International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 8, 1886
General Articles.
By Mrs. E. G. White
The Law of God the Standard of Home Government.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
The work of parents is an important, a solemn work; the duties devolving upon them are great. But if they will study the word of God carefully, they will find in it full instructions, and many precious promises made to them on condition that they perform their work faithfully and well. It exhorts them to bring up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," and assures them that if they train up their children in the way they should go, when they are old they will not depart from it. Again, the admonition is given concerning the commands of God: "Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
In order to do this work, parents must themselves become acquainted with the word of God. Instead of spending their time in gossip, or in needless ornamentation of their houses or their persons, they will seek diligently to understand the will of God as revealed to them in his word. And instead of speaking vain words and telling idle tales to their children, they will talk with them upon Bible subjects. That book was not designed for scholars alone. It was written in a plain, simple style to meet the understanding of the common people; and, with proper explanations, a large portion of it can be made intensely interesting and profitable to very small children.
Both parents and children should be under the control of God. There should be no oppression on the part of the parents, and no disobedience on the part of the children. Intelligent reason should take the lines of control. If parents in this age of the world meet the mind of God in the training of their children, a great reformation will be experienced in the character of many.
Their habits, their tempers, and their ideas will have to be entirely changed before they can lead their children to obey God. They must first control their own will, and obey the word of God themselves. Instead of scolding, flying into a passion, and then indulging their children, those parents who are conscientiously walking in the way of the Lord will seek by precept and example to educate their children in self-denial and self-control. They will also feel the responsibility of teaching them the truth. With the word of God spread out before them, the parents will show their children the importance of following the teaching of the Bible, and not departing from it under any consideration.
After the death of Moses, Joshua was the leader of Israel. But notwithstanding his national burdens, he could not forget the duties which rested upon him in regard to his own family. He enquires of the people whether they will serve the Lord fully and keep all of his commandments; and then he declares emphatically, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." This should be the language of every father and mother in our day.
Parents have before them the example of Abraham, the father of the faithful. The God of Heaven says: "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." There will be no betrayal of the truth on his part; there will be no compromise in the matter. He will keep the law of God, he will teach his children to keep it. He will not allow blind affection, which is the veriest cruelty, to control him, neither will he permit his children to become the ruling power in the household. He will see that allegiance is given to the God of Heaven, and that Satan does not gain control over the members of his family.
Not until the parents themselves walk in the law of the Lord with perfect hearts will they be prepared to command their children after them. The Holy One of Israel has made known to us the statutes and laws which are to govern all human intelligences. These precepts, which have been pronounced "holy, just, and good," are to form the standard of action in the home. There can be no departure from them without sin; for they are the foundation of the Christian religion. One of the plainest of these precepts is that which relates to the observance of the Sabbath. "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates."
All through the Bible we find that a careful observance of the Sabbath is repeatedly enjoined, and God has plainly stated that those who knowingly break the Sabbath shall not prosper. He who has given man six days wherein to labor to obtain a livelihood, has reserved only one day to himself; and he looks with indignation upon those who appropriate any portion of this time to their own secular business. There are some who carry their business into the hours of the Sabbath to such an extent that they write business letters, and even collect debts, pay bills, and settle accounts upon the Sabbath. But God's eye is upon them, and although they may appear for a time to prosper, he will surely visit them with judgment. He can by a word scatter faster than they can gather. By fire, by flood, by the tempest or the earthquake, he can cause them to lose all that they have gained by violating the Sabbath.
How blind are the Christian world to their own highest interest! They could see if they would, how the favor of God was removed from his people anciently, and they were left to be overcome by their enemies and to become a scattered and hated people, because they transgressed his commands and violated his Sabbath. The Lord has not changed, neither has he removed the sanctity from his rest-day.
Some who claim to be giving allegiance to the law of Jehovah have even gone so far in Sabbath desecration as to unite in partnership with those who have no respect for the Sabbath. The professed Sabbath-keeper may cease his own labors on the Sabbath, but his partner continues the work. How must angels look upon this partnership, as the Sabbath-observer kneels reverently before God in the house of worship, while those with whom he is united in business continue their labor just the same as on any other day? How does Heaven look upon the noise and confusion, the sound of the mechanic's ax and hammer, which ascends instead of thanksgiving, as if in defiance of his injunctions? Can the Lord regard as guiltless the man who thus unites with transgressors?
