{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_32355/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_32355","id":"gutenberg_32355","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32355","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Parenthood & Family Relations","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Teaching & Education","Children -- Religious life","Children's sermons","Moral education"],"text":"E-text prepared by Emmy, D Alexander, and the Project Gutenberg Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n file which includes the original illustrations.\n See 32355-h.htm or 32355-h.zip:\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/32355/pg32355-images.html)\n or\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32355/32355-h.zip)\n\n\n\n\n\nWITH THE CHILDREN ON SUNDAYS\n\nThrough Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate into the City of Child-Soul\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nby\n\nSYLVANUS STALL, D. D.\n\nAuthor of \"What a Young Boy Ought to Know,\" \"What a Young\nMan Ought to Know,\" etc., \"Methods of Church Work,\"\n\"Faces Toward the Light,\" etc., etc.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis book is published and sold exclusively in the United States by\nThe Uplift Publishing Company\nPhiladelphia, Pa.\n\nCopyright, 1911, by Sylvanus Stall.\n\nEntered at Stationers' Hall, London, England.\n\nProtected by International copyright in Great Britain and all her\ncolonies, and, under the provisions of the Berne Convention, in\nBelgium, France, Germany, England, Spain, Switzerland, Tunis,\nHayti, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro and Norway.\n\nAll rights reserved.\n\n[Printed in the United States.]\n\nCopyright, 1893, by Sylvanus Stall.\nCopyright, 1896, by Sylvanus Stall.\nCopyright, 1907, by Sylvanus Stall.\n\nAll the drawings and color-pictures in this took have been specially\nprepared by C. M. Burd, of New York City, for exclusive use\nin these pages. Each of these has been copyrighted in the United\nStates and throughout Europe, and all copyright privileges are\nreserved.\n\n\n\n[Illustration: SYLVANUS STALL, D.D.]\n\n\n\n\n DEDICATED\n\n TO PARENTS AND CHILDREN WHO DESIRE\n TO MAKE SUNDAY THE HAPPIEST AND MOST\n IMPRESSIVE DAY OF THE WEEK.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE.\n PREFACE 9\n\n SUGGESTIONS TO PARENTS 17\n\n 1. OYSTER AND CRAB--Conscience 27\n\n 2. WORM IN THE APPLE--Sin in the Human Heart 33\n\n 3. WAYSIDE WEEDS AND GARDEN FLOWERS--Neglected\n vs. Christian Children 38\n\n 4. NUTS--God Means that We Must Work 46\n\n 5. BANKS--Gathered and Guarded Treasures 51\n\n 6. CHART--Avoiding Dangers 56\n\n 7. ANCHOR--Hope that Lays Hold of Christ 61\n\n 8. HUSKS--The Disappointed Pleasure Seeker 66\n\n 9. IRON, LOW GRADE AND HIGH GRADE--Character\n and Worth 75\n\n 10. A POCKET RULE--How God Measures Men 81\n\n 11. THE MAGNET--Jesus the Great Drawing Power 86\n\n 12. KEYS--How to Unlock the Human Heart 92\n\n 13. TRAPS--Unsuspecting Mice and Men 97\n\n 14. BREAD--Universal Soul Hunger 102\n\n 15. THE STONE--The Natural and Changed Heart 107\n\n 16. THE POLISHED STONE--Perfection Through\n Suffering 112\n\n 17. ROPES--Habits and How They Become Strong 120\n\n 18. WATCH AND CASE--Soul and Body 125\n\n 19. PEARLS--One of Great Price 130\n\n 20. COAL AND WOOD--Jesus the Source of\n Spiritual Light and Warmth 135\n\n 21. LANTERNS--The Best Light for Our Path 140\n\n 22. CANDLES--How to Reflect, Obscure or\n Extinguish the Light 145\n\n 23. A BROKEN CHAIN--Breaking the Whole Law 151\n\n 24. LOOKING-GLASS--Seeing Ourselves in God's\n Law 156\n\n 25. RAIN--God's Wisdom and Power 161\n\n 26. SNOW--Lessons Which it Teaches 168\n\n 27. PLASTIC FACE--Character in the Countenance 174\n\n 28. SEEDS--Thoughts, Word, Deeds,--Their Life\n and Perpetuity 179\n\n 29. SOWING--The Spring Time of Life 185\n\n 30. REAPING--The Harvest Time of Life 192\n\n 31. WHEAT AND CHAFF--The Coming Separation 198\n\n 32. THE HEART--The Most Wonderful Pump in\n the World 204\n\n 33. THE EYE--The Most Valuable and Most\n Wonderful Telescope 210\n\n 34. THE EYE--Smallest Camera, Most Valuable\n Pictures 217\n\n 35. FROGS--The Plagues of Egypt 222\n\n 36. BLOOD--The Feast of the Passover 228\n\n 37. PINE BRANCH--The Feast of Tabernacles 234\n\n 38. LEAVES--The Lessons Which They Teach 240\n\n 39. THE TURTLE--Man Like and Yet Unlike the\n Animals 246\n\n 40. GRASSHOPPER AND ANT--Negligence and\n Industry 252\n\n 41. BALANCES--How God Weighs People 260\n\n 42. WHITE AND CHARRED STICKS--Good and Bad\n Company 267\n\n 43. DOGS--The Dogs of St. Bernard 272\n\n 44. THE CAMERA--God's Picture Book 279\n\n 45. THE PHONOGRAPH--Books that Talk 285\n\n 46. MAGNET AND NEEDLE--God's Guiding Hand 290\n\n 47. FISH IN AQUARIUM--The All-Seeing Eye of\n God 295\n\n 48. THE CLOCK--Measuring Time 300\n\n 49. PLANS--Living with a Purpose 307\n\n 50. THE CHRISTMAS TREE--The Lessons Which\n It Teaches 311\n\n 51. EASTER SUNDAY--The Resurrection of\n the Body 318\n\n 52. CROWNS--We Are Children of the King 325\n\n A WORD TO PARENTS 331\n\n PRESS NOTICES 332\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nSUNDAY ought to be the most cheerful, sunniest, happiest and best day of\nthe week in every home. In most homes it is the dullest and most dreary\nday of the week to the children, and the most taxing and the most\nwearying to the parents, especially to the mother. It not only ought to\nbe, but it can be made, not only the brightest and happiest but also the\nmost influential in the character-building and religious training of the\nchildren. In some households Sunday is looked forward to with\nanticipations of pleasure throughout the entire week. In these homes,\nthe father does not come down stairs on Sunday morning and say: \"Now,\nchildren, gather up those flowers, throw them out of the window, pull\ndown the blinds, get down the Bible and we will have an awful solemn\ntime here to-day.\" Neither is the day given to frivolity or the home to\ndemoralizing influences. From morning until night there are two great\nprinciples that govern; first, the sacredness of the day, and second,\nthe sacredness of the God-given nature of childhood. The day is not\nspent in repressing the child nature by a succession of \"don't do that,\"\n\"now stop that,\" etc., that begin in the morning and continue throughout\nthe day, and end only when the little ones lose consciousness in sleep\non Sunday night. In these homes, the parents recognize the fact that the\nchild nature is the same whether the day is secular or sacred. On Sunday\nthe child nature is not repressed, but the childish impulses are\ndirected into channels suited to the sacredness of the day. In such\nhomes the children, instead of being sorry that it is Sunday, are glad;\ninstead of regretting the return of the day with dislike and dread,\nthey welcome it as the brightest, the cheeriest and the best of all the\nweek.\n\nThe purpose of the author in the preparation of this book in its present\nillustrated and slightly changed form, is to afford all parents a\nvaluable aid in making Sunday not only the brightest, happiest and best\nday of the entire week for both parents and children, but also to aid\nthe parents to make Sunday pre-eminently the day around which shall\ncluster throughout the entire life of each child the sweetest, tenderest\nand most sacred recollections of childhood, of father and mother and of\nbrother and sister, and especially of their knowledge of the Bible and\nof everything sacred.\n\nDid it ever occur to you, as a parent, that between the birth and the\nage of twenty-one years there are three solid years of Sundays--an\namount of time almost equal to the number of years given to an entire\ncourse of college training? The Creator has not laid upon parents the\nresponsibilities of parenthood without giving them ample time and\nopportunity to discharge these obligations to Him, to themselves, and to\ntheir children.\n\nThe idea which has been successfully demonstrated in hundreds of homes,\nwhere the impulses and natural inclinations of childhood have been\nturned into sacred channels on Sundays so as to enable the parents to\nteach spiritual truths in the most effective manner, is the method which\nis suggested by the author to the parents in the use, on Sunday\nafternoons, of the fifty-two little sermons given in this volume.\n\nThe parent who fails to use wisely the opportunities of Sunday\nafternoons for impressing the children with spiritual truths, loses the\ngreatest opportunity that family life affords. Among the different\ninstances known to the author, the following three may serve as\nillustrations of what may be found in many communities:\n\nI knew a mother who regularly on Sunday afternoons gathered her\nchildren about her and read them religious books and literature. In her\nconsiderable family, every child became eminently useful. One, who was a\nuniversity professor, told me that those Sunday afternoons with his\nmother in the nursery embodied the most formative influences of his\nlife.\n\nI know another family, of some seven or eight children, where Sunday was\nalways used for religious instruction with the children. With the\nreading and other things, they always \"played church\", and the\nexperience of those early childhood days made the boys splendid public\ntalkers, and the girls were also very capable in the same direction. No\nbetter school of oratory was ever organized.\n\nI know another family of four children, where the entire family looked\nforward throughout the week to the special and larger pleasure which\nSunday always brought. They grew up naturally into a religious life, and\ndeveloped that ability for public address and service which could not so\nwell be gained in any other way.\n\nSunday is about the only day in most of households where the father is\nhome with his family. It adds greatly to the pleasure and impressiveness\nof the day and its services if the father, with the mother, enters\nheartily into the spirit of that which will be all the more enjoyed by\nthe children. It will enable him also to stamp his personality deeper\ninto the character of his children than possibly any other opportunity\nwhich may be afforded him in life.\n\nThese brief object talks grew out of the necessities found in the\nauthor's own parish. When called to the pastorate of the Second English\nLutheran Church, of Baltimore, I found a depleted congregation, while at\nthe same time the Sunday-school was one of the largest and most\nflourishing in the city. It was then for the first time that I\nintroduced regularly the preaching of \"Five-minute object sermons\"\nbefore the accustomed sermon on Sunday morning. In a very brief period,\nabout one-fourth of the infant department and two-thirds of the main\ndepartment of the school were in regular attendance upon the Sunday\nmorning service, and, even after this particular form of address had\nbeen discontinued, the teachers and scholars continued regularly to come\ndirect from the morning session of the school to the services of the\nchurch.\n\nThese sermons were preached without notes, were subsequently outlined\nand then spoken into the phonograph, put in manuscript by a\nphonographer, and, that the simplicity of style and diction might be\npreserved, were printed with only slight verbal changes.\n\nThe objects used in illustrating these talks have been chosen from among\nthe ordinary things of every-day life. Such objects have the advantage\nof being easily secured, and on account of their familiarity also prove\nmore impressive, and being more often seen, more frequently recall to\nmind the truths taught.\n\nTo any thoughtful student who has marked the simple language and\nbeautiful illustrations used by that Great Preacher and Teacher who\n\"spake as never man spake,\" it will be unnecessary to say a single word\nin justification of this method of presenting abstruse truths to the\neasy comprehension of the young. Upon all occasions Jesus found in the\nuse of the ordinary, every-day things about Him, the easy means of\nteaching the people the great truths of divine import. The door, the\nwater, the net, the vine, the flowers which sprang at His feet, the\nbirds that flew over His head, the unfruitful tree that grew by the\nwayside, the wheat and the tares that grew together in the field, the\nleaven which a woman hid in three measures of meal, the husbandman\npacing his field engaged in sowing his grain, the sheep and the goats\nwhich rested together on the slopes waiting to be separated each into\ntheir own fold, the old garment mended with a piece of new cloth, the\nmustard seed, the salt--anything that chanced to be about the Master\nwas used as an illustration, that He might plainly and impressively\nteach the people the saving truths of redemption and salvation. May we\nnot also reasonably suppose that if Jesus were upon the earth to-day He\nwould still exercise this same distinguishing wisdom in the use of the\ncommon, every-day things by which He would now find Himself surrounded?\n\nLet it be distinctly understood that this book is not a substitute for\nthe regular services of God's House. I believe in \"the Church in the\nhouse,\" but I also believe that the entire family, including the\nchildren, should also be in the Church on the Lord's day. The absence of\nthe children from the services of the sanctuary is one of the alarming\nevils of our day. There are but few congregations where children can be\nfound in any considerable numbers. No one will attempt to deny the sad\nconsequences which must follow as the inevitable results of such a\ncourse. The children at eight years of age who have not already begun to\nform the habit of church attendance, and are not quite thoroughly\nestablished in it at sixteen, will stand a very fair chance of spending\ntheir entire life with little or no attachment for either the Church or\nreligious things. The non-church going youth of this decade will be the\nSabbath-breakers and irreligious people of the next.\n\nWho are to blame for this state of affairs, and to whom are we to look\nfor the correction of this existing evil?\n\nManifestly, first of all, to the _parents_. That parental authority\nwhich overcomes the indifference of the child and secures his devotion\nto the irksome duties of secular life, should also be exercised to\nestablish and maintain a similar fidelity to religious duties and\nspiritual concerns. If left to their own inclinations, children will\ninvariably go wrong in the affairs of both worlds. Attendance upon the\nchurch should be expected and required, the same as attendance upon the\nsecular instruction of the schools; for the best interests of the child\nare not more dependent upon the discipline of the mind than upon the\ndevelopment of the heart. In the formation of the habit of church\nattendance, it would be well to remind parents that example will be as\nhelpful as precept. They should not send, but take their children to\nchurch. They should make room for them in the family pew, provide them\nwith a hymn-book and see that they have something for the collection.\nParents owe it to their children to teach them to be reverent in God's\nhouse, to bow their heads in prayer, to be attentive to the sermon; and\nwhile requiring these things of their children, they should also see\nwell to it that after service, at the table, in the home, or elsewhere\nnothing disparaging of God's house, message or messenger should fall\nfrom their lips upon the ears of their children.\n\nAs these little talks were originally used before the main sermon on\nSunday morning before a mixed audience of adults and a large number of\nchildren, it has seemed best, in order to carry out the idea of\npreaching, that the manner of speaking as though to an audience should\nbe retained in this book. It is better suited than any other method for\nuse also by the parent when reading these pages to the children in the\nhome.\n\nThe earlier issues of these talks under the title: \"Five Minute Object\nSermons to Children\" and the second volume: \"Talks to the King's\nChildren\" were accorded a place of usefulness in nearly every land, and\nthe author now sends forth this volume in its present illustrated and\nslightly revised form for a place in every home, trusting that it may be\nas influential in the lives of the children of to-day as it has proven\nin the lives of the children of yesterday.\n\n SYLVANUS STALL.\n\n[Illustration: DR. STALL WITH HIS DAUGHTER AND HIS GRANDCHILDREN DRIVING\nTO CHURCH]\n\n[Illustration: THE LITTLE PREACHER AND HIS INTERESTED AUDIENCE]\n\n[Illustration: LITTLE BILLIE TAKING UP THE COLLECTION]\n\n[Illustration: DR. STALL READING TO HIS GRANDCHILDREN]\n\n\n\n\nSUGGESTIONS TO PARENTS.\n\nHELPFUL METHODS FOR MAKING SUNDAY AFTERNOON WITH THE CHILDREN THE MOST\nPLEASANT AND PROFITABLE DAY OF THE WEEK.\n\n\nThe idea of \"playing church\" is by no means an innovation. What is shown\nin the pictures upon a preceding page has been actualized in many homes.\nLet me quote from a single letter which lies before me:\n\n\"The writer was one of a large family of children and well remembers the\nSunday afternoons spent in his village home. 'Playing church,' was one\nof its features. The chairs were placed in regular fashion, imitating\nthe seating arrangements of a church, every one of us took his or her\nturn as preacher, hymns were sung, a real collection was taken and one\nof us, as preacher, took his text and preached the sermon. There wasn't\na dull moment in those good, old Sunday afternoons in our home.\nOccasionally, the preacher would provoke a smile by his original way of\nhandling the text and of emphasizing some point in his discourse.\n\n\"We have all grown up since those happy days; some of us attained to a\ndegree of efficiency as public speakers, and we attribute much of our\nefficiency and character in life to those profitable Sunday afternoon\nhours.\"\n\nFrom the experiences of the children as narrated above, the suggestion\noccurs, why not use these object talks in like manner? \"Play church\"\nSunday afternoons, read an \"object sermon,\" show the illustrations, ask\nthe questions at the end of each chapter and then follow it up with a\ndiscussion from the children, giving their ideas and experiences.\n\nYou will find that you will get as much benefit and entertainment from\nthese Sunday afternoons \"playing church\" service as the children will.\nYou will be surprised at their interest and the originality that they\nwill display in these discussions. You will be quickening their faculty\nof observation and stirring their imaginations, in a manner that will\nsurely make observant, thoughtful and considerate men and women of the\nchildren, and consequently, affect their entire destinies in the years\nto come. Then, too, you yourself will be helped mentally and\nspiritually, because it is absolutely true that in the devotion that we\nexhibit and the time and attention that we give to our children in this\ncompanionship, we will ourselves be receiving large blessings in the\ndevelopment of our own character and the finer characteristics that make\nfor good people.\n\n\nPLAYING CHURCH.\n\nThe following suggestions will be helpful, to which original ideas may\nalways be added.\n\n1. Make the \"Afternoon Church\" a real, not frivolous, occasion. The time\nit requires to make careful, pains-taking preparation on the part of the\nparent, is always profitably employed.\n\n2. The afternoon church should always be a regular, fixed engagement. It\nadds to its importance.\n\n3. Do not postpone nor omit it for any trivial reason. Treat it as any\nother important engagement.\n\n4. When visitors are in the home, invite them to be present and to\nparticipate. It will help them as well as the juniors.\n\n5. The fact that there is only one child in the family does not preclude\nthe idea of playing church; for the dolls can be brought to church and\neven chairs can be converted into imaginary people.\n\n6. Never permit the realness of the occasion to be questioned. Always\navoid embarrassing the child and _never_ ridicule. Refrain from laughing\nat any mistakes that may be made in speech, thought or conduct of the\nchild, unless he first sees the mistake and invites you to join in his\nmirth.\n\n7. Ask any additional questions pertinent to the subject besides those\nsuggested at the end of each sermon. It will develop wider thought and\nincrease the interest.\n\n8. Encourage the child to ask questions, but always lead in directing\nthe thought.\n\n9. Adults present should always enter seriously and earnestly into the\nwhole program or plan with the child's spirit. Where adults enter upon\nthe execution of the plan with this spirit it adds much to the enjoyment\nof all. If they cannot do this, they should not participate.\n\n10. A bell can be slowly rung as the time for church approaches.\n\n11. Use the brightest and most cheerful room in the house for the\nafternoon church. Add to the furnishings on Sunday anything which may\nmake the room even more than ordinarily attractive.\n\n12. Chairs may be suitably arranged and a child can drive the others to\nand from church in an imaginary carriage, as shown in one of the\npictures upon another page.\n\n13. When the church is held in another room, an older child or person\ncan receive the attendants and usher them to seats.\n\n14. Open the church service with singing. Select several simple\ndevotional hymns or songs, such as are used in the primary department of\nSunday-schools. Have all the children learn the tunes and teach a verse\nof each song to any child that cannot read.\n\n15. A collection can be lifted by one of the children. A toy bank may be\nused in which to save the money received at this child's service, and\nsubsequently contributed through the Church or Sunday-school for\nmissionary purposes.\n\n16. Teach the children the importance of saving from their own spending\nmoney, or earning what they wish to give in the collection.\n\n17. This money should always be regarded as sacred, and care should also\nbe exercised lest this little fund might become a source of temptation\nto the children during the week.\n\n18. At some time during the service a brief prayer should be offered.\nThis may consist of a sentence prayer by each in rotation or by all\nuniting in the Lord's Prayer, or in some brief selection from the Prayer\nBook.\n\n19. When a child is willing or wishes to do so, have him preach the\nsermon in his own way of expressing the thought, using the text or\nobject of the day for his subject. Always give the same interested\nattention to him that is expected from him when another leads.\n\n20. Some of the objects mentioned in the sermons can be easily and\ncheaply obtained for use at the church. When such an object is secured,\nit should not be shown to the children in advance of being used.\n\n21. Do not prolong the service too greatly so as to weary the children.\nEffectiveness and pleasure usually terminate at the same time. Lend\nanimation to the service and interest will not so soon flag. It is well\nalso to impart interest by having the parent enter heartily into every\npart of the service.\n\n22. A social period after \"returning home\" from the \"children's church\"\nshould be introduced. If the children have played driving to church\nbefore the service, the idea should be continued and completed by\ndriving home in the same manner.\n\n\nAFTER CHURCH.\n\n23. After the conclusion of the church service, additional exercises or\ngames suited to the sacredness of the day may be appropriately used to\nentertain the children and continue their happiness. By methods of this\nkind, Sunday may be made not only the most profitable, but the brightest\nand best day of the week.\n\n24. Some light refreshment may be introduced, as fruit, cake or candy.\nThis refreshment should be something very simple and inexpensive, and\nalso something not calculated to spoil the appetite or injure the\ndigestion of the child. In recognition of good conduct, close attention\nor special help at the church service, one of the children may choose\nwhat the refreshment is to be for the next Sunday. This choice should be\nkept a secret during the week.\n\n25. Pictures and illustrations can be cut from magazines, and these can\nbe pasted in a scrap book or on blank paper to represent Bible\ncharacters and scenes, or those used in the sermons.\n\n26. Many acting games and tableaux can be arranged by the children from\nthe sermons and Bible stories. Chairs can be arranged so as to represent\na pit or tent, and the children within them may be \"Joseph in the Pit\"\n(Genesis xxxvii) or \"Daniel in the Lion's Den\" (Daniel vi). See\nillustrations on pages 80 and 91.\n\n\nFOR OLDER CHILDREN.\n\n27. Let one child represent an idol. He must stand motionless and give\nno sign of life. The others are to ask him questions and for favors. If\nthe \"idol\" laughs, moves or speaks, he loses and another takes his\nplace. Idols are lifeless things that cannot move, see, hear or speak.\n\n28. Children's blocks are useful in building a well, altar, castle,\ntemple, chariot, etc. Have the children give a text or verse from the\nBible referring to the objects builded. A Bible story may be told about\nthe object, its history, use, etc.\n\n29. One child, or more as may be needed, can pose to represent a\ncharacter or scene. The others are to guess the character represented.\nFor example: A child can sit with hands upheld. A child on each side of\nhim hold up the extended arms. They represent Moses with Aaron and Hur\nduring the battle (Ex. xvii: 12).\n\n30. Charades, or words and scenes may be represented by the children in\nmotion. The children may be divided into groups. One group will select a\nword and represent it in the presence of the others by motions. For\nexample: Children come into the room and go through the motion of sowing\n(\"Seeds\"), reaping (\"Harvest\"), threshing with a flail (\"Wheat and\nChaff\"), picking flowers (\"Weeds and Flowers\"), taking pictures (\"Eye\nand Camera\"). Many of the sermon subjects may be used in this manner.\nCutting stone, measuring, eating husks, washing dirty face, etc. The\nother groups are to guess the word and have their turn.\n\n31. Children are always fond of riddles; especially when they are able\nto guess the answer. The suggested review questions at the close of each\nobject sermon for afternoon church, may often be effectively used with\nslight changes. For example: \"What is it that cannot see nor hear, but\nalways knows when danger is near?\" The answer is--\"The Oyster.\"\n\nWhat is it which no boy or girl can see or hear, and the approach of\nwhich can not be made known by any of the natural senses? (Sin.)\n\nWhat is it which tells us when sin is near? (Conscience.)\n\nHave the children try to make up their own riddles from the objects\nshown and their uses, or lessons learned from the sermons.\n\n\nSLATES AND CRAYONS.\n\n32. Provide slates, or paper and pencils may be provided, and the\nchildren draw the object or something suggested by its use. Always have\nblank paper and pencils on hand for some of the games or exercises\nmentioned below.\n\n33. Cheap colored crayons can often be used with added value.\n\n34. Each Sunday appoint one child to take charge of the slates, papers\nand pencils, which are to be kept in a safe place and not disturbed\nduring the week, and then to distribute them on the following Sunday.\n\n\nBUILDING AND WORD GAMES.\n\n35. Word building games are always interesting. Cut small squares of\ncardboard and plainly mark each with a letter. Many more vowels than\nconsonants will be required. (These little squares with printed letters\ncan be purchased at any toy-store.) Mix up the squares on a table, and\nthe child who spells the largest number of names of places or objects\nmentioned in the sermons, using the letters on the squares, wins the\ngame.\n\n36. This can be played in a variety of ways. For instance: Select the\nname of an object, person or place, and the one who first picks out the\nnecessary letters to spell it, is declared the winner.\n\n37. Each child is given the same number of assorted letters and all try\nto make up the largest list of names from his portion of letters in a\ngiven time.\n\n\nBIBLE GUESSES.\n\n38. Tell a Bible story, or review one of the object sermons, omitting\nthe names of characters or objects. Without warning, the one reciting\nthe story stops, and the next player carries on the story if he has been\nable to guess the omitted names, without mentioning them. If he has not\ndiscovered or guessed the right story, the next player takes it up, and\nso on until the story is completed and everyone knows it.\n\n39. One of the children goes out of the room and the others decide on\nsome object used in a sermon, or a certain thing mentioned in the Bible,\nwhich is to be described. For example: A watch, telescope, or the Ark,\nJoseph's coat of many colors, etc. Upon entering the room, the child may\nask all manner of questions which can be answered by \"yes\" and \"no\".\nWhen the right thing is guessed, another goes out of the room and the\ngame is repeated. Two or more children, or groups, may be the guessers\nat the same time.\n\n40. The game of thinking is equally interesting. The leader thinks of\nsome character, place or object in the sermons or mentioned in the\nBible. The \"thinker\" then says--\"I am thinking of some thing (person or\nplace) and the name begins with 'C' (or the initial letter).\" Each of\nthe other players asks a question in turn, that can be answered by \"yes\"\nor \"no\". The questions are continued until some one guesses the name.\nThe one who first guessed the name becomes the leader.\n\n41. Make word pictures by describing persons and scenes without\nmentioning names. The others are to guess what it is. For example: The\nleader may say--\"I see some ladies walking beside the water. Suddenly\nthey stop and listen. Then one of them wades into the water and finds\nsomething,\" etc. If the picture is not promptly guessed, the story or\npicture of Pharaoh's daughter finding the baby Moses (Ex. ii: 3) is\nfurther described, until the picture is made known. Other stories may be\nused in the same manner.\n\n42. One or two players go out. The others sit in line and choose a well\nknown proverb, Bible verse, or sentence from the object sermon, having\nas many words as there are players. Each player having made certain what\nhis word is, the others are called in. It is their duty to put the\nsentence together. They ask each player in turn a question on any\nsubject, and in answering the player must use the particular word given\nhim. The questions may be continued, and the word must always be used in\nthe answer, until the one guessing has discovered the particular word\nthat player has, and so on until all the words in their order are\nguessed and the sentence or proverb discovered.\n\nIn the same way, instead of the questions, the particular word may be\nacted, as charades, until the person guessing has discovered each word\nand at length composed the complete sentence.\n\n43. Distribute paper and pencils. Let a single letter be selected and\nhave each child write down the names of characters, objects and places\nmentioned in the sermons, or the Bible, that have the same initial\nletter. For example: The letter \"A\" may be selected, then would follow\n\"Apple\", \"Adam\", \"Apostles\", \"Angels\", \"Army\", \"Asia\", etc. Other\ninitial letters may be selected and the game continued.\n\n44. Have some one call out and write down a Bible name beginning with\n\"A\", as \"Abram\". The next one is to think of a name beginning with \"B\",\nas \"Benjamin\". \"C\" would come next, as \"Caleb\", then \"David\", \"Eli\",\netc. The object is to see how many letters of the alphabet can be used\nand how often without repetition. Also names of places, objects and\ntitles may be used.\n\n45. Ask the children to write down as many as they can of trees, or\nstones, flowers, birds, instruments, animals that are mentioned in the\nBible.\n\n46. Bible geography can be made interesting and profitable. Get a\nshallow box and fill it with fine sand. Cities and countries may be\nwonderfully made. A small pile of the sand will represent a mountain,\nstrips of blue or white paper can be used for rivers and lakes. Use\nsmall blocks and spools for houses and temples, small pebbles for roads.\nThe people can be represented by matches and trees by tiny branches or\nleaves. When Palestine, for instance, is to be studied, small pieces of\npaper may be laid on the sand for the cities; the names or initials of\nthe cities should be written on the pieces of paper.\n\n47. Maps may be drawn and colored crayons used to show the roads, water,\ncities, buildings, etc.\n\n48. From one of the sermons or a Bible story, select the name of a\nperson, place or thing. Have each player write a sentence with the\nselected name embodied in it. When the sentences are read aloud, it will\nshow quite original uses made of the name.\n\n49. To supply missing letters is an easy, simple game. Write names of\nsermon objects or Bible characters with letters omitted. The children\nwill enjoy supplying the missing letters necessary to complete the name.\nSentences and Bible verses may be used with missing words for the\nchildren to supply.\n\n\nBIBLE DRILLS.\n\n50. Bible drills are entertaining and especially valuable to children\nold enough to read and commit the lessons to memory. By a simple method\nthe children can figure out the books in the Bible and their\nclassifications. By pursuing the studies, the names of the books will\nsoon be learned and in their regular order.\n\n51. Have the children count the letters in \"Old\" (3) and \"Testament\"\n(9). Place them together (39) and it gives the number of books in the\nOld Testament.\n\n52. Now multiply these two figures (3 x 9) and the result will give the\nnumber of books in the New Testament (27).\n\n53. Add together the two sets of figures (39 plus 27) and you will find\nthe whole number of books in the Bible (66).\n\n54. The figure \"6\" is found in the number of books in the Bible (66),\nthe number of known authors or writers of the books (36), and the\nnumber of years during which the Bible was written (1600).\n\nThus we have 36 authors, 66 books, 16 centuries.\n\n55. The books of the Old Testament may be divided into five groups: as\nthe Pentateuch (Books of Moses), History, Poetry, Major Prophets and\nMinor Prophets. Have the children trace the outline of a hand on paper\nand the thumb and fingers will represent the groups. Thus, the thumb\nwill represent the Pentateuch; the first finger, the History; the second\nfinger, Poetry; the third finger, Major Prophets; and the fourth finger,\nMinor Prophets.\n\n56. The New Testament may also be divided into five groups and\nrepresented by the other hand in the same manner. The five groups are\nBiography, History, Pauline Epistles (or Paul's Letters), General\nEpistles (or letters), and Prophesy.\n\n57. The number of books in each group of the Old Testament are: 5 plus\n12 plus 5 plus 5 plus 12--equals 39 books. In the New Testament, the\nfive groups are made up of 4 plus 1 plus 13 plus 8 plus 1--equals 27\nbooks.\n\n58. The name of each group with the number of books in the group, may be\nwritten on separate cards. The cards are shuffled and the children sort\nthem and place them together in their proper order, forming the Old\nTestament, then the New Testament.\n\n59. The names of the different books which make up the groups are looked\nup and written under the name of the group. Take the groups in their\nregular order. Thus, group one would be Pentateuch, 5 books: Gen'e-sis,\nEx'o-dus, Le-vit'i-cus, Num'bers, Deu'ter-on'o-my. The second and fifth\ngroups, where there are twelve books each, may be subdivided into threes\nand fours for greater ease in committing to memory.\n\n60. If the proper spelling of the names has also been committed to\nmemory, or learned, then a regular spelling-bee may be held and the\nnames of the Bible books used for the test words. The same tests may be\nmade with the spelling of names of persons, places and things mentioned\nin the Bible.\n\n61. After the books of the Bible, in their order, have been learned,\nopen the Bible and call out the book at which it is open. Name another\nbook and ask which direction (toward the front or back of the Bible)\nshall the pages be turned to find that book. Many other test questions\nmay be asked, such as: \"What book is between Job and Proverbs?\" \"In\nwhich group is Lamentations to be found?\" \"Between what books is that of\nLuke?\"\n\n62. Arrange the children in a row, or let them take their places in\ntents as shown on page 60, and then, as in a spelling-bee, ask the\npreceding or the following questions, or any other Bible questions that\nwould be suited to the age of the children. When one fails to answer he\nloses his place and the child who gives the correct answer moves\nforward. The element of play is thus maintained.\n\n\nBIBLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.\n\n 63. Who was the first man? Adam.\n\n Who was the first woman? Eve.\n\n Who was the first murderer? Cain (Gen. iv: 8).\n\n Whom did he kill? His brother Abel.\n\n Who went to Heaven without dying? Enoch and\n Elijah.\n\n How old was Enoch \"when God took him\"? 365 years\n (Gen. v: 23, 24). The same number of years that\n there are days in a year.\n\n Who was the oldest man? Methuselah.\n\n How old was Methuselah when he died? 969 years\n (Gen. v: 27).\n\n Who built the Ark? Noah (Gen. vi).\n\n How many persons were saved in the Ark? Eight\n (Gen. vii: 7). Noah and his wife, his three sons\n and their wives.\n\n How old was Noah at the time of the Flood? 600\n years (Gen. vii: 6).\n\n Who had the coat of many colors? Joseph (Gen.\n xxxvii: 3).\n\n How many brothers did Joseph have? Eleven (Gen.\n xlii: 3, 4).\n\n What did they do with Joseph? Cast him into a pit\n and afterwards sold him to the Ishmaelitish\n merchantmen (Gen. xxxvii: 28).\n\n Where did the Ishmaelitish merchantmen take\n Joseph? To Egypt.\n\n To whom did they sell him? Potiphar (Gen. xxxix:\n 1).\n\n Who lied about Joseph and had him cast into\n prison? Potiphar's wife.\n\n Who were in the prison with Joseph? The king's\n chief butler and chief baker (Gen. xl: 1, 3).\n\n Who was King of Egypt at the time Joseph was in\n Egypt? Pharaoh.\n\n Why did Pharaoh make Joseph ruler? That he might\n gather the grain during the seven years of plenty\n to lay up in store against the seven years of\n famine.\n\n What did Pharaoh dream? About seven fat kine, or\n cows, and seven lean cows (Gen. xli).\n\n What did Joseph do with the grain he gathered\n during the seven years of plenty? Put in great\n store houses.\n\n Why did his brothers come to Joseph in Egypt\n during the famine? That they might get food (Gen.\n xlii).\n\n Did his father, Jacob, and family go to live in\n Egypt? Yes.\n\n How old was Joseph when he died? 110 years (Gen.\n l: 26).\n\n How long did Jacob's descendants remain in Egypt?\n A little more than two hundred years.\n\n Why did they desire to leave Egypt? Because of the\n oppressions and cruelty of Pharaoh (Ex. i: 8, 14).\n\n Whom did God raise up to lead the Children of\n Israel out of Egypt? Moses.\n\n How long did they wander in the wilderness? Forty\n years.\n\n Was Moses permitted to enter the Promised Land?\n No.\n\n Who led the Children of Israel into the Land of\n Canaan, which was the Promised Land? Joshua.\n\n How did the Children of Israel cross the Red Sea\n and the Jordan? The waters were divided and they\n crossed \"dry shod.\"\n\n Who was the strongest man? Samson.\n\n Who was the meekest man? Moses.\n\n Who, as a ruler, was a man after God's own heart?\n David.\n\n Who built the Temple? Solomon.\n\n Who went to Heaven in a chariot of fire? Elijah.\n\n On whom did the mantle of Elijah fall? Elisha.\n\n Who was swallowed by the great fish? Jonah (Jonah\n i: 17).\n\n Who destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem and carried\n the Children of Israel into captivity?\n Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24, 25).\n\n Where did he take them? To Babylon (2 Kings 25).\n\n How long were they captive in Babylon? Seventy\n years.\n\n Who interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream? Daniel.\n\n How did Nebuchadnezzar reward Daniel? Made him\n ruler over Babylon (Daniel ii: 48, 49).\n\n What were the names of Daniel's three friends?\n Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.\n\n What heathen names were given them instead?\n Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego (Daniel i: 6, 7).\n\n What befell the three friends of Daniel? They were\n cast into the burning fiery furnace.\n\n Why were they cast into this furnace? Because they\n refused to fall down and worship a great golden\n image which Nebuchadnezzar, the King, had set up\n in the plain of Dura.\n\n Were they consumed in the furnace? No, God\n delivered them (Daniel iii).\n\n What befell Daniel years later, when Darius was\n King? He was cast into the den of lions (Daniel\n vi).\n\n Why was he cast into the den of lions? Because he\n prayed to the true God.\n\n Did the lions harm Daniel? No, God stopped the\n mouths of the lions and delivered Daniel.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_The author's intense interest in the safeguarding and saving of the\nboys and girls from the evils which have wrought the ruin of such\ncountless multitudes, prompts in connection with this introductory word,\nto call the special attention of the parents to an advertisement which\nhas been placed at the close of this volume._\n\n\n\n\nThrough Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate Into the City of Child-Soul\n\n\n\n\nTHE OYSTER AND THE CRAB.\n\nCONSCIENCE.\n\n\n SUGGESTIONS TO PARENTS:--It will awaken the\n curiosity and add greatly to the interest of the\n children if the parent will have them secure\n during the week preceding a couple of oyster\n shells. In most of cities and towns, these can be\n easily obtained. It is better for the children\n themselves to secure them, because it makes them\n participants and important factors in what is to\n be done. Do not tell them in advance what use is\n to be made of the oyster shells; simply say that\n they are for use in connection with Sunday\n afternoon.\n\n Introduce the play idea from the beginning. Let\n the children arrange the chairs to \"drive to\n church,\" as shown in the preceding pictures. If\n there are two children who both want to do the\n driving, suggest that one can drive to church and\n the other can drive when returning from\n church--and a third may drive from the house to\n the stable when the horses are to be put away.\n\n At the church service let everything be done\n reverently, and make it a matter of real worship.\n One of the children can act as usher, and if there\n is but one child, this one can usher her dolls to\n seats; or imaginary people may be shown to seats.\n All of this will appeal very strongly to the\n child. Select hymns suited to the children's\n tastes and such as they can sing. Do not sing too\n many verses. Children like variety.\n\n The service ought to be such as is in harmony with\n that regularly attended by the parents, and such\n as the children are familiar with. It may be as\n informal as the Salvation Army, or a greatly\n abridged form of the \"Episcopal Service\" can be\n used. The Lord's Prayer may be repeated in unison,\n or sentence prayers used, or a brief selection\n from the Prayer Book. The preaching by one of the\n children should precede the reading of the Object\n sermon.\n\n After carrying out the idea of the church service,\n the other ideas presented may be introduced, and\n after the imaginary drive home some simple\n refreshments can be served, as also mentioned in\n the chapter of \"Suggestions to Parents\" on page\n 17.\n\n\n[Illustration: Oyster and Shell.]\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I want to speak to you to-day about \"Having a\ngood conscience.\" (I Peter iii: 16.) This is rather a hard subject, but\nI desire to make it plain by the use of a familiar object. \"What's this\nI have in my hand?\" I rather expected that you would say an oyster; but,\nreally it is nothing but an oyster shell. I suppose you have all eaten\nstewed oysters, or oyster broth. I remember, when a little boy, that one\nday when we had stewed oysters for supper, I found a little yellow\nsomething in my broth. I did not know whether my mother had put it in\npurposely, or whether it had fallen in by accident; whether I should\npush it aside of my plate, that it might be thrown with the crumbs to\nthe chickens, or whether I should eat it to discover what it was.\n\n[Illustration: Little Crab.]\n\nI suppose you have all seen these little animals in your soup, and know\nthat they are called crabs. Now, do you know how the crab comes to be in\nwith the oyster? I will tell you how it is. The oyster lives in the\nwater at the bottom of the bay, and some bright day, when the sun is\nshining down genial and warm, just the same as in the summer, we open\nthe doors, and sit out on the porch to enjoy the cool of the day; so the\noyster opens his shells and lets the cool currents of water move gently\nthrough his house. But while lying there with his shells wide open,\nalong comes a great hungry fish. He sees the oyster, but the oyster\ncannot see him. The oyster cannot see, for he has no eyes. He cannot\nhear, for he has no ears. Of the five senses which each of us have,\nhearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and feeling, the oyster can only tell\nof the presence of his enemy when he feels himself being dragged out of\nhis house, and being quickly swallowed by the fish. But his knowledge of\nwhat is happening only comes when it is too late.\n\n[Illustration: Fish Going to Eat the Oyster.]\n\nNow, with the little crab, who also lives in the same neighborhood with\nthe oyster, it is quite different. The crab has eyes, and can see the\nhungry fish that comes to eat him up. He has legs, with which to try and\nrun away; but the fish can swim so much faster than the little crab can\nrun that he is sure to be devoured before the race is half over. So what\ndo you think the little crab does? He crawls along quietly, and creeps\ninto the shell with the oyster, and the oyster and the crab enter into a\nkind of partnership for mutual protection. After this, when the oyster\nopens his shells, the little crab uses his eyes very diligently to look\naround, and watch for the approach of any fish. As soon as he spies any\nsly fish coming near, he pinches the oyster, and immediately the oyster\ncloses his shells very tightly, and the oyster and the crab are both\nwithin, safely protected from the fish.\n\nNow, boys and girls, we are something like the oyster. We are constantly\nexposed to the danger of being destroyed by sin. We cannot see sin, we\ncannot hear sin, we cannot perceive it by any of our senses. So God has\ngiven us a conscience, which means \"to know with God.\" When you are\ntempted to do a sinful act, it is conscience that quickly whispers, \"Now\nthat is wicked,\" \"If you do that, God will be displeased.\"\n\nLet me illustrate this thought. One real pleasant day, when the birds\nare singing, and everything is attractive out of doors, Johnnie thinks\nhow hard it is to be studying his lessons in what he calls a prison of a\nschool-room. He knows that papa and mamma will not give him permission\nto stay at home; so a little before nine o'clock, as he saunters towards\nthe school, Satan suggests to him to play \"hookey,\" and when he comes to\nthe corner of the street, looking back to be sure that no one sees him,\nhe turns the corner to remain out of school, intending to come home at\nthe regular time for dinner and escape discovery. Just as soon as he\nturns the corner, and even before that, conscience has seen the danger,\nand whispers strong and clear, \"Johnnie, this is wicked; you will surely\nget into trouble, and you will make papa and mamma sad, and also\ndisplease God.\" Now, if Johnnie does not turn right back when conscience\nwarns him, he is sure to go on without having any pleasure all that\nforenoon, because his conscience continues to warn and reprove him.\n\n[Illustration: \"Willie is more frightened than the dog.\"]\n\nOr suppose that Willie goes down the street and sees Mr. Brown's dog a\nlittle ways off. He looks around quickly for a stone, and immediately\nconscience says, \"Now, Willie, don't hit the poor dog, for the stone\nwill cause him pain, just as it would if some one were to hit you with a\nstone.\" But Willie does not listen to conscience. He throws the stone\nwith all his might. It strikes on the pavement, just by the side of the\ndog, glances and breaks in many pieces the large plate glass in the\nwindow of the drug store.\n\nWillie is more frightened than the dog, and without a moment's\nforethought he runs around the corner, to get out of sight. And after\nconcealing himself for a time in the alley, he steals quietly into the\nhouse at the back door. How he dreads to meet his father and mother.\nEvery time the door bell rings he thinks surely that it is the druggist\nor the policeman. Oh! how this sin pains him; just like the oyster would\nbe hurt if he does not heed the little crab, when he warns him that the\nfish is coming to destroy him. If Willie had only listened to\nconscience, what sin and trouble it would have saved him. So, boys and\ngirls, God has given each of us a conscience, and if we want to be saved\nfrom sin and suffering, we should always be quick to obey our\nconscience. Let each of us try and \"keep a good conscience.\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--Can the oyster see or hear? Can it\n feel? What often destroys the oyster? What lives\n down under the water near the oyster? Can the\n little crab see? Can he get away from the fish?\n How does he assist the oyster? How does he warn\n the oyster of danger? Can boys or girls see sin?\n What has God given each of us to warn us of danger\n when sin is near? Does every boy and girl have a\n conscience? Does conscience always give warning?\n Do boys and girls always obey their conscience?\n Should conscience always be obeyed? Will you\n always try to obey conscience in the future? The\n parent may ask additional questions or make\n application in any other manner they deem best.\n\n Next Sunday the sermon will be about the worm in\n the apple. Let one of the children get a nice,\n large, perfect apple, and also another apple which\n has been dwarfed and deformed because of a worm\n inside the apple. These will be the objects which\n we shall use next Sunday.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORM IN THE APPLE.\n\nSIN IN THE HUMAN HEART.\n\n\n SUGGESTIONS TO PARENTS:--The objects used to-day\n are a large perfect apple and a stunted, wormy\n apple. Have also a knife with which, at the proper\n time, to open the wormy apple. With these\n preparations made, let the children \"drive to\n church\" after the manner suggested for last\n Sunday.\n\n After the singing of a hymn or two, prayer and\n collection, let one of the children, in the manner\n of the preacher speaking to his audience, tell in\n his own way of the \"Oyster and Crab\" and of God's\n purpose in giving us a conscience, and let him or\n her draw the moral lessons and impress the\n spiritual truths. Even if it is done in but few\n words, or a faltering way, do not embarrass or\n discourage by criticisms. Speak words of\n encouragement. If preferred, the little sermon may\n be a presentation of the sermon preached by the\n pastor in the morning, or one child may present\n the object sermon of last Sunday and another child\n the sermon by the pastor in the morning. The more\n who take part, the better, as variety adds to the\n interest.\n\n Then gather the children around close so they can\n see the pictures as you read the following sermon.\n Have the apples at hand also for demonstration.\n\nTHE object which I have chosen to-day, is one with which I am sure every\nboy and girl is thoroughly familiar. The moment you see it you recognize\nit. This large and beautiful apple is one of the most perfect of its\nkind, large in size, beautiful in color, and one which tempts the\nappetite of any one who is hungry.\n\nNow, boys and girls, I have here another object. Can you tell me what\nthis is? I expected that you would say that it was an apple, and that is\ntrue. But you have not told me the whole truth concerning it. This is\nnot only an apple, but it is a wormy apple. It did not grow as large as\nthe other, and, by looking at the outside, I see that it is defective.\nIt is stunted, like wormy apples quite universally are. You might think\nthat the worm went into this apple because it was not full grown and\nstrong and large, the same as it is sometimes thought that boys who have\nnever improved their advantages, but have failed to become noble and\ngood, therefore sin has entered their hearts. The truth is just the\nreverse; wickedness first possessed their hearts, and that has been the\ncause of their failure to improve their opportunities, and to become\nmanly, and noble, and good, and kind. If they had first got the evil and\nsin out of their hearts, they would surely have stood a much better\nchance. They would have become Christians, and have grown up more and\nmore like Christ, to be good, and kind, and generous, and useful.\n\n[Illustration: Worm in the Apple.]\n\nI want to ask you a question concerning this worm. But to be sure that\nwe are not mistaken, let me take a knife and cut this apple in two, and\nsee whether or not there is a worm inside. Just as I said, this is a\nwormy apple. It has evidently had two worms in it. Here is one of them,\nand the other has taken its departure. Now, boys and girls, I want to\nask you, did this worm eat his way into the apple, or did he eat his way\nout of the apple? Quite as I anticipated. I expected that you would say\nthat he ate his way into the apple; but the fact is, he ate his way out\nof the apple. I am sure that you will ask immediately, at least in your\nminds, how then did he get in, if he ate his way out? I will tell you\nhow it was. Early last spring, just after the apple trees had been in\nblossom, and when this apple had just begun to form on one of the\nbranches, there came along a bug and stung this apple, and deposited in\nthe inside the germ of the worm. As the summer grew warmer, and the\napple grew larger, the germ began to develop, until finally it grew into\na worm. When it began to grow strong, it discovered that it was confined\nin the interior of something, and soon it began to eat, and continued\nuntil it ate its way out of the apple. This other worm, which still\nremained in, had continued to eat in the various portions of the apple,\nand possibly because of having less bodily vigor had concluded to remain\nthere for a time, but you can see from the inside of the apple that it\nhas done great injury, at the very core or heart, and I suppose that if\nit had been left to itself, in the course of a few days, or a few weeks\nat most, it also would have eaten its way out of the apple, in order to\nescape from its confinement.\n\n[Illustration: Insect Stinging Bud.]\n\nNow, boys and girls, this worm represents sin in the human heart, or\nwickedness possibly presents the thought better, and when you see a boy\nor girl doing wrong, they are simply giving outward expression to the\nwickedness which exists in their hearts. Boys are bad, not so much\nbecause the influences by which they are surrounded are bad, but because\ntheir hearts are sinful, and wicked, and bad. But I am sure that you\nwill want to know how wickedness gets into the human heart. I will tell\nyou how it is. Way back in the spring-time of the history of the human\nrace, way back in the Garden of Eden, soon after God had created Adam\nand Eve, Satan came and inspired in the hearts of these first people the\ndesire to disobey God. God told Adam and Eve that they should not eat\nof the fruit of the forbidden tree, and that when they did they would\ndie, that is, they would be separated from God. Satan came and told them\nthat they would not die, but that when they ate of the fruit of this\ntree they would become very wise. They believed Satan rather than God,\nand they did that which was wicked and wrong. And so throughout all the\ngenerations since, there has been that willingness to believe Satan and\nto do what he wants us to do, rather than to believe God and do what God\nwould have us to do.\n\nBoys and girls who find themselves inclined to disobey their father or\nmother, to be disrespectful to those who are older than they, to do\nwrong on the Sabbath, to remain away from the Sunday-school and church,\nand to enjoy the beautiful spring-day, by strolling through the fields\nor wandering through the woods, do so, not alone because the day is\npleasant or because of the opportunities from which others turn away,\nbut because there is wickedness in their hearts. So when boys quarrel\nand fight, or steal, or do any other thing that is wrong, it is not so\nmuch the influences by which they are surrounded, the temptation from\nwithout, but the wickedness and the evil and the sinfulness which there\nis in the human heart, eating its way out through their heart into their\nlives, and deforming their lives, which otherwise would be upright,\nhonorable and manly and Christ-like. I trust that when you are tempted\nto do wrong you will recognize the fact that there is evil in your\nheart, and that you will go to Jesus and earnestly pray Him to take away\nthis evil out of your heart, and to give you a new, clean heart. Just\nthe same as with these apples, if you had the privilege of choosing, I\nam sure you would prefer the large one, which has not been spoiled\nbecause of the destructive worm inside, so I trust you will choose to\nhave the good heart, which God can give you, rather than the heart that\nhas wickedness and sin within. If you will go to God in prayer and ask\nHim, He will give you a good heart, a true heart, one that has no sin\nand no wickedness within.\n\n Questions.--Which is nicer, a big, red apple or a\n little stunted one? What prevented the little\n apple from growing big and beautiful? When did the\n little worm get into the apple? If it had not been\n for the worm in the apple, would the apple have\n grown large and well formed? What causes boys and\n girls to desire to do wrong? Who tempted Adam and\n Eve to do wrong? Did they listen? Did they believe\n God or did they believe Satan? Are boys and girls\n still tempted to do wrong? Are they likely to\n yield to temptation? To whom should we go when we\n are tempted to do wrong? Who alone can cleanse our\n hearts from sin? Should we always go and ask God\n for strength when we are tempted? Which would you\n choose, a good heart or a wicked heart?\n\n Suggest to the children (or better still select\n one or have them select one) to procure for next\n Sunday some weeds that grow by the wayside and\n also a few cut flowers or potted plants.\n\n After \"driving home\" from church and after putting\n the horses away, which little action gives the\n children a few moments' diversion, then other\n methods contained in the chapter of \"Suggestions\n to Parents\" can be selected according to the age,\n intelligence and interest of the children. After\n this, refreshments or whatever is best suited to\n the thought of the parents and the conditions of\n the household may be introduced.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nWAYSIDE WEEDS AND GARDEN FLOWERS.\n\nNEGLECTED VERSUS CHRISTIAN CHILDREN.\n\n SUGGESTIONS TO PARENTS:--The objects to be used\n to-day are a bouquet of flowers or some potted\n plants and a bunch of weeds that grow by the\n wayside. These will illustrate the difference\n between neglected, untaught and undisciplined\n children, and the children of a well trained\n household. Make the lesson impressive, so that the\n children will appreciate that the restrictions and\n discipline which are imposed upon them are all for\n their own good--that without these careful\n attentions they would grow up like the children in\n the slums. The neglected character of the clothing\n of undisciplined and uncared for children is only\n indicative of the minds and hearts and character\n of these children.\n\n Arrange the chairs, \"drive to church\"; let the\n ushers show the different real or imaginary\n persons to seats. Then let the hymn, prayer or\n \"opening service\" precede the \"preaching\" of the\n object sermon of last Sunday or the regular sermon\n at the morning church service by one or more of\n the children, after which a hymn may be sung, and\n the parent gather the children close so they can\n see the pictures, and read the following sermon on\n \"Wayside Weeds and Garden Flowers.\" During the\n reading, or before, or after, let the children\n gain the impressive lessons from the colored\n picture which so beautifully illustrates the\n sermon.