Chapter I: Lay My Sins on Jesus (2)

One night the little girl went to bed with a troubled mind, and in her sleep had this strange dream. She thought her father came down-stairs one morning and said that when he awoke he discovered somewhere that during the night he had lost his heart. He could not feel it beating in his breast, and therefore was sure some power had taken it away from him, and he was without a heart. The little girl thought, in her dream, that she heard all the family laugh at this strange story of Daddy, and they said, "Father must have lost his mind," if he thought he had lost his heart, but he only said, putting his hand upon his breast, "My heart is not here, I have lost it somewhere." The little girl was greatly troubled because she thought it was a sure sign that her father would soon die, because he could not live without a heart. Then in her dream a good angel came to her and said: "Dear little girl, your father is right. He has indeed lost his heart. He loves his gold, he loves it so much that he has given himself to the bank and forgotten God. Now, little girl, you can help your father find his heart again, for I am going to tell you where his heart has gone." The angel said: "On yonder shelf you will see a little iron bank; open it up, and you will find buried beneath the coins of this bank your father's heart." She did as the good angel directed, and there, sure enough, amidst the copper and silver coins, she found her Daddy's heart. She was very glad indeed at this find, and in her great joy she awoke from her dream. The next day she told her father this dream which she had had the previous night. He listened to it thoughtfully and said something about foolish little girls who think out strange things in their sleep, and then he turned toward his bank and spent another day, amidst his banking books. But all day long his thoughts were upon his little girl and her foolish dream, but the more he thought about it the less foolish it seemed to him, and at last he said to himself: "Dear little dreamer, God was talking to you in your sleep and was talking to me also. It is true I have lost my heart. It is buried under the gold of my bank. I have loved my gold more than God, and have given my bank my heart. The Good Book says, 'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' My treasure is in my bank. There is my heart also." This message from Dreamland caused him to give his heart to God, and he became a Christian, and then he let God keep his heart for him, and so Jesus found the father's heart and kept it for him forevermore.

To illustrate this, secure a small toy iron bank such as children use for the safe keeping of their pennies. Cut out a piece of cardboard the shape of a heart, and put this inside of the little bank, and at the proper time in the story draw it out and show the children that the bank contained the father's heart, covered up with the money. This money stands for the treasure of the people, and there you will find the people's hearts also. You can also paste upon this heart a number of pennies, so that when you take the heart out it will be literally covered with the treasures. What must be done with this heart that it may be separated from the treasures of gold which will separate the heart forever from heaven? It must be brought to Jesus and a new heart will be given in exchange. Although this heart covered with the gold of this world is therefore very attractive to most people, it is as black as night in the sight of God and the angels.

There was once a boy named William. He was in the habit of doing wicked things. Once he told a great lie about his classmate because he was angry at him, and the teacher punished this classmate, believing that what William said was true. At the next recess William noticed that the scholars kept away from him and looked at him as if they were frightened, but he did not think much of this. When he went back to school that afternoon he saw his teacher looking at him very strangely, and when he went home his mother looked at him and burst into tears. William then ran up into his little room to look himself over and stood before the mirror to see if he could determine what was the matter, and there he saw a terrible sight. By some mysterious power he had become so transparent that his heart showed right out from his body through his thick clothing, and it was a dreadfully black one. His coat was black, but it looked quite white compared with the blackness of his heart that was piercing through his coat, and when he saw this he was ashamed to go out, and hung his head whenever he passed any of his classmates, He tried to run into dark corners where people could not see his heart, but he could not find any hiding-place dark enough to hide his black heart. At last with tears in his eyes he ran to his mother and asked what he should do. He confessed to his mother the big lie he told about his classmate. His mother now led him to the mirror when he had finished his sad story. She said: "See, William, now that you have made this confession, your heart is less black than it was before. I think it will become entirely white if you pray to Jesus to forgive you. Tell your classmate and teacher and the scholars how sorry you are." William said to himself, "I will." That night he prayed long and earnestly and when the morning had come he was astonished to see how much lighter his heart had grown. This pleased him very much and he said: "I don't think I will trouble any more about my heart. It is growing so much lighter that I think the last remnant of the blackness will pass away in a day." So he ran off to school very gladly, but his teacher looked at him very strangely, and the classmates all shrank and ran away from him and he said he was ill and must go home. When he got to his room and looked in the mirror he saw his heart with more intense blackness than ever before. So that night he prayed very earnestly to Jesus to take away his black heart. In the morning he ran off to school in great haste. As soon as the school was opened, he arose before all the scholars and told what a dreadful thing he had done and asked their forgiveness. They all forgave him gladly, and at recess everybody was kind to him and played with him, and best of all when he got home and looked in the mirror he found that there was no great black heart showing through. He was a happy boy again, just as he had been before he told the terrible lie. This little story teaches the big lesson that the sinful black heart can only be made right by bringing it to Jesus.

