The responsibility of parents according to the Scriptures | Christian Education Training Course 1/8

Understanding our responsibility

As we were created, our first parents Adam and Eve were given a great privilege: to be the parents of the whole human race. He made man in His own image (Gen. 1:26). God gave them a commandment (v. 28): be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Their terrible fall into sin brought misery and death on all their posterity. All men in Adam are born to die. They are under the curse because of sin. But the wonder is that the institution of marriage was not destroyed by God. We can say it is the last flower left over from paradise. When Adam and Eve sinned, God’s curse came upon them. But the blessing of marriage remained. It reflects the divine relationship between Christ and His people, the spiritual union between a sinner and Christ. And the LORD God gave them the most wonderful promise (Gen. 3:15) that from their seed would be born the Messiah. He would come to destroy the works of the devil. Therefore the birth of children was seen as the greatest blessing amongst the Jews, because they all hoped that they would be the ones privileged to be the parents of the Messiah.

In a similar way, all Christian parents should have a prayerful longing and desire above all other things, that their children may be a godly seed to know, fear and glorify Christ. Not just that we would have successful children according to the world’s estimation, but that they would be a spiritual seed, born again and renewed after the image of God. We should ask ourselves the question: what is our motive in having children?Is our greatest burden and desire for the eternal good of their souls? For their souls are infinitely more valuable than their earthly lives. We should always bear in mind four things concerning our child(ren). They are: 1. Created by God in a relationship to Him, 2. Made in His image, 3. Fallen in sin and totally corrupt, 4. A redeemable sinner by the merits of Christ.

Cotton Mather, a 17^th Century Puritan said this: Better, better my Children should be clothed with Rags than be without the Righteousness of CHRIST for the clothing and covering of their Souls. Better, Better, my Children should be Despised Beggars, than that they should be Despisers of CHRIST, and of his Great Salvation. Better, Better, my Children should be Blind, than that they should be without a Sight of the worth of a CHRIST. Better they should be Lame, than that they should not Run to a CHRIST at his Call; better they should be Captives to Turks, and Moors, and Indians, than that they should not be the Servants of the Lord JESUS CHRIST.

Robert Bolton, another Puritan minister, wrote this about how the children of negligent parents will respond to their parents in hell: They will follow thee up and down in that ever-burning lake with fearful curses and hideous cries, crying out continually, ‘Woe unto us, that ever we served such a wicked wretched parents, that had no care of the salvation of our souls, took no effort to save us out of these fiery torments!’ Thine own dear children, in this case, will yell in thine ears, world without end, ‘woe and alas, that ever we were born of such accursed parents, who had not the grace to teach us early in life the ways of God, to keep us from our youthful vanities, and to train us up in the paths of godliness! Had they done so, we might have lived in the endless joys of heaven; whereas now we must lie without hope in these everlasting flames. Oh! It was the fault of our own parents’ unconscionable and cruel negligence, that all our life long struck full deep in our souls, and hath now strangled them with everlasting horror.¹

Most Chinese parents experience great stress and worry in bringing up their child(ren). They have great expectations from their child: he or she must study hard, and get good marks at school. They must pass the gao kao so they can get a good place at university, and then they hope that they will get a good job. They expect them to marry and to have a child. And they expect them to care for them in their old age. Sadly, parents in the church are often not very different from those in the world. They spoil their child. They don’t teach them discipline and self-control. They don’t understand their duties and responsibilities. And often they don’t know how to teach their children the Scriptures and how to bring the Bible into the daily life of the child.

Dear parents, what is a true Christian home? Not just that we call it so. A true Christian home is where we are living beneath the cross of Christ. In the cross of Jesus we have seen and experienced our utter sinfulness, because in the cross we see the great price that the Triune God must pay for sin. We have come with all our guilt to His cross. By grace we lose our own will, our own righteousness, our self-justification, we are broken before His face. And Christ has become ours personally by the miracle of the new birth. Then He is present by His Word and Spirit in our midst. His Almighty Word begins to speak in our homes and to our family. I hope that there may be a few such homes in our congregation.

So the first thing that is necessary is to recognize our need. Until we truly see our bankruptcy and need, we will never be able to bring up our children to the glory of God. We need to take time to sit down and consider: what are my duties as a parent according to the Word of God? What are my lacks and needs? What are my children´s needs? How can I by His grace fulfill my responsibilities according to His will and to His glory? The Puritans have left us a rich treasure of divine wisdom which can help us, and we hope to look at some of this later.