\n\n\n[Illustration: Wayside Weeds and Garden Flowers]\n\nTHE land of Palestine, in which Jesus lived, has always been noted for\nits flowers. They grow everywhere in great abundance, and oftentimes in\nvery great perfection and beauty. One time, when Jesus was preaching on\nthe mountain, He used the flowers which were growing on the side of the\nmountain, to preach an object sermon to the multitudes about Him. He\nsaid, \"Consider the lilies of the field; how they grow; they toil not,\nneither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that Solomon, in all his\nglory, was not arrayed like one of these.\" (Matt. vi: 28, 29.) Let us\nto-day take the same object lesson, to set forth to our minds a clearer\nunderstanding of some truths, which are very important to every father\nand mother, as well as every boy and girl.\n\nAs you see, I have here two bouquets. This, which I now hold in my hand,\nis indeed very beautiful. Here are some lovely roses, some tulips, some\npeonies. Here is a dahlia and heliotrope. Here are some tube roses, and\na great variety of other flowers, which together constitute a very\nbeautiful bouquet.\n\nNow, here is another bouquet. I see you smile, but indeed it is a\nbouquet. I spent a great deal of time gathering these flowers, at which\nyou laugh. I sought them in such places as would afford the best\nvarieties of these several kinds.\n\nNow, boys and girls, I want to ask you where these flowers grew? I will\nhold up this beautiful bouquet and ask the question. I know what will be\nyour answer; you will say that I bought it from a man who keeps a\nhot-house, or that I gathered them in some flower garden which was very\ncarefully tended; and such, indeed, is the case.\n\nNow, I will hold up this other bouquet. Can you tell me where I gathered\nthese? I did not think that you would have much difficulty in\ndetermining. I gathered them along the roadside, in the fields and in\nthe woods. These flowers are what the farmer calls \"weeds.\" Here is a\nrose with a single leaf that grew in a neglected corner, along the\noutskirts of a woods. It is a genuine rose, but it is by no means\npretty, or at all to be compared with those in the other bouquet.\n\nI will tell you why there is such a difference in the appearance of\nthese two bouquets. One grew in the garden, where it was protected by a\nfence from being tramped upon. The weeds that grew about it were all\npulled out of the ground, and the stalk upon which this flower grew was\ngiven a fair chance, so that it might grow successfully. The roots of\nthe plants were carefully nourished, and whenever there was not\nsufficient rain the flowers were all watered, and thus the plants and\nflowers grew to their greatest perfection and beauty.\n\nNow, these other flowers which I gathered in the fields and along the\nroadside and in the woods, have had a hard time of it. In their growth\nthey had to contend with other weeds. They have been tramped upon by the\ncattle. They have been scorched by the sun. And year after year they\nhave grown in these neglected quarters with great difficulty,\nconsequently they are stunted and have never attained any perfection or\nbeauty.\n\nDo you know that these very beautiful flowers in this bouquet at one\ntime grew just the same as the flowers in the other bouquet? But they\nwere removed from the roadside, and from the fields and from the woods,\nand placed by themselves where they could be properly cared for and\ncultivated, and they grew more beautiful from year to year, until we\nhave this present satisfactory result.\n\nBoys and girls are very much like flowers. Those who are neglected, who\nare permitted to walk the streets, to stroll along the roads and over\nthe fields, to go along the streams fishing on Sunday, instead of being\nin Sunday-school and in church, those who are permitted to run out at\nnights and play with all kinds of company--these are the boys and girls\nwho are like the flowers which grow by the roadside. Nothing very\nbeautiful, or very good, or very perfect can reasonably be expected from\nthem.\n\nThis beautiful bouquet represents those boys and girls who have\nChristian fathers and mothers, who surround them by influences which are\nwell calculated to make them pure in thought and upright in life, so\nthat they may grow up to be good Christian men and women. These flowers\nrepresent the boys and girls who grow up in the Sunday-school and in the\nChurch, who give their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, and grow up\ninto His likeness, and into His image, and into His stature, and become\nnoble Christian men and women.\n\nWhen parents permit their children to run wild, they cannot expect them\nto grow up Christians. It is only by culture and education and Christian\ninfluences that they can be improved, so as to become honorable and\nupright.\n\nNearly all the products of the field have been improved by cultivation,\njust the same as these flowers have been improved. Wheat in its native\nstate, as it may still be found in France and Italy along the shores of\nthe Mediterranean, was a stunted and straggling plant, with a small and\ninferior seed, but after long years of patient and continued\ncultivation, it has grown to its present plump and prolific proportions.\nAll the beautiful fruits which now grow in our orchards were at one time\nunsightly and undesirable. The apple was small and sour, and\nunpalatable; but by pruning and grafting and fertilizing, it has grown\nto be not only beautiful to the eye, but delicious to the taste. The\nacrid and unwholesome berries, which formerly grew on the mountain ash,\nhave been developed into the sweet and juicy pear. By cultivation, the\nacrid and bitter sloe has grown into the beautiful plum. The same is\nalso true of the potato, the turnip and the cabbage.\n\nBoys and girls can only be developed into useful men and women by the\ninfluence of the week-day and Sunday-school, the Christian home and the\nChurch, by reading and studying the Bible and other good books.\n\nWhen you are restricted or corrected by your parents, you may oftentimes\nfeel very much irritated and may feel rebellious, and may think that you\ndo not have as many privileges or as much freedom as some of the other\nboys and girls whom you know. But you must remember that all this is\ndone by your parents for your good, and later on in life you will see\nthe value of it all and be very grateful to your parents for what they\nhave done for you.\n\nWhen I was a boy, in the little village where I lived they organized a\ncannon company of six or eight boys, who were to accompany the men who\nwent to other villages to listen to political speeches before elections,\nand then to march in a torch-light procession. I was at that time a boy\nabout twelve years old. I was asked to join. The boys were all to wear\nred blouses and red caps, and to my thought just then, nothing in the\nworld was so much to be desired as the torch-light procession and the\nred blouse and cap, and to be permitted to march behind the drum and the\nfife, hauling the little cannon after us.\n\nI shall never forget how I cried and how ugly I felt toward my father\nwhen he would not let me be one of the cannon boys and wear a red blouse\nand a red cap. He said that at night I ought to be at home and in bed,\nand not be exposed to possible bad influences, the danger of catching\ncold and of other bad results which he could clearly see, but which I,\nat that time, thought were only imaginary.\n\nWhen I grew to be a man, I saw that my father was right, and later when\nat intervals I journeyed back to my boyhood home and visited the\ncemetery, I frequently placed one elbow on the tomb-stone of my father\nand the other elbow on the tomb-stone of my mother, and with my face\nburied in my hands thanked God that He had given me Christian parents\nwho were wise and judicious enough not to let me have my own way in all\nthings when I was a boy, but who had restricted me and guided me wisely\nand well.\n\nSo, boys and girls, it will be with you when you have grown to the\nestate of manhood and womanhood. You will be, oh, so thankful again and\nagain that father and mother have oftentimes denied you things which you\nhave most desired to have.\n\n Questions.--Which are the prettier, flowers which\n are neglected by the roadside, or those which are\n cultivated in the garden? Are boys and girls like\n flowers? Which boys and girls are the best, those\n who are neglected and not taught, or those who are\n cared for and carefully trained? Is it more\n pleasant for boys and girls to have their own way\n in everything, or would they prefer to be taught\n and trained by their parents? Which kind of\n flowers are the heathen boys and girls like? Can\n wild flowers be made more beautiful by care and\n cultivation? Can the boys and girls in heathen\n lands be made like Christian boys and girls? What\n is necessary to effect this change? How can Bibles\n and missionaries be sent to them? Did the writer\n of this book want to have his own way when he was\n a boy? What did he want to be? What kind of a cap\n and blouse did he want to wear? When he became a\n man, was he thankful to his father for not\n allowing him to have his own way at that time?\n Will all good boys and girls, when they become men\n and women, be thankful to their parents for right\n training?\n\n[Illustration: \"The Cannon Boys.\"]\n\n\n\n\nNUTS.\n\nGOD MEANS THAT WE MUST WORK.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The objects used are some nuts of\n various kinds.\n\n If the parent has not already familiarized himself\n with the different methods of entertainment in\n connection with the reading of the object sermon\n to the children, he would do well to turn to the\n chapter on \"Suggestions to Parents\" on page 17 and\n introduce some one or more of the play ideas which\n have accomplished so much of pleasure and profit\n in many homes.\n\n Arrange chairs and \"drive to church,\" let the\n audience, both real and imaginary be shown to\n seats, and after the opening service let one of\n the children in his or her own way present the\n lessons remembered from the sermon of last Sunday,\n or recast what was said by the pastor in his\n morning sermon. After the collection and singing,\n let the children \"drive home\" and let refreshments\n or some one of the Scriptural entertainments\n previously suggested round out the pleasure and\n profit of Sunday afternoon.\n\n\nNOW, boys and girls, I have here some hickory nuts, walnuts, butternuts,\nchestnuts, and filberts, or hazel nuts as they are sometimes called, and\nI want to tell you something that I suppose God means to teach us by\nthese nuts.\n\n[Illustration: Nuts.]\n\nMany people remember that when Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden, God\ntold them that \"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread\" (Gen.\niii: 19), and also that God drove them out of the garden to \"till the\nground from whence man was taken.\" (Gen. iii: 23.) On this account some\npeople suppose that if Adam and Eve had not sinned it would never have\nbeen necessary for us to work, but that is a mistake. If you turn to the\nsecond chapter of Genesis, in the fifteenth verse, you will find that it\nsays, \"The Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to\ndress it and to keep it.\" So you see that Adam was required to work,\neven before the fall. Of course his work was not as severe as it was\nafter he was driven out of Eden and his labor brought him a richer\nfruitage.\n\nNow, what do these nuts teach us? I think that most all boys and girls\nlike to eat hickory nuts and butternuts, and chestnuts and filberts, and\nindeed all kinds of nuts. But did you ever stop to think that God has\nmade it necessary that we should crack the shell before we can eat the\nkernel that is inside? God has purposed to teach us that labor is\nnecessary before we can eat even of that which He gives us, so on the\noutside of this desired food he places the shell, in some instances hard\nand difficult to be broken, in order to teach us that labor is necessary\nbefore we can eat of His gifts.\n\nNow the same thing is true with regard to the grain that grows in the\nfield. No one ever saw potatoes grow without being planted and\ncultivated. Rye and oats and wheat do not grow wild. Weeds will grow\nwithout being sown or planted, but grain and vegetables not only have to\nbe planted, but have to be taken care of. Possibly you might think that\nmy statement was not wholly correct, because we go out into the orchard\nand gather apples and pears and peaches, and other kinds of fruit which\nhave no hard shells on them, and which do not have to be planted in the\nspring of the year. But do you know that we could not gather this kind\nof rich fruit from the trees unless trees of these kinds had been\ncultivated for long centuries, grafted and developed so as to produce\nthe rich fruit which is now placed upon our tables? So you see that even\nthis has cost labor, and if we were to neglect the trees in the orchard,\nit would only be a few years until they would produce only a very small\nvariety of fruit, and even that would be sour and have an unpleasant\ntaste.\n\nBut God means to teach us this lesson also in another way. Man has found\nit very necessary to use the different kinds of metals, iron and copper,\nsilver and gold. God has not laid these metals on top of the ground, but\nhas made it necessary that we should dig down into the earth and secure\nthese metals at the cost of a great deal of labor. The same is also true\nwith regard to the coal and the oil, and all the rich mineral products\nwhich God has blessed us. None of them can be secured without labor.\n\n[Illustration: Apple Tree.]\n\nWe are all naturally lazy. I have oftentimes thought that we are all\nborn lazy. Some learn to be industrious with less effort, but all have\nto be taught to work. God means that we should work. Have you ever\nthought that God could feed us without our labor if He chose to do so?\nHe could rain down our food from heaven, just the same as He gave manna\nto the Children of Israel, while they were journeying to the promised\nland. He could not only feed us, but He could also clothe us from\nheaven. I am sure that if God gave us our clothing from heaven, He would\nnot make such foolish fashions as wicked people over in Paris invent,\nand which all the rest of the world seem to think they have to imitate.\nNot only our food and clothing, but God could also have made it\nnecessary that there should be no preachers. Instead of giving us His\nWord in the Bible, and then asking us to go into all the world and to\npreach it to all creatures, He might have used the stars at night, just\nthe same as the printer uses the different kinds of type and prints the\nletters and words upon the page; so God could have used the stars in\norder to write His law upon the heavens in a universal language that\nwould be known by all peoples, and so at night, and even in the daytime,\npeople could look up into the heavens and read God's law. Thus it would\nhave been unnecessary ever to have printed Bibles, or to send preachers\nto preach. The cost of building churches and supporting ministers would\nthus have been unnecessary, but God does not do things in that way. Lazy\npeople might desire that things were arranged in this way, but God has\nseen fit to make it very different.\n\nBut why do you think that God means that you and I should learn to work?\nThere are two or three good reasons which I can think of. We are so\nconstituted that no one can be in good health for any considerable\nperiod without physical exertion, and so you see that if we want to be\nwell--and no one can be happy who is not well--it is necessary that we\nshould learn to work. You will always find that lazy people who eat a\ngreat deal suffer many physical ailments. They are always complaining,\nand I think you will always find that they really are sick, but they\ncould be well if they would only go to work as God meant they should.\n\nThen there is another reason. An idle man is always a dissatisfied man.\nA boy or girl with nothing to do is sure to be unhappy. If we desire to\nbe happy and contented we must learn to work.\n\nBut there is also another reason. Our spiritual well-being also renders\nit necessary that you and I should have something to do. Work is really\none of God's greatest blessings, and we are told that those who are idle\ntempt Satan to tempt them. I do not believe that an idle person can be a\ngood Christian. An idler is of no use either in the world or in the\nchurch. God can make no use of him, and Satan must surely despise him\nalso.\n\nSo if you desire to be delivered from sickness and to remain well and\nstrong, if you desire to be contented and happy, if you desire to be\ngood and useful, if you desire to be helpful in the great purpose for\nwhich God has created you and placed you upon this earth, you must learn\nto work, and the best time to learn to work is when we are young. We are\nto learn to labor with our hands, with our minds, always remembering\nthat whatsoever we do, we are to do all to the glory of God.\n\nNow let us all join in singing,\n\n \"Work, for the night is coming.\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--Did God assign some work to Adam when\n he was first created? What was he to do in the\n Garden? Why does God place the kernel of nuts\n inside of a shell? Do vegetables and grain grow\n without being planted? Will weeds grow without\n being planted? Why did God place the metals, and\n coal and oil down below the surface of the ground?\n Are we naturally industrious or lazy? Could God\n clothe and feed us without our labor? Why does He\n not do it? How could God have printed His law so\n that it would not be necessary to have Bibles and\n preachers? Are idle people healthy and contented?\n Why not? Whom do idle people tempt? Can an idle\n person be a good Christian? When is it easiest to\n learn to work? What should we always remember in\n our work?\n\n\n\n\nBANKS.\n\nGATHERED AND GUARDED TREASURES.\n\n SUGGESTIONS:--Objects for use: A child's bank and\n a metal kettle of any kind to show how people used\n to place their money in boxes, kettles, etc., and\n then bury them in the ground.\n\n Use the methods suggested in the preceding\n sermons. Examine the chapter on \"Suggestions to\n Parents\" and introduce new features from Sunday to\n Sunday. Children like variety.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: What is this I hold in my hand? (Voices: \"Bank,\npenny bank, money bank.\") Yes, you are right, this is a bank, and I\nsuppose many of you, perhaps all of you either now, or at some past time\nhave had such a place to deposit your money.\n\n[Illustration: A Penny Bank.]\n\nIn the time of Christ the children did not have little banks like these.\nEven the big people did not have banks where they could deposit their\nmoney. When they had jewels or money they would place them in a box, or\na copper kettle, and bury them in the earth. They would hide them away\nfrom other people, and thus seek to secure them for themselves. In that\nperiod of the world, there were many thieves and robbers; Palestine was\noften invaded by hostile armies; there were occasional earthquakes,\nwhich destroyed whole cities, and so the people used to bury their money\nfor safe keeping. After burying it, sometimes they were killed in war,\nor perhaps died suddenly, before they had time to tell anybody where\nthey had concealed their money, and on this account all over that land\nthere were buried treasures, or \"hid treasures\" as they are called, and\nto-day if you were to go to Palestine you would see many people digging\nhere and there everywhere to find money or treasures that have been\nhidden away for long centuries. Even in the time of Job people must have\ndug for treasures, as they are doing in Palestine to-day, for Job says\nof the miserable and unhappy, that they often \"long for death, and dig\nfor it, more than for hid treasures.\" (Job iii: 21.)\n\nIt is altogether right for you to economize and save your pennies. I\nhope every boy and girl will have a little bank, but while you are\nlearning to save, you should also learn to give to every good cause, to\ngive in Sunday-school and to give for the support of the Church, for\nmissions, and to give to assist the aged and the poor, and to contribute\nsomething for those who are in poverty and in distress. If you simply\nlearn to save, or hoard up money, and do not learn at the same time to\ngive, you will become what people call \"a miser,\" and that word means\nmiserable. Misers are always miserable, not because they do not already\nhave sufficient, but because there is so much more that they desire.\nThey always wish for more.\n\n[Illustration: Hiding Treasures in the Earth.]\n\nBut while you are learning to save money and to gather treasures here\nupon the earth, you must not forget that the Bible says, that we are to\nlay up for ourselves \"treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not\ncorrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.\" It says,\n\"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these\nthings shall be added unto you.\" God means that first of all you and I\nshall give our hearts to Him, and then afterward, in all our getting, we\nshould constantly remember that we are only stewards of God--that is,\nthat all the money and everything else we possess in this world belongs\nto God. He simply permits us to have it and to use it in His name, and\nwe must honor and reverence Him by giving to help on every good work.\n\nNow, after we have given our hearts to God, and have become followers of\nthe Lord Jesus Christ, we are to lay up our treasures in heaven by\nliving right, by seeking to be good, and by doing good to others. We are\nto lose no opportunity to do that which will be a blessing to those\nabout us.\n\nOne of the boys or girls said this was a penny bank. That name is very\nsuggestive. A bank is a place where you deposit money. Now, if you have\na bank like this, do you only put into it silver dollars, five-dollar\nbills, ten-dollar gold pieces? If each boy who is here were to wait\nuntil he had a ten-dollar gold piece, or a five-dollar bill, or until he\nhad come into possession of a silver dollar before he placed any money\nin his bank, I am sure his bank would always remain empty. The way to\nfill a bank is to put pennies in it--to save each cent and each\nfive-cent piece. To-day a penny, and to-morrow a few pennies, and so on\nthrough the week, and through the year, and at the end of the year you\nwill find that you have saved quite a goodly sum.\n\nNow, there are some people who want to lay up treasures in heaven, but\nthey do not want to lay it up there, little by little. They prefer to\nwait until some opportunity comes when they can do a great deal of good\nat one time. But the person who does not do good every day and every\nhour, little by little, will never have any treasure in heaven. It is\nthe pennies that make the dollars; it is the \"many mites that make the\nmuckle.\" It is the constant doing of little things, for the glory of God\nand the good of others, that makes a man great. Great men are great in\nlittle things, and if you desire to be great men and great women, you\nmust always use the little opportunities, and use them well. Lay up\ntreasure in heaven, each and every day, just the same as, day after day,\nyou would save your pennies, and thus fill your banks. If you want a\nlarge treasure in heaven you must constantly be engaged in laying up\nyour treasure there. Never lose an opportunity to do good, and in this\nway you will have an abundant treasure in heaven.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Where do people put money for safe\n keeping? Is it only silver and gold which is put\n into a bank? Do thieves ever break into banks? Can\n any treasure be laid up in the earth where it is\n absolutely safe? Where does the Bible tell us we\n are also to lay up treasure? When boys and girls\n are obedient, is that laying up treasure in\n heaven? Does being great in little things make a\n great man or a great woman? Should boys and girls\n learn to save their money? What would they be\n called if they spent all their money? What would\n they be called if they hoarded up all they could\n get? Should we always use all our money in the\n fear of God?\n\n After the conclusion of the services and after\n \"driving home from church\", introduce some other\n interesting features so as to make the day\n sacredly impressive.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHART.\n\nAVOIDING THE DANGERS.\n\n SUGGESTIONS:--Objects: A geography, or detached\n maps will serve to show that the portions of the\n earth which are under the water are quite like the\n portions of the earth which are above the water.\n Islands are only mountain summits or elevations.\n\n \"Drive to church\", have the ushers show different\n real or imaginary persons to seats, have the\n little sermon and service precede the reading of\n the following object sermon.\n\n\n[Illustration: Outline Map of the United States.]\n\nMY LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: We are all travelers. Now when a traveler\nstarts out upon a journey he always desires to have in his possession\none of these things which I hold in my hand. I know you will recognize\nit at once, and say that it is a map. This map tells you the name of the\ncountry; it shows you where there are mountains, where there are rivers,\nwhere there are valleys, where there are cities, and shows you the\nentire United States of America. In traveling through a strange country,\nif you do not have a map, you might be lost upon the mountains, or your\njourney would be obstructed by the rivers which you could not cross, and\nin various ways you would find it absolutely necessary to have a map.\n\nNow, when a traveler goes out upon the sea, it is just as necessary that\nhe should have a map, or what the sailors call a chart, as it is for the\ntraveler upon the land. The chart which the sea captain has, shows the\nmountains and the valleys and the rivers which are in the sea; for these\nexist in the sea, as well as upon the land. The rocks, against which\nships are sometimes dashed to pieces, are simply the tops of high\nmountains that come very near to the surface of the sea; and the captain\nwithout a chart, not knowing where they are, is likely to run against\nthem with his ship. The islands are simply the tops of these mountains,\nthat rise higher above the water, and form a place of abode for man; and\nwe call them islands, because they are very much smaller than the great\ncontinents on which you and I live.\n\nA chart of the sea always locates the dangerous places. They show where\nother ships have been foundered, and oftentimes where hundreds and\nthousands of lives have been lost. It also shows what are really rivers\nin the sea, or great currents, one of which we call the Gulf Stream.\nWhen a ship is crossing the Gulf Stream the motion or current of this\nwater might carry it many hundreds of miles out of its course, and if\nthe captain had no chart he would not be able to allow for this\ndistance, which the ship is being carried, either north or south.\n\nNow, you and I are travelers in this world. We are out upon a great\nvoyage, and it is necessary that we should have a chart, and therefore\nGod has given us the Bible, which you and I can use greatly to our\nadvantage. In the Bible, God has pointed out the dangers which lie like\nthe hidden rocks under the surface of the sea. In the commandments God\nmarks out the great dangers which beset you and me. There is the rock of\nIdolatry. Whole nations of the earth have been wrecked on this rock.\nThen there is another, Profanity, swearing: Oh! how many boys and men\nare ruined because they do not observe how God has marked this\ndangerous rock, against which no one can run without danger of losing\nhis immortal soul. Then there is Sabbath breaking, another rock; and\nthere is reverence due to parents; and God marks another, \"Thou shalt\nnot kill\"; and then there are others, against stealing, against bearing\nfalse witness, against covetousness. All these dangerous rocks God has\nmarked in the Bible, in order that you and I may not run against them,\nand thus be shipwrecked in our voyage to the haven of everlasting rest.\n\n[Illustration: Rocks and Mountains at the Bottom of the Sea.]\n\nGod also marks the influences which you and I must come in contact with.\nEvery boy who goes to school feels the influence of other boys, some of\nwhom are very bad. If he permits himself to be moved by these things he\nwill go wrong, just the same as the ship that is crossing the Gulf\nStream is carried out of its course. So the Bible warns us against bad\ncompany.\n\nNow the chart which the sea captain has, indicates also the ports of\nsafety. It shows the location of these different ports, and the\ndirection the captain must take in order to reach them. So the Bible\nshows us where you and I can find refuge in the day of storm, and in the\nday of trial, and in the day of sickness, and in the day of distress. To\nthe sea captain, out upon the great ocean, there are ten thousand\ndirections which are sure to end in shipwreck. There is only one safe\nway to go, in order to reach his desired port in safety.\n\nNow what would you think of a captain out upon the seas who folded up\nhis chart and laid it carefully away, and never looked at it, never\nstudied it, never sought to know what is on the chart? Do you not see\nhow he would go upon the rocks? His ship would go down to the bottom of\nthe sea, just as surely as if he had no chart on board his ship. It is\nimportant that he should have his chart in constant use. So it is\nimportant, not only that we should have the Bible, but that we should\nuse the Bible, that we should read it, that we should study it, that we\nshould know what it says. I trust that each and all of you not only have\na Bible, but that you study it daily, and that you seek to avoid the\ndangers which God has pointed out, and that you desire to know the will\nof God concerning you.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What should a traveler always have in\n a strange country? What must a sea captain always\n carry with him on his ship? What does the chart\n show? Are we travelers? To what country are we\n journeying? Has God given us a chart to show the\n dangers to which we are exposed in our voyage or\n journey? Should we read the Bible every day? What\n are two principal parts of the Bible? Do you know\n how many books there are in the Old Testament? Do\n you know how many books there are in the New\n Testament? Do you know who was the first man? Who\n was the first woman? Who was the first murderer?\n Who built the ark? Who had the coat of many\n colors? Who led the Children of Israel out of\n Egypt? Who was put in the lion's den?\n\n After the entire service has been completed and\n after the \"drive home from church\", chairs can be\n arranged with their backs toward each other, set a\n little way apart, with a shawl, blanket, or even a\n sheet, thrown over them so as to form a little\n tent. A number of tents can be made to illustrate\n the Children of Israel camping in the wilderness.\n They were travelers tenting by the way, who forgot\n about their chart and fell into sin, and God had\n to turn them back in the wilderness for forty\n years of wandering. All this suggests important\n lessons to the parents.\n\n A series of tents can be arranged like the one\n shown in the picture below (see also pages 209 and\n 271) and then, with one child in each tent the\n questions can be asked. When a child fails to give\n the correct answer, he moves down to the last tent\n in the row, the other children move up, and the\n question is passed to the child next in order, the\n same as in a \"spelling-bee\" and other progressive\n plays. Questions like those given on this page and\n on pages =25= and =26= can be used; also questions\n such as are found in the chapter on \"Suggestions\n to Parents,\" especially from paragraphs 50 onward.\n\n[Illustration: The Children of Israel Camping in the Wilderness.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANCHOR.\n\nHOPE THAT LAYS HOLD OF CHRIST.\n\n SUGGESTIONS:--Object: Anchor of any kind. One cut\n from paste-board would answer. During the week the\n little ones might be interested to cut out both\n anchor and the chain, using paste-board.\n\n Before reading the following sermon, \"drive to\n church\" and after the audience has been shown to\n seats, begin the service with singing, have the\n regular prayer and have one of the children preach\n over the sermon at the church in the morning or\n the object sermon of last Sunday.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I want to talk to you to-day about a very\nimportant subject. The Bible speaks of hope, and says, \"Which hope we\nhave as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which\nentereth into that within the veil.\" (Hebrews vi: 19.)\n\n[Illustration: The Anchor.]\n\nI suppose most of you have been on board a ship or large boat. Very near\nthe bow, or front end of the boat, you have doubtless noticed a chain,\nat the end of which was an anchor, made in the form of this one which I\nhold in my hand. Now, I would not care to go out to sea on any ship\nwhich did not have an anchor on board. In crossing the Atlantic you may\nsometimes be out for days and weeks, and sometimes even for months, and\nhave no need of using the anchor. But all the time, while the weather is\npleasant and everything is moving along prosperously, the fact that the\nanchor is on board the ship and that it can be used in time of danger,\ngives a sense of security to all the passengers. If it were not there\nyou would constantly fear, lest the storms or fog might come when your\nship was near land or dangerous rocks or shoals, and then your ship\nmight be lost with its many hundreds of lives on board, simply because\nit had no anchor.\n\nEvery man and woman, and every boy and girl, needs to have hope as an\nanchor to his soul. We should have faith in God, and then at times when\nall is well, when we are prosperous and blest, and everything goes along\nlike the ship in pleasant weather, we will constantly have peace and\nrest in our minds and hearts, because we know that our hope is staid on\nGod, and that though the world be removed, yet God will not disappoint\nus.\n\nSome people seem to think that religion is a good thing to have when\nthey get sick, or when adversity or sorrow or great affliction comes.\nBut the fact is that religion is a necessary thing at all times. We need\nit when we are well and strong, as well as when we are sick and weak. We\nneed religion in this world to live by, as well as to die by, as well as\nfor our salvation in the world to come.\n\nThe anchor is very serviceable indeed in time of storm. Often it has to\nbe used in order to secure the ship and save the lives of all who are on\nboard. If it were not for the anchor the ship might be thrust upon the\nrocks, or it might be dashed to pieces by the waves that break upon the\ncoast. The anchor is oftentimes very serviceable. So it is with the\nreligion of the Lord Jesus Christ. When trials and perplexities and\nadversities come, as they do in every life, then it is that this anchor\nis a source of very great blessing, because it saves from shipwreck,\noccasioned by unbelief and the perplexities into which those are cast\nwho have no hope, or trust in God.\n\n[Illustration: Anchor Laying Hold of the Rocks.]\n\nTo be serviceable the anchor must take hold of something. If it simply\ndrags along it will not hold the ship; but the ship may go to pieces on\nthe rocks, even though it has an anchor, which has already been cast\nover. Now in time of sorrow and perplexity or distress every one throws\nout an anchor. That is, he tries to take hold of something which will\nsustain him and keep him, just the same as a boy who falls into the\nwater would grab after a board. They say that a drowning man will even\ngrasp after a straw in order to help to support his body, so that he may\nsave his life. So every one in perplexity reaches out to lay hold of\nsomething. But the text which I quoted in the beginning says that this\nhope which we have as an anchor to the soul lays hold of something, and\nthat something is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is like the ship whose\nanchor goes down, far below the waves, deep down out of sight, and lays\nhold of the rocks which form the foundation of the earth. So the faith\nof the Christian is staid, not on things which are seen, but on the\nthings which are not seen. As the text expresses it, it lays hold of\nthose things \"which entereth into that which is within the veil.\" That\nis, this figure refers to the Temple at Jerusalem, where the Holy of\nHolies was concealed from the rest of the Temple by a large curtain or\nveil, and no one was permitted to go into this Holy of Holies except the\nHigh Priest, and he but once a year. But when you and I have the faith\nof the Christian, although we may not be able to enter into the great\nmystery of God's grace and mercy, yet our faith lays hold of that which\nis beyond our understanding, and beyond our possibility to see or fully\nto comprehend, and thus our faith lays hold of that which is \"within the\nveil.\" With our understanding, you and I cannot enter into the mysteries\nof God, but by faith we can enter into them. I trust that every boy and\ngirl here will have that faith in God, which will be as an anchor to his\nsoul, sure and steadfast, entering within the veil at all times.\n\nI will tell you how this anchor of faith and hope can be of service to\nyou. There are times when you see other boys and girls who have many\nmore comforts and luxuries and possessions than you have. You may even\nbe discouraged sometimes because you think your lot in life is more than\nusually hard and difficult.\n\nWhen I myself was a boy, my father died, and only three years later my\nmother died. I was left an orphan and without a home. I had to become an\nerrand boy in a store, and for a number of years I had a hard struggle.\nI was a Christian boy, and I had this anchor of faith and hope. I\ntrusted in God that He would make all of these things to work out\neventually for my good. I could not at that time understand how. It was\nbeyond my understanding, but later on in life I found how all the trials\nand struggles of my earlier years had worked together for my good. I\nunderstood that passage of Scripture which says: \"All things work\ntogether for good to them that love God.\" (Romans viii: 28.)\n\nSo, when you see others who have it easier and who have more comforts\nand luxuries than you have, if you have this hope which the text speaks\nof as \"laying hold within the veil\" be sure that in God's own good time,\nin His infinite wisdom and love, He will work out for you also the\nblessing and the good which you can only hope for, but which at the\npresent time you can neither see nor understand.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What does every ship carry? Would a\n ship be safe without an anchor? When the anchor is\n let down into the deep water, must it take hold of\n something? When is the anchor used? If a ship did\n not have an anchor in time of storm along the\n rocky coast, would it be safe? Do men and women,\n boys and girls, also need an anchor? Can we have\n peace and happiness without hope? Is religion\n necessary only when we are in trouble? On what\n does hope lay hold? Can we see the things on which\n the Christian's faith lays hold? Can we always\n understand God's providences? Did the writer of\n this book have trials when he was a boy? Could he\n understand them then? Did he understand them later\n on in life? Do all boys and girls have trials? If\n received in the proper spirit, will they always\n work out for their good?\n\n\n\n\nHUSKS.\n\nTHE DISAPPOINTED PLEASURE-SEEKER.\n\n SUGGESTION:--If the children can obtain some of\n the pods which are called \"husks\" in the\n Scripture, which can be had in some towns and\n cities, and which the children usually call\n \"Johnny-bread\" they will be able to taste the\n husks which the prodigal fed to the swine and\n which he himself desired to eat. If these cannot\n be had, the pods from the sweet locust tree will\n be serviceable.\n\n\nI HOLD in my hand what I suppose most of you have seen, and perhaps many\nof you have eaten. It is what boys oftentimes call \"Johnny bread.\" It\nlooks very much like the long pods which grow on the honey locust trees.\nIt is sometimes called \"Johnny bread,\" because some people mistakenly\nthink that this was the kind of locust that John the Baptist ate when he\ncame in the Wilderness, preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand\nand that men should repent. We are told in the Scriptures that he ate\nlocusts and wild honey. The locusts which he ate were very much like our\ngrasshoppers, such as are still eaten by very poor people in the East.\n\n[Illustration: Husks.]\n\nIn the 15th chapter of the gospel by St. Luke, we have a very beautiful\nparable, called the parable of the prodigal son. In connection with the\nhusk which I hold in my hand, I want to tell you something about this\nprodigal son.\n\nIn this parable Jesus tells of a very kind father who had two sons, but\nthe younger son was dissatisfied and discontented. He was a boy very\nmuch like many who live in this country and at this time. He was a boy\nwho wanted to have his own way. He thought that his father was an \"old\nfogy.\" The son wanted gay company and gay clothing. He wanted to travel\nand see something of the world; so he asked his father to give him the\nmoney which would come to him at his father's death, in order that he\nmight go immediately and have his own way, and have a good time, as he\nsupposed.\n\nHis father was very sad, for he had tried to bring up his boy in the\nright way. But when he could not prevail upon him, and his son would not\nlisten to him any longer, but insisted upon having the money, and going\naway from home, the father granted his request.\n\nWhen the money had been counted out, the son gathered it all up, bade\nhis father and brother and all his friends good-bye, telling them what a\nhappy time he was going to have, and started out for a far country.\n\nThis same desire to see something of the world has induced many boys to\nrun away from home. Many years ago, when there were numerous ships that\nwent out on long voyages to catch whales, oftentimes boys who had run\naway from home went away to sea with these ships. Now, however, restless\nand discontented boys, who have read worthless and deceptive books,\nsometimes go to live a wild life on the plains in the West. Sometimes\nboys even become tramps. Scores and sometimes hundreds of them can be\nmet any week by going to the Breakfast Association, in Philadelphia; or\nsome of the Rescue Homes, in New York, where poor, wandering boys and\ntramps are given a free meal on Sunday morning or Sunday evening.\nProdigals now, as in the time when Christ lived, have a very hard time\nof it. They start out with high hopes, sometimes with money in their\npockets, with fine clothing and bright anticipations, expecting to have\na good time in the far country which they are seeking. But their\nexperience is always the same.\n\nWhen this prodigal came to the far country, for a few weeks, or possibly\na few months, he had plenty of money. He thought his money would always\nlast. Bad men and women gathered around him, for they all wanted to\nenjoy what his money would secure for them. But it didn't take long; his\nmoney was soon spent, and when his money was gone his pretended friends\nwere gone also. He soon found himself penniless, friendless and\nhungered. He had to go out and seek for work. Perhaps he had been too\nmuch indulged at home. He had never learned a trade, and possibly had\nnever learned to do work of any kind, and so there was nothing for him\nto do but to accept the humblest and meanest kind of labor. He was a\nJew, and for a Jew to tend swine or hogs was one of the meanest things\nin all the world. And yet he was willing because of his poverty and his\nwant, to do even this most degrading service. This boy who wanted to be\nhis own master, now became the most menial of slaves, even to the\ntending of swine. He wanted gay company, but he had only pigs for his\ncompanions. He wanted wine and feasting, but now no one even offered him\nhusks to eat. He left his home to seek happiness, but he found only\nmisery.\n\n[Illustration: The Disappointed, Hungry Prodigal Tending Swine.]\n\nThese husks which I showed you, which some boys call \"Johnny bread,\" are\nexactly what this wayward, disappointed, disheartened, hungry boy was\ngiven to feed to the swine which he was hired to tend. He was so\nhungry that he would have been glad to eat these husks with the pigs,\nbut no one gave him any to eat.\n\nWhen this wayward boy was thus brought down to poverty and hunger in\nthat far-off country, while he was tending the swine, he began to think.\nIf he had only stopped to think before he left his home, he would never\nhave started away. He would surely have known that he was better off at\nhome than anywhere else. But now that misery and want had come to him,\nwe are told that \"he came to himself.\" That is, he came to his senses.\nIt was sentiment which led him from his home. It was sense that brought\nhim back. The trouble with boys and girls, and with older people too, is\nthat they do not stop to think. They follow their fancies and\nsentiments, and they are led astray in this way.\n\nGod wants us to stop and think, and He says, \"Come, let us reason\ntogether.\" God does not ask any unreasonable thing of us. He simply\nwants to treat us as thoughtful beings, but we want to follow our own\ninclination and our own desire. God treats us very kindly. He gives us\nevery needed comfort and every daily blessing, and yet oftentimes people\nare discontented and dissatisfied with God; they complain and think they\nhave a hard time of it. Instead of being faithful and true to God, they\nturn away from him. They desire to forsake God and serve Satan. They\ndesire to accept what Satan says, and so turn away from God and all that\nis good. But they have the same experience over and over again that this\nyoung man had. He went out with fine clothes and plenty of money, and\nwith high hopes; but he returned home in rags, without a penny in his\npocket, disappointed, penitent and ashamed.\n\n[Illustration: The Returning Prodigal]\n\nBut I must not forget to tell you, that when he had journeyed many a\nweek, toiling wearily over the long road that had separated him from his\nfather's house, at last he came near his old home. In going away he had\nnearly broken his father's heart. With sorrow he was bringing his\naged father down to the grave. But his father still loved his wayward\nboy, and expected him home. As he sat watching at the door looking over\nthe hills, he saw the returning prodigal when he was yet a great way\noff. This loving and forgiving father had compassion upon his son, ran\nand fell upon his neck and kissed him, and welcomed him back home again.\nThe wayward boy's heart was all broken up by such kind treatment. He\nfell upon his knees at his father's feet and said to his father,\n\"Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more\nworthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.\"\n\nBut the father called his servants and commanded them to bring the best\nrobe and put it upon this boy who had given him so much sorrow; to bring\nthe ring and put it upon his finger; and then to kill the fatted calf,\nso that they might make a great feast, in order that all might be made\nvery glad, because this his son, who was dead, was alive again, he who\nhad been lost was found.\n\nSo when we come back to God after we have sinned against Him, and are\nrepentant and sorry for what we have done, in love and great tenderness\nHe forgives our sins. And like the prodigal, in the time of his sorest\nmisery, found in his father's heart the greatest mercy, so you and I may\ncome to God knowing that in the day of our dire distress He is always\nwilling to love us and to forgive us as His own dear children. Let us be\ncareful not to sin against Him, and then we shall not have the\nhumiliation and the sorrow of coming back, like this poor prodigal, when\nhe returned in rags and poverty to his father's house. Never make the\nmistake of going away from your God and then you will not have the\nremorse which will bring you back in sorrow and shame.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Who first told the parable of the\n prodigal son? Why did the prodigal leave his home?\n What did he do with his money? Did his pretended\n friends stay by him after his money was gone? In\n his poverty what did he do? Did he have enough to\n eat? When he was in want and came to himself, of\n whom did he think? What did he resolve to do? What\n do boys who run away from home generally become?\n Are tramps happy? Was the father sad all the time\n the boy was away? How did he receive the returning\n prodigal? Does God love us even though we do\n wrong? Will God forgive us and accept us? Is God\n glad when we repent?\n\n After \"driving home from church\" a series of\n tableaux could be arranged: (1) Showing the father\n counting out the money to the boy. (2) The boy\n bidding good-bye to his father and friends. (3)\n Surrounded by flatterers for whom he is spending\n his money. (4) In poverty tending swine. (5) In\n rags returning home. (6) Being welcomed by his\n father.\n\n Or the children may arrange a tent in which the\n prodigal is presumed to live on the plains while\n tending the swine, which may be represented by a\n series of books, toys or any objects; for the\n imagination of the children will convert any\n object into any other object, person or thing.\n\n[Illustration: The Prodigal's Tent.]\n\n\n\n\nIRON--LOW GRADE AND HIGH GRADE.\n\nCHARACTER AND WORTH.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects used: A piece of old iron,\n some nails, broken clock and watch springs, and\n also a piece of native iron ore, if convenient.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I want to show you to-day that there is a great\ndifference in the value of things, even though they are made of the same\nmaterial. In the second chapter of Genesis we are told, \"And the Lord\nGod formed man of the dust of the ground.\" So, you see that all men and\nwomen are made of the same material, yet men differ greatly, both in\ncharacter and works.\n\n[Illustration: Iron Products.]\n\nI have here some iron ore, some old iron, some nails; here are some\nclock springs, and here are some springs of watches. This iron ore is as\nit is dug from the earth. It is called the native iron, but mixed with\nit there is much earth and stone and dross, which must be separated from\nit in order to make it pure. This is done by casting the ore, together\nwith limestone and other materials, into a huge furnace, where the fire\nis so intensely hot that all are melted and thus the iron is separated\nfrom the dross, or stone and earth, which is now mixed with the ore.\nWhen the iron is thus separated and molded into large bars, it is worth\nfrom a fraction of a cent to two cents per pound, according to quality\nand market price. After it has been cast into great iron bars, and is\nknown as pig iron, it is afterward bought and melted over again and\nmolded into the form of stoves and wheels, such as are used in\nfactories, and a variety of other forms for manufacturing and other\nuses.\n\n[Illustration: Nail, Pen and Clock Spring.]\n\nNow, here I have some pieces of iron, such as boys call \"old iron.\" They\noften find pieces of this kind of iron, which have been thrown away, and\ngather and sell them at a price varying from one-quarter to a cent or\nmore a pound, according to circumstances. Then it is melted over again\nand made into stoves, or whatever the manufacturer may desire. Now, here\nare some nails, such as sell at five cents a pound, and here are some\nsteel pens, which are worth from one to four and five dollars a pound.\nHere are some springs, such as are used in the construction of clocks.\nThese are the springs which make clocks go. When you wind up the clock\nyou simply tighten this spring, thus storing the power which is\nnecessary to keep the clock in motion for twenty-four hours, for eight\ndays, or even a longer period.\n\nNow here are some springs, such as are used in watches. These springs\nare worth, according to their size and quality, from twenty to fifty or\nsixty dollars a pound. Here also are some little screws, such as are\nused in the construction of watches, and which are worth even a hundred\ndollars a pound.\n\nWhile these different articles are all made of the same material, you\nsee there is a great difference in their value. One is not worth a\nsingle cent a pound, and another may be worth one hundred dollars a\npound. Now this difference in value is due to two things. One is,\ndifference in quality, and the other is the use which is made of the\narticle into which the iron is manufactured.\n\n[Illustration: Watch Spring and Screws.]\n\nI suppose, if these different pieces of metal could think, and had the\npower of speech, this piece of old iron would complain to the other\npieces which are of more value, and say to the watch spring, \"I am just\nas good as you are, we were both dug from the same ore bank. I remember\nthe time when we were both cast into the hot fire and melted in the\nfurnace; after that I was taken to the foundry, and made into a stove,\nand after a few years of use I was rejected and cast into the alley. I\nhave had to lie about in the mud and in the cold and snow, and men have\npassed me by and scorned me as though I were of no value. But I want you\nto understand, Mr. Clockspring and Mr. Watchspring, that I am just as\ngood as you are, and there is no reason why I should be cast out into\nthe mud and cold, while you are placed in a gold case and carried in a\ngentleman's pocket.\"\n\nThe nail also would cry out, and say that he was just as good as the\nlittle screws which are used in the watch, and would complain against\nbeing driven violently into a board, where it is compelled, year after\nyear, to hold a board on to the side of a building; to have putty placed\nover its head, and then paint over the top of that, so that nobody could\neven so much as see where it was, or know what it was doing.\n\nNow, the old iron, and the nail, and the others have no right to\ncomplain. There is a vast difference of quality, and there is also a\ndifference of work.\n\nThe higher grades and better qualities of metals are secured by refining\nprocesses. Again and again the metal is cast in the fire and melted.\nSometimes it is beaten on the anvil into such shapes and forms as will\nrender the metal of greater service, and consequently of more value.\n\nSuppose this metal had feeling, and the power to express its wish. Do\nyou not see how it would cry out against being cast into the fire, and\nbeing beaten with great hammers upon the anvil? I am sure the fire, the\nhammers, and the anvil bring no sense of pleasure to the metal while\nbeing refined and being beaten into such forms as render it of greatest\nvalue.\n\nJust so, in some senses at least, are all boys and girls alike. If they\nwere all permitted to grow up in neglect, without being governed by\nthoughtful parents, without being educated and refined, without being\nsent to school and required to attend church, without being taught at\nhome and being instructed in the Catechism and in the Bible, and without\nbeing shown their duty to God and their fellow men, they would all be\npretty much alike. It is the difference in the influences that are made\nto refine some boys that causes them to differ so much from others who\nare about them. The boy who has only been taught to pick stones, or\nsweep the streets, or dig ditches, may cry out against the boy who is\ngentlemanly, and obliging, and obedient, and truthful, and reliable, and\nwho has a position of great responsibility in a bank, or in the office\nof some man who occupies a very responsible position; yet oftentimes,\nand quite universally, there is a very great difference in the merit and\nvalue of these two boys. One has been disciplined and governed and\ncontrolled, educated and taught, while the other has likely been\nneglected, and consequently has not learned the importance of these\nthings.\n\nGod designs to refine all of us, and therefore He desires that all\nshould be taught to study, should learn to read and write, should learn\nall they can from the schools, should be taught to work, should be\ntaught to expect trials and self-denials, and should be led to expect\nsickness and disappointments, and all these things by which God designs\nto make us better from year to year. But, just the same as the iron\nwould cry out against being cast into the fire and being beaten upon the\nanvil, so do boys and girls, and men and women also, cry out against the\nprovidences by which God is refining them and making them better for\nthis world and fitting them for the world to come.\n\nIf we desire to be of largest service in this world, and to occupy a\nplace of honor in the world to come, we must expect that God will deal\nwith us, as He has told us in the ninth verse of the thirteenth chapter\nof Zechariah, in which He says, \"I will refine them as silver is\nrefined, and will try them as gold is tried.\" And in the book of Malachi\nHe says that He, that is God, is \"like a refiner's fire, and like\nfullers' soap, and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and\npurge them as gold and silver.\"\n\nWhen the gold and the silver is cast into the crucible to be purified,\nthe fire is made very hot, and the metal is left in the crucible until\nthe man who is refining it and who sits looking into the crucible can\nsee his own image reflected in the metal. So we are cast into the fires\nof affliction, and God looks down upon us; but when we become like Him,\nso that God sees His own self reflected in our character, and in our\ndisposition, and in our temper, then we shall have been refined as God\ndesires, and He will then be ready to receive us into His own home on\nhigh.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Can you name different things made\n from iron? Is a horse shoe as valuable as a watch\n spring? What makes the difference in their value?\n How are iron and steel refined, or made more\n valuable? Are unrefined and untaught boys and\n girls all quite alike? What makes them become\n different? Do some boys and girls become more\n useful and valuable in the world than others? What\n causes the difference? Would the iron cry out\n against being refined? Do boys and girls object to\n being taught and disciplined? How does the Bible\n say that God refines us? Can the refiner see his\n image in the melted metal? Does God want to see\n His own image reflected in us?\n\n[Illustration: \"Joseph in the Pit.\"]\n\n\n\n\nA POCKET RULE.\n\nHOW GOD MEASURES MEN.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: A yard-stick, pocket-rule,\n tape-measure and any measure or scales convenient.\n\n Use the measures and scales for measuring the\n height and weight of the different children, and\n explain to them that if they continue to grow,\n they will eventually become full grown men and\n women. So God measures them to-day in moral\n things, and if they will learn what God requires\n and be obedient to their parents, they will\n increase in moral stature as well.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I am sure you will be able to tell me what these\nare which I hold in my hand. This you would call a yard-stick; the\nother, because it folds, you would call a pocket-rule, and here is\nanother, which you would call a tape-measure.\n\n[Illustration: Yard-Stick, Pocket-Rule and Tape-Measure.]\n\nNow, if I were going to measure any of you, to tell how tall you are, I\nwould use one or the other of these rules; as each is divided into even\ninches, I could use any of these three I should prefer. I would say one\nboy is four feet two inches, another four feet nine inches and another\nfive feet four inches, and so on according to the height of each person.\nWe speak of this kind of measure as feet and inches. When it is used in\nmeasuring cloth, or other goods in a store, we speak of it as yards and\nparts of a yard. Then there are also other forms of measures, dry\nmeasure--quarts, pecks, bushels; and liquid measure--quarts, gallons and\nbarrels. There is also a standard of weight--ounces, pounds and tons.\n\n[Illustration: Farmer's Measures.]\n\nIt is necessary to have standards of weights and measures. This is\nabsolutely necessary, or we could not tell in purchasing cloth or\nlumber, in buying sugar or molasses, or other things, whether we are\ngetting the right quantity, or whether we are not getting the right\nquantity. So, everywhere you go in the United States we have the same\nsize or standard of weights and measures, and the Government appoints\nmen in each city to go about and examine whether the scales which the\nstorekeeper uses for weighing sugar, and the measures which he uses when\nhe sells vinegar and molasses--whether these are perfectly accurate, as\nthe law requires.