Atheism and infidelity prevail in every land. Bold blasphemers stand forth in the earth, the house of God's own building, and deny the existence of the Creator, and challenge the God of Heaven to strike them dead on the spot if their position is wrong. See the societies of infidels everywhere forming to devise means to spread their hellish poisons! See the papists plotting how to suppress the word of God, and to cover up the truth with the rubbish of error!
In view of all these influences which are at work in the world to instill infidel sentiments into the minds of the rising generation, shall those parents who have the light of truth aid in this work? Shall they, by their example, their influence, give the impression to their own children and to the world that it makes little difference whether they obey God in every particular? We all need both sound Bible doctrine and pure heart religion in order that we may represent the truth as it is in Jesus. We need continually to breathe the vitalizing atmosphere of Heaven that we may have spiritual health and strength. The truth of God must be an abiding, active principle in the heart, if we would exert a correct influence over others. It must have a controlling influence upon the conscience and the understanding, and upon the thoughts, and words, and deeds.
There is such a thing as holding the truth in unrighteousness; professing to believe it while our actions are like those of transgressors. Bible truth will be a power in the true believer's life. It will give directness to all his efforts, and a holy purpose to all his labors. Unbelievers frequently argue that those who profess to believe the Bible do not exemplify its teachings in their business relations with their fellowmen. My soul has often been grieved as I have2seen those who advocate the law of God failing to carry out its principles in the public and private walks of life.
We have no time now to confer with flesh and blood. No time to study profits and losses, and to cut the sharp corners of truth so that they shall not disturb others. The customs of the world should not be imitated by the people of God. What may seem perfectly proper in unbelievers may not be at all right for those who profess to love God and keep his commandments. The question should not be, What is custom? What will others think and say? but, What has God said in his word? What will the effect of my example be upon the world and upon the members of my own family?
If religion is to influence society, it must first influence the home circle. If children were trained to love and fear God at home, when they go forth into the world they would be prepared to train their own families for God, and thus the principles of truth would become implanted in society, and would exert a telling influence in the world. Religion should not be divorced from home education. May God pity the parents who do not teach their children, by precept and by example, the way of the Lord; for they will have a fearful account to give to the Judge of all the earth for their wicked neglect of duty to their children and to society. They should present to their children the divine warnings against sin, and teach them the importance of implicit obedience. They should show them the danger of joining hands with the world if they ever expect to become children of God.
Many Christian parents fail to command their children after them, and they wonder that their children are perverse, disobedient, unthankful, and unholy. Such parents are under the rebuke of God. They have neglected to bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They have failed to teach them the first lesson in Christianity: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." "Foolishness," says the wise man, "is bound in the heart of a child." The love of folly, the desire to do evil, the hatred of holy things, are some of the difficulties that parents must meet in the home mission field.
There are many, even among those who profess to be Christians, who do not take up their home duties in the fear of the Lord. There is many a prayerless home, and that, too, among those who profess to believe the special truths for this time. The Bible is not brought into the family as the guide of life. The parents not being men and women of prayer do not train and command their households in the way of God's commandments. That holy standard is set aside because finite man thinks he sees a better way.
In the strength of God, parents must arise and command their households after them. They must learn to repress wrong with a firm hand, yet without impatience or passion. They must not leave the children to guess at what is right; but they must point out the way in unmistakable terms, and teach them to walk therein. Parents should pray much, and should lead the minds of the children up to God and Heaven. A religion of simple faith in the all-atoning sacrifice of Christ, and of implicit obedience to God's moral rule of right, will make the household such a one as Heaven can smile upon. It will be productive of purity and peace; for they are obeying that guide who came from Heaven to earth to lead erring man to the mansions above.
Oh, the sin of parental neglect! How many children are lost to God and become a source of sorrow and distress to their parents, because they are not trained according to God's express directions! What a history the Judgment will reveal of affliction and misery produced by the children of parents who professed to be Christians, but who did not make the word of God their standard, their rule of life. What a record of crimes of every magnitude will then be opened to the view of parents, and traced to their lax discipline. Their children, like Eli's, did wickedly from childhood; but instead of firmly restraining them, they caressed and indulged them. The inborn evil of the natural heart was permitted to grow and strengthen. Even the house of God was not revered.
Eli was a believer in God and in his word; but he did not, like Abraham, "command" his children and his household after him. Let us hear what God says about Eli's neglect: "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle." The Lord had borne long with Eli. He had been warned and instructed; but, like the parents of to-day, he had not heeded the warning. But when the Lord took hold of the case, he ceased not till he had made thorough work. He says: "When I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told Eli that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not."
