Training of Children
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Israel: “When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean
the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord
our God hath commanded you? then thou shalt say unto thy son, We
were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of
Egypt with a mighty hand: and the Lord showed signs and wonders,
great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household,
before our eyes: and He brought us out from thence, that He might
bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our fathers. And
the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our
God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at
this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these
commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.”
Here are principles that we are not to regard with indifference.
Those who have seen the truth and felt its importance, and have had
an experience in the things of God, are to teach sound doctrine to their
children. They should make them acquainted with the great pillars
of our faith, the reasons why we are Seventh-day Adventists,—why
we are called, as were the children of Israel, to be a peculiar people,
a holy nation, separate and distinct from all other people on the face
of the earth. These things should be explained to the children in
simple language, easy to be understood; and as they grow in years, the
lessons imparted should be suited to their increasing capacity, until the
foundations of truth have been laid broad and deep.
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Parents, you profess to be children of God; are you obedient
children? Are you doing the will of your heavenly Father? Are you
following His directions, or are you walking in the light of sparks of
your own kindling? Are you daily working to outgeneral the enemy
and save your children from his devices? Are you opening to them
the precious truths of the word of God, explaining to them the reasons
of our faith, that their young feet may be planted on the platform of
truth?
The Bible with its precious gems of truth was not written for the
scholar alone. On the contrary, it was designed for the common people;
and the interpretation given by the common people, when aided by
the Holy Spirit, accords best with the truth as it is in Jesus. The great
truths necessary for salvation are made clear as the noonday, and none
will mistake and lose their way except those who follow their own
judgment instead of the plainly revealed will of God.