LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Presented by TheW(c\oW of Greort^e.UiAo'cAn^^ ^<^ BV 4315 .S65 1894 c.l Stall, Sylvanus, 1847-1915. Five minute object sermons to children r:^^ Five Minute .^^^^^ Object Sermons to Children PREACHED BEFORE THE MAIN SERMON ON SUNDAY MORNING. Through Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate INTO THE City of Child-Soul. BY SYLVANUS'^STALL, D. D., Author of Methods of Church Work, How to Pay Church Debts, Min- isters' Hand-Book to Lutheran Hymns, Pastor's Pocket Record, etc. Associate Editor of the Lutheran Observer. Feed my Lambs."— JOHN 21 : 15. [Printed in the United States.] NEW YORK: FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY. LONDON AND TORONTO. 18Q4. Copyright, 1893, BY SYLVANUS STALL. DEDICATED TO THE THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOLS WHO SHOULD BECOME REGULAR ATTENDANTS UPON THE SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE OF THE CHURCH. Contents. Page. 1. Traps — Unsuspecting- Mice and Men, 17 2. Money — Its Value and Its Uses, 21 3. Counterfeits — Coins and Christians, Real and Imi- tation, 28 4. Banks — Gathered and Guarded Treasures, .... 34 5. Oyster and Crab— Conscience, 39 6. Worm in the Apple — Sin in the Human Heart, , . 44 7. Passport — Citizens of an Heavenly Country, ... 50 8. Chart — Avoiding Dangers, 54 9. Anchor — Hope that Lays Hold of Christ, 59 la Iron, Low Grade and High Grade — Character and Worth, 63 11. A Pocket Rule — How God Measures Men, . . 70 12. Seeds — Thoughts, Words, Deeds, — their Life and Per- petuity, 76 13. Sowing — The Spring Time of Life, 82 14. Sheaf of Grain — The Harvest Time of Life, , 87 15. Wheat and Chaff — The Coming Separation, . . 93 16. Wayside Weeds and Garden Flowers — Neg- lected vs. Christian Children, 99 17. Flowers — God's Wisdom Displayed in their Creation, 104 18. Flowers— They Display God's Goodness to Man, . 108 19. The Heart — The Most Wonderful Pump in the World, 113 20. The Eye— The Most Valuable and Most Wonderful Telescope, ..... ... 119 21. The Eye— Smallest Camera, Most Valuable Pictures, 127 22. Coal and Wood — Jesus the Source of Spiritual Light and Warmth, 134 (5) 6 CONTENTS. Page. 23. Lanterns — The Best Light for Our Path, 139 24. Candles — Christian People, their Relative Influence, 143 25. Candles — How to Reflect, Obscure or Extinguish the Light, 149 26. Water — Jesus, and Earth's Moral Deserts, .... 155 27. Bread — Universal Soul Hunger, 159 28. The Stone — The Natural and Changed Heart, . . . 164 29. The Polished Stone — Perfection Through Suffering, 169 30. A Broken Chain — Breaking the Whole Law, ... 175 31. Looking-Glass — Seeing Ourselves in God's Law, . 180 32. The Wordless Book — Sin, Salvation, Purity, Glory, 184 33. Whiskey — The Character and Efi"ects of Alcohol, , 189 34. The Magnet — Jesus the Great Drawing Power, , . 196 35. Scarlet Rags— Sins of Deepest Dye, 203 36. Ropes — Habits and How they Become Strong, . . . 207 37. Watch and Case — Soul and Body, 212 38. Keys — How to Unlock the Human Heart, 217 39. Husks — The Disappointed Pleasure Seeker, .... 223 40. Pearls— One of Great Price, 230 41. Frogs — The Plagues of Egypt, 235 42. Blood — The Feast of the Passover, 242 43. Pine Branch — The Feast of Tabernacles, .... 248 Preface. These brief sermons grew out of the necessi- ties found in the author's own parish. While yet a student of theology we found that very few of the great body of young people regularly attended the services of the Church ; parents might be found regularly in their places, but the children of the household were seldom, and some of them were never seen in the family pew. It was to correct these evils that these sermons were prepared and at first preached at irregular intervals. When called, in 1 888, to the pastorate of the Second English Lutheran Church, of Baltimore, we found a depleted congregation, while at the same time the Sunday-school was one of the largest and most flourishing in the city. It was then for the first time that we introduced regu- larly the preaching of Five-Minute Object Ser- mons before the accustomed sermon on Sunday morning. In a very brief period, about one- fourth of the infant department and two-thirds of the main department of the school were in regular attendance upon the Sunday morning service, and, even after this particular form of address had been discontinued, the teachers and scholars continued regularly to come direct from the morning session of the school to the services of the church. (7) 8 PREFACE. These sermons were preached without notes, were subsequently outlined and then spoken into the phonograph, put in manuscript by a phonog- rapher, and, that the simplicity of style and dic- tion might be preserved, were printed with only slight verbal changes. The objects used in illustrating these sermons have been chosen from among the ordinary things of every-day life. To us it seemed that such objects have the advantage of being easily secured, and on account of their familiarity also prove more impressive, and being more often seen, more frequently recall to the minds of those in the audience the truths taught in the sermon. To any thoughtful student who has marked the simple language and beautiful illustrations used by that Great Preacher and Teacher who " spake as never man spake," it will be unneces- sary to say a single word in justification of this method of presenting abstruse truths to the easy comprehension of the young. Upon all occa- sions Jesus found in the use of the ordinary, every-day things about Him, the easy means of teaching the people the great truths of divine import. The door, the water, the net, the vine, the flowers which sprang at His feet, the birds that flew over His head, the unfruitful tree that grew by the wayside, the wheat and the tares that grew together in the field, the leaven which a woman hid in three measures of meal, the hus- bandman pacing his field engaged in sowing his grain, the sheep and the goats which rested PREFACE. 9 together on the slopes waiting to be separated each into their own fold, the old garment mended with a piece of new cloth, the mustard seed, the salt — anything that chanced to be about the Master was used as an illustration, that He might plainly and impressively teach the people the saving truths of redemption and salvation. May we not also reasonably suppose that if Jesus were upon the earth to-day He would still exer- cise this same distinguishing wisdom in the use of the common, every-day things by which He would now find Himself surrounded? That the pulpit of to-day is rapidly drifting away from that plain, simple and easily-com- prehended presentation of the saving truths of the Gospel, must be manifest to the most casual observer. In every age the tendencies of the pulpit have been steadily upward to the level of the most cultured and the most scholarly. The natural aspirations of the pulpit continue unconsciously to lift it above the children and the great masses of people. The words which are chosen to express our thought in the pul- pit usually differ largely from those which we use in our daily conversation, the language of the pulpit becomes unintentionally different from that in common use in every-day life, until finally we cease to speak in the language best under- stood by all the people. In so far as we cease to use the language of every-day life, we lose our grip upon the great masses of people and upon the children as well. Every revival in the Chris- tian Church, from the time of Christ to the pres- lO PREFACE. ent, has owed its success to the fact that it began not with the most refined, or the most influential, or with those of greatest intellectual culture, but with the common people ; and in so far as the Church fails to reach the common people and the rising generation of children, it is shorn of its greatest power and its greatest efficiency. The absence of the children from the services of the sanctuary is one of the alarming evils of our day. There are but few congregations where children can be found in any considerable num- bers. No one will attempt to deny the sad con- sequences which must follow as the inevitable results of such a course. The children at eight years of age who have not already begun to form the habit of church attendance, andare not quite thoroughly established in it at sixteen, will stand a very fair chance of spending their entire life with little or no attachment for either the Church or religious things. The non-church going youth of this decade will be the Sabbath- breakers and irreligious people of the next. Who are to blame for this state of affairs, and to whom are we to look for the correction of this existing evil? Manifestly, first of all, to the parents. That parental authority which overcomes the indiffer- ence of the child and secures his devotion to the irksome duties of secular life, should also be ex- ercised to establish and maintain a similar fidelity to religious duties and spiritual concerns. If left to their own inclinations, children will invariably go wrong in the affairs of both worlds. Attend- PREFACE. II ance upon the church should be expected and required, the same as attendance upon the se- cular instruction of the schools; for the best in- terests of the child are not more dependent upon the discipline of the mind than upon the develop- ment of the heart. In the formation of the habit of church attendance it would be well to remind parents that example will be as helpful as pre- cept. They should not send but take their chil- dren to church. They should make room for them in the family pew, provide them with a hymn-book and see that they have something for the collection. Parents owe it to their chil- dren to teach them to be reverent in God's house, to bow their heads in prayer, to be attentive to the sermon; and while requiring these things of their children, they should also see well to it that after service, at the table, in the home, or else- where nothing disparaging of God's house, message or messenger should fall from their lips upon the ears of their children. The teachers and Sunday-school superintend- ents are not without responsibility in this matter. In any community where the Sunday-school is regarded as the " children's church," the super- intendent with his corps of teachers can do much to correct this dangerous error. We would say nothing against the Sunday-school, for it is one of the most potent agencies for good ; but it can not safely be substituted for the services of God's house, nor can the lesson take the place of the sermon. The proper province of the Sunday-school is to lead its attendants to the 12 PREFACE. Church, and not to detract them from the ordi- nances of God's house. The teacher and the superintendent can help to correct this erroneous impression by announcing the services and invit- ing the scholars to attend the church. One of the features of the school should be to question the scholars concerning the sermon, keep a record of church attendance, encourage the pastor to preach to the children, and arrange for special services for the young, and seek to se- cure in the scholars an increased interest in the church. Perhaps, however, the blame rests more with us as pastors than with any one else. We seek too much for thoughts which are beyond the grasp of the great majority in our congregations, and when we attempt to preach upon these subjects we forget that it is our special business to make all these difficult subjects plain and intelligible to the humblest person and the youngest child in the audience — and if we are not willing diligently to seek this result, then we have no right to take these subjects into the pulpit. Perhaps the trouble too frequently is that the thought is not clearly defined in our own minds and consequently can not be understood by the audience. It is however a fact that most of the truth contained in the Bible can be so voiced and illustrated as to engage the attention and enlist the sympathy of both old and young, and most of what is best for either is equally good and profitable for both. What the child wants in the preacher and the sermon is plain, short, easy words, vivid illustra- PREFACE. 1 3 tions — not far-fetched, but such as associate themselves naturally with the subject. Whatever our past failures and present short- comings, we should seek prayerfully and studi- ously to acquire the talent which will enable us to touch the heart, quicken the imagination and instruct the minds of the children. If we can preach so that the children can understand and be benefited, we may rest assured that we shall not fail with the older people. In order to reach the children we should preach so that they can understand, we should make mention of them in prayer, select hymns in which they can join, refer to them in the ser- mon, urge parents to bring their children with them to the church, shake hands with them after the benediction, and the pews in our churches will not long be destitute of children. We need, in the very beginning of our en- deavor to preach to children, to dispossess our minds of the thought that the older people will not be interested in the five-minute sermon to the juniors. The fact is that the talk to the children will always be enjoyed by the con- gregation, and frequently the five minutes de- voted to the juniors will be more helpful to the seniors than the thirty minutes of subsequent discourse. Many public speakers and Sunday-school superintendents greatly injure the efficiency of their labors among the young by addressing them as ** children." Those in the infant depart- ment may be addressed as children, but if we 14 PREFACE. wish to graduate the boys and girls of twelve and fourteen from the intermediate department of the school, or repel them from attendance upon the services of the Church, we need simply to address them as "children." Nothing so stings and pains the pride of a growing boy or girl, as, in his or her estimation, to be belittled by being called a child. We may address them as scholars, boys and girls, little men and women, or even young men and young women, but un- less we are willing to part with our influence over them for good, for the simple satisfaction of wounding their childish and quite natural pride, we should never address them as children, neither in the Sunday-school nor in the church. We have used the term children in the title of this little volume because as a book it is designed for pastors and parents, but as a term of address the word "children" does not appear in any of these sermons. In the use of object sermons it is not usually wise to attempt to pass immediately, without a break, from the children's talk into the main ser- mon. A hymn will allow the audience a mo- ment for thought and reflection, and enable the speaker to bring his mind into sympathy with the different train of thought to be presented to the older people. When found desirable, two or more related object sermons can be profitably united in a half hour's discourse to grown people. In preaching in prisons and other similar places we have found this a very effective way of presenting the truth. PREFACE. 15 Those children whose parents attend should sit in the family pew, while the smaller children who are unattended should be seated in front and at the side of the pulpit. By this method they will not disturb adult persons in the audi- ence, they will be under the Immediate super- vision of the pastor, and the seats which are more usually preferred will be available for the remainder of the congregation. If any of the juveniles are inclined to be restless or disturb the speaker or others in the audience, one or more older persons can always be found who will be wiUing to act as monitors, and thus preserve perfect order through the entire service. In these different chapters we have sought that variety which is necessary to maintain a contin- ued interest in the minds of young persons. Without being desultory, we have sought variety, and while desiring to avoid all that might seem sensational, we have sought for that which was new and impressive. We have preferred health- ful variety, rather than startling innovations. Our aim has been to be child-like, but not childish. Our experience has convinced us that children are quick to grasp an idea, and while naturally of restless mental temper, they are yet quick to ap- preciate thought that is clear, orderly and logical. While this volume is doubtless the first of its kind in illustrating and impressing the truth upon the child mind, yet we desire to acknowledge our indebtedness to the many authors in the large field of literature from whom we have gleaned many wise suggestions and helpful illustrations. l6 PREFACE. Praying that God may bless this humble vol- ume in the hands of the many pastors who are seeking to bridge the great chasm which now separates so many children in the home and the Sunday-school from regular attendance upon the services of the Church, it is now sent forth upon its important mission. Sylvanus Stall. Philadelphia, Pa., April 2^th, i8g^. Five Minute Object Sermons to Children. TRAPS. UNSUSPECTING MICE AND MEN. My dear young friends : You may think that possibly there was a time when wicked men did not desire to destroy others, as is so often the case in this day; but hundreds of years ago, God said, "Among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares ; they set a trap, they catch men." ( Jeremiah, v : 26.) I suppose you have all seen traps. There are a great many different kinds. Some are very dangerous, and yet you cannot see the danger until you are caught, or until you see some other person who has been caught in the trap. Now here is a trap. I suppose that you have all seen such traps as this, and possibly have them in your own homes, to catch the little mice which destroy your food, and oftentimes do great injur}^ Object used : An ordinary mouse trap. 17 1 8 ' OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. Now, this trap does not look dangerous to the unsuspecting mouse. The little wire, which is to be drawn up by a strong spring to choke the mouse to death, is concealed, and he does not know that there is a wire there at all. He simply smells the piece of cheese. This tempts his appetite, and, as he is fond of cheese, he de- sires to obtain it, and so he attempts to crawl in through this small hole to get the cheese, but the moment he nibbles at the cheese, it disturbs the little catch which holds the spring, and when it is too late to escape, the little mouse finds that he has been caught. Then he does not think of the cheese, but struggles to get loose and escape out of the trap. But all of his struggles are in vain, and after a few moments he is choked to death. Then the man, or the housewife comes, takes the little mouse out of the trap, and with the same piece of cheese the trap is again set for another unsuspecting mouse. So people go on, day after day, catching one mouse after another, with the same trap and with the same bait. Now, there are traps which men set for boys and girls, and men and women. Such as story papers, bad books and pictures, that might be called pest papers, printed poison, moral leprosy. To the innocent, the unthinking and the unsus* UNSUSPECTING MICE AND MEN. 10 pecting these things may not appear very dan- gerous, but they are very deadly in their effects, and they result in the temporal and eternal ruin of thousands upon thousands of people every year. Then there are also the saloons, with gilded signs, frosted windows, and showy looking glasses. Rooms which are made attractive only to catch men, to rob them of their money, and of their self-control, and of their reason, and of their homes, and of all temporal good, and of all hope of heaven — destroying men's soul and body, both for a time and for all eternity. Then there is the theatre, with its glittering lights, with its tinseled show, with its corrupting play, with its scenes upon which no pure-minded man or woman can look without blushing. Scenes which deaden the moral sense, pollute the mind. Such as are calculated to rob the individual of virtue, and of integrity, and of faith in God, and of hope of heaven. Then there are other dangerous traps which are set for young men and for older men — tobacco, and cigars, and beer. These traps which are set for our money, which so often rob of health and strength, for no boy who uses tobacco in any form can be strong like the boy who does not use tobacco. Boys begin with the deadly cigarette, and then go on to the cigar, and then follow with 20 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. drinking beer, and so, step by step, they go on down to ruin. Those boys who have gone fishing on a calm, beautiful summer day, and have looked down through the water, have often seen the fish as they gathered around the hook, and then watched them as they nibbled at the bait. First they come up very shyly, and barely touch the bait with their nose. Then they come again, and possibly just bite a small trifle — barely taste of it. Then, again and again they nibble at the hook, until finally they undertake to get a large bite, when they discover that they have swallowed the hook. Then it matters not how much they flounder about, and struggle to get away, it is too late, it is impossible for them to escape. They are pulled into the boat or upon the bank, and a few hours later are on the stove, being cooked for some hungry fisherman. Just so Satan comes to those whom he wishes to catch. He comes with money, and with pleasure, and with the thought of having a good time. He tempts people by presenting to their thought something which they desire He leads them on step by step, and when they see others all about them who are being destroyed in the effort to obtain the same pleasure which they are seeking, Satan makes them think that in their individual case the result will be very different. UNSUSPECTING MICE AND MEN. 21 You will notice that this mouse trap has four different places where mice can be caught, and is it not strange that when one mouse enters on this side, and is caught, and is lying there dead, that another live mouse should come along, and see the same trap and desire the same thing, and walk right in to the same danger, and the same sure death ? You would think that when he saw that the other mouse had been caught, and had lost his life, that he would turn away. But instead of that, he smells the cheese, walks right into the trap, and is caught, and in a few moments is as dead as his neighbor. So boys see others who have been ruined by smoking cigarettes, who have paved the way for their destruction by smoking cigars, by keeping bad company, by drinking beer, and going on step by step. They see drunkards all about them who have squan- dered all their money and lost all their friends, and been forsaken by their own parents, their wives, and their children; who have become out- casts, and for whom no one longer has any respect. Men see these things daily, and yet they go on in the same way, beginning with beer and going, step by step, from social drinking, until they themselves become drunkards and outcasts, and go down to fill a drunkard's grave. The Bible says that no drunkard can inherit the kingdom of heaven. 22 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. I trust that none of those who listen to me this morning will be so foolish as to permit Satan to deceive them. Look about you and see the results of worthless story-papers, of card-play- ing, of theatre going, of social drinking, of round dancing, lying, swearing, cheating, and all forms of wickedness, and then remember that these same influences, if wrought into your life, will also produce the same result. Do not be like the foolish mouse, which sees its dead companion in the trap, and then walks up unthinkingly and pokes his head into the same inevitable death and destruction ; but remember that Satan waits to destroy you, just the same as he has destroyed others. In the book of Job (xviii : lo) it says, " The snare is laid for him in the ground and a trap for him in the way ; " and in the 8th verse of the same book and chapter it says, *' He is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare." Satan has laid traps and snares all along your path through life, and you will need to be very, very cautious, lest you are ruined for time and destroyed for eternity. Remember the text for this morning, which says, "Among my people are found wicked men ; they wait, as he that set- teth snares ; they set a trap, they catch men." MONEY. ITS VALUE AND ITS USES. My little men and women : I am sure you can tell what it is that I have in my hands, when you hear me shake it. Yes, you all say money, and so it is. Here is a penny, a five-cent piece, a ten-cent piece, and a few quarter dollars, a half dollar, a silver dollar and a five-dollar gold piece. This is the kind of money we use in the United States. But over in the country where Christ lived and taught, very poor people used the mite, which was a Roman piece of money. You remember having read in the Bible about the poor woman who cast two mites into the treas- ury? Here is a little piece of money from Italy; it is a centicimo. These small pieces of money are the kind they now use in the city of Rome. Here is one of the widow's mites. It would take ten of these mites to be worth one cent of our money. So the poor woman who cast two mites into the treasury, cast in one-fifth of a cent. Objects used : Cent, five-cent piece, silver pieces and a gold piece. 23 24 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. But you must remember that that was all she had. She had nothing else, even with which to buy bread. The Scripture says that she had cast in " all her living." Then beside mites In the country in which Jesus lived, they had the Roman farthing and penny, and the Jewish shekel and talent, which was of gold. Money is a good thing in enabling us very simply to buy and sell, such articles as we desire either to possess or to dispose of. It would be next to impossible for us to get along without the aid of money in buying and selling. But do you know that the best things in this world cannot be bought with money. You cannot buy air, or sunshine, or rain, or health or salvation. These things are worth more than money, and money is not sufficient with which to purchase them, so God gives them to us. The Bible does not offer salvation in return for money; but the invitation is, " Whosoever will, let him come." The Bible declares that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that who- soever believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life. It is not wise for anybody to despise or under- estimate the value of money. As a matter of ac- tual fact, when parents are uncertain whether their children have good sense, or whether they are MONEY, ITS VALUE AND USES. 2$ idiots, and take them to a skilled physician, if the physician finds that the child does not realize the value of money, and does not have the spirit ol devotion — does not like to receive a penny, and does not clasp his hands and close his eyes, or in some other way assume the attitude of prayer, when other people kneel down to pray to God — these two things are regarded as sufficient evi- dence that the child lacks the intelligence of an ordinary human being, and is pronounced an idiot. I am sure that every boy and girl here knows the value of money, and I hope that you all bow your heads when others pray. I told you that money is a good thing, and that it is important in business ; but sometimes you will hear people say, that " money is the root of all evil." Now the Bible does not say that; the Bible says that " the love of money is the root of all evil." Money is a good thing, but when you love it so that you will sacrifice moral principle, and do things which are wrong in order to secure money, then you manifest that undue love for it which makes a miser, and which is the root of all evil. I should be very sorry indeed to think that any boy or girl here, or anyone in our Sunday- school or church, should be a miser. In order that you may have the right spirit in regard to money, it is important that you should learn 26 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. while you are young, to give for the support of the Church, to send the Bible to the heathen, to support the missionaries, to help the poor, and to do every kind of good work. You should learn to give very frequently and to give liberally. You should remember also that the money which you call your own is not yours; it belongs to God. You are only a steward. God permits you to have this money, just the same as the lord in the parable entrusted it into the hands of his servants ; to one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent. These talents, as I told you, had a money value ; it was money, therefore, that was entrusted into their hands. So also God entrusts money into our hands. The steward who had received one talent was entrusted with a little more than ^1,700.00, and when the lord of these servants returned he required that they should give an account of their stewardship — that they should tell what they had done with their money, how they had invested it, and what gain they had secured. Now, when you and I come to render up our final account before God, it will be necessary that we should tell not only what we have said, and what we have done on the earth ; but that we shall have to give an account of every penny and every dollar that we have ever possessed. MONEY, ITS VALUE AND USES. 2/ If this money belongs to God, and we have to give account for our use of it, what we have done with it, you see how important it is that we should give at least one-tenth of all our income to help to support the Church and to carry for- ward every Christian work ; and then that we should remember that the other nine-tenths also belong to the Lord. If you use your money to go the circus, or to the theatre, or use an unrea- sonable amount for fine clothing, or extravagance of any kind, you should remember that you will have at last to render an account to God for the use you have made of this money, which belongs to Him, and not to you at all. It is very important that we should come to recognize our true relation to God upon this money question while we are young, lest the love of money should fasten upon us, and we should become dishonest in our deahngs with men; and by failing to give in order to help to support the Church and every worthy charity, we should also be dishonest with God, by withholding any por- tion of the one-tenth which belongs always to the Lord. I trust you will so use your pennies and larger sums of money, that when the Day of Judgment comes, you will be able to give an ac- count that will not bring regret to your heart. COUNTERFEITS. COINS AND CHRISTIANS, REAL AND IMITATION. Little Disciples: I am sure I can call all these, my young friends, little disciples. When Jesus was upon the earth He had twelve chosen disciples. The word disciple means a learner. You are disciples of Christ, because you come to Sunday-school and to church, to learn of Christ, and to learn to be His obedient followers. Last Sunday I talked to you about money. To-day I want to talk to you about counterfeits. Now, here I have a bill which you would call a five-dollar bill, and here are some pieces which you would call money. Here is a quarter dollar, and a half dollar, and here is a whole dollar. I suppose possibly when most of you look at these pieces and this bill, you would suppose they were money. But they are not money at all; they are what are called counterfeits. The paper money which we have in this country is made by the United States Government. This was Object used : Some counterfeit money. 2S CHRISTIANS, REAL AND IMITATION. 29 made by some individual who was trying to cheat the people, by making something which simply looked like the money made by the Government. These pieces which look like silver are made of lead and other metals which cost but very little, have not much value, and consequently these pieces are mere deceptions. We call them counterfeits. Now, a counterfeit looks like the genuine, like the real money. They oftentimes pass for real money among people who cannot tell the differ- ence between good and bad money. But these are not genuine, and they are not money at all. They are mere disceptions. We call them counterfeits. Now, if there was no genuine money, there would be no counterfeit money. If there was no real, there could be no imitation. If there was no substance, there could be no shadow. But there are counterfeits in religion, as well as in money. There are people who pretend to be good and to be Christians, but they are not Christians; they only make believe. They are counterfeits. If Christianity were not a good thing, and did not have real merit, it would not be imitated. It is because real Christians are good people that hypocrites try to imitate them, to look like them, to act like them, and to be 30 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. thought to be Christians. Sometimes they even join the Church, and keep up their hypocrisy in the Church. Boys and girls, in Hke manner, sometimes try to deceive their teachers in school. They are really counterfeiting. They are not good boys or good girls, but they try to seem to be good when the teacher is looking at them. When the teacher turns his or her back, then they are disobedient, and break the rules of the school, make the other scholars laugh, or are themselves idle and indifferent. They are not good boys and girls, but try to make the teacher believe they are good. You have seen such counterfeits in the school, I am sure, and perhaps you were quicker to tell that the boy and the girl was dis- honest than even the teacher himself. Now the bank does not issue counterfeit money. The bank only issues good money. Dis- honest men issue counterfeit money. Jesus Christ makes good, honest Christians ; but it is the world, and the wickedness, and the devil who make hypocrites of people. The teacher tries to make the boys and girls, good boys and good girls. But the wicked boy makes of himself a mere imitation of a good boy. You will see then that the banker is not to blame because there is counterfeit money in circulation. The Church of Christ is not to blame because there CHRISTIANS, REAL AND IMITATION. 