Firstly we should consider what the Scriptures say on the matter. We often come with our own thinking, own cultural norms etc. But we need to lay all these things aside and listen to what God says to us in His Word. The foundation for our understanding of the duties of parents in instructing their children is found in the OT. The order Creation-Fall-Redemption is very important. We have been created by God to glorify and live for Him. But by our fall, we are in a state of spiritual death and separation from God. We are unable and unwilling to obey God. Our hearts are hardened by sin and are full of the love of the world and the thing we can see and touch. We have no love for God’s Word and prayer. We live for this life and for the pleasures of sin. But if we have been brought into the church and are baptized, God has a special right over us and our children. We are in an outward covenant relationship to Him, like the whole of the people of Israel was. He has a claim over us, both as His creatures, and because of His covenant promises to us. That places us under enormous responsibility. We are not allowed to live for ourselves anymore, but He commands us to live for Him, to love and fear Him and glorify Him. And the miracle of His grace is that He Himself cares for it, that sinners are renewed and desire to please and glorify Him. So both parents and children are in need of the same miracle of God´s grace.

Think of Abraham. God calls him to go out of his own country Ur to a land that God would show him. He calls Abraham by His Almighty grace. He promises Abraham a son, and gives him wonderful promises: Gen. 15:1, 17:1. All the nations of the earth shall be blessed because of him. And his family will be the beginning of His church in the OT. He says in Gen. 18:17-19: And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. From this text we see that God’s promises to Abraham are true and faithful. But they are not like a pillow to rest on, like so many say: God is merciful, He will save my children, but they don’t take any care to teach them the truth of the Word of God. They don’t wrestle in prayer for their regeneration. They allow all sorts of worldly influences to affect their children, like video games etc. They don’t really show any care for the souls of their children. That is to abuse the promises of God. It is wicked unbelief. Or many just assume that they are already children of God and they just need to be taught to live a good life. They think to be a Christian is just conforming to a number of outward rules: reading the bible, praying and coming to church. They don’t understand that true faith is a gift of God, experienced in the soul. The gift of a new heart is a miracle that God gives to but few. If we think that our responsibility as parents consists in teaching some outward morality, then we haven’t understood our responsibility. But true faith says, God has given me such great promises, I must labour to do my duty, that His promises might be fulfilled in my life and the life of my child(ren). So God declares in v. 19: He knows that Abraham will be faithful to instruct, correct and guide his household in the ways of the LORD, and that in that pathway, the LORD promises to bless his labours and fulfill His promises. Their instruction is not the salvation of the child, it’s not grace. But it’s a precious means that God often uses to work His grace in the heart.

So God deals with men in the way of covenants. A covenant is a mutual agreement whereby both parties make promises to each other, and have mutual responsibilities. He gives us great promises in His Word, that He will be our God and the God of our seed. He requires that we bring the promises of His Word to Him in prayer and plead them before Him, that He would give us the grace to fulfill our responsibility to His glory, and to the blessing of our children. But without obedience to His commandment to instruct our children, we show that we do not truly believe or value the promises of God.

The instruction of their parents in the home formed the most important foundation for their development. Two key Scriptures that give guidance about the instruction of children in the OT are Deut. 6:4-9 and Ps. 78:5-7. The passing on of the law and testimony of Jehovah from generation to generation lies at the heart of the purposes of God for His covenant people. The Shema was the starting point for Hebrew family instruction. The Shema was to be said both morning and evening by all the people. This formed the basis for worship as a family. From Exod. and Deut. we learn some methods that parents should use: by example (Deut. 31:12), oral communication (Deut. 6:6-7), informal discussion during the day (Deut. 11:19), answering their questions (Exod. 12:26, 13:14, Deut. 6:20-21), through the use of visual aids (Deut. 11:20), and while taking part in religious festivals (Deut. 16:16). The whole of the life of a Jewish family was centered round the Word of God. Every part of life was brought into relationship with the will of God. There was no separation between their religious life and their daily life, it was a whole. This is a great example for us. We all need examples to follow.