\n\n[Illustration: Scales and Measure.]\n\nBut, if you look on the other side of this tape-measure, there is a\ndifferent standard of measure. This, on the reverse side, is the metric\nsystem, used in France and many other countries. If you were to go into\na store in France and wanted to purchase cloth, you would not ask for a\nyard, you would ask for a metre of cloth, which instead of thirty-six\ninches, which makes our yard, would be a little over thirty-nine inches;\nso the standard of measures and values varies in different countries.\nThere is a slight difference in the length of the English yard and the\nAmerican yard. In this country we also speak of dollars and cents. In\nEngland they have the penny, shilling, pound or sovereign. And so in\ndifferent countries there are different pieces of money, having a great\nvariety of values.\n\nI have spoken of these things simply to call your attention to the fact\nthat God has a standard of measure, and a standard of value, as well as\nmen. When the Government enlists soldiers into the army every man is\nmeasured, and he must be of a given height; if he is not as tall as the\nrequirement, then he is rejected. When Napoleon chose his body-guard the\nmen all had to be exceedingly tall.\n\nGod also has His standard of measure. He does not measure us according\nto the height of our body, but according to our moral character. He\nmeasures us to see whether we are good or bad. God's standard of the\nmeasure of our moral character is found in the Bible. You will find it,\nboth in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament\nwe have the Ten Commandments, in which we are required to worship God,\nand to worship nothing else; to keep the Sabbath day holy; to honor our\nparents; and various other requirements. In the New Testament we have a\ngreat many principles for moral government which Jesus announced when He\nwas upon the earth.\n\nWe have all broken some one or more of the Ten Commandments and the\nprecepts which Jesus left for us to follow. If you desire to see how\nyou should live, if you would keep the law perfectly, you will have to\nlook at the life of Jesus Christ. He was the only perfect man who ever\nlived. He came to this world to set a perfect example for men to\nimitate. Just the same as you copy after the lines correctly written at\nthe top of your writing book, so you and I are to copy after the life\nand character of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe moral law is a perfect law; the Psalmist says, \"the law of the Lord\nis perfect, converting the soul.\" I showed you how in France they have a\ndifferent standard of measure from that which we have in the United\nStates, but with the moral law the standard is the same everywhere and\nat all times. It is wrong to lie or steal in America, and it is equally\nwrong to lie or steal in France, or in Africa, or in India, or on the\nislands of the sea, or anywhere in all of the universe. If it is wicked\nnow to swear, or to commit murder it always was wicked. It was just as\nwicked three thousand years ago as it is to-day, and it never will be\nright to take the name of God in vain, or to destroy human life. God has\nbut one standard of morality for all people and for all time.\n\nWhat God requires of the young in order that they may be pure and holy,\nHe requires also of grown-up people. If it is wrong for the preacher and\nthe Sunday-school superintendent to go to the theatre, or to do anything\nelse, it is equally wrong for every member of the church and for every\nmember of the Sunday-school. Before God we must all be measured by the\nsame standard of morality.\n\nIf I had one year ago measured the height of each of you and written it\ndown, and then measured you again to-day, I would find that during these\ntwelve months each of you had grown. You are taller to-day than you were\na year ago. Now, God has given us a standard of moral character, right\nand wrong, and I want you all to study it very carefully, so that you\nmay see how tall you are, how far you come short of the character of\nJesus Christ. And as you grow taller in body, so you should grow in\nmoral character, and if you will study God's word carefully, you will be\nable to discover what progress you are making in becoming more like\nChrist, in becoming better boys and better girls, and afterward better\nmen and better women, from year to year, than you were each preceding\nyear.\n\nMay God bless you abundantly, and may you grow daily \"unto a perfect\nman, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.\" (Eph.\niv: 13.)\n\n QUESTIONS.--How many kinds of measures can you\n name? Are the standards of weights and measures\n the same in all countries? How many standards of\n measure does God have? Where can God's standard of\n measure be found? Are God's standards the same for\n all persons in all countries, in all parts of the\n world? Is there any place in the world where it\n would be right to lie or steal, or murder? Who was\n the only perfect man? Does God's standard ever\n change? Should we constantly strive to become like\n Christ? How can we tell what progress we are\n making in becoming more like Christ?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGNET.\n\nJESUS THE GREAT DRAWING POWER.\n\n SUGGESTION:--A small magnet can be purchased in\n almost any hardware store at trifling cost. With\n this, also have some little tacks, nails both\n small and large, together with some old rusted and\n crooked nails, and a pocket knife.\n\n Do not omit \"driving to church\" and the other play\n features suggested in previous sermons.\n\n\nI AM sure that there is not a boy or girl here, who has not at some time\nfelt a desire to be good and do right. When you have felt this way, it\nhas been due to the fact that the Holy Spirit has come to you and has\nput these good thoughts and good desires into your heart.\n\nThere is not a person living who has not at some time felt this same\ndrawing and desire to do right and to be good. The results, however,\nhave been very different with different people.\n\nI shall seek to illustrate this drawing power to you to-day, and to do\nso have brought this magnet. I have also brought these tacks and nails\nof different sizes; and here are also some old, rusted, crooked nails.\nLet these several kinds represent the different kinds of people.\n\n[Illustration: Magnet and Tacks.]\n\nWhen I take this magnet, and move it around among these small tacks, and\nthen hold it up, you will see that very many of these tacks cling to the\nmagnet. They hold on by some unseen power. Sometimes the tacks are even\nnot able to touch the magnet, but are drawn through the influence which\nextends through other tacks, and so large clusters hang on to the\nmagnet. If I shake the magnet you will see that some fall off. These\nsmall tacks represent the youngest children. In the early years of our\nlives we are more easily drawn to the Lord Jesus. It is then more easy\nfor us to come to Christ and give ourselves fully to Him. It is much\neasier to be Christians when we are young. Yet many put it off till they\nare older, when it is much more difficult and they are less likely to be\nsuccessful in living a Christian life.\n\n[Illustration: Magnet and Small Nails.]\n\nNow, if I remove these small tacks, and place the magnet among these\nsmall nails, you will see that several of the small nails cling to the\nmagnet, and I can lift them up. There are not as many, however, as there\nwere of the tacks clinging to it. In like manner, as boys and girls grow\nolder, they find it more difficult to come to Christ.\n\n[Illustration: Magnet and Larger Nails.]\n\nHere are some larger nails. When I place the magnet among them, but very\nfew are attracted to it. And when I attempt to lift the magnet, most all\nof these large nails tall off. Only one, sometimes two, hold on\nsuccessfully.\n\nHere are some nails that are still larger. Now, when I attempt to lift\none of them with this magnet, you see that I can only lift one end of\nthe nail. That is due to the fact that while the magnet draws these\nnails, the earth also draws them. That is the reason why these smaller\nnails, when they fall from the magnet, fall to the earth; because the\nearth draws them. The earth draws with so much greater force and power\nupon these large nails than the magnet draws that I cannot raise them by\nthe magnet. It is on this account that they continue to hold fast to the\nearth rather than to the magnet.\n\n[Illustration: Magnet and Large Nails.]\n\nThis represents the people who have grown old; who have large cares and\nresponsibilities; who have become worldly-minded; who are drawn away by\nthe \"deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things,\" and who,\nalthough they feel a desire to do right, yet have a stronger desire to\ndo that which is not well-pleasing in the sight of God.\n\nNow, here are some old crooked, rusty nails. Let us see what effect the\npresence of the magnet will have upon them. Just as we might have\nexpected. These rusty nails do not seem to feel the power or the\ninfluence of the magnet's presence. If I place the magnet up against the\nnail, and attempt to lift it, it does not seem to be drawn at all. It\nsimply lies still, unmoved. These old, crooked, rusty nails represent\npeople who have grown very old and very wicked, and who have become\ngreatly hardened in sin. Jesus Christ and His love seem to make no\nimpression any longer upon them. They are joined to their idols. God's\nSpirit has taken His departure, and they are left alone. Let me warn\nyou, both young and old, that if you feel the drawing of God's Spirit,\nyou should yield to Him, so as not to become more corroded and rusted,\nand coated over by every sinful influence, so that at last the love of\nGod shall fail to have any effect upon you.\n\nIf now we take these different classes of nails and mix them together,\nand then stir the magnet among them, you will see how the smaller nails,\nin larger numbers, cling to the magnet. These bright nails are also\naffected by it. Oftentimes the influence of the magnet is seen, as it is\ncommunicated from one nail to the other; but these rusty nails, not only\ndo not themselves yield to the influence of the magnet, but they also\nfail to communicate that magnetic influence to any of the other nails\naround them. In like manner, wicked people seem to come between Christ\nand others who would be drawn to Him. Let me say to you, keep out of bad\ncompany. Avoid wicked companions--those who swear, or lie, or do\nanything that is wrong, for their influence over you will be bad, and\nthey will prevent the good influences of holy things from acting upon\nyou.\n\nSuppose now that I take my knife blade and move it among these nails,\nyou will see that it does not attract them like the magnet did. It has\nno magnetic power. If I draw the knife blade across the magnet a few\ntimes, it receives this magnetic power from the magnet. Now, when I move\nit among the nails you will see how these little tacks and some of the\nlarger nails are drawn toward it.\n\nJust so it is with each of us as individuals. Without coming in contact\nwith Christ and receiving His Spirit, His drawing power, we will never\ninfluence others to do that which is right and good and holy. If we\ndesire to have an influence for good in this world we must, first of\nall, come to Christ ourselves, and receive this drawing power from Him.\nYou have doubtless seen those who have become Christians, and after they\nhave given their hearts to Christ they have immediately begun to draw\nothers. They go out and invite others to come to church, they invite\nothers to go with them to the prayer-meeting, to come with them to the\nSunday-school, and so in every way they seek to influence others that\nthey may draw them to Christ.\n\nWhen Jesus was upon the earth vast multitudes attended Him. Where He\nwent they followed. But now when Jesus is no longer bodily present upon\nthe earth, when we cannot see Him with our natural eyes, we speak of\nwalking by faith, and you may be curious to know what is meant by\nwalking by faith. I think that I can illustrate it in this way: Here is\na sheet of writing paper. Now above the writing paper I will place this\nmagnet, and then below it I will place this small bit of iron. The\nattracting power of the magnet holds the iron up against the paper. Now,\nwhen I move this magnet on the upper side of the sheet from place to\nplace, you will observe that this little piece of iron on the lower side\nof the sheet goes in the same direction. It follows the magnet very\nclosely. The paper is between them. Now, if this paper were enlarged so\nas to be as long and as broad as the ceiling of this room, of course you\nwould not be able to see the magnet. It would be hidden from your view.\nBut as you would move the magnet from place to place, the little iron\nbelow would continue to follow it.\n\nSo Jesus Christ is no longer visible; we cannot see Him with our natural\neyes, but He draws the Christian who is in this world, and so the\nChristian follows Him. He walks in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus. And\nit is on that account that we say that the Christian walks by faith, and\nnot by sight.\n\nJust before Jesus was crucified He said: \"And I, if I be lifted up from\nthe earth, will draw all men unto Me.\" (John xii: 32.) So He draws you\nand He draws me. And so also by His love He would draw every person in\nall the world to Him. Let us not resist the drawings of the Holy\nSpirit, but come to the Lord Jesus Christ and love Him with our whole\nheart.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What can the magnet do? Can the power\n of the magnet be seen? Can the magnet lift as many\n nails as tacks? Are old rusty nails drawn by the\n magnet? Who are like the little tacks? Who are\n like the small nails? Who are like the rusty\n nails? Does everybody desire at times to be good?\n What draws them in the right direction? Can we see\n the power that causes us to desire to be good?\n What is the name of the power or force that causes\n the nails to fall from the magnet? What power\n draws people from doing right? Should we always\n yield to the power that draws us in the right\n direction? Does Christ have to be seen in order to\n accept His influence?\n\n[Illustration: Daniel in the Lion's Den.]\n\n\n\n\nKEYS.\n\nHOW TO UNLOCK THE HUMAN HEART.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects used: Locks and keys of any\n form or size. If possible open the lock and show\n how the key fits into the different wards of the\n lock. Explain how other keys would not fit.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I have here to-day quite a variety of locks.\nHere are also quite a variety of keys. You will notice that there are\nseveral more keys than there are locks. Now, I suppose that we would\nhave no very great difficulty in selecting the keys that would be most\nlikely to turn backward and forward the bolts in these different locks.\nWe would naturally expect that these larger keys would fit these larger\nlocks and the smaller keys would be adapted to lock and unlock the\nsmaller ones.\n\n[Illustration: Lock and Key.]\n\nHere is this large lock; I suppose it is very possible this large key\nmay be suited to lock and unlock it. Yes, it just fits. You see how it\nturns the bolt in and out as I turn the key.\n\nNow, here is another lock; let us see if we can find a key that will fit\nit. This key seems about the size, but after passing it into the lock\nit seems to strike something that prevents it from turning, and\nconsequently is of no service. Let us try another. That seems to work\nmuch better, and turns the bolt backward and forward.\n\n[Illustration: Lock and Key.]\n\nHere is still another lock; let us try this key with this lock. That\nseems to work very well. Possibly we might be able to lock and unlock\nthis other also. Let us try it. Yes, this key fits both these locks.\nThis key is what the locksmith calls a skeleton key. It is so made that\nit avoids the obstacles which are placed in the different locks to\nprevent them from being opened by all varieties of keys. Here is a still\nsmaller lock. This lock has a very peculiar keyhole, and I know at once\nthat there is no need of trying to unlock it with most of the keys which\nI have spread out here. I recognize it at once as what is called a \"Yale\nlock.\" The key is thin, is bent in various ways, and along the edge has\nseveral notches. Let us try a couple of these keys. This one seems to\nfit very well to the grooves. It passes into the lock, but I cannot turn\nthe bolt. Let us try another. Yes, this seems to be the one that was\nmade by the locksmith to fasten and unfasten this lock.\n\n[Illustration: Yale Lock and Key.]\n\nA key then is simply something which unlocks the door or the gate, so\nyou may open it and pass inside. Now, there are a great many kinds of\nkeys. Sometimes a book is called a key to business. Perhaps another book\nis called a key to the study of medicine; another the key to the study\nof law. And so there may be a great many kinds of books which are called\nkeys. When properly used or studied they open the way for a clear\nunderstanding of how to transact business, how to study medicine and how\nto study law. And so there are various books that are keys to the\nunderstanding of very, very many subjects. When you indicate to me the\nkind of difficulty that you have to overcome, it would be reasonably\neasy to indicate the kind of book you need in order successfully to meet\nthat difficulty.\n\nWhen I find a book that teaches a boy good business habits and helps him\nto become a good business man, I know that book was written with that\nobject in view. When I find a book that teaches one how to understand\nthe human system, the nature of disease and the character of the\nremedies which are to be used when people are sick, I know that book was\nwritten with a view to help people to understand the nature of disease\nand the character of medicine. Just so it is with every other book. Each\nis like the lock and the key, for the locks have inside a peculiar sort\nof winding way, and when I find a key that exactly fits into this\nwinding passage I know immediately that the locksmith designed that the\nkey should fit into that particular lock and turn back the bolt.\n\nNow, God wants to get into the human heart, and I find that God has a\nkey with which to unlock it. I do not think you would be long in\nguessing what book God has made the key with which to unlock the human\nheart. I think that every boy and girl would at once say that it is the\nBible. Yes; it is the Bible. It fits exactly into all the wards and\nchambers, and winding passages which characterize each and every need of\nthe human heart. The moment I bring this wonderful key of divine truth\nto the human heart, I find that the lock and the key were both made by\nthe same infinite Creator. Some locks are very complicated and\nintricate, and the keys are also very peculiar. They are made especially\nfor that particular lock, and no other key in all the world will unlock\nit. The moment I get that particular key and turn it around in the lock\nI know at once that both the lock and the key were made by the same\nperson, and that the lock was made to be opened by no other key. So God\nhas created the human heart and made it very difficult to be opened, and\nthere is no key in all the world that can open it except the Bible.\n\nAs a robber or a burglar may try to get into a house by the use of a\nskeleton key, or by \"picking the lock,\" so men have often tried to gain\nadmission into the human heart by the use of various substitutes for the\ngenuine and the real key. They have tried amusement, and wealth, and\nsinful pleasure, and very, very many things; but they never succeed in\ngetting into the inner sacredness of the human heart. Unless the heart\nis opened by God's Word, and the Holy Spirit is admitted so that God can\ntake possession, there is always a sense of loneliness, a sense of\ndissatisfaction, a desire for something that the person does not\npossess; he is at unrest, he is restless and dissatisfied, like a boy or\ngirl who is away from home, and has a homesick longing to return to that\nhome.\n\nYou never will be able to understand the hidden mystery of your own\nspiritual life and spiritual being until you use the Word of God to help\nyou to solve the mystery. The Word of God is not only designed to unlock\nthe human heart, so that God and the Holy Spirit may gain admission, but\nthis key is also designed to lock the door against Satan and sin and\nkeep them out of our hearts. Unless we daily use our Bibles to lock our\nhearts against evil thoughts, and wicked purposes, and sinful desires,\nwe will find that they will steal into our hearts; and like the evil\nspirit that had been driven out and afterward returned and brought seven\nother spirits more wicked than himself, so sin and Satan will again take\npossession of our hearts and lock them against God and all that is good.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Are there many kinds of locks? Must\n there be as many kinds of keys as there are kinds\n of locks? Is the human heart like a lock? Does God\n desire to get into the human heart? With what key\n does He unlock it? Are the lock and its key made\n by the same man? Who made the human heart? Who\n made the key to unlock it? Can the Bible be used\n to lock the human heart against the entrance of\n sin? What are skeleton keys? Do men try false keys\n with which to open the human heart? What are some\n of the things with which they try? Is the human\n heart ever satisfied until unlocked by the Bible\n and possessed by God?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTRAPS.\n\nUNSUSPECTING MICE AND MEN.\n\n SUGGESTION:--An ordinary mouse trap will be\n serviceable. The trap can be set and instead of a\n mouse, a child can spring the trap with his\n finger. The parent had better try his own finger\n first, to see that the trap is not too strong. A\n rat trap should never be tried in this way.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: You may think that possibly there was a time when\nwicked men did not desire to destroy others, as is so often the case in\nthis day. Hundreds of years ago, God said, \"Among my people are found\nwicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap,\nthey catch men.\" (Jeremiah v: 26.)\n\n[Illustration: Mouse Trap.]\n\nI suppose you have all seen traps. There are a great many different\nkinds. Some are very dangerous, and yet you cannot see the danger until\nyou are caught, or until you see some other person who has been caught\nin the trap. Now here is a trap. I suppose that you have all seen such\ntraps as this, and possibly have them in your own homes, to catch the\nlittle mice which destroy your food, and oftentimes do much injury.\n\nNow, this trap does not look dangerous to the unsuspecting mouse. The\nlittle wire, which is to be drawn up by a strong spring to choke the\nmouse to death, is concealed, and he does not know that there is a wire\nthere at all. He simply smells the piece of cheese. This tempts his\nappetite, and, as he is fond of cheese, he desires to obtain it, and so\nhe attempts to crawl in through this small hole to get the cheese; but\nthe moment he nibbles at the cheese, it disturbs the little catch which\nholds the spring, and when it is too late to escape, the little mouse\nfinds that he has been caught. Then he does not think of the cheese, but\nstruggles to get loose and escape out of the trap. But all of his\nstruggles are in vain, and after a few moments he is choked to death.\nThen the man, or the housewife comes, takes the little mouse out of the\ntrap, and with the same piece of cheese the trap is again set for\nanother unsuspecting mouse. So people go on, day after day, catching one\nmouse after another, with the same trap and with the same bait.\n\n[Illustration: Mice and Trap.]\n\nNow, there are traps which men set for boys and girls, and men and\nwomen, such as story papers, bad books and pictures, that might be\ncalled pest papers, printed poison, moral leprosy. To the innocent, the\nunthinking and the unsuspecting these things may not appear very\ndangerous, but they are very deadly in their effects, and they result in\nthe temporal and eternal ruin of thousands upon thousands of people\nevery year.\n\nThen there are also the saloons, with gilded signs, frosted windows, and\nshowy looking glasses. Rooms which are made attractive only to catch\nmen, to rob them of their money, and of their self-control, and of their\nreason, and of their homes, and of all temporal good, and of all hope of\nheaven--destroying men's souls and bodies, both for a time and for all\neternity.\n\nThen there is the theatre, with its glittering lights, with its tinseled\nshow, with its corrupting play, with its scenes upon which no\npure-minded man or woman can look without blushing; scenes which deaden\nthe moral sense, pollute the mind, such as are calculated to rob the\nindividual of virtue, and of integrity, and of faith in God, and of hope\nof heaven.\n\nThen there are other dangerous traps which are set for young men and for\nolder men--tobacco, cigarettes and cigars, and beer. These traps which\nare set for our money, which so often rob of health and strength, for no\nboy who uses tobacco in any form can be strong like the boy who does not\nuse tobacco. Boys begin with the deadly cigarette, and then go on to the\ncigar, and then follow with drinking beer, and so, step by step, they go\non down to ruin.\n\nIf you have ever gone fishing on a calm, beautiful summer day, and have\nlooked down through the water, you have often seen the fish as they\ngathered around the hook, and then watched them as they nibbled at the\nbait. First they come up very shyly, and barely touch the bait with\ntheir nose. Then they come again, and possibly just bite a small\ntrifle--barely taste of it. Then, again and again they nibble at the\nhook, until finally they undertake to get a large bite, when they\ndiscover that they have swallowed the hook. Then it matters not how much\nthey flounder about, and struggle to get away, it is too late, it is\nimpossible for them to escape. They are pulled into the boat or upon the\nbank, and a few hours later they are on the stove, being cooked for some\nhungry fisherman. Just so Satan comes to those whom he wishes to catch.\nHe comes with money, and with pleasure, and with the thought of having\na good time. He tempts people by presenting to their thought something\nwhich they desire. He leads them on step by step, and when they see\nothers all about them who are being destroyed in the effort to obtain\nthe same pleasure which they are seeking, Satan makes them think that in\ntheir own case the result will be very different.\n\n[Illustration: Fish Doing a Dangerous Thing.]\n\nYou will notice that this mouse trap has four different places where\nmice can be caught, and is it not strange that when one mouse enters on\nthis side, and is caught, and is lying there dead, that another live\nmouse should come along, and see the same trap and desire the same\nthing, and walk right in to the same danger, and the same sure death?\nYou would think that when he saw the other mouse had been caught, and\nhad lost his life, that he would turn away. But instead of that, he\nsmells the cheese, walks right into the trap, and is caught, and in a\nfew moments is as dead as his neighbor. So boys see others who have been\nruined by smoking cigarettes, who have paved the way for their\ndestruction by smoking cigars, by keeping bad company, by drinking beer,\nand by going on step by step. They see drunkards all about them who have\nsquandered all their money and lost all their friends, and been forsaken\nby their own parents, their wives, and their children; who have become\noutcasts, and for whom no one longer has any respect. Men see these\nthings daily, and yet they go on in the same way, beginning with beer\nand going, step by step, from social drinking, until they themselves\nbecome drunkards and outcasts, and go down to fill a drunkard's grave.\nThe Bible says that no drunkard can inherit the kingdom of heaven.\n\nI trust that none of you who listen to me to-day will be so foolish as\nto permit Satan to deceive you. Look about you and see the results of\nworthless story-papers, of card-playing, of theatre going, of social\ndrinking, of round dancing, lying, swearing, cheating, and all forms of\nwickedness, and then remember that these same influences, if wrought\ninto your life, will also produce the same result. Do not be like the\nfoolish mouse, which sees its dead companion in the trap, and then walks\nup unthinkingly and pokes his head into the same inevitable death and\ndestruction; but remember that Satan waits to destroy you, just the same\nas he has destroyed others.\n\nIn the book of Job (xviii: 10) it says, \"The snare is laid for him in\nthe ground and a trap for him in the way;\" and in the 8th verse of the\nsame book and chapter it says, \"He is cast into a net by his own feet,\nand he walketh upon a snare.\" Satan has laid traps and snares all along\nyour path through life, and you will need to be very, very cautious,\nlest you are ruined for time and destroyed for eternity. Remember the\ntext for to-day, which says, \"Among my people are found wicked men; they\nlay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--What are traps for? Are there\n different kinds of traps? Is a trap a dangerous\n thing? Does a dangerous trap always look\n dangerous? Are there traps set for boys and girls,\n and men and women? Who sets these traps? What are\n some of the traps? How are fish caught? Who tries\n to trap and destroy boys and girls, and men and\n women? What does Satan sometimes use? When the\n mouse sees others caught, what should he do? Does\n he run away? Does he go and do the same thing?\n Does he suffer the same result? If Satan's traps\n destroy others, will they destroy us? Have you\n ever seen any persons who were caught in Satan's\n traps? Can anybody do wicked things without great\n danger?\n\n\n\n\nBREAD.\n\nUNIVERSAL SOUL HUNGER.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Bread, rolls or biscuit can be used\n if thought necessary, and these can be used for\n refreshments later.\n\n If the children are tired of \"driving to church\"\n in an imaginary carriage, let them drive in an\n imaginary sleigh, with imaginary bells, amid\n winter scenes.\n\n\nMY LITTLE FRIENDS: I am sure that every boy and girl in this room knows\nwhat it is to be hungry. It is a part of our childhood experience to\nfeel hungry almost every day. While the body is growing there is almost\na constant demand for nourishment and food.\n\n[Illustration: Loaf of Bread, Roll and Biscuit. ]\n\nWe have here a small loaf of bread; it is called a Vienna roll, and here\nis a small biscuit. Now, this is bread, only it is baked in small\nloaves. As people all over the world have hunger, so bread in one form\nor another has become the universal food of the world. When in the\nLord's Prayer we ask God to \"give us this day our daily bread,\" we mean\nnot simply bread made of flour, but we mean necessary food, food of all\nkinds; and so the word bread has come to be used to signify all kinds of\nwholesome food. God gives us our food day by day, just the same as each\nmorning the manna rained down from heaven for the Children of Israel\nwhile they were journeying through the desert. God does not send it to\nus in just the same way, but each day He furnishes us a sufficient\namount of food to sustain our bodies.\n\nNow, as there is universal physical hunger, and as God has made\nprovision to supply the food necessary to satisfy the hunger of the\nbody; so there is a universal hunger of the soul, and God has also made\nprovision to satisfy this universal hunger of our higher spiritual\nnature. In the sixth chapter of the Gospel by St. John, you will find\nmuch said about the food for the higher, the spiritual nature. Jesus\nsaid, \"Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from\nHeaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the\nbread of God is He which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto\nthe world.\"\n\nThe body is sustained by the food which grows up out of the earth,\nbecause the body is earthy. But to sustain the higher and spiritual\nnature of man, which is from heaven, the food is sent down from heaven,\nand therefore Jesus says of Himself that He is \"The bread of God which\ncometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world,\" \"I am the\nbread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that\nbelieveth on me shall never thirst.\" And in the forty-eighth verse of\nthat same chapter He says, \"I am the bread of life; your fathers did eat\nmanna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh\ndown from heaven, that man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living\nbread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall\nlive forever, and the bread that I will give him is my flesh, which I\nwill give for the life of the world.\"\n\n[Illustration: Plants Reaching Out Toward the Light.]\n\nNow, when you desire to be good, when you desire to live like Christ,\nyou desire to know more concerning Him; and when you desire to read\nGod's Word, and to learn of that which is holy and good and right, then\nyou have this spiritual hunger. That is the kind of hunger of which\nJesus was speaking in this chapter. The presence of Jesus in the soul\nand the knowledge of Him that is given in the Bible is the best kind of\nfood for our spiritual nature. This was the kind of spiritual food upon\nwhich Joseph fed when he lived in the midst of idolatrous Egypt. It was\nupon these spiritual truths that David and Daniel and Paul and Luther\nfed daily, and this nourished their spiritual natures. I trust you all\nhave this hunger for the bread of life. Jesus said, \"Blessed are they\nwhich do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be\nfilled.\"\n\nDid you ever see a plant growing at the window in a crock and observe\nhow it bends or reaches out toward the light? If you turn the crock\naround so that the plant bends inward toward the room, after a day or\ntwo you go to the plant and it will have changed its direction, and\ninstead of bending into the room, it will be bending out toward the\nwindow. Now this plant feeds on the light from the sun, and on that\naccount it reaches out toward the sun. So if you hunger after that which\nis good, you will reach out after God, just as the plant reaches out\nafter the sun.\n\nThis kind of bread which I hold in my hand costs something. Flour costs\nseveral dollars a barrel, and bread from five to ten cents a loaf. In\ntimes of famine bread has sometimes been sold at many hundreds of\ndollars for one single loaf. But the bread of life is free; it costs\nnothing. Everybody can have spiritual food for the simple asking for it.\nTherefore it is that we go to God in prayer and ask Him for every good\nand helpful grace and blessing; that we ask Him for His presence in our\nhearts, and to make us good, and to help us to become like Christ.\n\nBut there are some who have this hunger after that which is good, but\nthey do not know about God and about the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not\nhave any Bibles. Therefore it is my duty and your duty to send them the\nbread of everlasting life. It is for this purpose that we give our money\nfor missions so that missionaries may be sent to them to tell them of\nGod and His love, and of Jesus Christ the Saviour, and to take them the\nBible.\n\nIn order that we may be strengthened by bread, it is necessary that we\nshould eat it, and that we should assimilate it or make it part of our\nown bodies, in order that we may become strong, otherwise we would die\nof hunger in the midst of great store-houses of food. So men and women\ndie spiritually in the midst of churches, in the midst of Bibles, Bible\ninfluences, and Bible privileges; yes, die without Christ. In order that\nour spiritual natures may be fed with spiritual food, we have every\nChristian influence in our homes, we have the Sunday-school and the\nCatechetical class, and the Church with its preaching service, and\nprayer-meetings and other services. If you desire to be good, you must\nstudy your Bibles, go to Sunday-school and to church, and seek to know\nall you possibly can concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and receive Him\ninto your hearts, and live a Christian life by His aid and the grace\nwhich God will grant you from day to day.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Do all boys and girls get hungry? What\n food is most universally used in the world? Does\n the body require food every day? Why? Do we have a\n spiritual nature as well as a physical nature? Is\n there a spiritual hunger as well as a physical\n hunger? Will food which satisfies the physical\n Hunger satisfy the spiritual hunger? Who does the\n Bible say is the \"bread of life\"? Can we obtain\n food for the body without buying it either with\n money or effort? Must Jesus, the spiritual food,\n be bought? Can salvation be purchased? If God did\n not give it to us could we ever pay for it? Where\n can we learn most about this spiritual hunger and\n about the \"bread\" which came down from Heaven? How\n shall we send the Bread of Life to the people in\n heathen lands?\n\n\n\n\nTHE STONE.\n\nTHE NATURAL AND CHANGED HEART.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: A small cobble stone and a\n larger one, to represent the heart of a child and\n the heart of an adult, and a pin with which to\n prick the stone and prick the hand.\n\n\n[Illustration: Pricking a Stone. ]\n\nNOW, boys and girls, I have here a stone, which because of its peculiar\nshape reminds me of the human heart. But if I take a pin and prick this\nstone it has no feeling whatever. If I take this pin and prick the back\nof my hand, I feel it immediately. It is very unpleasant. Indeed, I do\nnot like to endure it, but this stone has no feeling. If I were to love\nthis stone, the stone would never be conscious of it. I might bestow\ngreat gifts upon this stone, I might purchase fruit for it, and\neverything that you and I might love for food; the finest clothing also,\nthe most costly lands and houses, or we might even bestow upon it very\ngreat honor, and yet this stone would know nothing of it. It would\nalways be insensible of all that I might do for it.\n\n[Illustration: Pricking the Hand.]\n\nNow the Bible represents the natural heart as being wicked. We are told\nin the Bible that our hearts have no feeling; that God loves us, and yet\nthat we do not appreciate it; that God bestows upon us our daily food,\nand that He clothes us, and blesses us with every good, and has provided\nfor us mansions in the skies, and that He desires to give us everlasting\nsalvation. He loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus\nChrist, to die for us, and yet with the natural heart no one ever loves\nGod, or appreciates anything that He has done for us. And so God\ndesires, as He tells us in the Bible, to take away, out of our flesh\nthis heart of stone, and give us a heart of flesh, so that we may\nappreciate and love Him in return for all that He has done for us.\n\nThe heart is spoken of in the Bible as the seat of the affections, and\ntherefore it is that God desires us to have a new heart, a changed\nheart, a heart that can love Him. The Bible says that each one is to\nkeep his heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.\nWe are told also that \"the heart is deceitful above all things and\ndesperately wicked.\"\n\n[Illustration: Assaulting the City of Child-Soul.]\n\nMany years ago in England there was a man by the name of John Bunyan. I\nsuppose you have all heard of his wonderful book entitled the \"Pilgrim's\nProgress.\" I hope that many of you have read it. All of you should read\nit, if you have not yet done so. Get your mother or father to read it\nfor you, if you cannot read it yourself.\n\nThis man Bunyan also wrote a book entitled the \"Holy War.\" In this book\nhe represents the human soul or the human heart as a city, and calls it\nthe \"City of Mansoul.\" This city has various gates, and at all these\ngates the enemy is trying to gain admission into the city, so that he\nmay capture it. It is, indeed, a very apt illustration of the human\nheart. Do you know that your heart is like a city, and that Satan is\ntrying to capture and to get possession of it? Indeed, he may already\nhave possession of it. And when God by His grace shall come and cast out\nSatan and all his evil companions, they will come back and try to get\ninto the city again. They will come to the various gates of the city;\nfor your heart has various avenues of approach, which may be called\ngates. There is eye-gate. Satan comes and he appeals to you and tries to\nget into your heart through the eye. Bad pictures that are posted upon\nthe bulletin boards along our streets, and wicked things upon which you\nand I ought not to look--worthless papers, bad books--these Satan\ndesires to have us look upon, and in that way get evil thoughts into our\nminds and wicked purposes into our hearts, so that he can once more get\npossession of our hearts.\n\nThen he comes to ear-gate, and tries to get into our hearts through our\nears. There are wicked songs, and bad stories, and wicked words that men\npour into our ears, even when we walk along the streets. And so Satan\ntries to get into our hearts through ear-gate, and he tries to get into\nour hearts through what I will call mouth-gate. He tempts our appetite,\nand would have us eat things which would injure us, or to drink that\nwhich would harm us. And so he tries to get a boy to smoke, or to drink,\nif at first only beer, or something else, until at last Satan makes a\ndrunkard of him. So Satan would get into the heart through mouth-gate.\nAnd when he cannot get into the heart through mouth-gate, or any other\nway, he oftentimes approaches mouth-gate by way of nose-gate. By the\nsmell of something that is pleasant he tempts the appetite, and thus\nwould lead us astray.\n\nAnd then he would also approach our hearts through the sense of feeling.\nThere are many wicked things that Satan tempts people to do in order to\ngive them pleasure, and so he seeks to get into their hearts, and to get\nentire control of them, and in that way to get God out of their hearts.\n\nThe best thing that you and I can do, is to accept of God's invitation,\nwhere He says, \"My son, give me thine heart.\" I trust that you will give\nyour heart earnestly and fully to the Lord Jesus Christ. He will take\naway this heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of\nflesh. He will keep your heart securely for you, if you will only give\nit fully to Him.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Does the stone have any feeling? Are\n our natural hearts like a stone? Can a human heart\n that is insensible like a stone be conscious of\n God's love? Who offers to give us a heart that\n will be conscious of God's love? Who wrote the\n book picturing the human heart like a city? Who is\n trying to capture this city? Through what gates\n does Satan try to enter? How does he try to get\n into Eye-Gate? How does he try to get into\n Ear-Gate? How does he try to get into Mouth-Gate?\n Can you tell any other methods that he tries? To\n whom had we better surrender the city of our soul?\n If we commit the city of our soul to God, will He\n protect and defend it? Is there any other way of\n safety?\n\n\n\n\nTHE POLISHED STONE.\n\nPERFECTION THROUGH SUFFERING.\n\n SUGGESTIONS:--A piece of polished stone, or a\n polished jewel, or piece of polished metal will\n answer for the object to be used.\n\n\nMY LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: I trust you are all trying to be good, and\nperhaps while you have been trying to be a follower of Jesus you have\ndesired many things and hoped that God would give them to you, because\nyou were trying to do right, and yet, perhaps, you have been\ndisappointed because God did not grant your wish. You have been seeking\nto be faithful, and yet, perhaps, sickness has come to you, or\ndisappointment and sorrow. Perhaps sickness and death have come into\nyour family. Your papa or your mamma has been taken away by death, and\nyou have been left very sad and lonely, and you have come to wonder how\nit is, if God loves you, that He does not grant you just what you wish,\nand that He permits sickness and sorrow and bereavement to come to you\nand to your home.\n\n[Illustration: Stones Being Prepared for a Great Building\n\nCopyrighted 1911 by Sylvanus Stall.]\n\nWhen you have looked about you, you have seen many good people who have\nbeen in much distress, oftentimes in poverty, afflicted with sickness,\nbereaved of their loved ones, and left in great sorrow and\ndisappointment. When you have taken up your Bible you have found that\nthe same was true many hundreds of years ago. David was greatly\nafflicted. Paul had his thorn in the flesh. The disciples were often\ncast into prison, and it is very likely that all of them were put to\ndeath, as their Master had been before them.\n\nNow I want to illustrate to you to-day why God permits sorrow and\naffliction to come to us. I have here two stones, both taken out of the\nsame quarry. This one is polished and has a very beautiful surface. It\nis very beautiful, not only to look at, but it would be beautiful in any\nplace you might choose to put it. This other is rough and jagged, and\nnot at all pleasant, either to handle or to look upon. This rough stone\ncan be made useful, but it would be no more useful than any other rough\nand unsightly stone. It would do very well to place in the foundation of\na building, to be all covered up with mortar and have other stones laid\non top of it; to be built in the foundation down below the ground, where\nno one would ever see it. But it would be of no special value in its\npresent condition for anything other than that.\n\nI think this polished stone may very properly represent Christian\npeople. For long, long years this stone had been lying peacefully and\nquietly in its rocky bed. But one day a man who purposed to build a very\nbeautiful palace came along, and he found that the great rocks in a\ncertain portion of the country contained stone that could be polished\nvery beautifully. They could therefore be made very useful in\nconstructing his palace or cathedral. So he sent a large number of men\nto the quarry and they began to drill great holes in the rock. Now, if\nthese rocks had any feeling you can see at once that they would object\nto having such great holes drilled into their sides, because it would\nhurt a great deal. But after the men had the holes drilled they put\npowder in them and blasted off great pieces of these rocks. Then these\ngreat blocks were hauled away and placed in the hands of stone masons,\nwho began with chisels and mallets to cut and carve. After that, with\nsome fine sand or emery, or something of that kind, other men ground\nand polished the face of the stone until it became very beautiful.\n\n[Illustration: Stones Being Polished.]\n\nNow, if these stones had had feeling, you can see at once that they\nwould have objected to being chiselled and cut, and carved, and ground,\nand polished. This process would have hurt so much that the stones would\nhave cried out, and asked to be delivered from such a painful process.\n\n[Illustration: \"The Beautiful Angel Was Carved Out.\"]\n\nIt is related of Michael Angelo, that one day he was passing a quarry\nwhere large blocks of beautiful marble were being taken out. In one\nlarge block he saw a beautiful angel. He ordered the block to be taken\nto his studio, or the place where he studied and worked. And then he put\nhis men at work to chisel off the rough corners, and thus to deliver the\nangel out of the rough pieces by which it was surrounded. After many\ndays and weeks, and perhaps months of working, in which this large block\nof marble had to submit to a great deal of chiselling and carving, and\ncutting, and polishing; lo! and behold, the beautiful angel was all\ncarved out and stood complete and perfect. It was polished and was made\nvery beautiful, and when it was set up, it was the delight of every one\nwho looked upon it. But all this, you easily see, was only made possible\nby that cutting and carving, which would have been very painful to the\nmarble if it had been possessed of feeling.\n\nI think you will begin to see that these things which we call troubles\nand trials, after all, are well calculated by God to bring out that\nwhich is noblest and best in us.\n\nWhen you grow older you will come to say like Paul, that you know that\n\"tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience\nhope, and hope maketh not ashamed.\" You will then come to understand\nthat these things \"work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal\nweight of glory,\" and like Paul, you will learn to be \"patient in\ntribulation.\" One time when Paul and Barnabas were at Lystra and healed\na cripple, the people were moved against Paul by some wicked Jews from\nAntioch and Iconium, and they pursued Paul and threw large stones at him\nand hit him with such great force that he fell down, and they supposed\nthat he was dead. But Paul was not dead, and afterwards when he met some\nof the Christian people at that and other places, when they talked to\nhim about it, and thought that it was very hard that God should have\npermitted these wicked people to stone him, Paul told these Christians\nthat \"through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of\nheaven.\"\n\nBut I must not detain you longer. I want simply to say in closing that\nwhen St. John had been banished to the Isle of Patmos and was permitted\nto have a view of heaven, and looked into that glorious city, he saw a\ngreat company, and he inquired of the angel who these people were. The\nangel replied: \"These are they which came out of great tribulation, and\nhave washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.\nTherefore are they before the Throne of God and serve Him day and night\nin His temple; and He that sitteth upon the Throne shall dwell among\nthem. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall\nthe sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst\nof the Throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains\nof water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.\" (Rev. vii:\n14-17.)\n\nIf in our sickness, or sorrow, or disappointment here upon the earth, we\nare sad or lonely, let us remember that in the happy home to which we go\nwe shall be forever with the Lord, and that all tears shall be wiped\naway, and that we shall be happy forever and ever on high. It is only\nthrough these tribulations that you and I can be prepared to enter\nheaven. If God were to give us everything we want, like children who are\nindulged, we would soon be spoiled and would not be fit for the\nenjoyment of heaven or the companionship of the angels.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What is rough stone used for? Does the\n stone have feeling? If it had feeling, would it\n object to being cut and chiselled and polished?\n Could it be used in a great building unless it was\n first quarried and prepared? How can the rough\n stone be made beautiful? Can it be polished so\n that you can see your face in it? Who prepares\n people to be builded into His kingdom? How does He\n do this? Who composed the great multitude whom\n John saw in the glorious city? What had happened\n to them? What should we remember in times of\n sickness and sorrow? Why are trials necessary to\n fit us for heaven? Will we be in the presence of\n God there and have angels as our companions?\n\n\n\n\nROPES.\n\nHABITS AND HOW THEY BECOME STRONG.\n\n SUGGESTIONS:--Objects to be used are a spool of\n thread, a piece of string or twine and a piece of\n rope.\n\n After the sermon has been read, the thread and\n strings could be used to tie the hands and feet,\n and thus illustrate how impossible it is to break\n them when they are wound again and again around\n the hands and the feet, even though the thread be\n very fine. So with habits, seemingly\n insignificant.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I have to-day a piece of rope, and also some\ndifferent kinds of string. If I take this rope and try to break it, I\nfind that it is impossible. I do not believe that any five or six\nordinary men could pull with sufficient strength to break this rope. I\nam sure that no twenty boys and girls could pull hard enough to break\nit.\n\n[Illustration: Rope.]\n\nHere is a very strong string. Perhaps a couple of boys, possibly four\nboys, might be able to break it. But here is a thinner string. Possibly\nI may be able to break this. Yes, I can, but with great difficulty. It\ntakes all the strength I have to break it.\n\nNow, here is some that is still thinner. It is about as thick as heavy\nthread. I can break it very easily.\n\nBut now, when I take this heavy rope and cut off a piece, if I unwind\nthese different strands, I find that this rope is made by twisting\nsmaller ropes together. If I untwist this smaller rope, which I have\ntaken out of the larger rope, I find that it in like manner is also made\nof smaller ropes, or strings. If I take these smaller strings, and\nuntwist them, I find that they are made of still smaller strings; if I\ntake any of these smaller strings out of the rope, I can break them\neasily, but when I twist several of them together, I cannot break them.\n\n[Illustration: String.]\n\nI think that these smaller cords, out of which this rope is made, will\nvery fittingly illustrate habits. It is a very dangerous thing to form\nbad habits. We should be very careful to form good ones, but bad ones\nare very dangerous. The boy who remains away from Sunday-school but\nonce, thinks little of it. The boy who remains away from church, or\nstays at home from school, or disobeys his parents, or spends the\nevenings on the streets instead of in the house reading good books, or\nbreaks the Sabbath, or does any one of many things, may think very\nlittle of it at the time; but do you know that when we go on repeating\nthe same thing over and over again, the habit grows stronger and\nstronger until at last we are not able to break loose from that habit?\nThere are men who think that they can stop smoking. They began with only\nan occasional cigarette or a cigar, until the habit grew upon them, and\nnow possibly they think they are able to stop, but when they undertake\nto break off smoking, they find that it is a very difficult task, and\nvery few smokers who undertake it succeed permanently. The old habit is\nlikely to overcome them again and again.\n\nSo it is with swearing, and with telling falsehoods, and with being\ndishonest, and with drinking liquor, and everything else that men and\nboys often do. These habits at last become very strong, until they are\nnot able to break loose from them.\n\nNow, if you take one of these strong habits from which a man is not able\nto break loose, and untwist it, you will find that it was made strong by\na repetition of small habits. Habits are made strong by doing the same\nthing over and over again. It is just the same as when I take this spool\nof thread and wrap it around the feet of a boy. I can wrap it around and\naround, and while it would be easy for him to break the thread if it was\nwrapped once or twice, or three or four times around his feet; yet after\nI have succeeded in placing it ten or twelve, or twenty-five or fifty\ntimes around his feet, he is not able to walk at all.\n\n[Illustration: Hands Bound.]\n\nI could tie his hands by wrapping this small thread around and around,\njust a few times. At first it could be broken, but after a little it\nbecomes so strong that he is not able to break it at all. So it is with\nhabits. When we do the same things again and again, the habit becomes\nstronger and stronger day by day, and year by year, until at last Satan\nhas the poor victim bound hand and foot, and he is absolutely helpless.\nNo one is able to come and snap the cords, and set this poor helpless\nprisoner free, until God in His grace comes and liberates him from the\nevil habits with which he has bound himself, or with which he has\npermitted Satan to bind him.\n\nIt is very important that in the very beginning of life, we should all\nform the habit of doing those things which are right. The doing of the\nright may at first afford us but very little pleasure, yet we are to\ncontinue to do right, and after a while it will become pleasant for us\nto do right.\n\n[Illustration: Feet Bound.]\n\nAt first it may not be very pleasant for a boy to go to school. He\nprefers not to exert himself; not to put forth any mental effort. But\nafter he becomes accustomed to going to school, and to putting forth\nmental effort, it becomes more and more natural to him, and finally he\ncomes to love study. After he has completed his studies in the primary\nschool, he goes to the intermediate, and to the grammar school, and high\nschool, and possibly to college, and continues to be a student all his\nlife.\n\nSo it is with going to church; those who begin when they are young and\ngo regularly, Sunday after Sunday, become regular church attendants all\ntheir lives.\n\nHabits are formed very much like the channel of a river. Gradually, year\nafter year, the river wears its course deeper and deeper, until finally\nthrough the soft soil and the hard rock, through the pleasant meadow\nand the beautiful woodlands, it has worn out for itself a very deep\nchannel in which it continues to flow to the ocean.\n\nSo the mind, by repeated action, marks out its course. Whether the\nmental effort or manual work be pleasant or difficult, we become so\naccustomed to it, that we go on day by day, and year by year doing the\nsame thing.\n\nThe Bible gives very wise instruction to parents when it says, \"Train up\na child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart\nfrom it.\" (Prov. xxii: 6.) It has also been wisely said, \"Sow an act and\nyou reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character\nand you reap a destiny.\"\n\nBe careful, boys and girls, what you do, for by doing anything you are\nforming a habit. If you do wrong things you will form bad habits, but if\nyou do right things you will form good habits, which are always the\nbest.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Are small ropes or strings used to\n make big ropes? Can you tie a boy's hands and feet\n with thread so that he cannot make himself free?\n How are strong habits made? Is it a good thing\n that habits are formed in this way? Does this make\n it easy to form good habits? Does it also make it\n easy to break away at first from a bad habit?\n Which is easier, to form a bad habit or to break\n away from it? Who tries to bind us with bad\n habits? Who alone can break the ropes of habit\n with which Satan binds us? What does the Bible say\n about training up a child in the way he should go?\n\n\n\n\nWATCH AND CASE.\n\nTHE SOUL AND THE BODY.\n\n SUGGESTION:--A watch and case (preferably a double\n case) from which the works can be easily removed\n will answer the purpose. Jewelers often have such\n old watches that they would be glad to sell for a\n trifle, or even to give away. A small old clock\n from which the works can be removed would also\n answer the same purpose.\n\n Keep up the play idea with the children. Older\n persons may weary of repetition, but to children\n their play is always new and interesting. After\n \"driving to church\", being shown to seats, and\n after some opening services, let one of the\n children preach in his or her own language the\n truth which most impressed them in last Sunday's\n object sermon, or the truth which they remember\n from the morning sermon in church, or from any\n passage of Scripture which they may prefer. No\n better school of oratory was ever formed, even\n though the primary purpose is devotional and\n religious.\n\n\nNOW, boys and girls, what is this that I hold in my hand? (Many voices,\n\"A watch.\") I expected that you would say it was a watch. Every boy\nknows a watch when he sees it, and every boy desires to have a watch of\nhis own--one which he can carry in his pocket, and one which will tell\nhim the time of day whenever he looks at it.\n\nBut you cannot be sure, even from appearances, that this is absolutely a\nwatch. It might be only a watch-case. In order to tell whether it is a\nwatch, let us open it. After all, it is not a watch. It is only a\nwatch-case. You would not wish to spend your money when you expect to\nget a watch, and on reaching home find that you have been deceived, and\nthat you had nothing but a watch-case.