3 1 are hypocrites in the world, neither is the teacher to blame because there are deceptive boys and deceptive girls in the school. When Jesus was upon the earth, He said there would be wolves in sheep's clothing. He warned His disciples against hypocrites and deceivers. It is Satan who makes the hypocrites or deceivers, and we should not blame the Church or Christ because they do exist. If you take a counterfeit bill or a counterfeit piece of money to the banker, the moment he sees it he will tell you it is a counterfeit. He can tell the good money from the bad money very quickly. In the Bank of England, over in Lon- don, they have a machine through which the gold pieces, which they call gold sovereigns, and other pieces of gold money, pass to be weighed, and just as soon as a single piece of coin is less than its full weight, or a counterfeit is placed upon the scales, immediately the machine drops it at one side, as a rejected piece of money. At the . Treasury Department, in Washington, there are persons who count money, who can shut their eyes, and the moment their fingers touch a piece of counterfeit money, they can tell that it is counterfeit. Hypocrites may be able to deceive people in this world, although they generally fail even in doing that, for others come to recognize 32 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. them as hypocrites, and nobody respects them. But even if they could deceive everybody in this world, when at last Jesus comes to make up His jewels and to separate His followers from those who are the wicked followers of Satan, He will have no trouble whatever. He knows his people just the same as a shepherd knows his sheep, and as a shepherd would separate the goats from the sheep, so readily will Jesus separate His people from the wicked people of the world. Just as that machine in the Bank of England weighs the coin, so in one sense God weighs all people. You remember how it was in Babylon, the night that the wicked king Belshazzar defied and profaned God at the great feast which he had made for his generals and the great men of his kingdom. The finger of a man's hand, or what seemed to be a man's hand, came out of what looked like a cloud, and on the side of the wall, in the hall in which they were having their great feast, it wrote, " Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting." Belshazzar was trying to make the great people of his realm think that he was a great and a good man. That he could resist the will and purposes of God. But God weighed him in the balance, and He wrote the result on the wall, so that all his generals and the people whose esteem he desired to have, CHRISTIANS, REAL AND IMITATION. 33 might read that God had weighed Belshazzar in the balance and had found him wanting. Let us always remember that we cannot deceive God, and even though we should suc- ceed in deceiving our parents, or other boys and girls, or every individual upon the earth, yet at the last God will weigh us in the balance, and if we have been wicked. He will write it, or pro- claim it upon the Day of Judgment to all the assembled universe. In all that you do or say, remember that God looks in upon your hearts, and knows whether you are an honest boy or girl, or whether you are simply trying to deceive. " Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputed not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." BANKS. GATHERED AND GUARDED TREASURES. My DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS I What is this I hold in my hand? (Voices: "Bank, penny bank, money bank.") Yes, you are right, this is a bank, and I suppose many of you, perhaps all of you, either now, or at some past time have had such a place to deposit your money. In the time of Christ the children did not have little banks like these. Even the big people did not have banks where they could deposit their money. When they had jewels or money they had no banks in which to deposit them, and therefore they would place them in a box, or a copper kettle, and bury them in the earth. They would hide them away from other people, and thus seek to secure them for themselves. In that period of the world, there were many thieves and robbers; Palestine was often invaded by hostile armies; there were occasional earth- quakes, which destroyed whole cities, and so the Object used : A child's penny bank. 34 GATHERED AND GUARDED TREASURES. 35 people used to bury their money for safe keep- ing. After burying it, sometimes they were killed in war, or perhaps died suddenly, before they had told anybody where they had concealed their money, and on this account all over that land there were buried treasures, or hid treasures as they are called, and to-day if you were to go to Palestine you would see many people digging everywhere to find money or treasures that have been hidden away for long centuries. Even in the time of Job people must have dug for treasures, as they are doing in Palestine to-day, for Job says of the miserable and unhappy, that they often "long for death, and dig for it, more than for hid treasures." (Job, iii: 21.) It is altogether right for you to economize and save your pennies. I hope every boy and girl will have a little bank, but while you are learn- ing to save, you should also learn to give to every good cause, to give in Sunday-school and to give for the support of the Church, and to give to assist the aged and the poor, and to contribute something for those who are in poverty and in distress. If you simply learn to save, or hoard up money, and do not learn at the same time to give, you will become what people call a miser, and that word means miserable. Misers are always miserable, not because they do not 36 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. already have sufficient, but because there is so much more that they desire. But while you are learning to save money and to gather treasures here upon the earth, you must not forget that the Bible says, that we are to lay up for ourselves "treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." It says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteous- ness, and all these shall be added unto you." God means that first of all you and I shall give our hearts to Him, and then afterward, in all our getting, we should constantly remember that we are only stewards of God — that is, that all the money and everything else we possess in this world belongs to God. He simply permits us to have it and to use it in His name, and we must honor and reverence Him by giving to help on every good work. Now, after we have given our hearts to God, and have become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to lay up our treasures in heaven by doing good, by seeking to be good, and to do good to others. We are to lose no opportunity to do that which will be a blessing to those about us. One of the boys or girls said this was a penny bank. That name is very suggestive. A bank is GATHERED AND GUARDED TREASURES. yj a place where you deposit money. Now, if you have a bank hke this at home, do you only put in- to it silver dollars, five-dollar bills, ten-dollar gold pieces? If each of the boys who are here this morning were to wait until they had a ten-dollar gold piece, or a five-dollar bill, or had come into possession of a silver dollar before they placed any money in their bank, I am sure their banks would always remain empty. The way to fill a bank is to put pennies in it — to save each penny and each five-cent piece. To-day a penny, and to-morrow a few pennies, and so on through the week, and through the year, and at the end of the year you will find that you have saved quite a large amount of money. Now, there are some people who want to lay up treasures in heaven, but they do not want to lay it up there, little by little. They prefer to wait until some opportunity comes when they can do a great deal of good at one time. But the person who does not do good every day and every hour, little by little, will never have any treasure in heaven. It is the pennies that make the dollars; it is the many mites that make the muckle. It is the constant doing of little things, for the glory of God and the good of others, that makes a man great. Great men are great in little things, and if you desire to be great 38 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. men and great women, you must always use the little opportunities, and use them well. Lay up treasure in heaven, each and every day, just the same as, day after day, you would save your pennies, and thus fill your banks. If you want a large treasure in heaven you must constantly be engaged in laying up your treasure there. JNever lose an opportunity to do good, and in this way you will have an abundant treasure in heaven. THE OYSTER AND THE CRAB. CONSCIENCE. My young friends : I want to speak to you this morning about " Having a good conscience." (i Peter, 3: 16). This is rather a hard subject, but I desire to make it plain by the use of a fa- miliar object. "What's this I have in my hand?" I rather expected that you would say an oyster; but, really, it is nothing but an oyster shell. I sup- pose you have all eaten stewed oysters, or oyster broth. I remember, when a little boy, that one day when we had stewed oysters for supper, I found a little yellow something in my broth. I did not know whether my mother had put it in purposely, or whether it had fallen in by acci- dent; whether I should push it aside of my plate, that it might be thrown with the crumbs to the chickens, or whether I should eat it to discover what it was. I suppose you have all seen these little animals in your soup, and know that they are called crabs. Object used : Oyster shells. 39 40 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. Now, do you know how the crab comes to be in with the oyster? I will tell you how it is. The oyster lives in the water at the bottom of the bay, and some bright day, when the sun is shining down genial and warm, just the same as in the summer, we open the doors, and sit out on the porch to enjoy the cool of the day; so the oyster opens his shells and lets the cool currents of water move gently through his house. But while lying there with his shells wide open, along comes a great hungry fish. He sees the oyster, but the oyster cannot see him. The oyster can- not see, for he has no eyes. He cannot hear, for he has no ears. Of the five senses which each of us have, hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and feehng, the oyster can only tell of the presence of his enemy when he feels himself being drag- ged out of his house, and being quickly swallowed by the fish. But his knowledge of what is hap- pening only comes when it is already too late. Now, with the httle crab, who also lives in the same neighborhood with the oyster, it is quite different. The crab has eyes, and can see the hungry fish that comes to eat him up. He has legs, with which to try and run away ; but the fish can swim so much faster than the little crab can run, that he is sure to be devoured before the race is half over. So what do you think the OYSTER AND CRAB CONSCIENCE. 4 1 little crab does ? He crawls along quietly, and creeps into the shell with the oyster, and the oyster and the crab enter into a kind of partner- ship for mutual protection. After this, when the oyster opens his shells, the little crab uses his eyes very diligently to look around, and watch for the approach of any fish. As soon as he spies any sly fish coming near, he pinches the oyster, and immediately the oyster closes his shells very tightly, and the oyster and the crab are both safely protected from the fish. Now, boys and girls, we are something like the oyster. We are constantly exposed to the danger of being destroyed by sin. We cannot see sin, we cannot hear sin, we cannot perceive it by any of our senses. So God has given us a conscience, which means ** to know with God." When you are tempted to do a sinful act, it is conscience that quickly whispers, •* Now that is wicked," ** If you do that, God will be dis- pleased." Let me illustrate this thought. One real pleas- ant day, when the birds are singing, and every- thing is attractive out of doors, Johnnie thinks how hard it is to be studying his lessons in what he calls a prison of a school-room He knows that papa and mamma will not give him permission to stay at home ; so a little before nine o'clock. 42 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. as he saunters towards the school, Satan sug- gests to him to play "hookey," and when he comes to the corner of the street, looking back to be sure that no one sees him, he turns the corner to remain out of school, intending to come home at the regular time for dinner and escape discovery. Just as soon as he turns the corner, and even before that already, conscience has seen the danger, and whispers strong and clear, " Johnnie, this is wicked ; you will surely get into trouble, and you will make papa and mamma sad, and also displease God." Now, if Johnnie does not turn right back when conscience warns him, he is sure to go on without having any pleasure all that forenoon, because his con- science continues to warn and reprove him. Or suppose that Willie goes down the street and sees Mr. Brown's dog a little ways off. He looks around quickly for a stone, and imme- diately conscience says, "Now Willie, don't hit the poor dog, for the stone will cause him pain, just as it would if some one were to hit you with a stone." But Willie does not listen to con- science. He throws the stone with all his might. It strikes on the pavement, just by the side of the dog, glances and breaks in many pieces the large plate glass in the window of the drug store OYSTER AND CRAB CONSCIENCE. 43 Willie is more frightened than the dog, and without a moment for thought he runs around the corner, to get out of sight. And after con- cealing himself for a time in the alley, he steals quietly into the house at the back door. How he dreads to meet his father and mother. Every time the door bell rings he thinks surely that it is the druggist or the policeman. Oh ! how this sin pains him ; just like the oyster would be hurt if he does not heed the little crab, when he warns him that the fish is coming to destroy him. If WilHe had only listened to conscience, what sin and trouble it would have saved him. So, boys and girls, God has given each of us a conscience, and if we want to be saved from sin and suffering, we should always be quick to obey our conscience. Let each of us try and " keep a good conscience." THE WORM IN THE APPLE. SIN IN THE HUMAN HEART. Before beginning the object sermon, I desire to say to those who are older, that the purpose of presenting the truth in this simple way to the minds of the young, is not to appear to prove or demonstrate the truth, but the purpose is simply to illustrate, to make plain and intelli- gible, that which would otherwise be quite dif- ficult for the younger to comprehend. The object which I have chosen this morning, is one with which I am sure every boy and girl here is thoroughly familiar. The moment you see it you recognize it. This large and beautiful apple is one of the most perfect of its kind, large in size, beautiful in color, and one which tempts the appetite of any one who is hungry. Now, boys and girls, I have here another ob- ject. Can you tell me what this is ? I expected that you would say that it was an apple, and that is true. But you have not told me the whole truth Objects used : Large perfect apple; a stunted wormy apple. 44 SIN IN THE HEART. 45 concerning it. This is not only an apple, but it is a wormy apple. It did not grow as large as the other, and, by looking at the outside, I see that it is de- fective. It is stunted, like wormy apples quite universally are. You might think that the worm went into this apple because it was not full grown and strong and large, the same as it is some- times thought that boys who have never improved their advantages, but have failed to become noble and good, therefore sin has entered their hearts. The truth is just the reverse ; wickedness first possessed their hearts, and that has been the cause of their failure to improve their opportu- nities, and to become manly, and noble, and good, and kind. If they had first got the evil and sin out of their hearts, they would surely have stood a much better chance. They would have become Christians, and have grown up more and more like Christ, to be good, and kind, and generous, and useful. I want to ask you a question concerning this worm. But to be sure that we are not mistaken, let me take my knife and cut this apple in two, and see whether or no there is a worm inside. Just as I said, this is a wormy apple. It has evi- dently had two worms in it. Here is one of them, and the other has taken his departure. Now, boys and girls, I want to ask you, did this worm 46 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. eat his way into the apple, or did he eat his way out of the apple? Quite as I anticipated. I ex- pected that you would say that he ate his way into the apple ; but the fact is, he ate his way out of the apple. I am sure that you will ask imme- diately, at least in your minds, how then did he get in, if he ate his way out ? I will tell you how it was. Early last spring, just after the apple trees had been in blossom, and when this apple had just begun to form on one of the branches, there came along a bug and stung this apple, and deposited in the inside the germ of the worm. As the summ.er grew warmer, and the apple grew larger, the germ began to develop, until finally it grew into a worm. When it began to grow strong, it discovered that it was confined in the interior of something, and soon it began to eat, and continued until it ate its way out of the apple. This other worm, which still remained in, had continued to eat in the various portions of the apple, and possibly because of having less bodily vigor had concluded to remain there for a time, but you can see from the inside of the apple that it has done great injury, at the very core or heart, and I suppose that if it had been left to itself, in the course of a few days, or a few weeks at most, it also would have eaten its way out of the apple, in order to escape from its confinement. SIN IN THE HEART. 47 Now, boys and girls, this worm represents sin in the human heart, or wickedness possibly pre- sents the thought better, and when you see a boy or girl doing wrong, they are simply giving outward expression to the wickedness which exists in their hearts. Boys are bad, not because the influences by which they are surrounded are bad, but because their hearts are sinful, and wicked, and bad. But I am sure that you will want to know how wickedness gets into the human heart. I will tell you how it is. Way back in the spring-time of the history of the human race, way back in the Garden of Eden, soon after God had created Adam and Eve, Satan came and inspired in the hearts of these first people the desire to disobey God. God told Adam and Eve that they should not eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, and that when they did they would die, that is, they would be separated from God. Satan came and told them that they would not die, but that when they ate of the fruit of this tree they would become very wise. They believed Satan rather than God, and they did that which was wicked and wrong. And so throughout all the generations since, there has been that willingness to believe Satan and to do what he wants us to do, rather than to beheve God and do what God would have us to do. 48 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. Boys and girls who find themselves inclined to disobey their father or mother, to be disrespect- ful to those who are older than they, to do wrong on the Sabbath, to remain away from the Sun- day-school and church, and to enjoy the beauti- ful spring-day, by strolling through the fields or wandering through the woods, do so, not alone because the day is pleasant or because of the op- portunities, from which others turn away, but be- cause there is wickedness in their hearts. So when boys quarrel and fight, or steal, or do any other thing that is wrong, it is not so much the influ- ences by which they are surrounded, the tempta- tion from without, but the wickedness and the evil and the sinfulness which there is in the human heart, eating its way out through their heart into their lives, and deforming their lives, which otherwise would be upright, honorable and manly and Christ-like. I trust that when you are tempted to do wrong you will recognize the fact that there is evil in your hearts, and that you will go to Jesus and earnestly pray Him to take away this evil out of your hearts, and to give you a new heart and a clean heart. Just the same as with these apples, if you had the privilege of choosing, I am sure you would prefer the large one, which has not been spoiled because of the destruc- tive worm inside, so I trust you will choose to have SIN IN THE HEART. 49 the good heart, which God can give you, rather than the heart that has wickedness and sin with- in. If you will go to God in prayer and ask Him, He will give you a good heart, a true heart, one that has no sin and no wickedness within. THE PASSPORT. CITIZENS OF AN HEAVENLY COUNTRY. Boys and girls : I suppose you all know that we live in the United States of America. Most likely all who are in this audience this morning are citizens of this great country. To be a citi- zen, is not simply to live in a country, but to be so related to that country as to be entitled to all its benefits and to its protection, both at home and abroad. I hold in my hand this large document, which is called a passport. When any citizen of the United States desires to travel through the coun- tries of Europe or Asia, or any part of the world, he can secure one of these passports from the Secretary of State at Washington, and by carry- ing this with him wherever he goes it may prove of great service to him. This is a document by which the United States Government officially Object used : United States Passport. This can be obtained by addressing the " Secretary of State, Washington, D. C," and requesting a blank to be filled in order to secure a Pass- port. SO CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 5 1 announces to all the nations of the world that the person to whom it has been given is a citizen of this country. Being a citizen of the United States, through whatever nation we may pass, we are therefore to be regarded, not as citizens of those countries, but to belong to the United States, and also to be entitled to its protection, even to so great an extent that if we were unlaw- fully held a prisoner, or suffered wrong of any kind, this nation of ours, if necessary, would even send its great warships and soldiers to make war against any nation that did not respect and honor the rights which, as citizens of the United States of America, we are justly entitled to enjoy. This document secures to its owner very great rights and privileges, and lest it might be counterfeited or imitated, you will see when I spread it wide open, and hold it toward the Hght, how there is impressed in the paper itself a very large eagle, representing our national emblem. In his claws are several arrows; be- neath his feet are the stars, which represent the several states; and on the scroll the Latin words ''EPliiribus Unum!' All this, beautifully resting upon a shield, above which in large letters, are the words *' United States of America," and below, "Department of State." This passport not only declares the owner a citizen of the 52 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. United States and entitled to its protection, but here at one side is a description of the owner, so that it cannot be stolen away and be used by any person for whom it was not intended. It tells the name, age, height, whether the forehead is high or low, the color of the eyes, whether the nose is low and flat, or high and Roman. And so it goes on to describe also the mouth, chin, hair, complexion and face. But, boys and girls, we are citizens also of an heavenly country. Paul says, " We are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." (Ephesians, ii: 19.) The Bible tells us that we are "Strangers and pilgrims on the earth " ( Hebrews, xi : 13) and that this is only "The house of our pilgrimage." ( Psalms, cxix : 54.) We are more than simply citizens of America. We are "sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty." Now, if we are citizens of Heaven, you and I also have the passport of that country and are entitled to the protection of Heaven. As citizens of that heavenly countiy the Bible de- clares that although we are in this world, yet we are not of it — do not belong to it. God in Heaven stands pledged to defend and protect us against all wrong. Even though we may suffer a brief injustice, yet God will place all the CITIZENS OF HEAVEN 53 universe under tribute to secure for us justice and protection. Individuals may do us wrong and try to harm us, but all the wrongs which we suffer will be set right in the great Day of Judg- ment. We are simply passing through this world on our journey to our Father's house in the heavenly country, and you and I should be careful to remember that we are ''the children of the King." We should not lead wicked and sinful lives, and become worldly and wicked, like those who are only of this world. If I were in Italy, or any other country, and was unlawfully dealt with, I should at once telegraph my wrong to the Secretary of State at Washington, and I could be sure that he would immediately interfere, and greatly interest him- self in my behalf. So when we suffer wrong, when Satan and wicked people who would do anything against us, you and I can go imme- diately to God in prayer, and He will hear us, and if He does not entirely place us beyond the present power of our enemies. He will at least give us grace to bear our wrong until the day when He shall finally deliver us out of their power. If we ask Him, He will also give us wis- dom so that we may know how to act. Hymn. — " I am the Child of a King." THE CHART. AVOIDING THE DANGERS. My little men and women : We are all trav- elers. Now when a traveler starts out upon a journey he always desires to have in his posses- sion one of these things which I hold in my hand. I know you will recognize it at once, and say that it is a map. This map tells you the name of the country ; it shows you where there are mountains, where there are rivers, where there are valleys, where there are cities, and shows you the entire country of Germany. In traveling through a strange country, if you do not have a map, you might be lost upon the mountains, or your journey would be obstructed by the rivers which you could not cross, and in various ways you would find it absolutely necessary to have a map. Now, when a traveler goes out upon the sea, it is just as necessary that he should have a map, or what the sailors call a chart, as it is for the Object used: A map of any country, 54 AVOIDING DANGERS. 55 traveler upon the land. The chart which the sea captain has, shows the mountains and the valleys and the rivers which are in the sea ; for these exist in the sea, as well as upon the land. The rocks, against which the ships are sometimes dashed to pieces, are simply the tops of high mountains that come very near to the surface of the sea; and the captain without a chart, not knowing where they are, is likely to run against them with his ship. The islands are simply the tops of these mountains, that rise higher above the water, and form a place of abode for man ; and we call them islands, because they are very much smaller than the great continents on which you and I live. A chart of the sea always locates the danger- ous places. They show where other ships have been foundered, and oftentimes where hundreds and thousands of lives have been lost. It also shows what are really rivers in the sea, or great currents, one of which we call the Gulf Stream. When a ship is crossing the Gulf Stream the mo- tion or current of this water might carry it many hundreds of miles out of its course, and if the caiptain had no chart he would not be able to allow for this distance, which the ship is being carried, either north or south. Now, you and I are travelers in this world. 56 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. We are out upon a great voyage, and it is necessary that we should have a chart, and therefore God has given us the Bible, which you and I can use greatly to our advantage. In the Bible, God has pointed out the dangers which lie like the hidden rocks under the surface of the sea. In the com- mandments God marks out the great dangers which beset you and me. There is the rock of idolatry. Whole nations of the earth have been wrecked on this rock. Then there is another. Profanity, swearing : Oh ! how many boys and men are ruined because they do not observe how God has marked this dangerous rock, against which no one can run without the danger of los- ing his immortal soul. Then there is the Sabbath breaking, another rock ; and there is reverence due to parents ; and God marks another, " Thou shalt not kill "; and then there is another, against committing adultery, against stealing, against bearing false witness, against covetousness. All these dangerous rocks God has marked in the Bible, in order that you and I may not run against them, and thus be shipwrecked m our voyage to the haven of everlasting rest. God also marks the influences which you and I must come in contact with. Every boy who goes to school feels the influence of other boys, some of whom are very bad. If he permits him- AVOIDING DANGERS. 57 self to be influenced by these things he will go wrong, just the same as the ship that in crossing the Gulf Stream is carried out of its course. So the Bible warns us against bad company. Now the chart which the sea captain has, indi- cates also the ports of safety. It shows the location of these different ports, and the direc- tion he must take in order to reach them. So the Bible shows us where you and I can find refuge in the day of storm, and in the day of trial, and in the day of sickness, and in the day of distress. To the 'sea captain, out upon the great ocean, there are ten thousand directions which are sure to end in shipwreck. There is only one safe way to go, in order to reach the port in security. Now what would you think of a captain out upon the seas who folded up his chart and laid it carefullyawciy, and never looked at it, never studied it, never sought to know what is on the chart? Do you not see how he would go upon the rocks? His ship would go down to the bottom of the sea, just as surely as if he had no chart on board his ship. It is important that he should have it in constant use. So it is important, not only that we should have the Bible, but that we should use the Bible, that we should read it, that we should study it, that we should know what it says. I 58 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. trust that each and all of you not only have Bibles, but that you study them daily, and that you seek to avoid the dangers which God has pointed out, and desire to know the will of God concerning you. THE ANCHOR. HOPE THAT LAYS HOLD OF CHRIST. My YOUNG friends: I want to talk to you to-day about a very important subject. The Bible speaks of hope, and says, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." (Hebrew, 6: 19). I suppose most of you have been on board a ship or large boat. Very near the bow, or front end of the boat, you have doubtless noticed a chain, at the end of which was an anchor, made in the form of this one which I hold in my hand. Now, I would not care to go out to sea on any ship which did not have an anchor on board. In crossing the Atlantic you may sometimes be out for days and weeks, and sometimes even for months, and have no need of using the anchor. But all the time, while the weather is pleasant and everything is moving along prosperously, Object used : An anchor of any kind, one cut from paste- board will be all that is necessary. 