To illustrate this you open the Bible to some great promise of forgiveness of sin, and place the heart on that promise, and close the Bible. So the sinful heart is now taken away. You open the Bible again at another promise of forgiveness of sin, and there take out of it a white heart, which you have put in there previously, and say, "This represents the heart of forgiveness." You place it back in the Bible and close the Bible tight, and say, "My heart have I hid in his word, and it is safe there forever more, and in his keeping it can never be lost again."

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"BRIGHTEN YOUR CORNER AS A BUSINESS"

OBJECT: An Old-fashioned Candlestick with a Small
Candle in It=

Some years ago an old friend of mine put into my hands an ancient candlestick containing a short stump of a candle. It was an old homestead relic. The good lady had used it in her childhood, and her mother had used it in her early days also. It was at least seventy-five years old, and had not been lighted for more than fifty years. It had been stowed away in the old garret and forgotten, until one day it was taken with other common things from its dusty hiding-place, and fell into my hands. At once I lit the stump of candle, and it sent forth its golden light again just as it did fifty years ago. It seemed to say to me, "I will always shine whenever I get the chance." I do not say, as some of you humans of the day, "If you had no better place for me than a dark corner in a garret, if you have forgotten me, and failed to recognize my place in the world, I won't shine for you now." No. "But I will shine for you or anybody that will put the taper to my heart. It is my business to shine. I cannot do anything else."

I have often seen folks unlike this old candle. If they cannot be first in the work they won't help at all. If somebody else is asked to take part, and they are not, they sulk about it, refuse to join in and work. If they are asked to do something that some other person has been asked to do, and refused, they say: "Play second fiddle! I guess not!" The New Testament tells us of a proud man who loved to have the prominent place among them. This is not a Christian spirit. Jesus said, "If any man will be great among you, let him be your servant." Brighten your corner as a business. This is the business of the Christian--to shine. The candle can do nothing more than this. It shines just as it is. It never tries to be an electric light, or to do the work of electricity, but is content to do its own work, and that is the work of a candle, just to shine as a business. The electric light gives ten, fifteen, forty candle-power light. The electric power turns washing machines, runs vacuum cleaners, heats irons, and does all sorts of things at the touch of its finger of power. All the candle can do is to give its small-power light. But notice how cheerful it is in the midst of darkness. It knows it cannot do the task of electricity, so it does not fret itself about it, but just shines and does its best to brighten the little dark corner; that is its business--just to shine. Watch it shine, and you will notice it puts its whole life into the business of shining. Measure it as it shines, and you will discover it grows less and less, and leaves nothing behind it--gives itself, and all of itself into the business of shining. It consumes itself in the process of shining, This is a true light picture of the Christian. Real service requires the giving of the entire self. David Livingstone, the heart of Africa missionary, gave all that he had and consumed all his energies for the good of the Dark Continent. He just let his light shine out until his body burned out, and when the natives found him dead kneeling by his bed, they found an old worn-out body burnt out in the business of shining in Africa's dark corner. But his light still shines. The natives as they sit by their evening fire talk in soft tones about the great White Chief. They are watching that White Candle Chief burn in the jungles of their wild land. He being dead yet shineth.

That is the way to shine forever. Burn out here, and you will shine forever in God's kingdom. So we learn that we are not only letting our light shine as a business, but in so doing we light the dark corner lights around the world. This candle I now hold in my hand can light a thousand other candles, and they in turn another thousand, and so on until it could light shining candles girdling the round world. Light is contagious. It easily passes from one candle to another.

One courageous enthusiastic person can fire many others to shine in their dark corners also. If every one of my audience held an unlighted candle in their hands, this one lighted candle would carry the flame to all the candles. This room would be transfigured into a congress of flickering stars. This is the way the kingdom of heaven must come in. One life touches the other life, and they all shine in their corner as their business, which is the King's business also.

But learn the first great essential lesson. This candle, to shine forth in the dark corner as a business, must first be lit itself. It cannot light itself. It cannot say, "Let there be light," for no light can shine forth by a self-command. Some power greater than a candle must touch our dark heart with its taper of flame before we can shine forth. So we must come to the great Light of the World and give ourselves to him, and become his disciples, and he will give us the light which shines in our hearts, and out from our own lives. Then we become "Candles of the Lord," and brighten the corner where we are as a business.

