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XVI.
The Home
Chapter 179
:
Honor Due to Parents
1. BY what is every
child known?
"Even a child is known by his
doings, whether his work be pure, and
whether it be right." Prov. 20:11.
2. What is the duty of
every child?
"My son, hear the instruction of
thy father, and forsake not the law of
thy mother." Prov. 1:8.
3. What does the fifth
commandment require of children?
"Honor thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Ex. 20:12.
NOTE.-While this precept refers directly to
our earthly parents, it also includes God,
our Father in heaven; for in honoring them
we honor Him. To the child too young to know
God, the earthly parent takes the place of
God. Learning to honor, respect, and obey
his earthly parents is the child's first and
most important lesson in learning to honor,
respect, and obey God, his Heavenly Parent.
Benjamin Franklin well said: "Let a child's
first lesson be obedience, and the second
may be what thou wilt."
4. For how long a time
should one honor his parents?
"Harken unto thy father that begat
thee, and despise not thy mother when she is
old." Prov. 23:22.
NOTE.-As long as parents live, they should
be honored and respected by their children.
The duty enjoined in the fifth commandment
does not cease at maturity, nor when the
child leaves the parental roof.
5. What is the
character of a child who will not listen to his
father's instruction?
"A fool despiseth his father's
instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is
prudent." Prov. 15:5.
6. What course on the
part of children is well-pleasing to the Lord?
"Children, obey your parents in
all things: for this is well-pleasing unto
the Lord." Col. 3:20.
7. In what spirit
should children obey their parents?
"Children, obey your parents in
the Lord: for this is right." Eph. 6:1.
8. What is one way in
which a child may dishonor his parents?
"He that is a companion of riotous
men shameth his father." Prov. 28:7.
9. What is said of one
who robs his father or his mother?
"Whoso robbeth his father or his
mother, and saith, It is no transgression;
the same is the companion of a destroyer."
Verse 24.
10. How did Jesus honor
His parents?
"He went down with them, and came to
Nazareth, and was subject unto them."
Luke 2:51.
11. How did the Jewish
leaders in the days of Christ, for the sake of
gain, make void the fifth commandment?
"But ye say, Whosoever shall say to
his father or his mother, It is a gift,
by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
and honor not his father or his mother, he shall
be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of
God of none effect by your tradition." Matt.
15:5,6.
NOTE.-The word translated gift in
this text means a thing dedicated to God,
and therefore not to be used for any other
purpose. In this way the Jewish teachers, by
their traditional law, taught children that
by saying that their property was thus
dedicated to the temple or to religious
purposes, they were free from the obligation
to honor and support their parents, thus
making void one of the commandments of God.
This Christ condemned.
12. In what other way
do some dishonor their father and mother?
"There is a generation that
curseth their father, and doth not bless
their mother." Prov. 30:11.
13. What will be the
fate of the one who curseth his father or his
mother?
"Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his
lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness."
"The eye that mocketh at his father, and
despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of
the valley shall pick it out, and the young
eagles shall eat it." Prov. 20:20; 30:17.
14. What will be the
reward of those who honor their parents?
"Honor thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee." Ex. 20:12.
NOTE.-The fullness of this promise will be
realized in the life to come when the earth,
restored to its Edenic beauty, will become
the eternal home of all those who have truly
honored their parents and kept all God's
commandments.
15. What comment has
the apostle Paul made upon this commandment?
"Honor thy father and mother;
which is the first commandment with promise;
that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest
live long on the earth." Eph. 6:2,3.
16. In what age of the
world is disobedience to parents to be
especially manifest?
"This know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall come. For men
shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy." 2 Tim. 3:1,2.
NOTE.-Disobedience to parents is a marked
characteristic of the present generation.
Never before was it so common or so
wide-spread. The root of the evil, however,
lies not so much in the children as in the
parents. Many of the latter are disobedient
to God, their Father in heaven, and so have
failed to bring up their children in the
fear of God and in the ways of
righteousness. Bible instruction, lessons of
faith, and prayer must not be neglected in
the home if we would see obedient,
God-fearing children growing up in the
world.
BE
KIND to thy father, for when thou wert young,
Who loved thee so fondly as he?
He caught the first accents that fell from thy
tongue,
And joined in thy innocent glee.
Be
kind to thy mother, for lo! on her brow
May traces of sorrow be seen;
O well may'st thou cherish and comfort her now,
For loving and kind hath she been. |
