Part 5 (2/2)
The Holy Spirit is promised to aid you in all your efforts to resist sin. If, when the power of temptation is strong, you will look to him for aid, he will give you strength to resist. Thus is duty made easy, G.o.d loves you. Angels desire that you should come to heaven. Jesus has died to save you. The Holy Spirit is ready to aid you in every Christian effort, and to lead you on, victorious over sin. How unreasonable, then, and how ungrateful it is, for any child to refuse to love G.o.d, and to prepare to enter the angels' home! There you can be happy. No night is there. No sickness or sorrow can ever reach you there. Glory will fill your eye. Joy will fill your heart. You will be an angel yourself, and s.h.i.+ne in all the purity and in all the bliss of the angels' happy home.
CHAPTER VI.
PIETY.
In the last chapter I have endeavored to show you in what your sin princ.i.p.ally consists; and also the interest which G.o.d feels in your happiness, and the sacrifice he has made to lead you to penitence and to heaven. But you desire more particular information respecting the duties which G.o.d requires of you. I shall in this chapter explain the requirements of G.o.d; and show you why you should immediately commence a life of piety.
Probably no child reads this book who is not conscious of sin. You feel not only that you do not love G.o.d as you ought, but that sometimes you are ungrateful or disobedient to your parents; you are irritated with your brother or your sister, or you indulge in other feelings, which you know to be wrong. New, the first thing which G.o.d requires of you is, that you should be penitent for all your sins. At the close of the day, you go to your chamber for sleep. Perhaps your mother goes with you, and hears you repeat a prayer of grat.i.tude to G.o.d for his kindness. But after she has left the chamber, and you are alone in the darkness, you recall to mind the events of the day, asking yourself what you have done that is wrong. Perhaps you were idle at school, or unkind to a playmate, or disobedient to your parents. Now, if you go to sleep without sincere repentance, and a firm resolution to try for the future to avoid such sin, the frown of your Maker will be upon you during all the hours of the night. You ought, every evening, before you go to sleep, to think of your conduct during the day, and to express to G.o.d your sincere sorrow for every thing you have done which is displeasing to him, and humbly implore the pardon of your sins through Jesus Christ. Such a child G.o.d loves. Such a one he will readily forgive. And if it is his will that you should die before the morning, he will take you to heaven, to be happy there. But remember that it is not enough simply to say that you are penitent. You must really feel penitent. And you must resolve to be more watchful in future, and to guard against the sin over which you mourn. You have, for instance, spoken unkindly, during the day, to your brother. At night, you feel that you have done wrong, and that G.o.d is displeased. Now, if you are sincerely penitent, and ask G.o.d's forgiveness, you will pray that you may not again be guilty of the same fault. And when you awake in the morning, you will be watchful over yourself, that you may be pleasant and obliging. You will perhaps go to your brother, and say, ”I did wrong in speaking unkindly to you yesterday, and I am sorry for it. I will endeavor never again to do so.” At any rate, if you are really penitent, you will pray to G.o.d for forgiveness, and most sincerely resolve never willingly to be guilty of the same sin again.
But you must also remember that, by the law of G.o.d, sin can never pa.s.s unpunished. G.o.d has said, ”The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” And when you do any thing that is wrong, and afterwards repent of it, G.o.d forgives you, because the Savior has borne the punishment which you deserve. This is what is meant by that pa.s.sage of Scripture, ”he was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities.” Our Father in heaven loved us so much that he gave his own Son to die in our stead. And now he says that he is ready to forgive, if we will repent, and believe in his Son who has suffered and died to save us.
And ought we not to love so kind a Savior?
You cannot expect at present precisely and fully to understand every thing connected with the sufferings and death of Christ, and the moral effect they produce. In fact, it is intimated in the Bible, that even the angels in heaven find this subject one capable of tasking all their powers. You can understand, however, that he suffered and died, that you might be forgiven. It would not be safe in any government to forgive sin merely on the penitence of the sinner.
Civil government cannot do this safely; a family government cannot do it safely. It is often the case, when a man is condemned to death for a crime he has committed, that his dearest friends, sometimes his wife and children, make the most affecting appeals to the chief magistrate of the state, to grant him pardon. But it will not do. The governor, if he knows his duty, will be firm, however painful it may be, in allowing the law to take its course; for he has to consider not merely the wishes of the unhappy criminal and his friends, but the safety and happiness of the whole community.
And so the governor of the universe must consider, not merely his own benevolent feelings towards the sinner, but the safety and the holiness of all his creatures; and he could not have forgiven our sins, unless he had planned a way by which we might safely be forgiven. This way he did devise, to sustain law and protect holiness, and yet to let us go free from the punishment due to our sins. Jesus died for us. He bore our sins. By his stripes we are healed. And shall we not be grateful?
It is thus that G.o.d has provided a way for our escape from the penalty of his law. You have read, ”G.o.d so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Was it not kind in G.o.d to give his Son to suffer, that we might be saved from punishment? G.o.d has plainly given his law. And he has said, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. And he has said, that his word is so sacred, that, though heaven and earth should pa.s.s away, his word shall not pa.s.s away. We have all broken G.o.d's law, and deserve the punishment it threatens. But our indulgent Father in heaven is looking upon us in loving kindness and in tender mercy. He pities us, and he has given his own Son to bear the punishment which we deserve. Oh, was there ever proof of greater love?
