When we speak of home life with its relations and duties we are not
digressing from the subject of gospel light. Nowhere does the light of
Christianity shine so peaceful and beautiful as in the home. Nowhere is
the power of its influence so felt as in the home circle. The public
worship of Christians is an inspiring scene, but nothing apparently is so
heavenly as the sacred family altar. A father and mother whose hearts are
filled with holy love together with happy, obedient children bowing
together at the shrine of devotion is the most imposing scene the eye and
heart can witness.
Marriage.
The union of man and woman in marriage is the work of the Creator. God saw
after he had created man that it was not good for him to be alone. Such
was his constitution. So he made a helpmeet for him. God from the rib of
man made woman and brought her unto him, who said, “This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was
taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Gen.
2:22-24.
In conjunction with the divine institution of marriage there is also a
legal institution. While the civil contract is acceptable unto God by way
of preventing promiscuous sexual intercourse, it is powerless to make both
one flesh and bone. It is only the power of God that can make two hearts
to beat as one. By the power of his grace he makes Christians of “one
heart and one soul,” and of man and woman he makes “one flesh and bone.”
The apostle to illustrate the blessed union of Christ and the church makes
use of the union of man and wife. “They two shall be one flesh.” Eph.
5:31. “Man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his
wife.” The union between husband and wife is stronger than between parent
and child. The all-wise God has a design in all his works. He reveals to
man in his Word his purpose in the union of man and wife. One object in
the marriage union, as we have before said, is to prevent promiscuous
sexual commerce. “Nevertheless to avoid fornication, let every man have
his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” 1 Cor. 7:2. The
union of man and woman is a holy and sacred institution, however the union
of Christ and the church is still a higher and more important work of God.
Therefore Paul advises all who can live a pure life in an unmarried state
they can be more useful to God, for he careth for the things that belong
to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But he that is married careth for
the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
Another object in the divine mind for uniting male and female is for the
purpose of procreation. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth.” Gen. 1:28. Alas! how few
properly reverence and esteem the divine purpose. Marriages are too often
contracted for the comforts of a home, or for affluence, or for elevation
in society, or, worst of all, for the gratification of lustful desires. Of
such too many murderously resort to the devices of art to thwart the
designs of the Creator. Procreation was the highest purpose in the divine
mind for the union of man and wife. For this purpose he implanted in their
natures a sexual desire. They who avoid to act this part in life come
short of the purpose of their creation.
Divorce.
Because the contracting parties at the marriage shrine do not feel and
have not properly considered the obligations and responsibilities of a
married life, but enter in from selfish desires, then finding it attended
with cares and responsibilities they do not care to bear, they seek
opportunities for release. The legal union is often severed by the same
authority as was given. But as the civil power can not create two hearts
into one, nor make of twain “one flesh and bone,” neither can such
authorities create two of what has been made one. The law of Heaven is,
What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Mat. 19:6.
The Word of God fixes death as the limit to the bond of union. “For the
woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as
he liveth: but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her
husband. So then if while her husband liveth, she be married to another
man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is
free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to
another man.” Rom. 7:2, 3. “The wife is bound by the law as long as her
husband liveth: but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be
married to whom she will; only in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 7:39. “And he [Jesus]
saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another,
committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her
husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.” Mark 10:11,
12. In Mat. 19:9, we read, “And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away
his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another,
committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit
adultery.”
Some have thought there was a lack of harmony in the teaching of Jesus as
recorded by Mark and Matthew. Mark makes the plain statement that
whosoever puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery. He
makes no exceptions. Matthew says, “Except it be for fornication.” There
is no disagreement here. It is the prominent thought each has that makes
the difference in the statements. The truth that Mark wishes to teach is
that there is no just cause for a man marrying who has a divorced wife.
The plain statement is if a man puts away his wife and marries another he
commits adultery. There is no exception. There is no just cause for his
marrying, and if he does it is adultery, no matter what may be the cause
of divorcement. The truth that Matthew teaches is that there is one just
cause for putting away the wife. This is a just cause for putting her
away, but not for marrying again. Every one that divorces his wife, even
though it be for fornication, and marries another violates Mark 10:11 and
Luke 16:18. A man may put away his wife for fornication, and not
transgress a single text in the Bible. Fornication is the only just cause
for man to put away his wife, or the wife the husband.
Some have fallen into the dangerous error of putting away the wife because
the Scriptures say, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
2 Cor. 6:14. This is a wrong application of this text. No doubt but it
does forbid the unmarried Christian yoking up with an unbeliever, as in 1
Cor. 7:39 the woman whose husband is dead is at liberty to marry whom she
will; only in the Lord. However, it does not teach the breaking of the
marriage yoke. Matthew gives the only cause. Paul says, “If any brother
hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let
him not put her away. And the woman which hath a husband that believeth
not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.” 1
Cor. 7:12, 13.
A man once told us that God showed him to leave his wife. (She was a true
wife.) He was decidedly mistaken and should have tried the spirit. “What
therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” The word
joined is from the Greek _suzeugnuo_. and means “yoked together.” This
yoke man can not break. When God by his saving grace unites a soul with
Christ, no man can break the bond of union. Sin, and sin only, will sever
the tie that binds them together. When God unites husband and wife into
one flesh and bone, no civil court can break the bond. When woman has
become so untrue to her husband and false to her marriage vow as to have
sexual connection with another man, God allows such an unchaste sin, and
such a sin only, to dissolve the union. Why is fornication the only just
cause for disuniting husband and wife? Why is sin the only cause of
separation between Christ and the Christian? It is because the design of
God in sending his Son to the world was to destroy and prevent sin. Then
of necessity when his purpose fails there can be no union. The design of
the Almighty in instituting marriage was to secure a legitimate population
of the world, or to prevent the lewd, indiscriminate sexual intercourse.
When this purpose fails the object of marriage fails, and there can be no
union.
Brooklets joining form the river,
Rivers joining form the sea;
Love uniting hearts together
Beat as one eternally.
God by law of his creation
Creates in one the happy twain;
Hand and heart they are united
As they pass adown life’s stream.
See the flowers greet each other,
And the sunlight kiss the sea;
See the waves clasp one another,
Why not hearts united be?
