s unspeakable joys, with its river of life, and with its
anthems of praise, will be their great recompense of the reward. How the
anticipation of this should stimulate Christian parents to increased
fidelity; oh, what a happy meeting will that be, when husband and wife,
parent and child, brother and sister, after many long years of separation,
shall great each other in that glorious world, and feel that parting grief
shall weep no more!

"Oh! when a mother meets on high,
The child she lost in infancy;
Hath she not then for pains and fears,
The day of woe, the watchful night,
For all her sorrows, all her tears,
An over-payment of delight?"

With these gracious promises of reward sounding in their ears, Christian
parents should never despair; neither should they doubt for a moment the
fidelity of God to all his promises. It is true that His promises are
conditional, and their fulfillment depends upon the parent's performance
of his part as the condition, yet to every duty he has attached a promise;
and wherever He has made a promise for us, he has given us the ability to
use the means of securing its fulfillment; and as soon as their conditions
are thus met, they become absolute. "Train up a child in the way he should
go." Here is the duty. "And when he grows old he will not depart from it."
Here is the promise. The condition is, that you discharge the duty. If you
do so, the promise becomes absolute, and shall with certainty be divinely
fulfilled in your child, though the time and manner of this fulfillment may
not meet your expectations.

But some may object to this position, and remind us that pious parents are
known to have ungodly children who died in their sins. They may refer us to
the case of Absalom, and to the sons of Eli. In reply we would state that
this is begging the question. It is here taken for granted that these pious
parents did fulfill the conditions attached to the above promises. This is
a mere assumption; for Absalom was not properly trained; and both he and
the sons of Levi, were ruined by the misguided fondness and extreme
indulgence of their parents. And thus also does the foolish partiality of
many pious parents prevent their fidelity to their children. We must not
think that all pious parents are faithful to their duty to their children.
The above objection, however, assumes this ground; and, therefore, it is
not valid. It is often said that the children of ministers and pi