Here the neglect of Eli is brought plainly before every father and mother in the land. As the result of his unsanctified affection, or his unwillingness to do a disagreeable duty, he reaped a harvest of iniquity in his perverse sons. Both the parent who permitted the wickedness and the children who practiced it, were guilty before God, and he would accept no sacrifice or offering for their transgression. There are many lessons in the Bible calculated to impress fathers and mothers with the sin of neglecting their duty to their children; and yet how silent are the voices of the teachers in Israel on these important subjects! Parents allow the defects in their children to pass uncorrected, until the curse of God rests upon both their children and themselves. Like Eli, they do not show decision in repressing the first appearance of evil.
In what striking contrast do the cases of Eli and Abraham stand? The example of one is given that parents may shun a similar course; the example of the other is given for parents to imitate. The characteristics of each stand out sharp and distinct. Each was doing a work the result of which would not only be seen in his own life, but would reach down to future generations, to his children, and to his children's children. The influence that a person exerts in his own family is that which testifies of the genuineness of his religious experience. Neglectful and unfaithful there, he will be unfaithful everywhere. Home religion, home training, is what is now most needed. The future of society is indexed by the youth of to-day.
Basel, Switzerland, March 4, 1886.
IMPORTUNITY.
"Men ought always to pray, and not to faint."—Luke 18:1.
PRAY on, thou weeping, wrestling saint;
Thy God, though silent, hears;
He registers each sad complaint;
He bottles all thy tears.
Who gave his Son shall give thee all
Thy utmost need can want;
Would thou wert half as prompt to call
As he is prompt to grant!
Then be not like the faithless king,
Who smote but thrice, and stayed;
Smite on, until thy smiting bring
The answer which it prayed.
Trust to thine Advocate on high,
Whose pleadings never fail;
His word, which backs the feeblest cry,
Shall make that cry prevail. —Sel.
Why Not?
By C. P. Bollman
The question is often asked those who observe the seventh day, "Why do you keep Saturday?" For answer the counter-question, "Why not keep it?" might appropriately be asked; or, "Why keep any other day?" Saturday is the seventh day, and the fourth commandment enjoins the observance of that day. It reads:—
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:8-11.
Can the Sunday-keeper give so good a reason for his practice? Can any one cite a text that says, The first day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God? No, indeed, for there is no such text, nor does the Bible contain an intimation that the first day is in any wise a sacred day, nor that the sanctity has ever been removed from the seventh day.
But, again, Why not keep the seventh day? It is the memorial of creation, and the fact that God made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, is just as much a fact now as it was when the commandment was given amid the thunders of Sinai, or as it was when God first blessed and sanctified the seventh day (Gen. 2:3); indeed it can never cease to be a fact, and it can never cease to be a fact that God set apart the seventh day as the memorial of his rest after he had created all things. Then why not keep the Sabbath of the Lord?
But says one, "The Sabbath was made for the Jews." Not so; the Saviour says (Mark 2:27): "The Sabbath was made for man;" how then can we limit it to any one nation or people? The Bible nowhere says that it was only for the Jews. It nowhere intimates such a thing. The reason for giving the Sabbath ought to teach us that it is for the race, that all may honor God by recognizing the memorial of his creative work. To keep the Sabbath is to testify to one's faith in the divine declaration that "in six days God made heaven and earth;" it is to acknowledge God's sovereignty; it is to honor him by obeying his word. Then why not keep holy the seventh day, as God has commanded us?
C. P. BOLLMAN.
Barbarous Civilization.
By Christian at Work
It is an awful satire on our civilization that one of the clauses of Senator Comstock's bill for the protection of children, just introduced in our State senate at Albany, should forbid the exhibition of insane, idiotic, or deformed children in museums. It is sickening to think that legislation should be needed in our day to prevent the mutilation by poor and besotted parents of their children in various ways in order to make profit out of them. Other restrictions in the measure are also commendable, among them the one forbidding the apprenticing and training of children in circuses and other shows. Another commendable clause is that forbidding the employment of children in the loathsome vocation of picking up cigar stumps which are subsequently made into cigarettes. These pursuits are dirty and dangerous, and to a certain extent are likewise morally degrading. Further proposals to visit with severer punishment than is now applicable, the abduction of children for immoral purposes, and to restrict the harboring of homeless or indigent children so as to prevent the existence or establishment of institutions such as have frequently been sources of scandal and abuse, will command the praise of all save those who have made a shameful profit out of what it is now sought to abolish.
—Christian at Work.
Only One Best Time.
