The Signs of the Times
May 4, 1888
Home Missionary Work
Home missionaries are greatly needed. The work of winning souls to Jesus, and of training them to become workers for others, should begin in the home circle. God has claims upon the services of all,—men, women, and children; and the earlier they are led out of and away from themselves, and taught to engage in unselfish labor for others, the nearer they will come to fulfilling their holy commission. Of all our training-schools, the family should stand first. Fathers and mothers should feel that they are placed at the head of a mission. They have a work to do which no other can do for them, in forming the characters of their children for usefulness in this life, and for the future, immortal life. God has called them to this work, and it is a sin to neglect it. ST May 4, 1888, par. 1
Yet this work is strangely neglected. The failure in duty on the part of parents is revealed in the deformed, one-sided characters of the children. The loose, unchristian manner in which so many bring up their children is the cause of the terrible impiety and wickedness of the youth of this age. The great burden in regard to temporal matters, which many carry who claim to be sons and daughters of God, causes them to lose sight of eternal interests. Their absorbing care for worldly things misleads their children. The sacred and the common are confused in their minds. Eternal and temporal things stand on a par. A lack of home religion leads to stumbling, to perplexing entanglements, all the way in the Christian experience, both for parents and children. The family life takes a low level. The conversation is trifling and frivolous, or even worse. There is gossip and tale-bearing, there are threats, scolding, jangling, and tantalizing. Angels see it all. Jesus, who gave his life to redeem them, beholds it. What a scene for Heaven to look upon! Will such a family be welcomed through the gates into the city of God? Never, unless they become transformed by the grace of Christ. They would carry into Heaven the same characters, the same spirit they manifest here. Thousands upon thousands will be lost because of this terrible neglect on the part of parents. ST May 4, 1888, par. 2
I would urge upon fathers and mothers the importance of their home missionary work. The precious hours of probation are fast passing. Parents must be changed, children must be changed, in heart and character here in this life, or they will never be permitted to enter Heaven. It should be your very first burden to see that your own souls are right before God, and to labor for the salvation of your children. Every member of the family should be the subject of special, wisely-directed effort, that the enemy of Christ may not have possession of the heart, and control the character. ST May 4, 1888, par. 3
Parents who give heed to God's word will not, for any consideration, neglect the work which he has committed to them. They will not take a course in any respect which will lead their children away from him. Night and day they will feel the burden to draw them away from the world's customs, its fashions, and its pride, to Jesus. They will make religion the vital question of life, and will teach their children that every worldly consideration should be made second to their eternal interests. They will make a hedge about them by prayer, pleading in faith that God will abide with them, and that holy angels will guard them from Satan's cruel power. Every day they will give them such instruction as shall lead them to become better acquainted with the claims of God, to revere his law, and to form habits of life in accordance with it. ST May 4, 1888, par. 4
Children will learn to love that which the parents love, and will talk of the subjects upon which they talk. If we would have the word of God the most precious of books to our children, our own lives must testify that it is precious to us. If we desire them to love and reverence God, we must make him the theme of our meditations; we must speak of his goodness, his majesty, and his power. If we would have them love and imitate the character of Christ, we must ourselves represent Christ in our homes. It is by cultivating meekness and lowliness, by performing kindly, thoughtful acts for others when no human eye can see, or human praise stimulate, by hiding self in Jesus, and letting his gentleness appear in the home life, by exercising patience when provoked, giving a soft answer when tempted to be harsh, overbearing, and vindictive, that we leave the unmistakable impression upon the minds of our children that father and mother are Christians. ST May 4, 1888, par. 5
Do not neglect your children while they are young. The sons and daughters of Christian parents should be educated to realize their responsibility to God in childhood and youth. There is earnest work to be done in this age, and they must be educated to share in it. We cannot estimate the possibilities of usefulness that lie undeveloped in hand, and brain, and heart. You should instruct the children in the duties of practical life. Teach them to regard the humble round of everyday duties as the course marked out for them by the Lord; as a school in which they are to be trained to render faithful and efficient service. All their powers are to be educated and disciplined to do service for God. He requires that the first, the best, and the most useful talents shall be employed to carry forward his work. The same zeal and energy, tact and order, which are exercised in counting-rooms and shops, and in the fine arts, are to be brought into the work of God. Teach them now to cultivate firmness and integrity. It was this careful training in his earlier years that enabled Joseph, when suddenly exalted from his dungeon to the throne, to fill his position with wisdom and honor. So the youth and children of our time are to be gaining solidity of character, that they may be prepared to be used as instruments of God in the missionary work. ST May 4, 1888, par. 6