Birds in springtime mate each other,
’Tis a law decreed above;
For the sake of procreation
God creates connubial love.
Duties Of The Husband To The Wife.
Great are the responsibilities resting upon the husband. The wife is
termed the “weaker vessel,” unto whom the husband is to give honor and to
dwell with according to knowledge. 1 Pet. 3:7. The Word of God gives
instruction how the husband should dwell with the wife. It is his duty to
glean knowledge from the same and dwell with her accordingly. He is her
example. She looks unto him as her instructor, both in precept and
example. She is to be honored by receiving the benefits, by way of
counsel, support and protection, of his superior strength. He in his
strong, courageous construction, and she in her feminine frailty, are both
heirs together of the grace of life. When each understand their true
position and dwell together according to knowledge their prayers rise
unhindered to the throne of grace.
The Scriptures grant man authority over the wife: “But I would have you
know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is
the man; and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Cor. 11:3. “For the husband is
the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.” Eph.
5:23. You understand the protection and care Christ has for his bride—the
church: in like manner man is responsible for the protection and care of
the wife. He takes the position of head of the wife as Christ takes the
position of head of the church—in love. “Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Eph. 5:25.
“Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.” Col. 3:19.
The love of the husband must be as deep and true for the wife as the love
of Christ for the church. He gave himself for it. Man considers not his
life for the care and protection of his wife when he loves her. Where
there is bitterness there is wanting true love. Bitterness drives love and
heaven away from the home. “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and
clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be
ye kind one to another, tender-hearted.” Eph. 4:31, 32.
Man should take the wife into his confidence and entrust her with the
secrets of his private life. He should respect and regard her counsel.
Jacob has given us an example. Gen. 31. Elkanah has set us an example of
comforting the wife. 1 Sam. 1:8. It is a comparatively easy thing, unless
you are abounding in the love of God, to become neglectful of the comfort,
welfare and happiness of the wife. She in her tender, sympathetic nature
seeks for attention and delights in being loved. Do not therefore be
sparing in your attention toward her. The fond, affectionate wife will
meet the duties, trials, afflictions and responsibilities of life without
a murmur does she but know that she is loved. Enter into her joys and
sorrows with a regard. “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the
wife of thy youth.... Be thou ravished always with her love.” Prov. 5:18,
19. Malachi exhorts the husband to faithfulness. “Yet ye say, Wherefore?
Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth,
against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and
the wife of thy covenant.” Chap. 2:14. Such are some of the duties of a
husband, and he who has cast aside regard for such duties, is a stranger
to the covenant of grace.
Duties Of The Wife To The Husband.
It is a just cause of lament that so comparatively few wives have a
perfect knowledge of their rightful position in the domestic circle. We
will briefly give a few texts from the Holy Book showing the wife her true
place in the family and her duty toward her husband, trusting God to give
her a desire to be all that a wife should be. The fundamental principle is
love. Without sincere, conjugal love she can scarcely fill the mission of
wife. When woman becomes a wife she takes a position fraught with the
greatest responsibilities. Oh, how many idle dreamers take such positions
with little feeling, thought or comprehension of its responsibilities, and
pass through life away below the true mission of a wife. The instruction
of the inspired apostle is that the young women be sober, love their
husbands, love their children, be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good,
obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Titus 2:4, 5.
Such are the demands of the young wife made by the Word of God. The demand
made of the aged wives is that they set a proper example in all these
things. When they do not fill these demands the Word of God is blasphemed.
When wives professing to be Christians and a light in the world are
neglectful of home, of husband and children, they bring Christianity into
disrepute. Wives are commanded to be sober. Instead of sobriety how often
we see them gay, silly, foolish and worldly-minded. Their thoughts are
trashy, and their conversation the same; talking about one another,
busybodies, no depth of thought or feeling of their mission in life, but
are concerned more about the fashions and society than the duties of home.
Such characters disgrace the cause of Christ. True love will manifest
itself, and where the wife loves the husband, home is her dearest place.
Her great life work is to make home happy and attractive. She has a deep
regard for the comforts of her lord, and love lightens all her labor for
him. The true wife loves her children, which will also find its
manifestation.
Among the coarse and vulgar we have heard mothers in provocation speak
thus to their children: “Haven’t you any sense?” “You are the foolishest
thing I ever saw.” “I’ll box your head off.” “I’ll beat you to death.” “I
wish you were dead,” and other like expressions. Such is awful language,
but it has escaped the lips of many a mother. Before the public they like
to appear gentle, mild and sweet tempered, while in the privacy of their
homes they are snarly, snappish and cross. When it pleases God to remove
one of their little ones to a more peaceful home above they mourn most
bitterly; more because of remorse of conscience than from a fountain of
pure love. There is, however, many a mother who longs to be tender and
kind to her loved ones, but because of her bondage to the tyrannical power
of an ill, impatient temper, she utters, under provocation, unfeeling,
inhuman speech toward her little ones. In her calmer hours she weeps
because of bondage. To all such we would say, There is help for you in
God. Jesus can set you free. Yield yourself to him. He will pardon your
sins and sweeten your life by his grace. To be discreet, wise, prudent,
selecting the best means to accomplish a noble purpose is the wife’s
mission in her home.
The wife is a type of the church. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give
honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made
herself ready.” Rev. 19:7. “Come hither, and I will show thee the bride,
the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high
mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending
out of heaven from God.” Rev. 21:9, 10. The husband is to love the wife as
Christ loved the church; and as the church reverences and obeys, is
faithful and subject to Christ, the wife is to reverence, obey and be
faithful and subject to her husband. “Nevertheless let every one of you in
particular so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she
reverence her husband.” “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands,
as unto the Lord. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let
the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” Eph. 5:22, 24. “Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.” Col.
3:18. “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if
any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the
conversation [conduct] of the wives.” 1 Pet. 3:1.
Such is the true position of the wife, giving the husband reverence. This
means to fear. Not the slavish fear, but a fear in love, like as one would
fear God whom he loved with all his heart. Fear to purposely displease
him. Fear to wilfully neglect him. Fear to obstinately disobey him. To be
in subjection with reverence. Such words are full of solid thought, and we
would ask every wife to wisely consider them, especially if she places any
value upon Christianity. The husband is to command in love. She is to obey
in fear. He is to govern without giving vexation, and she is to be in
subjection without feeling herself a slave. He is to watch over her
conduct and guard her from every act that would be damaging to her
character or her soul. She is to trust in him, and obey.
