73. “Α. Κ.,” Dumbarton. Gal. 6:66Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. (Galatians 6:6) teaches that those who receive instruction in the things of God should communicate, in all good things, with those whom God uses to instruct them, provided, of course, that there is need. The passage seems simple enough.
74. “Μ. Μ. M.,” Aberystwith. We are much interested in the contents of your letter. You have our fullest sympathy in your work. We have forwarded your request to the beloved friend referred to in your letter; and we have no doubt he will attend to it with his usual promptness. It is the joy of his heart to circulate the truth of God in every way.
75. “D. W.,” Derry. There are two ways of looking at your question. The apostle Paul, preaching to the Athenians says, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God.” (Acts 17:2929Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. (Acts 17:29).) He is here, of course, speaking of God as the Creator. Looking at the question from a christian standpoint, we are only the children of God by being born again, by His word and Spirit. It is to this latter, no doubt, that the minister you name refers, and he is perfectly right. It is most necessary when handling any question, to look at it in all its aspects and bearings. In this way we avoid narrowness and one-sidedness.
76. “A Reader,” London. We believe in the forgiveness of sins on the authority of the word of God; and the more simply we “believe,” the more clearly we shall “see,” the more distinctly we shall “know,” and the more deeply we shall “feel.”
77. “A Clergyman’s Wife.” We thank you heartily for your kind and encouraging letter. You will find in our papers on “The All-sufficiency of Christ,” (now published separately) some remarks on the subject to which you refer.
78. “C. F.,” Hawkesbury Upton. It is quite sufficient for us, dear friend, that scripture teaches on the one hand, that faith is the gift of God; and on the other, that man is a responsible being. We believe both; to reconcile them is none of our business; they are already reconciled inasmuch as they are taught in the word. We have repeatedly gone into this subject, as you must be aware, being as you say, “A constant reader.” See an article entitled, “Responsibility and Power,” vol. 17 page 57.
79. “Miss M.,” Yokohama, Japan. We deeply sympathize with you, dear friend, in all your exercises, and we earnestly entreat the Lord to sustain, comfort, and bless you. But we do not feel called to enter the field of controversy with infidel writers either at home or abroad. We leave this work to other and abler hands. As to infidel books, we hold them in such utter contempt that we never read them. We consider the best thing to do with all such is to put them in the fire.
80. “A Constant Reader,” United States. We cannot understand how any one calling himself a christian parent can adopt such a system of harsh and cruel treatment towards his children. It can only result in making them liars and infidels. They will tell lies to escape the strap; and they will despise the religion which stands connected with such inordinate severity. Such treatment as you describe is more worthy of a cruel slave-master than of a christian parent. No doubt, there are cases in which some little discipline is necessary; but it should be administered in such a way as to convince the child that it is only for his good, and not the fruit of bad temper, or of arbitrary severity. The rod should be most reluctantly lifted. It should be the very last resource. In short, the christian parent should ever keep before him as his model his heavenly Father’s dealings with himself. Now, does He inflict punishment for confessed sin? The thought were blasphemy. He only chastens in love, and in order to make us partakers of His holiness. It grieves Him to have to use the rod. “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” This should be the christian parent’s pattern. We do not believe in the everlasting whipping system. It only hardens and brutalizes. And we would further add, dear friend, that the father and the mother should be wholly one in the administration of discipline. For a child to have to appeal to one parent to shield him from the other, reveals a condition of things in the domestic circle perfectly shocking to every well-regulated mind. The father and mother should not have a single divergent thought in reference to the system of training. They should appear before their children as one authority—one influence. The firmness of the father and the tenderness of the mother should be so sweetly blended as that their joint action might be felt in the entire system of training. But how is all this to be realized? By the parents being much on their knees together before God. This is the true secret of domestic training. If the father and mother do not pray together, they will not act together; and if they do not act together, the education of the children must suffer. May the Lord in His infinite goodness help all christian parents to discharge aright their high and holy functions, so that His name may be glorified in the households of His people!
81. “M. A.” You are quite right in your judgment as to Cain’s sacrifice. It was a sacrifice without blood, and “without shedding of blood there is no remission.” We are not surprised at Unitarian or Socinian opposition to the doctrine of atonement; but we believe scripture.
82. “F. L. J.,” London. Rom. 11 teaches us most distinctly that “all Israel shall be saved,” and that not by being brought into the church, but, after the church has left the scene and gone to heaven. “The fullness of the Gentiles” must not be confounded with “the times of the Gentiles” in Luke 21. The former refers to the gathering out for blessing. The latter refers to the ripening for judgment. Israel shall be saved and blessed, as a nation, in their own land, according to the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
83. “W. N.,” Battersea. God’s probationary dealings with man closed with the cross. Till then, God had been testing man in various ways. He had tried him without law, under the law, under government, by the prophets, by the living ministry of Christ; but all in vain. Man was incorrigible. He crucified the Lord of glory. The cross closed forever the history of the first man; but it forms the basis of that new creation in which all things are of God. Hence, therefore, those who speak of man as being under probation are eighteen centuries behind.
84. “M. A. L.,” Harrogate. Thanks for your note and the sweet lines.
85. “E. A. R,” Nenagh. It is wrong for a Christian to be “discontented;” but it is not wrong to wait on God to open your way to the assembly of His people and to the table of your Lord.
86. “S. J. L.,” Malvern. Sunday-school work is so entirely individual in its character that all who engage in it must take it up in direct responsibility to the Lord, and pursue it with energy and firm purpose of heart, regardless of human thoughts. If we listen to every crotchet and quibble of the day, we shall never get on. We look upon Sunday-school teaching as a most blessed work, and we have written on the subject again and again. We would exhort you, dear friend, to go on with your precious service, looking only to your Lord for guidance, help, and encouragement. As a general rule, we judge it better if possible, to have a separate room for the Sunday-school. It renders you more independent, and takes away occasion from those who seek to raise objections to its being held in the assembly’s room.