In using this lesson suit your actions to your words. Secure if possible an old-fashioned candlestick with a stump of a candle in it, and say, "This resembles the old candlestick mentioned in the lesson." You can use an ordinary candle for other parts of the lesson referred to in the chapter.

You can close this lesson by asking a group of children to come to the platform and ask them to hold a candlestick with a lighted candle and sing together, "Brighten the Corner Where You Are."

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THE POSTAGE-STAMP AS A PREACHER

OBJECTS: A Collection of Foreign and Domestic
Postage-stamps=

Hold up a letter with a plain two-cent postage-stamp upon it. "Let me introduce to you the Preacher of the hour! He is clothed in his white robe (the envelope) and is ready to be a preacher to us all."

1. This stamp is more than a common piece of paper. It has on it the stamp of the Government; therein is its value. It has the O.K. of the authorities of Washington. So we must have stamped on our life the image of the Good Father to make us worth anything in this old world. We must bear the mark of our Owner before we can be backed by the kingdom of heaven.

2. If the stamp was made by ourselves it would have no power. The letter bearing the stamp would be returned. So we can do nothing of ourselves. There is no good in us. When I was a little boy I was a stamp-collector, and when we could not find a stamp of the desired nation, there was issued what is called a "facsimile" of the original. It was a "make-believe" stamp. It looked all right in our stamp-book, but it was out of place and worthless on an envelope. It was only a pretender so we must not be contented with appearances only. That is the way hypocrites are made.

3. The stamp in the stamp box is always ready for service, just waiting to start on its journey. It has the mark of approval on it which the Government has given it. It has the sticking power which man has given it, and is just waiting to be called into service. Paul said, "I am now ready" not only to die but to live. He who is ready to die, is best prepared to live. Always ready for service, like a postage-stamp, is to be ready to go anywhere for the Master.

4. The postage-stamp is a good missionary. It will work anywhere. It will go to any part of the homeland or any part of the world, just as it is directed. No dividing-line between home or abroad, It will go to any part of the world. It just goes where it is sent. It is like a pair of bifocal glasses. It can see home needs as well as the far-away needs. It sees both clearly. That is the plan of Jesus, Jerusalem and the uttermost parts--both are alike to him as far as concerns their need of salvation.

5. I remember also that when I was a stamp-collector, I had one page in my book on which I had a stamp from each nation. They were all at peace with each other. It was the first picture of "The League of Nations."

To illustrate the truth, get as many stamps of the various nations as you may be able, and fix them on a large cardboard, and show them to the children, or bring them out of the Bible to show that if they are true to God's Word, they will live together in peace. This is the only "League of Nations" that can stand through the ages.

6. The postage-stamp does what it is told to do. It fulfils its task. When it is placed on the envelope, it takes the letter to the address given. That is its business. That is all that is expected of it. It does not seek to know the contents of the letter, but to deliver the letter to the party named. So it is our business to do just as we are told to do by our Good Father. We are not to pry into his will, or seek to know his unrevealed secrets. Our business is to carry his message. We are to speak where God's Book speaks, We are to be silent where the Book is silent. We should all try to do as well as a postage-stamp.

7. The stamp is a non-combatant. When it is licked it does not hit back. It is a peace-lover. It opens not its mouth. So we should learn that when criticism and hardship come to us, when the road is difficult, and we are discouraged, when the enemy does his worst, and Satan tries to dislodge us, we must just stick like a stamp. When we put the stamp on the envelope, we often give it a blow with our fist. That just makes the stamp stick tighter. So when we are hit by hard experiences we should tighten our grip all the more and just stick.

8. The stamp sticks to its job to the finish. It holds tight to the letter till it gets there. Happy is that boy or girl who continues to the end. A little newsboy by the name of George in the City of Philadelphia, Pa., sold papers in the street for a living. He believed if he stuck to his task he would some day be a great man. One day he stood looking up at the great building in which the paper was published and said, "I will some day own that building, and become the editor of the paper I now sell." He stuck to his task until at last he was owner of the paper and its editor also. His name was George Washington Childs, and the paper was The Public Ledger. He was like the postage-stamp. He stuck fast until he got there. That is the only way to "get there."