We see clearly in these passages of Scripture that it is the parent’s responsibility to instruct their children in the ways of the LORD. The school can be a helper, but it remains the parent’s responsibility. Of all influences on the life and thinking of a child, the parents and the home is the greatest. This is the amazing purpose of God that He is pleased to entrust the forming of the heart, mind and will of a new individual to their parents. Their faithfulness or unfaithfulness will have consequences for the rest of the life of their child. Their obedience or disobedience will have fruit for generations to come. Grace is not inherited. Because we have sought to instruct our children in the ways of the Lord does not mean that God is duty-bound to save them. Grace is a free gift that God gives to those whom He pleases. But we often see that the godly example of parents is a means of great blessing for their children. And the ungodliness of parents often brings a curse on their offspring. How do we see this in Scripture? The 2^nd commandment not to worship images contains the clause (Exod. 20:5-6): for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. So what does it mean, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation? The key phrase is: of them that hate me. So it means that the sinful example of the parents is often copied by their children, and this brings God’s displeasure on the following generation. So the example of the parents is crucial. If the children see that their parents don’t really care about their own souls, or their children’s souls, then it is logical that they will not care about the need of their own soul either. But if they see that their parents are burdened for true spiritual blessing upon their family, this will have a great influence for good for the children.

The duty to instruct our children

1.Because of their corruption.

Children have a heart that is totally corrupt like ours. Do we really believe in the doctrine of total depravity? What does total depravity mean? It means that every part of soul of man is totally corrupted by sin. Our mind, our understanding, our memory, our affections and our wills are all ruined by the corruption of sin. We are inclined to hate God and our neighbour the H.C. teaches us. If there is any good in us, the fact that we don’t break out in the most terrible sins, is only because of God’s restraining common grace. As parents it’s often difficult to accept this truth, that our children are so corrupt, especially when we bear such a love to them. But to look at them in your arms and truly confess, my child is born in sin and shapen in iniquity, is one of the hardest things for a parent. But if we have ourselves seen and felt what a wicked heart we carry around with us, then we won’t be surprised when our children do sinful things. We won’t defend them as though they are perfect. Rather we will feel their great need of true conversion, of being born again, of being given a new heart and being united to Christ. We won’t be satisfied with some outward morality, but we will pray and labour for their true conversion. We will take seriously the instruction the Word of God gives us. It is God’s will that they are brought up in an environment conditioned by His Word.

2. The Scriptural basis

Proverbs particularly contain much wise teaching concerning the raising of children and the blessing promised to God-fearing, loving parents (Prov. 3:1-6, 21; 13:1, 24; 15:20; 19:18, 26-27; 22:6, 15; 23:13-14, 23-26; 29:15, 21). Particularly note: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it (Prov. 22:6). And also: The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. (Prov. 23:23-26). In Matt. 18:1-6, 19:14, Mar. 10:14 and Luk. 18:15-17 we find the Lord Jesus’ instruction concerning children. Jesus is especially welcoming to infants and little children. He says, of such is the kingdom of God, Matt. 19:14. He meant that little children, by His electing grace, are made members of His kingdom. He delights to receive them, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He also adds in Mark and Luke that we all must become like a little child in order to enter His kingdom. What are little children like? They are humble, meek, without malice, dependent, sincere and without any rights.

3. Instructing by grace

It’s not love to our child if we let them choose their own way. In fact if we do that it shows that we hate our child (Prov. 13:24). If we really believe that they are totally corrupt, we will know that they need to be taught the truth of God’s Word. Their conscience needs to be formed. Otherwise they will quickly become formed like the world around them. You only have a short time to influence them. The R.C. church says, give me a child until its 12 and I have it for life. Positively it’s the most wonderful thing to see how faithful Biblical instruction may be used by God. You will be amazed how much children can learn and remember at an early age. It takes effort and self-denial, but the Lord will richly bless it! It’s a work of faith, to believe that God is true to His Word. They need correction, guidance and discipline. They above all need to listen to what God says to them in His Word. You need to take time to explain to them what is right and wrong according to the Word of God. And you should make clear rules of discipline, which if they willfully break, they know the consequences. But we shouldn’t focus and only react to their behavior. For example don’t just say, you are disobedient, rather say: you behave disobediently. The greatest danger is to fall into conditional upbringing: that is, if you behave in this way, then I will respond in that way. But if you don’t then I won’t. We need to ask the question, why do they behave in that way? Why have they developed like this? The painful reality is that we reap what we sow. If both father and mother work full time, then it’s almost impossible to make a warm home environment, where the children feel safe and loved. The heart of a child is like a tank. It needs to be filled with love. If you don’t fill his or her tank with love, then they will instinctively seek to fill that empty tank from another source: e.g. annoying disobedient behavior, going out with friends, drinking, smoking, etc. Also the one-child policy has a deep influence. When there is only one child, they miss social interaction, and they know that they are the most important. All attention is focused on them. This is bad both for the parents and for the child. The parent’s expectation is all focused on that one child, he or she must fulfill it. It gives the child an unbearable pressure. We visited a Chinese family in SH, they have 4 children. The sphere is completely different from a typical Chinese family, the children don’t only have a vertical relationship with parents, they also have a horizontal relationship with each other. This should encourage us to see the great blessing of having children! Our approach is often full of unbiblical thinking. Actually it’s biblical to allow God decide how many children He gives us.