Let the wife be in subjection,
Let the husband give protection;
He to honor, love, defend,
She to trust him to the end.
The humble apostle, after exhorting the wives to be in subjection to their
husbands, commands them to not adorn themselves by plaiting the hair or
wearing gold or apparel. 1 Pet. 3:3. “But let it be the hidden man of the
heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Ver. 4. Can
the wife in the fear of God, profess to sincerely love her husband, and to
be a true wife, when she is spending his hard earnings for gold and
pearls, and costly apparel for adornment? he to struggle against poverty,
and she to embarrass him to satisfy a proud, selfish heart? Such is not
true love to husband nor to God. The wife who adorns herself with modesty
and sobriety (1 Tim. 2:9), with a meek and quiet spirit (1 Pet. 3:4, 5),
with good works (1 Tim. 2:10) is a blessing to her husband. “A virtuous
woman is a crown to her husband.” Prov. 12:4. “Who can find a virtuous
woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth
safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do
him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Prov. 31:10-12. “A
prudent wife is from the Lord.” Prov. 19:14.
Duty Of Parents To Children.
Great are the responsibilities of the husband. Great are the
responsibilities of the wife, but greater are the responsibilities of
parents. Father and mother, God lays a responsibility upon you as you
receive your new-born child. A precious little immortal soul, whose
eternal destiny depends largely upon you. The proper training of children
is attended with many difficulties, and every parent certainly needs
instruction from God. Your child is given you from God, and you in return
should give him trustingly to God, like a mother of olden time: “For this
child I prayed: and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of
him: therefore also I have lent [see margin] him to the Lord: as long as
he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord.” 1 Sam. 1:27, 28. This is the
consecration of children to God, which is the first duty of parents.
The successful training of a child, especially in the first years of its
life, is due more to example than to commandment. The influence of example
upon youthful minds is rarely comprehended. We are commanded to be an
example in faith, purity, conversation, charity, spirit, and to be a
pattern of good works. It is the parents’ duty to love their children.
Titus 2:4. Perhaps every parent thinks and is ready to say, “I love my
child.” True love as required by the Bible comprehends more than you may
have been aware. They who indulge their children in a worldly life do not
love them as the Bible commands. Because the priest Eli did not restrain
his children from the ways of sin, God sent an awful judgment upon him. 1
Sam. 3. If parents love their children as they should they will do the
very best thing for them. Now the instructions given in the Bible are the
safest and best to follow.
As you looked into the face of this thine own child did you remember the
little treasure was a heritage from the Lord? “Lo, children are a heritage
of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” Psa. 127:3. It may
be that you were unmindful of this “fruit of the womb” being a gracious
heritage from God: but such it was. In the creation of man and woman they
were formed to bear offspring. When Esau and Jacob met after their long
separation and enmity, Esau inquired, “Who are those with thee?” Jacob
replied, “The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.” Gen.
33:5. Blessed and happy is the man that can look into the face of the
newly-born and feel in his heart that this is a child graciously given me
of God.
Because children are a heritage from the Lord is the real secret of the
joy experienced in the parents’ hearts when a child is born. An angel from
God’s presence anoints the spirit of man with the “oil of joy” when he
obeys Heaven’s ordained laws of procreation. Alas! how many husbands and
wives, who fear to meet the responsibilities involved thus upon them seek
to avert God’s laws. And when a child is conceived they, instead of
rejoicing as did Rachel, the mother of Joseph, and Mary, the mother of
Jesus, sorrow in heart, thus allowing the enemy of human happiness to
deprive them of the blessing God designed for them.
God, in his own mysterious way, from the mother’s life and blood is
creating a new life. But did you know that at the same time he was
creating an immortal soul? That new-born life contains an immortal part,
and very much depends upon you as to where shall be its eternal existence.
We want you to feel this deep in your hearts. God has given into your
charge a life and a soul. When you come to appear before him in the day of
judgment then you will have to render an account of how you have dealt
with your child. Oh, what awful responsibilities! What a charge! God help
us! With such a sacred trust, what shall we do? Like she of olden time,
who petitioned the God of heaven for a child, carry him back to the Lord
and there implore grace and wisdom and guidance from above to train these
little feet in the way that leads to endless joys.
Parents, as you look into the face of your slumbering child, and then
along down through his life, what do you want him to become? Do you want
him to grow up to manhood a poor, delicate, frail body with but little
energy or vitality with which to meet the sterner duties of life? Do you
want him to be indolent, shiftless, unmanly and addicted to such as will
bring him to shame, ruin and death? What! would you picture such a life
for my innocent boy? Such a thought is instantly banished from you. With
all your heart you desire him to become a true and noble man. You want him
to be strong, full of energy and vitality, of great mental and physical
worth, of manly ways, of pure habits, and in every way a worthy son. Yes,
that is the life you fondly picture for your son. Well, here he lies an
infant in thine arms. He is at thy mercy. You can make of him about what
you will. You can lead him in the paths of virtue and to a generous
Christian manhood, or you can neglect him and allow him to go to shame and
ruin. Let me say again that the life and destiny of your child depends
largely upon you. You can make it what you will. God help and bless you.
Physical Care.
When your child is born then comes the care of the little body. It must
have food. It must have air. It must have clothing. The supplying of
temporal needs is a duty that falls to the father. May he do his duty with
a will and see that his child’s health is not impaired by an insufficient
amount of clothing or of food. “But if any provide not for his own, and
especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is
worse than an infidel.” 1 Tim. 5:8. The parent that will not industriously
make use of every legitimate means to secure temporal comforts, does not
love his child. It has been known that the awful curse of tobacco, opium
and rum, have robbed the father and mother of parental love. Some may have
become so in love or so in bondage to tobacco that they would rather see
their child go hungry or naked than to deprive themselves of the accursed
thing.