59 6o OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. the fact that the anchor is on board the ship and that it can be used in time of danger, gives a sense of security to all the passengers. If it were not there you would constantly fear, lest the storm might come, and then your ship might be lost with its many hundreds of lives on board, simply because it had no anchor. Every man and woman, and every boy and girl, needs to have hope as an anchor to his soul. We should have faith in God, and then at times when all is well, when we are prosperous and blest, and everything goes along like the ship in pleas- ant weather, we will constantly have peace and rest in our minds and hearts, because we know that our hope is staid on God, and that though the world be removed, yet God will not disap- point us. Some people seem to think that religion is a good thing to have when they get sick, or adver- sity or sorrow or great affliction comes. But the fact is that religion is a necessary thing at all times. We need it when we are well and strong, as well as when we are sick and weak. We need it in this world, and we need religion to live by, as well as to die by, and for our salvation in the world to come. The anchor is very serviceable indeed in time of storm. Often it has to be used in order to LAYING HOLD OF CHRIST. 6l secure the ship and save the lives of all who are on board. If it were not for the anchor the ship might be thrust upon the rocks, or it might be dashed to pieces by the waves that break upon the coast. The anchor is oftentimes very service- able. So it is with the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. When trials and perplexities and adversi- ties come, as they do in every life, then it is that this anchor is a source of very great blessing, because it saves us from shipwreck, on account of unbe- lief and the perplexities into which those are cast who have no hope, or trust in God. To be serviceable the anchor must take hold of something. If it simply drags along it will not hold the ship; but the ship may go to pieces on the rocks, even though it has an anchor, which has already been cast over. Now in time of sorrow and perplexity or distress, every one throws out an anchor. That is, he tries to take hold of something which will sustain him and keep him, just the same as a boy who falls into the water would grab after a board. They say that a drowning man will even grasp after a straw in order to help to support his body, so that he may save his life. So every one in perplexity reaches out to lay hold of something. But the text which I quoted in the beginning says that this hope which we have as an anchor to the soul 62 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. lays hold of something, and that something is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is like the ship, whose anchor goes down, far below the waves, deep down out of sight, and lays hold of the rocks which form the foundation of the earth. So the faith of the Christian is staid, not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen. As the text expresses it, it lays hold of those things " which entereth into that which is within the veil." That is, this figure refers to the Temple at Jerusalem, when the Holy of the Holies was concealed from the rest of the Temple by a large curtain or veil, and no one was permitted to go into this Holy of Holies except the High Priest, and he but once a year. But when you and I have the faith of the Christian, although we may not be able to enter into the great mystery of God's grace and mercy, yet our faith lays hold of that which is beyond our understanding, and beyond our possibility to see or fully to compre- hend, and thus our faith lays hold of that which is within the veil. With our understanding, you and I cannot enter into the mysteries of God, but by faith we can enter into them. I trust that every boy and girl here will have that faith in God, which will be as an anchor to his soul, sure and steadfast, entering within the veil at all times. IRON— LOW GRADE AND HIGH GRADE. CHARACTER AND WORTH. My DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS : I Want to show you this morning that there is a great difference in the value of things, even though they are made of the same material. In the second chapter of Genesis we are told, ''And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." So, you see that all men and women are made of the same material, yet there are great diversities among men, both in character and works. I have here some iron ore, some old iron, some nails ; here are some clock springs, and here are some springs of watches. This iron ore is as it is dug from the earth. It is called the native iron, but mixed with it there is much earth and stone and dross, which must be separated from it in order to make it pure. This is done by casting the ore, together with limestone and other materials, into a huge furnace, where the fire is so intensely hot that all are melted and thus the iron is separ- Objects used : Old iron, nails, broken clock and watch springs. Also native iron ore, if convenient. 63 64 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. ated from the dross, or stone and earth, which is now mixed with the ore. When the iron is thus separated and molded into large bars, it is worth from a fraction of a cent to two cents per pound, according to quality and market value. After it has been cast into great iron bars, and is known as pig iron, it is afterward bought and melted over again and molded into the form of stoves and wheels, such as are used in factories, and a variety of other forms for manufacturing and other uses. Now, here I have some pieces of iron, such as boys call ''old iron." They often find pieces of this kind of iron, which have been thrown away, and gather and sell them at a price varying from one-quarter to a cent a pound, according to cir- cumstances. Then it is melted over again and made into stoves, or whatever the manufacturer may desire. Now, here are some nails, such as sell at five cents a pound, and here are some steel pens, which are worth from one to four and five dollars a pound. Here are some springs, such as are used in the construction of clocks. These are the springs which make clocks go. When you wind up the clock you simply tighten this spring, thus storing the power which is necessary to keep the clock in motion for twenty-four hours, for eight days, or even a longer period. CHARACTER AND WORTH. 6$ Now here are some springs, such as are used in watches. These springs are worth, according to their size and quaHty, from twenty to fifty or sixty dollars a pound. Here also are some little screws, such as are used in the construction of watches, and which are worth even a hundred dollars a pound. While these different articles are all made of the same material, you see there is a great differ- ence in their value. One is not worth a single cent a pound, and another may be worth one hundred dollars a pound. Now this difference in value is due to two things. One is, difference in quality, and the other is the use which is made of the article into which the iron is manu- factured. I suppose, if these different pieces of metal could think, and had the power of speech, this piece of old iron would complain to the other pieces which are of more value, and say to the watch spring, *T am just as good as you are, we were both dug from the same ore bed. I remember the time when we were both cast into the hot fire and melted in the furnace; after that I was taken to the foundry, and made into a stove, and after a few years of use I was rejected and cast into the alley. I have had to lie about in the mud and in the cold and snow, and men 66 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. have passed me by and scorned me as though I was of no value. But I want you to understand Mr. Clockspring and Mr. Watchspring, that I am just as good as you are, and there is no reason why I should be cast out into the mud and cold, while you are placed in a gold case and carried in a gentleman's pocket." The nail also would cry out, and say that he was just as good as the little screws which are used in the watch, and would complain against being driven violently into a board, where it is compelled, year after year, to hold a board on to the. side of a building ; to have putty placed over its head, and then paint over the top of that, so that nobody could even so much as see where it was, or know what it was doing. Now, the old iron, and the nail, and the others have no right to complain. There is a vast dif- ference of quality, and there is also a difference of work. The higher grades and better qualities of metals are secured by refining processes. Again and again the metal is cast in the fire and melted. Sometimes it is beaten on the anvil into such shapes and forms as will render the metal of greater service, and consequently of more value. Suppose this metal had feeling, and the power to express its wish. Do you not see how it would CHARACTER AND WORTH. 6^ cry out against being cast into the fire, and being beaten with great hammers upon the anvil ? I am sure the fire, the hammers, and the anvil bring no sense of pleasure to the metal while being refined and being beaten into such forms as ren- der it of greatest value. Just so, in some senses at least, are all boys and girls alike. If they were all permitted to grow up in neglect, without being governed by thoughtful parents, without being educated and refined, without being sent to school and re- quired to attend church, without being taught at home and being instructed in the Catechism and in the Bible, and without being shown their duty to God and their fellow men, they would all be pretty much alike. It is the difference in the influences that are made to refine some boys that causes them to differ so much from others who are about them. The boy who has only been taught to pick stones, or sweep the streets, or dig ditches, may cry out against the boy who is gentlemanly, and obliging, and obedient, and truthful, and re- liable, and who has a position of great responsi- bility in a bank, or in the office of some man who occupies a very responsible position, yet oftentimes, and quite universally, there is a very great difference in the merit and value of these two boys. One has been disciplined and gov- 68 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. erned and controlled, educated and taught, while the other has likely been neglected, and conse- quently has not learned the importance of these things. God designs to refine all of us, and therefore He desires that all should be taught to study, should learn to read and write, should learn all they can from the schools, should be taught to work, should be taught to expect trials and self- denials, and should be led to expect sickness and disappointments, and all these things by which God designs to make us better from year to year. But, just the same as the iron would cry out against being cast into the fire and being beaten upon the anvil, so do boys and girls, and men and women, also, cry out against the provi- dences by which God is refining us and making us better for this world and fitting us for the world to come. If we desire to be of largest service in this world, and to occupy a place of honor in the world to come, we must expect that God will deal with us, as He has told us in the ninth verse of the thirteenth chapter of Zachariah, in which He says, " I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried." And in the book of Malachi He says that He, that is God, is " like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap, CHARACTER AND WORTH. 69 and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and purge them as gold and silver." When the gold and the silver is cast into the crucible to be purified, the fire is made very hot, and the metal is left in the crucible until the man who is refining it and who sits looking into the crucible can see his own image reflecting in the metal. So we are cast into the fires of affliction, and God looks down upon us, but when we be- come like Him, so that God sees His own self reflecting in our character, and in our disposi- tion, and in our temper, then we shall be refined as God desires, and He will then be ready to receive us into His own home on high. A POCKET RULE. HOW GOD MEASURES MEN. My dear young friends : I am sure you will be able to tell me what these are which I hold in my hand. This you would call a yard-stick ; the other, because it folds, you would call a pocket rule, and here is another, which you would call a tape measure. Now, if I were going to measure any of you, to tell how tall you are, I would use one or the other of these rules ; as each is divided into even inches, I could use any of these three I should prefer. I would say one boy is four feet two inches, another four feet nine inches and another five feet four inches, and so on, according to the height of each individual. We speak of this kind of measure as feet and inches. When it is used in measuring cloth, or other goods in a store, we speak of it as yards and parts of yards. Then there are also other forms of measures, dry measure — quarts, pecks, bushels ; and liquid Objects used : Measuring tapes or rules of any kind. 70 HOW GOD MEASURES MEN. 7 1 measure — quarts, gallons and barrels. There is also a standard of weight — ounces, pounds and tons. It is necessary to have standards of weights and measures. This is absolutely necessary, or we could not tell in purchasing cloth or lumber, in buying sugar or molasses, or other things, whether we are getting the right quantity, or whether we are not getting the right quantity. So, everywhere you go in the United States we have the same size or standards of weights and measures, and the Government appoints men in each city to go about and examine whether the scales which the storekeeper uses for weighing sugar, and the measures which he uses when he sells vinegar and molasses — -whether these are perfectly accurate, as the law requires. But, if you look on the other side of this tape measure, there is a different standard of measure. This, on the reverse side, is the metric system, used in France and many other countries. If you were to go into a store in France and wanted to purchase cloth, you would not ask for a yard, you would ask for a metre of cloth, which instead of thirty-six inches, which makes our yard, would be a little over thirty-nine inches; so the standard of measures and values varies in different countries. There is a slight difference in the length of the 72 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. English yard and the American yard. In this country we also speak of dollars and cents. In England they have the penny, shilling, pound and the sovereign. And so in different countries there are different pieces of money, having a great variety of values. I have spoken of these things simply to call your attention to the fact that God has a stand- ard of measure, and a standard of value, as well as men. When the Government enlists soldiers into the army every man is measured, and he must be of a given height; if he is not as tall as the requirement, then he is rejected When Na- poleon chose his body-guard the men had all to be exceedingly tall. God also has his standard of measure. He does not measure us according to the height of our body, but according to our moral character. He measures us to see whether we are good or bad. God's standard of the measure of our moral character is found in the Bible. You will find it, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament we have the Ten Commandments, in which we are re- quired to worship God, and to worship nothing else; to keep the Sabbath day holy; to honor our parents ; and various other requirements. In the New Testament we have a great many princi- HOW GOD MEASURES MEN. 73 pies for moral government which Jesus an- nounced when He was on earth. We have all broken some one or more of the Ten Commandments and the precepts which Jesus left for us to follow. If you desire to see how you should live if you would keep the law perfectly, you will have to look at the life of Jesus Christ. He was the only perfect man who ever lived. He came to this world to set a perfect example for men to imitate. Just the same as you copy after the lines correctly written at the top of your writing book, so you and I are to copy after the life and character of Jesus Christ. The moral law is a perfect law ; the Psalmist says, " the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." I showed you how in France they have a different standard of measure from that which we have in the United States, but with the moral law the standard is the same every- where and at all times. If it is wrong to lie or steal in America, it is equally wrong to lie or steal in France, or in Africa, or in India, or on the islands of the sea, or anywhere in all of the universe. If it is wicked now to swear, or to commit murder, it always was wicked. It was just as wicked four thousand years ago as it is to-day, and it never will be right to take the name of God in vain, or to destroy human Hfe. 74 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. God has but one standard of morality for all people and for all time. What God requires of the young in order that they may be pure and holy, He requires the same thing of grown-up people. If it is wrong for the preacher and the Sunday-school superintendent to go to the theatre, or to do anything else, it is equally wrong for every member of the church • and for every member of the Sunday-school. Before God we must all be measured by the same standard of morality. If I had one year ago measured the height of each of these young people before me and written it down, and measured them again to-day, I would find that during these twelve months they have grown. They are taller to-day than they were a year ago. Now, God has given us a standard of moral character, right and wrong, and I want you all to study it very carefully, so that you may see how tall you are, how far you come short of the character of Jesus Christ. And as you grow taller in body, so you should grow in moral char- acter, and if you will study God's word carefully, you will be able to discover what progress you are making in becoming more like Christ, in becom- ing better boys and better girls, and afterward better men and better women, from year to year, than you were each preceding year. HOW GOD MEASURES MEN. 75 May God bless you abundantly, and may you grow daily *' unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Eph. iv: 13.) SEEDS. THOUGHTS, WORDS, DEEDS — THEIR LIFE AND PERPETUITY. My young FRIENDS : I have here this morning quite a variety of seeds. Some of them are very small, and some, as you see, are quite large. But each kind have in them a principle of Kfe, which makes them differ from sand, or small stones of similar size, because if I plant these in the ground they will grow. When you take different kinds of seeds ; there is one thing that is very interesting about them. It is the different kinds of coverings in which they grow. For instance, if you take a chest- nut, it grows in a burr, with sharp thorny points ; others are folded as though rolled up very tightly in leaves, as you will find in the hazel nut or filbert. Some seeds grow in rows, like beans and peas in a pod. Some grow in a very soft bed, like cotton seeds. Some grow im- bedded in a downy substance which blows all Objects used : Seeds or grain and fruits of any kind. 76 THOUGHTS, WORDS AND DEEDS. // over, carrying the seed with it, like the thistle, and the light fuzz of the dandelion. Sometimes the seed is buried in the inside of fruit, as in the case of apples, pears, peaches, plums, and vari- ous other kinds of fruit. Sometimes it is buried beneath the beautiful leaves of the flower. So you see there is great variety. Now, these seeds may represent words. There are a great many varieties of words. All words have the principle of life in them, because they express thought, and these thoughts when received into our minds develop into action. Therefore we say that words have a principle of life in them, and it is important that we should be careful not to permit bad words to have a place in our minds. Very often you will see boys and girls reading worthless papers, and they think that they will do them no injury. But the fact is, that these boys are influenced in all their life by that which they read in these papers. It might be very light and trifling, but it tends to corrupt the mind, to give the boy false ideas of life, and it gives him such opinions as are not real, and therefore very injurious to any one. It is much better that his valuable time should be spent in reading good books and good papers, and securing such information as will be of value and assistance all through life, yS OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. For life is a very great struggle, and no boy can afford to waste his time in the beginning. If he is ever to amount to anything in this world, it is important that he should begin very early in life. I want to call your attention to another char- acteristic of these seeds. And that is when a single seed is planted, it grows up and produces a very great number of other seeds. If you plant a seed of wheat, it will produce 30, 60, or sometimes 100. If you plant one sunflower seed, it might produce as many as 4000 seeds. If you plant one single thistle seed, it has been known to produce as high as 24000 seeds in a single summer. If you were to plant only one grain of corn and let it grow until it is ripe, and then plant the seeds again that grew on these few ears of corn, and thus continue to re-plant again and again, we are told by those who have calculated it very carefully, that in only five short years the amount of corn that could be grown as the result of the planting of the one single seed would be sufficient to plant a hill of corn, with three grains in every square yard, of all the dry land on all this globe. In ten years the product would be sufficient to plant not only this whole world, but all the planets, or worlds which circle around our sun, and some of them are even a THOUGHTS, WORDS AND DEEDS. 79 thousand times larger than our own globe. So you see that there is wonderful multiplying pow- er in the different kinds of grain which we plant. So it is with the thoughts and the words which we have in our minds. Good thoughts grow into good acts, and these acts influence others, just as though the same thought was sown into their minds, and then it springs up into their lives and influences them. Just so when we have read a book, whether the book is good or bad, it goes on reproducing itself, over and over again in your life, every time in a multiplied form. Sup- pose with your money you send some Bibles to the heathen, and as a result a single person is converted. Immediately that person would in- fluence other heathen people whom he would meet, and so, one after the other, these heathen would be influenced as the result of what you have done. This good influence would go on repeating itself over and over again, as long as the world shall stand, and only in eternity would the wonderful results of what you have done be fully known. So it is with all that we say and all that we do; it goes on repeating and multiply- ing itself over and over again. Now, there is another interesting feature of these seeds to which I want to call your attention. And that is that the life in the seed may continue 80 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. for a very long time, even hundreds of years. Over in Egypt, centuries ago, they built large pyramids, and when a king died, instead of bury- ing his body in the ground, they embalmed it with spices and dried it, so that it did not decay. Then they wrapped it up in cloths, and with these cloths and bandages they sometimes wrapped wheat or some other kind of grain, and some of these mummies, for so they are called, which have been buried possibly twenty-five hundred years, have been found, and when the wheat has been taken out of the hands of these mummies and planted in the ground, under favorable conditions, it has grown, just the same as the wheat which was harvested from the fields only last summer. The life which was in the seed had not been de- stroyed by the many hundreds of years which have passed since it was placed in the hands of the mummies. A little over fifty years ago there was a very interesting case of this kind in England. At Dorchester they were digging down some thirty feet below the surface, and at that depth they came upon the remains of the body of a man, with which there had been buried some coins. By the date upon the coins, they knew that this body had been buried at least seventeen hundred years. In the stomach was found quite a large THOUGHTS, WORDS AND DEEDS. 8 1 quantity of raspberry seeds. The man had doubt- less eaten a large number of raspberries, and then might have been accidentally killed very soon afterwards, so that the seeds were not injured by the gastric juices of the stomach. These seeds were taken to the Horticultural Garden, and there they were planted. What do you think! After seventeen hundred years and more, these seeds grew, and in a short time there was an abundant fruitage of raspberries, just the same as though the seeds had been gathered from rasp- berries which grew only the year before. Although hidden and seemingly dead, yet these seeds retained their life for seventeen hundred years or more. In this same way there is a deathless power in the words which we speak. Sometimes parents and Sunday-school teachers, and preachers also, become discouraged because they do not at once see the good results of their labors. Just the same as in the case of the seed, so in all our teaching, and the kind words we speak, and all the good deeds we do, there is in them a death- less power. Even though we die, and are laid away in our graves, yet sometime in the lives of those who come after us, the good we have done shall surely bear a fruitage of blessing. SOWING. THE SPRING TIME OF LIFE. My DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: This is the most pleasant season of the year; the snow has melted, the cold weather has passed away, and now the warm pleasant days of spring have come. The trees are all in blossom, the fields look beau- tiful, and the air is full of sweetness. If you go into the country you will find the farmers plow- ing their fields, and some are already sowing grain. The spring wheat has already been sown, the oat fields will soon begin to look green, and in the course of a couple of weeks the farmers will be planting their corn. It must have been at a corresponding period of the year in the East, when Jesus spoke those beautiful words which are found in the 13th chapter of Matthew, contained in the parable of the sower who went out to sow. A great multi- tude of people had gathered to hear the words which fell from the lips of Jesus. They could no longer gain admission into the house, and so Object used : Bag, or sack, tied as the farmer uses it when sowing seed. 82 THE SPRING TIME OF LIFE. 83 Jesus went down by the sea, or the large lake, and getting into a boat he pushed out just a little from the shore, so all the people standing along the shore could see and hear him, and then he began to preach to them. Just back of them on the plain was a farmer who was more intent upon sowing his field than upon listening to the words of the Saviour. As Jesus saw him pacing to and fro across the field, scattering the grain in the furrows, Jesus very likely pointed to him, calling the attention of the multitude to what he was doing, and said to the people, "Behold a sower went forth to sow," and then called the attention of the people to the character of the soil in the different places where the seed fell. I have here a sack, something like the farmers use in the country, although many farmers now sow their grain with a machine called a drill. With this sack suspended about the neck, in this way, the farmer reaches in and takes out a small handful of seed, and then swinging his hand, throws the seed over a considerable portion of the ground. Thus he walks from one end of the field to the other, sowing the seed, until he has the entire field sown and ready for the men who fol- low with the harrow, which covers up the grain. Well, boys and girls, this is the spring-time of hfe with you. These are the pleasant days and 84 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. years of your life. You have very little care. Yet it is, nevertheless, the spring-time. You are now making the preparations which will tell what is to be the harvest in the later years of your lives. As the farmer goes out and plows the field, so by discipline and by counsel, and by in- struction are your parents preparing your minds and hearts, that in after years you may enjoy a harvest of great blessing. In the spring-time of life, when young persons are to do the sowing, they need much careful counsel and instruction. I suppose that there are many here who, if they were to go into the coun- try, could not tell the difference between wheat and barley, or oats and rye. Some might not even be able to distinguish between oats and buckwheat. If the farmer were to send you out to sow, you would, most likely, sow the wrong kind of grain. In the same manner, it is im- portant that you should be directed by your parents, because they can distinguish between right and wrong. They know what you should do, and what you should not do. Therefore it is important that they should direct you in the spring-time, less you should sow the wrong kind of grain. And you know the Bible says : " What- soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." It is not only difficult for those who have THE SPRING TIME OF LIFE. 85 never seen something of life in the country, to distinguish between the different kinds of grain which the farmer sows, but even after the grain begins to grow, it is sometimes difficult, even for those who are familiar with country life, to dis- tinguish between the true and the false. In that same thirteenth chapter of the gospel by St. Matthew, to which I refer in the beginning, Jesus tells of a farmer who sowed his field with wheat, and while he slept an enemy came and sowed tares. Of course he could not discover this until the grain began to grow. When it began to get ripe, then for the first could he distinguish between the stalks of the wheat and the stalks of the tares. By doing this wicked thing the enemy gave the farmer a great deal of trouble. Just so it is with you when you have tried to do right, Satan comes and puts evil thoughts and wicked purposes into your minds, and then if you permit these to grow up, you will find that they will give you a great deal of trouble. It is important that only the good seed should be sown in the field of your heart, and in the field of your mind, so that you may have a fruitage that shall be wholly good. Sometimes you see boys and girls who are doing things which you would like to do, but your mother and father tell you that you should 86 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. not. You may not be pleased because you are restrained from doing what you would like. I well remember how my father, when I was a boy, oftentimes use to restrain me from doing what I saw other boys doing. I used to think, at that time, that he was not considerate, and possibly not kind to me. But now that I have grown older, and have seen the results which have come to these boys, some of whom have gone as1:ray, and others who have turned out badly in life, I see how wise my father was. And when I visit his grave, I feel like bowing my head and thanking God that he gave me a father who was so wise, and so kind, and so con- siderate. Although I did not feel at the time that he was doing that which was for my good ; but now I see it all very plainly. In closing let me say to you, do as Isaiah sug- gested, "Sow by the side of all waters." That is, be very diligent, that day by day you may do some kind act, which will hereafter spring up into a fruitage of very great good. The Bible enjoins upon both young and old to be very dili- gent in this work, for it says, " In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand ; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." (Eccl. xi : 6.) REAPING. THE HARVEST TIME OF LIFE. My dear LITTLE HARVESTERS : Last Sunday I talked to you of spring-time — the spring-time of the year, and the spring-time of life. To-day I have brought a small sheaf of grain ; this tells us of the harvest-time. The spring-time is very pleasant, the air is fragrant, the birds are singing, and all nature seems to be rejoicing in its fresh- ness and beauty. The world looks just as new and beautiful as it did thousands and thousands of years ago. Each spring it puts on youth anew. But when the summer-time comes, when it gets along to the harvest-time, along in July and August, then the weather is very warm. The color of the fields has then greatly changed, the blossoms have disappeared from the trees, and we find that everywhere the fruit is beginning to appear. The harvest fields are ripe and are wait- ing for the husbandmen. There is just about that same difference in life. Youth is the spring-time. It is full of hope, and Object used : A small sheaf of grain. 87 . 