Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-04-10
SONS is
SUBJECT OF SERMON
Parents Charged by God With
Responsibility for Their
Children.

fETERSBuRG. VA. Apru p
The Preachers Sons Who Went to
he! was the subject II Rcv. Fred
" Moorc's sermon las, night. at the
second Baptist Church. when ne
preached TO a large CONGREGATION. SIR
Moore said In part
Inc story 81 Ell the high priest,
ana his two lawlcss and profanc sons
more than Il fragment Of ancient
Jewish history. !, is an illustration
Of laws that are III. same Yesterday y.
today and forever, EN- put no hedge
about his boys paths and they be-
came past masters in profanity aud
d"bhuchery. From their hands the
ARK Of God was taken by the PhiltS =
tines and they fell. both OF them, in
battle.
Shocked by the news that the ark
had been captured. Ell fell from his
seat AID broke HIS neck. Phineas'
VIE overcome by these tragic lid
inss. named with her dying breath
her newborn babe. Ichabod. tho
glory has departed from Israel
1T Is cheap and shallow wIt that
reminds us how often preachers
children 60 10 ruin. The sons OF Eli
are neutrality-suspicious. that do
not prove the rule. The of!cnsc o. a
n, inisters son stands out In bold re
lie,. while similar offense IN another
Is passed by without comment
ciI the roll Of msn and wome II
who have contributed largely 10 hui
man uplift-statesmen, poets physi-
clans. phiianthropists-and YOU Will
be surprised a, the large number who
were children OF the parsonage Ten
nyson was nuTturcd in tho rectory.
Presiden; Arthur and Secretary o.
state Hughes in Baptist parsonages
and President Cleveland and wilson
In Presbyterian manses. That any
man should so to the bad from such
close proximity TO the altar OF God
should warn us OF the power Of evil
and OF the folly OF irdecision and
easy-going tolerance In parents
Ell was charged with RESPONSE
billy for his boys waywardness His
sons did bring curse upon them
selves and he restrained them not
He who had been Samucrs preceptor
must have been a iovable, kind
hearted man. and there is no record
that his life had been stained with
any vice. He vas Jchcvah's anointe,i
and had never dragged his robes in
the mrc.
What then sent him sorrowing to
the grave? His INDIGESTION. moral
slackness and failure to be master OF
his household. Tightening is zig-zag
because IL travels in the line Of lea ST
resistance. Some disease germs fol-
low the line OF least resistance in the
human body. Just so with ELS char
actcr. lie pursued the easiest way
to the ruin OF his family. He who
obeys the Will OF good father will
not find II difficult to yield obedience
to the will of God. To train child
in the way he would go. rather than
in the way he should go, Is no train
Ing at ali
ITO rcpress I'm one direction. while
encouraging 70 grow in another. is
no easy task. The grape vine that
bears the most luscious grapes is
trained, and training does not mean
that the branches can Irvine them
selves around any object they please.
but IL implies a free use Of the knife
by the vine-d dresser There comes n
day in the life Of your child when de =
cision is reached as to who will rule.
you or he.
The promise OF long life is at
tachcd to obedience TO the comma nd
mcnt: Honor thy father and thy
mother. The qualities conducive TO
long life are fosteCcd by the spirit OF
tilial obedience. The whole structure
OF society will be dissolved when
parental authority Is disrcgarded.
Filial disobedience commonly leads
TO life OF vice. misery and TO a pre-
mature grave"