Children should not be treated with harshness. Remember that your sons and daughters are younger members of God's family. He has committed them to your care to train and educate for Heaven. You must render an account to him for the manner in which you discharge your sacred trust. Yet while exercising tenderness and loving sympathy, you should be firm and decided to command obedience; like Abraham, requiring your children to keep the way of the Lord. ST May 4, 1888, par. 7
They should be allowed to form no foolish habits of self-indulgence. Teach them that Jesus loves them, that he died to redeem them, and they are to live to glorify him. His life is the pattern which they are to copy. They should be taught to waste nothing on show; to shun all display in dress. Let a spirit of sacrifice be cherished. Teach the children to contribute something which they have earned themselves as an offering to God, who has given them all Heaven in the gift of his dear Son. I am glad that they are taking a part in the missionary work in the Rivulet Societies, and by their contributions in the Sabbath-school. These are precious lessons which they are learning, of the blessedness of giving. If we desire to encourage in their hearts a love for the truth and the cause of God, we must teach them to sacrifice for it. That which costs us nothing we value lightly; but the enterprise in which our means is invested we feel an interest in, and we labor for its success. ST May 4, 1888, par. 8
Do not expect a change to be wrought in your children without patient, earnest labor, mingled with fervent prayer. To study and understand their varied characters, and day by day to mould them after the divine Model, is a work demanding great diligence and perseverance, and much prayer, with an abiding faith in God's promises. Make it a careful study how to discharge your duties. Counsel with those of experience. Seek counsel of God in his word; work and pray, pray and work, from the earliest hour of your children's lives, and believe that God will co-operate with you in every effort to follow the light and instruction he has given. The infinite sacrifice of Christ for our redemption places a high value upon the soul. After giving such evidence of his love he will not withhold his grace, his special help, from parents and children who seek to do his will. He will not refuse to hear the parents’ earnest prayer, that is seconded by persevering labor, that their children may be blessed of him, and become faithful workers in his cause. When parents do their duty in God's appointed way, they may be sure that their requests for his help in their home work will be granted. ST May 4, 1888, par. 9
If fathers and mothers love the Bible, and talk of the lessons Christ has given; if they love Jesus, and make him the theme of conversation, a heavenly atmosphere will pervade the home. As the wax receives the impress of the seal, so the soul will receive and retain the moral image of God. By beholding, we become changed. If we allow the mind to dwell upon the imperfections and moral deformities of others, we ourselves shall become depraved in character, and mentally one-sided and unbalanced. But if the mind dwells upon the perfect life of Christ, and the thoughts and conversation are centered upon him, we shall be changed to the same image. ST May 4, 1888, par. 10
Life will become to both parents and children a humble, earnest working out of their own salvation with fear and trembling, while God is working in them to will and to do of his own good pleasure. The gates of Heaven are upon earth. Parents and children are striving together to press upward, heavenward, in the narrow way, the path of holiness, all acting their part in the family below in such a manner as to become members of the royal family above. ST May 4, 1888, par. 11
The teaching of the home—the mould here given to the character—extends its influence beyond the family into the church, and outside the church to the world. A well-regulated family, loving God and his living oracles, will have a fresh, living testimony to bear. Their influence will build up the church, and will win souls to Christ and the truth. In giving to the world a well-disciplined family, parents are presenting one of the strongest evidences in favor of the truth. And the parents whose wise, God-fearing labor has accomplished so much for their own family, will be able to accomplish a similar work for others. ST May 4, 1888, par. 12
If the home missionary work had been done in accordance with the directions God has given in his word, there would now be an army of youth to enter missionary fields. The apostle Paul, in his dying charge to Timothy, says: “The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” When the lessons that parents learn in the school of Christ are taught to their children; when the Saviour's meekness and love, his self-denial and humility, are brought into the life and made a part of the daily experience, and the children learn and practice these precious lessons, they in their turn will be able, by their influence and example, to teach the same to others. And who can measure the final results? How many a humble Christian, unseen and uncared for by the world, has set in motion a train of influences which have brought a blessing to hundreds and thousands of souls. Where is the missionary who has accomplished a greater work than the mother of John Wesley? Who can measure the value of those hours when Zwingle's grandmother lovingly repeated to the eager boy at her side the few precious Bible stories which she had gleaned from amid the legends and traditions of the church? ST May 4, 1888, par. 13
The day of God will reveal how much the world owes to the holy influences of the home for men who have been unflinching advocates of truth and reform. When the Judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, when the “Well done” of the great Judge is pronounced, what joy unspeakable will fill our hearts, if, as we gather around the great white throne, we shall see our children, saved through our instrumentality, with the crown of immortal glory upon their brows. How shall we feel as we look upon that company and see that those whom we have won for Christ have saved others, and these still others,—a large assembly all brought into the haven of rest as the result of our labors, there to lay their crowns at Jesus's feet, and to praise him through the endless cycles of eternity? ST May 4, 1888, par. 14