Parents should acquaint themselves with hygienic laws and teach them to
their children. Show them the danger of overeating, and of too frequent
eating. Parents are destroying the health of their children by irregular
feeding, and by nuts and candies. Teach the little ones to avoid sitting
in a cool place when heated and of retaining wet clothing. Above all,
avoid giving your child tea, coffee and “soothing syrup.” Paregorics and
laudanums pave the way to the formation of other bad habits. They have an
effect which may answer your purpose at the time, but you gain your
purpose at the cost of your child’s vitality. If your attention has ever
been called to the evil effects of such, you can not dope your children
with them without bringing condemnation to your soul.
Good health is a great blessing, and our heavenly Father wills us to
observe natural health laws. Parents by carelessness can in a very short
time ruin the health of their child forever. Oh, the misery and distress
originating from ill health entailed upon the human family through the
ignorance and carelessness of parents is appalling. Had the writer’s
parents compelled their child to observe health laws in his youth he would
enjoy better health to-day. By proper care and help from God he has
largely overcome difficulties, but does not possess the strong
constitution he otherwise would.
We kindly make an earnest appeal to all parents to look well to the health
of your children. If you value their happiness, and a pleasant, happy
home, acquaint yourself with the laws of health, and follow them as
strictly as circumstances will allow. Many parents care more for their
children’s appearance in public than they do for their health. Mothers
following the pride of their heart instead of the laws of health expose
the bodies of their children to disease. In public gatherings, in order to
make a show of their rich clothing, they will not wrap them sufficiently
to protect them from cold: they will deform the feet of their little ones
and bring them pain in after life, because of the pride of their heart. By
lacing they will mold and shape the bodies of their daughters after the
fashion of the world, entailing upon them disorder and disease, weakness
and woe. In all love, but without hesitancy, we declare that such shameful
treatment of children is a sin and is sufficient of itself to destroy the
soul.
Government.
Great wisdom is required in the government of children. For parents to
properly govern their children they need that wisdom and direction which
comes from above. There are so many different natures which must be
controlled in as many different ways, making it impossible to fix certain
rules for all. However all these different dispositions among our children
must be met. “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God.”
Many parents ask. “At what age shall we begin to train and govern our
child?” Wisdom makes answer, “From the beginning.” You can train your babe
to nurse regularly, say every two hours, or to stifle his cries, you can
nurse him irregularly, and make him a cross, fretful babe by over and
irregular feeding. Your babe will sleep sweetly and soundly upon its
little bed, but you can very early accustom it to be rocked to sleep so it
will not go to sleep unless it is rocked. Nature never designed that we be
tossed to and fro in order to go to sleep. What is man’s experience on
board a ship in a rough sea? He becomes dizzy, nervous and sick, and when
he steps upon the land he walks like a drunken man. The infant’s first
rock in the cradle has a similar effect. Its little muscles are strained
to prevent falling. Its brain is dashed about until it becomes dizzy, but
which it soon learns to enjoy because of the peculiar sensation.
Your little babe sees some bright object and reaches out its little hands
to take it. You know it ought not to have it. It may injure itself with
it, so you say, “No, baby can not have this.” Then baby begins to cry. You
try to quiet him. You try to turn his mind and attention somewhere else,
but, no, he keeps his eye on the forbidden object and cries the harder. At
last to quiet him you give it to him, even if you have to hold to one end
to keep him from hurting himself. Baby has now learned a very valuable
lesson, which he is not going to forget. He has learned that if he cries
long enough and hard enough he can obtain what he desires.
As he grows older he becomes more determined to have his way. When company
comes you want your boy to give the rocker to the lady, but no, the little
man prefers the rocker for himself. You endeavor to remove him by force,
but he kicks and bites and holds tight and cries very loud, and you call
him a naughty boy, and give up the struggle. Then you begin to tell the
ladies about your boy, how he will have his way and you can not do
anything with him; that you sometimes whip him, but it does not do him any
good. You are educating your child out of your control.
If you desire your child to obey you, be kind, loving and firm. Scolding
is never in order, but does great harm. Unhappy and unholy is the home
where children obey only through fear. So deal with your little ones that
obedience is gained through love. So rarely is such obedience obtained
that many have concluded it can not be accomplished. It is natural for
children to love their parents, and if parents deal with their little ones
in love and kindness they can make home the most desirable place on earth
to them.
To rule by physical force is not government. It is a most pitiful sight to
see a child fear and tremble before a parent’s stern looks and cross
words. There is a way, though but few have found it, of mingling
tenderness with firmness that demands obedience in respect and love. It
brings a joy to the parents’ hearts to behold their child obeying
willingly. By the help of God such obedience can be obtained. Some one may
ask, “Would you never punish a child?” Yes; it is sometimes necessary, but
not so often as many have supposed. Training, and not arbitrary government
is what is the more successful.
Give Attention To Your Child.
It takes but little to wound the tender feelings of a child. It is not the
angry look and cross word only that sends the little one away in tears;
but oftentimes it is neglect. What may seem to us as a very little thing,
or small achievement, may be a very great thing to the child, and a notice
and an encouraging word has a good and lasting effect. Your little boy has
done a piece of work, and done it poorly enough to be sure, but to him it
is done in the most artistic style. Do not depress his spirit by showing
your disapproval, but encourage him by telling him that it does very well
for a child; then kindly help him to see how he can make it still better.
You should not become so absorbed in your occupation that you can not stop
to notice the newly drawn picture. If the child’s interruptions are too
frequent, in kindness teach him that papa is not to be interrupted now. By
all means show a deep interest in your children. Help them to see that you
delight to make things pleasant for them. Do not make them feel that they
are servants. Have pleasant conversations with them. Read some good story
to them, or better still, tell them one; not a “fairy-tale,” but something
real. We have seen parents who scarcely ever spoke to their children only
when reproving. Take them with you to the meeting. Take them with you if
at all convenient when you go on your charitable errand. Take them for a
drive. Take them to the woods and the fields, and there tell them of God.
Many opportunities will be afforded for you to show an interest and an
appreciation in your child. Give him your attention and you will win his
love and obedience and make him feel that there is freedom at home.
Neglect him, treat him with indifference, and you will make his little
heart cold and make him feel he is your slave.
Be Patient With Your Child.