\n\n[Illustration: Watch-case.]\n\nNow, boys and girls, what is this? (holding up the works of the watch).\n\"A watch.\" This time you are right, this is a watch. It is a watch\nwithout a case around it. Now we will put the works into the case, and\nthen we will have a complete watch. The works and the case together more\nproperly constitute a watch.\n\n[Illustration: A Watch-case and Works.]\n\nYou have, I suppose, been at a funeral, and have seen the body of the\ndead man or woman or child lying in the coffin. Unless somebody has told\nyou differently, you may possibly have thought the person whom you had\nknown was lying there in the coffin. But this was not the fact. Every\nman, woman and child consists of a soul and a body, and when a person\ndies the soul returns to God, who gave it. God made our body out of the\ndust of the ground, and when the spirit leaves the body, it is a dead\nbody, and it begins to decay, and soon becomes offensive, and so we bury\nthe body out of our sight, putting it again in the ground, and finally\nit moulders back again to dust.\n\nIt is not so, however, with the soul. That is a spirit. When God had\nmade Adam out of the dust of the ground, He breathed into his nostrils\nthe breath of life, and man became a living soul. Now, this soul never\ndies. God has created it to live forever and ever, throughout all\neternity. Those who are good and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will be\nreceived at death to dwell forever with the Lord. And those who are\nwicked and do not repent of their sins, God will banish forever from His\npresence; for sin is hateful in the sight of God, who cannot look upon\nit with any degree of allowance.\n\n[Illustration: Case and Works Separated.]\n\nThe moment you look upon a body, without being able to tell how, you can\nnevertheless quickly distinguish between one who is asleep and one who\nis really dead. Even animals can tell a dead body. When a dead horse\nlies along the road, it is very difficult to drive a live horse near to\nthe dead one. The living horse knows at once that the other is dead,\nalthough we do not know how he knows it.\n\nNow, I want to show you that death does not affect the existence of the\nsoul. I will now lift these works out of the watch case.\n\nI now hold the case in my left hand, and the works in my right hand. As\nthese works constitute the real watch, so the soul constitutes the real\nperson, and as these wheels and hands continue to move, and to keep time\nregularly even after they have been removed from the case; so the soul,\nwhen God removes it from the body, continues to exist and to be\npossessed of all that makes the reasoning, thinking, immortal and\nindestructible being of man. I might take this case, which I hold in my\nleft hand, and bury it in the ground, but the works would not be\naffected by this fact, but would continue to run on just the same.\nSuppose I were to leave this case buried in the ground until it had all\nrusted away. Then suppose that, as a chemist I could gather up all these\nparticles again and make them anew into a watch case, and then put the\nworks back into the case which had been restored or made anew; that\nwould represent the resurrection of the body, and the reuniting of the\nsoul with the body, which will take place at the resurrection day.\n\nSome years ago there was a great chemist, whose name was Faraday. It\nhappened one time in his laboratory that one of the students, by\naccident, knocked from the table a silver cup, which fell into a vessel\nof acid. The acid immediately destroyed or dissolved it, and the silver\nall disappeared, the same as sugar dissolves or melts in a tumbler of\nwater. When Professor Faraday came in and was told what had happened, he\ntook some chemicals and poured them into the acid in which the silver\nhad disappeared. As soon as these two chemicals came together, the acid\nbegan to release the silver, and particle by particle the silver settled\nat the bottom of the vessel. The acid was then poured off and the silver\nwas all carefully gathered up and sent to a silversmith, who melted the\nsilver and made it anew into a silver cup of the same form, design and\nbeauty. It was the same cup made anew. So, my young friends, our bodies\nmay dissolve in the grave and entirely disappear, but God is able to\nraise them up again. He tells us in the Bible that these bodies which\nare buried in corruption shall be raised in incorruption, and that these\nmortal bodies shall put on immortality.\n\nI trust that I have illustrated to you how the soul and the body are\nseparated when we die, and God's Word assures us that they shall be\nreunited again in the morning of the resurrection, for all these dead\nbodies \"shall hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth.\" It\nmatters not whether they were buried in the ground, or in the water,\nthey shall arise from every sea and from every cemetery, and every grave\nin all the world, and shall live anew and forever, either in happiness\nwith God in heaven, or in misery with Satan in eternal banishment from\nGod's presence.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What are the principal parts of a\n watch? Which part is like the body? Which part is\n like the soul? Which is the real watch? Could the\n works alone run and keep time without the case?\n When does the soul become separated from the body?\n Does death affect the existence and life of the\n soul? If a watch case were buried and rusted away,\n could it be made new again? Does the Bible say our\n bodies are also to be raised again from the grave?\n What is that raising up of the body called? Will\n it make any difference whether a body was buried\n in the sea or in the earth? (\"The sea shall give\n up its dead\"). Whose voice shall call the body to\n immortality? Will the immortal body ever die?\n\n\n\n\nPEARLS.\n\nONE OF GREAT PRICE.\n\n SUGGESTION:--A single pearl, or a string of pearls\n will serve well for illustration.\n\n\n[Illustration: String of Pearls.]\n\nMY YOUNG FRIENDS: Here is a whole string of pearls. One time I found a\nlarge pearl in an oyster. I thought it might be valuable, and I took it\nto a jeweler, but he soon told me that it was not worth much, because it\nwas not perfect. It was unusually large, but to be valuable it must be\nperfectly round and have no defects. When Jesus was upon the earth He\ntold of a merchant who went in search of a very valuable pearl, and when\nhe had found it, he sold all that he had and bought that pearl, in order\nthat he might have the largest and most valuable jewel in all the world.\n\n[Illustration: Diving for Pearls.]\n\nCleopatra, Queen of Egypt, had a pearl that was worth three hundred and\nseventy-five thousand dollars, and one day she dissolved this costly\npearl, and drank it in a glass of wine to the honor of Mark Antony, one\nof the Roman rulers. There are pearls to-day worth two and three\nhundred thousand dollars, and possibly more.\n\nThe pearl in this parable is the symbol of salvation. Now, salvation has\ncost more, and is worth more than all the farms, and houses, and stores,\nand wealth of all this nation, and all the nations of all the globe, and\nall the created universe about us. It cost the life of the Son of God,\nand it is desirable, therefore, that you and I should obtain it, because\nof the many blessings it secures to us, both in this world and in the\nworld to come.\n\nFor two thousand years men from all the largest nations of the earth\nhave gone to the island of Ceylon, seeking pearls. It is a barren and\ndeserted island, but during the months of February, March and April,\nevery night at ten o'clock, many boats sail out about ten miles, to the\nplace where men, with large leaden weights at their feet, dive down\nthrough the water until they come to the banks where the large pearl\noyster has his home. They quickly pick up several of these oysters and\ndrop them into a basket of network, and in about sixty or seventy\nseconds are again drawn up by their companions into the boat.\n\nMen and women could not have pearls if it were not that these men are\nwilling to risk their lives by diving way down under the water to obtain\nthem. No one could secure salvation had not Jesus left His throne in\nheaven and come down to this wicked world to suffer and die, that He\nmight make atonement for our sins upon the cross, so that you and I\nmight not perish but have everlasting life--so that you and I might have\nsalvation, both here and in heaven.\n\nWhen I went to the jeweler, he told me that the defects on the pearl\nwhich I had found could not be removed and the rough places polished.\nDiamonds have to be cut and polished. Many precious and costly jewels\nwhen found look only like rough stones in the field, but the pearl is\nperfect when found; nothing can be done to make it more perfect or more\nvaluable. Just so is the salvation of Jesus perfect; no human wisdom can\nimprove upon it. The best book that any man ever wrote has been equaled\nby what some other man has thought and written. The religion of the\nheathen can be greatly improved, but the Bible and the salvation which\nit reveals, man has never been able to equal, much less to improve upon.\n\nTo-day, as thousands of years ago, pearls are worn as ornaments to the\nbody, but the salvation which Jesus Christ came to bring is an ornament\nto the soul that possesses it.\n\nThe pearl is valuable and desirable, because it cannot easily be stolen\naway from its owner. When Jesus was upon the earth they did not have\nbanks, with large iron safes where people could deposit their money and\njewels for safe keeping. There were many robbers then, and people buried\ntheir money and valuables. Often the places where these were concealed\nwere discovered, and then all that they had was stolen. A pearl is\nsmall, and could therefore easily be hidden in a place of safety. If war\noccurred, or for any reason a man and his family had to flee from their\nhome or their country, they could easily carry even the most valuable\npearls. The owner could hide it in his mouth, or even swallow it if\nnecessary. If a man had much gold, it was too heavy to carry, and it\ncould readily be discovered and stolen. But a pearl was not so difficult\nto hide and keep.\n\nThe Bible tells us that salvation is something that the world cannot\ngive, and which the world cannot take away. Daniel had this pearl of\ngreat price, and even though the king cast him into the den of lions, he\ncould not get it away from him. His three companions with those hard\nnames, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, had this pearl of salvation, and\neven in the furnace of fire it was not destroyed or taken from them. If\nyou have this pearl of salvation, you can keep it in spite of all the\nwicked people in the world; you can hide it away in your heart, and all\nthe armies of the world cannot take it away from you. In sickness or in\nhealth it will be yours, and even death itself can not rob you of it. It\nwill stay with you in this world, and it will be your joy and gladness\nin the world to come.\n\nAs the merchantman went out seeking the most valuable pearl, so all the\nworld is to-day seeking for something which will satisfy and render\ntheir owners happy. There are many good things in this world, but none\nof them can make any one contented and happy, like the salvation which\nJesus gives when we repent of our sins and in faith accept Him as our\nSaviour. Before you get, or even desire any other pearl, I want each of\nyou to accept of this \"Pearl of great price,\" which is Jesus Christ.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Of what is a pearl the symbol in the\n Bible? Are pearls valuable? Is salvation valuable?\n Where are pearls principally found? How are they\n obtained? Are pearls polished like the diamond?\n Why do people wear pearls? Can we lose pearls by\n having them stolen? Can we lose salvation? Who\n would steal it away? Who can give us the \"Pearl of\n great price\"?\n\n It is well to have the children learn the answers\n to many of the leading Bible questions. Try them\n in the following:--Who was the first man? Who was\n the first woman? Of what did God make Adam and\n Eve? Who was the first murderer? Who was the\n oldest man? Who built the ark? Who had the coat of\n many colors? Who was the strongest man? Who slew\n Goliath the giant? With what did David slay\n Goliath? Who was the wisest man? Who was cast into\n the den of lions? Who went to Heaven in the\n chariot of fire without dying? Upon whom did\n Elijah's mantle fall? A goodly number of similar\n questions are found on pages 25 and 26.\n\n\n\n\nCOAL AND WOOD.\n\nJESUS THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT AND WARMTH.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The objects used to-day can be a\n piece of wood, a piece of coal, a candle and a\n piece of electric light carbon, such as are daily\n thrown away in towns where the arc lighting is\n used.\n\n\nDEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: When Jesus was upon the earth, He said of Himself,\n\"I am the light of the world.\" Now, I desire to-day to illustrate to you\nsomething of the truth which Jesus had in mind when He uttered these\nwords.\n\n[Illustration: The Sun and Moon.]\n\nWe are told in the Bible, that when God created the world, on the fourth\nday He created the sun and the moon to give light upon the earth, the\nsun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night.\n\nI suppose you all know that the earth is round, and that while the sun\nis shining on our side of the earth, and making it day here, on the\nother side of the earth it is night and is all dark. Now, I want to tell\nyou that the sun is the source of all light upon the earth. The sun\nshines and dispels the darkness, and makes it light. And do you know\nthat the moon does not shine by its own light, but it simply throws back\nagain, as we say, reflects, the light of the sun, just the same as when\na boy takes a small piece or looking-glass and throws the light across\nthe street? There is no light in the looking-glass itself, but it simply\ntakes the rays of light which fall upon it from the sun and bends them,\nor turns them, so that the boy can throw the rays of light across the\nstreet, or upon anything that he desires that is in range of him. So the\nlight of the sun falls upon the moon, and is turned again or reflected\nback upon the earth. God has so placed the moon in the heavens that it\nreflects the light of the sun upon those portions of the earth which are\nin darkness. Or, in other words, as He says in the Bible, the moon has\nbeen \"made to rule the night.\" So you see that even the moon does not\nshine by its own light.\n\nJesus Christ is the Sun of Righteousness. All the good there is in the\nworld, all the righteousness, all that is holy and pure, come from Jesus\nChrist. The Church is also a source of purity, of holiness, of religion,\nand of Christianity. But the church does not shine of itself. It does\nnot have these influences within itself. All its light is derived from\nthe Sun of Righteousness. All influences which tend for goodness and\nholiness and purity are derived from the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the\nsource of all that is good, and only in so far as the Church reflects\nthe life of Jesus, and the truth which is revealed in His Word, and in\nthe teachings of Jesus, does it become the source of saving power in\nthe world.\n\n[Illustration: Candle, Coal and Wood.]\n\nNow, here I have a piece of coal, and a piece of wood, and a candle, and\na piece of carbon from an electric light. You might ask me whether the\nlight that comes from the coal when it burns, or the wood when it burns,\nand the candle when it is lighted, and the electric light when it\nilluminates the street so brightly, whether they are not shining by\ntheir own light? No; they are not shining by their own light. All the\nlight that there is in the wood, or in the coal, or in the candle, or in\nanything else that makes a light at all, derives its source and origin\nfrom the sun. The light that comes from the burning of this wood is\nsimply the releasing of the light that has been accumulated from the\nrays of light shining from the sun upon the tree while it was growing,\nyear after year, in the field or forest. And now, when it is burning, it\nsimply releases or throws out that light which it received from the sun,\nand which was stored up in the wood of the tree while it was growing.\n\nThis coal is simply a portion of a tree which grew many, many hundreds\nor thousands of years ago, and which, in some great convulsion of\nnature, was buried deep under the surface of the earth in what we now\ncall coal mines. The coal has undergone some chemical changes, but,\nnevertheless, all the light there is in the coal is simply that buried\nsunshine, which was stored up centuries and centuries ago, in the form\nof vegetables and trees. Now, when it burns in the grate or in the\nfurnace it simply releases that heat and warmth and light, which was\nstored up in these trees many, many centuries ago. It is simply buried\nsunshine which God has stored up for our use. The same is true of the\nlight of the candle; if it were not for the light of the sun there would\nbe no light giving power in any oil or tallow, or in this carbon, which\nis used in the electric light; they all derive their light from the sun\nitself.\n\nJust so it is with all the truth and righteousness there is in the\nworld. When you see a man who is good and Christlike, it is not because\nthat man has the power in himself to be good, but it is because he has\nreceived that power from the Lord Jesus Christ. The light of the Sun of\nRighteousness has shone into that man's heart, and the light that goes\nout through his daily conduct and character, is only the light of the\nSon of God shining out through that man.\n\nAll objects which live in the sunlight drink in this light-giving power,\nand all people who live daily in the light of the Sun of Righteousness\nwill partake of His nature and of His character, and then live that\nnature and character in their own daily lives. In this way they do as\nJesus commanded, let their lights so shine, that others seeing their\ngood work, glorify their Father which is in heaven.\n\nYou should be careful to note that Jesus does not say that we ourselves\nare to shine so that others may glorify us. No, not at all. Many people\ntry to shine or to attract the attention of others to themselves, but\nthat is not what Jesus said or meant, but rather the reverse. Neither\nare we to attempt to shine, or to attempt to attract the glory or honor\nto ourselves. Let not yourself so shine, but let your _light_ so shine\nthat others seeing your good works may glorify--not you, but your Father\nwhich is in heaven. We must let Jesus Christ shine in and through us.\n\nWhenever you see men or women, or girls or boys who are living beautiful\nChristian lives, it is not they that light up the moral darkness that is\nin the world, it is Jesus Christ who lives in them and shines through\nthem, that makes them good and holy, and consequently a source of light\nand blessing to all about them.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What does Christ call Himself? What is\n the source of the light of the natural world? Does\n the sun shine by its own light? Does the moon\n shine by its own light, or does it reflect the\n light of the sun? What is the source of light\n displayed when coal and wood and other substances\n are burned? Does all natural light come from the\n sun? Who is the source of our spiritual light and\n knowledge? Are the Church and Christian people\n lights in the world? Do they shine of their own\n goodness like the sun, or are they like the moon\n in that they reflect the divine light? Does any\n person have the power in himself to be good? Where\n does this power to be good come from? Does Christ\n want us to shine as lights in the world? Are we to\n let our lights shine to glorify ourselves, or to\n glorify Christ?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLANTERNS.\n\nTHE BEST LIGHT FOR OUR PATH.\n\n SUGGESTIONS:--A lantern of any kind may be used.\n If one of the old-fashioned tin lanterns,\n perforated with holes through which the light was\n to shine, is available it would add greatly to the\n curiosity and interest of the children, although\n these are now very rare, as they were in use a\n half century ago.\n\n After \"driving to church\", and after preaching by\n the children and the reading of the following\n sermon on lanterns, a few Japanese lanterns--one\n for each of the children--would enable the parents\n to form a little torch-light procession (although\n no lighted candles need be in the lanterns). After\n marching through the different rooms, give the\n children a talk upon the conditions existing in\n heathen lands like China and Japan, and the\n changes which are being wrought through the\n introduction of Christianity and the work of the\n missionaries.\n\n\n[Illustration: Old Lantern.]\n\nI DO not believe that there is a boy or girl here to-day who could tell\nme what this thing is, that I hold in my hand. It is a lantern, a very\ndifferent lantern possibly, from those which any of you have ever seen.\nThis is the kind of lantern that your grandfather and my grandfather\nused many years ago, in the days when they did not have lamps, and gas,\nand electric lights, and such things as we enjoy to-day. When I was a\nsmall boy in the country we used to have only candles. Later on in life,\nI remember when they first had fluid lamps, and then kerosene oil, and\nthen gas, and then, as we have it now, electric lights.\n\nIn the second congregation to which I ministered, there was an old\ngentleman who had one of these lanterns. He lived some distance from the\nchurch, and very dark nights you could always see him coming across the\nhill, carrying this strange lantern. After the candle was lighted and\nplaced inside, the light shone out through these small holes, and if the\nwind blew very hard, the light was liable to be blown out.\n\nNow, here is a better lantern. David says of God's Word, \"Thy word is a\nlamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.\" On a dark night in the\ncountry, you could not go out of doors and move about without running up\nagainst a tree, or the fence, or falling into the ditch, or soon finding\nyourself involved in serious difficulties; and on this account people in\nthe country carry a lantern at night. In the Eastern countries where\nJesus lived, where they did not have gas and electric lamps to light the\nstreets, when people went out at night they always carried a lantern.\nAnd so David said, \"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my\npath.\" (Ps. cxix: 105.)\n\n[Illustration: \"Coming Across the Hill Carrying this Strange Lantern.\"]\n\nWhen people go out of doors into the darkness with a lantern they do not\nhold it way up high, but hold it down near their feet, so that they can\nsee the path, and it enables them to walk with security and safety.\nSometimes there are men who have gone to college, and have learned Latin\nand Greek, have studied the sciences and philosophy, and they think they\nhave learned a very great deal. Perhaps afterwards they have studied\nmedicine and become physicians, or have read law and become lawyers, and\nthey think that they are able with all they know to find the true path\nof blessing through life. They think they have light enough of\nthemselves. They do not seem to know that all about them there is a\ndarkness of great mystery; that sin and death and destruction lurk all\nalong their way through life, and that their pathway is full of\nsnares, and pitfalls, and dangers, but they try to walk with the little\nlight that there is in the human understanding.\n\nThere is another class of men who go through college and who may,\nperchance, study much, and the more they study the more they come to\nrealize how little they know, and how much there is beyond them that\nthey do not understand at all. With the little light of human\nunderstanding they comprehend how very dense and dark are the mysteries\nall about them, and so in order that they may walk safely through life,\nand come at last to the city of eternal safety, they take God's Word \"as\na lamp to their feet.\" Just the same as a person in the country carries\na lamp in order that he may find his path, so these good people take the\nWord of God and they make it the lamp unto their feet, and the light\nunto their path.\n\nBoys and girls often look at learned men and women and think that when\nthey get to be as old and to know as much as these people, that then\nthey will know everything. But that is a great mistake. The more we know\nand the more learned we are, the more we discover that there is still\nfurther beyond us that which we do not understand. No one has ever been\nable to tell how the bread and the meat and potatoes and other food\nwhich we eat is made to sustain our life, how it is converted into and\nmade a part of ourselves. How on our heads these things become, or are\nchanged into hair, on the ends of our fingers to nails, and how other\nparts become flesh, and bone and eyes and ears and teeth. Nobody can\nunderstand how the ground in the garden can be changed by some life\nprinciple into fruit and vegetables and flowers and hundreds of\ndifferent things, and yet all this wonderful variety, all growing out of\nthe very same soil, or ground as we call it.\n\nAnd so as you grow older and become more and more learned you will come\nmore and more to appreciate how much there is that you can never\nunderstand. There is mystery all about us, and we all need the light of\ndivine truth, the light of God's Word, the Bible as a light to guide us\nthrough the darkness and the mysteries that are all about us.\n\nIf you have ever been in the country upon a dark night and have seen the\nrailway engine come dashing along, with the great headlight that throws\nthe rays of light far down along the track enabling the engineer to see\nvery far ahead of him, you would understand what the Bible purposes to\ndo for us, when God says that He will make it a lamp unto our feet, and\na light unto our path.\n\nAs you grow older, and sorrow and sickness and trials come to you, you\nwill need God's Word to be a lamp unto your feet. And when at last the\nmessenger of death shall come and summon you into God's presence, and\nyou go through \"the valley of the shadow of death,\" you will then need\nthis lamp for your feet, and you will need the Lord Jesus Christ with\nyou, that you may lean upon Him and that you may say as David did: \"Yea\nthough I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no\nevil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.\" May\nGod give you this light through the journey of this life, and bring you\nto that city of light and life on high.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Why did the people of the East carry\n lanterns at night? What did David call the Bible?\n Should the lantern be held above the head, or down\n near the feet? Which is the best light to our\n spiritual pathway, human wisdom or Divine\n revelation? Which is the safer light for us to\n follow, books which men write, or the book which\n God has given us? Can we understand all that we\n find in the book of nature? Can we understand all\n that we find in the book of revelation? Do they\n both have the same author? Is God infinitely\n greater than man? Does this explain to you why we\n cannot understand all that God has done or said?\n Can we put a bushel basket into a quart\n measure?--the smaller can not contain the larger.\n\n\n\n\nCANDLES.\n\nHOW TO REFLECT, OBSCURE, OR EXTINGUISH THE LIGHT.\n\n SUGGESTIONS:--A candle, a silver dollar, a\n large-necked bottle and a flask-shaped bottle are\n the objects used. It will add to the interest of\n the children if the parent will show the simple\n experiments of placing the bottle over the candle\n to illustrate how quickly the light is\n extinguished as the oxygen is exhausted. The same\n is the result when a light is hid under a bushel.\n The flame may also be concealed by the dollar; and\n in a darkened room a polished piece of metal or a\n small looking-glass will show how the light can be\n reflected by money properly used in Christ's\n cause.\n\n\nMY LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: To-day I have brought some candles in order to\nillustrate the text, \"Ye are the light of the world.\" In a previous\nsermon I have shown you how all the light in the world is derived from\nthe sun, and how all the light in the spiritual world is derived from\nJesus Christ. Now, to-day I want to show you that we can extinguish this\nlight. While we cannot prevent the sun from shining, or put out the\nlight there is in the sun, yet we can extinguish, or put out the light\nof a candle. We can blow out the light, we can turn off the gas, we can\ncut off the electrical current, and thus prevent the carbon from burning\nand giving light. Just the same as the firemen can extinguish a large\nfire that is making a great blaze in the midst of a dark night, so we\ncan put out these several lights.\n\nBefore this candle, which I hold in my hand, can be of any service to me\nin giving light, it must first itself be lighted. So it is with every\nperson who is born into this world. He has no light in himself. Before\never he can exert any influence for good upon others, or let any\nChristian light shine, he must come to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive\nthis light. He must be lighted from above. But now after the candle has\nbeen lighted, suppose that I take this silver dollar which I hold in my\nhand, and place it in front of the light, you will see immediately how\nit makes it impossible for the light to shine out in front of the\ndollar. Those who are sitting down there in front of me cannot see this\nlight. The light is entirely concealed by the dollar. So some people\nallow the love of money to gather around their hearts, until at last\ntheir money is placed between them and the people whom God intends that\nthey should benefit and bless in this world. Instead of being a help,\ntheir money is only a hindrance to their Christian life. They love their\nmoney so much that they permit the poor to go hungry, the destitute to\nbe unblessed, and the Church to be without the money necessary to carry\non its work. They allow the heathen to die in their ignorance. Selfishly\ngrasping their money, they neglect to do that for which God has given\nthem the means and the money.\n\n[Illustration: Light Obscured by Money.]\n\nI believe that money is a good thing. The Bible says that it is the\n_love_ of money, the undue love of it, that is the root of all evil.\nMoney itself is a blessing and not a curse; therefore I want to show you\nhow this dollar can be made to help in making this light shine even more\nbrightly. You will see that if I have this side of the dollar ground off\nand polished, so that it is very smooth and bright like a little\nlooking-glass, and then place it back of the candle, instead of acting\nas it did when I placed the dollar between you and the candle, it will\nthen reflect the light and throw the rays of light out further than they\ncould otherwise shine. It helps to accomplish for the candle the same\nimportant service which the great reflector does when placed behind the\nlamp in the headlight of the railway engine, throwing the light way down\nthe track in advance of the coming of the train.\n\nIn the same way, when a Christian has money, you see how he can readily\nuse it in such a way as to enable him to accomplish a very great and\ngrand work in the world. The man who has lots of money and has a\nconsecrated heart, and who is willing to use his money to help him in\nhis work for Christ, will be able to accomplish very much more than the\nman who has no money. He can use his money in such a way that it will\nenable him to cast a light in many a dark corner of the earth, to bring\nlight in many a desolate home, and to cast the rays of his Christian\ninfluence even across the ocean into benighted heathen lands. In this\nway his money can be used as I could use this dollar if it were\npolished, and thus carry his influence to the ends of the earth and to\nthe end of time, and become a great blessing to himself and to others\nfor all eternity.\n\n[Illustration: Money as a Reflector.]\n\nJesus said, \"Men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on\na candle-stick that it may give light to all that are in the house.\"\nThere are some people who do not like to let their light shine for\nChrist. They do not want others to know that they are Christians. They\ndo not want others to know that they are trying to be good. And so they\nseek to conceal their light, to hide it, as Jesus says, \"under a\nbushel.\" If you were to light a candle and put it under a bushel, or\nunder a box, the box would prevent it from shining, and therefore you\nwould not know that there was any light at all in the room.\n\nBut I want to show you, by the aid of this large necked bottle, what is\nthe effect of our trying to hide our light. I have chosen this bottle\nbecause you can see through it, and observe what is going on inside of\nthis glass bushel or bottle. The neck being very large, you can readily\nsee that the light is not absolutely smothered. Now, when I place this\nbottle over the light, you will see how very quickly it begins to grow\ndim, and then more dim until it dies out altogether. There, you see, it\nhas gone out already! Just as quickly as it burns out from the air in\nthe bottle the oxygen which it contains, the light dies, because it has\nnothing to feed upon. If I had not placed this bottle over it, it would\nhave continued to burn.\n\n[Illustration: Light Under a Bushel.]\n\nJust so it is with those who try to hide their light under a bushel.\nAfter the light has been placed there, it gradually grows more faint,\nand more faint, and then goes out in darkness. You can never be a\nChristian if you are ashamed of Christ. You must be willing to let your\nlight shine; you must be willing to confess Christ before men; you must\nbe willing to have other boys and girls know that you are a Christian,\nand that you are trying to do right. Then with God's help you will\nsucceed. But if you try to hide your light under a bushel, you will\nnever succeed in being a Christian.\n\nHere is another bottle. I am sure that the shape of this bottle will\nsuggest to you the kind of stuff which is oftentimes sold in this kind\nof a flask. Sometimes when young men have given their hearts to Christ,\nand young women too for that matter, they go out in company and are\ninvited to take a drink of wine or a drink of beer, or something else,\nand without any purpose or thought of ever becoming a drunkard, often\nthey soon form the habit of drinking. Soon they have formed a love for\nthe taste of liquor, and before ever they know it, like hundreds of\nthousands of others who have preceded them, they have become fond of\nliquor, and are on a fair road to become drunkards. As soon as a young\nman starts out in this direction he takes the road that leads down to\ndeath and destruction, and the love of God which he had in his heart\nsoon dies out. Let me place this bottle over the candle. You will now\nsee how the candle begins to grow dim, and the light shines more and\nmore dim, after a very few seconds, you will find that it goes out in\ndarkness, the same as it did under the other bottle.\n\n[Illustration: A Dangerous Bottle.]\n\nLet me say to you, always carefully avoid the terrible and destructive\ninfluences of drink, of which this bottle is the symbol. If you want to\nkeep the love of God in your heart you must never, never take the first\nstep which leads toward the love of liquor, toward intemperance and a\ndrunkard's grave.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Can an unlighted candle give light?\n Can a candle light itself? Who must first give us\n the light if we are to be a light to the world?\n Can the light of the candle shine through a silver\n dollar? If a silver dollar is polished like a\n little looking-glass and placed behind the light,\n what does it do? Does this suggest how we can use\n our money to send the light to the heathen? Under\n what kind of a measure does the Bible warn against\n hiding our light? When people light a candle, do\n they put it under a bushel or on a candlestick? If\n it is put under a bushel what is the result? Is\n that the result with people who are ashamed to be\n known as Christians? Does intoxicating drink often\n put out the light of Christian people? How can all\n persons avoid the use of liquor? (By never taking\n the first glass.)\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nA BROKEN CHAIN.\n\nBREAKING THE WHOLE LAW.\n\n SUGGESTION:--A chain of any kind, even a watch\n chain, will answer. Children could use paste-board\n and cut out ten links to represent the Ten\n Commandments. These links could be numbered and\n the older children could be asked to repeat the\n Ten Commandments in their order.\n\n\nMY LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: I have here a chain; it is very strong indeed.\nIt has ten links in it. You will remember how that, more than three\nthousand years ago, God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai.\nThese Ten Commandments are often called the Decalogue, because there are\nten of them; the Greek word _deka_ means ten.\n\n[Illustration: A Broken Chain.]\n\nNow the Bible tells us that \"whosoever will keep the whole law, and yet\noffend in one point, he is guilty of all.\" (James ii:10.)\n\n[Illustration: \"Suspended Over the Edge of a Great Rock.\"]\n\nWhen a boy, I often wondered how it was that when a person broke one of\nthe Commandments he was guilty of breaking the whole law. I could not\nunderstand it. Now, I desire to illustrate this truth to you to-day.\nSuppose that I were suspended over the edge of a great rock by this\nchain. If the chain should break, I would be plunged headlong, hundreds\nof feet down a very great embankment, upon rocks at the bottom of the\nchasm, and lose my life. You will readily see that it would not be\nnecessary to break every link in this chain before I would begin to\nfall. In order to break this chain, it is only necessary to break a\nsingle link. The moment one link breaks, the entire continuity of the\nchain is broken.\n\nI think you will see that it is just the same way with the law of God.\nIf you break one of these Commandments, you have broken the law. If you\nfail to \"remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,\" or if you disobey\nyour parents, and thus break the Commandment which says, \"honor thy\nfather and thy mother,\" or any other of the Commandments--if you break a\nsingle one, you have broken the entire chain of the Ten Commandments.\n\nNow, there are a great many laws in this land of ours. There are laws\nagainst murder, and there are laws against stealing, and there are laws\nagainst getting drunk, and thousands of other laws. If a man simply\nsteals and should be caught in the act and brought before the judge, he\nwould be convicted of the crime and be sent to prison. It is not\nnecessary that a man should be a murderer and a thief and a robber, and\nshould be guilty of breaking all the laws of this land, before he is\ncast in prison. It is simply enough that he should have violated one\nlaw. By breaking only one law he becomes a criminal, and therefore he is\ncast into prison. The man who has committed but one murder has his\nentire liberty taken from him. The man who has been caught in the act of\nstealing but a single time is adjudged a thief, and all his liberty is\ntaken from him.\n\nSo I think you will see that, in order to become a criminal, it is not\nnecessary that we should break all the laws of the land, but if we break\na single law we become criminals. So it is with the law of God; if we\nbreak only one of the Ten Commandments we are criminals before God, we\nare guilty of all.\n\nNow the laws which men make in this and every other country are human\nlaws. They are not absolutely perfect. They are changed and improved\nfrom time to time. But the Psalmist tells us, and we all know it to be\ntrue, that \"The law of the Lord is perfect,\" and God requires us to keep\nHis law. He says, \"My son forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my\ncommandments; for length of days and long life and peace, shall they add\nto thee.\" (Prov. iii:1.) If you and I are faithful in the keeping of\nGod's law, then we can say like David, \"I shall not be ashamed when I\nhave respect unto all of thy commandments.\" (Psalm cxix:6.)\n\nNow, if I take this chain, and attempt to break it, I find that God has\nnot given me sufficient strength. Samson could have snapped it in a\nmoment, but I am not strong enough. God has given to some men much more\nstrength than to others.\n\nIf I were to pull very hard on this chain so as to break it, where do\nyou suppose it would break first? Why the weakest link in the entire\nchain would be the first to break. No chain is stronger than its weakest\nlink. So it is with you and with me, our greatest goodness is no greater\nthan our greatest weakness. When men want to think how good they are,\nthey think of the best things they have ever done. But the fact is that\nno man is better than the worst things he has ever done. A man who has\ncommitted murder is a murderer. He might have done hundreds of good\nthings, but the law does not estimate him by the best things he has\ndone. The law estimates that man by the worst thing he has done, and by\nthat worst thing he is judged and condemned. And so it is with you and\nme before God. The worst things which we have ever done will be the\nthings which will condemn us in the sight of the Judge of all the world.\n\nWhile I am not able to break this metal chain, yet God has made it\npossible for every person to break the chain of the moral law. God has\ngiven human freedom to all men; He has told us what we should do, but\nHe has left us free to obey or to disobey.\n\nNow, when we examine into the requirements of the Ten Commandments, we\nfind that everybody has violated some one or more of them at some time.\nThere is not a man or woman or child any where who is not guilty of\nhaving broken God's law. And when I turn to the Scriptures, I find in\nGalatians the third chapter, 10th verse, that God says, \"Cursed is every\none that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of\nthe law to do them.\" I see then by God's Word that we are all sinners,\nthat we are all guilty before God, because we have violated His law, and\nnext Sunday I will tell you what is to be done in view of the fact that\nwe are all guilty before God.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What are the different parts of a\n chain called? How many links must be broken in\n order to break the chain? What did God give to\n Moses on Mount Sinai? How many commandments are\n there? Who makes the laws for the nation, the\n state and the city? Are laws perfect which are\n made by men? Do human laws change? Is God's law\n perfect? Do moral laws ever change? Was there ever\n a time or a place where it was right to lie, or\n steal or murder? Will there ever be such a time or\n place? How many murders must a man commit before\n he is a murderer? How often must he steal before\n he is a thief? Are men put into prison for\n breaking a single law? Is the entirety of God's\n law violated if we break only one commandment?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLOOKING-GLASS.\n\nSEEING OURSELVES IN GOD'S LAW.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The object used is a looking-glass of\n any desired size.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: In my sermon last Sunday, I showed you that God\nhad made the law perfect, but that none of us has perfectly kept the\nlaw, that we have all broken the law, and God has said, \"Cursed is every\none that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of\nthe law to do them.\" (Gal. iii:10.)\n\nIf the law is perfect, and no one has ever kept it perfectly, but all\nhave broken the law in some one way or another, and on that account all\nare guilty before God, you may ask, what is the purpose of the law? Why\ndid God make the law? Now, I desire to explain that to you to-day.\n\nI have here a looking-glass. Now the Bible compares the law to a\nlooking-glass. In the epistle or letter of James, in the first chapter,\nwe are told, \"If any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like\nunto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth\nhimself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of\nman he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and\ncontinueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the\nwork, this man shall be blessed in his deed.\" (James i:23-25.)\n\n[Illustration: Seeing Ourselves in the Looking-Glass of God's Law]\n\nIn other words, the Bible means to say that the law of God is like a\nlooking-glass. When we read the law of God, we see just what God\nrequires that we should both be and do. He enables us to see what He\nrequires of us. It shows us also how imperfect we are. It shows us our\nsins. It reveals to us the importance of doing something in order to get\nrid of our sins.\n\nIt is just like a man whose face is all dirty. When he goes to the\nlooking-glass and looks into it he sees the dirt upon his face. If he\ndid not look into the glass, other people might see that his face was\ndirty, but he would not see it himself. But when he looks into the\nglass, he sees for himself that his face is all black and dirty.\n\nNow, when the man finds that his face is all dirty, he does not take the\nlooking-glass with which to wash his face. The looking-glass was not\nmade to wash our faces with. It was only made to show us that our faces\nneeded to be washed. And then, instead of using the looking-glass to\nwash our faces, we go and use soap and water.\n\nNow, the looking-glass did not make the man's face black, neither will\nit wash his face. It simply shows him that his face is dirty.\n\nSo it is with the law of God. The law of God does not make us sinful. We\nare sinful, whether there be any law or not. The law is simply designed\nto show us that we are sinners, and that we are wicked, and that we need\na Saviour. And when this law reveals to us our sin, and shows us our\nneed of a Saviour, it purposes, as we are told in the Scriptures, to\nlead us to Christ (Galatians iii:24.) No man can cleanse or wash away\nhis sins by the aid of the law. But the law plainly shows him his sins,\nand then leads him to Christ--to the fountain which has been opened for\nsin and uncleanness. It is all very beautifully expressed in that hymn\nwhich, I trust, you all know:\n\n \"There is a fountain filled with blood,\n Drawn from Immanuel's veins;\n And sinners plunged beneath that flood,\n Lose all their guilty stains.\"\n\nNow, I want to tell you the effect of coming to this fountain and\nwashing. When we come to Christ our sins and guilt are washed away, and\nwe become more like Christ. And then we grow up into His likeness and\ninto His image. (Eph. iv: 13.) We become more and more like the Lord\nJesus Christ from day to day. This change which takes place in our\nhearts and in our lives is very wonderful. We cannot understand it, but\nwe cease to be intentionally wicked. More and more we become holy. It is\nthis wonderful change which is referred to in Second Corinthians, third\nchapter and the 18th verse, where it says, \"But we all, with open face\nbeholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same\nimage from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.\"\n\nI think now, you will understand why we have the law. It is not to make\nus wicked, for we are wicked already. But it is to show us our\nwickedness, it is to reveal to us the fact that we are sinners, and that\nwe are lost and undone without a Saviour. And then it reveals the Lord\nJesus Christ to us, and we come to Him, the same as men with blackened\nfaces go to the fountain to wash. So we come with our sins and our guilt\n\"to the fountain which has been opened for sin and uncleanness,\" and we\nwash all our sins and guilt away; and then we are changed into His image\nand into His likeness, from glory to glory, until at last, in the world\non high, we awake in the likeness of Jesus.\n\n QUESTIONS.--To what does the Bible compare the law\n of God? For what purpose do people use a\n looking-glass? What does a man whose face is dirty\n see in the glass? What does it show that his face\n needs? Does it suggest that he should wash his\n face with the looking-glass? What does he use with\n which to wash his face? What does God's law show\n us? Does the law make us sinful? Can the law\n remove the effects of sin? Who is the fountain for\n the cleansing of our sin? Are we saved by the law,\n or by the grace of God?\n\n\n\n\nRAIN.\n\nGOD'S WISDOM AND POWER.\n\n SUGGESTION:--A bottle partly filled with dust from\n the roadway will help to illustrate the condition\n which would quite universally prevail if the earth\n were not refreshed with frequent rains.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: In view of the fact that the weather is so very\nwarm, the earth so dried and parched and we have had no rain for a\nperiod of weeks, I thought it might be useful to-day to consider what\nwould be the result if God should withhold the rain altogether, and then\nto tell you how, or in what manner God brings us the rain and refreshes\nthe earth and makes it fruitful.\n\nIn order that you might see something of the present condition of the\nearth, I have brought in this bottle some dust, taken from the centre of\nthe road. As I turn the bottle around, you see how dry it is and how it\nfloats in the air, leaving the inside of this bottle all powdered with\ndust. The dust in this bottle is only a sample of what all the earth\nwould soon become, if God did not send rain at frequent intervals\nthroughout the year. I suppose you could all tell me of a number of\ninstances in the Old Testament where we have accounts of drouths that\nextended throughout a period of years, and of the hunger and famine and\ndeath which followed.\n\nWhen you are out of doors and look about you, you cannot but be\nimpressed with how dry and dusty the trees and grass and everything\nabout you is. If this dry weather were to continue long you could\nunderstand that soon everything would wither and die, and if it were to\ncontinue for a few years, men and beasts would not only die of thirst,\nbut even the air itself would suck out from our bodies the moisture that\nis in our blood, and death would speedily follow. But if you were to\nremove all the moisture from the air, the earth would not only become\nbarren, but it would become intensely cold. It is due to the moisture\nwhich is in the atmosphere that the warmth which comes to the earth from\nthe sun is retained near the earth after the sun has gone down. If it\nwere not so, even in a summer's night after the sun has gone down, the\ncoldness which exists above the clouds would quickly come in contact\nwith the earth, and the cold would become so intense that every person\nand every living thing would be in danger of being frozen to death in a\nsingle night.\n\nYou will remember that the great Sahara Desert is a vast tract of\nthousands of square miles where no rain falls, and where the heat is\nintense. There is, however, much moisture in the air that floats over\nthe plains, but the reason that no rain falls is because there are no\nmountains in that portion of the globe for thousands of miles.\n\nNow suppose that there were to be no rain at all, and people should\nundertake to water the earth by bringing the water from the rivers. On\nan average of about thirty-three inches of rain fall upon the surface of\nthe entire earth each year, in some places more, in others less. The\nweight of this water in one single square mile would be nearly two and\none-half millions of tons, and if this water which falls upon one single\nsquare mile had to be drawn in cars, it would require 100,000 carloads\nof water to keep this one single mile as wet as God usually keeps it\nthroughout the year by the rain from heaven. I think you will see, from\nwhat I have said, that all the cars in the entire United States, and\nthere are hundreds of thousands of them, would not be sufficient to haul\nwater from the rivers for any considerable distance to keep more than\nten miles square of earth watered. But you can also see that if all\nthese cars were to be run on a piece of ground only ten miles square,\nthat entire piece of ground would be almost completely covered with\nrailroad tracks, and we would scarcely be able to raise anything on it\nin the way of grain or vegetables or food of any kind. But even if we\ncould successfully water ten miles square of land, what would that be\ncompared with the absolute necessity of watering the entire continent\nand all the continents of the globe in order to make life possible upon\nthe earth. Now the question arises, how does God accomplish this great\nresult?\n\n[Illustration: Train of Cars.]\n\nI suppose you have all noticed the teakettle when it is upon the stove\nand the steam is coming out of the spout, and around the lid. You have\nthere had a practical demonstration of how God can cause the water,\nwhich is 800 times heavier than the atmosphere or the air, to rise and\nfloat, for you know that any substance heavier than air will always fall\nto the earth. In the instance of the teakettle you will see how heat\ncauses the water to become steam and thus to rise in the air and float\naway, rising to the height of the clouds which float two, three and\nfour and sometimes more miles high above the earth.\n\nNow, just in this same way God makes the heat from the rays of the sun\nto cause that from every river and lake and all the expanse of the\nocean, as well as from the surface of the earth, there shall constantly\narise a very fine vapor, which, although it is somewhat like steam, is\nstill so much finer that you and I cannot see it with our unaided eyes.\nIt is by means of this vapor that God raises the moisture from the\noceans and all bodies of water and from the earth, to fall again in\ngentle showers.\n\n[Illustration: Steam Rising from Teakettle.]\n\nBut when this vapor has been lifted up from the ocean, you will see\nreadily that if it were to descend again in rain upon the very places\nfrom which it had been lifted it would accomplish no good. It is\nnecessary that instead of falling back into the ocean and into the lakes\nand rivers, it must be carried over the land. So you see that we might\naptly compare the vapor to a great pump, by means of which God lifts\nmillions of gallons of water every hour from the sea into the\natmosphere.\n\nNow just the same as men load grain and fruit and other things into the\ncars to ship them to some distant place, so God loads these vapors into\nthe atmosphere or into the clouds. When the clouds are all loaded with\nvapor, or that which is to descend upon the earth in the form of rain,\nGod sends the winds, and these winds blow the clouds from over the ocean\nfar inward over the land until they come to the place where God wants\nto pour them out in showers and rain, and in snow and blessing.\n\n[Illustration: Clouds and Rain.]\n\nBut now, you will see that there is another difficulty. When all this\nvast quantity of water is held in the clouds, a mile or two above the\nearth, if it were to be poured out, it would come with such force upon\nthe earth that it would destroy every living thing. Now, as God used the\nwarmth from the sun as His agent to lift the water into the clouds, so\nalso, when He desires to unload the clouds, to pour the rain upon the\nearth, He causes the warm air which carries the water to be blown upon\nby the colder air which floats above it, and as the heat lifted the\nwater, so the cold causes it to descend; and immediately it begins to\nform as clouds, one particle or atom of moisture touches another, and\nthe two form the larger atom, and these again unite with others, until\nfinally a drop is formed, and it begins to descend and comes down in\ngentle showers upon the earth as though it were sifted through a very\nfine sieve. These small drops fall upon the earth so gently as not even\nto bruise the leaf of the tenderest flower or the tenderest insect that\nwalks upon the earth.\n\nPossibly some children may not fully understand, but the older ones will\nget some idea of the vast quantity of water which God pours upon the\nearth, when they are reminded that all the water that flows in the\nrivers has been let down from the clouds. God is daily pumping up from\nthe ocean and other bodies of water rivers as vast as the combined\nwaters of the Mississippi, Missouri, Susquehanna, the Hudson, and every\ncreek and streamlet and river that flows, not only on this continent,\nbut in all the world. And God is doing this constantly by His own\ninfinite wisdom and infinite might. The machinery with which men pump\nthe water from the river for the supply of a single city wears out; but\nthese great engines with which God is constantly keeping the earth\nsupplied with water for man and beast, for tree and flower, for garden\nand field, never wear out. Truly with the prophet we may exclaim: \"He\nthat calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out on the face\nof the land: the Lord is His name.\" (Amos v: 8.)\n\nFrom what I have said I think you will all see how constantly we are\ndependent upon God for everything which we enjoy. If God were to\nwithhold the rain or the sunshine, famine and want and death would soon\nfollow. Yet in the most wonderful way God is constantly providing that\nwith which we are daily to be fed and always to be clothed. God is not\nunmindful of us. He never forgets, but in His own good time and in His\nown most wondrous way He sends us the rain and every needed blessing.\n\nGod never forgets us, but I fear that we often forget Him and forget\nwhen we drink the refreshing glass of clear, cool water, that it is God\nwho gave it to us. When you sit down at the table, do you remember that\nit is God who gives you the food, and do you thank Him for the food\nwhich He gives you, or do you, like the unmannerly boy who receives a\ngift and never thanks the donor, sit down and eat and go away without\never thanking God the Giver? When He watches over and keeps you during\nthe night, do you forget to kneel down and thank Him in the morning?\nWhen day after day He clothes you, do you thank him? When He feeds and\nclothes you, do you love and serve Him, or do you accept of these\nblessings and then run off and serve Satan, God's great enemy?\n\nThese are serious questions, and I trust you will think seriously of\nthem, and daily, when you receive God's blessings, that you will turn to\nHim in grateful thanksgiving and faithful service.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What would the entire earth become if\n there should be no rain? If all moisture were\n removed from the atmosphere, what would be the\n result? What is the average rainfall? What is the\n weight of rainfall in a single square mile? How\n many cars would it require to carry water for one\n square mile? How does God accomplish this? How is\n the water raised up from the sea and the rivers?\n Can you explain it by the teakettle? Where does\n God store this vapor? How do the clouds carry the\n moisture to the places which need it? How does the\n moisture in the clouds fall? Does God do all\n things wisely and well? Is God ever unmindful of\n our needs? Do you ever forget to thank Him? Do you\n always remember to serve Him?\n\n\n\n\nSNOW.\n\nTHE LESSONS WHICH IT TEACHES.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: When God desired to set Job to thinking, among\nother questions He asked him: Canst thou enter into the treasures of the\nsnow? (Job xxxviii: 22.) While coming to church to-day, when I saw you\nfrolicking and glad in the midst of the snow, which was falling all\nabout you, I wondered whether you had ever stopped to think much about\nthe snow. So I thought to ask you the question which God asked of Job\nnearly thirty-five hundred years ago: \"Hast thou entered into the\ntreasures of the snow?\"\n\nWhen you were all so glad on account of this first snowstorm of the\nwinter, did you stop to think that the snow comes from God? Now like\neverything else which comes from God, the snow is wonderful. No\nphilosopher has ever yet been able fully to explain how the snow is\nformed and to tell us all about it, and I do not suppose that all the\nmysteries concerning it will ever be fully and perfectly solved. It is\nwonderful, however, because it comes down so lightly and noiselessly. It\ndrops upon the earth almost like feathers, covering the ground, hanging\nupon the limbs of the trees and shaping them into things of strange\nbeauty, piling up on the post by the side of your gate, until perhaps it\nlooks more like the white man from the flour mill than like that to\nwhich people tie horses. Yet it comes down so noiselessly that we\nscarcely notice it.