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Those which God has given to the family; and those which Christian parents
have made to God.
God has not only laid His requisitions upon the Christian home, but given
his promises. Every command is accompanied with a promise. These promises
give color to all the hopes of home.
When the dark cloud of tribulation overhangs the parent's heart; when the
overwhelming storm of misfortune rages around his habitation, uprooting his
hopes and demolishing his interests; when the ruthless hand of death tears
from his embrace the wife of his bosom and the children of his love;--even
in hours of bereavement like these, the promises of God dispel the gloom,
and surround his home and his heart with the sunshine of peace and joy.
His promises extend to both the parents and their offspring. "Unto you, and
unto your children," "I will pour my spirit on thy seed, and my blessing on
thine offspring; and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by
the watercourses. One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call
himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand
unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." His promises
extend to children's children; and whatever they may be for the parent,
they are "visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation."
Now these divine promises are of two kinds,--the promise of punishment, and
the promise of reward.
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