Untitled article by John H. Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, March 17, 1868

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXXI, No. 14

A MISTAKE OF PARENTS.

By John H. Waggoner

WHEN we consider that an error on the part of parents is very likely to prove fatal to the eternal interests of their children, we can but feel sad when we see parents living and acting under a continual mistake in regard to what is necessary for the salvation of their offspring; for whose salvation they are in a great measure responsible. One very common and very serious mistake we wish to point out.

The importance of keeping the Sabbath can hardly be over-estimated; but to make its observance a substitute for any other duty, or an excuse for the neglect of any other duty, is to abuse and pervert it. The commandment makes it the duty of parents to enforce the proper observance of the Sabbath on their children; but those who stop at this point, as many do, deceive themselves, and neglect the most vital interests of their children.

Many parents manifest a great anxiety to have their children keep the Sabbath, and feel deeply troubled over any prospect of their disregarding it, but their minds are perfectly quiet in regard to them so long as that duty is observed. We would like to impress upon the minds of such parents the evident truth that keeping the Sabbath will not save their children.

The fourth commandment is a moral law, and to observe the Sabbath is a moral duty. Some seem to think if the observance of the Sabbath will not save them, it is, therefore, of no use to keep it. This is very unreasonable. Mere honesty toward your fellow-men will not save you, yet who considers himself at liberty to steal on that account? The Lord reproves such as are “partial in the law.” Mal. ii, 9.

Children, as well as adults, need to be converted. Their hearts are wrong and wicked in the sight of God. Their tempers and dispositions are displeasing to him. They incline to evil, and are daily led astray into sinful thoughts and desires, if not into sinful actions. Without the forgiveness of their sins, they will most certainly be lost. God is strict in his justice, and his requirements must be complied with. He has made provision for the young in the gospel of his dear Son, and if they continue to neglect it, they will surely suffer the consequences.

All our children are sinners, and no amount of future obedience will take away a single sin committed in the past. The blood of Christ alone cleanseth from sin, and to this they must look—by this be cleansed, or be forever lost. The Saviour calls them to him; he cannot save them unless they come. And they not only need the aid of Jesus to remove their guilt already incurred, but they need the power of his purifying blood to take away the sinful disposition, the love of folly, and vanity, and of self, and implant within them the love of God, without which all morality is mere formality. They need the Spirit of God to lead their hearts and minds aright, that they may be God’s loving, obedient children, and worship him in spirit and in truth.

Children who keep the commandments of God, who love the Sabbath, are in a favorable condition to be led to the Saviour. If they truly respect and love the Sabbath, they may be easily impressed with a sense of the sinfulness of past neglect or transgression. “Every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him.” “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” are easily blended; they are so harmonious and so inseparably connected in the divine plan, that the tender minds of the young will preserve their relations under proper instruction.

Parents, the time is coming when your children will stand by faith in Christ, or fall under the seven last plagues; when the righteousness of “Noah, Daniel, and Job,” “shall deliver neither son nor daughter,” Eze. xiv; when utter destruction will come upon “old and young, both maids and little children, and women,” unless sealed with the seal of the living God. Eze. ix. Act now in reference to that day, and show your love to your children by bringing them to the Saviour, while he is offering mercy from the sanctuary above.

Good reading and preaching may convict and convince the youth; but God requires the parents to “train up” their children, and this duty cannot be laid aside for any reason whatever. Convince your children that you are in earnest for their salvation, and they will seek for it. To tell them that they ought to obey God, or believe and love the Saviour, with about as much emotion as you would tell them to bring in an armful of wood or go to school, will do them no good. Your children’s hearts will move when they see your hearts moved. When you talk, and pray, and entreat, and confess, to and with your children, with weeping, and prove that you think they are in danger, and that you desire above everything to rescue them, then you may expect to see them turn to the Lord, and walk with you in love and obedience. But if you show by your actions that you care more for what they have to eat, drink, and wear, &c., than for their giving their hearts to God and seeking his kingdom, you need not be surprised if they receive these things at your own estimate, and choose the pleasures of earth rather than the joys of Heaven; but if they fall by your neglect or indifference, it may well be feared that their blood will be required at your hands. If you can once think of your children’s being lost by your carelessness, and yet rejoice in your own prospect of Heaven’s glory, you are greatly to be pitied. Bring them to Jesus in the arms of love and faith, and your homes may be the abode of Christian love and peace such as angels will behold with joy. J. H. W.