\n\nWhen the snow falls upon the ground a foot deep it is said to be equal\nin weight to one inch of rain. Now one foot of snow, on one square mile\nof street, would weigh, it is estimated, about sixty-four thousand tons.\nIf this snow, which covers only one square mile, were placed in wagons\nloaded with one ton each, and allowing sufficient space for these teams\nto move one behind another, these wagons would make a string or\nprocession reaching from Philadelphia to New York, and from New York up\nthe Hudson River almost to the city of Albany. I am sure you will be\nastonished at this, but when you consider that some snowstorms cover\nthousands of square miles, and are sometimes more than one foot deep,\nyou will see how increasingly wonderful it is that all this great weight\nfalls so gently upon the earth as to produce no disturbance, no shock,\nand generally goes away as quietly and peaceably as it came.\n\nLike everything else that God has made, the snow is very beautiful. Did\nyou ever hear that poem which begins:\n\n \"Beautiful snow! beautiful snow!\n Falling so lightly,\n Daily and nightly,\n Alike 'round the dwellings of the lofty and low;\n Horses are prancing,\n Cheerily dancing,\n Stirred with the spirit that comes from the snow.\"\n\nWe oftentimes think that God is seen in the fields and flowers in the\nspring and summer, but He is also seen in the beautiful snow of winter.\nIf you will let some of the snow fall upon the sleeve of your coat and\nthen examine it carefully, you will be surprised at its beauty. It is\nbeautiful when examined without a microscope, but much more beautiful\nand wonderful when examined with a microscope. Each flake is fashioned\ninto stellar shape. It is formed and fashioned by the same hand which\nmade the stars of the heavens and gave them their sparkle and beauty.\nEach flake is a beautiful crystal. Each somewhat like the others, and\nyet no two exactly alike. There are hundreds of varieties, each\nbeautiful and all glorious. These beautiful little snow stars are all\nformed with perfect geometrical accuracy. Some have three sides and\nangles, some six, others eight, and some have more. One resembles a\nsparkling cross, while others seem almost like the leaves of an open\nflower. Some are like single stars, others like double stars and\nclusters of stars; and although the ground in winter is covered with\nmyriads of them, yet each one is formed with as much correctness and\nbeauty as if God had made each one for special examination and as an\nexhibition of His infinite skill and divine perfection.\n\n[Illustration: Snow-flakes Magnified.]\n\nBut like everything else that God has made, the snow is also useful. You\nmay possibly have thought of it as affording excellent sport in sliding\ndown hill, enabling you to enjoy a sleigh ride behind horses with\njingling bells, affording opportunity for a snow-ball fight, or as\nfurnishing the material for making snow men or snow houses. In all these\nways the snow is a source of delight and pleasure to boys and girls, but\nafter all, the snow has a special mission in the world during the severe\ncold of the winter.\n\n[Illustration: A Winter Sleigh Ride.]\n\nThe severity of the cold is often greatly modified by the presence of\nsnow. The snow forms a warm mantle to protect the grass and grain\nfields. It wraps its soft warm covering around the plants, and thus\nprotects them from the frost. Many animals also take shelter in the\nbanks of snow, and are thus kept from being frozen to death. The snow of\nwinter is as important in securing our food and blessing as the rain of\nthe summer. As intense heat and the absence of rain produce the great\ndeserts of the earth, so intense cold and the absence of snow would\nproduce barren tracts upon the earth.\n\nNow, what are the lessons we may learn from what I have said? I think\nthe first lesson that we may learn is that God does everything\nperfectly. God is not in a hurry, as boys and girls often are when they\ndo not take time to learn their lessons thoroughly or to do their work\ncarefully. Perfection is one of God's attributes. We are impatient and\nimperfect. But God wants us to be perfect. We should constantly strive\nafter perfection. We are to seek after perfection here upon earth, and\nalthough we cannot hope to attain it fully in this world, yet we shall\nattain unto it in the world of blessedness beyond. Remember that\nwhatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.\n\nI think the second lesson that we may learn from what I have said, is\nthat God does everything with some good purpose in view. God not only\nhas a purpose in all that He does, but He has a purpose for good. Some\nboys and girls do things with a bad purpose. Now, God does not do\nanything with a bad purpose, and He would not have us do anything with a\nbad purpose. He has given us life and being upon the earth in order that\nwe may accomplish something grand and good. What is the purpose of your\nlife? What have you resolved to make the object which you shall seek to\nattain in this life? Have some noble purpose, some high aim in life.\nWhatever it shall be, let it always have in view the blessing and good\nof others and the glory of God.\n\nThe last lesson from this study of the snow is that God has made it a\nsymbol of purity. God is pure, and He wants us to be pure. Do you put\ntobacco in your mouth? Then your mouth is not pure. Do you use bad\nwords? If so, your mouth is not pure. Do you use your eyes to read\nworthless story papers and books, or to look at evil pictures? Then your\neyes and thoughts are not pure. Do you permit your ears to listen to\nimproper talk? Then your ears and mind are not pure. Do you harbor bad\nthoughts in your heart? Then your heart is not pure. Do you defile your\nbody by improper eating and drinking? If you do, then your body is not\npure. If you and I desire to be pure, we must go to God and earnestly\nask Him as David did when he cried unto God and said, \"Purge me with\nhyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.\"\n\nNow let us sing this beautiful hymn:\n\n \"Wash me and I shall be whiter than the snow.\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--About what did God ask Job, to set him\n thinking? Where does the snow come from? Does\n anyone know fully how the snow is formed? Is the\n snow as wonderful as it is beautiful? What do the\n flakes look like? Are they all formed alike? Are\n any two exactly alike? How is the snow useful in\n winter? Is snow as important in the winter as rain\n in the summer? Is God ever in a hurry? Are you\n always patient? What is worth doing well? Does God\n always have a purpose in whatever He does? Does\n God expect us to have a noble purpose? Of what is\n snow the symbol? Does God expect us all to be\n pure?\n\n\n\n\nPLASTIC FACE.\n\nCHARACTER IN THE COUNTENANCE.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The object used is a small plastic\n face such as are often sold in toy stores, and\n even on the streets in large cities. The head of a\n rubber doll would also answer the purpose.\n\n A couple of pictures of faces placed in bottles\n would illustrate the fact that as the faces are\n seen through the bottles, so our thoughts are not\n wholly hidden but shine through our faces.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: Here is a soft plastic face; by squeezing it on\nthe side I can make the face very long, and it looks very sober. If I\nplace the face between my thumb and fingers and press upon the chin and\nforehead it makes the face short, and makes it have a very pleasant\nappearance. I can make it look as though it were laughing, or make it\nseem to be angry and cross.\n\nJust so is it with our faces. When we feel pleasant our faces are short\nand drawn up; when we feel sober, or cross, or angry, they are\nlengthened and the character of the expression is entirely changed. You\nwould scarcely know the face were you to see it radiant with smiles and\npleasantness, and afterwards see the same face when the person is cross\nor angered. When you look at a person you can tell whether they are in\ngood humor, or whether they are displeased or angry.\n\n[Illustration: Frowns and Smiles.]\n\nDo you know, boys and girls, that our character and our disposition are\nseen in our faces? It is impossible for us to conceal our real selves,\neven though we might try. I will tell you how it is. If I were again and\nagain to press this face only in this way, so as to make it look very\nlong, after a time it would retain this expression. If I were to press\nit in this other way, so as to make it very short and give it a very\npleasant expression, and were to hold it in that position for a very\nlong time, it would assume that expression, and retain it constantly. It\nis just so with our faces. When a boy is angered again and again the\ndeep lines of his face become more and more permanent, until after a\ntime he comes to have a face which expresses anger. If a boy is kind and\ngood and generous, these feelings express themselves in his face, and if\nrepeated over and over again, day after day and year after year, it\nbecomes a permanent expression upon his face and the boy is known by\nall who meet him as a good-natured, pleasant and agreeable boy.\n\nI suppose that most all the boys and girls here can tell a minister when\nthey meet him on the street. And when you grow older I think you will\nnot only be able to tell that it is a minister, but you may be able to\ntell, possibly to what denomination the man belongs--whether he is a\nMethodist, or a Presbyterian, or an Episcopalian or a Lutheran, or to\nwhat denomination he belongs. This cannot always be told, but in many\ninstances this can be judged quite accurately. The study of the Bible\nand the contemplation of holy and good things inscribe themselves\nindelibly upon the face of those who give them thought and attention.\n\nBeneath a good and generous face you will find a good and generous\nheart. Beneath a bad face you will find a bad heart. If we are\nChristians we shall become more and more like Christ. We shall grow up\ninto His likeness, and into His image, and into His stature. We are told\nthat not only will we become more and more like Him, but that at last,\nin the great Resurrection, we shall behold Him as He is, and we shall be\nlike Him.\n\nIf I were to take some pictures and place them in a bottle they would\nshine out through the glass, and you could see them. So with the\nthoughts that are in your heart; they shine out through your face and\ngive expressions to it. Even when the body is suffering pain the heart\nmay be at rest. David, the Psalmist, said that God was \"the health of\nhis countenance.\" Even though his body was suffering pain his face might\nbe pleasant, because God was with him, making him happy in his heart.\nThere is an old adage that says, \"handsome is, that handsome does.\"\nThere are some young persons who may have a pretty face, and yet who may\nnot be righteous and holy in their hearts; but as they grow older their\ncharacter will shine out more and more, until at last their face shall\nbe entirely changed, and all that is bad in their hearts will appear in\ntheir faces. If you want a good face you must have a good heart. Take\nJesus into your heart, follow His teachings and imitate His example, and\nfrom year to year you will grow more and more like Him. Here is a very\nappropriate and beautiful poem, which was written by Miss Alice Carey.\n\n\nTAKE CARE.\n\n \"Little children, you must seek\n Rather to be good than wise,\n For the thoughts you do not speak\n Shine out in your cheeks and eyes.\n\n \"If you think that you can be\n Cross or cruel, and look fair,\n Let me tell you how to see\n You are quite mistaken there.\n\n \"Go and stand before the glass,\n And some ugly thought contrive,\n And my word will come to pass\n Just as sure as you're alive!\n\n \"What you have and what you lack,\n All the same as what you wear,\n You will see reflected back;\n So, my little folks, take care!\n\n \"And not only in the glass\n Will your secrets come to view;\n All beholders, as they pass,\n Will perceive and know them, too.\n\n \"Out of sight, my boys and girls,\n Every root of beauty starts;\n So think less about your curls,\n More about your minds and hearts.\n\n \"Cherish what is good, and drive\n Evil thoughts and feelings far;\n For, as sure as you're alive,\n You will show for what you are.\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--How will a plastic face look when you\n squeeze it on the head and on the chin? When\n persons are serious or angry, are their faces\n lengthened? When people laugh what happens to\n their faces? Suppose one were to be cross and ugly\n constantly what would occur? If a person were to\n laugh constantly, what would be the effect upon\n their face? Can you tell a minister when you see\n him? If you put pictures in a bottle do they shine\n through? Do thoughts in the heart shine through\n the face? Can you repeat that couplet which\n begins: \"Handsome is--\"? If we think Christ's\n thoughts constantly do we become more like Christ?\n If we think bad thoughts do we become unlike Him?\n What book is it which says: \"As a man thinketh in\n his heart, so is he\"?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nSEEDS.\n\nTHOUGHTS, WORDS, DEEDS--THEIR LIFE AND PERPETUITY.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Seeds, or grain and fruit of any kind\n can be used for illustration.\n\n\nMY YOUNG FRIENDS: I have here to-day quite a variety of seeds. Some of\nthem are very small, and some, as you see, are quite large. The seeds of\neach class have in them a principle of life, which makes them differ\nfrom sand, or small stones of similar size, because if I plant these\nseeds in the ground they will grow.\n\n[Illustration: Different Kinds of Seeds.]\n\nWhen you take different kinds of seeds, there is one thing that is very\ninteresting about them. It is the different kinds of coverings in which\nthey grow. For instance, if you take a chestnut, it grows in a burr with\nsharp thorny points; others are folded as though rolled up very tightly\nin leaves, as you will find in the hazel nut or filbert. Some seeds grow\nin rows, like beans and peas in a pod. Some grow in a very soft bed,\nlike cotton seeds. Some grow imbedded in a downy substance which blows\nall around, carrying the seed with it, like the thistle, and the light\nfuzz of the dandelion. Sometimes the seed is buried in the inside of\nfruit, as in the case of apples, pears, peaches, plums, and various\nother kinds of fruit. Sometimes it is buried beneath the beautiful\nleaves of the flower. So you see there is great variety.\n\nNow, these seeds may represent words. There are a great many varieties\nof words. All words have the principle of life in them, because they\nexpress thought; and these thoughts when received into our minds develop\ninto action. Therefore we say that words have a principle of life in\nthem, and it is important that we should be careful not to permit bad\nwords to have a place in our minds. Very often you will see boys and\ngirls reading worthless papers which they think will do them no injury.\nBut the fact is, that these boys are influenced in all their living by\nthat which they read in these papers. It might be very light and\ntrifling, but it tends to corrupt the mind, to give the boy false ideas\nof life, and it gives him such opinions as are not real, and therefore\nvery injurious to any one. It is much better that a boy's valuable time\nshould be spent in reading good books and good papers, and securing such\ninformation as will be of value and assistance to him all through life.\nFor the life of every boy and of every girl is a very great struggle,\nand no boy or girl can afford to waste time in the beginning. If they\nare ever to amount to anything in this world, it is important that they\nshould begin very early in life.\n\nI want to call your attention to another characteristic of these seeds.\nAnd that is when a single seed is planted, it grows up and produces a\nvery great number of other seeds. If you plant a seed of wheat, it will\nproduce 30, 60, or sometimes 100 other seeds. If you plant one sunflower\nseed it might produce as many as 4,000 seeds. If you plant one single\nthistle seed, it has been known to produce as high as 24,000 seeds in a\nsingle summer. If you were to plant only one grain of corn and let it\ngrow until it is ripe, and then plant the seeds again which grew on\nthese few ears of corn, and thus continue to re-plant again and again,\nwe are told by those who have calculated it very carefully, that in only\nfive short years the amount of corn that could be grown as the result of\nthe planting of the one single seed would be sufficient to plant a hill\nof corn, with three grains in every square yard of all the dry land on\nall the earth. In ten years the product would be sufficient to plant not\nonly this entire world, both land and sea, but all the planets, or\nworlds which circle around our sun, and some of them are even a thousand\ntimes larger than our own globe. So you see that there is wonderful\nmultiplying power in the different kinds of grain which you plant.\n\nSo it is with the thoughts and the words which we have in our minds.\nGood thoughts enter into good acts, and these acts influence others just\nas though the same thought was sown into their minds, and then it\nsprings up into their lives and influences them. Just so when we have\nread a book, whether the book is good or bad, its influence goes on\nreproducing itself, over and over again in our lives, every time in a\nmultiplied form. Suppose with your money you send some Bibles to the\nheathen, and as a result a single person is converted. Immediately that\nperson would influence other heathen people whom he would meet, and so,\none after the other, these heathen would be influenced as the result of\nwhat you have done. This good influence would go on repeating itself\nover and over again, as long as the world shall stand, and only in\neternity would the wonderful results of what you have done be fully\nknown. So it is with all that we say and all that we do; it goes on\nrepeating and multiplying itself over and over again.\n\n[Illustration: Pyramids.]\n\n[Illustration: Egyptian Mummies.]\n\nNow, there is another interesting feature of these seeds to which I\nwant to call your attention. And that is that the life in the seed may\ncontinue for a very long time, even hundreds of years. Over in Egypt,\ncenturies ago, they built large pyramids, and when a king died, instead\nof burying his body in the ground, they embalmed it with spices and\ndried it, so that it would not decay. Then they wrapped it up in cloths,\nand with these cloths and bandages they sometimes wrapped wheat or some\nother kind of grain. Some of these mummies, for so they are called,\nwhich have been buried possibly twenty-five hundred years, have been\nfound; and when the wheat has been taken out of the hands of these\nmummies and planted in the ground, under favorable conditions, it has\ngrown just the same as the wheat which was harvested from the fields\nonly last summer. The life which was in the seed had not been destroyed\nby the many hundreds of years which have passed since it was placed in\nthe hand of the mummy.\n\nSome years ago there was a very interesting case of this kind in\nEngland. At Dorchester they were digging down some thirty feet below the\nsurface, and at that depth they came upon the remains of the body of a\nman, with which there had been buried some coins. By the date upon the\ncoins, they knew that this body had been buried at least seventeen\nhundred years. In the stomach was found quite a large quantity of\nraspberry seeds. The man had doubtless eaten a large number of\nraspberries, and then might have been accidentally killed very soon\nafterward, so that the seeds were not injured by the gastric juices of\nthe stomach. These seeds were taken to the Horticultural Garden, and\nthere they were planted. What do you think! After seventeen hundred\nyears and more, these seeds grew, and in a short time there was an\nabundant fruitage of raspberries, just the same as though the seeds had\nbeen gathered from raspberries which grew only the year before. Although\nhidden and seemingly dead, yet these seeds retained their life for\nseventeen hundred years or more.\n\nIn this same way there is a deathless power in the words which we speak,\neven though they are spoken hastily and without thought upon our part.\nOur words have in them the element of a life which is well-nigh endless.\nYou may yourself remember some unkind words which were spoken to you\nmonths and months ago. The boy or girl who spoke them may have forgotten\nall about them, but you still remember them, and they cause you pain\nevery time you think of them. Or it may be that some kind person has\nspoken tenderly and affectionately to you. The person himself may have\nbeen so accustomed to speaking kindly that he forgot entirely what he\nhad said, but his kind words still live in your memory. There is a\nbeautiful hymn written some years ago, which begins: \"Kind words can\nnever die.\"\n\nAbout fifty years ago there were some boys in a school yard playing\nmarbles. Two other boys were playing tag. One of the boys who were\nplaying tag chanced to run across the ring in which the boys were\nplaying marbles. One of these boys was accustomed to speaking ugly words\nand doing very hasty and cruel things. He sprang to his feet and kicked\nthe boy who had run across the ring, wounding him in the right knee. The\ninjury was of such a nature that the bones of that leg below the knee\nnever grew any more, and as a result, for over forty years that boy has\nhad to walk on crutches. You see how permanent the result of this injury\nhas been; and the results of unkind words may be just as injurious and\nno less permanent than the unreasonable and wicked thing which this boy\ndid in his anger.\n\nYou may sometimes be discouraged because the kind words which you speak\nand the kind deeds which you do seem to fail of a good result. But you\ncan be assured that even though you grow to old age and your body were\nto be laid away in the grave, yet sometime, in the lives of those who\ncome after you, the good you have done will surely bear its fruitage of\nblessing.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Are there many different kinds of\n seeds? Do apple trees ever grow from peach seeds?\n Do good thoughts grow from bad words, or bad\n thoughts from good words? Do seeds have a\n principle of life in them? Do words and thoughts\n have a principle of life? How many centuries have\n seeds been known to retain their life? Have the\n teachings of the Bible retained their life for\n many hundreds of years? Into what do good thoughts\n turn? (Acts). Into what do good acts turn?\n (Character). Can any boy or girl afford to use\n their time in reading worthless books or papers?\n Do words and deeds have the element of unending\n life in them? Is it a dangerous thing to get\n angry? What did one of the boys who were playing\n marbles do to the boy who ran across the ring? As\n the result, how many years has the injured boy\n walked with crutches? Will the good that we do be\n as permanent as the evil that we might do?\n\n\n\n\nSOWING.\n\nTHE SPRING TIME OF LIFE.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The object used is a bag or sack, or\n a pillow slip would answer the same purpose, hung\n about the neck as a farmer uses it when sowing\n seed. While this is not essential, it can be used\n if desired.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: Spring is the most pleasant season of the year;\nthe snow has melted, the cold weather has passed away, and now the warm,\npleasant days have come. The trees are all in blossom, the fields look\nbeautiful, and the air is full of sweetness. If you go into the country\nat this season of the year you will find the farmers plowing their\nfields, and some are sowing grain. The spring wheat has already been\nsown, the oat fields will soon begin to look green, and in the course of\na few weeks the farmers will be planting their corn.\n\nIt must have been at a corresponding period of the year in the East,\nwhen Jesus spoke those beautiful words which are found in the 13th\nchapter of St. Matthew, contained in the parable of the sower who went\nout to sow. A great multitude of people had gathered to hear the words\nwhich fell from the lips of Jesus. They could no longer gain admission\ninto the house, and so Jesus went down by the sea, or the large lake,\nand getting into a boat he pushed out just a little way from the shore,\nso all the people standing along the shore could see and hear Him, and\nthen He began to preach to them. Just back of them on the plain was a\nfarmer who was more intent upon sowing his field than upon listening to\nthe words of the Saviour. As Jesus saw him pacing to and fro across the\nfield, scattering the grain in the furrows, Jesus very likely pointed to\nthe man, calling the attention of the multitude to what he was doing,\nand said to the people, \"Behold a sower went forth to sow,\" and then\ncalled the attention of the people to the character of the soil in the\ndifferent places where the seed fell.\n\nIn the country the farmers use a sack or bag. After having tied the\nopposite ends together, they hang this over their neck and shoulder, and\nwith the right hand left free, they march up and down the field, sowing\nthe grain. This sowing is not so common any more, because farmers now\noften plant their grain fields with a machine called a drill.\n\nWith this sack suspended about the neck, in this way, the farmer reaches\nin and takes out a small handful of seed, and then swinging his hand,\nthrows the seed over a considerable portion of the ground. Thus he walks\nfrom one end of the field to the other, sowing the seed, until he has\nthe entire field sown and ready for the men who follow with the harrow\nto cover up the grain.\n\nWell, boys and girls, this is the spring-time of life with you. These\nare the pleasant days and years of your life. You have very little care.\nYet it is, nevertheless, the spring-time. You are now making\npreparations which will tell what is to be the harvest in the later\nyears of your lives. As the farmer goes out and plows the field, so by\ndiscipline and by counsel, and by instruction are your parents preparing\nyour minds and hearts that in after years you may enjoy a harvest of\ngreat blessing.\n\n[Illustration: Behold a Sower went Forth to Sow]\n\nIn the spring-time of life, when young persons are to do the sowing,\nthey need much careful counsel and instruction. I suppose that there are\nmany boys and girls who, if they were to go into the country, could not\ntell the difference between wheat and barley, or oats and rye. Some\nmight not even be able to distinguish between oats and buckwheat. If\nthe farmer were to send you out to sow, you would, most likely, sow the\nwrong kind of grain. In the same manner, it is important that you should\nbe directed by your parents, because they can distinguish between right\nand wrong. They know what you should do, and what you should not do.\nTherefore it is important that they should direct you in the\nspring-time, lest you should sow the wrong kind of grain. And you know\nthe Bible says: \"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.\"\n\n[Illustration: Wheat and Tares.]\n\nIt is not only difficult for those who have never seen something of life\nin the country, to distinguish between the different kinds of grain\nwhich the farmer sows, but even after the grain begins to grow, it is\nsometimes difficult, even for those who are familiar with country life,\nto distinguish between the true and the false. In that same thirteenth\nchapter of the gospel by St. Matthew, to which I referred in the\nbeginning, Jesus tells of a farmer who sowed his field with wheat, and\nwhile he slept an enemy came and sowed tares. Of course he could not\ndiscover this until the grain began to grow. When it began to get ripe,\nthen for the first could he distinguish between the stalks of the wheat\nand the stalks of the tares. By doing this wicked thing the enemy gave\nthe farmer a great deal of trouble. Just so it is with you when you have\ntried to do right, Satan comes and puts evil thoughts and wicked\npurposes into your mind, and then if you permit these to grow up, you\nwill find that they will give you a great deal of trouble. It is\nimportant that only the good seed should be sown in the field of your\nheart, and in the field of your mind, so that you may have a fruitage\nthat shall be wholly good.\n\nSometimes you see boys and girls who are doing things which you would\nlike to do, but your mother and father tell you that you should not. You\nmay not be pleased because you are restrained from doing what you would\nlike to do. I well remember how my father, when I was a boy, oftentimes\nused to restrain me from doing what I saw other boys doing. I used to\nthink, at that time, that he was not considerate, and possibly not kind\nto me. But now that I have grown older, and have seen the results which\nhave come to those boys, some of whom have gone astray, and others who\nhave turned out badly in life, I see how wise my father was. Although I\ndid not feel at the time that he was doing that which was for my good;\nnow I see it all very plainly.\n\nIn closing, let me say to you, do as Isaiah suggested, \"Sow by the side\nof all waters.\" That is, be very diligent, that day by day you may do\nsome kind act, which will hereafter spring up into a fruitage of very\ngreat good. The Bible enjoins upon both young and old to be very\ndiligent in this work, for it says, \"In the morning sow thy seed, and in\nthe evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall\nprosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.\"\n(Eccl. xi: 6.)\n\nWhen you go to school during the week, and to Sunday-school and church\nservice on Sunday, and when being instructed and taught at home,\nremember that all the instruction you are receiving is like the seed\nthat falls upon the waiting soil in the early spring-time from the hand\nof an intelligent farmer. In the parable which Jesus spake, He tells how\nthat some of the seed fell by the wayside, some among thorns and some\nupon stony ground, while others fell upon good ground. While the seed\nwas the same kind in all instances, it was only that which fell upon the\ngood ground which brought forth a fruitage of thirty, sixty and an\nhundred fold. If the fruitage of your life in the harvest of the\nafter-years is to be abundant in good and blessing, it can only be\nbecause you receive the instruction of your parents, your teachers and\nyour pastor into a good and honest heart. Others may sow faithfully, but\nafter all the result must depend upon you.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Which is the most pleasant season of\n the year? Why? What is the farmer's special work\n in the spring-time? Why is the farmer careful to\n sow good grain? What period of life is best\n represented by spring? If the farmer failed to sow\n in the spring, would he have a harvest in the\n autumn? How does he know what kind of grain he\n will reap at harvest time? Does wheat ever produce\n oats? Or clover seed produce wheat? What happened\n while the farmer slept? Who sowed the tares in his\n field? Who sows the tares in our minds? What do we\n call these tares? Should they be removed or\n permitted to grow? Should we be thankful to our\n parents for preventing tares from being sown? In\n what kind of soil did the grain grow to a fruitage\n of thirty, sixty and an hundred fold?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nREAPING.\n\nTHE HARVEST TIME OF LIFE.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The object used is a small sheaf of\n grain. For this might be substituted fruitage of\n any kind--apples, peaches, pears, grapes, etc.,\n and after reading the sermon, the parent could\n apply in the manner suited to the objects used.\n\n\nMY DEAR LITTLE HARVESTERS: Last Sunday I talked to you of\nspring-time--the spring-time of the year, and the spring-time of life.\nTo-day I have brought a small sheaf of grain to tell us of the\nharvest-time. The spring-time is very pleasant, the air is fragrant, the\nbirds are singing, and all nature seems to be rejoicing in its freshness\nand beauty. The world looks just as new and beautiful as it did\nthousands and thousands of years ago. Each spring it puts on youth anew.\n\n[Illustration: Sheaf of Grain.]\n\nBut when the summer-time comes, when it gets along to the harvest time,\nalong in July and August, then the weather is very warm. The color of\nthe fields has then greatly changed, the blossoms have disappeared from\nthe trees, and we find that everywhere the fruit is beginning to appear.\nThe harvest fields are ripe and are waiting for the husbandmen.\n\nThere is just about that same difference in life. Youth is the\nspring-time. It is full of hope, and full of bright prospects. But, as\nwe grow older, and the cares and responsibilities of life multiply, then\nwe begin to bear the toil and labor which comes with the later years.\nThen we are like the farmer who enters into the harvest field where hard\nwork has to be done under a very hot and scorching sun.\n\nA man, called a naturalist, who has devoted a large amount of time to\nthe study of plants, tells us that there are about one hundred thousand\ndifferent kinds of plants. Each kind of plant bears its own seed, and\nwhen that particular seed is sown, it always bears its own kind of\nfruit. Wheat never yields barley, nor do oats ever yield buckwheat. When\nyou plant potatoes, you expect to gather potatoes and not turnips. An\napple tree has never grown from an acorn, or a peach tree from a\nchestnut. Each seed, always and everywhere, bears its own kind. It is on\nthis account that the Bible says, \"Be not deceived; God is not mocked:\nfor whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.\" (Gal. vi: 7.)\n\nThere are some grown persons, as well as children, who think that they\ncan do very wrong things while they are young, and afterwards suffer no\nbad results. People sometimes say, \"Oh, well! let us sow our wild oats\nwhile we are young.\" Now the Bible tells us that if we sow wild oats, we\nmust reap wild oats. Four or five handfuls of wild oats will produce a\nwhole bag full of wild oats when gathered in the harvest of after life.\nBe assured, my dear friend, that \"those who sow to the flesh shall of\nthe flesh reap corruption,\" and \"those who sow the wind shall reap the\nwhirlwind.\" \"Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit, and you reap\na character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"The Harvest Fields Are Ripe and Are Waiting for the\nHusbandmen.\"]\n\nIt may seem a long period between the spring and the harvest time of\nlife; but be assured, my dear young friends, that the early years will\nspeedily pass. Before you are aware of it, you will be men and women\nwith all the responsibilities of life upon you, and then you will be\nsure to reap the reward of what you do now while you are boys and girls.\nLord Bacon said that \"Nature owes us many a debt until we are old,\" but\nnature is always sure to pay its debts. The ancients had an adage that\nsaid, \"Justice travels with a sore foot,\" but it usually overtakes a\nman.\n\nA few Sundays ago I told you that as the result of planting a single\ngrain of corn, a fruitage sufficient to plant the entire earth might be\nsecured in only five years. It is told us by historians that, in olden\ntimes, the harvest in Egypt and Syria would return an hundred fold for\none sowing, and in Babylonia oftentimes two hundred fold for one sowing.\nNow, if a single grain of wheat were planted in soil as fertile as that\nof Egypt, at the end of eight years of sowing and reaping, if we had a\nfield large enough, the product would be sufficient to feed all the\nfamilies of the earth for more than a year and a half. But if we were to\nundertake to plant one grain of wheat in this way, after a few years we\nwould fill all the fields which would be suited for a wheat harvest.\nDown near the equator it would be too hot for the wheat to grow\nsuccessfully. In the north it would be altogether too cold. On the\nmountain side the soil is not fertile, and oftentimes is very rocky. For\nthese, and various other reasons, it would be impossible to cover any\nlarge portion of the earth with wheat, for not every portion would be\nsuited to produce a harvest. Were it not for this fact, in the course of\nseven or eight years, the entire earth might be made to wave as one vast\nfield of wheat.\n\nBut there is one truth which God has planted in this world. That truth\nis God's love manifested in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ for the\nsalvation of all mankind. This truth is suited to every age of the\nworld, to every nation of the earth, to all classes and all conditions\nof people, and to every human heart. During the past centuries men have\nbeen planting and replanting this seed of divine truth, sowing and\nresowing the earth with it, gathering and reaping the harvest and sowing\nagain. And the days are coming when all the earth shall wave as one vast\nharvest field, waiting for the reapers of God, who shall gather this\nblessed fruitage into the garner of the skies.\n\nIt is your privilege and my privilege, both one and all, to have some\npart in this glorious work of sowing and resowing, and the Scriptures\nassure us that \"he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seeds,\nshall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with\nhim.\" (Psalms cxxvi: 6.)\n\n\nAFTERWARD.\n\nANONYMOUS.\n\n Now, the sowing and the reaping,\n Working hard and waiting long;\n Afterward, the golden reaping,\n Harvest home and grateful song.\n\n Now, the pruning, sharp, unsparing,\n Scattered blossom, bleeding shoot;\n Afterward, the plenteous bearing\n Of the Master's pleasant fruit.\n\n Now, the plunge, the briny burden,\n Blind, faint gropings in the sea;\n Afterward, the pearly guerdon,\n That shall make the diver free.\n\n Now, the long and toilsome duty,\n Stone by stone to carve and bring;\n Afterward, the perfect beauty\n Of the palace of the king.\n\n Now, the tuning and the tension,\n Wailing minors, discord strong;\n Afterward, the grand ascension\n Of the Alleluia song.\n\n Now, the spirit conflict-riven,\n Wounded heart, unequal strife;\n Afterward, the triumph given\n And the victor's crown of life.\n\n Now, the training strange and lowly,\n Unexplained and tedious now,\n Afterward, the service holy,\n And the Master's \"Enter thou!\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--Last Sunday our lesson was about the\n spring-time and sowing; what has it been about\n to-day? What are the only results which a farmer\n can reap at harvest? If he sowed wheat, what will\n he gather? About how many different kinds of\n plants are there in the world? Do peach trees grow\n from chestnuts? The Bible says, \"Whatsoever a man\n soweth\"--can you repeat the rest of that passage?\n Can boys or young men, girls or young women, sow\n \"wild oats\" and reap blessing later on? If we sow\n \"wild oats\" what must we reap? If you sow an act,\n what do you reap? If you sow a habit, what do you\n reap? If you sow a character, what do you reap?\n How did the old adage say that justice travels?\n Could all portions of the globe be converted into\n a wheat field? Why not? Is the truth concerning\n God's love and salvation suited to all ages, all\n nations, and all people?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nWHEAT AND CHAFF.\n\nTHE COMING SEPARATION.\n\n SUGGESTION:--If the children can secure a few\n handfuls of some kind of grain and chaff, the idea\n of separation can be beautifully illustrated by\n pouring the grain and chaff from one hand to the\n other, and at the same time gently blowing the\n chaff, separating it from the grain. By turning it\n in this manner once or twice and blowing gently,\n the chaff may be entirely separated from the\n grain. If a larger quantity were used, it could be\n poured from one basket or pan to another while\n blowing the chaff from the grain with a palm leaf\n or some other fan. This would illustrate how the\n grain and chaff were separated at that period of\n the world in which Christ lived.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I want to read you a very beautiful little psalm,\nor hymn, or poem, written by David. It was originally written in metre\nor verse, but poetry when translated becomes prose. This first Psalm of\nDavid reads as follows:--\n\n\"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor\nstandeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful;\nbut his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he\nmeditate day and night; and he shall be like a tree planted by the\nrivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf\nalso shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.\n\n\"The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth\naway; therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners\nin the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knoweth the way of\nthe righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.\"\n\nWe find in this Psalm how the righteous are set forth, and how the\nungodly are compared to chaff. John the Baptist said of Jesus, \"Whose\nfan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor and gather\nHis wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with\nunquenchable fire.\"\n\n[Illustration: Threshing Grain with Flails.]\n\nNow, when you have been in the country, you have observed the wheat\ngrowing in the field. If you had been careful to examine it, you would\nhave found that while the wheat is growing the grain is enclosed in a\nthin covering called chaff, just the same as Indian corn or sweet corn\nis enclosed by the husks which grow about it. So it is with us; while we\nare in this world, there are many things which are essential to our\ngrowth and well-being. They minister to our physical needs and supply\nour temporal wants. Although we cannot wholly dispense with these\nthings while we are in this world, yet they are not the sole objects of\nour living. The wheat does not exist for the chaff, or the husk in which\nit is enclosed, but the husks or chaff exist for the wheat.\n\nAfter a time, when the harvest comes, the farmer enters the field and\ncuts down the wheat, and it is then taken to the barn or threshing\nfloor. Years ago, when I was a boy, farmers used to spend a large\nportion of the winter in threshing grain. They would spread it out upon\nthe floor of the barn and beat it with a heavy stick, which was tied so\nas to swing easily at the end of a long handle. This was called a flail.\nMachines for threshing grain were not then common, as they are to-day.\nWhen the farmer threshes his grain, he does not do it to destroy the\nwheat, but simply to separate it from the chaff.\n\nThe Bible tells us that we must enter into the kingdom of God through\nmuch \"tribulation.\" And do you know that the word \"tribulation\" comes\nfrom a Latin word, _tribulum_, which means a flail? So the teaching of\nthis passage of Scripture is, that God places you and me under the\nflail, and smites again and again, in order that the noblest, best and\nmost Christ-like in us may be separated by trials and tribulations from\nthat which is worthless; and which needs to be cast off in order that\njust as the farmer gathers the wheat into his garner or granary here on\nearth, so God may gather us eventually into His garner above.\n\nBoys and girls oftentimes have tribulations in this world, just the same\nas older people do. Disappointments come to them, and because of\nambitions which are not lawful or right, purposes which are not in\nharmony with God's word and with God's will; because of needed\ndiscipline, or for some good reason God is tribulating them by sorrows,\ndisappointments and trials, and making them better by means of the\nexperiences through which they are called upon to pass.\n\n[Illustration: Winnowing or Separating Wheat and Chaff.]\n\nIf you have been with the farmer in his barn after he is through with\nthe threshing, you have seen him take the fanning-mill, and perhaps you\nhave turned the crank for him, while he has slowly shoveled the grain\ninto the mill and the chaff was being blown away by the wind set in\nmotion by the revolution of the large fanning wheel. In the olden times\nthey did not have fanning-mills, but when the farmer desired to separate\nthe chaff from the wheat, he did it with a fan. He poured the grain from\none basket or box, or some other receptacle, into another while the wind\nwas blowing, or else used a fan to create a draught of wind to blow the\nchaff, and thus separate it from the wheat. It is this ancient custom to\nwhich John the Baptist refers. He says, concerning Christ, \"Whose fan is\nin His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His\nwheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable\nfire.\" (Matthew iii: 12.)\n\nSo God designs to separate from your character, and from mine, that\nwhich is worldly and temporal, and worthless so far as eternity is\nconcerned. Take money as an illustration. Now money is essential, and it\nis well that we should be willing to work hard for it, and that we\nshould be economical in its use, and seek to save our money so that we\nmay use it for good purposes, and that it may be helpful to us in old\nage. Money serves a very excellent purpose while we are upon earth, but\nGod does not mean that we should make it the chief aim of our life.\nTherefore, to divert our minds from money in one way or another,\nfinancial reverses and failures sometimes come, and thus God seeks to\nseparate the man from the money. We all came into this world\nempty-handed, and we must go out of it empty-handed. Even though we were\nworth many millions of dollars we could take no money with us. You might\nplace it in the coffin and bury it with a dead body, but it would not\nand could not go into eternity with the man's undying spirit.\n\nNow, after the farmer has separated the chaff from the wheat, he gathers\nthe wheat into his garner, or into his granary; and so, after God has\nseparated from our nature and character all that is of no use, which is\nsimply earthy, He will gather our souls into heaven, His garner above.\n\nWhile we live upon the earth we should use the things of this world but\nnot abuse them; remembering that finally we must go and leave everything\nbehind us, and that we can take nothing with us into eternity except the\ncharacters which we formed here. Wealth and reputation, and all worldly\nthings will have to be left behind us; but character, that which you and\nI really are, shall never pass away, but shall enter into an eternal\nstate of being on high. All these earthly things are the mere chaff,\nwhile character is our real selves.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Who wrote the book of the Bible called\n the Psalms? Can you tell what the first Psalm is\n about? What is the covering called which is about\n the grain while it is growing? How are the chaff\n and grain separated from the straw or stalk? After\n being threshed, how is the chaff separated from\n the grain? Are there many necessary things in life\n which, after all, do not constitute our character?\n What are tribulations like? Does God separate the\n essential from the non-essentials in our life? Is\n character injured or helped by tribulations? Where\n does the farmer put the grain after it has been\n separated from the chaff? What is spoken of in the\n Bible as God's garner?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE HEART.\n\nTHE MOST WONDERFUL PUMP IN THE WORLD.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The objects used are a tumbler of\n water colored red, a small glass syringe such as\n can be purchased at any drug store for five or ten\n cents, also a six-ounce bottle of water colored\n red. This red coloring can be easily done with red\n ink. If that is not available, a drop or two of\n black ink will answer.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: In the 139th Psalm, 14th verse, David says, \"I\nwill praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.\" Now I want\nto talk to you to-day about our wonderful bodies, in the creation of\nwhich God has so marvelously displayed His infinite wisdom.\n\nI suppose you have been either near or inside a factory. You have heard\nthe noise of the shafts and the pulleys and machinery. You have seen the\ncarding machines, and listened to the noise of the great spinning jacks\nwhich twisted the cotton and the wool into yarn or thread, and heard the\ndeafening sound of a great many looms as the shuttles flew backward and\nforward, while the many threads were being woven into cloth. A factory\nis quite wonderful, but do you know that in your bodies are found the\nelements of almost all the kinds of machinery that are used in the\nworld? God has so created us that we do not hear the noise of the\nmachinery of our bodies, but if you will place your fingers gently in\nyour ears you will hear a peculiar roaring sound. That sound which you\nhear is the noise of the machinery of your body, which is in constant\nmotion.\n\nNow, the heart, which pumps the blood into all portions of the body,\nmakes the greater portion of this noise. Do you know where your heart is\nlocated? I supposed that most of you would point to your left side,\nbecause you have so frequently heard it spoken of as being located\nthere. You have seen public speakers and others, when referring to their\nheart, place their hands upon their left side. But if you will bend your\nhead forward so as to press your chin against your breast, as far down\nas possible, the heart will be under and a few inches below your chin.\nIt is in the center of the body, and the lower portion of it comes near\nto the ribs on the left side, and when it beats we can feel it throb by\nplacing our hand upon our left side; but the heart is more nearly in the\ncenter of the body, and not wholly at the side. If you were to close\nyour hand as the boys do when they say they make a fist, the size of\nyour closed hand will be somewhat smaller than the heart.\n\n[Illustration: Water and Syringe.]\n\nIn this tumbler I have some water which I have colored with red ink, so\nas to represent blood. Here is a small glass syringe, such as can be\nbought for a few cents in any drug store. Now, when I draw this little\nhandle up, you will see how the syringe is filled with this red water,\nand when I press it down how the water is forced out of the syringe back\ninto the glass. This very clearly illustrates the principle upon which\nall pumps and steam engines which pump water are made. Even the large\nfire engine, which throws water such a great distance, is made largely\nupon this principle.\n\nYou may possibly have been in the engine room, where the huge pumps\nforce the water into the reservoirs which supply the city with water for\ndrinking and other purposes. From the pumps and the reservoirs there are\ngreat pipes which lead the water under the streets to many thousands of\nhouses which compose the city. After the water has been used it is\nturned into the sewers, runs down into the river and back to the sea,\nwhere it is evaporated, rises again in the clouds, and by the wind is\ncarried hundreds of miles over the country. Then it descends again in\nthe form of snow and rain, soaks down through the earth and finds its\nway again into the springs and great veins of water under the earth,\nfrom which it is carried back once more to the city. Thus it is made\npure again and again, to be used over and over by the people whom God\nhas created and whom He supplies with water in this way.\n\nNow, in somewhat the same way, the heart, which is both an engine and a\npump, forces the blood out through the pipes or tubes of our bodies\ncalled the arteries, distributing it to every portion of the body,\nfurnishing the materials for building and renewing the muscles and the\nbones and every portion of our system. Then gathering up that which is\nworn out and no longer of service, the impure blood returns through the\nveins back to the right side of the heart, where it is pumped into the\nlungs and purified by being brought into contact with the air we\nbreathe. The blood is then returned to the left side of the heart,\npumped again into the arteries and distributed through all parts of the\nbody, and so it goes on circulating. Thus the blood is pumped by the\nheart into the arteries and is distributed to all portions of the body,\nand returned again to the heart, from fourteen to twenty times each hour\nof our life.\n\nIn this bottle, which holds six ounces, I have placed some of this\ncolored water, which represents about the quantity which is pumped out\nof the heart of an adult each time the pulse beats. As I have already\nintimated to you, the heart is double, and at each throb about one-half\nthe quantity in this bottle is pumped out by the right side, and the\nother half by the left side of the heart. Now, if the heart were to pump\ndifferent blood with each pulsation, instead of pumping the same blood\nover and over again, in twenty-four hours the heart of a man of ordinary\nsize would pump 150 barrels of blood.\n\n[Illustration: A Wagon Load of Barrels.]\n\nThe Bible says that the days of our years are three-score years and ten,\nor, in other words, that the allotted period of an ordinary life is 70\nyears. Now, in 70 years the heart would pump 164,389,786 gallons; or,\nto give it to you in barrels, it would make 4,566,382 barrels. If you\nwere to place six barrels on a wagon, and this would make a good load\nfor two horses, you would have 761,063 loads of these barrels. If you\nwere to place these teams, with the wagons containing six barrels\napiece, with 36 gallons each, at a distance of 25 feet apart, it would\nmake a string of teams stretching away 1,778 miles, or as far as from\nNew York City to Des Moines, in the state of Iowa, or from New York City\ndown to the Gulf of Mexico.\n\nI think you will now be able to understand what a wonderful little steam\nengine and pump each of us has within our own breast. And it may\nsurprise you when I tell you that Dr. Buck says that the heart at each\nthrob beats with a power equal to 100,000 pounds.\n\nAn ordinary engine or pump would soon wear out, but this little engine\nof the heart goes on beating day and night from the time we are born\nuntil we are 70 years of age, if we live to be that old, and even while\nwe rest in sleep, the heart never stops for a moment. Is it any wonder\nthat David said that \"We are fearfully and wonderfully made\"?\n\nI might tell you many other wonderful things about the heart, but this\nwill have to suffice.\n\nIf the natural heart in these bodies of ours is so wonderful, how much\nmore wonderful still is that heart which is the seat of the moral life\nand character? As the natural heart is hidden away in these bodies of\nours, so the spirit or the soul is spoken of in the Bible as the heart,\nbecause it is hidden away in the life which we have in these bodies of\nours; and it is this moral character and spiritual life to which the\nBible refers when it says, \"Keep thine heart with all diligence, for out\nof it are the issues of life.\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--How did David say we are made? Does\n the machinery in a great factory make much noise?\n Are our bodies like a factory in this respect?\n How can we hear the noise inside of our body?\n Where is the heart located? What does the heart\n do? Can you tell how water is supplied for a great\n city? Is the blood carried to all portions of our\n body in a similar way? How much blood is pumped by\n the heart in twenty-four hours? What does the\n Bible say is the allotted years of a person's\n life? How long a string of teams would it require\n to carry all the blood which the heart ordinarily\n pumps in seventy years? Does the heart keep on\n pumping while we sleep? What is still more\n wonderful than the physical heart? Can we see\n either the physical heart or the spiritual heart?\n Does the fact that you cannot see them prove that\n you do not have them? Are both necessary to your\n complete being and existence?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE EYE.\n\nTHE MOST VALUABLE AND MOST WONDERFUL TELESCOPE.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The objects used are a field-glass or\n opera-glass, spy-glass and sun-glass.\n\n\nMY DEAR LITTLE MILLIONAIRES: You know that when people are very wealthy,\nhave hundreds of thousands of dollars, they are spoken of as\nmillionaires. Oftentimes these rich people do not have any more actual\nmoney than poorer people, but they have property which is supposed to be\nworth a great deal of money. Now, I want to show you to-day that each\none of you possesses that which is worth millions of dollars.\n\n[Illustration: Field-glass, Spy-glass and Sun-glass.]\n\nI want to talk to you about your eyes, and I hope that you will be able\nto understand that they are worth hundreds and thousands, yes millions\nof dollars to each of you. In order that I may better illustrate a few\nof the many wonderful things about the human eye, I have brought this\nfield-glass, and here is a small spy-glass, and also a magnifying lens,\nor sun-glass, as boys sometimes call them. Inside of this spy-glass and\nthese field-glasses are lenses or magnifying glasses, similar to this\nsun-glass. They are, however, more perfect, and are so adjusted or\nrelated to each other, that when I place this smaller lens of the\nspy-glass to my eye I also look through the larger lens which is at the\nfurther end of the instrument. When properly adjusted, it enables me to\nsee objects which are at a great distance, and to so magnify them as to\ncause them to seem much nearer to me than they really are.\n\nNow, if you take this spy-glass and look at the stars, it will not make\nthem appear any larger than they appear to the eye without the\nspy-glass. It will assist the eye when I look at the moon or the\nplanets, but not at the stars which are so much further removed from the\nearth than the moon and the planets. Astronomers have desired something\nlarger and more satisfactory, and so have made the great telescopes,\nwhich are simply large spy-glasses. The telescope and the spy-glass, and\nthe field-glasses, are all imitations of the human eye; the same as many\nof our greatest inventions are only copies of that which God has already\ncreated, and which we have but feebly imitated. The eye is a more\nwonderful instrument than even the largest telescopes which have ever\nbeen made.\n\nIf you desired to look through a telescope at one of the stars or a\nplanet, or the moon, you would have considerable difficulty in directing\nit so as to be able to see the desired object. Even with this small\nspy-glass it is very difficult so to direct it as to find a particular\nstar in the heavens at night. It is not easy, even to find a distant\nobject upon the earth. But with these wonderful eyes, with which God has\nendowed us, you and I can look almost instantly from one star to any\nother star, and find instantly upon the earth any object which is\ndistinctly pointed out to us. It takes a very experienced person\nsuccessfully to operate a telescope, but the smallest child can direct\nand control and use his own eyes successfully.\n\nThe large telescopes have to be turned and adjusted by machinery, and\nwhen it is desired to direct them from one star to another star on the\nopposite side of the heavens, they even have to turn around the entire\nroof or dome of the observatory. But you and I do not need any ponderous\nmachinery to adjust our eyes, or to turn them about in order to look in\na different direction. We can easily turn our heads by bending our\nnecks, or, if necessary, we can turn our entire body around and look in\nan opposite direction. In looking from one object to another, our eyes\nchange their direction so quickly that we are not conscious of any\neffort upon our own part.\n\n[Illustration: Small Telescope.]\n\nIf you were to look through a large telescope, or even one of these\nsmaller spy-glasses, you would immediately discover that when you desire\nto look at objects at different distances, or in different degrees of\nlight and shade, you would have to constantly adjust the telescope or\nspy-glass to these different conditions. If you would look at objects\nwhich are near, and then turn the spy-glass to look at those which are\ndistant, you would not be able to see distinctly until you had adjusted\nthe lenses to suit the distance. With our eyes the same adjustment has\nto be made, and yet it is done so quickly and without any conscious\neffort upon our part, that it seems as if it were not done at all. When\nwe look at an object which is only a few inches from our face, and then\nturn and look at a distant object, instantly our eyes are adjusted to\nthe difference of distance and varying degrees of light and shade.