Above all they need to be bound up with love! The basic posture should be that grace should frame every part of the upbringing of children. What is grace? It is where justice and mercy meet. Grace is to separate the child’s behavior from their person. What do I mean? It means that when you have warned the child three times not to touch that vase, and he still does it and it falls and breaks in pieces. What is our normal reaction? Do you know how stupid you are? I warned you didn’t I? But grace says, I still love you just as much as ever, but I’m very sad at what you’ve done. It hurts me. Grace always has a cost, it’s not cheap. So there must be consequences for disobedience, but the child must feel, I’m still loved just as much by my mum or dad as ever I was, despite what I’ve done. How did Jesus respond to Peter? He didn’t shout at him, He simply looked at him. In His look was pain, but also love. He didn’t reject Peter. And in Mark it says, go to my disciples and Peter. And He corrects him by asking a question. The most penetrating question, lovest thou me? Love breaks the heart. This is how God brings up His people. If you have received grace, you know how you felt: small, unworthy. Grace is a gift that you have totally not deserved. Grace is like a son who has just passed his driving test and asks his father “may I drive your beautiful car”. His father says yes. He drives it and crashes it and it’s a wreck. He comes back to tell his father. His father’s response is: my son, that’s so upsetting for you, to have to tell me that. Then you are at the right place, when you are focused on the needs of the other person. The key is to ask, how do I look at a situation, through what eyes? An example is that one day at a bus station people are sitting in the waiting room. A man comes in with 3 children. He sits down, sighs deeply and closes his eyes. The children begin to walk around and start to be annoying, pulling out newspapers, climbing on the benches. The people in the waiting room look at the father and begin to get annoyed. Why doesn’t he control his children? In the end a man goes up to the father and says, excuse me could you please keep your children under control? Oh, yes. I’m sorry, their mother has just died. That one sentence changes the whole situation, from judging their behavior to seeing them as children who don’t know how to deal with their sorrow and pain.

So the foundation of our approach should be grace. Actually the great need of the church is that we don’t understand what grace really is: unconditional, totally against everything that we expect or deserve. Jesus says in Joh. 13:34, A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. He doesn’t say, love one another as yourself, but my love for you is now the guideline. This is the 11^th Commandment. Christ’s love is a love for His enemies. There was a Jew, who after the war goes to find the Nazi guard who has tortured him, to eat with him. The guard thinks that he has come to get revenge. May I come in? I would like to eat biscuits with you. I have seen that you don’t know what love is, you only have hatred. I live from grace and I want to show you what true love is. We think that if we fall into sin we are not welcome anymore by God. But actually we are like the oldest son, who when his younger brother came back in stinking clothes, thought he deserves to be punished. The younger son has experienced what his sin has cost. So grace is not cheap. Looking the other way at sin is not love. A child should feel that sin costs something, but that it never brings any benefit, only misery. So grace is sharp, but at the same time a totally undeserved free gift. The woman of Samaria had had 6 husbands. Jesus puts His finger on her sin. But He also says, I am your 7^th husband. I am the perfect Man. Now that Christ is not on earth anymore, His people must show to the world who He is.