9. The postage-stamp never has a complaining word. Sometimes it is put on upside down or very crooked, and struck a great blow by the cancelling-machine in the Post Office, but it never speaks a word of complaint, just stands by its post and waits. If it goes to an address that has been changed, the new address is put on the envelope, and it starts on its journey again. It makes no complaint because of extra work, but starts away on another journey. So we should always "try again" and make another start. Many a man has "made good" by doing this. There is a medical remedy called "606." When the firm was asked why this number was given it, the reply was, "We tried 605 times to find a proper remedy, and failed; but the next time we found just what we were after, and so called it No. 606." Do not be afraid to try over and over. The next time may be the 606th of success. Now when you look at the little red postage-stamp let it preach over and over again to you the lessons I have given you in this chapter. Look again, and you will see on this stamp the face of the great George Washington, who lived out all these lessons in his life, and he is now "stuck fast" to the hearts of his countrymen.

Now, Mr. Postage-stamp, we thank you. You have preached to us a fine sermon this morning.

When you receive a stamped letter from the postman remember the Postage-stamp Preacher. Hear ye him.

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CANDLES IN THE PULPIT

OBJECTS: A Number of Candles and a Small Green
Tree Branch=

Let us ask the candles to preach to us. These white-robed prophets will now speak. Candle No. 1, come to the desk and be preacher for us now.

In answer to this call a small boy or girl comes up upon the platform bearing a small candle and gives it to you. This, you say, is a little, but mighty preacher. In ancient story we are told of a mansion illuminated by a thousand candles, and in one of the candlesticks there was hidden the owner's will. The heirs searched for the candle with its message of gold. That candle had a message in it. So let us find the hidden truth in this and all the other candle prophets this night.

After lighting it you say, "It is a light bearing God's truth." Place it on the desk, saying, This is a little light, yet if the room was darkened it would lighten the entire room. This little prophet represents the child in the home, church, and world. The Bible says, "A little child shall lead them." That little child is Jesus. He led the wise men in the Temple of old. He is leading all men by the light of his Star to the Cross where sins are taken away. "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to me." This is the attractive power of a little child. All little children are sweet little lights, "the light of the home," so we all declare, and we are speaking well as we thus say, When this light is extinguished it has led many a soul back to God. This little light stands for the Primary Department of our Sunday school. They come to the school, they listen, and receive. They are there taking in light. They go out, and let it shine out, and many a soul has seen it and been saved. All the little folks look forward and see the light. Be ye little lights and shine in your corner for Jesus.

Our next preacher will be the large candle now brought forth by a larger boy. Place it on the desk, and remove the small candle, extinguish it, and put it out of sight.

This large candle is the pastor in the pulpit, who is a preaching candle. He is to tell the truth about things and to warn the people of dangers and present perils. Sometime the flock does not like his plain talk, and in Bible times they took him from his holy place and cast him out and stoned him to death. At this point have the boy so trained that he will come forward to the desk and try to take the candle out. You will stop him and ask him what he is doing. He will reply: "He talks too plain to us. We don't like it." You tell him, the preacher stands in God's place and is talking for him. Let all the people hear what the prophet has to say to the people. The candle is then placed back on the desk, and the preaching light continues to shine out its message.

"Who next will be our preacher tonight?" This call is responded to by two little girls, one bearing an ornamented candle coming first, the other bringing a plain candle following. As you take the first candle you say: "Beauty and adornment are useless and only pure vanity if just on the surface. People like to show off in religion, that is, they often like to show off their clothes and personal adornment, but you will notice after you have lit this candle that it does not give any more light than this plain candle," which you now take from the little girl standing a little space from you. You light the plain candle, and place them side by side, and by the side of the preacher's candle, and the preacher says, "Both the poor and the rich can shine alike for God, for he is Maker of them both."

Give the call again, "Who will preach for us next?" A child comes forward with a box wrapped in paper, and gives it to you. After you have opened it you produce a fine white candle. What does this mean, Mr. Preaching Candle? The candle answers, "I am a soul which hides his light under a bushel. I have gone out." Light it and place it by your side, that its light may call the people out of the easy pew and comfortable chair to the fortress to fight by light.

Behold! I see another prophet approaching. It is a foreigner. As he comes to the platform he bears the flag of China, and carries a Chinese lantern. He is coming not to preach but to listen. Hold up the lantern close to the preacher candle and say: "China is asking for the true light. What doth the preacher candle say?" And the candle answers: "Hear me, all ye people, Our Master's great commission tells us we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel. China is the largest nation of the world, and so according to the order of the Light of the World, we give China the light." Here light the lantern, and give it back to the child, and bid him Godspeed in his mission of light to his people who sit in darkness.