\n\nBut what makes this all still more wonderful is the fact that we have\ntwo telescopes, two eyes instead of one. Both of these little\neye-telescopes instantly adjust themselves, and both adjust themselves\nto precisely the same necessity. If they adjusted themselves differently\nwe would see two objects instead of one; the same as a drunken man who\nhas lost the use of his muscles and faculties, whose eyes do not work in\nharmony, and therefore, instead of seeing only one object, he sees two\nobjects and sees them in a confused way.\n\nDid you ever think how wonderful it is that when you close your right\neye, and look at something with your left eye, that you can see the\nobject distinctly? Now, if you close the left eye, and look at the\nobject with the right eye, you again see the same object distinctly.\nWhen you open both eyes and look at the same object, instead of seeing\nthe object twice, or seeing two objects, you see only one object. That\nis because the eyes work in such perfect harmony, and that is what the\nScripture means when it says that you and I should \"see eye to eye\" in\neverything that is good.\n\nNow there is another thing to which I desire to call your attention, and\nthat is the size of the eye. If you owned one of these very large\ntelescopes which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, you would be\nregarded as a very wealthy person, but you could not carry that\ntelescope with you from one place to another. It would be of no service\nto you in looking upon the beautiful scenes which surround you from day\nto day. If you wanted to use the telescope you would have to stay where\nthe telescope was, instead of taking the telescope with you where you\ndesired to go. But God has made these little eye-telescopes so perfect,\nand yet so compact and small, that wherever we go, on land or sea, we\ncan take them with us, and they can be in constant use and give us the\nmost perfect delight and satisfaction.\n\nI am sure there is not a single boy or girl who would trade off one of\nthese perfect little telescopes--yes, I will call it a telescope and an\nobservatory also--for God has beautifully encased our eyes, and shielded\nand housed them more beautifully and satisfactorily than the most\nperfect observatory which was ever built for any man-made telescope. We\nwould not trade away one of our eyes for one of the finest telescopes in\nthe world, and we would not be willing to give both of our eyes for all\nthe telescopes which have ever been made.\n\nBut one of these large telescopes and observatories would cost a great\ndeal--even hundreds of thousands of dollars; yet God has _given_ you and\nme these telescopes, our wonderful eyes. But because God has given them\nto us they are none the less valuable on that account, and I think\ntherefore that I was correct when I addressed you to-day as little\nmillionaires.\n\nNow, God has given you, not simply one eye, but He has given you two\neyes, two wonderful telescopes and observatories. He has given you two,\nso that if by any accident one should be destroyed, you would still have\nthe other to depend upon. God has given you two eyes, and two hands, and\ntwo feet; but He has given you only one soul, and if by sin you lose\nthat one soul, then you have lost everything, for the Scripture says,\n\"What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?\"\n\nIn Palestine, the country in which Jesus lived when He was upon the\nearth, the sun shines with wonderful brightness and clearness; the land\nalso is very light in color, and consequently the eyes are oppressed by\nthe glare, just the same as those of you who have ever been at the\nseashore have experienced the glare while walking along the beach; or,\nto some extent, like the bright sunlight shining upon the snow in\nwinter. This light color of the soil and brightness of the sun in\nPalestine are the cause of blindness to many of the inhabitants. When\nJesus was upon the earth, one of His greatest acts of mercy to suffering\nhumanity was to open and heal the eyes of those who were either born\nblind, or who had become blind afterward.\n\nNow, in this country of ours, and in all countries of the earth, there\nare hundreds and thousands and millions of people who are spiritually\nblind. Jesus Christ is to-day passing by, just the same as when the\nblind man sat by the roadside near Jericho, when Jesus was then passing\nby. As that blind man called upon Jesus and said, \"Thou Son of David,\nhave mercy upon me,\" so you and I should call upon God and upon His Son,\nJesus Christ, that He would have mercy upon us and open our spiritual\neyes. We should make the language of the Scriptures the petition of our\nhearts, \"Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of\nThy law.\" I pray that God may give each of you to see and to understand\nspiritual things.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Instead of money, in what does the\n wealth of millionaires often consist? Is the human\n eye worth more than money? Would you take a\n million of dollars for your two eyes? Are your\n eyes worth more than telescopes? Which is the more\n perfect, a telescope or the human eye? Are\n telescopes adjusted like the eye? Which can be\n adjusted more quickly? Where are telescopes kept?\n Are your eyes kept in a little observatory? Why\n has God given us two eyes instead of one? How many\n souls has He given us? If the soul is lost, what\n is the result? What causes so much blindness in\n the country in which Jesus lived? Did Jesus open\n the eyes of the blind and restore the sight of\n people in Palestine? Are many people spiritually\n blind? Does Jesus wish to give them spiritual\n sight or vision?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE EYE\n\nTHE SMALLEST CAMERA, THE MOST VALUABLE PICTURES.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The object used is a small camera of\n any kind.\n\n\nI AM going to address you again to-day as LITTLE MILLIONAIRES. Last week\nI showed you how your eyes were more valuable than the most costly\ntelescopes, and to-day I want to show you how, in another way, you are\nlittle millionaires.\n\nVery wealthy people sometimes travel in different countries, and gather\nvery rare and beautiful paintings and pictures, oftentimes paying a\nthousand dollars, ten thousand dollars, and sometimes very much more for\na single painting. Then they bring these paintings all together in their\nown homes and hang them on the walls, and as the result of the\nexpenditure of many thousands, and sometimes of hundreds of thousands of\ndollars, they have a very beautiful and rare collection. But God has\nmade you and me the possessors of a vast number of pictures, more\nbeautiful, of greater variety, and infinitely more valuable, than all\nthe paintings that were ever hung upon the walls of any art gallery in\nthe world.\n\n[Illustration: Camera.]\n\nTo illustrate my thought, I have to-day brought a camera. Sometimes such\na camera as this is called a Kodak or Snap-shot. As the finest\ntelescopes have been modeled after the human eye, so the camera is only\na very imperfect imitation of the human eye. As the spy-glass and\ntelescope have lenses, so does this camera have a lens, which you see\nhere in the front. Just back of this lens is the dark chamber in the\ncamera, and back of it is a ground glass, as you will see here. Now\nwhatever is directly in front of the camera is shown on the ground\nglass, as you will observe, but in an inverted or up-side-down position.\nSo the eye has its various parts, and as the rays of light pass through\nthis lens and reflect the picture on this ground glass, so rays of light\ncoming from any object pass first through the small opening of the eye,\nto the retina, where the picture is inverted just the same as upon the\nground glass. When this picture is thrown upon the rear wall of the eye,\nwhich is called the retina, the seeing nerve, which is called the optic\nnerve and is connected with the eye, conveys the impression to the\nbrain, and the result is what we call seeing.\n\n[Illustration: The Human Eye.]\n\nWhat I have told you is correct, and can easily be proven by a simple\nexperiment with the eye of some animal. If you take the eye of a dead\nrabbit, and cleanse the back portion of it from the fat and muscles and\nthen hold a candle in front of it, you can see the image of the candle\nformed upon the retina. If you take the eye of an ox and carefully pare\noff from the back portion, so as to leave it very thin, and place the\neye in front of (or against) a small hole made in a box; then cover your\nhead to shut out the light you will see through the box the picture of\nany object which is directly in front of this eye of the ox. In both\ninstances they will be in the inverted form. This experiment would fully\ndemonstrate to you that the camera is only an imitation, and a very poor\none too, of the human eye.\n\nNow when pictures are taken by means of the camera, the negative can not\nbe exposed to the light, but must be taken into a dark room, and be\ncarefully developed by the use of necessary chemicals or liquids. Then\nspecially prepared paper must be used for printing the photographs. This\npaper must also be kept in the dark until it has been thoroughly washed\nand cleansed. But, with the pictures which are taken upon the retina of\nthe eye, no such delay and labor is necessary before you can look at\nthem. The moment the eye is turned in any direction, instantly the\npicture is photographed upon the retina of the eye, and then stamped\nindelibly upon the memory and becomes a part of ourselves.\n\nThere is no cost for chemicals, no delay in adjusting the instrument\nwith which the picture is taken, no necessity for carrying around a\nlarge camera.\n\nThe camera has many disadvantages which are not found in the human eye.\nThe camera must be adjusted to objects near or far, and different\ncameras have to be used for pictures of different sizes and for\ndifferent classes of pictures. These cameras are costly to purchase, a\ngreat deal of time is consumed in securing a few pictures, they are\nalways attended with expense; and when pictures are to be removed from\none place to another, the owner is subjected to much trouble and\nannoyance. Then, the camera also does not give us the colors of the\ndifferent objects which are before it. That is the reason why, in the\nbeginning, I spoke of these millionaires purchasing such costly\npaintings, because in the paintings different colors are represented.\n\nNow, in the hundreds of pictures which are constantly being taken by\nyour eyes, there are no delays, no expenses, no inconvenience when the\npictures have once been taken. Different shades and colors are all\nclearly represented. And even though you were to stand on a high\nmountain, where you could look off over one or two hundred square miles\nof beautiful landscape, all that beautiful scenery would be pictured on\nthe retina of your eye; and the picture, complete and perfect, would not\nbe larger than one-half inch square. What would real wealthy people be\nwilling to give for a perfect picture only one-half inch square, in\nwhich the artist had clearly defined every field and tree, the rivers,\nhouses, roads, railways and all the beautiful landscape contained in a\nvast area of many square miles?\n\nOur eyes are wonderful cameras, which God has given us so that we can be\nconstantly taking these beautiful pictures as we pass through life, and\nlook at them not only for the instant, but that we may treasure the\npictures up in our memories and make them the rich treasures and joyous\nheritage of coming years.\n\nThe older we grow, the more we appreciate these memory pictures of the\npast--memories of our childhood days, beautiful landscapes, foreign\ntravel, lovely sunsets, the glorious sunrise, green fields and orchards\nof golden fruit. As you grow old, I suppose the richest treasures in\nyour picture gallery of the past will be the memories of your childhood\nhome, of mother and father, brother and sister. Possibly when you have\ngrown old, you will remember how one day your heart was almost broken,\nwhen for the first time you were leaving home; how mother's eyes filled\nwith tears when she kissed you good-bye, and, following you to the gate,\nhow she stood and waved her handkerchief, while home faded from your\nview as you rounded the turn in the road and realized for the first time\nthat you were launching out into real life for long years of struggle.\n\nJust as the hearts of the parents go out in great tenderness toward\ntheir son, who is leaving the Christian influences of his home to begin\nservice in a distant city, surrounded by evil influences, and oftentimes\nby wicked people; so the heart of our Heavenly Father goes out in great\ntenderness towards you and me, while we are separated from the great\neternal mansion of the skies. God's heart yearns over us in great\ntenderness, and while we live in the midst of the evil of this world we\nare constantly to remember that God has made us millionaires; not only\nin the possession of the eyes, and other faculties with which He has\nendowed us for use here upon the earth, but we are to remember that we\nare children of the King of Heaven, and that we are heirs of everlasting\nlife and of everlasting glory. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with\nJesus Christ, to an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled and\nthat \"fadeth not away.\" We are not simply millionaires, but we are heirs\nof everlasting glory.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What instrument for taking pictures is\n like the human eye? Which can take pictures\n quicker, the eye or the camera? What is lacking in\n pictures taken by the camera? Do our eyes show the\n colors of the objects? Of what is the camera an\n imitation? Is it expensive to take many pictures\n with the camera? Why do people pay large sums for\n oil paintings? Was there ever a picture painted by\n an artist or photographed with a camera so\n beautiful as the small pictures taken by the eye?\n For size, color, variety and convenience, which\n are the finest pictures in the world? Which\n pictures are most treasured in old age?\n\n\n\n\nFROGS.\n\nTHE PLAGUES IN EGYPT.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: Some paper frogs, which can\n be purchased at any Japanese store for about five\n cents each. They are often found also in toy\n stores.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I am sure you will all be able to tell me what\nthis object is which I hold in my hand (voices: \"Frogs, bullfrogs\").\nWell, it looks exactly like a bullfrog, and was made to imitate a\nbullfrog. The bullfrogs I have here are made of paper, and were made in\nJapan. I bought them that I might show them to you and preach you an\nobject sermon on the subject of the \"Ten Plagues in Egypt.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nYou all remember how Joseph was sold by his brethren into bondage in\nEgypt, how he was cast into prison and afterward taken out and made\nprime minister over all that land; how during the seven years of plenty\nhe laid up corn for the seven years of famine which followed, and\nafterward his father and his brethren--in all the seventy persons who\nconstituted Jacob's family--came down into Egypt to be fed. After two\nhundred and fifty years this family had increased until it numbered\nnearly two millions of people. Pharaoh had made slaves of them, and\ncompelled them to work in the brickyards of Egypt. The task-masters were\nvery cruel. They beat them with whips, and demanded excessive labor from\nthem. These people were the chosen people of God, and their voice was\nlifted to God their Father for deliverance from all the wrongs which\nthey suffered. God heard their prayer, and raised up Moses to deliver\nthem out of Egyptian bondage.\n\nWhen Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to request him to let the Children\nof Israel go from Egypt to the land of Canaan, which God had promised to\nAbraham and to his seed after him, Pharaoh would not consent to let them\ngo. He was a proud, wicked king, and God sent ten great plagues upon him\nand his country, to humble him and cause him to do as God desired that\nhe should do.\n\nIn the first plague the rivers were turned into blood. This plague\nlasted seven days, and at the end of that time Moses stretched forth his\nrod, and all the rivers and ponds and lakes of water brought forth great\nfrogs throughout all the land. They came, not by hundreds, but by\nthousands and millions, until the frogs covered all that land. They were\nin the houses of all the people. The king's servants were busy sweeping\nand carrying them out of the palace, and yet they stole into the rooms,\nand at night when the king would go to lie down he would find these\nfrogs in his bed-chamber and upon his bed. When his bakers went to make\nbread for the king, they would find them in the bread-troughs in which\nthey kneaded or mixed the bread, and in the ovens where they baked the\nbread. The frogs were everywhere in the palace and in the huts of the\ncommon people; upon the streets and in the roads; wherever the people\nwalked they stepped upon them, and the king's carriage could not be\ndriven through the streets without crushing thousands of them. The\nplague was so great that Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and entreated\nthem to call upon their God that He would remove the frogs; and when God\nheard the prayer of Moses and Aaron He caused the frogs to die. The\npeople gathered them up in great heaps and these dead and putrefying\nfrogs in the streets and the water of the river caused the air to be\nloaded with a great stench that filled the nostrils of all the people.\n\nAfter this plague of frogs came the plague of lice, when all the dust of\nthe country was turned into lice, and after that the plague of the\nflies; and so on through to the last plague, which was the slaying of\nthe first-born, of which I will tell you in another sermon.\n\nI wish you would at your earliest opportunity turn to the second book in\nthe Old Testament, the Book of Exodus, and in the early chapters read\nabout these various plagues of Egypt. When you read the account of the\nvarious plagues, you will see how after each affliction Pharaoh's heart\nseemed to relent. He would consent for a time that the Children of\nIsrael might be liberated from their bondage, and depart from Egypt and\nstart on their journey to the land of Canaan. When he was in affliction\nhe would make good promises, but as soon as God had removed the plague,\nand the sorrow of his people seemed to be ended for a time he again\nhardened his heart against God, and refused to do what he had promised.\nAgain and again the king refused to do that which he had agreed, and\ncaused the unhappy Children of Israel to continue in their bondage.\n\nWe may think that we are not wicked like Pharaoh was. We may not be\nwicked in the same degree, but we are wicked after the same nature and\nkind; and so God brings upon us various providences, some of which are\nnot very pleasant. God is seeking to educate us by the trials and\nsorrows and disappointments and afflictions which He permits to come\nupon us, so that we will be more obedient, and more faithful, and more\nChristlike. But I suppose you have seen people who were just like\nPharaoh. When they were sick they would promise to become Christians,\nand live good and right lives, and join the Church and be faithful\nfollowers of Christ all the rest of their lives. And yet when God would\nraise them up from their beds of sickness they would forget all their\npromises, and generally, as it always was in the case of Pharaoh, their\nhearts became harder and harder. Instead of being better after God had\nraised them up and made them strong and well, or removed some trial or\naffliction, they became worse than before.\n\nHave you not found something of this also in your own experience? When\nyou have desired something which you have asked your father or mother to\nsecure for you, you have promised that you would run all the errands\nthey asked, or that you would go to school and study your lessons very\nfaithfully, or that you would go to bed cheerfully at night without\ncomplaining, or you have made your parents some other promises; and yet,\nafter you have received the object you asked for, you have failed to\nkeep your promise.\n\n[Illustration: Moses Leading the Children of Israel Through the Red\nSea.]\n\nOr, to go a step further, has it not been so with what you have promised\nGod that you would do? You may have entered into covenant with Him, made\ncertain promises, and then afterward forgot to fulfill those promises.\nLet us always remember when we make promises to God, or to our\nparents, that we are not to be like Pharaoh. After God has answered our\nprayers we should not forget to be obedient to Him and to keep our\npromises.\n\nPharaoh was a great covenant-breaker, but when at last he gave the\nChildren of Israel permission to leave Egypt, and then broke his promise\nand followed them with his army that he might destroy them, God opened\nup the waters of the Red Sea and the Children of Israel fled from before\nPharaoh. When this wicked king and covenant-breaker saw them, he pursued\nafter them with his horses, his chariots and his army; and when they\nwere all in the midst of the sea, God took away His restraining power\nfrom the water which stood piled up on both sides of the way along which\nthe Children of Israel had marched safely, and the water came down in\ngreat torrents and buried this wicked king and all his horses and his\nchariots and his men. So God destroyed this great covenant-breaking\nking, because after all of the judgments and wonderful miracles which He\nhad wrought before Pharaoh, in order to teach him that Jehovah was God,\nPharaoh's repentances were all mere shams.\n\nThis was a great object sermon which God did before the eyes of all\nthese thousands of the Children of Israel, and it should teach you and\nme that we are to be honest in all our covenants with God, and be\nobedient to the will of God in all that we do and say.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Upon what king of Egypt did God send\n the plague of frogs? How many plagues were there?\n What effect did each plague have upon Pharaoh? Was\n he honest when he repented? What did he do each\n time after the plague was removed? What was the\n last plague? After the death of the first-born,\n did he allow the Children of Israel to go? After\n they started, what did he do? How did God enable\n the Children of Israel to cross the Red Sea? When\n Pharaoh followed into the sea after them, what\n occurred? Should we always keep our covenants,\n both with God and men? If we do not keep our\n covenants, whom are we like? Will we also be\n punished?\n\n\n\n\nBLOOD.\n\nTHE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The object used is a bottle of red\n ink to represent blood.\n\n\nCHILDREN OF THE COVENANT-KEEPING KING: Last Sunday I talked to you about\nPharaoh, as the great covenant-breaking king. I showed you some paper\nfrogs, and told you how after all of God's long-suffering with Pharaoh,\nHe eventually destroyed him and his army in the midst of the Red Sea.\n\nNow, to-day I have this bottle, which has this deep red colored fluid in\nit. This is red ink. But I have brought it not to talk to you about ink,\nbut to talk about something else which is of the same color; namely, of\nblood.\n\n[Illustration: Preparing for the Passing Over of the Angel of Death\n\nCopyrighted Sylvanus Stall]\n\nYou remember that there were ten plagues in Egypt; the first was the\nturning of the rivers into blood, then the bringing up of the frogs from\nall the rivers and lakes; and then the turning of the dust into lice;\nand then the plague of the flies; and then of the murrain which\ndestroyed the cattle; and of the boils which came upon all the people;\nand of the lightning, and rain, and hail which destroyed man and beast.\nThen the locusts came which ate up everything that remained; afterward\nthe three days of continuous darkness; and after these nine plagues God\nhad yet in store one great plague which He purposed to bring upon\nPharaoh and his people. After each of these plagues which I have named,\nPharaoh promised that he would let the Children of Israel go, but\ninstead he hardened his heart and refused to keep his promise. At last\nGod was going to bring upon him and his people the greatest plague of\nall. (Ex. xii: 1-28.)\n\nGod told Moses and Aaron to command the Children of Israel that on the\ntenth day of the month, each family should select either a lamb or a kid\nand shut it up until the fourteenth day, and in the evening of that day\nthey should kill it. This was to be a male lamb, one year old, and\nwithout spot or blemish. The blood, as it flowed from the neck of the\nlamb, was to be caught in a dish, and with a bunch of hyssop the blood\nwas to be sprinkled upon the door-posts or the door frame, both above\nand around the door, so that when the Angel of Death whom God purposed\nto send upon that eventful night, when he should pass throughout all the\nland of Egypt and see the blood upon the door posts and upon the lintel\nover the door he would pass by or \"pass-over\" these houses of the\nIsraelites and would not smite their first-born with death; as would be\nthe case in every other home of the Egyptians throughout all the land.\n\nAfter the Children of Israel had sprinkled the blood upon the\ndoor-posts, they were to roast the entire lamb, and they were to eat it\nwith unleavened bread, which was bread baked without yeast, and eat it\nalso with bitter herbs, while at the same time their long, loose\ngarments were to be tucked up under their belts which went around their\nwaists, or as the people in those days would have said, with their loins\ngirded. They were to have their shoes on their feet, and a cane or staff\nin their hand, so as to be all ready to start out upon their journey at\nany moment.\n\nAt midnight, after these Israelites had eaten this \"Passover\" meal, and\nhad also destroyed, by burning, any portions of the lamb which might\nremain, the Angel of Death passed through all the land of Egypt and slew\nthe first-born, the oldest in every house, where there was no blood\nsprinkled upon the door-posts.\n\nAs soon as the angel had passed by, the people rushed out into the\nstreets in terror and alarm, for in every home there was one or two or\nmore persons lying dead. The Egyptians brought out their jewels and gold\nand valuables, and offered, not only to let the Israelites retain the\njewels which they had already borrowed, but to give them more if they\nwould only depart immediately, so that God should bring no further\nafflictions upon them. Pharaoh consented to their going, and immediately\nthe Children of Israel started on their long journey to the Promised\nLand.\n\nThis eventful night was called, and is to this day called, \"the night of\nthe Passover,\" and to this day the Jewish people still celebrate the\nFeast of the Passover. It occurs in the spring of the year, and\ncorresponds very closely to our Church festival day, known as Good\nFriday, at which time we commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus\nChrist upon Calvary.\n\nYou will see from what I have said, how the lamb which was chosen was a\nfigure of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of\nthe world to take away your sins, and my sins, and the sins of all who\nwould believe on Him. As this passover lamb was a year old, without spot\nand without blemish, so Jesus Christ was perfect, without blemish, He\nnever committed a sin of any kind; He was but thirty years old when He\nwas crucified, and consequently was young in years.\n\nAs the blood sprinkled upon the door-posts and the lintels of the doors\nwas the sign by which the Angel of the Lord was to know the homes of the\nIsraelites, and deliver their first-born from death, so the blood of the\nLord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and delivers us from eternal\ndeath.\n\nYou and I and all mankind must die, but after this death of the body\nthere comes either everlasting life or spiritual death. Now, when the\nspirit leaves the body, or is separated from these bodies, we speak of\nthe body as being dead. The death of a person is just the same as when\nwheat is sown into the ground and is said to die; the life that formerly\nwas in the seed only springs up into the stalk and grows into a new life\nand into a multiplied fruitfulness.\n\nThe life of each grain of wheat does not cease to exist, but is simply\nseparated from the seed or grain which was sown in the ground, and lives\nin the new plant and new grain which springs up. So also when the life\nor the soul leaves the body, the body is dead, because it is separated\nfrom the soul. In like manner also, if the soul is separated from God,\nthe Bible speaks of the individual as being spiritually dead, even while\nyet living in this world. Now, if because of sin any soul that is\nbanished forever from God's presence, and is eternally separated from\nGod in the next world, that eternal separation of the soul from God is\nspoken of in the Bible as eternal death.\n\nFrom this eternal death you and I can only be delivered by the blood of\nthe Son of God. Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb. Neither is He a dead,\nbut a living Savior.\n\n \"He ever lives above,\n For me to intercede;\n His all-redeeming love,\n His precious blood to plead;\n His blood atoned for all our race,\n And sprinkles now the throne of grace.\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--What was the tenth plague? How were\n the homes of the Israelites to be marked, so that\n the angel of death would pass over them? How old\n was the lamb to be that was to be slain? What was\n to be done with the body of the lamb? When they\n ate it, how were they to be clothed? (So as to be\n ready to start immediately upon their journey.)\n What did the angel of death do where the door\n posts were sprinkled with the blood? What was the\n event called? (The Passover.) What people continue\n to celebrate the Feast of the Passover today? Of\n whom was the slain lamb the symbol? What is Christ\n frequently called? From what does the blood of the\n Lamb of God save us?\n\n\n\n\nPINE BRANCH.\n\nTHE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.\n\n SUGGESTION:--The objects used are a green branch\n of a tree and a glass of clear water.\n\n\nDEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: Last Sunday I told you about the Feast of the\nPassover, how it came to be instituted, and what it signified. To-day I\nwant to talk to you about the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of the\nPassover occurred in the spring, nearly corresponding to our Easter; and\nat such times when the Israelites from every quarter of the land came up\nto Jerusalem, as was the custom at the three annual feasts, some\nprovision had to be made for their entertainment.\n\nAt the Feast of the Passover all the Jews living in Jerusalem had to\nthrow open their homes, and entertain under the cover of their own\nroofs, all who came to them. They could not decline to receive the\nthousands of worshipers who came up to the Feast, but were required to\nafford them a place of shelter in their homes. Therefore it was that\nbefore the Feast of the Passover Jesus sent two of His disciples, and\ntold them to go into the city, and they would find a man bearing a\npitcher of water; they should follow him and ask him to direct them to a\nroom in his house, where Jesus might eat the Passover with His\ndisciples. (Matt. xxvi: 17; Mark xiv: 13.)\n\n[Illustration: Building Booths at Feast of Tabernacles.]\n\nAt the Feast of Tabernacles, which occurred in the fall of the year,\nafter the harvest and the fruit of the vines and the trees had all been\ngathered in, it was very different. At this Feast, when the Israelites\ncame up to Jerusalem, not only those who came from a distance, but even\nthose who lived regularly in the city, were required to tent or live in\nbooths made by simply placing some poles in the ground, with other poles\nreaching across the top, so as to form a roof or covering. This roof was\nnot shingled, but was formed by laying branches of trees upon the sticks\nwhich had been laid across from one pole to the other. (Neh. viii: 14,\n15.)\n\nYou now see why to-day I have chosen this branch of a tree to show you\nin connection with this sermon. I have chosen this to impress upon your\nmind the character of the arbors used at the Feast of Tabernacles; the\ntops or roofs of which were formed or made of olive, and willow and\npine, myrtle and palm branches. These booths or arbors were to remind\nthe Children of Israel of the journey of their forefathers through the\ndesert, when for forty long years they did not live within the walls or\nunder the roof of any house, but dwelt only in booths.\n\nI am sure that you and I would like to have looked in upon Jerusalem at\nthe time when one of these Harvest Home festivals was being celebrated.\nWe would like to have seen the booths on the tops of the houses and\nalong the side of the hills, outside of the walls of the city, and\nsloping down through the valleys and crowding far out into the country\nupon the Mount of Olives and beyond. We would like to have seen the\nbright faces of the happy throngs of people as they moved in procession\nthrough the streets, waving their palm branches; and to have listened to\nthe music of the trumpeters of the Temple, as they sounded their\ntrumpets twice every hour throughout the entire day. I am sure we would\nhave been delighted to look down upon the festive crowd at night, when,\ninstead of waving palm branches as they did during the day, they carried\nbright flaming torches, amid the clashing of cymbals and the blast of\ntrumpets.\n\n[Illustration: \"He Bore it Aloft as He Ascended the Stairs.\"]\n\nThis Feast lasted for eight days. The first day and the last were\nespecially sacred. And now I want to call your attention to this second\nobject which I have; namely, this water, and I want to tell you how it\nwas related to and used at this Feast of Tabernacles. On the morning of\neach day, while the smoke of the morning sacrifice was ascending in\nbeautiful wreaths in the still air, a priest bearing a large golden\nbowl, and followed by a long procession of boys and girls waving palm\nbranches, descended the side of the hill to the pool of Siloam, which\nwas in a quiet recess at the foot of Mount Moriah, on the summit of\nwhich the Temple was built. When the priest had filled the golden bowl\nwith water from this clear pool, he held it above his head and bore it\naloft as he ascended the stairs. As the procession entered the Court of\nthe Temple, the trumpets sounded, and all the throngs of people gathered\nwithin its walls took up the words of the prophet and sang, \"With joy\nshall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation\" (Isaiah xii: 3), and\nas the priest came to the base of the altar he poured the water from the\ngolden bowl into a silver basin amid shouts and gladness. Upon the\neighth day, \"the last day, that great day of the feast\" (John vii: 37),\nthe joy was greater than upon any of the other days. The priests in glad\nprocession moved around the altar seven times, singing the Psalms.\n\nIt was at the last Feast of Tabernacles which Jesus attended, that He\nstood in the midst of this glad assembly, and beheld their joy as they\nremembered how God had supplied their fathers with water in the\nwilderness; and how God had given them a land of streams, and rivers,\nand wells of water, and it was then when Jesus heard them crying\n\"Hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord,\" that Jesus\nstood up in the midst of the Temple and of the people and said, \"If any\nman thirst, let him come unto me and drink.\" (John vii: 37.) To those of\nus who have always lived in the midst of a bountiful supply of fresh,\nclear, crystal water, these words are not as impressive as they were to\nthe people to whom they were then spoken. For their land was surrounded\nby deserts, and they lived in the midst of nations whose people often\nfamished and died, because there was not a sufficient supply of water to\ndrink.\n\nWhile we live in a country where there is always an abundant supply of\nwater to satisfy the thirst of the body, yet spiritually, like these\npeople at the Feast of Tabernacles we have the same spiritual needs that\nthey had, and if you and I thirst for the water of life, if we desire\neverlasting salvation, if we thirst for the knowledge of sacred things\nand desire to do that which is right, Jesus invites you and me to come\nto Him, and says to us: \"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the\nwaters.\" (Isa. lv: 1.) \"If any man thirst let him come unto me and\ndrink,\" (John vii: 37.) \"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall\ngive him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall\nbe in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.\" (John iv:\n14.)\n\n QUESTIONS.--At what season of the year was the\n Feast of Tabernacles held? How long did it last?\n In what did the people live or dwell during the\n Feast? Of what were the booths built? Why did they\n dwell in booths instead of in their houses at this\n time? Of what was all this to remind them? Which\n was the great day of the Feast? On this last day\n of the Feast what did the high priest bring from\n the well? By whom was the priest accompanied? Into\n what did he pour the water from the golden bowl?\n Of what was this water the symbol? Does every\n human being thirst for or desire righteousness?\n Did Jesus invite such to come to Him and drink?\n Should we always go to Him to satisfy our\n spiritual hunger and thirst?\n\n\n\n\nLEAVES.\n\nTHE LESSONS WHICH THEY TEACH.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: Some autumn leaves or green\n leaves of different varieties.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: To-day I picked up these few beautiful leaves,\nwhich during the summer were lifted aloft on the trees and cast their\ngrateful shadows upon the weary traveler as he journeyed under the\nscorching rays of the sun. But with the coming of autumn these leaves\nhave faded, and the first frost of winter has tinged them with crimson\nand glory. I am sure we cannot look upon them without thinking of the\nwords of the Prophet Isaiah, in the sixty-fourth chapter and sixth\nverse, where he says: \"We all do fade as a leaf.\"\n\n[Illustration: Autumn Leaves.]\n\nI desire, however, to use these leaves to teach you not only this\nlesson, but also several others which they suggest.\n\nIf, during the summer, you go out into a forest and study the leaves,\none of the first things which you will notice will be that the leaves\nwhich grow upon one kind of trees differ from the leaves which grow\nupon every other kind of trees. Indeed, if you pick up a leaf from the\nground and examine it carefully you will find that the leaf is largely a\npicture of the tree upon which it grew. The shape of the leaf will\ncorrespond very largely with the shape of the tree from which it has\nfallen. If you study the leaf more carefully you will discover that the\nveins in the leaf will quite closely resemble the shape of the limbs of\nthe tree. You would not be able to study the different leaves which you\npick up without being impressed with the resemblance in many instances\nbetween the leaf and the tree upon which it grew.\n\nNow, I think that we may learn a very profitable lesson from the leaves\nin this respect. I think that you will find, when you are able to study\nwith a little closeness of observation, that the scholars of different\nSunday-schools are different from each other, at least in some respects.\nThose who come from the school where good order is maintained, where\nthere are consecrated, devoted teachers who give themselves carefully to\nthe preparation of the lesson, secure the attention of their scholars,\nimpress the truth deeply upon the minds, and hearts and consciences--you\nwill find that the scholars of this school become attentive and orderly,\nand well behaved, and all the scholars in the school partake of the\ninfluences which are exerted over them from Sunday to Sunday. The\nscholars who attend a school where the superintendent does not keep good\norder, where the teachers are irregular and disinterested, and where\neverything is permitted to go along as by mere chance, these scholars\nwill partake of the influence of the school, and will individually\nbecome like the school. So you see how important it is that each and\nevery scholar should be attentive and thoughtful, and give the very\nlargest amount of help possible to the superintendent and teachers to\nrender the school orderly, and to encourage the teachers who desire to\ndevote themselves to the teaching of Bible truth and the impressing of\nthe spiritual lessons, so that those who are under their influence may\nbe brought to a saving acquaintance with Christ.\n\nWhat I have said with reference to the Sunday-school is also true with\nreference to the Church. There is an old saying, that \"like priest, like\npeople.\" When a pastor continues for a long period of years in the same\npulpit, ministering to the same people, if he has their sympathy,\nco-operation and assistance the people will become very much like each\nother in their spiritual character, and all will become more and more\nlike the pastor and his teachings. If he is godly, and consecrated, and\nupright, his people will become increasingly so. And you will find not\nonly that each scholar becomes a miniature of the Sunday-school which he\nattends, but each Christian becomes a miniature of the congregation of\nwhich he is a member.\n\nBut the leaves teach us another lesson. The great trees which you see in\nthe forest are the result of the united efforts and labors of the\nleaves. Each leaf is gifted with individual power, and together they all\ndrink in the influence of the sunlight and the showers, and unitedly\nthey build up the great oaks and elms and poplars, and all the trees of\nthe fields and forest. The coal, which is now dug from the mines, was\nonce a great tropical growth of forest trees which were afterwards\nburied by some great convulsion in nature, and now when we dig up the\ncoal and burn it in our stoves we are simply releasing the buried\nsunshine which was accumulated and stored up by the individual leaves of\nthe great forests of centuries ago.\n\nAs we look upon the leaves of the trees I think we must be impressed\nwith the fact, that each one labors in his own appointed place. There is\nno conflict, there is no crowding of one, thinking to exalt himself\nabove the others. There are no little parties of leaves joining\ntogether and trying to crowd themselves to the top of the tree, but each\nand all work faithfully and zealously in the place which God has\nappointed them.\n\n[Illustration: The Budding of the New Leaf.]\n\nThey are not only faithful workers, but they are unselfish workers. No\nleaf can have the joy which belongs to another, or the glory of all the\nleaves. Each leaf has the reward of doing a little, and when its work is\ndone it must drop to the ground and perish in the dust. The work which\nit has done and the tree which it has helped to build will be its\nmonument and reward. If each leaf gives its life faithfully for the\nbuilding up of the tree, no leaf can fall to the ground or be shaken\nfrom its place by the autumn wind and perish in despair.\n\nIf you will go into the forest at the autumn period of the year, or go\ninto the orchard and examine where the leaves are about to drop off, you\nwill find that at the base of the stem of each leaf, already there\nappears the budding of the leaf which is to be unfolded next spring, and\neven though the leaf withers and falls to the ground, leaving the barren\nlimb alone to battle with the winter storms, yet there is the promise\nand the evidence that when the gentle breath of spring shall come and\nbreak open the icy sepulchres of the winter, these little buds will feel\nthe genial warmth and unfold their green beauty in a radiant springtime\nof beautiful foliage. So one generation of men may die and pass away, to\nhave their work continued and completed by those who are to come after\nthem.\n\nBut these leaves also teach us of our mortality. For, as Isaiah says,\n\"We all do fade as a leaf.\" We are all very apt to forget that we must\ndie. And so each year, when the summer is over and the fruit is\ngathered, the leaves begin to wither, and the early frost tinges the\nforests of the closing year, like the sun oftentimes makes the clouds\nall crimson and glory at the close of the day. These things should teach\nus that as advancing years come, we also must fade and die. God spreads\nout before us this great panorama along the valleys and on the hillsides\neach autumn to teach us that as the leaves perish, so we must also fade\nand droop and die.\n\nBut there is one great encouragement, and that is, that although the\nleaves fall, the tree stands. The leaf perishes, but the tree abides,\nand year after year, sometimes for centuries, it goes on increasing in\nstature and in strength, abiding as the giant of the forest. So also,\nwhen at last each of us must die, that which we have built shall abide,\nand what we have received from others and to which we have added our\nefforts and our labors, others shall receive from us, and they also\nshall carry on the work in which we have been engaged. So each\ngeneration receives and carries on the work of those who have gone\nbefore. As the poet has well said,\n\n \"Like leaves on trees, the race of man is found,\n Now green in youth, now withered on the ground;\n Another race the following age supplies;\n They fall successive, and successive rise;\n So generations in their course decay\n So perish these when those have passed away.\"\n\nThe tree stands a monument of strength and beauty at the grave of all\nthe dead leaves which lie buried at its feet. So what each boy and girl,\neach man and woman, shall have accomplished of good or evil, will remain\nafter they have perished and passed away, to tell of their lives, and\nGod will note the result. He who says that not even a sparrow can fall\nto the ground without His notice, and who tells us that the very hairs\nof our heads are all numbered, He will note our deeds, and He will be\nour reward.\n\nIf I were speaking now to older people I might call attention to the\nfact that the autumn leaves are more beautiful than the summer leaves.\nAnd so boys and girls, it seems to me, and it has always thus seemed to\nme, that there is something more beautiful in manhood and womanhood,\nduring the later years of life, than during the earlier years. Always\nhonor and respect the aged whose heads are gray, whose features are\nvenerable and whose characters are Christ-like.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Are the leaves alike on all trees? In\n what ways are the leaves like the tree on which\n they grew? Are Sunday-school scholars much like\n the school that they attend? Are grown people\n greatly influenced by the pastor who preaches to\n them, and the people with whom they are\n associated? Of what are great trees the result?\n How do leaves accomplish this? When a leaf drops\n from the tree, what has already started? What do\n fading and dropping leaves represent? Does the\n tree abide when the leaves fall? When we die do\n the great influences which we have helped forward\n remain to bless the world? Who still notes our\n deeds when we pass away? Which are more beautiful,\n summer or autumn leaves? What periods of life are\n they like?\n\n\n\n\nTHE TURTLE.\n\nMEN LIKE AND YET UNLIKE THE ANIMALS.\n\n SUGGESTION:--While it is not at all necessary to\n present any special objects, it will add to the\n interest if the parent has a turtle shell or even\n the shells of oysters, clams or abalone, which are\n somewhat the same in principle, the outside cover\n of the animal constituting both its home and\n defence, although differing from the turtle in\n other respects.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I want to show you to-day how in some respect we\nare like the animals, and how in other respects we are very unlike them.\nTo illustrate what I desire to say I have brought this small turtle\nshell. From the way that some boys treat flies and bugs, and birds, cats\nand dogs and all kinds of animals you would suppose that many boys and\nsome girls think that animals have no feeling. Boys who have never\nsuffered any bodily pain themselves, oftentimes act as though they\nthought that animals could not suffer pain, but in this they are greatly\nmistaken. Animals can and do suffer pain, the same as people suffer\npain, and in order to defend them against their enemies God has provided\nthese creatures of His hand with some means of protecting themselves.\nThe birds can fly away. Some animals, like foxes, have holes in the\nground where they can hide. Others, like the squirrel, hide in the\nhollow trees. Bees can sting. Some cattle have horns for defence, and\nsome others, which are not as capable of defending themselves against\nthe stronger animals, God has marvellously provided with two stomachs.\nThe cow goes out in the field and crops off the grass rapidly and can\nthen go to a place of shelter and lie down, and there, protected from\nthe attack of wild beasts, chew what she has gathered. This is known in\nthe country as chewing the cud. The same is true with sheep; they also\nbite off the grass and swallow it quickly. It passes into a first\nstomach and then they can lie down in some quiet place and chew the cud;\nor in other words chew that which they have hastily bitten off in the\nfields.\n\n[Illustration: The Turtle.]\n\nNow the turtle cannot escape from his enemies because he cannot run very\nrapidly, and so God has covered him with a coat of mail and given him a\nhelmet, a hard, bony covering for the head and this large bony covering\nfor his body, which we can very properly call his house. When danger\napproaches, the turtle quickly draws his head and his feet into this\nlarge shell, and is quite safe from the attack of his enemies. Whatever\nanimal might desire to eat the turtle is prevented on account of this\nhard outer shell. On this lower part you will notice how the turtle can\ndraw the front portion up more closely, and thus the more securely shut\nhimself within his house. So you see how God has provided all the\nanimals with a means of protection and defense, first, to protect their\nlives, and secondly, to save them from pain and suffering.\n\nWhile God has thus successfully protected them against other animals,\nthey are not protected against the superior intelligence and ingenuity\nof man. The birds can fly faster than the man can run, but man can shoot\nthe bird with an arrow or with a rifle. So with all the other animals.\nNow God has made it right for us to kill animals for food, but it is\nvery wrong for us to destroy animals for the simple pleasure of taking\nlife, and it is also very wicked to inflict pain unnecessarily upon any\nof the animals.\n\nI want to tell you about a boy who was once strolling through the fields\nwith his sister. They found a nest of rabbits. The sister was charmed\nwith the beautiful nest itself and with its living occupants, but the\nboy teased them, mimicking their squeaks and their struggles. In vain\nhis sister plead with him not to hurt these pretty little creatures, but\nthe wicked boy flung them up into the air one by one and shouted when\neach fell dead upon the stones. Ten years after the sister sat weeping\nagain by that boy's side. He was in chains, sentenced to be hanged for\nshooting a farmer who was hunting in a neighbor's field. They were\nwaiting for the awful procession to knock at the cell door. \"Sister,\" he\nsaid, \"do you remember the nest of rabbits ten years ago; how you begged\nand prayed, and how I ridiculed? I verily believe that from that day God\nforsook me, and left me to follow my own inclinations. If I had yielded\nto your tears then, you and I would not be weeping these bitter tears\nnow.\"\n\nYou see how it is that boys who have no regard for the suffering, or the\npreservation of the life of animals are likely to inflict pain and even\nto take the lives of people.\n\nBut I want to call your attention to another respect in which we are\nlike the animals, or perhaps, more correctly, in which the animals are\nlike us. The forms of most all animals have some resemblance to each\nother, and all are somewhat in form like man. If you take the bird, his\nwings correspond to our arms, his legs and feet are somewhat like ours,\nonly his toes are longer, and the nails are slightly different in form.\nIf you will take the horse you will see that his neck is longer than\nours, that his front legs correspond to our arms, and if you take your\nfingers and press them together you will see how, if you were to study\nthe anatomy of the horse's foot carefully, it resembles the bones in\nour hands, and the bony foot of the horse corresponds to the nails on\nthe ends of our fingers, only that in the case of the horse the nails\nare all in one, forming the hoof, to which the blacksmith nails the\nshoe. The horse's hoof, however, is not solid as you might think, but\nonly a shell, the same as the nails on the ends of our fingers.\n\n[Illustration: Birds.]\n\nNow if you were to take the turtle that lives in this shell or house you\nwould find that he also has four legs, the front legs corresponding to\nour arms, and his hind legs corresponding to our legs and feet. On the\nend of each of his feet he has nails, the same as you and I have at the\nextremities of our hands and feet. But I am sure you would say that the\nturtle was very much unlike us, in that he has such a hard shell of a\nhouse which he carries about with him. But if you will feel of your\nhands you will discover that you have bones inside of your hands. So you\nhave bones in your arms and all through your body. These bones of your\nbody are covered with flesh, so our bones are _inside_ of us. But with\nthis turtle almost all of his bones are made into one bone, and that is\non the _outside_ of his body.\n\nOur muscles, with which we move our hands and feet and different\nportions of our body, are attached to the bones which are inside of us.\nHis muscles are attached to the bone which is on the outside of him. So\nyou see that we are like him, in that both of us have bones, only his\nare on the outside while ours are on the inside.\n\nHis bone or shell is a covering and a defense. Our bones, on the inside\nof us, are so constructed as to enable us to defend ourselves also. God\nhas given the turtle a house, but He has given us the knowledge and the\nskill, so that we can construct our own house. We are created with\ncapacity to till the earth and to subdue the wild beasts of the forest,\nand with our superior intelligence to be king over all the other\ncreatures which God has created.\n\nNow, there are several lessons which we may learn from what I have said.\nGod has protected all animals against their foes. He has not fully\nprotected the animals against us, but He expects us to use our\nintelligence and our better nature, to be thoughtful and careful not to\ninflict pain even upon the worm or insect which crawls upon the ground\nbeneath our feet.\n\nWhile our bodies are somewhat like the bodies of birds and beasts, in\nour moral nature we are not like the animals, but like God. We were made\nin the moral likeness and image of God. We have intelligence and God has\nmade us to know right from wrong. The animals have no conscience. Cattle\ndo not recognize any wrong when they break out of their owner's pasture\nand break into a neighbor's cornfield. We do not say that cattle have\nsinned, because they know nothing of ownership. They do not know what is\nright and what is wrong, and, therefore, are not accountable beings. In\nour intellectual, moral and spiritual nature we are superior to\neverything else that God has created. We have a moral nature. We know\nwhat is right and what is wrong, and, therefore, we are accountable\nbeings. God has made us free to follow our own purpose and, therefore,\nwe are to be held accountable. God has created us not for a few days of\nlife upon the earth, but He has made us immortal, and if we have faith\nin the Lord Jesus Christ, and accept Him as our Saviour and love and\nserve Him upon the earth, our condition in the next world will be one of\ngreat blessing and happiness.\n\nGod has given the turtle a house. He has given us intelligence and all\nthe materials and left us to construct the house in which we are to live\nupon this earth. But in heaven He has built our house for us. Jesus\nsaid: \"In My Father's house are many mansions.\" The German translation\nhas it, \"In My Father's house are many homes.\" \"I go to prepare a place\nfor you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and\nreceive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.\"\n\nDeath may be a misfortune to a poor turtle, but not to a Christian man\nor woman, or a Christian boy or girl. Death is only the blessed Saviour\ncoming to take us unto Himself.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Do animals feel pain? Has God provided\n for their protection? Does the turtle have bones?\n Are your bones on the outside or the inside of\n your body? Where are the turtle's bones\n principally? How does the turtle protect himself?\n Tell the story of the bad boy and the little\n rabbits. Are the forms of animals similar to the\n form of our bodies? To what part of our body do\n the wings of the bird and the front legs of a\n horse or cow correspond? Do animals have a moral\n nature and a conscience? Are they accountable to\n God for their conduct? Are we?\n\n\n\n\nGRASSHOPPER AND ANT.\n\nNEGLIGENCE AND INDUSTRY.\n\n\n[Illustration: The Royal Exchange, London.]\n\nTHE largest city of the world is across the ocean, in England. In the\nbusiest part of London is a very large building, called the Royal\nExchange. On the top of the pinnacle, or tower, of this large stone\nbuilding is a large grasshopper, and the English people have this legend\nin reference to it: It is related that some three hundred and\nseventy-five years ago, a woman, whose purposes we cannot know, might\nhave been seen hurrying along a country lane, some distance outside of\nthe city. Hastening along she came to a gate leading into a field, and\nlooking in every direction to be sure that no one was near, she took off\nher shawl and wrapped it carefully around a little baby which she had\nconcealed under her arm, and laid it gently by the side of a hedge. And\nthen turning back to the lane, she soon disappeared in the distance. An\nhour or two later a little girl and a rollicking, frolicking boy,\npossibly returning from school, were crossing the field. It was in the\nlater days of summer, when butterflies and grasshoppers abounded. As\nthis light-hearted boy was whistling along his way, a large grasshopper\nbounded across his path, and, true to the instincts of childhood, the\nboy started in pursuit of the grasshopper. The chase was only begun when\nthe grasshopper crossed the fence and landed in a grain field, which in\nEngland is called a corn field. Stooping to catch his prize, the boy\ndiscovered near by what proved to be a bright little baby, fast asleep\nin its mother's shawl. Joyful with the prize which they had found, the\nboy took it up in his arms, and hastened to his mother, who, although a\nfarmer's wife, with many cares and several children, resolved to adopt\nthe little stranger as her own.\n\n[Illustration: Grasshopper.]\n\nYears passed on, and the infant boy grew to be a man of industry and\neconomy, and finally became one of the richest and most influential men\nin the city of London. Queen Elizabeth, who was then upon the throne,\noften consulted him, and in after years, as an expression of gratitude\nto the great city in which he had accumulated his wealth, and for the\nroyal favor which had been shown him, he built the Bourse, or what is\ncalled the Royal Exchange, and in recognition of the kind Providence\nwhich had used the grasshopper to lead the steps of the boy to where the\nbaby was lying in the fields, Sir Thomas Gresham, for that was his name,\nplaced this large grasshopper in stone, upon the topmost pinnacle of\nthis Royal Exchange. While I cannot vouch for the historical accuracy of\nthis legend, yet it beautifully illustrates the truth that God often\nuses an humble insect for the accomplishment of His great providences.