Chapter I: AM sure that there is not a boy or girl here, who has not at some time (1)

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 a person living who has not at some time felt this same drawing and desire to do right and to be good. The results, however, have been very different with different people.

I shall seek to illustrate this drawing power to you to-day, and to do so have brought this magnet. I have also brought these tacks and nails of different sizes; and here are also some old, rusted, crooked nails. Let these several kinds represent the different kinds of people.

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 ourselves 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 magnet, and I can lift them up. There are not as many, however, as there were of the tacks clinging 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 to it. And when I attempt to lift the magnet, most all of these large nails tall off. Only one, sometimes two, hold on successfully.

Here are some nails that are still larger. Now, when I attempt to lift one of them with this magnet, you see that I can only lift one end of 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 than the magnet draws that I cannot raise them by the magnet. It is on this account that 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 desire 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 presence. 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, unmoved. These old, crooked, rusty nails represent people 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 impression 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 communicated 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 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 some of the larger nails are drawn toward it.

Just so it is with each of us as individuals. Without coming in contact with Christ and receiving 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 influence 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 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 multitudes attended Him. Where He went they followed. 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 were 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 see Him with our natural eyes, but He draws the Christian who is in this world, and so the Christian 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 xii: 32.) So He draws you and He draws me. And so also by His love He would draw every person 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.

QUESTIONS.--What can the magnet do? Can the power
of the magnet be seen? Can the magnet lift as many
nails as tacks? Are old rusty nails drawn by the
magnet? Who are like the little tacks? Who are
like the small nails? Who are like the rusty
nails? Does everybody desire at times to be good?
What draws them in the right direction? Can we see
the power that causes us to desire to be good?
What is the name of the power or force that causes
the nails to fall from the magnet? What power
draws people from doing right? Should we always
yield to the power that draws us in the right
direction? Does Christ have to be seen in order to
accept His influence?

KEYS.

HOW TO UNLOCK THE HUMAN HEART.

SUGGESTION:--Objects used: Locks and keys of any
form or size. If possible open the lock and show
how the key fits into the different wards of the
lock. Explain how other keys would not fit.

MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I have here to-day 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 expect 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 is very possible 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, 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 locksmith calls a skeleton key. It is so made that it avoids the obstacles which are placed in the different 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 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 people 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 peculiar 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 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 unlock 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 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 the 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 especially 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 person, 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 house by the use of a skeleton key, or by "picking 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 dissatisfaction, a desire for something that the person 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 we daily use our Bibles to lock our hearts against evil thoughts, and wicked purposes, and sinful desires, we will find that they will steal into our hearts; and like the evil spirit that had been driven out and afterward returned and brought seven other spirits more wicked than himself, so sin and Satan will again take possession of our hearts and lock them against God and all that is good.

QUESTIONS.--Are there many kinds of locks? Must
there be as many kinds of keys as there are kinds
of locks? Is the human heart like a lock? Does God
desire to get into the human heart? With what key
does He unlock it? Are the lock and its key made
by the same man? Who made the human heart? Who
made the key to unlock it? Can the Bible be used
to lock the human heart against the entrance of
sin? What are skeleton keys? Do men try false keys
with which to open the human heart? What are some
of the things with which they try? Is the human
heart ever satisfied until unlocked by the Bible
and possessed by God?

TRAPS.

UNSUSPECTING MICE AND MEN.

SUGGESTION:--An ordinary mouse trap will be
serviceable. The trap can be set and instead of a
mouse, a child can spring the trap with his
finger. The parent had better try his own finger
first, to see that the trap is not too strong. A
rat trap should never be tried in this way.

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. 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 much injury.

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 desires 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 unsuspecting these things may not appear very dangerous, 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 souls and bodies, 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, cigarettes 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 drinking beer, and so, step by step, they go on down to ruin.

If you have ever gone fishing on a calm, beautiful summer day, and have looked down through the water, you 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 they 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 own case the result will be very different.

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 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 by going on step by step. They see drunkards all about them who have squandered all their money and lost all their friends, and been forsaken by their own parents, their wives, and their children; who have become outcasts, 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.