For the sake of your child, your own happiness, and the happiness of your
home, be patient. In dealing with your little “olive plants,” “let
patience have her perfect work,” and of a truth you shall “be perfect and
entire wanting nothing.” Much of redeeming grace is needed to enable the
parent to be calm and kind under the many trying circumstances connected
with the pruning and training of the “fruit of the womb.” It is a source
of great joy, however, to know that God’s grace is sufficient for me.
Dear parents, the only remedy we have to offer you for this qualification
is the sweet controlling influence of saving grace. When you have gained
control of your own spirit you are far on the way to conquer the
rebellious spirit of your child. How sad it is that a mother who loves her
child will find sometimes a feeling of hatred in her heart against it. We
have heard mothers in a time of provocation use such words as these, “You
foolish thing;” “You naughty little imp;” “You mean thing, I have a mind
to put you out where the dogs will get you;” “You do that again and I’ll
give you to the bad man;” “I’ll slap your head off;” “I wish you were
dead,” etc. How awful! Mothers, who, if their little one was sick, would
gladly sit night after night and watch by its bedside—no slumber for those
eyelids now, for baby is very sick—when the dear one is restored to health
and provokes the mother, she uses some of the above expressions, or
similar ones.
As you stand some night by the casket that contains that lifeless little
body, oh, what anguish at heart as you remember the hasty words you have
spoken to that dear one. How those ugly expressions ring in your ears.
They will follow you for days in thought and dream. How sad that the human
heart is of such disposition, but what joy to know that the precious blood
of Jesus will remove all such dispositions and fill the heart with love
and sweetness that will enable you to deal with your child in loving
patience, even in the hour of deepest trial, and should you be called to
its death bedside you can look into the pale face and then up to God
without a sting of conscience. Parents, be firm, but be patient with your
child. Let love shine out of every reproval and you will find it is not so
difficult to train him and govern him as you supposed.
Never Scold Or Threaten.
How heart-rending to see almost a constant contention between parents and
children, parents scolding their children for almost every little thing,
and threatening to “give them to the Gypsies,” or to “cut off their ears,”
or “put a split stick on their tongues,” and many other foolish and
hurtful threatenings, father and mother make when they are provoked. Be
always calm in your own feelings and never be hasty to speak or act. When
the child really needs reproval, take him quietly and show him the evil of
such things, how it will lead to other bad things, and these to others,
and should he continue in that way he would grow up to be a bad man. Tell
him how you love him, and how you want to see him become a good and noble
man, a blessing to his parents, to the community, and to the world. Tell
him you hope he will not do those bad things any more, and should he do
them you would be under obligations to punish him.
If the child is reasoned with rightly the corporal punishment will not be
of frequent necessity. It is a shame and a sin to act so hastily and
punish your little ones in some way without patiently and coolly
explaining matters.
Give Your Child Some Privilege.
Do not answer, “No,” to every request of your child. Allow them some
privilege, let them engage in certain plays. Do not be so fastidious in
your home that the little ones can not have a little play indoors.
Certainly they should be taught to be clean, to remove dirt from their
shoes before coming into the house, and not to tumble things all up in the
room, yet they should not be expected to sit perfectly still.
When the child makes a request of you that your wisdom decides best not to
grant do not answer by a decided “no,” but tell the little one that you
think it not best to do so, and be firm. When you tell him you do not
think it best do not be persuaded out of it, and he will soon learn that
your mild “I do not think it best to give you that,” means just as much as
a sharp “no,” but his feelings will not be disturbed like they are by that
hasty “no.”
Always Be Calm When You Punish.
When it becomes necessary to use the rod upon your child be sure you
possess a calmness in your soul. It requires much grace for true parents
to whip their children. Before you punish them you should show them what
great wrong they have done and how God is displeased, and that you do not
punish them for your own pleasure, but because you love them.
To the dear parents who read this we wish to exhort you to give great
diligence in cultivating the affectionate side of your nature. Do not be
careless and unmindful of the dear little ones’ happiness. Do not be cold
and indifferent toward them. Enter into their joys and sorrows with a warm
heart. Parents oftentimes remark when their child gets hurt in some way,
“Well it is good enough for you; may be it will teach you something.” Oh,
may that heart be softened to tender sympathy, so you will make the dear
child feel how sorry you are because he has been hurt, then teach him how
he must not engage in such things, and then he will avoid being injured.
Your kind words of sympathy will relieve the pain by their influence upon
the heart. Your cold indifferent words make deeper wounds in the heart
than were made in the flesh.
Seek God in much earnest prayer to tender your affections, to refine your
nature, to make you very sensitive to the feelings of your child, and to
help you to love the tender “olive plants” round about thy fireside. Some
day there may be a vacant chair, and there can be no sweeter joy on earth
to your sorrowing heart than to know you did what you could to make the
little one happy and train its feet for the glory world.
Kind words are flowers of beauty rare;
Keep them blooming throughout the year.
Mental Training.
The mental, moral and spiritual training of children go hand in hand. We
shall speak of them under separate chapters, but the one has a great
influence upon the other. It is true, the intellectual faculties may be
cultivated to a high degree while the moral powers are unimproved, but the
individual is out of harmony with true manhood. The spiritual and moral
being may be in a fair state of health and the mental powers very much
dwarfed, but still he is not in perfect harmony with manhood as designed
by the creative mind. Without a blending of the intellectual, moral and
spiritual forces there can be no perfect character in the fullest sense.
We do not mean by this that man must be a philosopher or a scientist to be
a moral or spiritual man; but we mean for man to be a perfect character in
every respect and to glorify God in the whole realm of his being, he must
cultivate every talent God has given him. The created mental powers must
be improved by right study. In order to know and understand God we must
have a sound mind. A sound mind is helpful to the enjoyment of grace, and
grace is helpful to the enjoyment of a sound mind; so to enjoy existence
necessitates a soundness in every part.
It is through the mental powers that we acquaint our children with God:
“Faith cometh by hearing.” Parents can not be too careful about the
impressions made in the mentality of their children; it may affect their
morality and spirituality in the whole of after life. Select such books
for them as will develop the mental faculties, something that contains
food for the brain. There are certain articles of diet that do not contain
sufficient nutrition for the development of the physical body. Children
fed upon such diet would become weakly. There is also a certain kind of
literature that contains no brain nutriment. Reading such degenerates the
mental powers. Stimulants or excitants are hurtful to the physical system.