\n\nNow, I want to tell you something about the grasshopper, and also about\nthe ant.\n\nThe grasshopper is very much like that class of boys who want to have a\ngood time, play and frolic from day to day, but never go to school or\nwork, but live for the play and pleasure to be enjoyed each day as it\npasses. The grasshopper jumps from place to place across the field,\neating his food wherever he can find it, and then spends his days and\nweeks in idleness. He never stops to think that the summer will soon\npass away, the fields will then be barren, the cold autumn will come,\nwhen the fields will be left desolate and covered with snow. So finally\nwhen the autumn comes, he has no food laid up for the winter, but dies\nof poverty and hunger. This little poem which I read in the schoolbooks,\nwhen I was a boy, will tell the whole story:\n\n\nSONG OF THE GRASSHOPPER.\n\n I saw a brown old grasshopper,\n And he sat upon a stone,\n While ever and anon he chirped\n In a sad and mournful tone:\n And many an anxious, troubled look\n He cast around the naked plain;\n Where now was but a stubble field,\n Once waved the golden grain.\n What ails thee, old brown grasshopper?\n His voice was low and faint,\n As in the language of his race\n He made this dire complaint:\n \"O! in the long bright summer time\n I treasured up no store,\n Now the last full sheaf is garnered,\n And the harvest days are o'er.\"\n\n What didst thou, brown old grasshopper,\n When the summer days were long?\n \"I danced on the fragrant clover tops,\n With many a merry song;\n O! we were a blithesome company,\n And a joyous life we led;\n But with the flowers and summer hours,\n My gay companions fled:\n Old age and poverty are come,\n The autumn wind is chill,\n It whistles through my tattered coat,\n And my voice is cracked and shrill.\n In a damp and gloomy cavern\n Beneath this cold, gray stone,\n I must lay me down and perish--\n I must perish all alone.\n Alas! that in life's golden time\n I treasured up no store,\n For now the sheaves are gathered in,\n And the harvest days are o'er.\"\n\n He ceased his melancholy wail,\n And a tear was in his eye,\n As he slowly slid from the cold gray stone,\n And laid him down to die.\n And then I thought, t'were well if all\n In pleasure's idle throng,\n Had seen that old brown grasshopper\n And heard his dying song:\n For life's bright, glowing summer\n Is hasting to its close,\n And winter's night is coming--\n The night of long repose.\n O! garner then in reaping time,\n A rich, unfailing store,\n Ere the summer hours are past and gone,\n And the harvest days are o'er!\n\nThe little ant is not so foolish. For thousands of years the ant has\nalways been wise and industrious. In the Book of Proverbs, written over\ntwenty-five hundred years ago, Solomon tells us in the thirtieth chapter\nand twenty-fifth verse: \"The ants are a people not strong, yet they\nprepare their meat in the summer.\" And in the sixth chapter, sixth,\nseventh and eighth verses he says, \"Go to the ant, thou sluggard;\nconsider her ways, and be wise; which having no guide, overseer, or\nruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the\nharvest.\" You have probably noticed the industry, activity and\nperseverance of these little ants. They attempt great things. Sometimes\nyou will see one of these little insects carrying a burden which is\nseveral times larger than its own body. If they come to a stone, or a\nlog, or some obstacle, over which they must carry their burden, if they\ndo not succeed the first time, they will try again; and even though they\nshould fall, or fail as much as a hundred times, they will persevere\nuntil they have accomplished their undertaking. If you watch them, you\nwill see how rapidly they move. They are not lazy, they do not loiter\nalong the way, but are always in a hurry. They work with energy and\ngather food during the summer, which they lay up for their supply during\nthe winter. Whatever the little ant can gather, it carries home and lays\nup in store, not for itself alone, but all work together, each laboring\nfor the good and well-being of all the others.\n\n[Illustration: Ants.]\n\nThis grasshopper very fittingly represents the feeling and thought which\ncome into the mind of every boy when he is at first required to work, to\ngo to school and study, when he is being taught to be industrious and\nuseful. When the days are pleasant, boys do not like to go to school.\nWhen a pleasant Sunday morning comes in the springtime, they often wish\nto stay at home, to go out to the park, or to roam about the fields, and\nif most of the boys and girls had their own way about it, in the\nbeginning, they would live pretty much like the grasshopper. They would\nget what pleasure they could out of the days as they pass, grow up in\nignorance and idleness, and in manhood and womanhood find themselves in\npoverty and want. I think that pretty much all boys and girls are\nnaturally lazy, and that feeling can only be cured by being required to\nwork, being compelled to go to school and study, and being kept\npersistently at it from week to week and year to year, until at last\nthey learn to love to work. If the parents of the grasshopper had not\nthemselves been lazy and grown up in idleness, they would have taught\nthe young grasshopper that in the spring and summer he was to look\nforward to the wants and needs of the winter. The older ants always\nteach the young ants to work, and in that they are very wise.\n\nPerhaps you have seen boys and girls who have learned to work, who are\nalways very active, who seem always to be busy, but after all accomplish\nnothing of any moment in life. If we want to live to some purpose in\nthis world, we must remember that we should have a purpose worthy of\nourselves, and of the great Father in Heaven who has created us. After a\nfew months and years the grasshoppers and the ants and all the insects\ndie, but you and I shall live on forever and ever. These bodies will be\nlaid away in the grave, but our immortal spirits shall still continue to\nlive. The stars in heaven which have been shining for thousands and\nthousands of years shall eventually grow pale. The sun itself shall\ncease to shine, and all the heavens and the universe about us shall be\nrolled together as a scroll. But these immortal spirits of yours and\nmine shall live on with God throughout all eternity. It is important,\ntherefore, that our industry and our thought and our labor should not be\nfor those things which perish with the using; that we should not simply\nlay up treasures which we must after a time go away and leave behind us\nin this world, but that we should lay up treasures in heaven, where moth\nand rust do not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor\nsteal; that where our treasure is, there our hearts may be also; and\nthat we may possess and enjoy our treasure throughout all eternity.\n\nI hope that every time you see a grasshopper or an ant, you will\nremember the lesson which I have sought to teach you to-day.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What is on the top of the Royal\n Exchange in London? Who built the Exchange? Why\n did he put the grasshopper there? Tell all you can\n about the little boy and girl going through the\n field. What kind of boys and girls is like the\n grasshopper? What does the grasshopper do in\n summer? What happens to him when winter comes? Is\n the ant like the grasshopper, or is he\n industrious? What does the Bible say about the\n ant? How does he spend the summer? Does he have\n food for winter use? Does each ant work for itself\n alone? Who teach the young ants to work? Do boys\n and girls all have to be taught to work? Do all\n people who are busy accomplish something worthy of\n their effort? What should we live for?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nBALANCES.\n\nHOW GOD WEIGHS PEOPLE.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: A pair of ordinary balances.\n A very good pair for illustration can easily be\n made from a piece of wood, a few strings and a\n couple of little paper boxes.\n\n[Illustration: Balances.]\n\n\nDEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I suppose you have all stood on the scales and been\nweighed. I have here a pair of balances. This was doubtless one of the\nearliest kind of instruments with which people weighed different things,\nand it is the kind of scales which are still used when the greatest\naccuracy is desired. These are called a balance, because when I hold\nthem by this string you will see that this end of the arm and that end\nof the arm are equal in length and equal in weight and they exactly\nbalance each other. Now when I place anything in the pan on this end of\nthe arm, and place a small weight in the pan on the opposite arm, and\nthen lift the balance up, you will see how I can readily tell how much\nthe piece of metal, or piece of wood, or whatever I have placed in the\nbalances, weighs. In the drug stores they use this kind of scales to\nweigh medicines, and they can tell accurately the weight of a very small\nquantity. In the laboratory, or the place where medicines are made, they\nhave this kind of scales that will weigh the smallest particle of dust;\neven a small piece of a hair laid on the scales can be weighed\naccurately.\n\nIn the fifth chapter of the Book of Daniel we read about a king whose\nname was Belshazzar, who lived in the great city of Babylon, surrounded\nby a great wall three hundred feet high and eighty feet broad, and with\na hundred gates of brass, twenty-five gates on each side of the city,\nand a street running from each of the gates upon the one side, straight\nacross the city to each of the corresponding gates upon the opposite\nside, a distance of some twelve or fifteen miles; and then other streets\ncrossing these first twenty-five streets, running between the gates\nwhich were upon the other two sides of the city. God had blessed this\nking of Babylon and given him great wealth and great power; but he\nbecame proud and defied God. One night he made a great feast and invited\na thousand of his lords and the generals of his army, and sent for the\ngolden vessels of the Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought down from\nJerusalem, and Belshazzar drank wine out of these sacred vessels of the\nTemple. And, like men and women when they drink liquor, they lost their\nreason, and they praised the gods of gold, and of silver, and brass, and\niron, and wood, and of stone, and thus dishonored God; and there\nappeared in the banqueting hall the fingers of a man's hand and wrote on\nthe wall so that all might see and read it, and these were the words\nwhich were written before that wicked king: \"Thou art weighed in the\nbalances, and art found wanting.\" (Daniel v: 27.)\n\nNow you see that God weighs men and women, not for the purpose of\ntelling how many pounds their bodies weigh, but He weighs their\ncharacter, He weighs their conduct, He weighs their purposes, and He\nweighs their principles, and so He weighed Belshazzar, and He said of\nhim and to him, \"Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found\nwanting.\" God weighed Belshazzar as though he were placed in this side\nof the balance, and on the other side of the balance were placed all his\nopportunities, privileges and his blessings, and all that God had done\nfor him. When God thus weighed him against all these things Belshazzar\nwas found so light that he did not weigh as much as the privileges and\nblessings which God had given him, and therefore, God said that he was\nweighed in the balances and was found wanting.\n\nIn just this same way God weighs you and me, in order that we may see\nwhether or not we weigh enough. Suppose we turn to the twentieth chapter\nof Exodus and there find what God requires of us. You will find that God\nsays, \"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto\nthee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven\nabove, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under\nthe earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for\nI the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the\nfathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them\nthat hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and\nkeep my commandments.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"Thou Art Weighed in the Balances, and Art Found\nWanting.\"]\n\nNow suppose I place this requirement in one side of the balance, and\nthen ask you to place your obedience to this requirement in the other\nside of the balance. I am sure there are a great many grown men and\nwomen who could not be weighed against this requirement. If a man loves\nmoney, so that he sacrifices his obedience to God, or sacrifices his\ncharacter, or gives too large an amount of time to money-making, and\nmoney-getting; if his love of money is very great, you see how he makes\nmoney a sort of a god--that is, that he exalts his love of money above\nhis love of God. In the same way a person can worship pleasure, and\nease, and fame in such a way as to exalt these above God. Now any one\nwho has done this, cannot be weighed against this requirement of God's\nlaw without being found wanting.\n\nIf we take the next Commandment, it reads, \"Thou shall not take the name\nof the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless\nthat taketh his name in vain.\" Now anybody who has ever sworn cannot be\nweighed against this Commandment. A man who curses and swears is a very\nwicked man. I hope that none of you, boys or girls, will ever profane\nGod's name and disgrace yourself by swearing.\n\nI want to caution you, also, against the use of by-words. Sometimes boys\nswear without knowing it; they say \"By Jiminy.\" Now, the word \"Gemini\"\nmeans \"Twins,\" and refers to two heathen gods whose names were \"Castor\"\nand \"Pollux,\" and when boys use the expression, \"By Jiminy,\" they are\nswearing by those two heathen gods. Jesus said, \"Swear not at all.\"\n(Matt. v: 34.) Then not only those who literally swear, but all those\nwho use God's name without reverence and who make light of sacred things\nbreak this Commandment. So you see that many are not able to be weighed\nagainst this Commandment.\n\nThen take the next: \"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.\" There\nare many people who remember the Sabbath Day simply to make it the\noccasion of visiting, letter writing, and to enjoy a trip into the\ncountry, or in the park. They remember the Sabbath Day, but they do not\nremember it to keep it holy. So you see that you would not be able to be\nweighed against that requirement.\n\nNow take the next: \"Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may\nbe long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.\" If God were\nto come into this community and weigh the boys and girls against this\nCommandment, how many do you think would be found to whom God would turn\nand say, as He did to Belshazzar: \"Thou art weighed and art found\nwanting\"? Any boy or girl who speaks of his father as \"The old man,\" and\nof his mother as \"The old woman\"; any boy or girl who is disobedient;\nany girl who yesterday when mother asked her to dust the furniture, or\nany boy who when mother asked him yesterday to run upon an errand, grew\npetulant, and scowled and scolded, perhaps went out of the room and\nslammed the door behind them, all such boys and girls would be found\nwanting. You see how, with one after another of these Commandments, if\nGod were to weigh us we would be found wanting.\n\nIf we take the other Commandments, \"Thou shall not kill,\" anybody who\nhas hated his brother in his heart; \"Thou shall not commit adultery,\"\nany one who has harbored lust in his heart; \"Thou shall not steal\";\n\"Thou shall not bear false witness\"; \"Thou shall not covet\"; think of\neach of these and see how many times in your life you have broken them,\nif not in letter, yet in spirit.\n\nNow, if you cannot be weighed against these different requirements and\nyou have come short of them in the past, how can you expect to stand in\nthe great Day of Judgment, when God shall take into account every idle\nword that we have ever uttered, every wicked thought; when we shall be\nweighed in the just balances of an infinite God? When God shall place\nthese requirements upon one side of the balance, and you and I shall\nstep in upon the other side of the balance, there is only one possible\nway in which we could then be heavy enough, and that is if we could have\nour Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, to step into the balance with us, as He\nis willing to do, and God should accept the obedience and holiness of\nHis own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ in our stead. Unless you and I have\nJesus Christ with us when we step into that balance, it will be said,\n\"Thou art found wanting.\" Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your friend,\nand are you trying to serve Him? If you have not now made Him your\nfriend, how can you hope to have His friendship then? May God help you\nto have Jesus as your friend in life, as well as in death; in this life\nas well as in the life to come, now while being tempted and tried in\nthis world, as well as when being weighed in the next.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What was the handwriting on the wall\n at Belshazzar's feast? Does God weigh our bodies?\n What does He weigh? Against what was Belshazzar\n weighed? What are we weighed against? Are we\n weighed against each commandment separately? Can a\n person who has sworn be weighed against the third\n commandment? Is the use of by-words swearing? Are\n we honoring our parents by speaking\n disrespectfully of them? Can we break a\n commandment in thought as well as in deed? Tell\n how. Will all these requirements over-balance us?\n What must we do to make a proper balance? Is\n Christ willing to step into the scales with us?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nWHITE AND CHARRED STICKS.\n\nGOOD AND BAD COMPANY.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: A few pine sticks, some\n charred; ink and water.\n\n\nALL boys and girls like to have companions, some one to play with, and\ntherefore it is very wise that I should talk to you to-day about good\nand bad company.\n\nFirst of all let me read some passages from the Bible. \"Blessed is the\nman that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the\nway of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.\" (Psalms i: 1.)\n\"Forsake the foolish and live; and go in the way of understanding.\"\n(Proverbs ix: 6.) But here is a passage of Scripture which is exactly\nsuited to my purpose to-day: \"He that walketh with wise men shall be\nwise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.\" (Proverbs xiii: 20.)\n\nWhen you go into a large library to select books you will always find\nthat they are classified. Some of the shelves have books of history,\nothers have books of poetry, and so on throughout the entire library. In\nthis way God has classified different people in this text. One class is\ncalled wise, and the others are called foolish. A companion of wise men\nshall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. In the same\nway there are good boys and bad boys, good girls and bad girls; and when\nyou choose your companions it is important that you should choose them\namong the good, and not among the bad.\n\nI think you will better understand the teaching of the text, when I show\nyou this one stick that has been burned black, or charred, as we say.\nNow here are several clean sticks which have not been burned, which are\nwhite and not tarnished. Let this black stick represent the boys who\nsmoke, or chew, or swear, or lie, or deceive their parents; boys or\ngirls who do not go to Sunday-school, who do not obey their parents, and\nwho do not love God. These clean sticks will represent good boys and\ngirls. Now suppose the good boys and girls choose the bad boys and girls\nas their companions and playmates; what do you think would be the\nresult? I will mix these sticks together. I am sure that nobody would\nexpect that the white sticks would transfer their purity and cleanness\nto this black stick. When I mix them, or rub them together, the black\nsticks get no whiter, but all the white sticks get blacker.\n\n[Illustration: White and Charred Sticks.]\n\nThat is the way it always is with the boys who keep bad company. Instead\nof exerting a good influence, so as to reform and purify, and make good\nboys of the bad boys, the bad boys make bad boys of the good boys. At\nfirst the good boys are horrified at what they hear and see the bad boys\nsay and do. After a while it ceases to be unpleasant to them. A little\nlater they may possibly laugh at the bad boys, but after a while they\nwill come to like the bad boys, and finally they will do as the bad\nboys do and become like them in conduct and in character.\n\nPerhaps you have seen boys who like to take cork and burn it in the\ncandle or fire, and then blacken their faces with it, so as to make them\nlook like colored people. Now, it is not the best thing for a white boy\nto try to look like a colored boy, but if he does rub this black on his\nface, he can wash it off with soap and water. But when a good boy goes\nwith bad boys and his character becomes tarnished and blackened, he\ncannot cleanse and purify it so easily. He not only gets a bad character\nbut a bad reputation as well, both of which are very difficult to\ncleanse or to get rid of.\n\n[Illustration: Glass of Water and Bottle of Ink.]\n\nNow, here I have a glass of water and a bottle of ink. If I take and\npour a half a teaspoonful of this water into the ink, it makes no\nparticular difference in its color. But if I take only two or three\ndrops of ink and mix them with the water, it discolors the entire glass\nof water at once. One or two good boys in the midst of many bad ones are\nlikely to be influenced in a bad direction. This is especially true if\nthe good boys have sought the bad boys as companions. Even one or two\nbad boys, placed in the midst of several good boys, may exert a very bad\ninfluence over them. I suppose you have all seen this illustrated in the\nschool room. You may have had a set of good boys, or a set of good girls\nin your class, but some day a bad boy came to the school, or a bad girl\njoined the class and they were frivolous, laughed and talked and were\ndisorderly, disobeyed the teacher, played truant and did all kinds of\nnaughtiness when in school, and it had its bad effect upon the entire\nclass, and sometimes even upon the entire school.\n\nThe text teaches us that we should avoid such foolish boys and foolish\ngirls; boys and girls who do not obey God or revere the Bible, who do\nnot listen to their consciences, nor do that which is right. Such should\nbe avoided at all times, and in choosing our companions, we should\nalways prefer those who will have an influence for good upon us\nsocially, intellectually and morally.\n\nThe influence of bad companions will tend to destroy all our best\ninterests physically, by leading to every kind of vice and evil; destroy\nus financially, by causing us to be inattentive to our work, causing us\nto prefer idleness and pleasure to labor and usefulness; destroy us\nmorally, by making light of the teachings of the Bible, the importance\nof the Sunday-school and of the Church, the authority of father and\nmother and the wisdom of what they teach and require of us.\n\nBut in addition to all this, we should remember that those who are our\ncompanions upon earth, will be our companions in the world to come. If\nwe go with the wicked and the profane here, we shall dwell with them\nforever in the world to come. If we desire to go to heaven and to be\nforever with those who are good and righteous, pure and holy; if we\ndesire to be happy for ever and ever in the world to come, we must\nchoose as our companions here, those who are living not for this present\nfleeting life, but who are living for the glory of God and who are\ntrusting sincerely in Jesus Christ for everlasting salvation.\n\nMay God help us all to be wise and to walk with the wise, and not to be\nfoolish and choose fools as our companions, both for time and eternity.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Into what two classes has God divided\n people? What does the Bible tell us will happen to\n a companion of fools?--of wise men? Whom do the\n charred sticks represent? Who are like the white\n sticks? If the sticks are rubbed together, what is\n the result? What happens to good boys who keep bad\n company? Do the good boys become bad immediately?\n What do bad companions do to one's character? Can\n a boy wash \"burnt cork\" from his face? Can he wash\n the stains from his character? What else besides a\n bad character is given? Will a few drops of water\n change the color of a bottle of ink? Will a few\n drops of ink change the color of a glass of water?\n Who are like the ink-drops? Who are like the\n water-drops? Why? Whom shall we choose for\n companions? Who will be our companions in\n eternity?\n\n[Illustration: The Camp of the Israelites.]\n\n\n\n\nDOGS.\n\nTHE DOGS OF ST. BERNARD.\n\n SUGGESTION:--If a real live dog is too diverting,\n an earthen or bisque dog, or the accompanying\n picture of the dogs of St. Bernard, may be\n sufficient.\n\n\nMY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I want to talk to you to-day about dogs. The dog\nis what is called a domestic animal, and wherever you find civilized men\nand women, you will find dogs of some kind. Dogs are not only loved\nbecause they are companionable, but because they are also, oftentimes,\nvery serviceable.\n\nIn Switzerland there are some very high mountains, and some years ago,\nwhen there were no tunnels yet dug under the mountains, as there are\nto-day, travelers during the winter, when going from Germany to Italy,\nor returning from Italy to Germany, had to cross over the tops of these\nmountains. The snow was always deep and the journey was always\ndangerous, particularly in the winter.\n\n[Illustration: The Dogs of St. Bernard\n\nCopyrighted 1911 by Sylvanus Stall]\n\nThere are several places where the mountains can be crossed, and these\nplaces are called \"passes,\" such as the Simplon, St. Bernard and St.\nGothard passes. Some years ago, in company with a friend, I crossed the\nSt. Gothard pass on the 20th of June. That year the season was very\nlate, and after we got well up the mountain, we found the snow from five\nto ten feet deep on the level, and when we arrived on the top of the\nmountain, the snow was even with the roof of a two-story building which\nstood there, and the people living in it had tunneled under the snow,\naround the outside of the building. If this was the way it was on the\n20th of June, you can easily imagine what an awfully cold and stormy\nplace it must be to live during the entire winter. It took our horses a\nlong time to take us up the mountain, but when we went down on the\nItalian side they went quite rapidly, and in one hour and forty minutes\nfrom the time we left the Hotel de la Prosa, where the snow was so very\ndeep, we were down in the village of Airolo, where little girls were\nselling ripe cherries. It seemed as though we had jumped right out of\nthe heart of winter, into the pleasant and fruitful days of summer.\n\nOn the top of each of these mountain passes, there is built what is\ncalled a hospice, which means hospitality, the same word from which we\nget our word hospital. These buildings are erected for the entertainment\nof poor travelers, who are compelled to cross the mountains in the\nwinter. There are a number of monks, who live in each of these places of\nentertainment. On each of these mountain passes the monks have some\nlarge dogs, which are known as the dogs of St. Bernard. In the winter\nwhen it is snowing, and travelers are likely to be exhausted by their\nefforts to ascend the mountain, and are liable to be lost in the\nsnow-storms which prevail almost every day, these dogs are sent out by\nthe monks with a supply of food and wine suspended from their necks, and\nthey go all over the mountain, barking and making a great noise. When\nthey discover a poor traveler who is perishing in the snow, they allow\nhim to take the food and the wine in order that he may be stimulated and\nrevived, and then these faithful and intelligent dogs lead the way to\nthe place of safety and security.\n\nOftentimes they find men who have become nearly frozen, who have fallen\ndown in the snow in an unconscious state and are ready to die. If left\nfor a time these men would soon freeze to death beneath the snow that\nfalls very rapidly upon them. These dogs are very intelligent, and\nimmediately they will begin to scrape the snow off the traveler, lick\nhis hands, and if he does not give any indications of life they will\nthen lie down upon his body, that the warmth from their own body may\nquicken him again into consciousness, that he may drink the wine and eat\nthe food and be stimulated enough to do something toward getting himself\non to the place of safety. If the man is not too heavy, the dog might\neven be able to carry him.\n\n[Illustration: Dogs Rescuing Traveler.]\n\nAt the hospice on the St. Bernard pass they once had a faithful dog\nwhich had been successful in thus rescuing sixty-eight persons from\nfreezing to death upon the mountains. The dog was very sagacious, and\nseemed to know exactly what to do when he found a poor traveler dying in\nthe snow. One day he found a man who had evidently been lying for some\ntime in the snow, which had already quite buried him. The man was\nentirely unconscious, and when the dog found him he began immediately to\nscrape away the snow and then lay down upon this dying man, that the\nwarmth of his own body might quicken him again into consciousness. When\nthe man began to revive, and discovered that there was something warm\nlying upon him, he thought it was a wolf or some wild animal which\npossibly designed to take his life. He reached into his belt and drew a\ndagger, which he thrust into the body of the faithful dog that had come\nto rescue him from freezing to death. The poor dog was fatally wounded.\nHe started back home, but in a short time after reaching it bled to\ndeath. The monks had this dog's skin stuffed and placed in the hospice,\nand now he seems constantly to teach an object lesson to all travelers\nwho cross the Alps and stop at the hospice.\n\nThe story of this faithful dog and his sad death reminds us of that\nloving Saviour, who came from heaven to this world, to seek and to save\nthose who were lost. And although He came to redeem and rescue us from\ndeath, yet wicked men in this world crucified Him by nailing Him to a\ncross upon Calvary, and this is what every person is doing to-day who\nrejects the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes to you and to me, desiring to\nsave us from our sins and from everlasting death; to save not only our\nbodies, but our souls for all eternity. If we reject Him we are told in\nthe Bible that \"we crucify Him afresh, and put Him to an open shame.\" I\nam sure no thoughtful boy or girl would be guilty of wilfully stabbing\nany kind dog that would come to their rescue if they were perishing in\nthe snow, and I trust that none of you will ever reject Jesus and thrust\nHim away from you, and thus crucify Him for yourself and put Him to an\nopen shame before the world.\n\nThis faithful dog should also teach you and me another lesson. If a dog\ncan make himself so useful as to save the lives of sixty-eight people,\nyou and I should ask ourselves the question whether we are doing as\nmuch for the blessing and the salvation of men as this faithful dog did\non the mountains of Switzerland? But you can do a great deal more than\nthis dog. He could only save the lives of people, but God can use you to\nsave their souls as well, by the influence of a noble Christian life, by\nwhat you say and do, by your contributions to missions, and in various\nother ways you may help to save the souls of many who must otherwise\nperish.\n\nBut this faithful dog teaches us a lesson of constant, daily duty. It\nwas no easy thing for this dog to go out in the fierce cold through the\ndeep snow and run about all day to hunt for lost travelers, but it was\nby keeping constantly at it and working faithfully day after day that he\naccomplished this grand result. He did not save sixty-eight people all\nat one time, but saved one at a time, and sometimes worked for days and\nweeks without finding a single traveler whom he could help. In the same\nway, if you desire to be useful in this world, you must use every little\nopportunity which comes to you daily. You must be willing to work hard\nand keep at it, and even though you cannot succeed in doing any great\nthing at any one time, remember that you must keep doing little things\nall the while. I trust that God may inspire each of you to desire to\naccomplish grand results in your lives by the constant doing of both\nlittle and great things for God and man.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Are dogs serviceable? What kinds are\n the most useful? Where do they live? For what and\n by whom are they used? What do the dogs do to\n revive a traveler? Tell the story of the dog of\n the St. Bernard Pass. Of what does this story\n remind us? Does Christ try to rescue us? What are\n we doing when we reject Him? What lesson does this\n dog teach us? Can we do as much as this dog did?\n Why? What can we do which the dog could not do?\n What other lesson does this dog teach us? Did the\n dog save all the sixty-eight people at one time?\n Are we able to accomplish God's work all at one\n time? How must we do it?\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAMERA.\n\nGOD'S PICTURE BOOK.\n\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: A small camera and a small\n looking glass.\n\n\n[Illustration: A Camera.]\n\nWHILE talking to you to-day about pictures, it will not seem strange\nthat I should have a camera as the object with which to illustrate the\nsermon. But my purpose may not be so plain to you when you hear my text,\nwhich is taken from the book of Revelation, twentieth chapter, twelfth\nverse: \"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the\nbooks were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of\nlife: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in\nthe books, according to their works.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"Throwing a Black Cloth Over His Head He Moved About the\nCamera.\"]\n\nThese words refer to the great Judgment Day. I suppose that you know\nthat we must all die, but possibly you did not know, or have\nforgotten, that after a time God will raise up all the dead and will\nseparate the good people from the bad people, the righteous from the\nwicked. The time when God will do this is called the great Judgment Day.\nIt is then that the words which I have read as my text tell us that \"the\nbooks shall be opened,\" and then all that we have ever done or said in\nthis life shall be found written in these books.\n\nNow, if God is keeping a record of all our deeds and words, and even our\ninmost thoughts, which He also knows; and not only keeping a record of\nyour words and thoughts and mine, but also of those of every man, woman\nand child--a record of all the fourteen hundred millions now living upon\nour earth--you might think that millions of angels would be kept very\nbusy writing all these things down in these books. I do not know just\n_how_ God is doing this, but I do know two ways in which He could easily\naccomplish what to us may seem a difficult or impossible task.\n\nI will now try to show you how God might keep the record of everything\nwe do; and next Sunday I will try to tell you how, with equal ease, God\nmight secure and keep the record of all we say, of each and every word\nwe speak.\n\nI suppose you have all gone to a photograph gallery and had your\npictures taken. When you stood before an instrument, something like\nthis, only perhaps much larger, the artist went behind the big\ninstrument, which was pointed right toward you, and throwing a black\ncloth over his head, he moved about the camera, told you just how to\nhold your head, and finally when everything was arranged and he was\nready, he pressed a small rubber ball which opened the little slide,\njust as you would open your eye to look at any object, and in an instant\nyour picture was taken.\n\nThat large camera, with which the artist took your picture, was in\nprinciple just like the smaller and more simple one which I have shown\nyou, and both are made to imitate, or in a rude way to be like the human\neye.\n\nNow, if I point this camera toward you, make it dark back of the camera,\neither by placing a black cloth over my head or in any other way, your\npicture will at once appear upon this glass which is at the back of the\ncamera. Now the reason why I can see your photograph on this ground\nglass is because the rays of light which are reflected or come from your\nface, into this opening in the camera, have your likeness upon them, and\nwhen the light falls against this glass I can see your picture which is\nphotographed upon the rays of light, just the same as your picture is\nphotographed on paper. So every object about us is photographed on the\nrays of light and the picture becomes visible when we turn our eye,\nwhich is a small but perfect camera, so that the rays of light can go\nstraight into our eye and the picture fall upon the back of the eye,\nwhich is called the retina, and with which this glass in the camera\ncorresponds.\n\nAn ordinary looking-glass will demonstrate or show the same thing. This\ncovering on the back of the glass corresponds to the black cloth with\nwhich the photographer shuts out the rays of light which come from the\nback of the camera. In the same way the ground at the bottom of the pond\ncuts off the rays from beneath, and on this account you can see the\nhills, or stars, or clouds reflected in the water; so also in the\nlooking-glass, as you turn it in different directions you can see the\nphotographs of persons or objects which are pictured upon the rays of\nlight.\n\nYou may have thought that you saw the person or objects themselves, but\nthis is not the case. With your eyes you can see nothing in the dark;\neven the cat and the owl must have some light, although they do not need\nas much as we, before they can see. The rays of light carry the pictures\nof the objects, and where there are no rays of light we can see\nnothing.\n\nNow, while your photograph is being taken from the few rays of light\nwhich pass into a camera, you see that we might place hundreds of\ncameras one above another, and if they were all pointed at you they\nmight each take a photograph of you at the same instant--the same as one\nthousand different persons in an audience with their two thousand eyes\nall look toward the speaker and see him at one and the same instant.\n\nNow, if I have succeeded in making my thought plain, you will readily\nunderstand that as we have great books with pictures upon every page, so\nGod might use these rays of light as the pages of the great book upon\nwhich each act of our life instantly records itself, it matters not how\nrapidly it is done or how many persons and objects there may be in\nmotion or action at the same instant. The fact that the different rays\nof light carry the pictures of the objects from which they are\nreflected, is illustrated in the wonderful cameras with which \"moving\npictures\" are taken.\n\nTo older persons I might add that if you recall the scientific fact that\nthese rays of light, bearing the images or photographs of persons and\nobjects from which they are reflected, dash out into space at the rate\nof 192,000 miles in one second, and that they continue to move on\nindefinitely, you see how the rays of light which were reflected and are\nnow carrying the image of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, of Noah\ncoming out of the ark, of the battle of Bunker Hill, and those carrying\nthe pictures of all other objects and actions since the Creation until\nnow, are still sweeping on through space, and if you and I could be\npresent where these rays of light are now sweeping onward, we could see\nthese things as actually and really as if they were even now taking\nplace in our presence upon the earth. And you will also understand how,\nas God is everywhere present, He is also present in space where these\nrays of light are at this moment, and so every scene in the entire\nhistory of the world is perpetually visible to Him. And so, even with\nour feeble understanding, you see how the past may always be present to\nthe Infinite and everywhere-present God.\n\nNow, my dear young friends, remember as we see the acts of each other,\nso God sees all that we do, even when no one else is present to see us.\nDo not think that God sees and then forgets. All we do is being\nconstantly photographed, not in a camera like this, but upon the rays of\nlight as upon the pages of a great book, and in the great Judgment Day,\nGod will judge us out of the things recorded against us in these books.\nOur acts record themselves, and in that great day we shall no more be\nable to deny the correctness of the record than we would be able to deny\nthe personality or identity of our own photograph.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What is meant by the great Judgment\n Day? What will God do on that day? Of what does\n God keep a record? Do we know exactly how He does\n it? What two ways are there in which He might do\n it? What brings the person's image upon the ground\n glass of the camera? What have we that is like the\n camera? Which part of the eye is like the ground\n glass of the camera? Why can we not see in the\n dark? Could God use the rays of light instead of\n the pages of a book? Is the image of Adam and Eve\n in the Garden of Eden still existing? Where? Are\n the images of all other events also passing\n through space? Can God see them all at once? Does\n God see all of our acts?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PHONOGRAPH.\n\nBOOKS THAT TALK.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Object: A small tin box, with a cover\n and bottom removed. Over one end draw and tie a\n piece of parchment, or even of strong manilla\n paper, in the center of the miniature drum-head\n thus formed fasten a thin string, and you will\n then have a rude but real telephone and a good\n representation also of the phonograph.\n\n\nLAST Sunday I talked to you about the great Judgment Day and tried to\nillustrate to your minds what is said in Revelation, twentieth chapter,\ntwelfth verse, where it says, \"The dead were judged out of those things\nwhich were written in the books, according to their works.\" I tried then\nto make plain how God pictures or photographs all our acts upon the rays\nof light, and how we see the objects about us when the rays of light\nfall upon the retina of the eye. I tried to show you how every ray of\nlight carries a photograph or picture, and that these rays of light are\nsweeping out into space at the rate of 192,000 miles per second, and\nthat if you and I could be present where these rays, carrying the\npicture of the battle of Bunker Hill are now hurrying through space, you\ncould see the battle, as if it were taking place at present. If you had\na camera with you, you could actually take a photograph of it, the same\nas you could have done had you been on the hills outside of Boston on\nthe day when this great battle was being fought.\n\nBut that is only one book; God has other books also. But you know you\ncan not photograph what a person says. So I want to try and show you how\nour words and all we say also go into a great book and write themselves\ndown, so as to become permanent for all time.\n\nNow, I have here a baking-powder box, from which I have removed the\nends, and in place of the tin have covered it with a stout piece of\npaper which I have tried to draw very smoothly. With two such boxes,\nconnected by a string, we could make a telephone so that we could talk\ntogether a short distance. Or with only one box we could construct a\nvery rude but yet very suggestive phonograph.\n\nLet me tell you how it is that you can hear over the telephone, whether\nmade of a simple box and string like this, or with a wire and electric\nbattery, for in one respect they are both alike.\n\nIf you will place your finger gently on your throat, against what is\nsometimes called \"Adam's Apple,\" but what is really the delicate little\ninstrument with which we speak, and then utter some words in a strong,\nclear voice, you will doubtless feel a vibration or trembling in your\nthroat, just the same as I now feel in my throat while I am talking. My\neffort to speak causes these little chords in my throat to vibrate, just\nthe same as when you pass your fingers over the chords of a harp or\nviolin, or when you strike the keys of a piano you make the wires\ntremble and thus produce sound, so these chords in my throat tremble and\ncause the air to tremble, producing what we call sound-waves. Just the\nsame as when you take a stone and drop it into the lake, you see the\nlittle waves or ripples, as we call them, go out in small circles, wider\nand wider, further and further, until they strike the distant shore. So\nthe air is made to vibrate by my effort to speak, and these little\nsound-waves in the air strike against the drum of your ear, back of\nwhich there are nerves, ever ready to convey to the brain the sensation\nwhich we call sound,\n\n[Illustration: \"The Little Waves or Ripples.\"]\n\n \"Like clear circles widening round\n Upon a clear blue river,\n Orb after orb, the wondrous sound\n Is echoed on forever.\"\n\nNow, this small baking-powder box represents the ear, and the paper at\nthis end represents the drum of the ear, and this string represents the\nnerves. This string may be prolonged for a considerable distance, and if\nyou were to connect the end of the string with another box of the same\nsort you would then have a telephone with which you would be able to\nhear quite plainly the words which are spoken by some other person at\nthe opposite end of the string. When I speak into this box it makes the\npaper tremble, and that makes the string tremble, and if there were\nanother box at the far end of the line it would cause the paper on the\nend of that box to tremble just the same, and that would cause the air\nto tremble where that box is, and if you were to hold your ear to that\nbox you would be able to hear the words.\n\nIf I take this box, and instead of a string I should place the point of\na needle back of it, and a cylinder to revolve, so that the needle would\nscratch the vibrations upon the cylinder, I would then have a\nphonograph. I would then be able to record the words, and with another\nsmooth needle to go into the scratches which had been made by the sharp\nneedle, I would be able to reproduce the sound; or, in other words, to\nmake the cylinder talk back again to me the words which I had spoken\ninto the tin box and recorded upon the cylinder.\n\n[Illustration: Phonograph Cylinder.]\n\nJust as light carries the photograph or picture, so the air carries the\nsound of our words and other vibrations of the atmosphere which we call\nsound. Thus you see the light is one book and the air is another, and\nGod doubtless has many other forms of making and keeping the record of\nour actions and words--yes, even of our thoughts, and in the great\nJudgment Day these words which we utter will say themselves over again\nin our ears. If you uttered any bad or wicked words yesterday or to-day,\nor shall do so tomorrow, remember you will have to give an account of\nthem in the great Day of Judgment.\n\nBut there is another thing connected with our uttering of bad words, as\nwell as the fact that we must give an account of them. Bad words are\nconnected with bad thoughts, and so every bad word which we utter\nindicates the character of our thoughts and has a bad influence upon our\nminds and hearts.\n\nNot only do these words record themselves upon the atmosphere, but they\nalso record themselves in a lasting--yes, in an eternal influence upon\nthe hearts and the minds and the lives of those who hear them. Just the\nsame as the words which are spoken into a phonograph are recorded and\ncan be repeated over and over many times, so the bad words and the\nwicked thoughts which are expressed into the ears of others make an\nindelible record upon their thoughts and hearts, and are oftentimes\nrepeated to others, thus multiplying the record, and at last all these\nrecords will appear against us in the great Day of Judgment. How careful\nyou and I should be to speak only good words and to think only good\nthoughts.\n\n QUESTIONS.--Has God other record books beside the\n one of deeds? What does one of the other books\n record? What is a telephone? What is a phonograph?\n What happens to the air when our words strike it?\n What are these air-vibrations called? What does\n the air do with sound? What two things may be used\n as God's recording books? Must all bad words be\n accounted for? What do bad words indicate? Upon\n what instrument can words also be recorded? Are\n all words like those which are recorded by a\n phonograph? Why? (Permanent). Will God hold these\n records against us on the Judgment Day?\n\n\n\n\nMAGNET AND NEEDLE.\n\nGOD'S GUIDING HAND.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects used: A magnet, a piece of\n paper and an ordinary sewing needle. In the\n illustration lay the needle flat against the paper\n directly under the magnet. The ordinary magnet,\n purchased for a few cents in a toy store, will\n answer the purpose.\n\n\nMY DEAR LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: The Bible everywhere teaches us that God\nis the Supreme Ruler of the universe. Not only has He created the vast\nsystem of worlds about us, but He directs each in its orbit. He rules\nover the destinies of nations, and although wicked men plot and plan,\nyet over and above them all God is ruling, and He makes even the wrath\nof men to praise Him.\n\nWhen you are older and can make a careful study of the Book of Daniel,\nwhich is in the Old Testament, and then read the history of the world in\nthe light of the teachings of that Book, you will see how God used the\nfive great empires of the earth to prepare the world for the coming of\nthe Messiah, and how since the time of Christ He has used the other\nnations to prepare the world for the full acceptance of the truth and\nthe final triumph of righteousness.\n\nBut God not only governs in the affairs of nations, He also governs and\ndirects in the life of each individual. He not only gives us being and\npreserves our lives and health, but He has redeemed us from sin and\ndeath by the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ; and if we are willing, He\nwill guide us in all the affairs of life. Nothing is too minute nor too\ninsignificant to receive His thought and attention, and not even the\nsorrow of a child over a broken toy escapes His notice or fails to touch\nHis loving heart.\n\nBut many people are not able to understand, and seem also unwilling to\naccept anything that they cannot see, or comprehend with one of their\nfive senses. I have therefore brought this magnet, this piece of paper,\nand this needle, such as women use when they sew, in order to show you\nhow God can guide us by His unseen hand.\n\n[Illustration: Magnet and Needle.]\n\nWhen I lift this needle with my fingers and then let go of it you will\nnotice how it drops immediately to the floor. Now, when I lift this\nmagnet in the same way, and then let go of it, it will also drop in the\nsame manner. But now I am going to hold this magnet up, and bring the\nneedle close to the magnet. Now when I let loose of the needle with my\nfingers you see how it is held by the magnet. The gravity, or, as we\nwould say, the weight of the needle, which would cause it to fall to the\nfloor, is overcome by some greater or stronger power which is in the\nmagnet. Now, you cannot perceive that power with any of your senses; you\ncan neither hear it, smell it, taste it nor feel it. You can see the\neffect of that power, but the power itself you cannot see. In like\nmanner, also, there are powers and influences all about us which we\ncannot perceive with any of our senses, but which are constantly\nexercising their influence upon us and upon things about us.\n\nBut now, by the use of this paper, I desire to show you something\nadditional. I am going to place the magnet above the paper, and the\nneedle below the paper, and show you that even through the paper this\ninfluence or power which holds the needle exerts itself. You will see\nnow that when I lay the needle lengthwise against the paper, with the\nmagnet upon the opposite side, that the needle is held up against this\npaper and does not fall, as it would if the magnet were removed. You\nwill notice also that, as I move this magnet from place to place, the\nneedle on the lower side of the paper follows the magnet. In this simple\nlittle experiment you are able to see the magnet, but suppose for a\nmoment that this paper were increased in size until it was as large as\nthe ceiling of this entire room. You will understand that then the\nmagnet and any person moving the magnet might be entirely out of sight,\nand as the magnet would be moved from place to place on the upper side\nof the paper, entirely out of view, the needle on the lower side, which\ncould be easily seen, would move from place to place, following the\nmagnet.\n\n[Illustration: Paper no Hindrance.]\n\nThis little experiment illustrates to us _not how_ God guides us, but it\nwill show us that there are powers unknown and unseen by us which can\nhold and guide even insensible metal. How much more easily, then, can\nGod sustain and guide our thoughts, our purposes, our steps and our\nlives.\n\nWe are free moral agents. God has left us free to resist His power and\nHis grace, and to live in defiance of all that He has commanded us, and\nof all that He desires us to do. But if we are willing to be led by His\nSpirit, and to walk in His way, God is willing to guide us, if we will\ncome to Him and ask Him for the Holy Spirit to lead us in the way in\nwhich He would have us to walk.\n\nThere are many who do resist God's will and purpose, and live in open\ndefiance of all His teachings, and of all that God would have them to\ndo. I take it for granted, however, that there are no such people here,\nbut that you all desire to live in such a way as to secure your greatest\nhappiness and your greatest good upon this earth, and your eternal\nhappiness and blessedness in the world to come.\n\nIn closing this little sermon, I therefore desire to impress upon your\nminds the fact that you and I are without experience in many of the most\ntrying and most important events which come to us in life. We are\nconstantly liable to be mistaken. We cannot see ahead of us, and do not\nalways know what is for our own good. God knows all things, the future\nas well as the past. He cannot be mistaken and must therefore know\nbeyond the possibility of error what will be for our good. God not only\nknows what will be for our good but He desires our good, therefore we\nshould let Him guide us.\n\nNow, the question might arise in your minds, how does God guide us? He\nguides us by the teachings of His Word. He has told us in the Bible how\nwe ought to live, what is for our present and eternal good. If we desire\nfinancial prosperity, or physical blessings, or mental quickness, or\nspiritual peace, we will find in the teachings of God's Word how to\nobtain them.\n\nGod also guides us by the exercise of our consciences, and therefore it\nis always important that you and I should do what conscience tells us to\nbe right. First of all we should study God's Word, in order that we may\nhave an enlightened conscience, and then we should always follow\nconscience.\n\nGod also guides us by the Holy Spirit, and it is our duty to come to\nHim daily and ask Him for the presence and power of the Holy Ghost to\nguide us through each day, and to bring us at last to Heaven above.\n\nNow, I trust you will all be able to enter heartily into the prayer\nwhich we are going to sing, for when we sing thoughtfully we will find\nthat many hymns contain petitions as well as praise, and this is one of\nthe kind which partakes largely of the nature of petition. Let us all\nsing the hymn,\n\n \"Guide me, O, Thou great Jehovah.\"\n\n QUESTIONS.--Who is the Supreme Ruler of the\n Universe? Who governs the life of every person?\n Does any little thing escape His notice? Are some\n people unwilling to believe what they cannot see?\n Can we see, hear, smell, or feel the power in the\n magnet? Why do we believe it is there? Are there\n influences around us like the power in the magnet?\n Can they all be seen? Will the paper between the\n magnet and the needle destroy the attracting power\n of the magnet? Who are like the needle? Like whom\n is the magnet? Does He guide us? Can we see Him?\n Are we free to do as we choose? When will God lead\n us? Do some people defy God? Do we always know\n what is best for us, or what to do when in\n trouble? Who does know? By what three means does\n God guide us?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nFISH IN AQUARIUM.\n\nTHE ALL-SEEING EYE OF GOD.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Object: A small aquarium with a few\n small fishes.\n\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I have here an aquarium with a few very pretty\ngoldfishes in it. As they swim from side to side they look very\nbeautiful. When they see me coming nearer to the aquarium, or moving my\nhand upon this side or the other, they dart very quickly to the opposite\nside of the aquarium. They try to get out of sight, but it makes no\ndifference whether they are upon this side or upon the other side of the\naquarium, I can see them just as well. I can look right through the\naquarium; I can see through the glass, and I can see through the water.\nAnd wherever the fishes are in this aquarium, I can see them. It is\nimpossible for them to hide away, or to get out of my sight.\n\n[Illustration: Fishes in Aquarium.]\n\nNow, the Bible tells us that \"the eyes of the Lord are in every place,\nbeholding the evil and the good.\" (Prov. xv: 3.) We are very clearly\ntaught in the Bible, that it makes no difference where we are, God can\nsee us just as well in one place as in another. He can see us in the\nnight just as well as in the daytime, for \"the darkness and the light\nare alike unto Him.\" David said, \"He that keepeth Israel shall neither\nslumber nor sleep.\" (Psalm cxxi: 4.) So it makes no difference whether\nyou are in the house or out of doors, whether it is day or whether it is\nnight, God can see right through the house, just as you and I can look\nthrough this aquarium and through the water, so God can see right\nthrough the thick walls of a house, or even through a great mountain. If\nyou were in the valley beyond the mountain, God could see right through\nthe mountain; that would make no difference. He can even see way through\nthe earth, from this side through to China. It makes no difference to\nGod, for He can see just as well through material substances, through\nwhich you and I cannot look, as we can see through the air; indeed much\nbetter, for distance limits the possibility of our seeing distinctly and\nclearly, while God's power to see is not limited or circumscribed.\n\n[Illustration: \"There is One Direction That You Have not Looked.\"]\n\nOnce there was a very excellent, good woman, who had a very nice and\nconscientious little boy, but the mother was poor and had to go out from\nday to day to earn her living. Each night when she returned home the\nlittle boy was very lonely, and would watch very patiently for his\nmother, and when he saw her coming, he would always run to the door to\nmeet her, and throw his arms about her neck. But one evening when she\nreturned, she noticed that little Willie was not at the door to meet\nher. She could not understand why, when she came into the house he\nseemed to be afraid of her. He tried to avoid her. After a time the\nmother called Willie to her and threw her arms around his neck and\nkissed him very tenderly. This was too much for the little boy's heart.\nHe looked up into his mother's face, and said, \"Mamma, can God see\nthrough a crack in the door?\" His mother said, \"Yes, God can see\neverywhere.\" He said, \"Mamma, can God see in the cupboard if it is dark\nin the cupboard?\" \"Yes, Willie, God can see in the dark as well as in\nthe light.\" Willie looked up into his mother's face and said, \"Then I\nmight as well tell you. To-day I was very hungry, and although you told\nme that I should not take the cake which you had put in the closet, yet\nI went to the closet, and when I had closed the door, and it was all\ndark, I felt around till I got a piece of the cake, and I ate it. I did\nnot know that God could see in the dark. I am very sorry that I have\nbeen so wicked and so naughty.