I trust that none of you who listen to me to-day will be so foolish as to permit Satan to deceive you. Look about you and see the results of worthless story-papers, of card-playing, 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: 10) 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 to-day, which says, "Among my people are found wicked men; they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men."

QUESTIONS.--What are traps for? Are there
different kinds of traps? Is a trap a dangerous
thing? Does a dangerous trap always look
dangerous? Are there traps set for boys and girls,
and men and women? Who sets these traps? What are
some of the traps? How are fish caught? Who tries
to trap and destroy boys and girls, and men and
women? What does Satan sometimes use? When the
mouse sees others caught, what should he do? Does
he run away? Does he go and do the same thing?
Does he suffer the same result? If Satan's traps
destroy others, will they destroy us? Have you
ever seen any persons who were caught in Satan's
traps? Can anybody do wicked things without great
danger?

BREAD.

UNIVERSAL SOUL HUNGER.

SUGGESTION:--Bread, rolls or biscuit can be used
if thought necessary, and these can be used for
refreshments later.

If the children are tired of "driving to church"
in an imaginary carriage, let them drive in an
imaginary sleigh, with imaginary bells, amid
winter scenes.

MY LITTLE FRIENDS: I am sure that every boy and girl in this room knows what it is to be hungry. It is a part of our childhood experience to feel hungry almost every day. While the body is growing there is almost a constant demand for nourishment and food.

We have here a small loaf of bread; it is called a Vienna roll, and here is a small biscuit. Now, this is bread, only it is baked in small loaves. As people all over the world have hunger, so bread in one form or another has become the universal food of the world. When in the Lord's Prayer we ask God to "give us this day our daily bread," we mean not simply bread made of flour, but we mean necessary food, food of all kinds; and so the word bread has come to be used to signify all kinds of wholesome food. God gives us our food day by day, just the same as each morning the manna rained down from heaven for the Children of Israel while they were journeying through the desert. God does not send it to us in just the same way, but each day He furnishes us a sufficient amount of food to sustain our bodies.

Now, as there is universal physical hunger, and as God has made provision to supply the food necessary to satisfy the hunger of the body; so there is a universal hunger of the soul, and God has also made provision to satisfy this universal hunger of our higher spiritual nature. In the sixth chapter of the Gospel by St. John, you will find much said about the food for the higher, the spiritual nature. Jesus said, "Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from Heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world."

The body is sustained by the food which grows up out of the earth, because the body is earthy. But to sustain the higher and spiritual nature of man, which is from heaven, the food is sent down from heaven, and therefore Jesus says of Himself that He is "The bread of God which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world," "I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." And in the forty-eighth verse of that same chapter He says, "I am the bread of life; your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever, and the bread that I will give him is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Now, when you desire to be good, when you desire to live like Christ, you desire to know more concerning Him; and when you desire to read God's Word, and to learn of that which is holy and good and right, then you have this spiritual hunger. That is the kind of hunger of which Jesus was speaking in this chapter. The presence of Jesus in the soul and the knowledge of Him that is given in the Bible is the best kind of food for our spiritual nature. This was the kind of spiritual food upon which Joseph fed when he lived in the midst of idolatrous Egypt. It was upon these spiritual truths that David and Daniel and Paul and Luther fed daily, and this nourished their spiritual natures. I trust you all have this hunger for the bread of life. Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."

Did you ever see a plant growing at the window in a crock and observe how it bends or reaches out toward the light? If you turn the crock around so that the plant bends inward toward the room, after a day or two you go to the plant and it will have changed its direction, and instead of bending into the room, it will be bending out toward the window. Now this plant feeds on the light from the sun, and on that account it reaches out toward the sun. So if you hunger after that which is good, you will reach out after God, just as the plant reaches out after the sun.

This kind of bread which I hold in my hand costs something. Flour costs several dollars a barrel, and bread from five to ten cents a loaf. In times of famine bread has sometimes been sold at many hundreds of dollars for one single loaf. But the bread of life is free; it costs nothing. Everybody can have spiritual food for the simple asking for it. Therefore it is that we go to God in prayer and ask Him for every good and helpful grace and blessing; that we ask Him for His presence in our hearts, and to make us good, and to help us to become like Christ.