All fictitious, exciting tales are hurtful to the mental system. We are
persuaded it were better if the unreal, fairy stories were excluded from
our common school readers and supplanted by something real. Select such
literature as is pure. Reading that produces pure thought in the child’s
mind not only improves his moral state, but furnishes the best mental
food.
Educate your children as well as you possibly can. It is a duty you owe to
them and to God. Keep before them the ultimate object—a developed mind for
the glory of God. Encourage your children to an education. Do not think
the buying of a good book an unnecessary expenditure. Better make a
physical sacrifice than a mental one. Keep your children away from the
physical, mental, moral and spiritual destructive party and dance by
interesting them in sound and pure literature and providing it for them.
If your children show a disposition to love and desire to spend the
evening at the “parties” or the “balls,” get up a “reading circle” or
“composition exercise” at home. God will bless you and reward you in all
your efforts in this direction. Much more of importance could be said upon
this subject, but with these few suggestions we will leave the interested
and inventive mind to enlarge.
Moral Training.
Man is an intellectual and a moral being. By his intellectual powers he
gains a knowledge of facts. By his moral faculties he experiences a sense
of responsibility and a feeling of certain relations existing between him
and some higher power. Your child possesses an intuitive knowledge and
upon this is where your moral training begins. The little brother knows it
is wrong to injure his little sister. He does not have to acquire that
knowledge, he knows it intuitively. This is the foundation for your moral
training, and—of course—spiritual training naturally hinges upon this; but
we shall speak of that in a separate chapter.
The wisest man that ever lived said, “Train up a child in the way he
should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Prov. 22:6. So
many having failed, some have been almost persuaded to doubt this man’s
wisdom. The saying is true: the failures arise from the lack of
understanding of how to train properly. All the moral principles sustain a
close relation to each other; thus one moral principle influences another,
therefore the violation of one principle makes it easier to violate a
second, and the child is carried on until he can do wrong without any
reproval of conscience.
Training should begin very early in the life of a child. Never allow this
intuitive knowledge or the voice of conscience to be hushed by repeated
wrong doing. The child who does wrong should be told why it is he feels a
sense of guilt—God is displeased. Show him how one evil leads to another,
and what will be the awful end. Call to his mind the differences in his
feelings arising from wrong doing and right doing. With the one God is
displeased, with the other he is pleased. The way then to be happy in life
is to always do right.
You must be indefatigable in your efforts at training. Constant daily
training is needed. As one wrong act makes it easier to do a second wrong
act, so one right act makes it easier to do a second right act. It is
comparatively easy for the child to fall into bad habits. Training,
constant daily training is needed to keep the little one from evil ways.
Lead him into right action. By repeating a right action it becomes easy to
perform it. You must never think of becoming discouraged, although it
appears so natural for your child to do wrong and so difficult to get him
to do right. You must go on training, trusting in the promise, teaching,
reproving, correcting, punishing, ever looking upward for grace and
wisdom.
Be careful of your example. It exerts a powerful influence. At one time in
his life, the writer was quick in his actions and his words. He never
received such a reproving as when one day his little boy under a
provocation acted and spoke in the exact manner and tone of his papa. It
cut to the heart.
It may seem at times that the voice of conscience is almost stifled, but
you must hope on and labor zealously as in the command: “And thou shalt
teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when them
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou
liest down, and when thou risest up.” Deut. 6:7.
Many parents seeing their young child doing or saying something wrong
often think it of not much consequence, because the child is young and the
wrong is very slight. You do not know the power of habit, and how one
wrong, howsoever slight, leads to a greater one. Habit has been likened to
a spider’s web, which at first can be easily broken, but after continued
indulgence binds its victim as with a strong cable, making reformation
almost impossible. The same is true of good and right conduct. At first it
may require an effort to perform a certain right act, but after repetition
it is accomplished naturally and without thought. Therefore be vigilant in
training your child to right action, and carefully avoid everything that
would lead to evil acts or feelings. To tease a child is to develop an
angry disposition. Some fathers think it quite laughable to hear the
little two-year-old say to its mamma, “I won’t do it,” but he shall
afterward pay dearly for his sport.
Parents think it “cute” to see their little one shake its little fist at
papa and mamma. Through such education the day will probably come when he
will shake his fist at you so that it will strike like a hammer on your
heart. We have heard many parents laughing at their little children saying
“smart things,” little conscious of what these things are leading to.
“Train up a child in the way he should go,” comprehends much more than
many have understood. Just recently we heard a little child being taught
to say, “Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater,” etc. Such teaching is horrifying to
Christian hearts. It is better to train your child to make reply in the
polite, “Yes, sir” and “No, sir,” or, “Yes, ma’am,” and “No, ma’am,”
instead of that coarse, impolite “umgh,” “humgh,” which is no language.
Remember the first step to child training is to set the example before
them in your own life. Frequently we find parents endeavoring to teach
their children to say, “Please” and “Yes, sir,” when they in their own
speech neglect such politeness. Your efforts will prove fruitless.
Parents have been known to tease their little daughter and the daughter of
other parents about some little boy companion, and their little son about
some girl companion. Such is very shameful and harmful. It fills the minds
of their children with impure thought. Keep your own language very modest
and pure and the language of your children the same. Keep their thought
pure. Impure language and impure thought leads to impure and injurious
habits.
Be familiar with your child and talk to him about his secret life. Teach
him of the awful evils in the secret lives of many children and how impure
words and thoughts lead to such injurious vice. Parents. see to it that
there is a loving confidence between you and your child. Be familiar in
telling them how wonderfully they are made and what was the design of God
in thus creating them. Teach them what a noble and sacred thing it is to
use every member and organ of our body to the glory of the Creator. Teach
them of the awful crime to misuse any part. Mothers, acquaint your young
daughters of the event that must soon come into their life, and thus
prevent their doing an injury to their health.
By precept upon precept and by example, train your child to grow up into a
beautiful moral life. In love restrain every immoral tendency in your
child. Also be very zealous in teaching your children good manners.
