Consecration in Ministers
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judgment of men of experience, whom God has used to advance His
cause. Young men in the ministry now know but little of hardships;
and many will fail of becoming as useful as they might, for the very
reason that things are made too easy for them.
You have responsibilities in your family which you think you
understand, but you know little about them as you ought to know.
You have many things to unlearn which you have prided yourself on
knowing. I was shown that you had gathered up ideas that you take
for verity and truth, which are directly opposed to the Bible. Paul had
these things to meet and to contend with in young ministers of his day.
You have been too ready to accept as light the sayings and positions
of men, but be careful how you advance your ideas as Bible truth. Be
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careful of your steps. I had hoped that such a reformation had taken
place in your life that I should never be called upon to write these
words.
You have a duty to do at home which you cannot shun and yet be
true to God and to your God-given trust. That which I now refer to has
not been shown me definitely in your case, but in hundreds of similar
cases; therefore when I see you falling into the same error into which
many parents in this age of the world are falling I cannot excuse your
neglect of duty. You have one child, one soul committed to your trust.
But when you show such manifest weakness and lack of wisdom in
training this one child, following your ideas rather than the Bible rule,
how can you be trusted to teach and manage matters where the eternal
interests of many are involved?
I address myself to both yourself and your wife. My position in
the cause and work of God demands of me an expression in matters of
discipline. Your example in your own domestic affairs will do a great
injury to the cause of God. The gospel field is the world. You wish
to sow the field with gospel truth, waiting for God to water the seed
sown that it may bring forth fruit. You have entrusted to you a little
plot of ground, but your own dooryard is left to grow up with brambles
and thorns, while you are engaged in weeding others’ gardens. This
is not a small work, but one of great moment. You are preaching the
gospel to others; practice it yourself at home. You are indulging the
whims and passions of a perverse child, and by so doing are cultivating
traits of character which God hates and which make the child unhappy.
Satan takes advantage of your neglect, and he controls the mind. You