And how ardently should we love that Savior, who is nearer and dearer than a brother, who has left heaven and all its joys, and come to the world, and suffered and died, that we might be happy! G.o.d expects that we shall love him; that we shall receive him as our Savior, and whenever we do wrong, that we shall ask forgiveness for his sake. And when a child thinks of the sorrows which his sins have caused the Savior, it does appear to me that he must love that Savior with the most ardent affection.
It was the law of a certain town that the boys should not slide down hill in the streets. [FOOTNOTE: To those children who live where it seldom or never snows, I ought to say in this note, that, in New England, it is a very common amus.e.m.e.nt to slide down the hills on sleds or boards, in the winter evenings, when the roads are icy and smooth. In some places this is dangerous to pa.s.sengers, and then it is forbidden by law.] If any were found doing so, they were to be fined, and it the money was not paid, they were to be sent to jail.
Now, a certain boy, the son of a poor man, broke the law, and was taken up by an officer. They carried him into court, the fact was fully proved against him, and he was sentenced to pay the fine. He had no money, and his father, who stood by, was poor, and found it hard work to supply the wants of the family. The money must be paid, however, or the poor boy must go to jail. The father thought that he could earn it in the evenings, and he promised, accordingly, to pay the money if they would let his son go.
Evening after evening, then, he went out to his work, while the boy was allowed to remain by the comfortable fire, at home. After a while the money was earned and paid, and then the boy felt relieved and free.
Now, suppose this boy, instead of being grateful to the father, who had suffered for him, should treat him with coldness and unkindness.
Suppose he should continually do things to give him pain, and always be reluctant to do the slightest thing to oblige him. Who would not despise so ungrateful a boy?
And do you think that that child who will grieve the Savior with continued sin, who will not love him, who will not try to obey him, can have one spark of n.o.ble, of generous feeling in his bosom? Would any person, of real magnanimity, disregard a friend who had done so much as the Savior has done for us? G.o.d requires of us, that while we feel penitent for our sins, we should feel grateful to that Savior who has redeemed us by his blood. And when Jesus Christ says, ”Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,” this is what he means. We must love Christ, We must regard him as the friend who has, by his own sufferings, saved us from the penalty of G.o.d's law. And it is dishonorable and base to refuse to love him, and to do every thing in your power to please him.
This kind Savior is now looking upon you with affection. He has gone to heaven to prepare a place for you, and there he wishes to receive you, and to make you happy for ever. His eye is upon your heart every day, and every hour. He never forgets you. Wherever you go, he follows you. He s.h.i.+elds you from harm. He supplies all your wants. He surrounds you with blessings. And now, all that he asks for all these favors is your love; not that you may do good to him, but that he may do still more good to you. He wishes to take you, holy and happy, to the green pastures and the still waters of heaven. Can any child refuse to love this Savior? Oh, go to him at once, and pray that he will receive you, and write your name among the number of his friends. Then will he soon receive you to his own blissful abode.
”Fair distant land; could mortal eyes But half its charms explore, How would our spirits long to rise, And dwell on earth no more!
No cloud those distant regions know, Realms ever bright and fair!
For sin, the source of mortal wo, Can never enter there.”
Every child who reads this book probably knows, that, unless he is penitent for sin, and trusts in the Savior, he must for ever be banished from the presence of G.o.d. But a person cannot be penitent and grateful who does not endeavor in all things to be obedient. You must try at all times of the day, and in all the duties of the day, to be faithful, that you may please G.o.d. It is not a little thing to be a Christian. It is not enough that you at times pray earnestly and feel deeply. You must be mild, and forbearing, and affectionate, and obedient. Do you think that child can be a Christian, who will, by ingrat.i.tude, make his parents unhappy? There is, perhaps, nothing which is more pleasing to G.o.d than to see a child who is affectionate and obedient to his parents. This is one of the most important Christian duties. And if ever you see a child who professes to be a Christian child, and who yet is guilty of ingrat.i.tude and of disobedience, you may be a.s.sured that those professions are insincere.
If you would have a home in heaven, you must be obedient while in your home on earth. If you would have the favor and the affection of your heavenly Father, you must merit the affection and the grat.i.tude of your earthly parents. G.o.d has most explicitly commanded that you should honor your father and your mother. If you sin in this respect, it is positive proof that the displeasure of G.o.d rests upon you.
Sincere love to G.o.d will make a child not only more amiable in general character, but also more industrious. You are, perhaps, at school, and, not feeling very much like study, idle away the afternoon. Now, G.o.d's eye is upon you all the time. He sees every moment which is wasted. And the sin of that idle afternoon you must render an account for, at his bar. Do you suppose that a person can be a Christian, and yet be neglecting time, and living in idleness? Even for every idle word that men shall speak they must give an account in the day of judgment. If you do not improve your time when young, you can neither be useful, nor respected, nor happy. The consequences of this idleness will follow you through life. With all sin G.o.d has connected sorrow. The following account of George Jones will show how intimately G.o.d has connected with indolence sorrow and disgrace.
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