romans i. 29-31 with 2 Timothy iii., and there you will find the very traits and lineaments of nature in darkest heathenism, reproduced in connection with "the form of G.o.dliness"--the grossest forms of moral pravity covered with the robe of christian profession.