The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-06-11


| about Christ and showing them that all the law
| and commandments of God, all that He had
| heretofore given them oy revelation, and proph-
| ecy, and communication through His chosen
| servants had now been consolidated in Christ
| and presented Christ to them as the fulfllment
of the law, and told them now IL you want to re-
/ alze the promises God made to your fathers aud
your nation, If you want to enjoy them, take
| them in Christ. If you take Him, obey Him,
| follow Him. II you come to the Father through
Him. you will have fulfilled all the law and the
prophets. And He said the promise is unto you
and unto your children. SO the promise that God
made Is made to us and to our children. Dad
you ever think that perhaps the price of your
| chlldrens souls is price that you have to pay
| to Gods Did it ever strike you seriously that
| your obedience to God was demand that He
| made upon you condition for the promise
descending to your childreni Have you been go
| ing through the world believing that you could
| disobey God aud transgress His laws, could Dc
| whatever you chose to be- and your children
| would not suffer in consequence of i'll tel! you
that If these Scriptures teach anything at all,
| they teach me father this fact: That my
obedience to God, the fidelity with which I dis
| charge my duty to God with which l keep his
| commandments, is part of the requirement
| God makes OF me to bring my children into the
| inheritance of the promise He has made to His
! people.
| My example to my children may be the con-
| sequence of the damnation of every one of them.
| My example to my children may DO the factor
| that results in the salvation of every one OF
them. | have the promise of God, sure and
steadfast that He has especial and
| guardianship, and has made especial promises to
| the righteous man account of his children.
| He has promised in many places to have spe-
| cial guardianship and to bestow special favors
! upon the children of righteous men aud right
| eous women. He has so placed things in regard
| TO His promises, that cannot escape the logical
| conclusion that He is imposing certain obliga-
tons to the conditions precedent to the saliva
/ ton of my children. Can dare to be an infidei
| in the face of my children, and expect them to
be God fearing and to grow up to be righteous
men and women in the world2 What right have
| to expect my children will be saved when | am
| giving them daily example of my fragrant DISC
bedience to God2 What practical difference is il
| to my children whether am blatant infdel or
| am showing them that am doing nothing for
| the object of pleasing and serving Hint
The children of Israel were told to take these
commandments and write them on their door
| posts bind them on their foreheads and wrists.
| and teach them to their children when they lay
down and when they rose up. Yet you will hear
| many Christians say family prayer is a thing to
| take up or not just as one pleascs. They say.
II don't see anything in the Bible to tell me
| that Is my duty" What then, did God mean
| when he said to teach it to them, when they rose
up in the morning, and when they lay down at
| night? And you can't show me any place in
these Scriptures where any of these iniunctions
| has been repealed.
| We delegate the instruction of our children 40
| to Gods mercies and Jesus Christ and his mis-
sion in the world to somebody at the Sunday
| school. We whoop ourselves round on Sunday
| to get them dressed up IN their best bio
| and tucker, to get them out of the house
and off to Sunday-school There is many
! father and mother in this house this afternoon
who doesn't know what his or her children are
| learning In Sabbaths school every SUNDAY. You
don't know what part of the Bible they being
taught in, or what ideas they are getting You
| don't know what impressions these lessons are
making upon the minds of your children to-day.
| You pack them off to Sunday school just as you
would send them off TO play or SO fishing You
| are more particular about their knowing what
| your commandments are than about what Gods
| commandments are. I have been in families
| whore it seemed to me the entire religious ia
| struction the children had was to know who
| made you'll" Ask them any further, aud the
answer probably would be
| adam was the first man;
Eve was to'ther
Cain wicked man.
Cause he killed his brother
| And that is about as far as their religious in-
| struction went and I am not overdrawing the
| picture. You try it on some of your own chill
| dren or pick up some of the neighbors' children
| who play with yours and try it on them.
| Suppose your boy is questioned by the neigh
| boris:
Got family prayers at your housep
"Naw."
sWhy notl'
"Well when father gets up he wants his
breakfast He wants it quick and he wants it
| hot"
Got a family Biblel'
Where do you keep itYr
''In the parlor on the center table"-and it
| stays in there. Some times when minister
goes there he can take the point of his finger
| and write his name In the dust on it. Don't you
| think anybody protesting to be a Christians
| should be ashamed of a record like that, or any
| thing near like it!
| And when your boys and girls become older
/ you wake up some morning to find that they are
| dsobedient and care more about doing the things
| you don't want them to do, than those you do
| want them to do. Things are getting in bad
condition when your children, fourteen fifteen
| or sixteen years old, are beginning to run from
| you. Then you get down on your knees and say,
Where did these children get their dispositions
can't tell where in the world my children picked
up all these things And you needn't 60 to ting
Lord about it. Go to yourself. You are re-
| sponsible for nine-tenths of the wickedness your
children have developed in them You are re-
| sponsible for not taking them and teaching them
| better things 1t is a fact that can be seen in
| every well-regulated community that children
can be taken into household and trained Sc
| that they will be blessing to thoss
| who them and grow up fearing God.
| 1t only requires that we should be faithful to
| God and our children. and teach them what God
has told us to give them-character and stabil-
| ity. l don't believe In stufing Scripture into
| them like Squeers stuffed treacle and birthstone
| into the boys of Dotheboys Hall. That would
| either founder them or make them religious dys-
| peptcs for life. But you take the word Of
| God and make it the most entertaining book on
| earth to youthful minds.
| We sometimes wonder where they learn all
| the meanness our children begin to develop. We
| wonder how our bows and girls are so familiar
| with evil things. You may begin to find out
| these things when it is too late. We sometmee
| find they get them from the servants about our
| houses, or from our employees at our places Of
| business, or from the hostler, or some
body else Employers should know the
characters of tho people they employ
mother would do better to do her own washing,
and ironing, and cooking than to take pariah
into the household to the seeds of corruption
| in the minds of her daughters, that will be their
damnation. The good people of the country are