Give the call again, and six boys and girls come forward with a tall unlit candle in a candlestick. These are six Lay Preachers, Helpers of the Pastor. They do his bidding, and then they are sure to shine. Now light the six candles and let them stand around the desk holding their candles. Spread the children out as far as possible, so there will be no danger of their burning each other. Now the preacher candle says: "I am backed by my church-membership. They stand back of me. They are shining forth the same light that I shine out. This is a pulpit of power."

Here endeth the sermon of the candles in the pulpit. You now take the candles from the children and place them on the desk with the other candles and close by singing "The Light of the World Is Jesus."

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A POST-CARD SERMON

OBJECTS: A Collection of Post-cards=

If you wish to preach to the little folks and cause them to remember what you have said, try the post-card sermon.

When you announce the sermon for little eyes ask them to come to the front of the church and stand around the pulpit. Then hand to each child a pictorial post-card and make it the subject of your talk to them. Tell them the card now belongs to them, and they can take it home with them to keep. Preach about the picture on the card, calling their attention to every little detail. Drive home some truth as pictured on the card. Ask them to look intently at every point in the picture you are talking about.

This sermon should not be over seven minutes long. Children find it difficult to stand in one place for any length of time. If you seek to hold their attention too long, they will grow tired and their interest will slacken. You must be brief.

There are beautiful post-cards without number and the cost is very trifling. Use historical cards. Take, if you so desire, the card containing the "Liberty Bell," and preach upon the text of the Bell: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land." Describe the bell, give its history in a few words. The seasonal post-cards, Christmas, Spring, Winter, Thanksgiving, Hallowe'en, etc., give a new meaning to these days, and tell things the children should know about them.

Use beautiful post-cards. Select some beauty spot in your own country and explain what makes it beautiful and what makes its beauty worth while to us. Use post-cards that have a children's story connected with them, such as "The Lighthouse-keeper's Daughter, Grace Darling," "The Boy Lincoln and His Log-cabin Home," "George Washington and the Cherry Tree." These pictures are running over with simple truth.

Use curious post-cards, such as of the Natural Bridge in Virginia, cave pictures, the gold-fields of Alaska. Tell them of the Natural Bridge as the work of God, and of the other bridge God made, a Bridge from Calvary to heaven, the Bridge of the Cross.

Select foreign post-cards. This will enable you to tell missionary stories about the people who live in those lands. Pictures of idols will help you to cause the children to want to tell the heathen children the story of the true God.

Select religious post-cards. Reproductions of the great works of art can be secured. Di Vinci's "Last Supper" is a good one to select. You can tell about the face of Judas and that of Christ being taken from the same living model. The face of Judas was the disfigured face of Jesus which had become repulsive because of the presence of sin. This is what sin will do for a face.

Select picture-cards of Bethlehem, and tell the story of the town as it now is, and as it was in David's time, and in the time of Jesus. It would be but small trouble to make a course of eight short sermons or more, using post-cards.

Urge the children to put the cards thus received in a little book, and put under each card the date you preached the sermon. If any child who attends regularly is absent mail a card to them the next day, with a short lesson written on the card. Children always like the postman to bring them something by mail. If they are out of town, find their address and send it to them. If they "just did not come," say to them that some Sunday morning if they will call to see you, you will give them the card they missed. It will give you a chance for a pleasant word with them. It often goes a long way with little folks. On the last Sunday of the course bring your full line of cards you have used, and have a short review and ask some questions about each card. This is only another, but a new, way of preaching to the wonder eyes of the wonderful folks we call our children.

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MAKING JOY

OBJECTS: Large Cardboards Containing the Word "Joy"=

This is a day of making things. The wise man could have said of things as he said of books, "Of the making of many things there is no end."

Did you ever try to make joy? It is a big business. All the world is trying to learn that trade. The world is richer than it has ever been, that is because we have learned to make money. The world is wiser than it has ever been; that is because we have learned to make many books. The world at heart is sadder than it has ever been; that is because it has never learned how to make JOY.

The joy the world knows is like the desert plant. It fastens its root by the side of a little stream, and drinks in the moisture, and spreads out its leaves of life. The stream is dried up at last by the heat of the desert, and the roots loosen their hold on the soil, and the windstorm rolls the plant over the desert like a dead leaf until another piece of wet ground is found. There it fastens for another short season, and again the sun dries up this spring of life, and hurls the root on in the heart of the desert storm, This is repeated over and over again until at last it tosses it out into the piercing rays of the sun a withered dry old root dead at the heart. So men and women are like this dry root. They absorb this pleasure and another until at last, when old age finds them they are like the old dead root east up by the winds of time. Dead in the inside. They never found any joy to which they could anchor. They never knew where to find real joy.

