Signs of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 10. (3/11/1886)

Signs of the Times

Mar 11, 1886

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 11, 1886

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

Parental Responsibility.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

NOTWITHSTANDING the boasted advancement that has been made in educational methods, the training of children at the present day is sadly defective. It is the home training that is neglected. Parents, and especially mothers, do not realize their responsibility. They have neither the patience to instruct, nor the wisdom to control, the little ones intrusted to their keeping.

It is too true that mothers are not standing at their post of duty, faithful to their motherhood. They are generally the willing servants of worldliness and fashion. Many, even among those who profess to have renounced the world, are influenced to a great degree by its customs and its spirit. Many times the mother neglects her precious charge, and looks to the teacher of the Sabbath and the day school to make up her deficiency. But she has no right thus to shift her responsibility upon others, and leave them to do her work. God does not call her to engage in any enterprise to advance his cause or to benefit mankind that will lead her to neglect the physical, mental, and moral training of her own children; and what shall we say of her course when she neglects her sacred duties from worldly and selfish motives?

The opinions and maxims of the world should not govern the mother, nor should she labor to reach the world's standard. She should decide for herself what is the great end and aim of life, and then bend all her efforts to attain that end. She may, for want of time, neglect many things about her house, with no serious results; but she cannot with impunity neglect the proper discipline of her children. Their defective characters will publish her unfaithfulness. The evils which she permits to pass uncorrected,—the coarse, rough manners, the disrespect and disobedience, the habits of idleness and inattention,—will reflect dishonor upon her, and will imbitter her life. Mothers, to a great degree the destiny of your children rests in your hands. If you fail in duty, you may place them in the ranks of the enemy, and make them his agents to ruin souls; but by a godly example and faithful discipline you may lead them to Christ, and make them the instruments in his hands of saving many souls.

Wherever I go, I am pained by the lack of proper home discipline and restraint. Little children are allowed to answer back, to manifest disrespect and impertinence. Parents who permit this are more worthy of blame than their children. Impertinence should not be tolerated in a child even once. But fathers and mothers, uncles and aunts and grandparents, laugh at the exhibition of passion in the little creature a year old. Its imperfect utterances of disrespect, its childish willfulness, are thought pretty and cunning. Thus wrong habits are confirmed, and the child grows up an object of dislike to all around him.

One great reason why so many children are forward, bold, and impertinent is, that they are noticed and praised too much, and their smart, sharp sayings are repeated in their hearing. Do not put them on exhibition before visitors as prodigies of wit or wisdom, but leave them, as far as possible, to the simplicity of their childhood. Endeavor not to censure unduly, nor to overwhelm with praise and flattery.

Parents, you should begin early to teach your children respect, obedience, and self-control. Remember that every exhibition of passion that is not firmly and decidedly checked is a lesson of evil. Your neglect of proper restraint opens the door to Satan, and invites him to come in and control your children; and he will not be slow to improve his opportunity.

Children require patient, faithful care. It is not enough that they are fed and clothed; their mental powers must be developed, and their hearts imbued with right principles. They need constant care; but you need not let them see that you are ever guarding them. Learn the disposition of your children as revealed in their association with one another, and then seek to correct their faults by encouraging opposite traits. Children should be taught that the development of both the physical and the mental powers rests with themselves, and is the result of effort. They should early learn that happiness is not found in selfish gratification, but follows only in the wake of duty.

I have heard mothers say that they had not the ability to govern which others have; that it is a peculiar talent which they do not possess. Those who realize their deficiency in this respect should make the subject of family government their most diligent study. And yet the most valuable suggestions of others should not be adopted without thought and discrimination. They may not be equally adapted to the circumstances of every mother, or to the peculiar disposition and temperament of each child in the family. Let the mother study with care the experience of others, note the difference between their methods and her own, and carefully test those that appear to be of real value. If one mode of discipline does not produce the desired results, let another plan be tried, and the effects carefully noted.

Mothers, above all others, should accustom themselves to thought and investigation. If they will persevere in this course, they will find that they are acquiring the faculty in which they thought themselves deficient; that they are learning to form aright the characters of their children. The result of the labor and thought given to this work will be seen in their obedience, their simplicity, their modesty and purity; and it will richly repay all the effort made.