88 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. full of bright prospects. But, as we grow older, and cares and responsibilities of life multiply, then we begin to bear the toil and labor which comes with the later years. Then we are like the farmer who enters into the harvest field, where hard work has to be done under a very hot and scorching sun. You will remember that in one of the object sermons I told you how a man who had given his time to the study of plants, had discovered nearly one hundred thousand different kinds of plants. Each kind bears its own seed, and when that particular seed is sown, it always bears its own kind of fruit. Wheat never yields barley, nor does oats ever yield buckwheat. When you plant potatoes you expect to gather potatoes, and not turnips. An apple tree has never grown from an acorn, or a peach tree from a chestnut. Each seed, always and everywhere, bears its own kind. It is on this account that the Bible says, " be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he alsO reap." (Gal., 6: 7). There are some parents, as well as children, who think that they can do very wrong things while they are young, and afterwards suffer no bad results. People sometime say, *' Oh, well ! let us sow our wild oats while we are young." Now the Bible tells us that if we sow wild oats, we THE HARVEST TIME OF LIFE. 89 must reap wild oats. Four or five handfuls of wild oats will produce a whole bag full of wild oats when gathered in the harvest of after life. Be assured, my dear friends, that "those who' sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption ," and " those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind." ** Sow and act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny." It may seem a long period between the spring and the harvest time of life ; but be assured, my dear young friends, that these years will speedily pass, and before you are aware of it, you will be men and women, with all the responsibilities of life upon you, and then you will be sure to reap the reward of what you do now while you are boys and girls. Lord Bacon said that " nature owes us many a debt until we are old," but nature is always sure to pay its debts. The ancients had an adage that said, "Justice travels with a sore foot," but it usually overtakes a man. A few Sundays ago I told you that as the re- sult of planting a single grain of corn, a fruitage sufficient to plant the entire globe might be se- cured in only five years. It is told us by histor- ians that, in olden times, the harvest in Egypt and Syria would return a hundred fold for one, and in Babylonia oftentimes two hundred fold 90 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. for one. Now, if a single grain of wheat was planted in soil as fertile as that of Egypt, at the end of eight years of sowing and reaping, if we had a field large enough, the product would be suf- ficient to feed all the families of the earth for more than a year and a half But if we were to undertake to plant one grain of wheat in this way, after a few years we would fill all the fields which would be suited for a wheat harvest. Down near the equator it would be too hot for the wheat to grow successfully. In the north it would be altogether too cold. On the mountain side the soil is not fertile, and oftentimes is very rocky. For these, and various other reasons, it would be impossible to cover any large portion of the globe with wheat, for it would be unsuited to produce a harvest. Were it not for this fact, in the course of seven or eight years, the entire earth might be made to wave as one vast field of wheat. But there is one truth which God has planted in this world. That truth is God's love mani- fested in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ for the salvation of all mankind. This truth is suited to every age of the world, to every nation of the earth, to all classes and all conditions of people, and to every human heart. During the past cen- turies men have been planting and replanting this THE HARVEST TIME OF LIFE. 9 1 seed of divine truth, sowing and resowing the the earth with it, gathering and reaping the har- vest and sowing grain, and the days are coming when all the earth shall wave as one vast harvest field, waiting for the reapers of God, who shall gather this blessed fruitage into the garner of the skies. It is your privilege and my privilege, both one and all, to have some part in this glorious work, and the Scriptures assure us that "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seeds, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (Psalms, cxxvi : 6.) AFTERWARD. ANONYMOUS. Now, the sowing and the reaping. Working hard and waiting long; Afterward, the golden reaping. Harvest home and grateful song. Now, the pruning, sharp, unsparing, Scattered blossom, bleeding shoot; Afterv/ard, the plenteous bearing Of the Master's pleasant fruit. Now, the plunge, the briny burden, Blind, faint gropings in the sea ; Afterward, the pearly guerdon. That shall make the diver free. 92 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. Now, the long and toilsome duty, Stone by stone to carve and bring; Afterward, the perfect beauty Of the palace of the king. Now, the tuning and the tension, Wailing minors, discord strong ; Afterward, the grand ascension Of the Allelulia song. Now, the spirit conflict-riven. Wounded heart, unequal strife ; Afterward, the triumph given. And the victor's crown of life. Now, the training strange and lowly. Unexplained and tedious nov^ ; Afterward, the service holy, And the Master's "Enter thoul" WHEAT AND CHAFF. THE COMING SEPARATION. My young friends : You will understand what I have done and the significance of it when I when I have read for you the first Psalm. " Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in His law doth he meditate day and night; and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaves shall not wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. "The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away; therefore the Object used : A handfull of grain and chaff. (The speaker stepped to the front of the platform and taking a handful of wheat and chaft from his pocket, poured the same from one hand to the other, and at the same time gently blowed the chaff, separating it from the wheat. By turning it in this manner once or twice, and blowing at the same time, the chaff was entirely separated from the wheat.) 93 94 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sin- ners in the congregation of the righteous ; for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous ; but the way of the ungodly shall perish." We find in this Psalm how the righteous are set forth, and how the ungodly are compared to chaff, such as I have blown from my hand, and separated from the wheat. John the Baptist said of Jesus, *' Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor and gather His wheat into the garner ; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Now, when you have been in the country, you have observed the wheat growing in the field. If you had been careful to examine it, you would have found that while the wheat is growing it is enclosed in the chaff, just the same as the corn is enclosed by the husks which grow about it. So it is with us ; while we are in this world, there are many things which are essential to our growth and well-being. They minister to our physical needs and supply our temporal wants. Although we cannot wholly dispense with these things while we are in this world, yet they are not the sole object of our living. The wheat does not exist for the chaff, or the husks in which it is enclosed, but the husks exist for the wheat After a time, when the harvest comes, the far- THE COMING SEPARATION. 95 mer enters the field and cuts down the wheat, and it is then taken to the barn or threshing floor. Years ago, when I was a boy, farmers used to spend a large portion of the winter in threshing grain. They would spread it out upon the floor of the barn and beat it with a heavy stick, which was tied so as to swing easily at the end of a long handle. This was called a flail. Machines for threshing grain were not then common, as they are to-day. When the farmer threshes his grain, he does not do it to destroy the wheat, but simply to separate it from the chaff. The Bible tells us that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And do you know that the word tribulation comes from a Latin word tribuluin, which means a flail ? So the teaching of this passage of Scripture is, that God places you and me under the flail, and smites again and again, in order that the noblest, best and most Christ-like in us may be separated by trials and tribulations from that which is worthless and which needs to be cast off in order that just as the farmer gathers the wheat into his garner, or granary here on earth, so God may gather us eventually into His garner above. Boys and girls oftentimes have tribulations in this world, just the same as older people. Dis- appointments come to them, and because of 96 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. ambitions which are not lawful or right, purposes which are not in harmony with God's word and with God's will, because of needed discipline, or for some good reason, by sorrows, disappoint- ments and trials, God is tribulating them, and making them better by means of the experiences through which they are called upon to pass. If you have been with the farmer in his barn after he is through with the threshing, you have seen him take the fanning-mill, and perhaps you have turned the crank for him, while he has slowly shoveled the grain into the mill and the chaff was being blown away by the wind set in motion by the revolution of the large fanning wheel. In the olden times they did not have fanning-mills, but when the farmer desired to separate the chaff from the wheat, he did it with a fan. He poured the grain from one basket or box, or some other receptacle, into another while the wind was blowing, or else used a fan to create a draught of wind to blow the chaff, and thus separate it from the wheat, and it is that to which John the Baptist refers. He says, con- cerning Christ, «* Whose fan is in His hand, and He wnll thoroughly purge His floor, and gather the wheat into His garner ; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." ( Matthew, iii: 12.) THE COMING SEPARATION. 9/ So God designs to separate from your charac- ter, and from mine, that which is worldly and temporal, and so far as eternity is concerned, worthless. Take money as an illustration. Now money is essential, and it is v/ell that we should be willing to work hard for it, and that we should be economical in its use, and seek to save our money, so that we may use it for good purposes, and that it may be helpful to us in old age. Money serves a very excellent purpose while we are upon earth, but God does not mean that we should make it the chief aim of our life, and therefore, to divert our minds from money in one way or another, financial reverses and fail- ures sometimes come, and thus God seeks to separate the man from the money. We all came into this world empty-handed, and we must go out of it empty-handed. Even though we were worth ten millions of dollars we could take no money with us. You might place it in the cof- fin and bury it with a dead body, but it would not and could not go into eternity with the man. Now, after the farmer has separated the chaff from the wheat, he gathers the wheat into his garner, or into his granary, and so, after God has separated from our nature and character all that which is of no use, which is simply earthy. He will gather our souls into heaven, His garner above. 98 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. While we live upon the earth we should use this world as not abusing it; remembering that finally we must go and leave everything behind us, and that we can take nothing with us into eternity, except the characters which we formed here. Wealth and reputation, and all worldly things will have to be left behind us ; but character, that which you and I really are, shall never pass away, but shall enter into an eternal state of being on high. All these earthly things are the mere chaff, while character is our real selves. WAYSIDE WEEDS AND GARDEN FLOWERS. NEGLECTED VERSUS CHRISTIAN CHILDREN. The land of Palestine, in which Jesus lived, has always been noted for its flowers. They grow everywhere in great abundance, and oftentimes in very great perfection and beauty. One time, when Jesus was preaching on the mountain, He used the flowers which were growing on the side of the mountain, to preach an object sermon to the multitudes about Him. He said, " Consider the Hlies of the field ; how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these." (Matt, vi : 28, 29). Let us this morning take the same object lesson, to set forth to our minds a clearer understanding of some truths, which are very important to every father and mother, as well as every boy and girl present. As you see, I have here two bouquets. This, which I now hold in my hand, is indeed very Objects used ; A bouquet of flowers and a bouquet of weeds. 99 100 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. beautiful. Here are some lovely roses, some tulips, some peonies. Here is a dahlia and hel- iotrope. Here are some tube roses, and a great variety of other flowers, which together consti- tute a very beautiful bouquet. Now, here is another bouquet. I see you smile, but indeed it is a bouquet. I spent a great deal of time gathering these flowers, at which you laugh. I sought them in such places as would afford the best varieties of these several kinds. Now, boys and girls, I want to ask you where these flowers grew ? I will hold up this beautiful bouquet and ask the question. I know what will be your answer ; you will say that I bought it from a man who keeps a hot-house, or that I gath- ered them in some flower garden which was very carefully tended; and such, indeed, is the case. Now, I will hold up this other bouquet. Can you tell me where I gathered these? I did not think that you would have much difficulty in determining. I gathered them along the road- side, in the flelds and in the woods. These flowers are what the farmer calls " weeds." Here is a rose with a single leaf that grew in a neglected corner, along the outskirts of a woods. It is a genuine rose, but it is by no means pretty, or at all to be compared with those in the other bouquet. NEGLECTED VS. CHRISTIAN CHILDREN. lOI I will tell you why there Is such a difference in the appearance of these two bouquets. One grew in the garden, where it was protected by a fence from being trampled upon. The weeds that grew about it were all pulled out of the ground, and the stalk upon which this flower grew was given a fair chance, so that it might grow suc- cessfully. The roots of the plants were carefully nourished, and whenever there was not sufficient ' rain the flowers were all watered, and thus the plants and flowers grew to their greatest per- fection and beauty. Now, these other flowers which I gathered in the fields and along the roadside and in the woods, have had a hard time of it. In their growth they had to contend with other weeds. They have been trampled upon by the cattle. They have been scorched by the sun. And year after year they have grown in these neglected quarters with great difficulty, consequently they are stunted and have never attained any perfec- tion or beauty. Do you know that these very beautiful flowers in this bouquet at one time grew just the same as the flowers in the other bouquet? But they were removed from the roadside, and from the fields and from the woods, and placed by themselves where they could be properly cared for and cultivated, I02 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. and they grew more beautiful from year to year, until we have this present satisfactory result. Boys and girls are very much like flowers. Those who are neglected, who are permitted to walk the streets, to stroll along the roads and over the fields, to go along the streams fishing on Sunday, instead of being in Sunday-school and in church, those who are permitted to run out at nights and play with all kinds of company — these are the boys and girls who are like the flowers which grow by the roadside. Nothing very beautiful, or very good, or very perfect can rea- sonably be expected from them. This beautiful bouquet represents those boys and girls who have Christian fathers and mothers, who surround them by influences which are well calculated to make them pure in thought and upright in life, so that they may grow up to be good Christian men and women. These flowers represent the boys and girls who grow up in the Sunday-schoct and in the Church, who give their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, and grow up into His likeness, and into His image, and into His stature, and become noble Christian men and women. When parents permit their children to run wild, they cannot expect them to grow up Chris- tians. It is only by culture and education and NEGLECTED VS. CHRISTIAN CHILDREN. IO3 Christian influences that they can be improved, so as to become honorable and upright. Nearly all the products of the field have been improved by cultivation, just the same as these flowers have been improved. Wheat in its native state, as it may still be found in France and Italy along the shores of the Mediterranean, was a stunted and straggling plant, with a small and inferior seed, but after long years of patient and continued cultivation, it has grown to its present plump and prolific proportions. All the beautiful fruits which now grow in our orchards were at one time unsightly and undesirable. The apple was small and sour, and unpalatable ; but by pruning and grafting and fertilizing, it has grown to be not only beautiful to the eye, but delicious to the taste- The acrid and un- wholesome berries, which formerly grew on the mountain ash, have been developed into the sweet and juicy pear. By cultivation, the acrid and bitter sloe has grown into the beautiful plum. The same is also true of the potato, the turnip and the cabbage. Boys and girls can only be developed into useful men and women by the influence of the week-day and Sunday-school, the Christian home and the Church, by reading and studying the Bible and other good books. FLOWERS. god's wisdom displayed in their creation. My dear young friends : Last Sunday I talked to you about the difference between the flowers that grow in the garden, and those which grow in the fields ; about the difference in the beauty of cultivated plants, and those that grow wild. At this season of the year flowers are very abundant, and in order that we may be fre- quently reminded of the lessons which these flowers teach us, I have chosen, this morning, to speak to you of God's wisdom displayed in the flowers. If in nothing else was the wisdom of God displayed to us, and if in no other way had we ever been permitted to learn that there is a God, a Creator of all things, I am sure that the careful study of these beautiful flowers such as I hold in my hand, would reveal to us the fact that some infinite and all-wise Being must have created them. Jesus said that "Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matt, vi: 29). If you were to take the finest robe that any king Object used : A bouquet of flowers. JO/I FLOWERS DISPLAY GOD's WISDOM. IO5 or queen ever wore, and place it under the mag- nifying power of a microscope, it would at once appear very, very coarse, almost like strings or ropes, and the more you would magnify or en- large it, the worse it would look. But if you would take the microscope and inspect the lily, the more you magnify it, the more do you be- hold its exquisite beauty and perfection. God also displays his wisdom in the beautiful colors with which He has painted and tinted the flowers. It is a well known fact that some colors absorb more of the warmth of the sun than others. A white surface reflects the heat, instead of absorbing it, and therefore remains cooler. A dark colored object will absorb part of the heat and reflect part, and consequently remain colder than a perfectly black surface, which will absorb all the rays, and consequently all the heat which comes in the rays from the sun. It is on this account that to the snow- white lily God has given one color, and to the intensely radiant dahlia, God has given another color. In order that the temperature may be suited to the needs of each, God has given a great variety of colors to the flowers. The rose he has made a blushing red, the lily and the japonica snowy white, the violet a delicate blue, the crocus a bright and cheerful yellow, the tulip I06 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. variegated, to the hyacinth God has given a great variety of colors and to the geraniums and fuchsias a deep scarlet. So God has suited the color to the needs of each. When we speak of the lily, we understand what kind of a flower is meant. But it is sup- posed by some that when Jesus said, " consider the lilies," He referred, not to one particular flow*er, but to flowers of all kinds, and therefore if we adopt that idea, the text would read : *' Con- sider the flowers of the field, for they toil not, neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matt, 6: 28, 29.) Now, if we consider the number and variety of the flowers, we are again impressed with the wisdom of God, A man by the name of Lin- naeus, who has been called the father of botony, which is the study of flowers, reckoned, about one hundred and fifty years ago, that there were 8,000 different kinds of plants. But about one hundred years after him, a noted botanist (M. de Candolle) in Geneva, Switzerland, described 40,000 kinds of plants, and the more he studied the more the number increased, until at last he had 80,000, and it is now rapidly approaching 100,000 different varieties of plants which we know of all the kinds which God has created. FLOWERS DISPLAY GOD'S WISDOM. lO/ But if from all this 100,000 plants we were to take but one single illustration, as for instance, this rose, with which we are better acquainted than with the other flowers, when we begin to invest- tigate we find that there are at least 600 varieties of this one very beautiful flower. And then if you were to gather all the roses that grew on the stalks of the same variety, you would not find any two of the roses that would be exactly alike in every particular. Thus you see how these flowers, by their almost infinite variety, teach us the wonderful wisdom of God. Thus you see how God has filled the world with an almost infinite variety of very wonderful things. And whether you take the magnifying power of the microscope and enlarge little things, or whether you take the telescope and look away into the heavens and magnify the great creations which are there, everywhere, both in the heavens and on the earth, we find that everything de- clares his wonderful wisdom. *' The heavens de- clare the glory of God, and the firmament show- eth His handiwork; day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." (Ps., 19 : 1-3). Surely to a reverend mind everything speaks of an infinite and all-wise Creator. FLOWERS. THEY DISPLAY GOD's GOODNESS TO MAN. My dear young friends : Last Sunday I spoke to you of the wisdom of God, and to-day I want to speak to you of the goodness of God as displayed in the flowers. When God created the world, He made the rivers and the clouds and the trees, to conform to the needs of man. These things were necessary to the existence and comfort of man with his present needs. But it was not absolutely necessary for man's existence that God should have created the flowers. He might have left the earth without its beautiful carpet of green. God might have ordained that we should receive our food direct from heaven, like the Israelites in the desert when, morning after morning, they went out and gathered up the manna. Or He might have so constituted everything that we should gather our food from the surface of the earth, just the same as we now dip up from the earth the water we drink. But God saw best to supply our food by Objects used : Flowers. io8 FLOWERS DISPLAY GOD's GOODNESS. IO9 the agency of seeds and plants, which bear fruit, like wheat and corn and all kinds of vegetables and fruits. Your mother and father might place you in a room where the walls are all blank, with nothing on the floor, and not a single ornament to be seen anywhere, and yet this room might protect you from the storms and the cold ; but because they love you, therefore they make the room very beautiful and attractive. Just so it is with God. In the creation of the world. He did not make the abode of His children blank and bleak, but He rendered it very beautiful by planting flowers everywhere. God might also have made the flowers without any fragrance, but to most of them He has given a very delightful perfume. The violet and the mignonette, and these large and beautiful roses, and these tube roses also, fill a whole room with their fragrance. With all the study of men they have not been able to discover how it is that these flowers give forth such a pleasant per- fume. The combined wisdom of all those who have devoted much thought and study to this subject, would not enable one or all of them to give to a single plant the power to secrete and send forth this fragrance. If they could make the dahlia fragrant it would greatly enhance its I lO OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. value. If they could cause the chrysanthemums to secrete and send forth a sweet perfume, the man who sells them could get twice as much for them as he can now. Among the great variety of flowers which God has created, He has left one or two without fragrance, in order to teach us that He might have created them all without any fragrance. But to all the rest He has given sweet perfume, so that we might derive this added pleasure from flowers. In order that the flowers might constantly tell us of God's wisdom and love, He has placed them everywhere. In the garden, by the road- side, in the fields, down in the valleys and up on the mountain side. One of the pleasant sur- prises in crossing the Alps, in Switzerland, is to discover that when you have passed far up the mountain, where trees do not grow, and where there is no grass, yet you find very beautiful flowers. Wherever among the rocks there is a sufficient amount of earth for these little plants to secure nourishment for their roots you will find flowers, which, although not large, are yet very beautiful. Some are white, like the sur- rounding snow, and others are blue, like the over- arching sky. God has placed the flowers every- where, so that no matter where we are He can still teach us of Himself. We are even told that in FLOWERS DISPLAY GOD S GOODNESS. I 1 1 some places the sea is covered with a great variety of plants, some of which are as beautiful as those which grow in our gardens. It is related of Mungo Park, the famous African traveler, that one day, when he was traveling alone, he was almost worn out, and in his exhaus- tion he laid down, almost in despair. The sun was shining with overpowering heat, and the dry sand of the desert seemed almost hot enough to scorch his flesh. When he was almost ready to give up in despair, he noticed near him a little moss plant growing green and fresh, even in the desert. The sight of it brought to his mind the recollection that God was everywhere. This little plant taught him that God cared for it, even in the desert, and the thought gave fresh courage to the lonely traveler. He was moved to tears with the sense of God's presence, and rising to his feet with new courage, he pressed on and was deliv- ered out of that which seemed to be certain death. Not only does God plant the flowers every- where, so that we may never escape from the sermons which they are continually preaching to us, but God has caused that the flowers shall bloom at all seasons of the year. Some in the spring, some in the summer, some in the fall, and others even in the winter, while still others bloom at various seasons of the year. There are also 112 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. those that bloom in the morning, to cheer us when we begin our work for the day, and others, Uke the night-blooming cereus, that bloom only in the darkness of the night. There is not an hour in the day which has not been chosen by some flower, or which God has appointed for it, as the time for it to burst into beauty, to cheer man in his journey through this world. If so much of beauty and fragrance still abides in the flowers, even after this world has been cursed by sin, what must have been the beauty of the world, and the fragrance of its flowers when God created it, and placed man in the Garden of Eden, and when looking upon the creations of the fourth day, with its flowers and its fragrance, God pronounced all very good? Some day the earth and the flowers shall be redeemed from the curse of sin, for the Bible tells us " that the whole creation groaneth and traveleth in pain," waiting for redemption, that it may be pure again. Oh ! how beautiful it will then appear ! Since God has made this world so beautiful as our present abode what can we not properly expect to find in Heaven which He has created above, where all is holiness, and purity and love ; " where everlasting spring abides, and never withering flowers ? " THE HEART. THE MOST WONDERFUL PUMP IN THE WORLD. My dear young friends: In the 139th Psalm, 14th verse, David says, "I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Now I want to talk to you this morning about these wonderful bodies, in the creation of which God has so marvelously displayed His infinite wis- dom. These objects which I have for illustra- tion I will place where you can see them. I suppose you have all been either near or inside of a factory. You have heard the noise of the shafts and the pulleys and machinery. You have seen the carding machines, and lis- tened to the noise of the great spinning jacks which twisted the cotton and the wool into yarn or thread, and heard the deafening sound of a great many looms as the shuttle flew backward and forward, while the many threads were being woven into cloth. A factory is quite wonderful, Objects used : Tumbler of water colored red and a small glass syringe, such as can be purchased for ten cents in any drug store, and a six-ounce bottle of water colored red. "3 114 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. but do you know that in your bodies are found the elements of almost all the kinds of machinery that are used in the world? God has so created us that we do not hear the noise of the machinery of our bodies, but if you will place your fingers gently in your ears you will hear a peculiar rumb- ling sound. That sound which you hear is the noise of the machinery of your body, which is in constant motion. Now, the heart, which pumps the blood into all portions of the body, makes the largest por- tion of this noise. Do you know where your heart is located? I supposed that most of you would point to your left side, because you have so frequently heard it spoken of as being located there. You have seen public speakers and others, when referring to their heart, place their hands upon their left side. But if you will bend your head forward so as to press your chin against your breast, as far down as possible, the heart will be just under and below your chin. It is in the center of the body, and the lower portion of it comes near to the ribs on the left side, and when it beats we can feel it throb by placing our hand on our left side ; but the heart is really in the center of the body, and not wholly at the side. If you were to close your hand, as the boys do when they say they THE MOST WONDERFUL PUMP. II5 make a fist, the size of your closed hand will be somewhat smaller than the heart, of which I am speaking. In this tumbler I have some water which I have colored with red ink, so as to represent blood. Here is a small glass syringe, such as can be bought for ten or fifteen cents in any drug store. Now, when I draw this little handle up, you w^ill see how the syringe is filled with this red water, and when I press it down how the water is forced out of the syringe back into the glass. This very clearly illustrates the principle upon which all pumps and steam engines which pump water are made. Even the large fire en- gine, which throws water such a great distance, is made largely upon this principle. You may possibly have been in the engine room, where the huge pumps force the water into the reservoirs which .supply the city with water for drinking and other purposes. From the pumps and the reservoirs there are great pipes, which lead the water under the streets to the many thousands of houses which constitute this city. After the water has been used it is turned into the sewers, runs down into the river and back to the sea, where it is evaporated, rises again in the clouds, and by the wind is carried hun- hreds of miles over the country, and then de- Il6 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. scends again in the form of snow and rain, soaks down through the earth and finds its way again into the springs and great veins of water under the earth, from which it is carried back once more to the city. Thus it is made pure again and again , to be used over and over by the people whom God has created and whom He suppHes with water in this way. Now, in somewhat the same way, the heart, which is both an engine and a pump, forces the blood out through the arteries, distributing it to every portion of the body, furnishing the ma- terials for building and renewing the muscles and the bones and every portion of our system, and then gathering up that which is worn out and no longer of service, it returns the impure blood through the veins back to the right side of the heart, where it is pumped into the lungs and purified by being brought into contact with the air we breathe, and is then returned to the left side of the heart, pumped again into the arteries and distributed through all parts of the body, and so goes on circulating. Thus the blood is pumped by the heart into the arteries and is distributed to all portions of the body, and returned again to the heart, from fourteen to twenty times each hour of our life. In this bottle, which holds six ounces, I have THE MOST WONDERFUL PUMP. I 1 / placed some of this colored water, which repre- sents about the quantity which is pumped out of the heart each time the pulse beats. As I have already intimated to you, the heart is double, and at each throb about one-half the quantity in this bottle is pumped out by the right side, and the other half by the left side of the heart. Now, if the heart was to pump different blood with each pulsation, instead of pumping the same blood over and over again, in twenty-four hours the heart of a man of ordinary size would pump 150 barrels of blood. The Bible says that the days of our years are three-score years and ten, or, in other words, that the allotted period of an ordinary life is 70 years. Now, in 70 years the heart would pump 164,389,786 gallons; or, to give it to you in bar- rels, it would make 4,566,382 barrels. If you were to place six barrels on a wagon, and this would make a good load for two horses, you would have 761,063 loads of these barrels. If you were to place these teams, with the wagons containing six barrels apiece, with 36 gallons each, at a distance of 25 feet apart, it would make a string of teams stretching away 1,778 miles, or as far as from New York City to Des Moines, in the State of Iowa, or from New York City down to the Gulf of Mexico. Il8 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. I think you will now be able to understand what a wonderful little steam engine and pump each of us have within our own breast. And it may surprise some of you older people when I tell you that Dr. Buck says that the heart at each throb beats with a power equal to 100,000 pounds. An ordinary engine or pump would soon wear out, but this little engine of the heart goes on beating day and night from the time we are born until we are 70 years of age, if we live to be that old, and even while we rest in sleep, the heart never stops for a moment. Is it any won- der that David said that " we are fearfully and wonderfully made ? " I might tell you many other wonderful things about the heart, but this will have to suffice. If the natural heart in these bodies of ours is so wonderful, how much more wonderful still is that heart which is the seat of the moral life and character? As the natural heart is hidden away in these bodies of ours, so the spirit or the soul is spoken of in the Bible as the heart, because it is hidden away in the life which we have in these bodies of ours, and it is this moral character and spiritual life to which the Bible refers when it says, " Keep thine heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." THE EYE. THE MOST VALUABLE AND MOST WONDERFUL TELESCOPE. My dear LITTLE MILLIONAIRES I You know that when people are very wealthy, have hundreds of thousands of dollars, they are spoken of as millionaires. Oftentimes these rich people do not have any more actual money than poorer people, but they have property which Is supposed to be worth a great deal of money. Now, I want to show you this morning that each one of you possesses that which is worth millions of dollars. I want to talk to you about your eyes, and I hope that you will be able to understand that they are worth hundreds and thousands, yes millions of dollars to each of you. In order that I may better illustrate a few of the many wonder- ful things about the human eye, I have brought this field-glass, and here is a small spy-glass, and also a magnifying lens, or sun-glass, as boys sometimes call them. Inside of this spy-glass Object used: Field or opera -glasses, spy-glass and sun-glass. 