The GOSPEL TRUTH THE TRAINING OF CHILDREN ....OR,
HOW TO MAKE THE CHILDREN INTO
SAINTS AND SOLDIERS OF JESUS CHRIST
By
WILLIAM BOOTH
GENERAL OF THE SALVATION ARMY
1888 - SECOND EDITION
CHAPTER VI:
DEDICATION.
1. What is the third condition of successful training?
The definite dedication or setting apart of the children to be the servants and Soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. What is to be understood by this?
That there shall not only be a clear understanding of the duty you owe to your children, and a set resolve to discharge it; but that there shall be the actual presentation of them to Him to possess and fashion for His purposes, so that while you are training them with all your might from without, He shall be co-operating by the might of His Holy Spirit within, for the same end.
3. Do you recommend that this presentation should take any definite, outward form?
Yes. We advise that, at a fixed period, one or both parents-if both be agreed on the matter-shall bring the child before the Lord, and in the most definite and solemn manner possible present it to God. If you are a Salvationist, of course this will take place in your own Barracks, surrounded by your comrades and in the presence of your neighbours and friends.
ACCOUNT OF THE DEDICATION OF THE DAUGHTER OF THE CHIEF-OF-STAFF, OCTOBER 22, 1883, AT EXETER HALL.
[From the "Daily Telegraph," October 23.]
The evening assembly [at Exeter Hall, on the evening of 22nd October, 1883] was varied by an incident which calls for special mention. Last winter we recorded the marriage, at the Congress Hall, Clapton, of General Booth's son, Mr. W. Bramwell Booth, to a lady Salvationist. Last night, after speeches from The General, and a number of songs, prayers, and addresses, enlivened by the accompaniments characteristic of The Army, Mrs. Bramwell Booth brought to the front of the platform her newly-born child. The General, thereupon addressing the audience, said:-
" Now, it is the principle of The Salvation Army that everything we have or possess belongs to God. We believe the misery of the world commenced with rebellion against God, and in thinking, that man could manage better for himself than God could manage for him. We hold it to be a principle of true godliness that we should go back to God and give Him our hearts, our lives, and all we possess. This father and mother, who are here to-night, in the carrying out of that principle, and in the presence of this congregation, and before the holy angels, bring the dearest, choicest treasure with which God has entrusted them, and offer this dear, precious child up to Him, and engage that they will train, and nurture, and strengthen it to be not only a child but a servant of the living, God, and a good Soldier of Jesus Christ, to fight His battles and take His lot.
"I will ask them, after I have explained it thus, if they are willing so to do. . . . We do it thus publicly to encourage all other saints to do the same, and to show that our hope for the Christian future of mankind is in our children being trained up thus to serve God, to fight for Him, and live for His glory.
"(Turning to the father of the child:) My son, twenty-seven years ago your father and mother thus, in the presence of a great multitude, consecrated you to God, and we have-very imperfectly at times-with His help, kept you for Him, and we rejoice to think to-night that you are fully His now, as then. Are you willing that this dear child of yours should be thus consecrated to God, and will you engage to train it for His service?
Mr. Bramwell Booth replied: " My dear General and my dear friends, I am willing that my dear child should be thus given up to God and His service, and I do this night desire to consecrate it to His work and The Salvation Army, that His name may be glorified by it."
General Booth, addressing himself to his daughter-in-law, then said:-" Are you willing, my dear girl, that your child shall be consecrated to the service of the living God after the fashion I have described, and will you join with your dear husband in keeping from it everything in the shape of strong drink, or tobacco, or finery, or wealth, or hurtful reading, or dangerous acquaintance, or any other thing that would be likely to interfere with the effect of such training and such education? "
The lady replied, "Yes, I promise with joy to train it for The Salvation Army and God alone, and to do my very utmost to make her understand from the very commencement that this is the life she should live, and that God will be sufficient for her."
Upon this General Booth took the infant from its mother, and proceeded to say," Then, my dear children, in the name of The Salvation Army, in the name of. the God of The Salvation Army, I take this child and present it to Him. I rejoice to hear this declaration, which I believe to be the expression of the conviction and feeling of your deepest hearts.
"I thus interpret them, and in His name I receive the child for Him, and for The Salvation Army; and I pray, and your comrades here, I am sure, pray that Catherine Booth may be a true saint, a real servant, and a bold ad courageous Soldier in The Salvation Army, having grace not only to make her own title and election sure, but to rescue a great multitude of other people from misery and sorrow here and everlasting death hereafter. Take it, mother; take it; and the father will help you to train it for God and for The Salvation Army. Let us pray."