Civility and refinement are beautiful in the life of any one, and is very
closely associated with the morals. Teach your little ones to respect each
other, to have a regard for each other’s happiness, to practise
self-denial for the benefit of others. By precept and example instill
gentleness and kindness into their actions. Dear parents, never grow weary
in training the little feet of thy tender “olive plants” in the paths of
virtue.
Spiritual Training.
The moral life is beautiful, but there is a higher and more beautiful
life. In the true, deep spiritual life is found the highest degree of
morality. However we may train our children into a high standard of moral
life, and yet not attain to the spiritual. It is reported that the homes
of certain infidels are most exemplary in moral conduct. Ancient heathen
philosophers through restraint, self-sacrifice, and force of will attained
to beautiful moral lives. But the spiritual life, which includes the
moral, is the perfection of beauty. The life out of which the Christ-life
and character shines is the grandest and noblest upon the earth.
Parents, bring your children to Jesus, for of such is the kingdom of
heaven. Bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,
is commanded in the Holy Scriptures. Your child possesses an immortal
soul. This soul will exist either in happiness or wretchedness eternally.
It is so ordained in the plan of redemption that the soul can be brought
into possession of spiritual life, which, if retained, insures its eternal
bliss. He who has attained to a high degree of morality through the force
of human will holds communion only with the better qualities of manhood,
all of which must perish. He who has attained to spirituality holds
communion with God and heavenly things. He does not trust to human powers,
but in the power of the divine life.
Moral life will not admit us into the paradise above. We must possess
spiritual life—the life of Christ. It is well to train our children in the
way of good morals with a view to leading them into the spiritual life.
Then it is necessary to lead them into the spiritual life to aid in the
moral training. Comparatively few parents have accomplished any great
results in the moral training of their children without divine assistance.
In the moral derangement of our children the inward tendency to immorality
makes it impossible to educate them to a true and perfect standard of
morality without God’s aid. Have we and our children no other source of
strength to do battle with the evil passions but the force of the human
will? Who has succeeded in subduing or controlling an angry disposition in
themselves or their children to the extent that there is no impatient
speech or abrupt action, by their own will power? We admit that some
men—as the ancient heathen philosophers—have succeeded in educating
themselves to a high standard of morality by using all the power of the
human will as a vigilant police force and carefully avoiding occasions of
temptation. It is said of one of these philosophers that in order to
absent himself from the races and games and bull-fights and other worldly
gatherings he would only shave one-half of his face, thereby making
himself too ridiculous in appearance to assemble among men. Such is the
struggle to attain any moral excellence without divine assistance.
Children should be taught what sin is, and of God’s judgments against it,
and as early in life as possible be led by instruction and seeking the aid
of the Holy Spirit into a Christian experience. Some seem to think that
children have no correct ideas of God, and never feel the influence of his
Spirit. In this they may be mistaken. The tender heart of a child very
often receives a deep and sacred impression by the Holy Spirit. Were we
watchful and took advantage of these seasons to tell them of God and
heaven we would be workers together with him, and he would reward us by
faithful children. The communication of the Spirit with the hearts of
children is more wonderful and frequent than we may sometimes understand.
A lady recently told us that her parents never taught her to pray, but
very early in life she was inclined by the Holy Spirit to kneel at her
bedside and pray when unobserved.
Who is the reader that can not remember instances in his early life when
he felt the influence of some good spirit and had thoughts of God? Had he
in those tender childhood days been rightly instructed he could have been
led into the beautiful walks of a Christian life. We remember a child of
less than ten years of age, who, hearing his father using bad language,
fell upon his knees and clasping his arms around his father told him of
his sin and besought him to pray for forgiveness.
A lady writer in one of her excellent works (“Mothers’ Counsel to Their
Sons”), records the instance of a little girl of four and a half years who
felt the guilt of sin, and by her Christian mother was led to Jesus, and
there she was blessed by him, even to the witnessing of his Spirit that
her sins were gone and she was his child. The child was at one time moved
to plead with an unsaved relative to come to Jesus. She lived triumphant
in the sweetness of redeeming grace until the age of fifteen, when her
mission on earth was ended and she went to her home in heaven. Oh, how
glorious! What if that mother, when this child came expressing her sense
of guilt, had not instructed her in the ways of salvation? In all
probability it would have resulted in a lost soul.
When our children are brought into a Christian experience the victory is
only partly won; life lies before them with its temptations. Many are the
allurements to turn those young feet into worldly paths. We have witnessed
the bright, happy conversion of many children. We have seen their
countenances beaming with the light and joy of Christian love and heard
their voices ring with spiritual praise, only to soon yield to the
influence of the world and lose that sincere devotion to God. This is not
the inevitable course, thank God, but it is the course of many. To teach
our children the fear of God and enable them to retain in their hearts a
deep reverence and devotion to him has been a subject of much prayer with
us. We find the Christian life is a warfare. There are temptations to be
resisted, there are watchings and prayings, there must be a constant
looking upward to God for his aid and direction.
One trouble with many parents has been that as soon as their children were
converted they seemed to think the battle was over and the victory was
won, when really the battle was only begun. The first thing necessary in
keeping our budding “olive plants” in deep spirituality is to keep very
spiritual ourselves. Now whatever means are necessary to promote a growth
of spirituality in our hearts, the same means are necessary to develop and
deepen the spiritual life of our children. A habitual effort to cultivate
a deeper sense of the divine presence is necessary and one of the most
beautiful employments of the sanctified heart. Those reverential feelings
toward God must daily become stronger. Those inmost affections of the soul
must reach out with greater yearnings and deeper longings toward the Holy
One. A benevolent regard in our hearts for our fellow men must become
stronger and more true. O beloved, if you would have your child to grow up
into a beautiful Christian character you must teach him to suppress every
selfish feeling, to banish every idle, careless thought, and to resist all
temptations to envy or impatience. The purest of meditations must be
entertained. We and they must be strictly disciplined by the sacred
Scriptures, “Watch and pray.” Spiritual prayer unfolds the life into the
beautiful life of God as the bud unfolds into the blooming rose.
A Christian Home.