But there are some who have this hunger after that which is good, but they do not know about God and about the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not have any Bibles. Therefore it is my duty and your duty to send them the bread of everlasting life. It is for this purpose that we give our money for missions so that missionaries may be sent to them to tell them of God and His love, and of Jesus Christ the Saviour, and to take them the Bible.

In order that we may be strengthened by bread, it is necessary that we should eat it, and that we should assimilate it or make it part of our own bodies, in order that we may become strong, otherwise we would die of hunger in the midst of great store-houses of food. So men and women die spiritually in the midst of churches, in the midst of Bibles, Bible influences, and Bible privileges; yes, die without Christ. In order that our spiritual natures may be fed with spiritual food, we have every Christian influence in our homes, we have the Sunday-school and the Catechetical class, and the Church with its preaching service, and prayer-meetings and other services. If you desire to be good, you must study your Bibles, go to Sunday-school and to church, and seek to know all you possibly can concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and receive Him into your hearts, and live a Christian life by His aid and the grace which God will grant you from day to day.

QUESTIONS.--Do all boys and girls get hungry? What
food is most universally used in the world? Does
the body require food every day? Why? Do we have a
spiritual nature as well as a physical nature? Is
there a spiritual hunger as well as a physical
hunger? Will food which satisfies the physical
Hunger satisfy the spiritual hunger? Who does the
Bible say is the "bread of life"? Can we obtain
food for the body without buying it either with
money or effort? Must Jesus, the spiritual food,
be bought? Can salvation be purchased? If God did
not give it to us could we ever pay for it? Where
can we learn most about this spiritual hunger and
about the "bread" which came down from Heaven? How
shall we send the Bread of Life to the people in
heathen lands?

THE STONE.

THE NATURAL AND CHANGED HEART.

SUGGESTION:--Objects: A small cobble stone and a
larger one, to represent the heart of a child and
the heart of an adult, and a pin with which to
prick the stone and prick the hand.

NOW, boys and girls, I have here a stone, which because of its peculiar shape reminds me of the human heart. But if I take a pin and prick this stone it has no feeling whatever. If I take this pin and prick the back of my hand, I feel it immediately. It is very unpleasant. Indeed, I do not like to endure it, but this stone has no feeling. If I were to love this stone, the stone would never be conscious of it. I might bestow great gifts upon this stone, I might purchase fruit for it, and everything that you and I might love for food; the finest clothing also, the most costly lands and houses, or we might even bestow upon it very great honor, and yet this stone would know nothing of it. It would always be insensible of all that I might do for it.

Now the Bible represents the natural heart as being wicked. We are told in the Bible that our hearts have no feeling; that God loves us, and yet that we do not appreciate it; that God bestows upon us our daily food, and that He clothes us, and blesses us with every good, and has provided for us mansions in the skies, and that He desires to give us everlasting salvation. He loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, and yet with the natural heart no one ever loves God, or appreciates anything that He has done for us. And so God desires, as He tells us in the Bible, to take away, out of our flesh this heart of stone, and give us a heart of flesh, so that we may appreciate and love Him in return for all that He has done for us.

The heart is spoken of in the Bible as the seat of the affections, and therefore it is that God desires us to have a new heart, a changed heart, a heart that can love Him. The Bible says that each one is to keep his heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. We are told also that "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked."

Many years ago in England there was a man by the name of John Bunyan. I suppose you have all heard of his wonderful book entitled the "Pilgrim's Progress." I hope that many of you have read it. All of you should read it, if you have not yet done so. Get your mother or father to read it for you, if you cannot read it yourself.

This man Bunyan also wrote a book entitled the "Holy War." In this book he represents the human soul or the human heart as a city, and calls it the "City of Mansoul." This city has various gates, and at all these gates the enemy is trying to gain admission into the city, so that he may capture it. It is, indeed, a very apt illustration of the human heart. Do you know that your heart is like a city, and that Satan is trying to capture and to get possession of it? Indeed, he may already have possession of it. And when God by His grace shall come and cast out Satan and all his evil companions, they will come back and try to get into the city again. They will come to the various gates of the city; for your heart has various avenues of approach, which may be called gates. There is eye-gate. Satan comes and he appeals to you and tries to get into your heart through the eye. Bad pictures that are posted upon the bulletin boards along our streets, and wicked things upon which you and I ought not to look--worthless papers, bad books--these Satan desires to have us look upon, and in that way get evil thoughts into our minds and wicked purposes into our hearts, so that he can once more get possession of our hearts.