119 X20 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. and field-glasses are lenses or magnify ing-glasses, similar to this sun-glass. They are, however, more perfect, and are so adjusted or related to each other, that when I place this smaller lens of the spy-glass to my eyes I also look through the larger lens which is at the larger end of the in- strument. When properly adjusted, it enables me to look at objects which are at a great dis- tance, and so to magnify them as to cause them to seem much nearer to me than they really are. Now, if you take this spy-glass and look at the stars, it will not make them appear any larger than they appear to the eye without the spy-glass. It will assist the eye when I look at the moon or the planets, but not at the stars. Astronomers have desired something larger and more satisfactory, and so have made the great telescopes, which are simply large spy-glasses, and both the telescope and the spy-glass, and the field-glasses, are also imitations of the human eye ; the same as many of our greatest inven- tions are only imitations of that which God has already created, and which we have but feebly imitated. The eye is a more wonderful instru- ment than even the largest telescopes which have ever been made. If you desired to look through a telescope at one of the stars or a planet, or the moon, you THE MOST WONDERFUL TELESCOPE. 121 would have considerable difficulty in directing it SO as to be able to see the desired object. Even with this small spy-glass it is very difficult so to direct it as to find a particular star in the heavens at night. It is not easy, even to find a distant object upon the earth. But with these wonder- ful eyes, with which God has endowed us, you and I can look almost instantly fi-om one star to any other star, and find instantly upon the earth any object which is distinctly pointed out to us. It takes a very experienced person successfully to operate a telescope, but the smallest child can direct and control and use his own eyes success- fully. The large telescopes have to be turned and adjusted by machinery, and when it is desired to direct them to a star on the opposide side of the heavens they have even to turn around the entire roof or dome of the observatory. But you and I do not need any ponderous machinery to adjust our eyes, or to turn about in order to look in a different direction. We can easily turn our heads by bending our necks, or, if necessary, we can turn around our entire body and look in an opposite direction. In looking from one object to another, our eyes change their direction so quickly that we are not con- scious of any effort upon our own part. 122 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. If you were to look through a large telescope, or even one of these smaller spy-glasses, you would immediately discover that when you desire to look at objects at different distances, or in different degrees of light and shade, you would have constantly to adjust the telescope or spy-glass to these different conditions. If you would look at objects which are near, and then turn the spy-glass to look at those which are distant, you would not be able to see distinctly until you had adjusted the lens to suit the dis- tance. But with our eyes the same adjustment has to be made, and yet it is done so quickly and without any effort upon our part, that it seems as if it were not done at all When we look at an object which is only a few inches from our face, and then turn and look at a distant object, instantly our eyes are adjusted to the difference of distance and varying degrees of light and shade. But what makes this all more wonderful still, is the fact that we have two telescopes, two eyes instead of one. Both of these little eye telescopes instantly adjust themselves, and both adjust themselves to precisely the same neces- sity. If they adjusted themselves differently we would see two objects instead of one, the same as with a drunken man who has lost the use THE MOST WONDERFUL TELESCOPE. 123 of his muscles and faculties, his eyes do not work in harmony, and therefore, instead of see- ing only one object, he sees two objects and sees them in a confused way. Did you ever think how wonderful it is that when you close your right eye, and look at some- thing with your left eye, that you can see the object distinctly. Now, if you close the left eye, and look at the same object with the right eye, you see the same object distinctly. When you open both eyes and look at the same object, in- stead of seeing the object twice, or seeing two objects, you see only one object. That is be- cause the eyes work in such perfect harmony, and that is what the Scripture means when it says that you and I should "see eye to eye" in every- thing that is good. Now there is another thing to which I desire to call your attention, and that is the size of the eye. If you owned one of these very large tele- scopes which cost hundreds of thousands of dol- lars, you would be regarded as a very wealthy person, but you could not carry that telescope with you from one place to another. It would be of no service to you in looking upon the beau- tiful scenes which surround you from day to day. If you wanted to use the telescope you would have to stay where the telescope was, instead of 124 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. taking the telescope with you where you desired to go. But God has made these Httle telescopes, the eyes, so perfect, and yef so compact and small, that wherever we go, on land or sea, we can take them with us, and they can be in con- stant use and give us the most perfect delight and satisfaction. I am sure there is not a single little boy here who would trade off one of these perfect httle telescopes — yes, I will call it a telescope and an observatory also — for God has beautifully encased our eyes, and shielded and housed them more beautifully and satisfactorily than the most per- fect observatory which was ever built for any man- made telescope. We would not trade away one of our eyes for one of the finest telescopes in the world, and we would not be willing to give both of our eyes for all the telescopes which have ever been made. But one of these large telescopes and observa- tories would cost a great deal — even hundreds of thousands of dollars ; yet God has given you and me these telescopes, our wonderful eyes. But because God has given them to us they are none the less valuable, and I think therefore that I was correct when I addressed you this morning as httle millionaires. Now, God has given you, not simply one eye, THE MOST WONDERFUL TELESCOPE. 12$ but He has given you two eyes, two wonderful telescopes and observatories. He has given you two, so that if by any accident one should be destroyed, you would still have the other to de- pend upon. God has given you two eyes, and two hands, and two feet; but He has given you only one soul, and if by sin you lose that one soul, then you have lost everything, for the Scripture says, '* What shall a man give in ex- change for his soul?" In Palestine, the country in which Jesus lived when He was upon the earth, the sun shines with wonderful brightness and clearness, the land also is very light in color, and consequently the eyes are oppressed by the glare, just the same as those of you who have ever been at the seashore have experienced while walking along the beach ; or, to some extent, like the bright sunlight shining upon the snow in winter. This lightness of the soil and brightness of the sun in Palestine are the cause of blindness to many of the inhabitants, and when Jesus was upon the earth, one of His greatest acts of mercy to suffering humanity was to open and heal the eyes of those who were either born blind, or who had become blind after- ward on account of the brightness of the sun and the constant strain on the eyes by the lightness of the soil. 126 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. Now, in this country of ours, and in all coun- tries of the earth, there are hundreds and thou- sands and millions of people who are spiritually Wind. Jesus Christ is to-day passing by, just the same as when the blind man sat by the road- side near Jericho, when Jesus passed by. As that blind man called upon Jesus and said, " Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me," so you and I should call upon God and upon His Son, Jesus Christ, that He would have mercy upon us and open our spiritual eyes. We should make the language of the Scriptures the petition of our hearts, "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." I pray that God may give each of you to see and to understand spiritual things. . THE EYE. THE SMALLEST CAMERA, THE MOST VALUABLE PICTURES. I am going to address you again this morning as LITTLE MILLIONAIRES. Last wcck I showcd you how your eyes were more valuable than the most costly telescopes, and this morning I want to show you how, in another way, you are little millionaires. Very wealthy people sometimes travel in dif- ferent countries, and gather very rare and beauti- ful paintings and pictures, oftentimes paying a thousand dollars, ten thousand dollars, and some- times very much more for a single painting. Then they bring these paintings all together in their own homes and hang them on the walls, and as the result of the expenditure of many thousands, and sometimes of hundreds of thou- sands of dollars, they have a very beautiful and rare collection. But God has made you and me the possessors of a vast number of pictures, more Object used : Small camera of any kind. 127 128 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. beautiful, of greater variety, and infinitely more valuable, than all the paintings that were ever hung upon the walls of any art gallery in the world. To illustrate my thought, I have this morning brought a camera. Sometimes such cameras as this is called a Hawk-Eye or Snap-Shot. As the finest telescopes have been modeled after the human eye, so the camera is only a very imperfect imitation of the human eye. As the spy-glass and telescope have lenses, so does this camera have a lens, which you see here in the front. Just back of this lens is the dark chamber in the camera, and back of it is a ground glass, as you will see here. Now whatever is directly in front of the camera is shown on the ground glass, as you will observe, but in an inverted or up-side- down position. So the eye has its various parts, and as the ray of light passes through this lens, and reflects the picture on this ground glass, so a ray of light coming from any object passes first through the small opening of the eye, through the cornea, then through the aqueous humor in the crystalline lens and lastly the vitreous humor to the retina, where the picture is inverted just the same as upon this ground glass. When this picture is thrown upon the rear wall of the eye, which is called the retina, the seeing nerve, which SMALLEST CAMERA, VALUABLE PICTURES. 129 is called the optic nerve, which is connected with the eye, conveys the inipression to the brain, and the result is what we call seeing. What I have told you is correct, and can easily be proven by a simple experiment with the eye of some animal. If you take the eye of a dead rabbit, and cleanse the back portion of it from the fat and muscles and then hold a candle in front of it, you can see the image of the candle formed upon the retina. In the same way, if you take the eye of an ox, and carefully pare off from the back portion, so as to leave it very thin, and place the eye so that it looks through a small hole in a box, behind which you cover your head and make it dark, you will see the picture of any object which is directly in front of this eye of the ox. In both instances they will be in the inverted form. This experi- ment would fully demonstrate to you that the camera is only an imitation, and a very poor one too, of the human eyCo Now when pictures are taken by means of the camera, the negative can not be exposed to the light, but must be taken into a dark room, and be carefully developed by the use of neces- sary chemicals or liquids. Then specially pre- pared paper must be used for printing the pho- tographs. This paper must also be kept in the 130 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. dark until it has been thoroughly washed and cleansed. But, with the pictures which are taken upon the retina of the eye, no such delay and labor is necessary before you can look at them. The moment the eye is turned in any direction, instantly the picture is photographed upon the retina of the eye, and then stamped indelibly upon the memory and becomes a part of ourselves. There is no cost for chemicals, no delay in ad- justing the instrument with which the picture is taken, no necessity for carrying around so large a camera as this, which I have here in this box. The camera has many disadvantages which are not found in the human eye. The camera must be adjusted to objects near or far, and dif- ferent cameras have to be used for pictures of different sizes and for different classes of pictures. These cameras are costly to purchase, consume a great deal of time in securing a few pictures, are always attended with expense, and when you desire to remove the pictures from one place to another, the owner is subjected to much trouble and annoyance. Then, the camera also does not give us the colors of the different ob- jects which are before it. That is the reason why, in the beginning, I spoke of these million- aires purchasing such costly paintings, because in the paintings different colors are represented. SMALLEST CAMERA, VALUABLE PICTURES. 13I Now, in the hundreds of pictures which are constantly being taken by your eyes, there are no delays, no expenses, no inconvenience when the pictures have once been taken. Different shades and colors are all clearly represented. And even though you were to stand on a high mountain, where you could look off over one or two hun- dred square miles of beautiful landscape, all that beautiful scenery would be pictured on the retina of your eye, and the picture, complete and per- fect, would not be larger than one-half inch square. What would real wealthy people be willing to give for a perfect picture only one-half inch square, in which the artist had clearly de- fined every field and tree, rivers, houses, roads, railways and all the beautiful landscape con- tained in a vast area of two hundred square miles? Our eyes are wonderful cameras, which God has given us so that as we pass through life we could be constantly taking these beautiful pictures, and look at them not only for the instant, but that we might treasure them up in our memories and make them the rich treasures and joyous heritage of coming years. The older we grow, the more we appreciate these memory pictures of the past — memories of our childhood days, beautiful landscapes, foreign 132 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. travel, lovely sunsets, the glorious sunrise, green fields and orchards of golden fruit. As you grow old, I suppose the richest treasures in your picture gallery of the past will be the memories of your childhood home, of mother and father, brother and sister. Possibly when you have grown old, you will remember how one day your heart was almost broken, when for the first time you were leaving home; how mother's eyes filled with tears when she kissed you good- bye, and, following you to the gate, stood and waved her handkerchief, while home faded from view as you rounded the turn in the road and realized for the first time that you were launching out into real life for long years of struggle. Just as the hearts of the parents go out in great tenderness toward their son, who is leaving the Christian influences of his own home to begin service in a distant city, surrounded by evil in- fluences, and oftentimes by wicked individuals, so the heart of our Heavenly Father goes out in great tenderness towards you and me, while we are separated from the great eternal mansion of the skies. God's heart yearns over us in great tenderness, and while we live in the midst of the evil of this world we are constantly to remember that God has made us millionaires, not only in SMALLEST CAMERA, VALUABLE PICTURES. 1 33 the possession of the eyes, and other faculties with which He has endowed us for use here upon the earth, but we are to remember that we are children of the King of Heaven, and that we are heirs of everlasting life and of everlasting glory. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, to an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled and that " fadeth not away." We are not simply millionaires, but we are heirs of ever- lasting glory. COAL AND WOOD. JESUS THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT AND WARMTH. Dear boys and girls : When Jesus was upon the earth, He said of Himself, " lam the Hght of the world." Now, I desire this morning to illus- trate to you something of the truth which Jesus had in mind when He uttered these words. Now, we are told in the Bible, that when God created the world, on the fourth day He created the sun and the moon to give light upon the earth, the sun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night. I suppose you all know that the earth is round, and that while the sun is shining on our side of the earth, and making it day here, on the other side of the globe or earth it is night and is all dark. Now, I want to tell you that the sun is the source of all light upon the earth. The sun shines and dispels the darkness, and makes it light. And do you know that the moon does Objects used : Pieces of wood and coal, a candle and a piece of electric-light carbon, such as are daily thrown away in towns where arc lighting is used. 134 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 1 35 not shine by its own light, but it simply throws back again, as we say, reflects, the light of the sun, just the same as when a boy takes a small piece of looking-glass and throws the light across the street. There is no light in the looking-glass itself, but it simply takes the rays of light which fall upon it from the sun and bends them, or turns them, so that he can throw them across the street, or upon anything that he desires that is in range of him. So the light of the sun falls upon the moon, and is turned again or re- flected back upon the earth. God has so placed the moon in the heavens that it reflects the light of the sun upon those portions of the earth which are in darkness. Or, in other words, as he says in the Bible, the moon has been " made to rule the night." So you see that even the moon does not shine by its own light. Jesus Christ is the Son of Righteousness. All the good there is in the world, all the righteous- ness, all that is holy and pure, come from Jesus Christ. The Church is also a source of purity, of holiness, of religion, and of Christianity. But the Church does not shine of itself It does not have these influences within itself. All its light is derived from the Son of Righteousness. All influences which tend for goodness and hoH- ness and purity are derived from the Lord Jesus 136 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. Christ. He is the source of all that is good, and only in so far as the Church reflects the life of Jesus, and the truth which is revealed in His Word, and the teachings of Jesus, does it be- come the source of saving power in the world. Now, here I have a piece of coal, and a piece of wood, and a candle, and a piece of carbon from an electric light. And you might ask me whether the light that comes from the coal when it burns, or the wood when it burns, and the candle when it is lighted, and the electric light when it illuminates the street so brightly, whether they are not shining by their own light? No; they are not shining by their own light. All the light that there is in the wood, or in the coal, or in the candle, or in anything else that makes a light at all, derives its source and origin from the sun. The light that comes from the burning of this wood is simply the releasing of the light that has been accumulated from the rays of light shining from the sun upon the tree while it was growing, year after year, in the field or forest. And now, when it is burning, it simply releases or throws out that light, which was derived from the sun, and which was stored up in the wood of the tree while it was growing. Now, this coal is simply a portion of a tree which grew many, many hundreds or thousands THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 1 3/ of years ago, and which, In some great convulsion of nature, was buried deep under the surface of the earth in what we now call coal mines. The coal has undergone some chemical changes, but, nevertheless, all the light there is in the coal is simply that buried sunshine, which was stored up centuries and centuries ago, in the form of vegetables and trees. Now, when it burns in the grate or in the furnace it simply releases that heat and warmth and light, which was stored up in these trees many, many centuries ago. It is simply buried sunshine which God has stored up for our use. The same is true of the light of the candle; if it were not for the light of the sun there would be no light giving power In any oil or tallow, or In this carbon, which is used in the electric light; they all derive their light from the sun itself. Just so it IS with all the truth and righteousness in the world. When you see a man who is good and Christlike, it is not because that man has the power in himself to be good, but it Is because he has derived that power from the Lord Jesus Christ. The light of the Son of Righteousness has shone into that man's heart, and the light that goes out through his daily conduct and character, is only the light of the Son of God shining out though this man. 138 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. All objects which live in the sunlight drink in this light-giving power, and all people who live daily in the light of the Son of Righteousness will partake of His nature and of this character, and then live that nature and character in their own daily lives. In this way they do as Jesus commanded, let their lights so shine, that others seeing their good work, glorify their Father who is in heaven. LANTERNS. THE BEST LIGHT FOR OUR PATH. I do not believe that there is a boy or girl here this morning who could tell me what this thing is, that I hold in my hand. It is a lantern, a very different lantern possibly, from that which any of you have ever seen. This is the kind of lantern that your grandfather and my grandfather used many years ago, in the days when they did not have lamps, and gas, and electric lights, and such things as we enjoy to-day. When I was a small boy in the country we used only to have candles. Later on ih life, I remember when they first had fluid lamps, and then kero- sene oil, and then gas, and then, as we have it now, electric lights. In the second congregation to which I minis- tered, there was an old gentleman who had one of these lanterns. He lived some distance from the church, and very dark nights you could always Objects used: A lantern, and, if available, one of the very old fashioned tin lanterns all perforated to allow the light to shine through the holes. 139 140 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. see him coming across the hill, carrying this strange lantern. After the candle was lighted and placed inside, the light shone out through these small holes, and if the wind blew very hard, the light was liable to blow out. Now, here is a better lantern. David says of God's Word, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." On a dark night in the country, you could not go out of doors and move about without running up against a tree, or the fence, or falling into the ditch, or soon finding yourself involved in serious difficulties; and so people in the country carry a lantern at night. In the Eastern countries where Jesus lived, where they do not have gas and electric lamps to light the streets, when people go out at night they always carry a lantern. And so David said, " Thy word is a lamp under my feet, and a Hght unto my path." (Ps. 119: 105.) Now, when people go out with a lantern they do not hold it way up high, but hold it down near their feet, so that they can see the path, and it enables them to walk with security and safety. Sometimes there are men who have gone to col- lege, and have learned Latin and Greek, have studied the sciences and philosophy, and they think they have learned a very great deal ; per- haps afterwards they have studied medicine and BEST LIGHT FOR OUR PATH. I4I become physicians, or have read law and become lawyers, and they think that they are able with all that they know to find their path through life. They think they have light enough of themselves. They do not seem to know that all about them there Is a darkness of great mystery; that sin and death and destruction lurk all along their way through life, and that their pathway is full of snares, and pitfalls, and dangers, but they try to walk with the little light that there is In the human understanding. There is another class of men who go through college and who may, perchance, study much, and the more they study the more they come to realize how little they know, and how much there is beyond them that they do not understand at all. With the little light of human understand- ing they comprehend how very dense and dark are the mysteries all about them, and so In order that they may walk safely through life, and come at last to the city of eternal safety, they take God's Word " as a lamp to their feet," and just the same as a person in the country carries a lamp in order that he may find his path, so these good people take the Word of God and they make it the lamp unto their feet, and the light unto their path. If you have ever been in the country upon a 142 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. dark night and seen the engine come dashing along, with the great headlight that throws the rays of Hght far down along the track enabling the engineer to see very far ahead of him, you would understand what the Bible purposes to do for us, when God says that he will make it a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path. As you grow older, and sorrow and sickness and trials come to you, you will need God's Word to be a lamp unto your feet. And when at last the messenger of death shall come and summon you into God's presence, and you go through " the valley of the shadow of death," you will then need this lamp for your feet, and you will need the Lord Jesus Christ with you, that you may lean upon Him, and that you may say as David did : " Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." May God give you this light through the jour- ney of this life, and bring you to that city of light and life on high. CANDLES. CHRISTIAN PEOPLE THEIR RELATIVE INFLUENCES. Boys and girls: Two Sundays ago I sought to show you how Jesus Christ is the Son of Right- eousness, and that all the spiritual Hght there is in the world is derived from Him. When Jesus was upon the earth, He not only said that " He was the light of the world," but He also said to His disciples, " Ye are the light of the world," and it is to this thought that I want to call your attention this morning. Now, I have here quite a number of candles, and I want to show you how very useful these candles may be made. Suppose it were midnight, and all was very, very dark in this room, and I should take this one little candle, and light it, just as I shall do now. Do you not see how this candle, though it is very small, would be of very great service? It would be sufficient to enable me to see for some Objects used : Several candles of various sizes and various colors. 143 144 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. little distance at least, in the midst of the darkness by which I would be surrounded. Now, this Httle candle, being very small, will aptly represent the children in the infant depart- ment. Sometimes children, and older people also, think that the little ones are too small, and too young, to exercise any influence for good. But that is a very great mistake. I once had a little boy in my Sunday-school, whose father did not attend church. On Sunday the father would take this little boy out for a walk. But when they had started, each time the little boy would ask his papa to take him to church. But the father did not want to go to church. And so he would propose to the little boy that they should go to their grandmother's, and you know, children are always pleased to go and visit their grandma and their grandpa. But the httle boy again and again would ask his papa to go to church with him, until finally the father consented, and the little boy brought him to church. From Sunday to Sunday he continued to bring his papa to church, and that little boy exerted such an influence over his father that he became a Christian, and united with the Church and be- came a faithful attendant. So you see that even a small child may exert a very great influence. There are many instances given of parents and INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN PEOPLE. 