The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1875-03-24
FOR THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
THE CHILDREN's BLESSING.
No. 3.
No. 3.

No. 3.
1 10 pursue the opposite course of that OF
| which Z have insisted, is to incur risks o.
, the gravest character. / wish | had the
power to represent them in their true light
Let any one who has been trained by gody
, parents look back and recall the experiences
of his own childhood; let him recount the
heart-sorrows and doubts which often filled
his soul; let him remenber'the temptations
to which he was ey ths heresies which
were breathed into his ears by the Ignorant
and vicious with whom he came into contact,
and he will begin to appreciate the impor-
tance of what am here trying to inculcate.
Our children are reared in the midst of these
evils and exposed to these sore trials and
temptations of Satan, and yet as rule they
are left without the consultations and helps Of
the Christians hope. No other class can so
need these consultations and helps. To the
child they are as balm and nourishment.-
They soothe, they heal, they strengthen his
tender spirit. Our children, beyond all
doubt, are too commonly trained under the
dispensaton of the law. We tell them habit
ually DO this and Jesus will love you: do
that and He will not love you"-thus re
iterating in their ears the terrifying anath-
ema I" Cursed is every one that continueth
not in all things that are written in the book
of the law to do them," rather than the
blessed words, "There is now therefore no
condemnation to them who are in Christ Je
sus." We thus withdraw from our little
ones the sweet influences and the powerful
protection of grace. We deny them ChriSts
righteousness and the full blessing Of His
peace-speaking blood. Their young souls
are set and trained to the fearful task of
seeking Jesus, instead of rejoicing in Him as
secured Redeemer and everlasting friend.
They can understand these deep mysteries
of grace very easily. Some parents make
great mistake just here. have frequently
heard them say they feared to teach the
truth lest their children might misunderstood
it, and thus continue in sin. But there
should be no such fear. The rule of obedi-
ence is for children and adults one and the
same; Love to Jesus Christ who first loved
u.s. The little ones, as -wcn as the oldest
saints, are heirs of Christ's righteousness,
and partners in His blood. If We put them
where the Great Shepherd has commanded
US to put them, in his fold, on his bosom, and
thus secure for them the baptism of His
Spirit, then We may confidently train them
as redeemed souls, and teach them that they
are such, and that as such, they are fully
and forever delivered from the curse of the
law. 1t is thus, and only thus, that we can
fulfill the risen Christs command to Peter,
" Feed my lambs;" tits only thus that we
can "bring them up in the nurture and ad-
monition of the Lord" If we make the re-
lation which they hold to Christ merely le-
gal, external or governmental, we feed them
on husks, and deny them the mothers milk
of Christ's grace and love. cannot refrain
from saying that in this matter our Church
is, in my opinion, sadly in error, and that
gigantic heresy-not more in its teaching
than in practice-has produced gigantic evils
which, in their turn have caused floods of
tears and many broken hearts-numberless
Rachels mourning for children, and refusing
to be comforted because they are not-and,
possibly at least, thus terribly realizing the
startling and awful words of Jesus, Whose
shall offend one of these little ones which be
lieve in me, it were better for him that a
milestone were hanged about his neck, and
that he were drowned in the depths of the
sea"
And even in the case of those children who
have been finally brought to acknowledge
and love Christ, how many might have been
saved the bitter experience Of wandering and
stumbling for years on the dark mountains
of sin, had they been taught from the be-
ginning that they were eAHd had ever been
in the loving embrace of Christ Are not
many such conversions only restOratlOns from
backshding9 Such is the testimony of nu-a-
bers who though they have lived in sin, sin
cerely declare that Gods Spirit had never,
even for day, wholly abandoned them
They were never allowed to Sin in peace.
They never felt at home in the tents of the
wicked, and after years of buffeting, they
have returned as prodigal sons to their faith
er's God, who graciously healed their back
sliding and ministered to them the feast of
His love and peace. We sincerely believe
in the doctrines of Gods sovereignty; that
before the foundations of the world were laid,
He secured the salvation of his elect in the
covenant of grace, made with His eternal,
, only begotten Son. These elect children
have to pass through many trials and temp
tations, all of which are, in the over ruling
providence of God, made to work out their
far more exceeding and eternal weight Of
glory. But it cannot be Gods wish that
, His church should, by any dereliction Of
hers, create or intensity these trials and
f temptations. To her he gives the benigr
E command, "Comfort ye my people, requir
Q ing her by all means to- remove out of tht
: way every stumbling-block and cause of of
fonco r. is for this plead. I long to SCI