A want of steadiness in family government is productive of great harm; in fact, it is nearly as bad as no government at all. The question is often asked, Why are the children of religious parents so often headstrong, defiant, and rebellious? The reason is to be found in the home training. The children have not had a good example, faithful instruction, and proper restraint. Too often the parents are not united in their family government. The father, who is with his children but little, and is ignorant of their peculiarities of disposition and temperament, is harsh and severe. He does not control his temper, but corrects in passion. The child knows this, and instead of being subdued, the punishment fills him with anger. The mother allows misdemeanors to pass at one time for which she will severely punish at another. The children never know just what to expect, and are tempted to see how far they can transgress with impunity. Thus are sown seeds of evil that spring up and bear fruit.

Firmness and decision are necessary. I have known parents to say, You cannot have this or that, and then relent, thinking they may be too strict, and give the child the very thing they at first refused. A life-long injury is thus inflicted. It is an important law of the mind—one which should not be overlooked—that when a desired object is so firmly denied as to remove all hope, the mind will soon cease to long for it, and will become occupied in other pursuits; but so long as there is any hope of gaining it, a persistent effort will be made for its attainment.

When it is necessary for parents to give a direct command, the penalty for disobedience should be as unvarying as are the laws of nature. Children who are under this firm, decisive rule, know that when a thing is forbidden or denied, no teasing or artifice will secure their object; hence they soon learn to submit, and are much happier in so doing. The children of undecided and overindulgent parents have a constant hope that they may gain their end by coaxing, crying, or sullenness, or that they may venture to disobey without suffering the penalty. Thus they are kept in a state of suspense, which makes them restless, irritable, and insubordinate. God holds such parents guilty of wrecking the happiness of their children. This wicked mismanagement is the key to the impenitence and irreligion of thousands. It has proved the ruin of many who have professed the Christian name. In many cases the restless, rebellious spirit, unsubdued in youth, creates disturbance in the church. Many church trials may be traced to defective family government. Intemperance and crime of every degree are often the fruits of seed sown by parents.

Let none imagine, however, that harshness and severity are necessary to secure obedience. I have seen the most efficient family government maintained without a harsh word or look. I have been in other families where commands were constantly given in an authoritative tone, and harsh rebukes and severe punishments were often administered. In the first case the children followed the course pursued by the parents, and seldom spoke to one another in harsh tones. In the second also the parental example was imitated by the children; and gross words, fault-findings, and disputes were heard from morning till night.

Fathers and mothers, you are teachers; your children are the pupils. Your tones of voice, your deportment, your spirit, are copied by your little ones. You should be united in their government. Study their dispositions with care, and together seek wisdom and strength from God to deal with them aright. If you attempt to govern without exercising self-control, without system, thought, and prayer, you will most assuredly reap the bitter consequences. But when you have faithfully done your duty, you may then ask the Lord to do for your children that which you cannot do. And having trained them in the way they should go, you will find that when old they will not depart from it.

A LAST PRAYER.

By H. H.

FATHER, I scarcely dare to pray, So clear I see, now it is done, That I have wasted half my day, And left my work but just begun;

So clear I see that things I thought Were right or harmless were a sin; So clear I see that I have sought, Unconscious, selfish aims to win;

So clear I see that I have hurt The souls I might have helped to save, That I have slothful been, inert, Deaf to the calls thy leaders gave.

In outskirts of thy kingdom vast, Father, the humblest spot give me; Set me the lowliest task thou hast, Let me, repentant, work for thee.

—H. H., in the Century Magazine.

The Resurrection of the Dead.

By Samuel T. Spear

THE doctrine of a bodily resurrection, as held by the Christian church, does not rest upon reason at all, except as reason may be exercised in ascertaining that it is a doctrine of the Bible, and that this book is of divine authority. Mere reason never discovered the doctrine, and, if limited to the facts supplied by nature, would never affirm it. The Bible doctrine on this subject, though intimately connected with the future life of the soul, is not simply the continuance of that life.

