The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-09-17

covenant with which Abraham'S chill
part Of Gods great redemption plan
was the same covenant with which
Christians enter into adoption as Gods
children. And they are the same di-
vine promises with which our children
enter into covenant relations with God
Now, the great practical question
which comes before US today is, How
can a child of Christian parents be
come child of the covenant? In the
old dispensation the rite of crcumci-
sion made child a partaker in the
covenant. Abraham was child Of
God He was to Inherit Palestine, and,
besides this, he was to have the divine
protection. His descendants were to
enjoy the same privilege 50 long as
they obeyed Gods law. IL" ij'omises
generation to another to al Of Abra-
hams descendants who fulfilled the OBJ
legations of the covenant. 1t was Il
bargain, and the seal of it was the out
ward rite which marked the child as
an heir of the covenant. In other
words, circumcision in the old dispen-
saton was the sealing of a parental
compact with God. Let me illustrate.
You come to me and want to buy a
tract of land for $4,000 l say, "Mr
Jones, why are you buying this land p
oh" you answer, Il am buying this
land for a homestead where l can live
and my children can live after me,
generation after generation" "All
right" say, 81 can sell you the land,
but you will have to pay the taxes aud
fulfill your obligations to the county,
and your children will have to do the
same when they inherit" You under
stand that, and | say: "Then in con
sideration of $4,000 l will give you a
deed of that land for yourself and your
heirs forever. That deed will seal the
bargain" Just so the descendants Of
Abraham entered into covenant with
God. They We're under obligations of
which the rite was the visible sign
But the rite counted for nothing if the
obligations were not fulfilled. The
later history of Abraham's descendants
dience and that when this was not
rendered the outward sign was not ac
copied 1t became a mOckery when it
no longer represented a change Of
heart.
My brother, do you wonder that Da
= "a
songs when l was baby in the era
dle?' Was not David consecrated to
God when he was child by godly
father and mother? VIII you not al
low Christ to take you and hold you
close to his loving heart because your
Christian mother gave you to him by
prayer and pledge when you were a
little innocent child? Thou divine Fa-
Their, by the sacred mounds Of my ia
theirs and mothers graves, l thank
thee that thou art and always wilt be
a covenant making Christ and wilt
save me in answer to the prayers of
my loving parents for Christ's sake.
The Songs Of Childhood.
guardian angels which sang the songs
Of the Nativity over the manager of
Bethlehem of Judaea. They sang for
David the happy songs of childhood.
The statutes became songs of rejoic
ing. They were the conditions Of son
ship and Inheritance which it was Il
Joy to fulfill. They were the sweetest
recollections of the old homestead
when he was growing boy. They
were the songs which made his father
and mother and brothers one at the
family altar. They were the songs
which taught him how to say his
evening prayers at his mothers knee.
They were the songs which made him
as a child study the old Mosaic laws.
They were the songs by which he was
they were the songs which taught him
faith in God as well as faith in his
fellow men. In other words, they were
the same laws by which you and as
boys and girls were developed in
Christian home for our life's struggle.
IL SOu ulu uOl learn tueSc SldluttS vi
God when you were young, then you
are poor indeed. If you did learn the
laws Of God when you were young
then the memory of them makes you
rich indeed.
The happiness of our childhood days
was not dependent upon the size of our
fathers pocketbook. But to great
extent it was dependent upon whether
our parents obeyed and made us obey
the statutes Of our Lord in the house
Of our pilgrimage. Some time ago
sorrowing son was on the way back
to the village Of his boyhood to bury
an aged parent. "How much was your
father worth when he died?" asked one
Of his friends. Nothing; 1 think he
was worth LESS than nothing. sup
pose shall have to bury him" But
the day after the funeral the young
man was going down the village street.
AS he walked along he met an old man,
who held out his hand and said: "God
bless you, my boy. Jim, you had
good father 1 knew him for over
forty years and I never knew him to
do one act which did not stamp him as