1 4$ others who have been saved through the influence of young children. Here is a larger candle; I will light this also. This, you see, gives somewhat more light than the small candles. This will represent those in the intermediate department of the Sunday- school. Here is a candle which is larger still, and you will see now, when I light it, that it gives more light than either of the others. Still the light of the others are also a very great assistance. As boys and girls become older, their influence be- comes greater and greater. So it is important that very early they should exert the right kind of influence. Now, here is a still larger candle. Indeed, this is quite a large candle. This would possibly represent the Sunday-school teacher, or the superintendent of the Sunday-school, or possibly the preacher, because they occupy such posi- tions as enable them to exert a wider influence in life than those who are not Sunday-school teachers and Sunday-school superintendents and ministers. 'When these candles are all lighted and placed here together, you see what a large amount of light they give out. If this room was all dark, the combined light of these candles would dispel 146 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. the darkness for a very great distance. They would make it quite Hght in the entire room. So when all the children in the infant department, and the boys and girls in the intermediate de- partment, and the young men and young women in the Bible classes, and the older men and the older women, and the teachers, and the superin- tendent, and the pastor, and all, let their light shine for Jesus, you see what a very great in- fluence they must exert not only in the church, but upon the entire community by which we are surrounded. I trust that we may all unite in one constant and continued effort to dispel the dark- ness of sin and evil by which we are surrounded, and that this church may become a very great blessing to the entire community. That it may become as Jesus said, "a city set upon a hill that cannot be hid," and thus let its light shine every- where. But before I conclude this sermon I want to show you some of these colored candles which I have. Here is a small red candle, and here is an- other, a very pretty green candle. Now I will light them and stand them by the side of the others. You see at once that they give no more light than the pure white candle. They are rather pretty to look at, but they are no more serviceable. So it is with the boys and girls in INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN PEOPLE. 1 4/ the Sunday-school. Some may feel that because they do not have fine clothes, because they have not as nice a hat or shoes as somebody else, therefore they could not exert as much influence for Jesus. That is a very great mistake. This candle gives no more light than the other candles, and so children who are clothed in the plainest and least costly clothing can exert a very wide influence for Christ. But here is still one more colored candle; this is the prettiest of them all. This is indeed a very beautiful candle ; it is much larger than the little candles I have just shown you. You will notice also that I do not light this candle, and you may wonder why it is that I have not lighted it. I will tell you why I do not light this candle. I did not buy it for the purpose of lighting it. These candles are not sold for the purpose of giving light. They are sold as ornaments. When you go into some parlors you will see them standing on the mantel. They are very pretty, and are placed there to ornament the room. This kind of a candle very fittingly represents some people in the church. They are very nice people, and very correct people indeed; they are splendid people in every respect. You like to meet them ; you like to look at them ; they are very agreeable, and very social, and very nice 148 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. people to have about ; but after all, In the great work of the Church, they are not of much service. They come to church on Sunday morning, when the weather is pleasant. When there is any position of honor to be occupied, they always fill it with grace and honor to themselves, but when the dark Sunday nights come, or the unpleasant days, or when the Wednesday night service comes, these people are never present. They are the people who do not go into dark places of the earth to let their lights shine for Jesus, but are apt to think more of themselves than they do of those for whom Jesus would have them labor and give their lives a living sacrifice. Jesus says, " Let your light so shine before men that others seeing your good works may glorify," not you, but " your Father which is in Heaven." A (cw important thoughts remain in reference to letting our light shine, which I will present to you next Sunday morning. CANDLES. HOW TO REFLECT, OBSCURE, OR EXTINGUISH THE LIGHT. Little shining lights : Last Sunday I prom- ised to bring back some of these candles in order further to illustrate the text, " Ye are the light of the world." In a previous sermon I have shown you how all the light in the world is derived from the sun, and how all the light in the spiritual world is derived from Jesus Christ. Now, this morning, I want to show you that we can extinguish this light. While we cannot prevent the sun from shining, or put out the light there is in the sun, yet we can extinguish the candle. We can blow out the light, we can turn off the gas, we can cut off the electrical current, and thus prevent the carbon from burning and giving light. Just the same as the fireman can extinguish a large fire that is making a great blaze in the midst of a dark night, so we can put out these several lights. Before this candle, which I hold in my hand. Objects used : A candle, silver dollar, bottle with large neck, and a flask-shaped bottle. 149 150 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. can be of any service to me in giving light, it must first itself be lighted. So it is with every individual who is born into this world. He has no light in himself. Before ever he can exert any influence for good upon others, or let any Christian light shine, he must come to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive this light. He must be licrhted from above. But now after it has been o lighted, suppose that I take this silver dollar which I hold in my hand, and place it in front of the light, you will see immediately how it makes it Impossible for the light to shine out in front of the dollar. Those who are sitting down here in front of me cannot see this light. The light is entirely concealed by the dollar. So some people allow the love of money to gather around their hearts, until at last their money Is placed between them and the people whom God intends that they should benefit and bless in this world. In- stead of being a help, their money is only a hindrance in their Christian life. They love their money so much that they permit the poor to go hungry, the destitute to be unblessed, and the Church to be without the money necessary to carry on its work. They allow the heathen to die in their ignorance. Selfishly grasping their money, they neglect to do that for which God has given them the means and the money. REFLECTING AND OBSCURING THE LIGHT. I5I I believe that money is a good thing. The Bible says that it is the love of money, the undue love of it, that makes It the root of all evil. Money itself is a blessing and not a curse ; therefore I want to show you how this dollar can be made to help in making this light shine even more brightly. You will see that I have had this side of the dollar ground off and polished, so that it is very smooth and bright. Now, when I place this bright surface back of the candle, instead of acting as it did when I placed the dollar between you and the candle, it only reflects the light, it throws the rays of light out further than they could otherwise shine. It helps to accomplish for the candle the same important service which the great reflector does when placed behind the lamp in the headlight of the engine, throwing the light way down the track in advance of the coming of the train. In the same way, when a Christian has money, you see how he can readily use it in such a way as to enable him to accomplish a very great and grand work in the world. The man who has lots of money and has a consecrated heart, and is willing to use his money to help him in his work for Christ, will be able to accomplish very much more than the man who has no money. He can use his money in such a way that it will enable 152 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. him to cast a light in many a dark corner of the earth, to bring Hght in many a desolate home, and to cast the rays of his Christian influence even across the ocean into benighted heathen lands. In this way his money can be used as I have used this dollar, and thus carry his influence to the end of the earth and to the end of time, and become a great blessing to himself and others for all eternity. Jesus said, " Men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candle-stick that it may give light to all that are in the house." There are some people who do not like to let their light shine for Christ. They do not want others to know that they are Christians. They do not want others to know that they are trying to be good. And so they seek to conceal their light, to hide it, as Jesus says, " under a bushel." If you were to light a candle and put it under a bushel, or under a box, the box would prevent it from shining, and therefore you would not know that there was any light at all in the room. But I want to show you, by the aid of this large necked bottle, what is the effect of our try- ing to hide our light. I have chosen this bottle because you can see through it, and observe what is going on inside of this glass bushel or bottle. The neck being very large, you can readily see REFLECTING AND OBSCURING THE LIGHT. I53 that the light is not absolutely smothered. Now, when I place this bottle over the light, you will see how very quickly it begins to grow dim and dimmer. There, you see, it has gone out already. Just as quickly as it burns out from the air the oxygen which it contains, the light dies, because it has nothing to feed upon. If I had not placed this bottle over it, it would have contined to burn. Just so it is with those who try to hide their light under a bushel. Afier the light has been placed there, it gradually grows more faint, and more faint, and then goes out in darkness. You can never be a Christian if you are ashamed of Christ. You must be willing to let you light shine; you must be willing to confess Christ before men ; you must be willing to have other boys and girls know that you are a Christian, and that you are trying to do right. Then with God's help you will succeed. But if you try to hide your light under a bushel, you will never succeed in being a Christian. Here is another bottle. I am sure that the shape of this bottle will suggest to you the kind of stuff which is oftentimes sold in this kind of a flask. Sometimes when young men have given their hearts to Christ, and young women too for that matter, they go out in company and 154 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. are invited to take a drink of wine or a drink of beer, or something else, and without any pur- pose or thought of ever becoming a drunkard, they soon form the habit of drinking. Soon they have formed a love for the taste of liquor, and before ever they know it, like hundreds of thousands of others who have preceded them, they have become fond of liquor, and are on a fair road to become a drunkard. As soon as a young man starts out in this direction he takes the road that leads down to death and destruc- tion, and the love of God which he had in his heart soon dies out. Let me place this bottle over the candle. You will now see how the candle begins to grow dim, and the light shines more and more dim, and now, after a very few seconds, you will find that it goes out in dark- ness. Let me say to you all, both young men and young women, avoid the terrible and destruc- tive influences of drink, of which this bottle is the symbol. If you want to keep the love of God in your heart you must never, never take the first step which leads toward the love of liquor, toward intemperance and a drunkard's grave. WATER. JESUS AND earth's MORAL DESERTS. My young FRIENDS : I will not ask you what it is that I have in this glass, and in this bottle, for I am quite sure from the color you would not be able to tell whether it is water or some other kind of fluid. You know we often sing the hymn, " Jesus the water of life will give, freely, freely, freely." Now, in the Bible, Jesus Christ is represented as " the Water of Life," and I want to talk to you this morning about water. I suppose that in school some, and perhaps many, of you study geography, and you have come to know that there are certain countries in which it seldom or never rains. These countries are called deserts. We have such a desert in Africa, and known as the great Sahara Desert. Then there are other countries in which it does not rain as frequently as it does in this country in which you and I live. That was the case in Pales- Object used : A glass or bottle of water. 155 156 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. tine, where Jesus lived. It often did not rain fof months, and sometimes even for years. A well that would supply water at all periods and at al? times was regarded as of great value. There fore it was that Jacob's well was mentined in thect unto all of thy commandments." (Psalms 119:6.) Now, if I take this chain, and attempt to break it, I find that God has not given me sufficient strength. Samson could have snapped it in a moment, but I am not strong enough. God has given to some men much more strength than to others. If I were to pull very hard on this chain so as to break it, where do you suppose it would break first? Why the weakest link in the entire chain would be the first to break. No chain is stronger than its weakest link. So it is with you and with me, our greatest goodness is only as great as our greatest weakness. When men want to think how good they are they think of the best things they have ever done. But the fact is that no man is better than the worst things he has ever done. A man who has com- mitted murder is a murderer; he is no better than a murderer. He cannot be regarded any better than a murderer. He might have done hundreds of good things, but the law does not estimate him by the best things he has done. The law estimates that man by the worst thing he has done, and by that worst thing he is judged and condemned. And so it is with you and me before God. The worst things which we THE BROKEN LAW. 1 79 have ever done will be the things which will con- demn us in the sight of the Judge of all the world. While I am not able to break this metal chain, yet God has made it possible for each individual here to-day to break the chain of the moral law. God has given human freedom to all men; he has told us what we should do, but he has left us free to obey or to disobey. Now, when we examine into the requirements of the Ten Commandments we find that every- body has violated some one or more of them at some time. There is not a man or woman or child here this morning who is not guilty of hav- ing broken God's law. And when I turn to the Scriptures, I find in Deuteronomy the 27th chapter, 26th verse, that God says, "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." I see then by God's Word that we are all sinners, that we are all guilty before God, because we have violated His law, and next Sunday I will tell you what is to be done in view of the fact that we are all guilty before God. LOOKING-GLASS. SEEING OURSELVES IN GOD's LAW. My dear boys and girls : In my sermon last Sunday, I showed you that God had made the law perfect, but that we did not keep the law, that we have all broken the law, and God has said, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." (Gal. 3 : 10.) If the law is perfect, and no one has ever kept it perfectly, but all have broken the law in some one way or another, and on that account all are guilty before God, you may ask, what is the purpose of the law? Why did God make the law ? Now, I desire to explain that to you this morning. I have here a looking-glass. Now the Bible compares the law to a looking-glass. In the epistle or letter of James, in the first chapter, we are told, " if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass ; for he beholdeth himself. Object used : A looking-glass of any size desired. 180 LOOKING INTO GODS LAW. l8l and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of Hberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James i : 23-25.) In other words the Bible means to say that the law of God is like a looking-glass. We read the law of God, and we see just what God re- quires that we should be. He enables us to see what he requires of us. It shows us also how imperfect we are. It shows us our sins. It re- veals to us the importance of doing something in order to get rid of our sins. It is just like a man whose face is all dirty. When he goes to the looking-glass and look sin, he sees the dirt upon his face. If he did not look into the glass, other people might see that his face was dirty, but he would not see it himself. But when he looks into the glass, he sees for himself that his face is all black. Now, when the man finds that his face is all dirty, he does not take the looking-glass with which to wash his face. The looking-glass was not made to wash our faces with. It was only 'made to show us that our faces needed to be washed. And then, instead of using the looking-glass to wash our faces, we go and take soap and water. 1 82 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. Now, the looking-glass did not make the man's face black, neither will it wash his face. It sim- ply shows him that his face is dirty. So it is with the law of God. The law of God does not make us sinful. We are sinful, whether there be any law or not. The law is simply de- signed to show us that we are sinners, and that we are wicked, and that we need a Saviour. And when this law reveals to us our sin, and shows us our need of a Saviour, it purposes, as we are told in the Scriptures, to lead us to Christ (Galatians, 3 : 24). No man can cleanse or wash away his sins by the aid of the law. But the law plainly shows him his sins, and then leads him to Christ — to the fountain which has been opened for sin and uncleanness. It is all very beautifully expressed in that hymn which, I trust, you all know : « There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins ; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains." Now, I want to tell you the effect of coming to this fountain and washing. When we come our sins and guilt are washed away, and we be- come more like Christ. We are cleansed from sin; we are made more pure and holy. And then we grow up into His likeness and into LOOKING INTO GOD'S LAW. 1 83 His image, and into His stature. We become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ from day to day. This change which takes place in our hearts and in our lives is very wonderful. We cannot understand it, but we cease to be in- tentionally wicked. More and more we become holy. It is this wonderful change which is re- ferred to in Second Corinthians, third chapter and the eighteenth verse, where it says, ** But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." I think now, you will understand why we have the law. It is not to make us wicked, for we are wicked already. But it is to show us our wicked- ness. It is to reveal to us the fact that we are sinners, and that we are lost and undone without a Saviour. And then it reveals the Lord Jesus Christ to us, and we come to Him, the same as men with blackened faces go to the fountain to wash. So we come with our sins and our guilt "to the fountain which has been opened for sin and uncleanness," and we wash all our sins and guilt away; and then we are changed into His image and into His likeness, from glory to glory, until at last, in the world on high, we awake in the likeness of Jesus. THE WORDLESS BOOK. SIN, SALVATION, PURITY, GLORY. If in my audience this morning, either among the boys and girls, or among the older peo- ple, there should be any individual who cannot read, I hope to be able to teach them in a few moments so they will be able to read this little book which I hold in my hand. This book has four very interesting chapters. The first three chapters contain a history of a Christian upon the earth, and the fourth chapter contains the history of a Christian in heaven. All the chapters in this book are like this first chapter which I now show you, at least in one respect, that they have not a single character in them, such as we know as A, B, C, or any ot the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. You will see that these two pages are simply printed plain black. They are a representation of every human Object used : A copy of a little " Wordless Book " published by the Willard Tract Repository, 921 Arch street, Philadelphia. It sells at ten cents a copy and is very excellent and suggestive. 184 SIN, SALVATION, PURITY, GLORY. 1 85 heart in its natural condition and as God sees it. In the sight of God a wicked heart is as black as the pages which I now present to you. The Bible tells us that '' all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3: 23.) "There is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Ps. 14:3.) " We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64 : 6.) While every individual in this audience this morning desires to get to heaven and to be happy with God forever, yet the Bible tells us, " There shall in no wise enter into heaven any- thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev. 21 : 27.) Now, if the natural heart is so wicked in the sight of God that it looks as black as these two pages, and as God tells us that He " cannot look upon sin with any degree of allowance," the question comes, how can you and I ever get to heaven ? I now turn over from these black pages to others of a very different color. These, as you see, are very bright red, the color of blood. This represents the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who came to be slain for the sins of the whole world. Just the same as the 1 86 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. sacrifices were offered up in Jerusalem many hundreds of years ago, so Jesus Christ came to be the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, and therefore it is that the scripture says, *' Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with- out spot." (I. Peter, i: i8, 19.) The Bible also tells us that " All things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb. 9: 22.) It was on this account that Jesus Christ was slain; that he might redeem us to God by his blood. (Rev. 5 : 9.) You know we sing: " There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Im- manuel's veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains." When sin has made our hearts all black be- fore God, and we feel that we cannot come into His presence, it is then that we fly to this foun- tain, which has been open for sin and unclean- ness, and in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ wash all our sins and guilt away. People oftentimes say that they turn over a new leaf. Now, I will turn over a new leaf and you will see how very different this next chapter looks from from that which we have already read. The first was very black ; the second was Sin, salvation, purity, glory. 187 red to represent the blood of Jesus, and the washing away of the blackness of our sin and guilt. This chapter is white — pure white — to represent the purity of the human heart after it has been washed in the blood of Jesus. In the Bible we are told that " He (God) hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (H. Cor. 5: 21.) I think that you will readily understand how it is, that when our hearts are all blackened by sin, we can yet be saved, and be made fit to enter heaven, where all is purity and holiness and happiness and glory. I now turn to the fourth and last chapter in this little book, which you have by this time learned to read, as I promised you in the begin- ning. These two pages are covered with gold, and represent the glory which there is in heaven, laid up for all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ. When John, the aged disciple, was per- mitted to look into heaven, he saw some very wonderful things ; and in the very interesting ac- count which he gives us in the book of Revela- tion, in the twenty-first chapter, he tells us, " The city was of pure gold, like unto clear glass," "and the street of the city was pure gold," and it is on that account that the last chapter of this little 1 88 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. book represents the glory of heaven in this gold- leaf. In the book of Colossians, in the 3d chapter and the 4th verse, we are told that " When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." When you have finished reading a good book, it is always wise to turn back to the very first page and review the book. As I turn back again you see that this first chapter is black, the sec- ond chapter is red, the third chapter is white, and the fourth chapter is gold, representing sin, redemption, holiness, and glory. I am sure that now every individual in this audience can read this little book. I hope that you all may experience that which is related in these chapters, and that at last you may be happy forever with God in heaven. WHISKEY. THE CHARACTER AND EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. My dear young friends: I want to talk to you this morning about the nature and effects of alcohol. My text you will find in Proverbs, 23: 32 : "At last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." The word alcohol comes to us from Arabia, and in the language of that country was two words, " El Gohul," and meant " great evil spirit." Now I have here in this bottle some pure alcohol, which I bought at the drug store. In this other bottle I have some water, which is as pure as it flows from our hydrants. One of the characteristics of alcohol is that it will always burn, and now when I pour some in this shallow Objects used : A small bottle each of water, alcohol, brandy or any other spirituous liquor, and a small size, large-necked bottle containing the white of an egg. Also a small and shal- low dish in which to burn some alcohol and liquor. Be sure that you have a dish that will not be broken by the heat, or you may seriously burn your hand, or even endanger the building. If the dish is thin it is safer to place a larger dish beneath the smaller. 189 190 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. dish and apply a match to it, you will see how quickly it takes fire. I will only pour in a very small quantity, and after being careful to cork the bottle and remove it a safe distance I will light that which I have in the dish. There ! You see how it takes fire immediately. The flame does not give much light, but when I hold my hand above it, I find it is very hot. Now that the flame has gone out, I will turn the dish over, so that you may see that it has all been burned away. Not a drop remains. I will now pour into this same dish a small quantity of water and an equal quantity of alcohol. Now, let us apply the match again, and see whether the alcohol will burn when it is mixed with water. Yes, it burns just the same as though there were no water mixed with it. When the alcohol is all burned away, the flame will die out, just the same as it did before. I will now empty the water out of the dish that you may see the final result. In this bottle I have some of the best French brandy which I could buy at the drug store. Such as is sold to persons who desire to use it for medicine. I will pour some of this into the dish, and if it has alcohol in it you may expect to see. it burn, the same as when alcohol and water are mixed together. CHARACTER AND EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. I9I There It is ! You can see the result with your own eyes. The alcohol burns just the same as before. Now when the alcohol is all burned out of the brandy, the other ingredients remain . You may see for yourselves that there must have been a goodly amount of alcohol, or it would not have burned so long. That which remains I will now empty out, so that you may see how much of it is not alcohol. The alcohol is only one of a number of bad things often found in brandy and other kind of liquors which make men and women drunk. Now, here I have a bottle in which I have placed the white of an egg. You see how clear, like glass, it looks ? If I were to pour water upon it, it would not affect its color; but in- stead of water I will pour alcohol into this bottle with the egg. You see how the egg is immediately affected? It begins to look as though it were being poached, or like the white of an egg looks when it has been boiled and you break the shell. If you were to eat a poached egg your body would get strength by it, but if you were to take this egg which has been affected by the alcohol and place it in your stomach, it would not give your body any strength, but in- stead, it would give you pain. Now, there are people who think that when 192 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. they have eaten a hearty dinner, digestion is as- sisted by pouring some liquor into the stomach. That theory is almost wholly false. Every boy knows that if he were to hurt his finger and the doctor should cut it off, if he desired to keep the finger after it was cut off, he would have to put it in alcohol to prevent it from decomposing. Alcohol will resist the action of the air, and it will also resist the action of the stomach and of the fluids in the stomach also. If, however, I were to drink milk, after it has passed into my stomach it would be digested, and a goodly portion would be changed from milk to bone and muscle in my arm, to nails on the ends of my fingers, to hair on the top of my head, and all through my system it would be changed, until it became a part of my own body. But if I take alcohol, either pure or mixed with anything else, and place it into my stomach, my stomach is unable to digest it, and whether in this bottle or in my stomach, or when flowing through my blood, or wherever it is in any part of my body, it is always alcohol. It does not sustain life, but it is an enemy everywhere and all the while. Just as soon as I have swallowed it, my whole nature is engaged in throwing it out of the sys- tem. The lungs throw it out in the breath; CHARACTER AND EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 1 93 the stomach rebels against its presence, and oftentimes makes the man feel very sick, and he is compelled to throw it all up again. If more alcohol is poured in the system than can be thrown off, then this alcohol becomes mixed with the blood, and wherever it flows through the system it irritates. This it is that makes men's noses and eyes and faces all fiery — the same as if the irritating enemy had been ap- plied on the outside of the body, instead of on the inside; as a mustard plaster or some strong liniment, or any other irritating enemy makes the skin very red and irritated. But now, if alcohol will burn, you might ask whether it will burn when it has passed into the system, and thus become mixed with the blood? Yes; it will burn just the same then, as at any other time. When many of these older people were boys and girls, and people got sick, the doctor used quite generally to cut the arm a little at the elbow, and take a pint or more of blood from the sick person. This is not often done now, but if you were to take blood in this way from the arm of one who drinks a great deal of liquor, and apply a match, the alcohol in the blood would burn just the same as that which had not passed through the human body, but had been mixed 194 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. with water. Indeed, the body may become so saturated with alcohol that the fumes of it in the breath may be lighted with a match, and the per- son, unless help were at hand, would be burned to death. Here are some flat, shallow bottles, such as you have doubtless noticed in the windows of liquor stores and saloons, filled with liquor, and which sell at lo and 15 cents a bottle. The label on this bottle says, " pure rye whiskey," and on this other, " pure brandy." Besides the alcohol which we find in each of these bottles, there are added several deadly drugs. Men generally be- gin with that which is more pure and is sold for medicine. And then when the appetite has grown strong and the will has grown weak, as is always the case, then these men take to drinking this common poisonous stuff, and later when their mouths and throats become less sensitive they drink even more poisonous stuff, first, be- cause it is cheaper, and again, because it bites and burns, and stings and scratches more furi- ously as it goes down. And when this no longer answers the purpose, and they have become poorer still, then they even drink pure alcohol. I want to say to you boys and girls that the drinking of liquor and drunkenness are the causes of more unhappiness and wretchedness CHARACTER AND EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 1 95 and misery than the combined results of all the other evils and wickedness in the world. If you want to be happy in this world and in the world to come, you must never drink liquor of any kind. If you wish to be saved from a drunk- ard's grave, never do as all drunkards have done, begin by drinking cider, and beer and wine. Avoid these, and you will be safe. Remember that the Bible says : " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever i^ deceived thereby is not wise." (Pro v. 20:1.) THE MAGNET. JESUS THE GREAT DRAWING POWER. I am sure that there is not a boy or girl here this morning, who has not at some time felt a desire to be good and do right. When you have felt this way, it has been due to the fact that the Holy Spirit has come to you and has put these good thoughts and good desires into your heart. There is not an individual living who has not at some time felt this same drawing and desire to do right and to be good. The results, how- ever, have been very different with different people. I shall seek to illustrate this fact to you this morning, and have brought this magnet in order to represent the different kinds or classes of per- sons. I have brought these different sizes of tacks and nails, small and large, and here are some old, rusted, crooked nails. Let these sev- eral kinds represent the different kinds of people. Objects used : A magnet, small tacks, nails small and large, some old, rusted, crooked nails and a pocket knife. 