The fifteenth chapter of Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians is the chapter in which this subject is more fully considered than in any other part of the Bible. This chapter is devoted exclusively to the resurrection of "the just;" and in the opening verses thereof the apostle cites the proof of Christ's bodily resurrection, consisting in the testimony of the witnesses, including Paul himself, who saw Christ after he rose from the dead, and to whom he identified himself, by "many infallible proofs," as the Christ that was put to death on the cross. Assuming the fact on the basis of this evidence, the apostle thus reasons therefrom: "Now, if Christ be preached, that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. . . . But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order; Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."

The resurrection of Christ is here treated, not only as an example of an actual resurrection, and hence as a proof of the doctrine, but also as a guaranty of the resurrection of those who are Christ's. There is no question as to whether his was a bodily resurrection, any more than whether his was a bodily death. The fact that his body, though dead, saw no corruption, did not, in Paul's view, make its restoration to life less an instance of resurrection, or less the "first-fruits" of those who sleep. As mortality came through Adam, so all the righteous dead will be made alive through Christ. As he rose from the dead, so will they. Such is the reasoning of Paul; and this settles the question that those who are Christ's are destined to be the subjects of a bodily resurrection. It was to a bodily death, and restoration to a bodily life, that the apostle referred when speaking of Christ as rising from the dead, and also when he said that "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Nothing can be plainer than that this is the intended application of his words.

This great and wonderful event, designated in the Bible by the term "resurrection," is, as to the time of its occurrence, identified with the second coming of Christ. On this point the apostle says: "But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." This "coming" is evidently the second coming of Christ, so frequently referred to in the New Testament, when he will personally appear again in this world, raise the dead, judge mankind, and receive his people unto himself. Paul speaks of this period as "the end." "Then," he says, "cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. . . . And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." This connects the second coming of Christ, the completion of his mediatorial work, the resurrection of the dead, and the termination of the present mundane system, as events associated in time. The resurrection has its place in a group of august events.

Moreover, alike as to the risen dead, and those living when these stupendous miracles shall burst upon the world, the apostle lays down this general proposition, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." By "flesh and blood" he means our animal bodies, organized and fitted to this world, but not to the heavenly world. These corruptible bodies, in their present condition, "cannot inherit the kingdom of God." By "the kingdom of God," as here used, the apostle means Heaven, appropriately called God's kingdom because he reigns there in "undivided and perfect glory forever." Our bodies of "flesh and blood" must therefore be changed before they can go there. "Corruption," such as belongs to them, cannot, without a change, "inherit incorruption," such as belongs to the bodies produced by the resurrection. This is alike true of those dead and those living when Christ shall come the second time.

And as to both classes—the dead and the living—considered with reference to this change, the apostle proceeds to say, "Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep [die], but we [Christians then living] shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound; and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [Christians then living] shall be changed." The apostle uses the pronoun "we," meaning thereby to designate Christians, as a class, living when Christ shall come to raise the dead. What he says is that the dead will "be raised incorruptible," and that these Christians will be "changed," and, in their bodies, fitted to the heavenly world without death and the resurrection. Thus all the difficulty, in respect to both, growing out of the fact that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," will be effectually removed. Both alike will have bodies adapted to Heaven. Paul calls this "a mystery;" because unknown to natural reason, and because, even when known by revelation, not fully within the comprehension of reason. We can apprehend the facts which he states, and believe them; yet they involve mysteries which we cannot solve. We must hence content ourselves with the facts, rather than attempt to explain them.

The apostle completes his statement of the doctrine of the resurrection, as found in the fifteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians, in the following triumphant words: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory: O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

The resurrection, with its attendant facts, will, in the conception of this inspired writer, cancel and eternally abrogate the apparent victory of death and the grave. Death will then be swallowed up in victory. The dead will hear the voice of Christ "at his coming;" and as he rose from the dead, so will they be "raised incorruptible," and, in their bodies, be fitted to dwell in Heaven. Christians then living, will "be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," and, also, in their bodies be fitted to the heavenly world. The "corruptible," in respect to both, will "put on incorruption," and "this mortal" will "put on immortality." What a prospect, in these marvelous changes, and in this great victory, is presented to the eye of Christian thought! We need not wonder that Paul, who thoroughly believed in his own teaching, should exultingly exclaim: "O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?" The resurrection, as he saw it, and as he presents it, fills the Christian's future with transcendent glory.

