Page:The Life and Works of Christopher Dock.djvu/141

Rh and the head of the woman is the man.” Now it is beyond doubt true that if in his life and teachings the man follows Christ, and the woman the man, the children will follow their parents and teachers and obey them. So that sincere love fully specifies the weight of Christian duty. And yet in all this we have done no more than our duty, and blessedness still remains only a gracious gift. But all Christian duties are steps that we must place our feet upon, step by step. If we seek salvation our Lord Jesus has given us directions. While no man can deny another God's mercy, because without it we cannot live, there exists this difference between wise men and virgins and foolish men and virgins; between faithful and faithless servants: there is a difference of work, and unequal reward of grace or disgrace. So it is much better that we begin here in time of grace to walk the road that God has promised than to take the risk of sinning and remaining in sin, letting grace be so much mightier. (See Romans, vi, 1, 2.) Now if the Christian's place is thus fixed, that Christ is the head of the church, and therefore of each man, it is a foregone conclusion that it is each man's duty to teach what his master has taught him unto his wife also, whose head he is. And both parents, seeking the salvation of their children, will obey all the Lord's commandments, and teach them to their children, as has been commanded us. (I Moses xviii, 19; V Moses vi, 6, 7; Psalm lxxviii, 1-4; Ephes. vi, 4; Coloss. iii, 21, and other places.)

Now all the duties of parents to their children
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