At the same time love is not weak. We shouldn’t ask them what they think is right, but they need to learn Biblical obedience. What does it show if we ask them what they think is right? It shows we don’t really believe that they are totally corrupt. They will respect parents who lovingly correct and instruct them. This is completely different from many Chinese parents who control their children. They must conform to the parent’s expectations and wishes. Control is completely different from guidance and Biblical correction. Loving Biblical instruction recognizes that children are not our possession, but God has entrusted them to our care for s short time. Between us and them stands Christ and His Word. We don’t have direct control over them, but only via the Word of God. Our authority over them is given by God. Their obedience to us is in accordance to the Word of God. When we speak to them, it should be to point them to the truth of the Word, we should continually point them to Christ. Unconditional love allows the Prodigal son to leave home, because the father knows that his son must experience the misery of having no father. Only then will he learn to cherish his father. And every day the father is standing on the lookout waiting for his son’s return. Control cannot let go. Love can let go. If we can’t let our children go, we will crush them. They need instruction when they are young, that they might be taught to make their own decisions when they are grown to adulthood. Then we stand eye to eye with them, as two adults. The parental relationship remains, but changes.

4. Instructing from the Word

In Ps. 78 v. 4-8, we see that the purpose of telling God’s wonders to our children is that they would set their hope in God. That doesn’t mean that they just have a vague hope that all will be well, but that they learn by the Holy Spirit that they are lost sinners against God, and that they find deliverance in the blood of Christ. We tell them about the miracles that God has done, the Creation, God’s promises to Abraham, the deliverance of the children from Egypt and through the Red Sea. We tell them about Jesus Christ, why He came to this world, what He has done to save sinners. And all the time we pray that God would speak to them through His Word, that they might be born again, be truly godly and they might glorify Him in their lives. So our purpose is not just to fill their heads with knowledge, or to answer their curiosity. But our longing should be that they and we with them would by grace set our hope in God. That is true conversion, being renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit and knowing Jesus Christ and Him crucified to be our only hope for salvation.

Many parents in Chinese churches hardly ever read the Bible or pray with their families, apart from a short prayer at the meal. That is a very great omission. The family should be like a church in miniature (Col. 4:15, Philem. 2), where the Lord is worshipped (Josh. 24:15). So as parents we need to sit down and take time to think about how practically we will fulfill our responsibility. When will I keep time free to teach my children? Of course, as we saw from the texts in Deut., teaching them should be a spontaneous thing that we do whenever there is an opportunity. But at the same time we should plan how we will give time to this vital task. One good way is to read and discuss the Word of God together at mealtimes. Mealtimes are the time when the family is together, and has time to share with each other. So it’s an ideal opportunity to open the Bible, read, sing and share together. Another way is to have some good books that we can read to or with our children. Every Christian family should have a bookcase with good spiritual books and other classical books. Not trashy American books, but good reformed books. It’s a great blessing if the parents inspire their children to love reading. But of course that must begin with you! Many parents sadly don’t read themselves. But there are so many good books which help us to understand the Bible better. Your horizon will be broadened to discover new things. You will have good things to speak about together, from what you have learned. And the best is if you teach your children to study and read for themselves. So put away your mobile phone and tablet, switch off the television, and open a good book! Also, if you truly desire to teach your children, you need first to study the Word of God yourself! You need to take time to think about His Word and what it has to say to us today. Because the Bible is not just a history book, but it is written by God as though it was written for you and me today! That is the way we should approach the Bible, as a message to us today.

Speaking to our children

It’s hard in the present way of life to find time to be together as a family. Fathers are busy and often mothers work as well. When we come home we are tired and want a rest. So it’s very easy for parents to be at home with their children, but actually there is almost no real contact with each other or time of conversation with each other. There is no time to be there for the children. What does it mean to be there for them? It means that you leave every other task for a moment, and take time to be with them. To speak to them, ask them how they feel, seek to look into their heart. Let them look into your heart. Look at the example of the Prodigal son again. The oldest son looked only at his brother’s behavior. But the Father looked at his heart. Love breaks the hardest heart. Children are crying out for love, even when from their behaviour it seems the opposite. Time is love. Show the children that you have time for them. One to one conversation is most important. That can be in the car together, or when the children come home from school. Or you can go out and do something special together. Ask them questions, listen carefully to what they say and what they don’t say. To have a real conversation takes time and effort, especially if we are not used to sharing with each other. But it is a most precious gift to our children. They will probably never forget the time you took to share with them. One parent told me that at the end of each day, she shares with her child what things in that day were grace from God, and what things were sin that should be repented of.