Look and listen--I will tell you where to find it. Secure three large cardboards and paint on them the word "JOY." One letter on each card, stand them up on a background where they can be seen by all present. These letters spell the word "JOY." This is what all the world is after. The first letter stands for Jesus. The middle letter a cipher or "nothing." The last letter stands for You. Nothing between Jesus and you. This is the way to bring real joy to the soul. Most of our sorrows come from disobedience, and that means that something has come between the J and Y that will never spell JOY.

Paint on a black card the letter S which stands for Sin. Hang this card up in the place of O. J.S.Y. will never spell JOY. Sin keeps the joy from passing from J to Y. Only a short time ago thousands watched the eclipse of the sun. There was darkness at the last. In some of the great cities the street lamps were lit because of the darkness all around. It was because something had come between us and the sun. It was the moon. It looked like a great O. It shut off the sunlight for a little season. There was something between. Let nothing come between you and Jesus and you will find "JOY." The O is a cipher which means nothing. Nothing between J (Jesus) and Y (You). That spells JOY. That is the big shop where joy is made.

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YE LITTLE OLD FOLKS

OBJECT: A Picture of Verse from an Old Illustrated
Bible Used 100 Years Ago=

A century ago there were but few books for children. Preachers never thought of a children's sermon, but here is a page which appeared in a rare old book the children used in that day. It is over a century old. It illustrates Deuteronomy 5:29. From some picture-book cut out figures like these to illustrate this Bible verse. Pin them up on some background which they can see. The journals of the day abound in interesting pictures. Cut them out and try to teach the children the Scriptures by pictures they have often seen. It will interest them greatly as it doubtless did Ye Little Olde Folks. This text is one of many that has some words in it for which you can substitute a picture. In fact, the Bible is a picture-book, not simply in the sense that it tells so many interesting stories about men and women and children, and tells them in such a taking way, but even where it is not telling a story, it uses words and sentences that are pictures, not the less effective because drawn or painted in speech. This text is such a sentence.

DEUTERONOMY v. 29.

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THE CRUCIFIXION IN COLORS

OBJECTS: A Collection of Colored Papers=

This is a lesson on the Crucifixion of Jesus. It is taught by small colored papers. Each stage of the crucifixion is illustrated by a color. The paper used is the common glazed paper which can be supplied by any paper store that deals in fancy paper. You can also use little blocks of muslin or any other colored goods. Cut the blocks about 4 x 5-1/2 inches in size; some of the pieces you will notice will be long and narrow. (See Diagram.)

Pin these blocks upon some background so all the listeners may see the work. You will notice by the diagram that when every piece is in its place a perfect cross is formed. Follow the order of the diagram and commence at the foot of the cross. At this place put a brown color. This color stands for the common earth, the ground of Calvary in which the cross was planted. Talk about holy ground if you so desire, but say this is the Most Holy Ground. It was here they placed the cross and crucified Jesus.

The next block is divided into two parts--white and blue. These were the dominant colors of the high priest's garments to whom Jesus was sent the hour of his arrest. Describe now the wild scene--the mad mob all seeking to bring him to trial for death sentence.

The next block is gold--the dominant color in the royal robe of Pilate. It was the color of his scepter and the golden eagle, the symbol of the government of Rome which he represented. Before him Jesus was brought and tried, and ordered to be sent to the cross.

Next put up the purple block. This represents the purple robe the soldier put on Jesus.

The next color is green--the color of the thorns of the bush, which had been twisted into a crown of thorns.

The next color is white--the color of Christ's own robe that the soldiers put on him.

Red is the next color, and it stands for the blood he shed. Black stands for the darkness which was in the land from the sixth to the ninth hour.

Yellow is the next. This stands for the yellowish sponge which was put to his lips.

The next colors, white, red, and purple, were the colors of the veil of the Temple which was rent in twain when Jesus gave up the ghost on the cross. And the last color, silver, stands for the armor of the centurion who, when he saw the Crucified One, proclaimed his belief in the Son of God. You have now built a cross as you talked, and each part of the cross represents some striking step in the tragedy of the Green Hill.

After the color blocks are in their place, ask the children to tell you the story according to the colors. After they have been well drilled let them put the color strips up in their proper place, and tell you the story.

After you are through with this lesson it would be a good plan to paste these colors on a piece of muslin or heavy paper, and hang the diagram up on the wall and often refer to it, and ask the children its meaning. This is a Good Friday subject, and can always be used as a redemption story.