196 JESUS THE GREAT MAGNET. 1 97 When I take this magnet, and move it around among these small tacks, and then hold it up, you will see that very many of these tacks cling to the magnet. They hold on by some unseen power. Sometimes the tacks are even not able to touch the magnet, but are drawn through the influence which extends through other tacks, and so large clusters hang on to the magnet. If I shake the magnet you will see that some fall off. These small tacks represent the youngest children. In the early years of our lives we are more easily drawn to the Lord Jesus. It is then more easy for us to come to Christ and give our- selves fully to Him. It is much easier to be Christians when we are young. Yet many put it off till they are older, when it is much more difficult, and they are less likely to be successful in living a Christian life. Now, if I remove these small tacks, and place the magnet among these small nails, you will see that several of the small nails cling to the mag- net, and I can lift them up. There are not as many, however, as there were of the tacks cling- ing to it. In like manner, as boys and girls grow older, they find it more difficult to come to Christ. Here are some larger nails. When I place the magnet among them, but very few are attracted 198 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. to it. And when I attempt to lift the magnet, most all of these large nails fall off. Only one, sometimes two, hold on successfully. Here are some nails that are larger still. Now, when I attempt to lift one of them with this magnet, you see that I can only lift one end ot the nail. That is due to the fact that while the magnet draws these nails, the earth also draws them. That is the reason why these smaller nails, when they fall from the magnet, fall to the earth; because the earth draws them. The earth draws with so much greater force and power upon these large nails that I cannot raise them by the magnet. And so they continue to hold fast to the earth rather than to the magnet. This represents the people who have grown old; who have large cares and responsibilities; who have become worldly-minded; who are drawn away by the " deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things," and who, although they feel a desire to do right, yet have a stronger de- sire to do that which is not well-pleasing in the sight of God. Now, here are some old crooked, rusty nails. Let us see what effect the presence of the magnet will have upon them. Just as we might have expected. These rusty nails do not seem to feel the power or the influence of the magnet's pres- JESUS THE GREAT MAGNET. 1 99 ence. If I place the magnet up against the nail, and attempt to lift it, it does not seem to be drawn at all. It simply lies still in its place. These old, crooked, rusty nails represent those who have grown very old and very wicked, and who have become greatly hardened in sin. Jesus Christ and His love seem to make no impres- sion any longer upon them. They are joined to their idols. God's Spirit has taken His departure, and they are left alone. Let me warn you, both young and old, that if you feel the drawing of God's Spirit, you should yield to Him, so as not to become more corroded and rusted, and coated over by every sinful influence, so that at last the love of God shall fail to have any effect upon you. If now we take these different classes of nails and mix them together, and then stir the magnet among them, you will see how the smaller nails, in larger numbers, cling to the magnet. These bright nails are also affected by it. Oftentimes the influence of the magnet is seen, as it is com- municated from one nail to the other, but these rusty nails, not only do not themselves yield to the influence of the magnet, but they also fail to communicate that magnetic influence to any of the other nails around them. In like manner, wicked people seem to come between Christ and 20O OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. others who would be drawn to Him. Let me say to you keep out of bad company. Avoid wicked companions — those who swear, or lie, or do anything that is wrong, for their influence over you will be bad, and they will prevent the good influences of holy things from acting upon you. Suppose now that I take my knife blade and move it among these nails, you will see that it does not attract them like the magnet did. It has no magnetic power. If I draw the knife blade across the magnet a few times, it receives this magnetic power from the magnet. Now, when I move it among the nails you will see how these little tacks and larger nails are drawn toward it. Just so it is with each of us as individuals. Without coming in contact with Christ and re- ceiving His Spirit, His drawing power, we will never influence others to do that which is right and good and holy. If we desire to have an in- fluence for good in this world we must, first of all, come to Christ ourselves, and receive this drawing power from Him. You have doubtless seen those who have become Christians, and after they have given their hearts to Christ they have immediately begun to draw others. They go out and invite others to come to church, they invite others to go with them to the prayer-meeting, to JESUS THE GREAT MAGNET. 20I come with them to the Sunday-school, and so in every way they seek to influence others that they may draw them to Christ. When Jesus was upon the earth vast multi- tudes attended Him. Where He went they fol- lowed. But now when Jesus is no longer bodily present upon the earth, when we cannot see Him with our natural eyes, we speak of walking by faith, and you may be curious to know what is meant by walking by faith. I think that I can illustrate it in this way : Here is a sheet of writing paper. Now above the writing paper I will place this magnet, and then below it I will place this small bit of iron. The attracting power of the magnet holds the iron up against the paper. Now, when I move this magnet on the upper side of. the sheet from place to place, you will observe that this little piece of iron on the lower side of the sheet goes in the same direction. It follows the magnet very closely. The paper is between them. Now, if this paper was enlarged so as to be as long and as broad as the ceiling of this room, of course you would not be able to see the magnet. It would be hidden from your view. But as you would move the magnet from place to place, the little iron below would continue to follow it. So Jesus Christ is no longer visible ; we cannot 202 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. see Him with our natural eyes, but He draws the Christian who is in this world, and so the Chris- tian follows Him. He walks in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus. And it is on that account that we say that the Christian walks by faith, and not by sight. Just before Jesus was crucified He said : " And, I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." (John, 12; 32.) So He draws you and He draws me. And so also by His love He would draw every individual in all the world to Him. Let us not resist the drawings of the Holy Spirit, but come to the Lord Jesus Christ and love Him with our whole heart. SCARLET RAGS. SINS OF DEEPEST DYE. My dear young friends: I suppose you all have heard the cry of a certain man who goes through the streets calling out " rags, bones and old iron." After this man has passed through the various streets, and his large sack is well filled with what he has gathered from street to street, he takes them all to his home, and even- tually, when he has collected a large pile of rags, they are made up into great bales and sent off to the factories, where they are made into paper. But before the factory man can use them, the rags of different colors must all be separated. The white rags are placed on one pile, and the col- ored rags upon another. The white rags are then taken and manufactured into white paper, oftentimes into writing paper, such as you and I use when we write letters to our friends. The colored rags, which are made of cotton, are washed and bleached, and then, by the aid of Objects used : Pieces of scarlet and crimson cotton cloth, and some red blotting paper. 203 204 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. salts and in various other ways, they take out the dark colors, until at last the rags are left white, when they also are manufactured into paper. But when they are sorting and separating them, they oftentimes come upon some rags which are the color of these which I now hold in my hand. This lighter color is called scarlet, and this one of darker color is called crimson. Now, the man who makes the paper can use the rags of various colors, but when he comes to these rags which are colored with scarlet and crimson, he is not able to use them at all In manufacturing white paper. He cannot bleach them, for these colors cannot be removed in any manner. So, after the manufacturer has a large collection of these crimson and scarlet rags, they are all ground up, the same as the white rags, but instead of mak- ing them into writing paper, they are manufac- tured into this red blotting paper. And this is the only service which can be made of them. When the prophet Isaiah was upon earth, hun- dreds of years ago, and when the people of Is- rael were very wicked and God was greatly dis- pleased with them, the prophet called upon them to repent of their sins and turn to God, and in order that they might not be too much discour- aged because of their sins and guilt, the prophet said to them, " Though your sins be as scarlet, SINS OF DEEPEST DYE. 20$ they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah I : 1 8.) The prophet sought to show them that though their sins were so grievous that no hope could be expected from any human power, yet if they would turn to God in true repentance He would give them pardon and salvation. There is not a boy or girl here this morning who has not often disobeyed God. Oftentimes we do not realize what great sinners we are in the sight of God, but at other times the Holy Spirit reveals to us our sins, and when we see our sins as they really are, we are apt to feel that God might not be willing to forgive such great sinners, and then it is that this passage of Scrip- ture comes to us and gives us great comfort, by the assurance that ** though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." One time John, one of the disciples of Jesus, when he had grown old and had been banished by a wicked ruler to the. island of Patmos, when God would comfort Him, He gave him a view of heaven, and when he looked into heaven he saw many wonderful and very beautiful things. Among the other things, he saw a great many people who had on white robes, and he asked the angel who these were, and the angel replied 206 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. and said, <' These are they who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Rev. 7: 14.) Soyouandlmay come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will place upon us the robes of His own righteousness, take away our sins and our guilt, and make us pure, and holy and right, and then when you and I die we also may enter into heaven above, and be one of that throng who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. I pray that you all may desire to be clothed with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Give your heart to Him, and give to Him your whole lives in humble service. Hymn: « Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." ROPES. HABITS AND HOW THEY BECOME STRONG. My dear BOYS AND GIRLS: I have brought this morning a piece of rope, and also some dif- ferent kinds of string. If I take this rope and try to break it, I find that it is impossible. I do not believe that any five or six men in this audi- ence could pull with sufficient strength to break this rope. I am sure that no twenty boys in this room could pull hard enough to break it. Here is a very strong string. Perhaps a couple of boys, possibly four boys, might be able to break it. But here is a thinner string. Possibly I may be able to break this. Yes, I can, but with great difficulty. It takes all the strength I have to break it. Now, here is some that is thinner still. It is about as thick as heavy thread. I can break it very easily. But now, when I take this heavy rope and cut off a piece, if I unwind these different strands, I Objects used : A piece of rope and several pieces of string. 207 208 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. find that this rope is made by twisting smaller ropes together. If I untwist this smaller rope, which I have taken out of the larger rope, I find that it is also made of smaller ropes, or strings. If I take these smaller strings, and untwist them, I find that they are made of still smaller string ; if I take any of these smaller strings out of the rope, I can break them easily, but when I twist several of them together, I cannot break them. I think that these smaller cords, out of which this rope is made, will very fittingly illustrate habits. It is a very dangerous thing to form bad habits. We should be very careful to form good ones, but bad ones are very dangerous. The boy who remains away from Sunday-school but once, thinks little of it. The boy who remains away from church, or stays home from school, or disobeys his parents, or spends the evenings on the streets, instead of in the house reading good books, or breaks the Sabbath, or does any one of many things, may think very Httle of these things, but do you know that when we go on re- peating the same thing over and over again, the habit grows stronger and stronger until at last we are not able to break loose from that habit. There are men here to-day who think that they can stop smoking, and yet they began with only HOW HABITS BECOME STRONG. 209 an occasional cigarette or a cigar, until the habit has grown upon them, and now possibly they think they are able to stop, but when they undertake to break off smoking, they find that it is a very difficult task, and very few who under- take it succeed permanently. The old habit is likely to overcome them again and again. So it is with swearing, and with telling false- hoods, and with being dishonest, and with drink- ing liquor, and everything that we do. These habits at last become very strong, until we are not able to break loose from them. Now, if you take one of these strong habits from which a man is not able to break loose, and untwist it, you will find that it is made up of a repetition of small habits. It is made strong by doing the same thing over and over again. It is just the same as when I take this spool of thread and rap it around the feet of a boy. I can wrap it around and around, and while it would be easy for him to break the thread if it was wrapped once or twice, or three or four times around his feet, yet after I have succeeded in placing it ten or twelve or fifteen times around his feet, he is not able to walk at all. I could tie his hands, by wrapping this small thread around and around, just a few times. At first it could be broken, but after a little it be- 2IO OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN., comes so strong that he is not able to break it at all. So it is with habits, when we do the same things day after day, the habit becomes stronger and stronger day by day, and year by year, until at last Satan has the poor victim bound hand and foot, and he is absolutely helpless. No one is able to come and snap the cords, and set this poor helpless prisoner free, until God in His grace comes and liberates him from the evil hab- its with which he has bound himself, or with which he has permitted Satan to bind him. It is very important that in the very beginning of life, we should form the habit of doing those things which are right. The doing of the right may at first afford us but very little pleasure, yet we are to continue to do right, and after a while it will become pleasant for us to do right. At first it may not be very pleasant for a boy to go to school. He prefers not to exert himself; not to put forth any mental effort. But after he becomes accustomed to going to school, and to put forth mental effort, it becomes more and more natural to him, and finally he comes to love study, and after he has completed his studies in the primary school, he goes to the intermediate, and to the grammar school, and possibly to col- lege, and continues to be a student all his life. So it is with going to church ; those who begin HOW HABITS BECOME STRONG. 2 1 I when they are young, and go regularly, Sunday after Sunday, become regular church attendants all their lives, and grow to be good men and good women. Habits are formed very much like the channel of a river. Gradually, year after year, the river wears its course deeper and deeper, until finally through the soft soil and the hard rock, through the pleasant meadow and the beautiful wood- lands, it has worn out for itself a very deep chan- nel in which it continues to flow, sometimes hun- dreds of miles, to the ocean. So the mind, by repeated action, marks out its course, and whether the mental effort or manual work be pleasant or difficult, we become so ac- customed to it, that we go on day by day, and year by year, through all our lives, comfortably doing the same thing. The Bible gives very wise instruction to parents when it says, " Train up a child in the way he should go : and when he is old, he will not depart from it." ( Prov. 22:6.) It has also been wisely said, " Sow an act and you reap a habit ; sow a habit and you reap a character ; sow a character and you reap a destiny." WATCH AND CASE. THE SOUL AND THE BODY. My little men and women : These older people who are sitting back of you will, of course, have to keep very quiet, and be careful not to whisper while I preach an Object Sermon to you, and then afterward you will not disturb them, but will be very attentive and listen while I preach to the older folks. Now, boys and girls, what is this that I hold in my hand? (Many voices, "A watch.") I expected that you would say it was a watch. Every boy knows a watch when he sees it, and every boy desires to have a watch of his own — one which he can carry in his pocket, and one which will tell him the time of day whenever he looks at it. But you cannot be sure, even from appear- ances, that this is absolutely a watch. It might be only a watch case. In order to tell whether Objects used : A watch case, from which the works can be easily removed. Any jeweler will be able to loan you such an old case and superannuated works which cannot be injured. 212 SOUL AND BODY. 21 3 it is a watch, let us open it. After all, it is not a watch. It is only a watch-case. You would not wish to spend your money when you expect to get a watch, and on reaching horne find that you have been deceived, and that you had noth- ing but a watch-case ? Now, boys and girls, what is this ? (holding up the works of the watch) "A Watch." This time you are right, this is the watch. It is a watch without a case around it. Now we will put the works into the case, and then we will have a complete watch. The works and the case together constitute a watch. You have all, I suppose, been at a funeral, and you have seen the body of the dead man or woman or child lying in the coffin. Unless somebody has told you differently, you may possibly have thought the person whom you had known was lying there in the coffin. But that was not the fact. Every man, woman and child consists of a soul and a body, and when a person dies the soul returns to God, who gave it. God made our body out of the dust of the ground, and when the spirit leaves the body, it is a dead body, and it begins to decay, and soon becomes offensive, and so we bury the body out of our sight, putting it again in the ground. It is not so, however, with the soul. That is 214 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. a spirit. When God had made Adam out of the dust of the ground, He breathed into his nostrils the breath of Hfe, and man became a Hving soul. Now, this soul never dies. God has created it to live forever and ever, throughout all eternity. Those who are good and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will be received at death to dwell forever with the Lord. And those who are wicked and do not repent of their sins, God will banish for- ever from His presence ; for sin is hateful in the sight of God, and He cannot look upon it with any degree of allowance. The moment you look upon a body, without being able to tell how, you can nevertheless quickly distinguish between one who is asleep and one who is really dead. Even animals can tell a dead body. When a dead horse lies along the road, it is very difficult to drive a live horse near to the dead horse. The living horse knows at once that the other is dead, although we do not know how he knows it. Now, I want to show you that death does not affect the existence of the soul. I will now lift these works out of the watch case. I now hold the case in my left hand, and the works in my right hand. As these works consti- tute the real watch, so the soul constitutes the real person, and as these wheels and hands con- SOUL AND BODY. 21$ tinue to move, and to keep time regularly, even after they have been removed from the case, so the soul, when God removes it from the body, continues to exist and to be possessed of all that makes the reasoning, thinking, immortal and in- destructible being of man. I might take this case, which I hold in my left hand, and bury it in the ground, but the works would not be affected by this fact, but would continue to run on just the same. Sup- pose I were to leave this case buried in the ground until it had all rusted away. Then sup- pose that, as a chemist, I could gather up all these particles again and make them anew into a watch case, and then put the works back into the case which had been restored or made anew, that would represent the resurrection of the body and the re-uniting of the soul with the body, which will take place at the resurrection day. Some years ago there was a great chemist, whose name was Faraday. It happened one time in his laboratory that one of the students, by accident, knocked from the table a silver cup, which fell into a vessel of acid. The acid im- mediately destroyed or dissolved it, and the silver all disappeared, the same as sugar dissolves or melts in a tumbler of water. When Professor Faraday came in, and was told what had hap- 2l6 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. pened, he took some chemicals and poured them into the acid in which the silver had disappeared. As soon as these chemicals came together, the acid began to release the silver, and particle by particle the silver settled at the bottom of the vessel. The acid was poured off and the silver was all carefully gathered up and sent to a silver- smith, who melted the silver and made it anew into a silver cup of the same form, design and beauty. It was the same cup made anew. Sy, my young friends, our bodies may dissolve in the grave and entirely disappear, but God is able to raise them up again. He tells us in the Bible that these bodies which are buried in corruption shall be raised in incorruption, that these mortal bodies shall be raised and shall put on immortality. I trust that I have illustrated to you how the soul and the body are separated when we die, and God's Word assures us that they shall be re- united again in the morning of the resurrection, for all these dead bodies " shall hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth." It matters not whether they were buried in the ground, or in the water, they shall arise from every sea and from every cemetery, and every grave in all the world, and shall live anew and forever, either in happiness with God in heaven, or in misery with Satan in eternal punishment. KEYS. HOW TO UNLOCK THE HUMAN HEART. My dear boys and girls: I have here this morning quite a variety of locks. Here are also quite a variety of keys. You will notice that there are several more keys than there are locks. Now, I suppose that we would have no very great difficulty in selecting the keys that would be most likely to turn backward and forward the bolts in these different locks. We would naturally ex- pect that these larger keys would fit these larger locks and the smaller keys would be adapted to lock and unlock the smaller ones. Here is this large lock ; I suppose it very possi- ble that this large key may be suited to lock and unlock it. Yes, it just fits. You see how it turns the bolt in and out as I turn the key. Now, here is another lock ; let us see if we can find a key that will fit it. This key seems about the size, but after passing it into the lock it seems to strike something that prevents it from turning, Objects used : A few locks and keys of various kinds. 217 2l8 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. and consequently is of no service. Let us try another. That seems to work much better, and turns the bolt backward and forward. Here is still another lock ; let us try this key with this lock. That seems to work very well. Possibly we might be able to lock and unlock this other also. Let us try it. Yes, this key fits both these locks. This key is what the lock- smith calls a skeleton key. It is so made as to avoid the obstacles which are placed in the dif- ferent locks to prevent them from being opened by all varieties of keys. Here is a still smaller lock. This lock has a very peculiar keyhole, and I know at once that there is no need of trying to unlock it with most of the keys which I have spread out here. I recognize it at once as what is called a Yale lock. The key is thin, is bent in various ways, and along the edge has several notches. Let us try a couple of these keys. This one seems to fit very well to the grooves. It passes into the lock, but I cannot turn the bolt. Let us try another. Yes, this seems to be the one that was made by the locksmith to fasten and unfasten this lock. A key then is simply something which unlocks the door or the gate, so you may open it and pass inside. Now, there are a great many kinds of keys. Sometimes a book is called a key to HOW GOD UNLOCKS THE HEART. 219 business. Perhaps another book is called a key to the study of medicine; another the key to the study of law. And so there may be a great many kinds of books which are called keys. When properly used or studied they open the way for a clear understanding of how to transact business, how to study medicine and how to study law. And so there are various books that are keys to the understanding of very, very many subjects. When you indicate to me the kind of difficulty that you have to overcome, it would be reasonably easy to indicate the kind of book you need in order successfully to meet that difficulty. When I find a book that teaches a boy good business habits and helps him to become a good business man, I know that book was written with that object in view. When I find a book that teaches one how to understand the human system, the nature of disease and the character of the remedies which are to be used when peo- ple are sick, I know that book was written with a view to help people to understand the nature of disease and the character of medicine. Just so it is with every other book. Each is like the lock and the key, for the locks have inside a pe- culiar sort of winding way, and when I find a key that exactly fits into this winding passage I know immediately that the locksmith designed that the 220 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. key should fit into that particular lock and turn back the bolt. Now, God wants to get into the human heart, and I find that God has a key with which to un- lock It. I do not think you would be long in guessing what book God has made the key with which to unlock the human heart. I think that every boy and girl would at once say that it is the Bible. Yes; it is the Bible. It fits exactly into the all the wards and chambers, and winding passages which characterize each and every need of the human heart. The moment I bring this wonderful key of divine truth to the human heart I find that the lock and key were both made by the same infinite Creator. Some locks are very complicated and intricate, and the keys are also very peculiar. They are made espe- cially for that particular lock, and no other key In all the world will unlock it. The moment I get that particular key and turn It around In the lock I know at once that both the lock and the key were made by the same Individual, and that the lock was made to be opened by no other key. So God has created the human heart and made it very difficult to be opened, and there is no key In all the world that can open It except the Bible. As a robber or a burglar may try to get Into a HOW GOD UNLOCKS THE HEART. 221 house by the use of a skeleton key, or by pick- ing the lock, so men have often tried to gain admission into the human heart by the use of various substitutes for the genuine and the real key. They have tried amusement, and wealth, and sinful pleasure, and very, very many things; but they never succeed in getting into the inner sacredness of the human heart. Unless the heart is opened by God's Word, and the Holy Spirit is admitted so that God can take possession, there is always a sense of loneliness, a sense of dissat- isfaction, a desire for something that the indi- vidual does not possess, he is at unrest, he is restless and dissatisfied, like a boy or girl who is away from home, and has a homesick longing to return to that home. You never will be able to understand the hidden mystery of your own spiritual life and spiritual being until you use the Word of God to help you to solve the mystery. The Word of God is not only designed to unlock the human heart, so that God and the Holy Spirit may gain admission, but this key is also designed to lock the door against Satan and sin and keep them out of our hearts. Unless you daily use your Bibles to lock your heart against evil thoughts, and wicked purposes, and sinful desires ; you will find that they will steal into your heart, and like 222 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. the evil spirit that had been driven out and after- ward returned and brought seven other spirits more wicked than himself, so sin and Satan will again take possession of your heart and lock it against God and all that is good. HUSKS. THE DISAPPOINTED PLEASURE-SEEKER. I hold in my hand what I suppose most of you have seen, and perhaps many of you have eaten. It is what boys oftentimes call "Johnny bread." It looks very much like the long pods which grow on the honey locust trees. It is sometimes called "Johnny bread," because some some people mistakingly think that this was the kind of locust that John the Baptist ate when he came in the Wilderness, preaching that the king- dom of heaven was at hand and that men should repent. We are told in the Scriptures that he ate locusts and wild honey. The locusts which he ate were very much like our grasshoppers, such as are still eaten by very poor people in the East. In the 15th chapter of the gospel by St. Luke, we have a very beautiful parable, called the para- ble of the prodigal son. In connection with this Object used: The sweet husks which look like the large pods of the sweet locust trees in our country. These husks can be had in candy stores and at the peanut stands in large cities. 223 224 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. husk which I hold in my hand, I want to tell you something about this prodigal son. In this parable Jesus tells of a very kind father who had two sons, but the younger son was dis- satisfied and discontented. He was a boy very much like many who live in this country and at this age. He was a boy who wanted to have his own way. He thought that his father was an " old fogy." The son wanted gay company and gay clothing. He wanted to travel and see some- thing of the world; so he asked his father to give him the money which would come to him at his father's death, in order that he might go immedi- ately and have his own way, and have a good time, as he supposed. His father was very sad, for he had tried to bring up his boy in the right way. But when he could not prevail upon him, and his son would not listen to him any longer, but insisted upon having the money and going away from home, the father granted his request. When the money had been counted out, the son gathered it all up, bade his father and brother and all friends good-bye, telling them what a happy time he was going to have, and started out for a far country. This same desire to see something of the world has induced many boys to run away from home. THE PLEASURE SEEKER. 