The same apostle, seeking to minister comfort to Christians who were sorrowing over their dead brethren, said to them, in his first epistle to the Thessalonians: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we [Christians then living] which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we [Christians then living] which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." Here are essentially the same thoughts that we find in the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. Paul regarded the words containing them as being adapted to alleviate the sorrows of bereavement, and for this purpose used them. He reminds the Thessalonians of the fact that Christ is coming back to this world personally, in great glory, and with mighty power, and that when he comes, he will raise the dead. The dead in Christ will rise first, and Christians then living will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and both classes will ever be with the Lord. Such was the theology of Paul, and this is a good reason why it should be ours. The resurrection of Christ, and that of his people at his second coming, were cardinal points in the preaching of the apostles. They gave to these points a prominence that does not exist in the ministrations of the modern Christian pulpit.

It seems that the Thessalonians received the impression that the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the end of the world were events then near at hand. The apostle in his second epistle to this church, corrects this impression, and exhorts these Christians not to be "soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." He adds that this day will not come until after the occurrence of certain events which he predicts. Eighteen centuries have since rolled away, and that day is still future. It will however come, and then what the Bible says on this subject will be fulfilled. Christ's coming to raise the dead and judge the world, as set forth in the word of God, is not uncertain, because it has not yet occurred.

Peter, in his second epistle, speaks of scoffers as appearing in "the last days," as walking after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." His answer to these scoffers is in these words, "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

This "day of the Lord" mentioned by Peter, is the period mentioned by Christ himself, when he "shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him," and when "all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." The second coming of Christ is no fable. The resurrection of the dead, both of "the just and the unjust" at his coming is no fable. The judgment of the world by him is no fable. The dissolution of the present earthly system is no fable. All these great events have their date in what Peter calls "the day of the Lord," which "will come as a thief in the night."

That "day" is in the plan of God as a part of the history of this world. He has so declared in his word, and so it will be. We shall be in existence when that "day" comes, and all share in its events. Happy will it be for us if God in Christ shall then recognize us as "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." This will make it to us a day of great joy, glory, and honor. Inconceivably ill will it be with us if our character on earth shall then consign us to the "perdition of ungodly men." May God, by his all-sufficient grace, cause our names to be "written in the Lamb's book of life," and secure to us that "holy conversation and godliness," referred to by Peter, that will prepare us for "the day of the Lord," whether it greets us as the risen dead, or those who are to be "changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump."—Samuel T. Spear, D. D., in the Independent.

"Redemption Greater than Creation."

By A. O. Tait

ONE of the most common objections raised against God's Sabbath is that, "Redemption is greater than creation, and Christ finished the work of redemption on the first day of the week; therefore, we should observe the first day in honor of his finished work."

There are at least two points that should be clearly proved before any one settles down behind the above excuse. The first is, Who has informed us that redemption is greater than creation? God has not said so in his word; by what line of reasoning can it be proved? Can finite minds that are unable to grasp the most elementary principles of God's creative power reach out and lay hold on the vastness of creation, and properly compare it with the infinitely marvelous plan of redemption? Certainly the idea is absurd. And since inspiration makes no such comparison to tell us which is the greater, it is impossible for mortals to determine in regard to it. Yet men will assume what they know nothing about, and stick to it with great tenacity, and will entirely ignore the plain word of God.

But there is another point. If we allow that Sunday should be kept in commemoration of the finished work of redemption, a theory, however, which is not founded in reason or the word of God, it would be well to inquire whether or not redemption is finished. If the Bible shall inform us in plain terms that redemption is not finished, the above excuse for Sunday-keeping is of no account.

In Rom. 8:23 we read: "Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Paul wrote this language nearly thirty years after Christ's resurrection, and yet he says we are waiting for "the redemption of our body." Now if the body was not yet redeemed in Paul's day, redemption could not be called a finished work when Christ rose from the dead.

Again, in Luke 21:28, the Saviour says: "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." "These things" referred to can mean nothing else than the signs to immediately precede the second advent of Christ, as any one will readily see by the context. Then our redemption is not finished, but only "draweth nigh" when the signs of his second coming appear. And if our redemption only "draweth nigh" at that time, surely it will not be finished before the advent itself takes place.