\" And so little Willie threw his arms\naround his mamma's neck and laid his head upon her shoulder and wept\nvery bitterly.\n\n[Illustration: Eye in the Pulpit.]\n\nOnce a man went to steal corn out of his neighbor's field. He took his\nlittle boy with him to hold the bag open, while he should pull the corn\nand put it in the bag. After they had reached the cornfield the father\nlooked this way and that way, and looked about him in every direction,\nand when he had given the little boy the bag to hold open, the little\nboy looked at his father and said, \"Father, there is one direction that\nyou have not looked yet.\" The father was quite frightened and supposed\nthat his son had seen some one coming in some direction. But the son\nsaid, \"You have not looked up. There is some one in that direction I am\nsure who sees us.\" The father was so much impressed that he turned away\nfrom his sinful purpose, and returned home, never again to steal from\nanyone.\n\nMany years ago, among some of the denominations when they built a\nchurch, they used to build the pulpit very high. It was built almost as\nhigh as the gallery. And when the people sat in the pews and desired to\nsee the minister, they had to bend their heads back, and look up very\nhigh toward the pulpit. At Reading, Pennsylvania, there is still one of\nthese old pulpits which was formerly in use. On the under side of the\nshelf upon which the Bible rested in that pulpit, there was painted a\nlarge eye. And when the people would look up from the pews to see the\nminister, or towards the Bible, underneath this lid upon which the Bible\nrested they would always see this large eye. This eye would seem to look\nright down upon each one individually, and thus they would constantly be\nreminded of the text, \"Thou God seest me,\" and the text which I repeated\nat the opening of this sermon, \"The eyes of the Lord are in every place,\nbeholding the evil and the good.\" And so Sunday after Sunday, and year\nafter year, from childhood to manhood, this object sermon was constantly\nbeing preached to them.\n\nWhenever Satan tempts you to do wrong, remember that you cannot escape\nfrom the eyes of One who sees you constantly, and although no human\nbeing might know of your wickedness, yet God sees you, and God knows it\nall, for \"His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men.\" (Psalm\nxi: 4.)\n\n QUESTIONS.--Can the fish in the aquarium hide from\n our sight? How are we like the fish in the\n aquarium? What does the Bible say about the eyes\n of the Lord? Can darkness hide us from God's\n sight? Can He see through the earth? Tell about\n the little boy who ate the cake in the dark. Tell\n about the little boy whose father wanted to steal\n corn. Why was a large eye painted on the pulpit in\n the church? When we are tempted by Satan, what\n should we remember?\n\n\n\n\nTHE CLOCK.\n\nMEASURING TIME.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Object: An ordinary clock or watch.\n\n\nI HAVE here a clock, with which I desire to illustrate and emphasize the\ntruth taught us in the twelfth verse of the ninetieth Psalm, where it\nsays, \"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto\nwisdom.\"\n\nWhatever is valuable we measure. Some things are measured by the yard,\nsome things by the quart or gallon, other things by the pound or by the\nton. Land is measured by the acre. One of the most valuable things that\nGod gives to us is time. Queen Elizabeth, when she was dying, was\nwilling to give her entire kingdom if she could only have one hour more\nin which to prepare for death.\n\nAs time is very valuable we measure it in seconds, minutes, hours, days,\nweeks, months, years, centuries. In the earliest time men had no means\nof measuring time, except as they saw it measured with the great clock\nwhich God has set in the heavens; for He tells us in the first chapter\nof Genesis that He made \"the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule\nthe night.\" The most accurate clocks in the world are those which most\nnearly keep time with the sun. All the effort to regulate clocks and\nwatches is simply to adjust their movements so as to have them keep time\nwith the movement of the sun. God has given us a conscience which is\ndesigned to regulate our lives until they shall be in harmony with the\nlife of Christ, who is the Sun of Righteousness. Hundreds of years\nbefore Christ came, people may have had some very rude way of dividing\nthe time during the day and night, but their principal division of time\nwas simply day and night, summer and winter. These changes of day and\nnight, summer and winter, helped to mark the progress of time, and they\nstill do. If it were all daytime, or all night, and we had no clocks, we\nwould have no means of measuring time. When Baron de Trench was\nliberated from his dungeon in Magdeburg, where the King of Prussia had\nconfined him in darkness for a period of ten years, where he had no\nmeans of measuring how the time passed and had even very few\nthoughts--when he was liberated, and was told that he had been in prison\nfor ten years, his astonishment was almost beyond expression, for it had\nnot seemed to him to be so long. It had passed away like a painful\ndream.\n\nIn the early period of the world's history, human life was much longer\nthan at present. Men lived to be several hundred years old. I suppose\nyou can all tell how old Methuselah was. He was the oldest man who ever\nlived. When human life became shorter, time consequently became more\nvaluable and men were more anxious to measure it.\n\nI want to show you how to measure time, and what makes it valuable; for\nDavid asked to be taught properly to number his days; and the purpose\nwas so that he might apply his heart unto wisdom.\n\nNow, this watch and this clock are instruments with which we measure\ntime. Once there was a king who desired not to forget that, like other\nmen, he must die, and he had a man whose duty it was to come before him\neach hour and repeat the words: \"Remember thou art mortal!\" That is,\nevery hour he had this man remind him that sometime he would have to\ndie. Each time the man came in before the king, he was reminded that he\nhad one hour less to live; so, each and every time that you hear the\nclock strike, you should be reminded of the fact that another hour has\npassed, and that you have one less to live. In this sense every clock\nhas a tongue, and when it strikes it tells us that we will now have one\nhour less to live upon the earth.\n\n[Illustration: Hour-glass.]\n\nThe earliest device for measuring time was doubtless the sun-dial.\nPerhaps you have never seen one. It is simply a round plate or disc of\nmetal, with a small piece of metal standing upright in such a position\nthat when the sun shines, the shadow will be thrown upon the round\ncylinder or disc, around which are figures like those on the face of a\nwatch or clock. Such methods of measuring time we know were used at\nleast seven hundred and thirteen years before Christ, for in the book of\nIsaiah, thirty-eighth chapter and eighth verse, we find a very direct\nallusion to it. King Alfred of England used to use candles that were of\nuniform length; each candle would burn three hours, and by burning four\ncandles, one after another, he could measure the hours of the day. In\norder to prevent the air from blowing against the candle and thus making\nit burn more rapidly or interfering with its accuracy in measuring time,\nhe placed a horn or shield around it, and in the old cathedrals this was\nthe way they measured time. Later on they had hour glasses, such as you\nsometimes see placed on the piano when girls are practicing their music\nlesson. Sometimes you see small ones in the kitchen, which are used for\ntiming the eggs while they are boiling, and it is to these forms of\nglasses that various poetical allusions are made when death is spoken of\nas the \"sands of life\" running out.\n\n[Illustration: \"What Use Do You Make of Your Time?\"]\n\nLater came the clocks. They were first made about 2,000 years ago, but\nwere very rude and awkward. The first watches were made about 475 years\nago, but they were very large, and you would almost need to have a man\nto carry your watch for you, it was so heavy. Smaller watches were first\nmade about 200 years ago, and now they have some that are so very small\nthat you could carry six or seven of them in your vest pocket without\ninconvenience. How else could we tell about the time of the departure of\ntrains and steamboats, the hours to go to work in the factory or to go\nto school, when to go to church? And the enjoyment of many other things\ndepends upon knowing accurately what moment we should be on hand. You\nshould learn never to be late, but always to be prompt. Suppose that,\nwith an audience of six hundred people, the preacher should be five\nminutes late. Each person would then have lost five minutes. This, for\nthe entire six hundred present, would have been equal to more than\nforty-eight hours for a single person--more than two days and two\nnights.\n\nBut now what is it that makes time valuable? It is the use that we can\nmake of it. David wanted to know about it, so that he could apply his\nheart unto wisdom. The man who does nothing with his time, in the eyes\nof others, is worth nothing; but the busy man always finds that his time\nis very valuable. It is strange, also, that when you go to idle people\nand ask them to do anything they always say they haven't time, so that\nthe expression has come to be used that \"if you want anything done go to\na busy man.\" The more busy the man is the more likely he is to find\ntime, in some way, to undertake any new form of useful endeavor and\nwork.\n\nNow, I want to ask you, What use do you make of your time? Are you\nfaithful in the use of every moment at home, diligent in doing the work\nassigned you, looking about you, and doing your own thinking, finding,\nfor yourself, what is to be done, instead of standing around and\nwaiting to be told? Are you diligent in school, always studying your\nlessons, learning all that you possibly can, remembering that everything\nthat you can learn will at some time be of service to you? If you are\nemployed in a store, or engaged in any other kind of business, are you\nfaithful, using each moment and each hour, remembering that you are not\nto be faithful simply when your employer is looking at you, but you are\nto be faithful at all times? As the Bible says, \"Not with eye service,\nas men pleasers\" (Colos. iii: 22), but doing everything as unto the\nLord. Are you faithful in the matter of attending church, and then when\nyou are in the church, giving your mind to the consideration of the\ntruth which is being presented, rather than allowing your mind to be\nengaged with the amusements and plays of last week, or the plans and\npurposes of next week? Are you faithful in the Sunday-school? Do you\nlisten attentively to the lessons which are taught by your Sunday-school\nteacher? Each minute of the thirty devoted to the study of the lesson is\nvery important, and all of the other moments in the Sunday-school are\nvery important.\n\nI was wondering the other day why the clock should have the long hand\npoint to the minutes, and the short hand to the hours; but after all, it\nseems very wise that the greater emphasis, and greater importance should\nbe attached to the longer hand. It points to the minutes, as though it\nwere constantly saying to you and to me, look out for these minutes,\nlook out for these small parts of the hour, and the whole hour will take\ncare of itself. The big hand points to the minutes because, after all,\nthey are the important things. It is like the old saying, \"if we take\ncare of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.\" If we\nwill take care of the minutes, the hours will take care of themselves.\n\nIf you have never thought on these things, and have been an idler, I\nwant to ask you to \"Redeem the time.\" (Eph. v: 16.) That is, do not let\nyour time go to waste. If you are not a Christian, even though you are\nvery busy and very industrious concerning temporal things, you are\nreally wasting your time. We are placed here upon the earth in order\nthat we may love and serve God. That is our main business here. If we\nare going to serve Christ, we should study to know His life and His\nteachings, and yet some people know very little about the Bible. Did you\never stop to think that a man who is thirty-five years old has had five\nsolid years of Sundays? And the man who is seventy years old, has had\nten solid years of Sundays? With ten years given to worship and the\nstudy of God's Word, a man at seventy ought to know a great deal\nconcerning the teachings of the Bible. May God teach us so to number our\ndays that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.\n\n QUESTIONS.--How do we measure cloth? Are sugar and\n coal measured by the yard? How do we measure land?\n How do we measure time? How many divisions of time\n can you name besides seconds? What was the first\n instrument with which time was measured? With what\n did King Alfred measure the hours? What was later\n used for measuring time, after the sun-dial? About\n how long ago were clocks first invented? About how\n long ago were watches first made? Why did David\n want to be taught to number his days? Can the idle\n man or the busy man more easily find time for\n necessary duties? Will you always make diligent\n use of your time? Why does the larger hand of the\n clock point to the minutes? If we take care of the\n minutes, what will the hours do?\n\n\n\n\nPLANS.\n\nLIVING WITH A PURPOSE.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Object: Architect's drawings for the\n building of a house.\n\n\n[Illustration: Plans for Building a House.]\n\nMY DEAR LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: I have here what the architect calls\n\"plans,\" or drawings for a house. Unless the carpenter and builder had a\ncopy of the plans he is to follow he would not be able to build\nsuccessfully. He would not know what kind of material he would need. He\nwould not know where to place the doors, or how large to make the\nwindows, and whether to put the dining room on this side of the house or\non the other side of the house; whether the parlor was to be on the\nfirst floor or on the second floor. So when a man is going to build, the\nfirst thing to be done is to decide what kind of a house he wants, and\nthen to get an architect who is able to draw the plans perfectly, so as\nto show the size of every door and window and room, and the exact\nposition and place of everything that is to enter into the building of\nthe house. These plans cost a great deal of thought and oftentimes much\ndelay in beginning, but in the end they save both time and expense, and\nsecure the most desirable results.\n\nEvery boy and girl should have a plan, for we are all builders. We build\nday after day and week after week, and year after year. First of all,\nyou should have some great purpose in life, and then all your other\nplans and purposes should be made to further and help the great main\nobject which you have in life.\n\nOnce there were two boys who were very intimate when they were young.\nThey played together, and came to love each other very much. One was a\nboy who always had a plan. He had a plan for studying his lessons; he\nhad a plan which showed what time he had resolved to get up in the\nmorning; how many hours he would devote to study; what portions of the\nday he would give to play, and how much to work. So each and every day\nhe had his plans. At the beginning of the year he had his plans for each\nmonth of the year.\n\nThe other boy never had any plans. Everything went along just as it\nhappened. The boy who always had the plans had no money; his father was\npoor. But the boy who had no plans had plenty of money, for his father\nwas rich. These two boys both became merchants, had stores in the same\nsquare in a large city. The one who had the plans always knew what he\npurposed to do, before the season began. He knew just when to purchase\nhis goods for the spring trade; he knew when to sell them; everything\nwas done methodically and with a plan. As the result of his thoughtful\nplans he soon began to accumulate wealth, obtained a place of confidence\nin the minds of business men, and eventually became one of the most\nhonored and influential men in the city. With the other boy it was not\nso. He bought his goods whenever he chanced to see something that he\nfancied; often bought too much of one thing; had no method in business,\nand consequently in the course of a few years lost what money he had and\ndied a poor man.\n\nLet me hope that you will always have a plan for everything you do. God\nis the God of order, and we should also be orderly in all that we do.\n\n[Illustration: Plans for Building a Life.]\n\nThese plans of the architect, when followed by the builders, will tell\nthe stonemason, the bricklayer, the millman and the carpenter, the\nplasterer and the painter, just what each is to do, and all will be able\nto work in harmony, so as to secure a nice, comfortable and desirable\nhome when the work is completed.\n\nNow, we are all laying foundations in this world, and the perfect\ncharacter cannot be obtained until in eternity. So when you come to plan\nfor life, do not think that your stay in this world is to be all there\nis of your life. Let your plans take in eternity. If they leave out\neternity they leave out the greatest portion of your existence. If you\nleave out the idea of eternity you will be like the man who simply lays\nthe foundation and then never builds a house on it, and there, year\nafter year, the foundation stands as the monument of his folly.\n\nBut you may desire to know where you can get the plans for a good and\nnoble life--a plan that will include eternity. I will tell you: in the\nBible. This is the best book in which to find the plans for a perfect\nand complete life. Just the same as the man who is going to build a\nhouse desires to go and examine other houses, so if you desire to be\ngreat and good, you should desire to read the biographies, the story of\nthe lives of great men. I do not mean the fancied stories of lives which\nwere never lived, which are so often told in some kinds of books, but I\nmean the lives of real men. When you see the difficulties which have\nbeen overcome by others; when you see how great and good other people\nhave been, it will help you to be great and good. But after you have\nstudied the lives of all the greatest and best men who have ever lived,\nand then compare them with the life of Jesus Christ, you will eventually\ncome to see very clearly and distinctly, that after all there has never\nbeen but one perfect life lived on this earth, and that was the life of\nJesus Christ. So you will readily see that if you desire to use a model\nwhich is perfect, you will have to take the life of Christ. You will\nfind it fully portrayed in the Bible, especially in the first four books\nof the New Testament--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This will give you\nthe model of a perfect life and enable you to live so as to make your\nlife glorious while upon the earth, and prepare you for an eternity of\nhappiness and joy beyond this world. Have a plan and live to it, and let\nyour plan include eternity. And may God give you grace to live up to a\nhigh ideal, to be noble Christian men and noble Christian women.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What are needed before a house is\n built? Are all boys and girls builders? Builders\n of what? Do they need plans? Should we all have a\n main object in life? What must we use all other\n plans and purposes for? Which boy in the story\n turned out the better? What does the story\n illustrate? Should we have a plan for each thing\n we do? Does God love order? What foundation are we\n laying in this life? Should our plans concern only\n this life? What kind of a builder are we like, if\n we make no plans for the life to come? Where can\n we get our plans? What perfect model can we\n follow?\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHRISTMAS TREE.\n\nTHE LESSONS WHICH IT TEACHES.\n\n\nBOYS and girls often think that big people have set apart Christmas as a\nday for gathering around the Christmas tree, as a time for Santa Claus,\nfor the giving of presents and for having a good time generally. This is\nnot the case. I will tell you why we celebrate Christmas, and\nparticularly the significance and meaning of the Christmas tree.\nChristmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who\ncame into this world to redeem us from sin and everlasting death; and\nthe Christmas tree, laden with its many gifts and suggestive of so much\njoy and blessing, is a symbol of the Saviour. In order that you may best\nunderstand the full meaning of the Christmas tree, I must call your\nattention to the season of the year when Christmas came. You will\nremember that last summer, when the sun rose at half-past four in the\nmorning and did not set until half-past seven in the evening, the days\nwere very long, and you could see to go about in the evening until about\neight o'clock and after. At Christmas time the sun goes down at\nhalf-past four in the afternoon, and does not rise until half-past seven\nin the morning. So you see that the days are about six hours shorter in\nDecember than they are in the latter part of the month of June.\nChristmas occurs at that season when the days are shorter and the nights\nare longer than at any other period of the year. In the Bible darkness\nrepresents sin and unbelief and wickedness; and the daytime or light\nrepresents truth and righteousness and godly living. So you will see\nthat the long nights at the Christmas period of the year, and the short\ndays, fitly represent the condition of the world at the time when Jesus,\nthe Son of God, was born in Bethlehem. At no other time in the world's\nhistory was there so much of moral darkness and sin and wickedness and\ncorruption in the world. Cruelty and crime and wickedness abounded\neverywhere. If I were to stop and tell you of the condition of society,\nof the wrong and the iniquity, which abounded everywhere, you would be\ngreatly horrified. It was at such a time as this in the world's history,\nwhen Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this world, that sin might be\nbanished and righteousness might abound. So you see that Christmas\noccurs at that period of the year when the night and the darkness are\nthe longest of any of the entire year, and it very fittingly represents\nthe condition which existed in the world when Jesus was born in\nBethlehem, as the Saviour of the world. He came to banish the moral\ndarkness which covered the whole earth.\n\nNot only the time of the year, but also the character of the Christmas\ntree suggests something. With the long nights comes also the cold\nwinter. The earth is wrapped in snow. The trees, which a few months ago\nwere green and beautiful and in the fall all laden with fruit, are now\nall naked and bare, and if you were to go out into the orchard or forest\nyou could not tell the difference between a dead tree, and all the\nothers which seem to be dead. Among all the trees you would only find\nsuch as the pine, the hemlock, the fir and other varieties, such as are\nknown as evergreen trees, that would be green and give evidence of life.\nSo you will see again how the Christmas tree fittingly represents\nChrist, because these evergreens, in the field and in the forest, seem\nto be the only things that have greenness and life, while all else\naround them seems to be dead and laid in a shroud of white snow.\n\n[Illustration: The Christmas Tree\n\nCopyrighted 1911 by Sylvanus Stall]\n\nThe custom of setting up a tree at Christmas time and loading it with\nfruit and gifts seems to have originated in Germany, and the thought\nof these people in introducing this custom centuries ago, was that they\nmight teach their children this very lesson to which I have referred.\n\nNow, I desire to call your attention also to the fruit which is so often\nhung on the Christmas tree. The Bible tells us that a tree is known by\nits fruit. If you go into the orchard you could tell the apple tree from\nthe pear tree, and you could tell the plum tree from the peach tree. If\nyou did not know them by their leaves, you would at least know them by\ntheir fruit. But when you come to look at this tree you find oranges\nupon it. Now, this is not an orange tree. You find dolls upon it, but it\nis not a doll tree. Here are a pair of skates, but it is not a skate\ntree. Here are some candies, but it is not a candy tree. Neither can it\nbe known by the name of any one of these various things which hang upon\nthe tree. But it is a Christmas tree. And all these various kinds of\nthings are properly hung upon the Christmas tree to represent the\nfulfillment of that promise that, with His Son Jesus Christ, God would\nalso give us all things richly to enjoy.\n\nThe gifts hung on Christmas trees are usually presents from one person\nto another--often not only from parents to children, but from teachers\nto scholars, and from friend to friend. Now, until Christ was born,\nthere were no Christmas presents. There was no Christmas day celebrated.\nBut the reason we give presents on Christmas day is to remind each other\nof God's Great Gift to man, the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our\nRedeemer and Saviour. With Jesus Christ, God also gave us grace and\ntruth, reconciliation, and pardon and peace and salvation. Man had\nsinned against God; was living in open rebellion against God. Whatever\nwas good, man hated. He loved to do wickedly. He preferred to serve\nSatan, rather than to serve God. And Jesus came in order to reconcile\nmen to God--to get them to turn away from sin, wickedness and Satan,\nand to accept of God's love and pardon and everlasting salvation, and to\ndo that which was right and good and holy.\n\nIf you could travel through the countries where they do not know of\nChrist and do not worship Him, and then travel through Christian\ncountries, where Jesus is loved and honored, you would soon see what a\ngreat difference there is between the two. We have railroads,\nsteamboats, and telegraphs, and telephones, and phonographs, and every\nkind of cloth, and silk, and furs with which to clothe ourselves for\ngreatest comfort, and when we sit down at our tables there is no good\nthing that is produced in any nation under the sun, that is not\navailable even to those of limited means.\n\nIn the heathen countries it is not so. They are still riding in carts\ndrawn by oxen. Without clothing and without comforts, the people in\nAfrica are still groping through the bushes and jungles. And if you go\nto India and China and Japan you will find that only in so far as they\nhave been brought under the influence of the religion of Jesus Christ,\ndo they have even now the material blessings which come with the Gospel.\n\nBut there are other blessings which come to us with the preaching of the\nGospel. In heathen countries they have no asylums to care for the\norphans, no hospitals for the sick and the distressed and the dying; no\ninstitutions of charity and of mercy; but few schools, and these only\nfor the rich and the upper classes. So you see that these things are\namong the gifts which God has given us with His Son Jesus Christ, whose\nbirth we celebrate on Christmas day.\n\nThen there are also the spiritual blessings and gifts. God's grace,\ncommunion with God, and the joy and satisfaction we have in our hearts\nin knowing that we are the children of God; that Jesus Christ has\nredeemed us from sin and death; that we are the heirs of everlasting\nlife, and of everlasting glory. And the Bible promises us that in the\nworld to come we shall enjoy everlasting blessedness, and happiness and\njoy--that we shall dwell forever with Jesus Christ; that we shall be\nmade kings and queens unto our God. The Bible tells us, that it has not\nentered into the heart of man to think or to conceive of the things\nwhich God has in store for those who love Him. If we were to laden this\ntree with all the richest treasures of the world they could not\nadequately suggest the great blessings which God has in store for you\nand for me.\n\nHow fitting, then, that we should be glad and joyous on Christmas\nday!--that you and I should receive not simply these material gifts, but\nthat we should also accept of Jesus Christ in our hearts and receive His\nspiritual blessings; and so be adopted into the family of God, and be\npermitted to dwell for ever in His presence on high. May God always\nbless you in your Christmas joy, and may you be glad not only because\nyou receive the gifts of your parents and friends, but also because God\ngives to us all, His Only Begotten and Well Beloved Son, Jesus Christ,\nto be our Redeemer and Friend.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What event does Christmas Day\n commemorate? About what time of the year are the\n days shortest and the nights longest? What does\n the darkness of the long nights represent? Was the\n world in moral darkness when Christ came? Is He\n the world's Redeemer? What trees are green in the\n winter? Whom does the evergreen tree represent?\n Why? Where did the custom of having Christmas\n trees probably originate? What do the things on\n the Christmas tree represent? Did people give\n Christmas presents before Christ came? What do our\n gifts to one another represent? With His Son, has\n God given us other things which we are to enjoy?\n Where do people enjoy the greatest material\n comforts and blessings, in Christian or heathen\n lands? In what lands are the largest spiritual\n blessings enjoyed?\n\n\n\n\nEASTER SUNDAY.\n\nTHE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: An egg and a little chick in\n a cage, or a toy chick, such as are often\n available at Easter time may be used.\n\n\nMY LITTLE FRIENDS: Can you tell me what we commemorate on Easter Sunday?\nYes, we commemorate the resurrection of Christ from the dead.\n\nYou remember how some weeks ago I showed you a watch-case.[A] You\nthought it was a watch, but when I opened it it had no works in it,\nconsequently it was only a watch-case. When I placed the works in the\ncase, then it made a complete watch.\n\nSo you have also seen the body of a dead person and you have possibly\nthought that that was the individual, the person whom you had known; but\nthat which you saw was only the body. The soul, the immortal part, had\ntaken its departure and gone back to God who first placed it in the\nbody. Now, just the same as the works of a watch can keep good time\nwithout being in the case, so the soul can exist apart from the body. If\nyou were to take the watch-case and bury it in the ground, that fact\nwould not affect either the existence or the accuracy of the works of\nthe watch in measuring time. So when God takes the soul out of the body\nwe say that it is a dead body, and it becomes necessary for us to bury\nit out of our sight.\n\n[Illustration: The Women at the Sepulchre.]\n\nOn Good Friday we commemorate the death of Christ upon the cross on\nCalvary. You remember how, after the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea\nand Nicodemus came and took the body of Christ down from the cross and\nlaid it in a new tomb which Joseph had hewn out of rock in his garden.\nWhen this had been done, Pilate remembered how Jesus had said that if He\nwere put to death, after three days He would rise again. Now, Pilate did\nnot believe that Jesus would rise again, but was afraid that His\ndisciples or some friends might come by night and steal away His body\nand circulate the report that Jesus had risen from the dead; so he\nplaced Roman soldiers around the sepulchre to prevent His disciples from\ncoming near the tomb, or sepulchre where Joseph had laid away the body\nof Christ. Pilate purposed to prevent the possibility of Christ's\nresurrection, but in the fact that he placed the soldiers there he\nsecured for all after ages the most positive proof that Jesus did\nactually rise from the dead. These soldiers were Roman soldiers, and if\nthey had slept while they were upon guard duty, the penalty would have\nbeen death. But when the angel came down from heaven and rolled away the\nstone, then we are told that these Roman soldiers became as dead men.\n\nIt is on Easter Sunday that we commemorate this rising of Christ from\nthe grave or sepulchre. Now, can you tell me why it is that on Easter we\nhave these Easter eggs, such as I hold in my hand? I will tell you why\nit is. It is because while the outside of this egg is like the outside\nof a vault or grave, yet inside there is a germ of life. If you take a\ndozen perfect eggs and place them under a mother hen, and have her set\non them for three weeks, at the end of that time out of these eggs which\nseem to have nothing of life in them, there will come forth little\nchickens, just such as I hold in my hand, only this one is not alive.\nBut it is a very accurate representation of a little chicken a day or\ntwo old.\n\nNow, just in this same way if you were to drive through a cemetery and\nlook at a vault, which is the nearest that we have in this country in\nlikeness to the sepulchre in which the body of Christ was laid, you\nwould not suppose for a moment that there would be living people in that\nvault. While the bodies that are in the vault are dead bodies, yet they\nhave the promise of life, God will some day raise them up, unite again\nthe soul and the body and give them that everlasting life and\nresurrection glory which Jesus has promised. And as Jesus rose from the\ndead on Easter Sunday morning, so we have the promise that in the final\nresurrection the bodies of all who have ever lived upon the earth shall\nhear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth; those who have\nlived Christian lives to the resurrection of life, and those who have\ndone evil to the resurrection of death and eternal punishment.\n\n[Illustration: Little Chickens Just Out of the Shells.]\n\nThe egg then is the symbol of life, for out of this seemingly lifeless\nobject there comes forth the living chick; so out of the graves and\nsepulchres there will eventually come forth the bodies of all who have\never died, and these bodies shall become resurrection bodies. These\nmortals shall put on immortality, and these corruptible bodies shall put\non incorruption; and then the souls and the bodies of all shall be\nreunited, never again to be separated throughout all eternity.\n\nPerhaps during the past few months or years you may have laid away in\nthe grave the body of some dear little brother or sister, or perhaps of\na kind father or mother, or some other friend; if so, the spring season\nof the year will suggest to you the resurrection. The grass and the\nflowers which appeared to be dead last fall, and which during the winter\nhave been wrapped in a white shroud of snow, now feel the warm breath of\nspring, and life and beauty are coming forth out of the sepulchre of the\nwinter.\n\nSoon all the trees will put forth their leaves and then beauteous\nblossoms and sweet fragrance will tell of the spring time as the\nresurrection period of the year.\n\nSo at Easter time we properly turn to the cemeteries where rest the\nbodies of our loved ones and know that the long winter of death and\ndecay shall eventually give place to the promised resurrection of life\nand beauty. On that Easter morn the bodies of our loved ones shall be\nraised up, the soul and the body shall be reunited, and we shall see\nthem and know them as they are.\n\nNow, just how God shall gather again all the scattered parts of these\nbodies that were buried in the sea, or have decayed back to earth in the\nground, we do not know. But our ignorance does not change the fact. I do\nnot understand how at first God created man out of dust of the earth,\nnor do I know how the bread and meat and food which I eat each day\nnourish my life and become part of my own body. I do not know how, out\nof the same handful of earth, either an apple or a flower might grow. I\nknow that it is so, but the how I do not know; nor does my ignorance\nprevent or hinder God from accomplishing it. If each day I eat food\nwhich by some strange power which God has placed within me is changed\ninto bones in my body, to hair on my head, to nails on the ends of my\nfingers, to teeth, and eyes and ears and thus becomes a part of myself,\nwhy should I question, or desire to know how God is able to quicken in\nthe grave the power to make the body to live again. If in the beginning\nGod only spoke and worlds came into being, I know that when He shall\ncommand these bodies to rise from death and the grave they also will\nhear His voice and obey.\n\nI am sure that no boy nor girl here would want that, on the morning of\nthe resurrection his or her body should refuse to obey God's voice when\nHe shall command the dead to come forth from their graves in life and\nbeauty. You will want to obey Him then, but should you not also desire\nto obey Him now? When God tells you in the Bible what He wants you to\ndo, are you obedient? Do you do as He commands? If you are disobedient\nnow, then in the morning of the resurrection you might even desire,\nrather to remain in your grave, so that you should not have to look into\nthe face of Him whom you have disobeyed and offended. If you want to\nawake on that final Easter morning in the likeness of Jesus and be\nforever with Him in glory, remember that you must obey God now as Jesus\ndid when He was upon the earth. If we would be like Jesus in glory, we\nmust strive to be like Him in all that we do, and I trust that you may\nthink of this daily. At all times when you are uncertain what it is your\nduty to do, ask yourself this question: \"If He were in my place, what\nwould Jesus do?\" And then act and do as nearly as possible as you think\nJesus would do under the same circumstances.\n\n QUESTIONS.--What does Easter commemorate? Is a\n dead body actually the person you knew? What has\n become of the soul? What do we commemorate on Good\n Friday? Of what are Easter eggs the symbol? What\n does the shell represent? What does the inside\n represent? Will the bodies of all who have died be\n raised some day? Who tells us this? What will God\n do with the risen bodies? What will become of the\n good? What of the wicked? Do we know how God will\n gather the scattered parts of the body? Does it\n make any difference whether we know how or not? Is\n anyone likely to refuse God's summons on the\n Judgment Day? Do we always obey Him now? When in\n doubt what question should we ask ourselves?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[A] NOTE--Sermon on Watch and Case, see page 125.\n\n\n\n\nCROWNS.\n\nTHE CHILDREN OF THE KING.\n\n SUGGESTION:--Objects: A crown of leaves or paper,\n or of both.\n\n\nBOYS AND GIRLS: I have to-day two or three crowns, and I want to talk to\nyou about those who are children of the King.\n\n[Illustration: A Crown of Leaves.]\n\n[Illustration: A Jewelled Crown.]\n\nFirst of all, I have here a crown which is made of leaves. This was the\nfirst kind of crown ever used. Three thousand years ago or more, those\nwho excelled in strength, or running, or wrestling, or in any of the\ngames which were common then, received a crown like this, which was\nplaced upon their heads. This was regarded as a very great honor.\nAfterward, the kings of the earth began to use crowns. Their crowns were\nmade of gold and set with costly jewels. These they wore on state\noccasions to indicate their high rank and position. Here is a crown made\nof gilt paper and set with a few silver-paper stars, meant to represent\nthe crowns which kings and queens wear. While this crown is only made of\npaper, the crowns of kings and queens are made of gold, set with many\ncostly stones. Besides the larger jewels in the crown of King George V.\nof England, there are also sixteen sapphires, eleven emeralds, nearly\nthree hundred pearls, and some twenty-eight hundred very costly\ndiamonds, and it is estimated to be worth many millions of dollars.\n\n[Illustration: The Crowns on a Table.]\n\nNow suppose that we had gathered into this room the children, the boys\nand girls, of all the kings and queens of earth. Suppose also that they\ncould all understand English, and that none of them knew that they were\nthe sons and daughters of kings and queens, and that it was my\ndelightful privilege to tell them how great and rich and powerful their\nparents are; and then I were also permitted to tell them, for the first\ntime, what beautiful crowns their parents own. Suppose also that after\nexciting their curiosity about these things, I should have the crowns of\nall the kings of earth placed on a long table at my side, covered with a\nbeautiful cloth, and after telling them about the crowns, I should\nuncover this table with all these crowns of gold, studded with jewels.\nDon't you suppose that the eyes of all those boys and girls would\nsparkle with curiosity and delight?\n\nBut now, suppose that it were my privilege to do more than to show them\nthe crowns. Suppose that I were permitted also to tell them that they\nwere heirs to these crowns, and that after their fathers and mothers,\nthe present kings and queens, had died, they were to become kings and\nqueens, and were to receive these crowns as their own. Suppose that,\nmore than this, it were my privilege to pick up the crown of Denmark,\nand then calling some little boy to me I were to hand it to him, and\ntell him that he was to keep it, and that some day it would be placed\nupon his head, and he would be King of Denmark. And then I should take\nthe crown of Sweden, and calling another girl, I should give her that\ncrown, and tell her that she should keep it, until some day it would be\nplaced upon her head, and she should be Queen of Sweden. Suppose that in\nthe same way I should take the crowns of Germany and Russia, and\nAustria, and Italy, and Spain, and the great crown of England, and all\nthe crowns of all the nations of the earth; and calling the boys and\ngirls by name, should have them come forward and receive these crowns,\nto be kept until they should be placed upon their heads, when they\nshould be Kings and Queens, ruling in great pomp, and splendor, and\nhonor, and power. Do you not think that it would be a very happy hour to\nthese boys and girls, when all these great thoughts should be disclosed\nto them for the first time, and they should look upon such costly\ncrowns, and receive them into their own hands, as their very own?\n\nNow, boys and girls, while you have been listening to me, you have\npossibly not thought that what I have told you is really being fulfilled\nin your own hearing to-day, for the Bible tells us, \"I will be a Father\nunto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord\nAlmighty.\" (2 Cor. vi: 18.) Then, in another place, it also says,\n\"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we\nshall be.\" (1 John iii: 2.) So you see that it is my privilege to-day to\ntalk, not to the children of earthly kings, whose glory is only temporal\nand whose honor is always uncertain, but I am permitted to talk to the\nchildren of the King of kings. (1 Tim. vi: 15; Rev. xix: 16.) The\nScriptures not only tell us that God \"is the only Potentate (the only\npowerful one), the King of kings,\" but it also tells us that He \"hath\nmade us unto our God kings and priests.\" (Rev. v: 10.) The same great\nbook also tells us, not only, that we shall be kings and priests unto\nour God, but that we \"shall reign forever and ever.\" (Rev. xxii: 5.)\nWhen a king dies he ceases to be king upon earth, but when God shall\nmake us kings and queens and crown us in Heaven, we shall never die\nagain, or cease to be kings and queens. The Bible tells us very clearly\nthat our Father in Heaven is King over all earthly kings; greater than\nany of them; greater than all the kings of earth put together; a million\ntimes greater; yes, millions and millions of times greater; so much\ngreater that the two do not compare in reality, but earthly kings simply\nsuggest to our minds something of our great Heavenly King. God, this\ngreat King, created us and we were His children. But our first parents\nsinned and rebelled against Him, and refused to recognize Him as Father\nand to obey what He wanted them to do. But God loved them and us as a\ntender Father, and sent His only-begotten and well-beloved Son, Jesus\nChrist, to reconcile us; to tell us that God the Father loved us; that\nHe was willing to forgive us, and that He would still accept us and make\nus kings and priests unto Himself, would crown us with glory, would give\nus dominion and make us kings and priests forever in Heaven. So you see\nthat there can be no mistake about our being sons and daughters of the\nLord Almighty. We are not only His children, but He has promised us\ncrowns of glory and thrones of dominion and power.\n\nIf you and I were in England to-day and could walk into the Tower of\nLondon, where they keep the crown and the jewels of the royal family,\nand we could learn the value of these costly jewels, and crowns and\nscepters, it matters not how rich we might be, I am sure we would have\nto despair of ever being able to purchase these costly crown jewels.\nThey are estimated at many millions of dollars. Now, if an earthly\ncrown, which can only be retained for a few years, is so valuable, how\nmuch more valuable are the everlasting crowns, such as God gives, and\nwhich are to be ours for all eternity? And if we are not able to buy\nsuch an earthly crown, how much less are we able to purchase or buy a\nheavenly crown? The heavenly crowns are so valuable that we could never\nhope to buy them, therefore God gives them to us because He loves us.\n\nMore than two hundred years ago a man by the name of Colonel Blood\nattempted to steal the crowns and the crown jewels of England. He was\nnot altogether successful, but was arrested before he escaped with them.\nBut do you know that there are many who would steal your crown, and my\ncrown of everlasting glory, if they possibly could? Therefore, God tells\nus in the Bible, \"Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy\ncrown.\" (Rev. iii: 11.) So you see it is very important that we should\nbe constantly on our guard. The King of England has soldiers to watch\nday and night, lest any one should steal his crown. And so also you and\nI need to be constantly on our guard, lest wicked people and sinful\ninfluences should rob us of our heavenly crown.\n\nNot only are crowns sometimes stolen, but sometimes they are also lost.\nAbout fifty years ago some people were digging in France, and they found\neight costly crowns, all lying close together, having been lost or\nhidden away in the earth. Four of them were very costly and very\nbeautiful, while the others were smaller crowns. The first four were for\nthe king and the queen, and the prince, and one other of the older\nchildren, and the other four crowns were for the younger children of the\nking's household. Yet you see that the father and mother and all the\nchildren lost their crowns. I trust that no parents here, or children\neither, would prize their heavenly crowns so lightly as ever to lose\nthem.\n\nThere are thousands of people who would be willing to put forth any\neffort, or to pay any costs, if they could only obtain an earthly crown,\nand yet the Bible tells us that these people do it \"to obtain a\ncorruptible crown; but we, an incorruptible.\" (1 Cor. ix: 25.) Now, by\na corruptible crown is meant one that, like this crown made of leaves,\nwill fade and fall to pieces, and decay, and thus pass entirely away.\nEven a crown of gold, studded with costly jewels, would thus also\neventually perish. The crown which God gives to us is an imperishable\ncrown, which never fades, and never passes away. And therefore the\nScriptures say, \"And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall\nreceive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.\" (1 Peter v: 4.)\n\nSince the Bible teaches us these truths so plainly, \"What manner of\npersons ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness?\" (2\nPeter iii: 11.) What more appropriate words could I say to you in\nclosing, than that which God says to us in the blessed Book in which He\nhas revealed all these things, \"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look\nfor such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace\nwithout spot, and blameless.\" (2 Peter iii: 14.)\n\n QUESTIONS.--What kind of crown was first worn?\n Because crowns of leaves were so perishable, of\n what were crowns later made? What can you tell\n about the crown of the king of England? If the\n crowns of all the kings of earth could be brought\n together, would people desire to see them? If the\n children of earthly kings were present and we told\n them for the first time that they were the\n children of kings and gave them the crowns which\n they were eventually to own, would they be likely\n to be pleased? Are you the child of a King who is\n the King above all kings? Has He promised you a\n crown? Will your crown be perishable? How long\n will it last? Can you quote any of the passages of\n Scripture which tell of our being the children of\n the King of kings? Could the crown of an earthly\n king be bought? Is there money enough in the world\n to buy a crown of everlasting life? How then is\n this crown to be obtained? Who once stole a crown\n and the crown jewels of England? Was he successful\n in getting away with them? Who tries to steal our\n crown of everlasting glory? Is he ever successful?\n Can you tell about the eight crowns which were\n found hidden away in the earth in France? In what\n book are we told that our crown is to be\n imperishable and unfading, and to be ours forever?\n What exhortation is contained in the last sentence\n of the last sermon in this book?\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nA WORD TO PARENTS\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nTHE imploring letters which come to me constantly from all parts of the\nglobe, written by young men and women who are almost hopelessly\nstruggling to be freed from evils into which they have fallen through\nignorance, prompt me to urge upon parents the great importance of\nsafe-guarding their children from evils unspeakable by information which\nshould always reach the child through the parent.\n\nMany parents appreciate their duty to their children in this matter; the\nonly thing that restrains them is that they do not know what to say and\nhow to say it. They are in just the situation that I found myself with\nmy own boy and girl before I had made a special study of this subject.\n\nIt was to assist parents in this trying situation that I wrote \"What a\nYoung Boy Ought to Know,\" and that Dr. Mary Wood-Allen wrote \"What a\nYoung Girl Ought to Know.\" These two books, together with \"What a Young\nMan Ought to Know\" and \"What a Young Woman Ought to Know,\" have proven a\nbenediction to thousands of parents, and have saved multitudes of boys\nand girls; of young men and young women from evils that come from blind\nblundering among dangers that are attended with consequences that often\nproject themselves throughout the entire life, and frequently involve\neven future generations.\n\nThese books were written to make men and women--not money. The United\nStates Government has had the books to men placed in the libraries of\nall the battleships, and those addressed to boys and girls and young men\nand young women placed in all the schools maintained by the Government\nfor the education of the North American Indians.\n\nRequests have been made for permission to translate these books into\nsome forty different languages, and most of these requests have come\nfrom Christian missionaries and church missionary societies, who have\ndesired the teachings which these books contain for use by their\nmissionaries.\n\nThese books, in English, sell at One Dollar per copy, and a simple post\ncard request addressed to the writer of the little book you now hold in\nyour hands, will bring you descriptive printed matter by early post.\n\n SYLVANUS STALL,\n 206 North Fifteenth Street,\n Philadelphia, Pa., U. S. A.\n\n\n\n\nWITH THE CHILDREN ON SUNDAYS\n\n * * * * *\n\nThrough Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate Into the City of Child Soul\n\n * * * * *\n\n_By_ SYLVANUS STALL, D. D.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_ENTHUSIASTICALLY COMMENDED BY THE PRESS_\n\n * * * * *\n\nFOR THE FAMILY CIRCLE AND TEACHERS.\n\n\"Delightful and instructive reading for the family circle on Sunday\nafternoons.\"--_The Ram's Horn._\n\n\"The language and style are simple and effective. In approaching the\nmind and heart through the eye, as well as the ear, Dr. Stall uses the\nmethod which the best instructor should use to convey knowledge to the\nmind of the child. The book is suggestive of effective work, and is\nworthy of the careful attention of all who talk to children in the\nSunday School, Church and home.\"--_Augsburg Teacher._\n\n\"These sermons cannot help being suggestive to every one who would\ninterest children. The sermons are fascinating, and their publication\nmarks an era in the instruction and edification of children. They will\nserve a noble purpose in calling back to the simplicity of preaching so\nwonderfully illustrated in the words of Christ.\"--_Wesleyan Methodist._\n\n\nSPECIALLY ADAPTED TO CHILDREN.\n\n\"Dr. Stall has undoubtedly the happy faculty of presenting to children\nsober truths in a manner to them most interesting.\"--_Times_, Boston,\nMass.\n\n\"In this little volume there are good examples of excellent preaching to\nthe young, and the book merits a wide circulation.\"--_Central\nPresbyterian._\n\n\"These little delightful sermons are models of point and brevity, and\nreach the little hearts through the eye and the ear.\"--_Christian\nObserver._\n\n\"A more practical series of discourses for children we never before have\nseen. The illustrations are simple and forceful, and the lessons worthy\nof consideration.\"--_Central Methodist._\n\n\"It is an excellent work, and the plan is admirably suited to reach and\nimpress youthful minds with correct principles. The language is plain\nand easily understood and yet the central thought is well defined and\neasily grasped.\"--_The Christian Instructor._\n\n\"The topics are timely and fresh, the objects simple and telling, and\nthe sermons themselves just what sermons to children ought to be, brief\nand well illustrated, fascinating and practical. Boys and girls will\ndevour every one of them with relish, whilst we children of a larger\ngrowth will be children again.\"--_Lutheran Observer._\n\n\"The chapters contained in the volume are such as are sure to win the\nattention and interest of the children. We are confident that Dr. Stall\nhas found the right key to the situation, and we commend his work most\nheartily.\"--_Messiah's Herald._\n\n\"The gift of talking sense to children in a way interesting to them is a\nrare one. These fifty-two short sermons show that Dr. Stall has this\nrare gift in an eminent degree. This is shown, not only in his way of\nputting things, but also in his subjects and illustrative\nobjects.\"--_Lutheran Quarterly._\n\n\"In this volume the author seeks to attract the young through the\npresentation of the old truths of the Gospel in the form which arrest\nthe eye, secures the attention, impresses the mind, and wins the heart\nfor Christ and the right. The entrance into the city of Child-soul is\nsought by assaulting both the Eye-gate and Ear-gate. At the same time\nthe illustrations used are impressive, the truths taught are simple, and\nthe impressions made are likely to be lasting.\"--_Jersey City Times_.\n\n\"It is not every one who is able to present to children sober truths in\na manner interesting to them, for it requires a special talent to either\nspeak to or write for children, but Dr. Stall has undoubtedly the happy\nfaculty of doing this. The author's object is to implant in the child's\nmind seeds of truth and love, nobleness and justice, and all the virtues\nthat go to make a manly boy and womanly girl, as well as a God-loving\nchild.\"--_Boston Times._\n\n * * * * *\n\nFROM THE CHILDREN OF NEW ENGLAND.\n\n\n SYLVANUS STALL, D. D., Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n REVEREND SIR:\n\n\n I wish to thank you in behalf of my school\n children for having your short sermons to children\n published. I read them to my school children as\n part of our devotional exercises, and I often hear\n remarks like this: \"I wish the author would come\n to Moose Meadow. I wish I could hear him. I wish I\n could see him and thank him for writing those\n sermons. Can't we write to him and thank him?\"\n etc., and so I have been led to write you,\n thanking you in their behalf.\n\n Moose Meadow is a small country place in Eastern\n Connecticut, and I wish you to know that the\n country children enjoy your sermons equally as\n well as city children, and I am very glad that a\n copy of your book was put into my hands. I feel\n very grateful to God for putting it into the heart\n of some one to write such interesting sermons and\n beautiful object lessons.\n\n Respectfully,\n MRS. A. B. DAWE.\n Moose Meadow, Town of Willington,\n Connecticut.\n\n\nA SUGGESTIVE BOOK FOR PREACHERS.\n\n\"Pastors in search of something suggestive for talking in a helpful\nmanner to children will find this book both helpful and\nsuggestive.\"--_Reformed Church Messenger._\n\n\"A careful reading of this book will enable any minister of anything\nlike ordinary brightness to adapt much of his preaching to the\ncomprehension of the young.\"--_Gospel Messenger._\n\n\"We do not know that we can give a stronger commendation of this little\nvolume than to say that on a brief examination of it we got the\nsuggestion for a series of half a dozen evening sermons to young people.\nThe book is most suggestive, and spiritually as well as mentally\nrefreshing.\"--_Christian Statesman._\n\n\"An examination of the little sermons in this book shows the reader that\nDr. Stall skillfully manages each topic, and leaves helpful lessons of\nmoral and religious truths. The book will suggest to pastors methods of\nwork that will bring the children into a closer relation to the services\nof the Sabbath.\"--_Christian Secretary._\n\n\"Excellent, admirable, irresistible approaches through the Eye-gate and\nEar-gate in the City of Child-soul. The author is a genius. There is not\na dull line between the covers of this book.\"--_Christian Endeavor\nWorld._\n\n\nOTHER ENTHUSIASTIC WORDS.\n\n\"These sermons are delightful and helpful in their explanation. We have\nseen nothing that compares with it.\"--_Herald of Gospel Liberty._\n\n\"These sermons are animated in style, bright, interesting and\npractical.\"--_The Advance._\n\n\"Dr. Stall's sermons are excellent examples of abstract lessons from the\ncommon objects of everyday life, practical and effective.\"--_Books and\nAuthors._\n\n\"Dr. Stall is an expert in this line of work attempted, and we may add\nachieved in this little book. He addresses little object sermons as\nbright, pithy and taking as they can be with a good point to them\nalways.\"--_New York Independent._\n\n\"These short sermons will be found wonderfully suggestive. The author\ngoes back to Bible methods, and selects common things with which all are\nfamiliar from which to draw his lessons.\"--_Inter Ocean_, Chicago.\n\n\"The old truths of the Gospel in this new form arrest the eye, secure\nthe attention, impress the mind, and win the heart for Christ.\"--_Herald\nand Presbytery._\n\n\"The illustrations used are impressive, and truths taught are important,\nand the impressions made are likely to be lasting.\"--_New York\nObserver._\n\n\"The author, after the manner of the parables told by our Lord, presents\nimportant truths of the Gospel to the easy comprehension of both old and\nyoung.\"--_Christian Work._\n\n\"These little sermons are free from sensational, mawkish, maudlin\nstories. At the same time, they are interesting for old and young, and\nthe short talks to children are admirable.\"--_Western Recorder._\n\n\"With the objects of every day life presented to the eye, the author,\nafter the manner of the parables, presents important truths of the\nGospel to the easy comprehension of both the old and young.\"--_Methodist\nRecorder._\n\n\n\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nObvious punctuation errors were corrected.\n\nInconsistent hyphenation was retained.\n\nPage 118, \"experence\" changed to \"experience\" (and patience experience)\n\nPage 260, repeated word \"the\" removed from text (he spend the summer)\n\nPage 301, \"Persia\" changed to \"Prussia\" (the King of Prussia had)","title":"With the Children on Sundays: Through Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate into the City of Child-Soul","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":89059}