Then he comes to ear-gate, and tries to get into our hearts through our ears. There are wicked songs, and bad stories, and wicked words that men pour into our ears, even when we walk along the streets. And so Satan tries to get into our hearts through ear-gate, and he tries to get into our hearts through what I will call mouth-gate. He tempts our appetite, and would have us eat things which would injure us, or to drink that which would harm us. And so he tries to get a boy to smoke, or to drink, if at first only beer, or something else, until at last Satan makes a drunkard of him. So Satan would get into the heart through mouth-gate. And when he cannot get into the heart through mouth-gate, or any other way, he oftentimes approaches mouth-gate by way of nose-gate. By the smell of something that is pleasant he tempts the appetite, and thus would lead us astray.

And then he would also approach our hearts through the sense of feeling. There are many wicked things that Satan tempts people to do in order to give them pleasure, and so he seeks to get into their hearts, and to get entire control of them, and in that way to get God out of their hearts.

The best thing that you and I can do, is to accept of God's invitation, where He says, "My son, give me thine heart." I trust that you will give your heart earnestly and fully to the Lord Jesus Christ. He will take away this heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. He will keep your heart securely for you, if you will only give it fully to Him.

QUESTIONS.--Does the stone have any feeling? Are
our natural hearts like a stone? Can a human heart
that is insensible like a stone be conscious of
God's love? Who offers to give us a heart that
will be conscious of God's love? Who wrote the
book picturing the human heart like a city? Who is
trying to capture this city? Through what gates
does Satan try to enter? How does he try to get
into Eye-Gate? How does he try to get into
Ear-Gate? How does he try to get into Mouth-Gate?
Can you tell any other methods that he tries? To
whom had we better surrender the city of our soul?
If we commit the city of our soul to God, will He
protect and defend it? Is there any other way of
safety?

THE POLISHED STONE.

PERFECTION THROUGH SUFFERING.

SUGGESTIONS:--A piece of polished stone, or a
polished jewel, or piece of polished metal will
answer for the object to be used.

MY LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: I trust you are all trying to be good, and perhaps while you have been trying to be a follower of Jesus you have desired many things and hoped that God would give them to you, because you were trying to do right, and yet, perhaps, you have been disappointed because God did not grant your wish. You have been seeking to be faithful, and yet, perhaps, sickness has come to you, or disappointment and sorrow. Perhaps sickness and death have come into your family. Your papa or your mamma has been taken away by death, and you have been left very sad and lonely, and you have come to wonder how it is, if God loves you, that He does not grant you just what you wish, and that He permits sickness and sorrow and bereavement to come to you and to your home.

Copyrighted 1911 by Sylvanus Stall.]

When you have looked about you, you have seen many good people who have been in much distress, oftentimes in poverty, afflicted with sickness, bereaved of their loved ones, and left in great sorrow and disappointment. When you have taken up your Bible you have found that the same was true many hundreds of years ago. David was greatly afflicted. Paul had his thorn in the flesh. The disciples were often cast into prison, and it is very likely that all of them were put to death, as their Master had been before them.

Now I want to illustrate to you to-day why God permits sorrow and affliction to come to us. I have here two stones, both taken out of the same quarry. This one is polished and has a very beautiful surface. It is very beautiful, not only to look at, but it would be beautiful in any place you might choose to put it. This other is rough and jagged, and not at all pleasant, either to handle or to look upon. This rough stone can be made useful, but it would be no more useful than any other rough and unsightly stone. It would do very well to place in the foundation of a building, to be all covered up with mortar and have other stones laid on top of it; to be built in the foundation down below the ground, where no one would ever see it. But it would be of no special value in its present condition for anything other than that.

