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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
Ministers should impress upon those who accept the truth that they
must have Christ in their homes; that they need grace and wisdom
from Him in guiding and controlling their children. It is a part of the
work which God has left for them to do, to educate and discipline
these children, bringing them into subjection. Let the kindness and
courtesy of the minister be seen in his treatment of children. He should
ever bear in mind that they are miniature men and women, younger
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members of the Lord’s family. These may be very near and dear to the
Master, and, if properly instructed and disciplined, will do service for
Him, even in their youth. Christ is grieved with every harsh, severe,
and inconsiderate word spoken to children. Their rights are not always
respected, and they are frequently treated as though they had not an
individual character which needs to be properly developed, that it may
not be warped and the purpose of God in their lives prove a failure.
From a child, Timothy knew the Scriptures, and his knowledge
was a safeguard to him against the evil influences surrounding him and
the temptation to choose pleasure and selfish gratification before duty.
Such a safeguard all our children need, and it should be a part of the
work of parents and of Christ’s ambassadors to see that the children
are properly instructed in the word of God.
If the minister would meet the approval of his Lord, he must labor
with fidelity to present every man perfect in Christ. He should not, in
his manner of labor, carry the impression that it is of little consequence
whether men do or do not accept the truth and practice true godliness;
but the faithfulness and self-sacrifice manifested in his life should
be such as to convince the sinner that eternal interests are at stake
and that his soul is in peril unless he responds to the earnest labor
put forth in his behalf. Those who have been brought from error and
darkness to truth and light have great changes to make, and unless the
necessity of thorough reform is pressed home upon the conscience,
they will be like the man who looked into the mirror, the law of God,
and discovered the defects in his moral character, but went away and
forgot what manner of man he was. The mind must be kept awake to a
sense of responsibility or it will settle back into a state of even more
careless inattention than before it was aroused.
The work of the ambassadors for Christ is far greater and more
responsible than many dream of. They should not be at all satisfied
with their success until they can, by their earnest labors and the blessing
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