=35

THE GOSPEL BY RIBBONS

OBJECTS: A Number of Colored Ribbons=

In this chapter the story of salvation will be told by different colored ribbons. This will be attractive to the eye as the bright colors appear, and the colors will not only teach the truth of the lesson but will fasten the truth in the mind for years to come. Color makes a deep impression on the mind. It is like a foot-print in the clay. It comes to stay as time hardens the mental clay.

Some years ago I was asked by an old friend to be a witness to the transfer of a large tract of land into his possession. The document was drawn up in full legal form, and deposited by the housewife in a secure and secret place. About a year afterward my friend informed me that the document could not be found. The wife had forgotten where she had placed it, and believed it to be lost. I was asked if I could remember anything about it. At first my mind seemed to be a blank, and then I remembered all about it, and this was the how of it. On the day of the transfer I remembered the wife took the document and tied around it a piece of red ribbon. I remembered she put it in a small closet back behind the old-fashioned fireplace. In closing the door a portion of the red ribbon was left exposed on the outside. I noticed that _red_ ribbon in that position which I thought it might direct attention to the document and thus expose it to a thief and so endanger its safety. I remembered the wife arose and opened the door, put the ribbon inside, and I let the matter pass from my mind, and it would have passed out of my mind forever, had it not been that that _red ribbon_ had fastened itself down in my memory. The red ribbon located the lost document. A color is a tack which holds down the truth in the human mind. May the colors of the lesson have the same ministry.

Secure a number of ribbons of the colors about to be mentioned. They can be about one inch wide and each one six inches long. Sew them together at the ends. Place them in a box, and draw out six inches at a time in the following order.

First produce the _white_, holding it in the hand as if considering it, and say: "Thus was man created--in white. He was placed in the White Garden where all was purity and spotless. But the Tempter entered this White Garden and tempted the white soul to sin, and so man sinned and the _black_ of sin took the place of the _white_ of righteousness." As thus you speak you draw out from the box the black ribbon; as you hold this in your hand, you remark that the black is the sign of death, for "the wages of sin is death."

Now draw out the _red_ ribbon, and say, "The blood of Jesus has now come to take away the _black_ of sin and death." As you say this let the _black_ drop out of sight, and let the _red_ appear. "They shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." Tell the story of the scarlet rope which was displayed in the window of the house on the wall at Jericho, and how safe was Rahab when the red signal was in her window. How safe are all they who are hiding behind the red line of Salvation by the Blood. Now draw out the _white_ and remark, "Now the Blood has brought back the white state to the heart again, for when we stand clothed in Christ's righteousness we have been restored to the place in God's heart that Adam occupied before the fall."

Now draw out the _purple_ ribbon. This represents the royal standing of the believer. Purple was the color of the king's robe. The saved are children of the King, joint heirs with the Son. It is the family color. All Christians are children of the King of kings.

Now produce the _blue_ ribbon. This represents the standfastness of the believer. He is "true blue" for God--faithful to the end, and to all the family of God in Christ Jesus.

Now produce the _gold_ ribbon. This represents the mansion of gold in heaven. It reminds us of the streets of the White City of God which, we are told, are paved with pure gold. May our eyes look at, last upon its gates of pearl. May our feet walk through the streets of the city, the streets of gold.

Last, produce the _green_ ribbon. This represents everlasting life, having reference to the fixed color of green, the same all the year round. This ribbon is the trail home to God, our everlasting home in heaven.

After this lesson is taught ask two of the children to take hold of the ends, and let the whole span the front of the room. Ask them to tell you the meaning of the colors. Often give them this drill; it will fasten the Bible truth and Bible order in their hearts for years to come.

=36

JOINING THE CHURCH

OBJECTS: Seven Cards with the Letter "I" Printed
on them=

This is a lesson showing the importance and value of joining the local church after the heart has been given away to Jesus. There are some people who think that this is an act purely voluntary. Do as you please they think is the thing to do, and so they dismiss the question as settled. The fact is they do not understand the arithmetic of the New Testament.

There 2 and 1 make more than three. Joining the church enables the Christian to count more than one. There is power in organization. I may take a piece of red silk, also a piece of white and blue, and I can shoot them full of holes--no one will object. They stand for nothing. They are simply a piece of personal property. I may do as I please with them all. But, if these three colors are united and made over into a flag, then, the man who shoots them full of holes must answer to the government of the United States, for every soldier and marine is pledged to protect those colors from harm. They are organized into a flag. They mean more than simple strips of colors.