225 Many years ago, when there were numerous ships that went out on long voyages to catch whales, oftentimes boys who had run away from home used to go with these ships. Now, how- ever, restless and discontented boys, who have read worthless and deceptive books, sometimes go to live a wild life on the plains in the West. Sometimes boys even become tramps. Scores and sometimes hundreds of them can be met at any time by going to the Breakfast Association, in Philadelphia, or some of the Rescue Homes, in New York, where poor, wandering boys and tramps are given a free meal on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. Prodigals now, as in the time when Christ lived, have a very hard time of it. They start out with high hopes, sometimes with money in their pockets, with fine clothing and bright anticipations, expecting to have a good time in the far country which they are seeking. But their experience is always the same. When this prodigal came to the far country, for a few weeks, or possibly a few months, he had pJlenty of money. He thought his money would always last. Bad men and women gath- ered around him, for they all wanted to enjoy what his money would secure for them. But it didn't take long ; his money was soon spent, and when his money was gone his pretended friends 226 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. were gone also. He soon found himself penni- less, friendless and hungered. He had to go out and seek for work. Perhaps he had been too much indulged at home. He had never learned a trade, and possibly had never learned to do work of any kind, and so there was nothing for him to do but accept the humblest and meanest kind of labor. He was a Jew, and for a Jew to tend swine or hog5 was one of the meanest things in all the world. And yet he was willing because of his poverty and his want, to do even this most degrading service. This boy who wanted to be his own master now became the most menial of slaves, even to the tending of swine. He wanted gay company, but he had only pigs for his com- panions. He wanted wine and feasting, but now no one even offered him husks to eat. He left his home to seek happiness, but he found only misery. These husks which I have here, which some boys call "Johnny bread," are exactly what this wayward, disappointed, disheartened, hun- gry boy was given to feed to the swine which he was hired to tend. He was so hungry that he would have been glad to eat these husks with the pigs, but no one gave him any to eat. When this wayward boy was thus brought down to poverty and hunger in that far-off coun- THE PLEASURE SEEKER. 22/ try, while he was tending the swine, he began to think. If he had only stopped to think before he left his home, he would never have started away. He would surely have known that he was better off at home than anywhere else. But now that misery and want had come to him, we are told that "he came to himself." That is, he came to his senses. It was sentiment which led him from his home. It was sense that brought him back. The trouble with boys and girls, and with older people too, is that they do not stop to think. They follow their fancies and sentiments, and they are led astray in this wag. God wants us to stop and think, and He says, " Come, let us reason together." God does not ask any unreasonable thing of us. He simply wants to treat us as thoughtful beings, but we want to fol- low our own inclination and our own desire. God treats us very kindly. He gives us every needy comfort and every daily blessing, and yet often- times people are discontented and dissatisfied with God ; they complain and think they have a hard time of it. Instead of being faithful and true to God, they turn away from him. They desire to forsake God and serve Satan. They desire to accept what Satan says, and so turn away from God and all that is good. But we have the same experience over and over again that this young 228 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. man had. He went out with fine clothes and plenty of money, and with high hopes ; but he returned home in rags, without a penny in his pocket, disappointed, penitent and ashamed. But I must not forget to tell you, that when he had journeyed many a week, toiling wearily over the long road that had separated him from his father's house, at last he came near his old home. In going away he had nearly broken his father's heart. With sorrow he was bringing his aged father down to the grave. But his father still loved his wayward boy, and expected him home. As he sat watching, at the door looking over the hills, he saw the returning pro- digal when he was yet a great way off. This lov- ing and forgiving father had compassion upon him, ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and welcomed him back home again. The way- ward boy's heart was all broken up by such kind treatment. He said to his father, "Father I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son ; make me as one of thy hired servants." But the father called his servants and com- manded them to bring the best robe and put it upon this boy who had given him so much sor- row ; to bring the ring and put it upon his finger ; and then to kill the fatted calf, so that they might THE PLEASURE SEEKER. 229 make a great feast, in order that all might be made very glad, because this his son, who was dead, was alive again, he who had been lost was found. So when we come back to God after we have sinned against riim, and are repentent and sorry for what we have done, in love and great tender- ness He forgives our sins. And like the prodigal, in the time of his sorest misery, found in his father's heart the greatest mercy, so you and I may come to God and know that in the day of our distress He is always willing to love us and to forgive us as His own dear children. Let us be careful not to sin against Him, and then we shall not have the humiliation and the sorrow of comiiig back, like this poor prodigal, when he returned in rags and poverty to his father's house. PEARLS. ONE OF GREAT PRICE. My young friends : Suspended from this string, I have a large pearl, which I found in an oyster. I thought it might be valuable, and I took it to a jeweler, but he soon told me that it was not worth much, because it was not perfect. It is unusually large, but to be valuable it must be perfectly round and have no defects. When Jesus was upon the earth He told of a merchant who went in search of a valuable pearl, and when he had found it, he sold all that he had and he bought that pearl, in order that he might have the largest and the most valuable jewel in all the world. Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, had a pearl that was worth three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and one day she dissolved this costly pearl, and drank it in a glass of wine to the honor of Mark Antony, one of the Roman rulers. There are pearls to-day worth two and three hundred thousand dollars, and possibly more. Object used : A pearl of any kind or size. 230 THE PEARLS OF GREAT PRICE. 23 1 The pearl in this parable is the symbol of sal- vation. Now, salvation costs more, and is worth more than ail the farms, and houses, and stores, and wealth of all this nation, and all the nations of all the globe, and all the created universe about us. It cost the life of the Son of God, and it is desirable, therefore, that you and I should obtain it, because of the many blessings it se- cures to us, both in this world and in the world to come. For two thousand years men from all the largest nations of the earth have gone to the island of Ceylon, seeking pearls. It is a barren and deserted island, but during the months of February, March and April, every night at ten o'clock, many boats sail out about ten miles, to the place where men, with large leaden weights at their feet, dive down through the water until they come to the banks where the large pearl oyster has his home. They quickly pick up sev- eral of these oysters and drop them into a basket of net-work, and in about sixty or seventy seconds are again drawn up by their companions into the boat. Men and women could not have pearls if it were not that these men are willing to risk their lives by diving way down under the water to obtain them. No one could secure salvation 232 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. had not Jesus left His throne in heaven and come down to this wicked world to suffer and die, that He might make atonement for our sins upon the cross, so that you and I might not perish but have everlasting life — so that you and I might have salvation, both here and in heaven. When I went to the jeweler, he told me that these rough parts on this pearl which I have could not be removed and the rough places poHshed. Diamonds have to be cut and polished. Many precious and costly jewels when found look only like rough stones in the field, but the pearl is perfect when found ; nothing can be done to make it more perfect or more valuable. Just so is the salvation of Jesus perfect; no human wisdom can improve upon it. The best book that any man ever wrote has been equaled by what some other man has thought and written. The religion of the heathen can be greatly im- proved, but the Bible and the salvation which it reveals, man has never been able to equal, much less to improve upon. To-day, as thousands of years ago, pearls are worn as ornaments to the body, but the salvation which Jesus Christ came to bring is an ornament to the soul that possesses it. The pearl is valuable and desirable, because it cannot easily be stolen away from its owner. THE PEARLS OF GREAT PRICE. 233 When Jesus was upon the earth they did not have banks, with large iron safes where people could deposit their money and jewels for safe- keeping. There were many robbers then, and people buried their money and valuables. Often the places where these were concealed were dis- covered, and then all that they had was stolen. A pearl is small, and could therefore easily be hidden in a place of safety. If war occurred, or for any reason a man and his family had to flee from their home or their country, they could eas- ily carry even the most valuable pearls. The owner could hide it in his mouth, or even swallow it if necessary. If a man had much gold, it was too heavy to carry, and it could readily be dis- covered and stolen. But a pearl was not so difficult to hide and keep. The Bible tells us that salvation is something that the world cannot give, and which the world cannot take away. Daniel had this pearl of great price, and even though the king cast him into the den of lions, he could not get it away from him. His three companions with those hard names, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, had this pearl of salvation, and even in the fur- nace of fire it was not destroyed or taken from them. If you have this pearl of salvation, you can keep it in spite of all the wicked people in 234 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. the world ; you can hide it away in your heart, and all the armies of the world cannot take it away from you. In sickness or in health it will be yours, and even death itself can not rob you of it. It will stay with you in this world, and it will be your joy and gladness in the world to come. As the merchantman went out seeking the most valuable pearl, so all the world is to-day seeking for something which will satisfy and render their owners happy. There are many good things in this world, but none of them can make any one contented and happy, like the salvation which Jesus gives when we repent of our sins and in faith accept of Him as our Saviour. Be- fore you get, or even desire any other pearl, I want each of you to accept of this ''Pearl of great price," which Jesus offers you. FROGS. THE PLAGUES IN EGYPT. My dear young friends : I am sure you will all be able to tell me what this object is which I hold in my hand (voices: " frogs, bullfrogs"). Well, it looks exactly like a bullfrog, and was made to imitate a bullfrog. These bullfrogs are made of paper, and were made in Japan. I bought these frogs that I might show them to you and preach you an object sermon on the subject of the " Ten Plagues in Egypt." You all remember how Joseph was sold by his brethren into bondage in Egypt, how he was cast into prison and afterward taken out and made prime minister over all that land, how during the seven years of plenty he laid up corn for the seven years of famine which followed, and afterward his father and his brethren, in all seventy persons who constituted Jacob's family, Objects used : Some paper frogs which can be purchased at any Japanese store for five cents each. They can also often be had at toy stores. A live frog in a covered aquarium would serve even better. 235 236 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. came down into Egypt to be fed. After two hundred and fifty years this family had increased until they numbered nearly two millions of people. Pharaoh had made slaves of them, and compelled them to work in the brickyards of Egypt, and the task-masters were very cruel to them ; they beat them with cruel whips, and demanded ex- cessive labor from them. These people were the chosen people of God, and their voice was lifted to God their Father for deliverance from all the wrongs which they suffered. God heard their prayer, and raised up Moses to deliver them out of Egyptian bondage. When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to request him to let the Children of Israel go from Egypt to the land of Canaan, which God had promised to Abraham and to his seed after him, Pharaoh would not consent to let them go. He was a proud, wicked king, and God sent ten great plagues upon him and his country, to humble him and cause him to do as God desired that he should do. In the first plague the rivers were turned to blood. This plague lasted seven days, and at the end of that time Moses stretched forth his rod, and all the rivers and ponds and lakes of water brought forth great frogs like these through- out all the land. They came not by hundreds, THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT. 23/ but by thousands and millions, until they cov- ered all that land. They were in the houses of all the people. The king's servants were busy sweeping and carrying them out of the palace, and yet they stole into the rooms, and at night when the king would go to lie down he would find these frogs in his bed-chamber and upon his bed; and when his bakers went to make bread for the king they would find them in the bread- troughs in which they kneaded or mixed the bread, and in the ovens where they baked the bread, and everywhere in the palace and in the huts of the common people, upon the streets and in the roads, wherever the people stepped they tramped upon them, and the king's carriage could not be driven through the streets without crushing thousands of them. The plague was so great that Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and entreated them to call upon their God that He would remove the frogs; and when God heard the prayer of Moses and Aaron the frogs died, and the people gathered them up in great heaps, and the water of the river sent up a great stench, and these dead and putrifying frogs in the streets caused the air to be loaded with a a great stench that filled the nostrils of all the people. After this plague of frogs came the plague of 2^8 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. lice, when all the dust of the country was turned into lice, and after that the plague of the flies, and so on through to the last plague, which was the slaying of the first-born, of which I will tell you in another sermon. When you go home, I wish you would turn to the second book in the Old Testament, the Book of Exodus, and in the early chapters read about these various plagues of Egypt. When you read the account of the various plagues, you will see how after each affliction Pharaoh's heart seemed to relent. He would consent for a time that the Children of Israel might be liberated from their bondage and depart from Egypt and start on their journey to the land of Canaan. When he was in affliction he would make good promises, but as soon as God had removed the plague, and the sorrow of his people seemed to be ended for an hour or two, he hardened his heart against God, and refused to do what he had promised to do. Each time he refused to do that which he had agreed, and caused that the Children of Israel should continue in their bondage. We may think that we are not wicked like Pharaoh was. We may not be wicked in the same degree, but we are wicked after the same nature and kind, and so God brings upon us various providences, some of which are not very THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT. 239 pleasant. He is seeking to educate us by the trials and sorrows and disappointments and afflic- tions which He permits to come upon us, so that we will be more obedient, and more faithful, and more Christlike. But I suppose you have seen people who were just like Pharaoh. When they were sick they would promise to become Chris- tians, and live good and right lives, and join the Church and be faithful followers of Christ all the rest of their lives, and yet when God would raise them up from their bed of sickness they would forget all their promises, and generally, as it always was in the case of Pharaoh, their hearts became harder and harder, and instead of being better after God had raised them up and 'made them strong and well, or removed some trial or affliction, they became worse than before. Have you not found something of this also in your own experience? When you have desired something which you have asked your father or mother to secure for you, you have promised that you would run on all the errands they asked, or that you would go to school and study your lessons very faithfully, or that you would go to bed cheerfully at night without complaining, or made them some other promises ; and yet, after you have received the object you asked for, you have failed to keep your promise. 240 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. Or, go a step further, has it not been so with what you have promised God that you would do ? You may have entered into covenant with Him, made certain promises, and then afterward forgot to fulfill those promises. Let us always remem- ber when we make promises to God, or to our parents, that we are not to be like Pharaoh. After God has answered our prayers we should not forget to be obedient to Him and to keep our promises. Pharaoh was a great covenant-breaker, but when at last he gave the Children of Israel per- mission to leave Egypt, and then broke his pro- mise and followed them with his army that he might destroy them, God opened up the waters of the Red Sea and the Children of Israel fled from before Pharaoh, and when this wicked king and covenant-breaker saw them, he pursued after them with his horses, his chariots and his army, and when they were all in the midst of the sea, God took away His restraining power from the water which stood piled up on both sides of the way along which the Children of Israel had marched safely, and the water came down in great torrents and buried this wicked king and all his horses and his chariots and his men. So God destroyed this great covenant-breaking king, because after all of His judgments and wonderful THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT. 24 1 miracles which He had wrought before Pharaoh, in order to teach him that Jehovah was God, Pharaoh's repentances were all a mere sham. This was a great object sermon which God did before the eyes of all these thousands of the Chil- dren of Israel, and should teach you and me that we are to be honest in all our covenants with God, and be obedient to the will of God in all that we do and say. BLOOD. the feast of the passover. Children of the covenant-keeping king: Last Sunday I talked to you about Pharaoh, as the great covenant-breaking king. I showed you the frogs, and told you how after all God's long- suffering with Pharaoh, He eventually destroyed him and his army in the midst of the Red Sea. Now, to-day, I have this bottle, which has this deep red colored fluid in it. This is red ink. But I have brought it not to talk to you about ink, but to talk you about that which is the same color, namely of blood. You remember how there were ten plagues in Egypt, the first was the turning of the rivers into blood, then the bringing up of the frogs from all the rivers and lakes, and then the turning of the dust into lice, and then the plague of the flies, and then of the murrain which destroyed the cattle, and of the boils which came upon all the people, and of the lightning, and rain, and hail which destroyed man and beast, then the locusts which Object used : A bottle of red ink to represent blood. 242 THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. 243 came and ate up everything that remained, after- ward the three days of continuous darkness, and after these nine plagues God had yet in store one great plague which he purposed to bring upon Pharaoh and his people. After each of these plagues which I have named, Pharaoh promised that he would let the Children of Israel go, but then hardened his heart, and refused to keep his promise. At last God was going to bring upon him and his people the greatest plague of all. (Ex. 12: 1-28.) God told Moses and Aaron to command the Children of Israel that on the tenth day of the month each family should select a lamb or a kid, and shut it up until the fourteenth day, and that in the evening of that day they should kill it. This was to be a male lamb, one year old, and without spot or blemish. The blood, as it flowed from the neck of the lamb, was to be caught in a dish, and with a bunch of hyssop was to be sprinkled upon the door-posts or the door frame, both above and around the door, so that the Angel of Death which God purposed to send upon that eventful night, when he should pass throughout all the land of Egypt and see the blood upon the door-posts and upon the lintel over the door, he would pass by or " pass-over " these houses of the Israelites and would not smite 244 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. their first-born with death, as would be the case in every home of the Egyptians throughout all that land. After they had sprinkled the blood upon the door-posts, they were to roast the entire lamb, and they were to eat it with unleavened bread, which was bread baked without yeast, and eat it also with bitter herbs, while at the same time their long, loose garments were to be tucked up in their belts which went around their waists, or as the people in those days would have said, with their loins girded. They were to have their shoes on their feet, and a cane or staff in their hand, so as to be all ready to start out upon their journey at any moment. At midnight, after these Israelites had eaten this "Passover" meal, and had also destroyed, by burning, any portions of the lamb which might remain, the Angel of Death passed through all the land of Egypt and slew the first-born, the oldest in every house, where there was no blood sprinkled upon the door-posts. As soon as the angel had passed by, the people rushed out into the streets in terror and alarm, for in every home there was one or two or more persons lying dead. The Egyptians brought out their jewels and gold and valuables, and offered, not only to let the Israelites retain THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. 245 the jewels which they had already borrowed, but to give them more if they would only depart im- mediately, so that God should bring no further afflictions upon them. Pharaoh consented, and immediately the Children of Israel started on their long journey to the Promised Land. This eventful night was called, and is to this day called, ^'the night of the Passover," and to this day the Jewish people celebrate the Feast of the Passover. It occurs in the spring of the year, and corresponds very closely to our Church festival day, known as Good Friday, at which time we commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ upon Calvary. You will see from what I have said how the lamb which was chosen was a figure of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, slain from the founda- tion of the world to take away your sins, and my sins, and the sins of all who would believe upon Him. As this passover lamb was of a year old, without spot and without blemish, so Jesus Christ was perfect, without blemish. He never committed a sin of any kind; He was but thirty years old when He was crucified, and consequently was young in years. As the blood sprinkled upon the door-posts and the lintels of the doors was the sign by which the Angel of the Lord was to know the 246 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. homes of the Israelites and deliver their first- born from death, so the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and delivers us from eternal death. You and I and all mankind must die, but after this death of the body there comes everlasting Hfe or spiritual death. Now, when the spirit leaves the body, or is separated from these bodies, we speak of it as dead. The death of a person is just the same as when wheat is sown into ground and is said to die, while, however, the life that there was in the seed only springs up Into the stalk and grows into a new life and into a muiti- plied fruitfulness. The life of each grain of wheat does not cease to exist, but is simply separated from the seed or grain which was sown in the ground, and lives in the new plant and new grain which springs up. So also when the hfe or the soul leaves the body, the body is dead, because it is separated from the soul. In like manner also, if the soul is sepa- rated from God, the Bible speaks of the individual as being spiritually dead, even while yet hving in this world. Now, if because of sin my soul should be banished forever from God's presence, and be eternally separated from God in the next world, that eternal separation of the soul from God is spoken of in the Bible as eternal death. THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. 24/ From this eternal death you and I can only be delivered by the blood of the Son of God. Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb. Neither is He a dead, but a living Savior. " He ever lives above, For me to intercede ; His all-redeeming love, His precious blood to plead ; His blood atoned for all our race, And sprinkles now the throne of grac^.** THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. Dear young Christians: Last Sunday I told you about the Feast of the Passover, how it came to be instituted, and what it signified. To-day I want to talk to you about the Feast of Taber- nacles. The Feast of the Passover occurred in the spring, nearly corresponding to our Easter, and at such times when the Israelites from every every quarter of the land came up to Jerusalem, as was the custom at the three annual feasts, some provision had to be made for their enter- tainment. At the Feast of the Passover every family liv- ing in Jerusalem had to throw open their home, and entertain under the cover of their own roof, all who came to them. They could not decline to receive the thousands of worshippers who came up to the Feast, but were required to afford them a place of shelter in their homes. Therefore it was that before the Feast of the Passover Jesus sent two of His disciples, and told them to go into the city, and they would find a man bearing Objects used : A green branch of a tree, and a glass of clear water. 248 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 249 a pitcher of water ; they should follow him and ask him to direct them to a room in his house, where Jesus might eat the Passover with His disciples. (Matt. 26: 17; Mark 14: 13.) At the Feast of Tabernacles, which occurred in the fall of the year, after the harvest and the fruit of the vines and the trees had all been gath- ered in, it was very different. At this Feast, when the Israelites came up to Jerusalem, not only those who came from a distance, but even those who lived regularly in the city, were re- quired to tent or live in booths made by simply placing some poles in the ground, with other poles reaching across the top, so as to form a roof or covering. This roof was not shingled, but was formed by laying branches of trees upon the sticks which had been laid across from one pole to the other. (Neh. 8: 14, 15.) You now see why this morning I have chosen this branch of a tree to show you in connection with this sermon. I have chosen this to impress upon your mind the character of the arbors used at the Feast of Tabernacles, the tops of which were formed or made of olive, and willow and pine, myrtle and palm branches. These booths or arbors were to remind the Children of Israel of the journey of their forefathers through the Desert, when for forty long years they did not 250 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. live within the walls or under the roof of any house, but dwelt only in booths. I am sure you and I would like to have looked in upon Jerusalem at the time when one of these Harvest Home festivals was being celebrated. We would hke to have seen the booths on the tops of the houses and along the side of the hills, outside of the walls of the city, sloping down through the valleys and crowding far out into the country upon the Mount of Olives and beyond. We would like to have seen the bright faces of the happy throngs of people as they moved in procession through the streets, waving their palm branches, and to have listened to the music of the trumpeters of the Temple, as they sounded their trumpets twice every hour, throughout the entire day. I am sure we would have been delighted to have looked down upon the festive crowd at night, when instead of waving palm branches, as they did during the day, they carried bright flaming torches, amid the clashing of cymbals and the blast of trumpets. This Feast lasted for eight days. The first day and the last were specially sacred. And now I want to call your attention to this second object which I have, namely this water, and I want to tell you how it was related to and used at this Feast of Tabernacles. On the morning of each THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 251 day, while the smoke of the morning sacrifice was ascending in beautiful wreaths in the still air, a priest bearing a large golden bowl and followed by a long procession of boys and girls, waving palm branches, descended the side of the hill, to the pool of Siloam, which was in a quiet recess at the foot of Mount Moriah, on the sum- mit of which the Temple was built. When he had filled the golden bowl with water from this clear pool, he held it above his head and bore it aloft as he ascended the stairs ; and as the procession entered the Court of the Temple, the trumpets sounded, and all the throngs of people gathered within its walls took up the words of the prophet and sang, " With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation " (Isaiah 12 : 3), and as the priest came to the base of the altar he poured the water from the golden bowl into a silver basin amid shouts and gladness. Upon the eighth day, " the last day, that great day of the feast " (John 7 : 37), the joy was greater than upon any of the other days. The priests in glad procession moved around the altar seven times singing their Psalms. It was at the last Feast of Tabernacles which Jesus attended, that He stood in the midst of this glad assembly, and beheld their joy as they re- membered how God had supplied their fathers 252 OBJECT SERMONS TO CHILDREN. with water in the wilderness, and how He had given them a land of streams, and rivers, and wells of water, and it was then when Jesus heard them crying, ** Hosanna, blessed is He that Cometh in the name of the Lord," that Jesus stood up in the midst of the Temple and of the people and said, ''If any manthirst, let him come unto me and drink." (John 7 : 37.) To those of us who have always lived in the midst of a bountiful supply of fresh, clear, crystal water, these words are not as impressive as they were to the people to whom they were spoken. For their land was surrounded by deserts, and they lived in the midst of nations whose people often fam- ished and died, because there was not a sufficient supply of water to drink. While we live in a country where there is always an abundant supply of water to satisf}^ the thirst of the body, yet spiritually, like these people at the Feast of Tabernacles we have the same spiritual needs that they had, and if you and I thirst for the water of life, if we desire ever- lasting salvation, if we thirst for the knowledge of sacred things and desire to do that which is right, Jesus invites you and me to come to Him, and says to us : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." (Isa. 55:1.) "If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink." THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 2$$ (John 7: 37.) ''Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4: 14.) THE END. Date Due Jl 5 '3J S 1Q OJ i ' ^