IN every life, there is one best time for everything that needs doing. One golden opportunity occurs, sometimes only one. It is the tide taken at the flood that leads on to the best fortune. How clear, then, the advantages of early piety! God never desired that the autumn and winter should come upon any life without the spring sowing of the good seed, when the soil is mellowed and hopeful and the skies are genial. Our young people little realize what a jewel they are losing if they think to postpone the beginning of a decided, trusting, obedient Christian life. God grant that parents and teachers may not forget it, either! Not a single promise stands good for to-morrow when to-day is neglected. "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation."—Sel.
Within Jerusalem’s Gates
“Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.”
Preparation for the Judgment.
By R. F. Cottrell
Our probation is soon to close. The cases of all living upon the earth are soon to be decided. We are warned of the fact. The tribunal is in session, and we know not how soon our cases may be called. Yet how slow we are to realize it! how little stirred by such solemn and awful truths!
Observe the dying Christian who is sensible that his probation is about to terminate. How carefully he reviews his life. How anxious he is to confess every fault, to put away every sin, and to know his acceptance with God. How earnest to warn the living to seek Christ, to give their hearts to God, to give up the world, and to live in preparation for the world to come.
But how is it with us who know from prophecy fulfilled, and from the signs of the times, that the great decisive day is right upon us? Are we acting in accordance with this faith? Are we laboring like those who know they have much to do, and but little time in which to do it? Are we striving to save others?
The great lines of prophecy of the four great kingdoms of the earth have been fulfilled. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars have appeared. Light upon the prophetic periods of the Scriptures has been demonstrated; and the proclamation has been made, "The hour of his Judgment is come." And since these things have been done, according to the predictions of the sacred word, the anger of the nations, and the holding of the winds for the sealing of the servants of God, have been manifested; the sealing message, bearing the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, has gone forth; the powerful workings of Satan through Spiritualism, so abundantly predicted in the Bible, have been sweeping over the world; the demand for the image of the beast by the union of church and State in our own beloved country, and for the enforcement of the popo-papal institution of Sunday-keeping to the subversion of the law of the Most High, is organizing its host for immediate and decided action; and, last of all, the consuming papacy, as if in a death-struggle, has spoken those great words of blasphemy, on account of which the beast is to be slain, and his body given to the devouring flame. The pope, whose temporal power has dwindled to nothing, has been declared infallible, and all is fulfilled of him except his destruction.
And are we living and acting as though we believed that all these signs predicted in the sure word, would pass by, and the end not come? If we believe, where is our corresponding action? Oh! let us be wise. Let us act upon our faith. Let us be in earnest to save souls from ruin. Let us prepare for the Judgment, which is right before us. Let us cherish the Spirit of Him who gave Himself for us, who sacrificed all on our account. Let us improve the little time remaining, in striving, in self-denying, self-sacrificing manner, to save souls for whom Christ died. May God arouse us, and help us to work, ere the time for working shall be past.
R. F. COTTRELL.
"Remarkable Answers to Prayer."
By Emily Huntington Miller
THE deacon had been reading aloud, and now he paused, laid the book carefully on his knee, and took out his big bandanna to polish the spectacles that had somehow become blurred before he finished that last narration.
"I declare, Hitty, does seem like getting back to the days of miracles to read of such wonderful answers to prayer coming to folks."
"Yes," said aunt Hitty, slowly, "but I was thinking, after all, it wasn't the answers that were remarkable, so much as the prayers."
"Well, I don' know, most of the prayers ain't specified, but them that be 'pear to be just simple, plain sort of askin'."
"That's just it, Daniel; plain asking has gone out of fashion, and that's the main reason why it seems so remarkable to us when people ask for anything and get it. Why, the Lord Jesus himself set us the example of comparing our heavenly Father to ourselves, and trying to find out how we would act toward our children if we were in his place—only he warned us to make allowance for our being evil; I suppose that means cross and selfish and unreasonable, as we all are sometimes. Now, I leave it to you, Daniel, to say what you'd think if you should read such things as this in the paper—"
" 'Remarkable instance of a father's generosity. Judge Whitaker yesterday received a letter from his daughter, informing him that she and her family were in great distress owing to the recent floods in Missouri, and asking for money to relieve their immediate wants. The father sent the money at once, with assurances of his love; this remarkable case is attested by credible witnesses.'"
"Or how would this sound:—"
" 'Remarkable response to a son's appeal. The young son of Senator Dart, having been taken ill on the continent, and being entirely out of funds, and among strangers, drew upon his father by telegraph, as he had been previously instructed to do in case of any emergency. Wonderful as it may seem, his father honored the draft at once to its full amount.'"