Nowhere is Christianity more effectual and more beautiful than in the home
life. Nowhere is the power of divine love so truly manifested as in a
sincere Christian home. We will set a picture before you. A father and
mother with their children are grouped together for the evening worship.
The father out of the deep affections of his soul, in spiritual tones,
speaks of God and his holy commandment. A tear of gratitude and joy is
glistening in the mother’s affectionate eye. The children’s faces are
beaming with admiration as they hear extolled the character of Christ.
They kneel in prayer; a holy awe and sacredness rests upon the scene;
their prayers arise as sweet incense into the nostrils of God and delight
his great heart.
Such a scene as we have pictured only fitly represents a true Christian
home. The father is all tenderness and love to his wife and children. He
is kind and sympathetic. He regards his wife as the weaker vessel and is
mindful of her happiness. The wife deeply reverences her husband.
Affection and appreciation sparkle in her eye. To attend to the husband’s
wishes is her delight. They love their children and in gentleness are
bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The children
love each other and are kind and self-denying. They obey their parents
through love. Alas! such a family is rarely found upon this sin-cursed
earth. But such is taught and commanded in the Bible, and it is possible.
If a father and mother and children lived toward each other just as the
Bible says they should live, we would have a scene that would fitly
represent heaven. It is our privilege to have just such a home. “Ask, and
it shall be given you.” A happy home life is the most blessed life on
earth. “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house:
thy children like olive plants round about thy table.” Psa. 128:3.
Duty Of Children To Parents.
It was the original design of God that children should be a blessing to
their parents. “My son, be wise, and make my heart glad.” Prov. 27:11.
“The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth
a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be
glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.” Prov. 23:24, 25. “A wise son
maketh a glad father.” Prov. 15:20.
You will observe, children, in each of the above texts that it is wisdom
in a child that makes parents rejoice. Then you should “seek wisdom, seek
understanding.” “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.”
Prov. 4:7. What is wisdom? “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”
The highest honor a child can pay to a true parent is to honor and obey
God: “And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice
according to all I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all
thine heart and with all thy soul.” Deut. 30:2. “Remember now thy Creator
in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not.” Eccl. 12:1.
The duty of children is to fear their parents: “Ye shall fear every man
his mother, and his father.” Lev. 19:3. To honor them: “Honor thy father
and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee.” Ex. 20:12. This, it is true, is an old-time commandment,
but the spirit or principle of it is carried into the dispensation of the
gospel. “Honor thy father and mother.” Eph. 6:2.
Children should attend to the faithful instruction of their parents: “My
son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy
mother; for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy heart, and chains
about thy neck.” Prov. 1:8, 9. “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a
father.” Prov. 4:1. “My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake
not the law of thy mother.” Prov. 6:20. “Children, obey your parents in
the Lord; for this is right.” If it is right to obey, it is wrong to
disobey. Many children do not have a due regard for the instruction of the
father and mother. They oftentimes think they know more than their parents
and so follow their own ways without natural affection.
Children should imitate the example of righteous parents, but are
commanded not to walk in the footsteps of the unholy: “But I said unto
their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your
fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their
idols.” Ezek. 20:18.
One important duty of children is to care for the parents. If the parents
become old and feeble, or the mother a widow, the Word of God places
children under the obligation of caring for them. “But if any widow have
children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to
requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.”
Duties Of Masters To Servants.
Masters are commanded to forbear threatening their servants: “And, ye
masters, do the same things unto them, [servants], forbearing threatening:
knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of
persons with him.” Eph. 6:9.
In our land the days of slavery are no more, but men and women have their
hired man and maid servant. Their duty toward such servants is to treat
them with kindness, not to threaten them, or treat them in an overbearing,
authoritative manner because they are servants. Be as kind and mild and
respectful to them as to the children of the rich, for God is no respecter
of persons.
Masters should give unto their servants that which is just and right for
their labor done. If a man’s labor is well worth two dollars per day, but
because he is needy (or for any cause) and must work at any price, you
take advantage of him and give him but one dollar, you are a dim light in
the world. In truth your light has gone out, and your deeds have become
darkness. “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal:
knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” These words. “Knowing that
ye also have a Master in heaven,” are contained also in Eph. 6:9, where
masters are commanded to forbear threatening. They are intended to impress
the master with his obligation of dealing with his servants in the fear of
God, before whom he must some day appear and give an account for the deeds
done in the body, or in this life.
The rich man’s fraudulent deeds toward his servants is taken account of in
heaven: “Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your
fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them
which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” Jas.
5:4.
Duty Of Servants To Their Masters.
Servants should honor and respect their masters: “Let as many servants as
are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the
name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.” 1 Tim. 6:1. Especially
are they to reverence them if they are believers: “And they that have
believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren;
but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved,
partakers of the benefit.” 1 Tim. 6:2.
Servants are under obligation to obey their masters: “Servants, be
obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear
and trembling, in singleness of your heart as unto Christ.” Eph. 6:5. The
servant’s service to his master should not be wholly for the hire. He
should not fear to do him ill service because of not receiving his wages,
but his service should be in singleness of heart—an honest, upright
purpose—as unto Christ.
They should seek to please their masters: “Exhort servants to be obedient
unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things.” Titus 2:9.
They are to be subject to them: “Servants, be subject to your masters with
all fear: not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.” 1
Pet. 2:18. Servants are to do good service and not defraud their masters,
and thus adorn the doctrine of God. “Not purloining, but showing all good
fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all
things.” Titus 2:10. The word “purloin” is from the Greek word
“_nosphizomai_,” and means “to hide or to secrete, to steal.” In this text
it would include the idling away of time that belonged to the master.
We believe we have done justice to the subject of “Domestic Relationship.”
In conclusion we would be pleased to set before you a picture, not to be
excelled in sublimity, sacredness, elevation of character, or soul
inspiration by anything on earth. “For thou shalt eat the labor of thine
hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall
be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive
plants round about thy table.” Psa. 128:2, 3. This picture is set in a
beautiful frame, found in the preceding verse and the one following,
“Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.”
Ver. 1. “Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the
Lord.” Ver. 4. The picture of a happy Christian man, a loving wife,
devoted children, embossed with the blessings and glory of God, is one of
greatest admiration.