To illustrate this big fact, secure seven large cards and have on each one the figure "1" painted, making it as large as possible. Distribute them to children in various parts of the church, avoid giving two children in one row each a card. The children holding the cards represent the Christian who declared that he can be "just as good a Christian outside the church as in it," and so stays outside of organized relationship. Now ask them to give you the number on their cards, and they all exclaim "Number one." That is all they stand for, "Number one." That really means they stand for themselves and by themselves. They stand for "one," themselves. This is just what "Number One" looks like. They represent nobody, they are independent units, they stand alone: they have but small representative power.

Some years ago when the West was a child, a little boy wandered away from his prairie home, and was lost in the tall grass, and could not be found. His parents and neighbors started on a searching expedition to find him. They all went in different directions, and after a day-long search came back without the child. They could not find him by individual searching. The next day they formed a line each in sight of the other and, like a net, swept the prairie, and within two hours the lad was found and brought home to his sorrowing parents. They failed as individuals--they succeeded as a united body. God knew this first, and so established his church, where unity of action could do more than independent service.

Now ask the children to come to the platform, and stand them in a line holding the figure "one" side by side. Once they stood for one only, now united they stand for one million one hundred and eleven thousand one hundred and eleven. This is the large reason why all Christians should join the church, and thereby multiply many times their value to their Master and his Kingdom.

If you are a Christian make the most of yourself, and you can do this by coming into church relationship with the brotherhood of Christians. A young convert gave as his reason for joining the church the following: "If I was going to Chicago on the Broadway express and had my ticket straight through to my destination, including the comforts of a Pullman car, and then stood outside on the platform all night, standing up and facing the storm, what a miserable man I would prove myself to be, and what a faulty thinker I would also be. But I am going to get all my ticket grants me. I will go inside and take all the pleasure and comfort of the journey. So I am going into the church and take all my salvation has provided for me. I will no longer stand on the platform of the world. I want the best and all of it." He was right. Get all that is coming to you, and get it now. Come inside; you are entitled to a seat.

Years ago a boy, sixteen years old, came into New York City, with a pack on his back containing all his belongings. He was a stranger in a great city. Wandering through the streets one night, he saw a lighted church with open doors, heard sweet singing from within. He entered uninvited except by the open door. He heard the story of Jesus and was saved. At once he offered himself for baptism, and was received into church-membership. There the lad was trained and schooled in righteousness. He became a great man. His name was William Colgate, the founder of the great firm bearing his name. He died worth millions, most of which he gave to his church, and left a name that will never die. His influence permeated the denomination that he honored as the perfume from his shops has permeated the world. The Colgate Perfume Company of which he was the first member, gathered its first sweetness from the Rose of Sharon that he found in the Lord's sweet garden--the church of the First-born.

Before you dismiss the children and send them to their seats, pray that God may deepen the lesson of the hour so it may sink into their hearts, and charge the children to go and govern themselves accordingly.

=37

GOD'S MAIL-BAG

OBJECTS: The Bible and Nine Lettered Cards Spelling
the Word "Salvation"=

Hold up the Bible and say: "This is God's Mail-bag; the Holy Bible, filled with holy letters for you. This Mail-bag came from heaven. It contains God's latest wonderful message. I am God's letter-carrier. I have nine special-delivery letters. They are all directed to you. My business is to carry the mail for God. I will now deliver the mail God has addressed to you."

Before the meeting secure nine envelopes, commercial size, and on each draw in large outlines one of the letters in the word Salvation. Before the meeting place these letters in various parts of the Bible. Holding the open Bible in your hand, you say: "I have now opened the Mail-bag from God, and find nine letters for you. The first letter you take from the Bible you find in Genesis, and it is the letter 'S.'" Give this to the child who takes the first place in the line. Explain that the message which you wish them to remember is the message of the Ark. Eight souls were saved in this big ship. All were invited, only those who accepted were saved. All who did accept were safely delivered into the new world. During the voyage they just trusted God. He fed them as he did the widow with her cruse of oil and little portion of meal. The supply was given each day according to their need.

God will take care of you. God will supply all your need. This is the message of "S." It is a lesson in salvation. Now produce the letter "A" from Genesis containing the story of Joseph. Give this to some child who now takes his place next to the child with the letter "S." The message God gives from this story is that Truth wins out at last. Joseph, hated, sold in slavery, because of false accusation cast into prison, but at last elevated to the throne, did not forget the home folks. These are great facts to be remembered because they were steps upward. Because he was true to God, he found his feet at last walking in the golden way of true success. That is the message of the letter "A." This is a story of salvation.