wi~d0111, nn<l who dnrc block it up? God lo'l'cs to hear honest inquiry. To nfford iustruct ion is the delight of the Divine Spirit, but what instruction will be vnlued if no spirit c,f inquiry is awake? Some questions which we ask can never be solved; they :uc beyond the range of the human mind. Some questions God will not nnswor, bC"causc they are ,ain and useless. Dut honest questions, with a vie,v to prncLical obedi- ence, God delights to hear. You can do the )"oung no better service than encourago their minds to inquire after religi0us facts. "What mean these things?" II. THE DuTY OF A PARENT TO ANSWER FULLY CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS. It is childish foll~- to attempt to conceal our lowly origin. There is no real disgrace in an obscuro parentage. To haYc been formerly enslaved, or imprisoned, or oppressed, through man's injustice, is an honour, not a stigma of reproach. There is no real Rhame, except such as prncC"cds from wrong-doing. It will do us good, it will do our children good, to sec the" rock whence we were hewn, the hole of the pit from which we were digged." It will foster humility, gratitude, contentment, trust. It will lead us afresh to adore the Di,·ine goodnC"ss, and to count ourselves and our children the servants of this rni:chty Goel. Ncrnr let true Israelites forget that all they have they owe to God I Unto this state of happy privilege a Divine hand has brought us. Ill. Tm:; DUTY OF A PARENT TO.OPEN UP GoD's BENEFICENT INTE~ION. lfany man is too indolent to investigate truth for his own sake, he may be provoked to do it for !,is children's sake,, We should have such a firm conviction that every arrangement and command of God was "for our good always," that we can demonstrate it to our children. Our knowledge of God and of his practical dealings should be so broad and clear that we might see and feel that his care for our good was paramount. This is the first and loftiest end he seeks-not our enjoyment, but our good. Not to demon- strate his po\\'er, or his consistency, or his determination to conquer,-these are not his foremost aims, but "our good always." His costliest deed of condescension was the yidding of his Son to death. And where eh.all we seek the moving principle? In his own future glory merely? No! In his love for the world I Yet his glory, and man's real good, are but the separate threads that make one cord. IY. THE DUTY OF A PARENT TO PRO.MOTE HIS CHILDREN'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. "It shall lie our ri.~hteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments." No more conclusive argument can parents use; no loftier end can they contemplate. To become rigMeous- this is to be the lofty ideal we set before our children. But commensurate with the grand acquisition must be the care that we promote it by proper and practicable methods. It is impossible for guilty men to regain righteousness by their own efforts or merits. Dut real righteousness is provided for us by the bounty of God, and is offered to us in Christ as a free gift. "He hath brought in everlasting righteousness, which is for all and upon all that believe." Our ambition for our children must be the highest-not that they be richly dowered, or learned, or placed in earthly rank, but that they may be internally and thoroughly righteous.-D.
Yer. 2.-Descending obligations. I. CHILDnEY WITH THEm PARENTS ARE INCLUDED I!, THE COVENANT. This has been a general principle in God's dealings with his ~ervants. We have it af61med, both in the covenant with Abraham (Gen. xvii. 7-15) and in the later covenant v.ith Israel (eh. xxix. 10-12). It was signified in the rite of circumcision. The Israelitish child was regarded as within the covenant,.a genuine me!llber of the theocracy, till by a personal act of aposta.cy-if unfortunately it should Le so-he severed himself from its blessings. Similar language 'is used of the children of Chri.,tian believers (Acts ii. 39; 1 Cor. viii. 14). Received into the Church by Laptism, they are recognized with their parents as interested in the promise; they are expected, on coming to years of discretion, freely to appropriate the oblieations of the Christian life; and _they are, in case of refusal, justly regarded as apostates from Christ. ll. 'THE STA~"DING OF CHILDREN IN THE COVENANT ENTAILS SERIOUS ODLIGATIONS ON THE l'ARE~Ts. 1. Heligious instruction (vers. 6, 7, 20; Exod. xiii. 8, 14, etc.). The children had not been personally at Horeb. 'l'hey had not seen the mighty works of Gud in Egypt and the desert. It was the duty of i-rents to acquaint them with the hi 0 tory, an<l to instruct them in their duties. 2. Religious training, which is eduea- no~ in act, as instructi0n is education in word (Gen. xviii. 19; eh. xxi. 18; Prov. nu;. 15, etc.). 0. Heligious example. 'l'he parent is to be one who loves tho Lord 1'.HI. VL 1-25,] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY.
for him~elf (ver. 5). Tho, Word_ is to be in his _own heart_ (ver. G). Only th, 1s will ho ~each w1~h. e.ffe_~~- All t~1s ~~~ its counterpart m the duties of Christian parents (Eph IV, 4; 1 rim. lll, 4; 2 Tim. lll. 15, etc.). ]II, THE STANDING OF CHILDREN IN THE COVENANT ENTAILS SERIOUS OBl,IGATIO~S o~ THE CHILDREN. Where parental duties had been fulfilled, the Israelitish child was under the most sacred obligations to choose and adhere to the God of his fathers anrl to serve him in the way prescribed. There was in this no interference with frec'rlor, 1 for when God proposes covenant relations to a human being, while it is his privilege, it co.n never be aught else than his duty to accept them. In the Christian Church, a like obligation rests on the children of believers. The baptized child is bound to serve God, and, if properly instructed (Matt. xxviii. 19), it cannot evade the responsibilities thus laid upon it. Great is the guilt of a child brought up in a Christian home. if wantonly it a.postatizes.-J. 0.