Mrs. General Booth then engaged in prayer, seconding the dedication of her little granddaughter to God and The Army.
Some parents have no doubt carried out the same purpose in connexion with the ceremony of "infant baptism." We avoid any remarks on that vexed question, wishing to keep attention fixed on the main point-the real giving up of the child to God.
4. Will you name some of the advantages likely to result from such a Ceremony?
(1.) It will be likely to make a profound impression on the hearts of the parents themselves. Neither mother or father will ever forget it. They will be able to speak of it, in days to come, to their child, to whom they can repeat the sacred promises and vows then made with regard to it.
(2.) Such a ceremony will be highly calculated to draw out the sympathies and prayers of your comrades for the descent of the Holy Ghost on parent and child. These prayers, there is every reason to believe, will be heard and answered, both at the time and in the future.
(3.) Such a ceremony will encourage others to engage in a similar definite dedication of their children to God. It is only natural that the fathers and mothers present should, by such a service, be led to desire that their children should be as much the Lord's as you are presenting yours to be.
(4.) It will draw attention to the sacred claims Which God has upon all children, and will press home upon the hearts Of parents and others, the important duty they owe to their families. In this respect, there are few services which can be made more important and profitable. The children are in the greatest danger of being neglected; and any service of any kind which makes parents and other people think about the possibility of rescuing them from going into the dreadful vortex of worldliness and sin, or of the desirability of leading them to Christ, and getting them into some Salvation Army, is of the greatest importance and ought to be improved to the uttermost.
(5.) Such a service will not only encourage saved parents to dedicate their children, but unsaved parents to dedicate themselves. It will be perfectly easy to make them see that their children are given wholly into their power, that they will have life or death, as they faithfully teach them and set before them a good example. To those who are not doing this, the consciousness of neglect will come home with great power at such times, and will be very likely to lead them to give themselves to God, not only for their own sakes, but for the sake of their children-proving again the truth of the Scripture which says, "A little child shall lead them."Is. xi. 6.
5. Is there any scriptural justification for such a ceremony?
Yes; there is a description of a presentation of children made to the Saviour Himself when on the earth, and we have a direct command made by Him in connexion with it. We read that the mothers took their children and presented them to Him to be His disciples, in the same way that we exhort mothers and fathers to do here, and that He took them in His arms and blessed them. His proud, consequential disciples objected to the ceremony, thinking it beneath the Master's dignity, spoiling the meeting, and interfering with the opportunity of speaking to the important people about-in short, a trouble and a nuisance. But the Saviour looked upon the tearful, yearning mothers crowding about Him with very different eyes, and rebuked His disciples, going on to say, for their edification and for the comfort of the mothers,
Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of God.-Mark x. 14.
Mothers, fathers, guardians, and all others who have little ones under your control, take your children to Him, give them away to Him, let them be for ever His, and then train them to carry out His wishes.
6. Can you name any form by which strangers to the ways of The Salvation Army can be guided in carrying out the ceremony in public?
The following is the ceremony, or form, used in The Salvation Army.
GIVING CHILDREN TO THE LORD: EXPLANATORY REMARKS.
Any Salvation Army Soldier who wishes to present a child to the Lord publicly, may do so at any service, by arrangement with the Captain.
The parents of the child should be seated on the first row of the platform, or else immediately in front of it.
The parents should be told to dress the children, if possible, in The Army's uniform, or something like it, or at the least to put on them a red band of some kind, and certainly not to put on them any showy robes or dress.
This Regulation will help the Captain to make parents understand what presentation to the Lord means; and no child must be presented unless its parents, or one of them, at any rate, is thoroughly resolved to allow it to be used for the service of God in The Army, in any way or place He may choose.
Let all parents have the following, statement read to them privately when they propose to present a child, so as to make sure that they mean it.
Let the presentation be made during the after part of the morning or afternoon service, or immediately at the beginning of the prayer-meeting on a week-night, so that it may be used to keep the people right through from the first hour to the second, and to lead adults to surrender themselves.
When the time comes the parents of the child will stand to the left of the Captain. The Colour Sergeant will hold up the Flag over the Captain's head.
The Captain will then read the following statement and, explaining what the gift of a child means, and the meaning, of the ceremony which is about to take place, in doing so may call attention to any evidence the parents have shown that they understand and give themselves and their child to the War.