I think this polished stone may very properly represent Christian people. For long, long years this stone had been lying peacefully and quietly in its rocky bed. But one day a man who purposed to build a very beautiful palace came along, and he found that the great rocks in a certain portion of the country contained stone that could be polished very beautifully. They could therefore be made very useful in constructing his palace or cathedral. So he sent a large number of men to the quarry and they began to drill great holes in the rock. Now, if these rocks had any feeling you can see at once that they would object to having such great holes drilled into their sides, because it would hurt a great deal. But after the men had the holes drilled they put powder in them and blasted off great pieces of these rocks. Then these great blocks were hauled away and placed in the hands of stone masons, who began with chisels and mallets to cut and carve. After that, with some fine sand or emery, or something of that kind, other men ground and polished the face of the stone until it became very beautiful.

Now, if these stones had had feeling, you can see at once that they would have objected to being chiselled and cut, and carved, and ground, and polished. This process would have hurt so much that the stones would have cried out, and asked to be delivered from such a painful process.

It is related of Michael Angelo, that one day he was passing a quarry where large blocks of beautiful marble were being taken out. In one large block he saw a beautiful angel. He ordered the block to be taken to his studio, or the place where he studied and worked. And then he put his men at work to chisel off the rough corners, and thus to deliver the angel out of the rough pieces by which it was surrounded. After many days and weeks, and perhaps months of working, in which this large block of marble had to submit to a great deal of chiselling and carving, and cutting, and polishing; lo! and behold, the beautiful angel was all carved out and stood complete and perfect. It was polished and was made very beautiful, and when it was set up, it was the delight of every one who looked upon it. But all this, you easily see, was only made possible by that cutting and carving, which would have been very painful to the marble if it had been possessed of feeling.

I think you will begin to see that these things which we call troubles and trials, after all, are well calculated by God to bring out that which is noblest and best in us.

When you grow older you will come to say like Paul, that you know that "tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed." You will then come to understand that these things "work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," and like Paul, you will learn to be "patient in tribulation." One time when Paul and Barnabas were at Lystra and healed a cripple, the people were moved against Paul by some wicked Jews from Antioch and Iconium, and they pursued Paul and threw large stones at him and hit him with such great force that he fell down, and they supposed that he was dead. But Paul was not dead, and afterwards when he met some of the Christian people at that and other places, when they talked to him about it, and thought that it was very hard that God should have permitted these wicked people to stone him, Paul told these Christians that "through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven."

But I must not detain you longer. I want simply to say in closing that when St. John had been banished to the Isle of Patmos and was permitted to have a view of heaven, and looked into that glorious city, he saw a great company, and he inquired of the angel who these people were. The angel replied: "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the Throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He that sitteth upon the Throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." (Rev. vii: 14-17.)

If in our sickness, or sorrow, or disappointment here upon the earth, we are sad or lonely, let us remember that in the happy home to which we go we shall be forever with the Lord, and that all tears shall be wiped away, and that we shall be happy forever and ever on high. It is only through these tribulations that you and I can be prepared to enter heaven. If God were to give us everything we want, like children who are indulged, we would soon be spoiled and would not be fit for the enjoyment of heaven or the companionship of the angels.

QUESTIONS.--What is rough stone used for? Does the
stone have feeling? If it had feeling, would it
object to being cut and chiselled and polished?
Could it be used in a great building unless it was
first quarried and prepared? How can the rough
stone be made beautiful? Can it be polished so
that you can see your face in it? Who prepares
people to be builded into His kingdom? How does He
do this? Who composed the great multitude whom
John saw in the glorious city? What had happened
to them? What should we remember in times of
sickness and sorrow? Why are trials necessary to
fit us for heaven? Will we be in the presence of
God there and have angels as our companions?

ROPES.

HABITS AND HOW THEY BECOME STRONG.

SUGGESTIONS:--Objects to be used are a spool of
thread, a piece of string or twine and a piece of
rope.

After the sermon has been read, the thread and
strings could be used to tie the hands and feet,
and thus illustrate how impossible it is to break
them when they are wound again and again around
the hands and the feet, even though the thread be
very fine. So with habits, seemingly
insignificant.

MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I have to-day a piece of rope, and also some different 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 ordinary men could pull with sufficient strength to break this rope. I am sure that no twenty boys and girls 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 still thinner. 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 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 in like manner 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 strings; 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.