The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-11-03
HEREDITY OF FAITH.

in Lowell, Mass, makes the statement
that of one hundred and forty missiona-
rles sent out by that Board, whose early
history is known, one hundred and twen-
ty-two were blessed with the instructions
of both godly father and mother. Of
the remaining eighteen, nine have re-
loiced in Christian mother and three in
a Christian father, leaving only six whose
parents were neither of them members of
Christian church. Thirty-fve of the
number are sons of Christian minister's
twenty-three of them of foreign mission
aries.
Observe: Out of 140, only had unbe-
lieving parents. All the rest were born
under the shadow of the church. There
is no more significant fact than that there
Is heredity in Faith When God bless
es a man, He blesses his house. The
promise is TO you and yoeor children"
The preachers of the gospel and the
missionaries to the heather are not bred
Ordinarily outside of the pale of the COW
enant. Grace descends from parent to
child
Now, this is a glorious truth, and pa
rents will do well to make note of it.
Parents who are unconcerned about their
own salvation, are not merely making
sh1pwreck of their own hopes of immor-
tality, but they are handing down in
most cases heritage of woe, as regards
the invisible world, to their descen
dants. You are not only laying up
for yourselves the wretchedness that
must in the future world overtake the
wicked, but you are probably bringing
that same ruin on those dear little ones
who cluster around your knees in the
family circle. The truth we have ad-
Verted to is therefore no glorious truth
for you. 1t is glorious for the saints of
God, it is glorious for those who have
laid hold on the hope set before them in
the gospel. They shall not only save
their own souls, but the souls of those
who are bone of their bones and flesh of
their flesh. Their faith makes provision
for glorious reunion with all whom
they love, beyond the grave.
How can one expect his children to
become followers of Christ if the whole
weight of his own example bears them
away from the promises of the gospel2-
And, on the other hand what precious
thought it is that if one consecrates him
self thoroughly to God, he shall thereby
transmit as it were--and oh how far ex-
ceeding all worldly chattels eternal life
to his offspring?
The scheme of Christianity does not
contemplate the separation of the family;
it tends powerfully to the gathering in of
households into the family of God. "This
day, said our Lord to Zaccheus els sal
walton come to this house" "Send men
TO Joppa," said the angel to Cornelius,
"a and call for Simon, whose surname is
Peter; who shall tell thee words whereby
thou and all thy house shall be saved :"
And in the account of the taller at Phil
ippi, Paul says: Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and
thy house And we are told that the
ark of the LORD continued in the house
of Obed-edom the Gittite three months
and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all
his household" "Come thou and all thy
house into the ark" were the words adj
dressed to Noah.
And, on the other hand, because of the
matter of Uriah the Hittite, Nathan was
commanded to declare unto David that
the sword shall never depart from thine
house and because of the sins of Da-
than and Adrian, the earth opened her
mouth and swallowed them up, and their
households, and their tents" and Jehu
was commanded to smite the whole
house of Ahab -; and the LORD said un-
to Samuel, In that day I will perform
against Eli all things that have spoken
concerning his house when I begin will
also make an end For I have told him
that will judge his house forever for the
iniquities which he knoweth because his
sons made themselves vile, and he re-