The Captain will then address the parents as follows:-
If you wish the Lord to take possession of the soul and body of this child, so that it shall only and always do His will, you must be willing that it should spend all its life in Salvation War, wherever God may choose to send it; that it should be despised, hated, cursed, beaten, kicked, imprisoned, or killed for Christ's sake; you must let it see in you an example of what a Salvation Army Soldier ought to be, and you must teach and train it to the best of your ability, to be a faithful Soldier, giving all the time, strength, ability, and money possible to help, on the War.
You must keep as far from the child as you can all intoxicating drink, tobacco, finery, wealth, hurtful reading, worldly acquaintance, and every influence likely to injure soul or body; and must carry out, to the best of your ability the will of God, and the wishes of your superior Officers as to the child.
The Captain will then ask the parents:-
" Do you wish to give up this your child to the Lord and to this Army in the way I have explained?"
" We do."
Should there be any other children in the family at the service he may ask them:-
"Will you do all you can to help your brother [or sister] to get saved, be good, and go to Heaven?"
"We will."
The Captain will then hold out his hands to take the child, and, having received it, will call upon the Corps to witness, and to join in the presentation of the child to the Lord.
THE CORPS WILL STAND.
The Captain, when there is perfect silence, will raise the child in his arms, and say:-
"Oh, Lord God of Hosts, take this child to be Thine own."
After this he will add such other words of prayer as the Lord shall prompt him to say.
He will hand the child back to the parents, the Corps standing whilst he says:-
"In the name of the Lord and of the ___________ Corps of The Salvation Army, I have taken this child, who has been fully given up by his parents for the Salvation of the world.
"God save, bless, and keep this child I Amen!
"I charge you, the parents of this child, before God and this Corps of The Salvation Army, that you fulfil the promises you have made as to this, our child, this day."
Here the Captain will add anything he thinks proper, to enforce this duty, and then, turning to the Corps, he will say:-
"Those who will pray for these parents and for this child, and will, in every way they can, help them to carry out the promises made this day-BAYONETS, FIX! "God bless these parents! Amen!
"God bless this child! Amen!
"God bless The Salvation Army! Amen!
[Let all the Soldiers say, "Amen!"]
"Soldiers! Kneel!"
The Captain and others will then pray, and invitations will be given to come out to the mercy-seat as usual.
A REGISTER of the children of the Corps will be kept, in which the parents will sign, at the end of the line, a declaration that they have given the child to God and The Salvation Army.
No water is to be used upon or about the child in this presentation.
NOTE.-It will be clear to everyone that this Service can be of no use unless at least one parent is a Soldier.
Should other parents at any time wish to present their children to the Lord, the Captain will be perfectly at liberty to make a presentation such as he thinks will truly express what the parents really wish and mean.
No Soldier should be allowed to make this presentation who does not express the intention to fully carry out every word of it.
7. Ought not such a ceremony to be regarded as very solemn and important
Most assuredly it ought; and it will be so if rightly esteemed and properly understood. To this end-
(1.) Let the parents carefully prepare their own hearts beforehand, by reading the Bible and by prayer for grace to enable them to vow acceptably, and to keep their vows when made.
(2.) Let the gift be regarded as a sacred reality. Be sure you do not go through any mocking form. Do not tell the Lord He shall have your child if you do not fully intend that it shall be so; in fact, let it all be as real as though you were giving the child away to be adopted into some other person's family. Be as simple in the matter as was Hannah, when she brought Samuel unto the Lord and left him in the temple. Give your Samuel, give your Mary, to God in the same way; only instead of leaving him in the Barracks, as Hannah left Samuel, take him back to nurse and train for God at home. If you do this, depend upon it your Father in Heaven will look to the interests of the child that is now His own, and pay you your wages.
(3.) Let the child be enrolled in your heart and in the history of your household as a Salvation Soldier. Let this be done whether its name can be on the roll of a Salvation Army Corps or not.
(4.) Keep the date of the transaction. If spared, as the years go by, remind yourself and the child of the event that transpired on that day. Explain the nature of the vows that were made, and ask yourself and the child also, if old enough to understand you, if these vows are being paid. Remember the angels in Heaven will make note of the transaction, and do you from that hour always regard, the child as no longer your own, but as belonging to God, and yourself as God's schoolmaster, whose business it is to give it such a direction and training as will please Him, and qualify it for the business He has for it to do, both on earth and in Heaven. May God help you to do it with all your might!
Back to Training of Children Index Page