The deacon chuckled a little in a protesting fashion, as if afraid to fully commit himself to a laugh, lest it might not be quite compatible with proper reverence.
"Well, well, Hitty, that does sound sort of ridiculous, but I don't know as we can expect to bring spirituoal things down to a level with business transactions. You see, it makes a difference that we none of us have any claim on the Lord; it's all free grace on his part whether he gives us anything; we don't deserve the least of all his mercies."
"Doesn't seem to me, Daniel, it's a question of deserving; it's a question of what the Lord has promised, and whether he's going to keep his word. There are the promises, and I don't see how they can be any broader or any more positive. Why, just let me read you some."
Aunt Hitty took up the Bible, that opened of its own accord to John, and read:—
" 'If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.' 'Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.' 'Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.'"
"But, Hitty, the Lord was speaking of spiritual blessings then—"
"I don't feel at all sure of that, father. I reckon the Lord knew they were going to be about as poor as men could be, and he put their souls and bodies both into one promise. And he surely was talking about clothes and daily bread when he told them not even to have an anxious thought about such matters; to be satisfied that your Father knoweth that you have such needs ought to satisfy you that he will supply them. And isn't that what Paul says? 'Be careful for nothing, but in everything [everything, you hear, Daniel] with prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God.'"
The deacon nodded, but appeared a trifle annoyed; his wife seemed to be assuming either that he was an unbeliever, or ignorant of the promises.
"Yes, yes, it's all there; I know 'em by heart, and dozens more—"
"Well, then, father, if we know 'em, and if we believe the Lord really meant 'em, doesn't it sound sort of dishonoring for us to talk about its being a remarkable thing for him to keep his word? Looks as if we hadn't really expected him to."
"Does so, Hitty. I suppose if you come right down to taking the bare promises, the way children do, there couldn't be such a thing as a remarkable answer to prayer; we should know that all our prayers were answered. There's that case of the man that got money in a letter from England the very day he went to the Lord in such distress about his note coming due. That's pretty much like young Willis Dart drawing on his father. Of course, when he'd told him to draw, he'd take care there was something to meet the draft; and the Lord not only told his child to draw on him, but he knew just when he was going to do it, so he had plenty of time to get the money over. The thing that kind of stumbles me is to know how far we ought to leave things to the Lord."
"Seems to me that's pretty clear, Daniel. I always think the Bible doctrine is, 'Do your best, but don't worry. Your Father will either direct and bless your effort, or he will find some better way and bring about everything that is best for you.' So it leaves us to do all we can, with all the wisdom we have, without any worry or anxiety about the way things are coming out. We can ask to have our judgment enlightened, and our effort directed, and expect it will be so. When we come to the end of our wisdom, we can ask for more with perfect confidence, and when we actually come to the place where we cannot take another step forward, we can stand still and see the salvation of God. That's about the way it looks to me."
"That's according to Scripter, Hitty. It's working out your own salvation by means of God working in you to will and to do. That's a very instructive book, though, and, after all, 'tis remarkable that the Lord should ever have said, 'Ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.'"
" 'Behold,' said Aunt Hitty, softly, 'what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.' 'He that spared not his own Son, but freely gave him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?'"
Joining the Church.
JOINING a church used to mean something. It meant in most cases that the person who thus made public profession of faith in Christ had not only a religious experience of a definite character, but that he had certain convictions of truth in harmony with the body of which he became a member. . . . But in many instances nowadays people do not seem to join a church in this spirit. The church of Smithville calls the Rev. Dr. Boanerges to become their pastor, and he accepts the call. At once the church, which had been for some time languishing, experiences a new life. The congregations fill the house; the pews are all rented; the Sunday-school thrives; conversions are frequent. All this is most encouraging, and the church congratulates itself on its prosperity. But some fine day Dr. Boanerges receives a call from Jonestown, which he decides that it is his duty to accept. It is noted that a large proportion of those who have been added to the church during his pastorate gradually drop off and are seen no more. . . . The reason for these things is not hard to find. The converts under the preaching of Dr. Boanerges have not joined the church at all; they have simply joined him.—Examiner.
Faults Revealed by Divine Light
LITTLE faults become great, and even monstrous, in our eyes, in proportion as the pure light of God increases in us; just as the sun, in rising, reveals the true dimensions of objects which were dimly and confusedly discerned during the night.
Strength Through Union with Christ
In point of character we are only as strong as our weakest point. How necessary, then, that we have a living connection, a vital union with Him who has no weak points; that through him we may become strong.