CHILDREN AT THEATRICALS.
“Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night” (Isa. xxi. 11-12).
Brief report of a sermon preached by Mr. Macfarlane from a northern newspaper.—Editor.
IN Old Testament times, said Mr. Macfarlane, the prophets were called watchmen. The Lord said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel.” A watchman’s duties were to watch while others slept, and to give them timely warning should any danger threaten their persons or their interests. If the sentinel neglected his duty, if he slept when he ought to watch, his punishment was death, because he failed to give warning of the enemy’s approach. Truly such would be the fate of all ministers who professed to be watchmen on the walls of Zion, and yet neglected to warn the people of approaching danger. If one of the false prophets of old were asked, “Watchman, what of the night?” his answer would be “Peace, Peace, no danger,” while the enemies were at the very door. The same held true of most ministers of the present day. Truly the night was not only coming, but had already come. It had come not only on the world, but on the visible church as well, so that in comparatively few pulpits in Scotland was the Gospel preached to-day. A passing reference might be made by ministers to Christ and the Gospel, but they failed to declare the whole counsel of God.
Instead of seeking to please God their great aim was to please their congregations, but they would have their reward. The night that succeeded the giving of the first promise in Eden was a dark one, and in particular the generation that immediately preceded the destruction of the old world by the flood was an exceedingly wicked generation. There was none righteous to be found among them but Noah. Instead of worshipping the one and only true God they worshipped false gods, and there was one false god in particular that was the object of their adoration, viz., what might be termed the Epicurean god of pleasure. They were eating and drinking, playing and dancing, and amusing themselves till they were all swept away by the flood. How similar our own age to that! Most of the people of the present day worshipped at the shrine of that false god of pleasure. The altar of that god was set up in all parts of our land; in towns, in villages, and in country places; yea, in the very house of God, so that ministers, instead of feeding their flocks from the word of God with knowledge and understanding, served them with carnal amusements, and to perpetuate the worship of that false god young children were carefully trained up to it. One form of pleasure-worship was theatrical plays, and such were practised in their own town. The teachers of those performances and all who countenanced them, would be (though not intentionally) the means of destroying the souls of the performers. As he loved the young, and sought their salvation, he would earnestly beseech them to flee from the destroyers of their souls, and to come to Christ, who said “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Those who taught theatrical performances to little children forbade them to come to Christ. He felt in duty bound to speak of those matters when answering the question, “What of the night?” He sought to come to the rescue of the rising generation that he might pluck them out of the hands of their destroyers. The teachers of these performances might mean well, but he had no doubt that the effect of their teaching would prove destructive to the precious souls of their pupils, and that the blood of many lost souls would be required of them at the day of judgment! If they did not believe this in a day of mercy, they would have to believe it by terrible experience when it was too late. Parents who allowed their children to frequent such evil institutions showed how devoid they were of true love to their offspring, and how sadly they neglected the solemn vows they came under when they received the ordinance of baptism for their children. The divine injunction to parents and other teachers of the young is: “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. xxii. 6). “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for He hath no pleasure in fools: pay that thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay” (Ecc. v. 4-5). How many parents in the present day were under the curse of broken vows! They made a noise if they were refused baptism for their children, but as for the solemn vows under which they came, they treated them with perfect indifference, though the neglect of their duty was nothing less than the sin of perjury!
It was one of the signs of the ungodliness of the present generation that ladies and gentlemen of high rank were principal promoters of theatrical entertainments and other amusements, which would have the effect of counteracting the labours of Gospel ministers in instructing the people—young and old—in the things which belonged to their everlasting peace. He would say to those high personages: “Cease from your evil work: allow the Gospel free course that it may be glorified in the salvation of immortal souls.”