What sort of words will reach our children’s heart? What do they need? What phase of development have they reached? Because different phases of development require a different approach. They need to hear in our words that they are valuable to us and that we love them, even when they misbehave. Words are very powerful, that’s why the Bible says so much about the use of the tongue. Love is expressed emotionally by our words. Children need affirmation and encouragement, that means that they feel in your words that you love them. That’s not flattery, but recognition of their need to be confirmed as a person. ‘You did a good job!’ ‘I believe that you can do it!’ Love is kind (1 Cor. 13:4). Kind words are powerful, because they are focused on the other person not ourselves. Kind words will fill up the child’s love tank, harsh and bitter words will empty it. Forgiveness opens the door to love. Then you don’t keep a record of their wrongs. Humble words are not weak but actually much more powerful than demanding words. The relationship of authority between parent and child does not mean that the parent allows the child to dominate everything, but from the position of authority the parent speaks. Take time to study Christ’s words. They are sharp but full of love.

Most important is to speak to them about God and His Word and His works. Again and again, we should try to imprint in their minds and consciences the greatness and the majesty of God, the sinfulness of man and the wonder of God’s grace in Christ. Speak about life and death, about eternity. Tell them Who made the world around them, who reigns over all things, who Jesus Christ is, what it means to truly fear, love and glorify God. Let them see that the Word of God is the most precious to you! In Deut. 6:7, the word for teach diligently in the original has the meaning to sharpen. So to teach their children, the Israelites were to use the sharpening stone of the Word to sharpen the minds and consciences of their children. Again and again they applied the sharpening stone to their children. You can only teach your children in this way if you yourself have experienced how great the grace of God is, what it is to be lifted up out of the pit of sin and destruction, and been set on the Rock Christ Jesus! First parents need to care for their own souls, and only then can they truly care for the souls of their children. May we be crying to God for grace and strength to fulfill our responsibilities as parents to His glory and their eternal blessing!

Issues: the roles of men and women in China, the one child policy, the unreasonable expectations of parents, cultural expectations, Chinese people want a quick fix to their problems, they are not prepared to wait, not watchful of bad influences, don’t know how to live from grace, neglect the need of conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment.

Examples:

Mary Winslow (1774 – 1854) was a godly mother of 10 children, who was widowed at an early age, and brought up her 10 children in the fear of God and her days were saturated with prayer for them. The Lord gave her a great promise, that all 10 of her children would be born again. And He fulfilled this promise! In fact, two of her sons became ministers, one of them is Octavius Winslow, a well known minister in 19th century English church history, who wrote many precious books full of Christ. Mary Winslow’s life was characterized by communion with God in Christ, and a life of tender and dependent faith in Him.

The mother of Augustine, Monica (born 331), was a godly woman who had great grief from her wayward son, later the church father Augustine. He later wrote of her in his Confessions. Her son forsook his godly upbringing, and pursued sinful ways, eventually having a mistress who bore him a son. He even flirted with paganism and cultic practices. Monica prayed, fasted and wept over her sons sinful ways. Her anguish was also that she saw that her son’s wickedness originated from her as a daughter of Eve. But she kept on crying to God for her son. After 17 years, her perseverance was blessed by the wonderful conversion of her wayward son. A deep spiritual bond of friendship was forged between them.

The father of Matthew Henry, the minister Rev. Philip Henry. Matthew Henry was born in the year 1662, but a short time after her father was ejected from his ministry in the Church of England. He was able to read the Bible at the age of 3 years. His father educated him primarily. Due to the persecution of the dissenters (as those were called who were forced to leave the Church of England), and for a long time his father could not serve a settled congregation. They met for worship in their home, and the Lord used the faithful preaching of his father to the conversion of the young Matthew. The rich treasure of godly instruction that his father passed on to him was one means to enable Matthew Henry to write his commentary on the whole Bible, which has become a standard classic commentary of the Scriptures, and has been translated into numerous languages.

A Dutch father of 13 children died 3 years ago at the young age of 51. His death was a devastating loss for his wife and his children. They all deeply respected their father, for giving them a god-fearing upbringing. Often, he would lovingly warn his children for the certainty of death and eternity, and their personal need of a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Although he had a very busy job running their family company, he always took time to speak to his wife and children, and on the Lord’s Day afternoon, he read to them out loud from church history books as they listened seated in the sitting room around him. His testimony lives on after he has died.