In Eph. 1:13, 14, we are informed that after we believe we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, "which is the earnest [or pledge] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." Here is proof positive that we have only a pledge, as yet, for the "redemption of our purchased possession." And since we have only a pledge for this redemption, redemption cannot be called a finished work, although it is rendered sure by the blood of Christ and the "Spirit of promise."

In consideration of these facts, who would be willing to risk his faith on such an excuse as the one proposed at the head of this article? Let us try to consider the feelings we will have when called to stand before the Judge of all the earth; and let us have a faith founded on the word of God, so that we may not be ashamed of it in that day. A. O. TAIT.

The Nature of True Courage

Courage that grows from constitution very often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; and when it is only a kind of instinct in the soul it breaks out on all occasions, without judgment or discretion. That courage which arises from the sense of our duty, and from the fear of offending Him that made us, acts always in a uniform manner, and according to the dictates of right reason.

THE SINNER'S PORTION.

By E. O. D.

OH! where shall I hide while the storm sweeps by? No place of refuge, no shelter nigh, No shade of a rock in a weary land, No oasis on the desert sand! No mother's love, no father's home, Can shelter this poor, doomed, wandering one. "Toil without recompense, tears all in vain;" No hope now a future rest to gain. No note can I strike in that glorious strain That swells to the praise of Immanuel's name; No part can I take in that chorus sweet That blends with the sound of the dancers' feet. No place have I in those bright spheres Where God shall wipe away all tears. No draught for me from the crystal tide That flows the throne of God beside; No seat on the bank of the river of life, With the ransomed ones free from care and strife, No rest for the weary, no light can I see Placed in the window of Heaven for me.

I stood once the living fount beside, But I would not drink from its healing tide. I would not list to the Saviour's voice, On the world's gay pleasures fixed my choice; At my heart's closed door he waited long, But I turned away with the giddy throng. From the temple of Heaven, from the throne, The voice hath spoken: "It is done!" "Too late! too late!" my anguished cry, "The angel of mercy hath passed me by!"

Not yet hath that fearful die been cast; Not yet hath the pitying angel passed. Sinner, to-day look up, and see, Heaven's gate is open still for thee. O, heed it now, the Spirit's cry,— "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?" —E. O. D., in Review and Herald.

My Defense Is of God

"My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart."

Infidels and Law-Abolishers.

By R. F. Cottrell

THE repetition of the Sabbath commandment in the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy is seized as a strong fort both by infidels and those who would have the moral law abolished. The former class proclaim a contradiction between this and the same commandment in Ex. 20; but the latter, it would seem, can never find the commandment as given by the voice of God at Sinai, and engraved by his finger on the tables of stone, but endeavor to prove from Deut. 5 that the deliverance from Egyptian bondage was the reason for instituting the Sabbath; and hence that the Sabbath did not exist from the creation, and is therefore only obligatory upon the Jews. One who reads a whole Bible can see that the creation of the world in six days, and the rest upon the seventh, is the reason for instituting the Sabbath; and that the gracious deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt was only urged as an additional motive that they should "keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord" had commanded them before, in Ex. 20. See Deut. 5:12. Now both the infidel and he that would abolish the Sabbath of God, can find a refutation of their position on this text in the following extract from Scott's reply to Payne:—

"The fourth commandment, as it stands in the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy, varies from the original law in the twentieth chapter of Exodus; hence it is inferred that the writer of these books received his materials from tradition, or invented them himself. But impostors do not admit such apparent inconsistencies, which may at all times be avoided with very little trouble; so that they are rather proofs of the writer's conscious integrity. In fact, Moses, when delivering a most impressive and pathetic exhortation, did not confine himself to the words which he had recorded as an historian. The people very well knew the original ground for hallowing the Sabbath in honor of the Creator; and he thought himself at liberty to remind them of their obligation to Jehovah, their Redeemer from Egyptian bondage, and of the humanity due to their bond-servants; for this constitutes another important reason for hallowing the Sabbath. Distinct motives are not necessarily inconsistent. Mr. P., in writing his several pamphlets, might aim both to free mankind from vulgar prejudices, and to obtain celebrity for himself; and he might deem it proper on some occasions to insist on the one motive, and in different circumstances to bring forward the other, without being justly chargeable with inconsistency or self-contradiction."

R. F. COTTRELL.

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