A POCKET RULE.

"Joseph in the Pit.""Joseph in the Pit."

Suggestion:—Objects: A yard-stick, pocket-rule, tape-measure and any measure or scales convenient.Use the measures and scales for measuring the height and weight of the different children, and explain to them that if they continue to grow, they will eventually become full grown men and women. So God measures them to-day in moral things, and if they will learn what God requires and be obedient to their parents, they will increase in moral stature as well.

Suggestion:—Objects: A yard-stick, pocket-rule, tape-measure and any measure or scales convenient.

Use the measures and scales for measuring the height and weight of the different children, and explain to them that if they continue to grow, they will eventually become full grown men and women. So God measures them to-day in moral things, and if they will learn what God requires and be obedient to their parents, they will increase in moral stature as well.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I am sure you will be able to tell me what these are which I hold in my hand. This you would call a yard-stick; the other, because it folds, you would call a pocket-rule, and here is another, which you would call a tape-measure.

Yard-Stick, Pocket-Rule and Tape-Measure.Yard-Stick, Pocket-Rule and Tape-Measure.

Farmer's Measures.Farmer's Measures.

Now, if I were going to measure any of you, to tell how tall you are, I would use one or the other of these rules; as each is divided into even inches, I could use any of these three I should prefer. I would say one boy is four feet two inches, another fourfeet nine inches and another five feet four inches, and so on according to the height of each person. We speak of this kind of measure as feet and inches. When it is used in measuring cloth, or other goods in a store, we speak of it as yards and parts of a yard. Then there are also other forms of measures, dry measure—quarts, pecks, bushels; and liquid measure—quarts, gallons and barrels. There is also a standard of weight—ounces, pounds and tons.

It is necessary to have standards of weights and measures. This is absolutely necessary, or we could not tell in purchasing cloth or lumber, in buying sugar or molasses, or other things, whether we are getting the right quantity, or whether we are not getting the right quantity. So, everywhere you go in the United States we have the same size or standard of weights and measures, and the Government appoints men in each city to go about and examine whether the scales which the storekeeper uses for weighing sugar, and the measures which he uses when he sells vinegar and molasses—whether these are perfectly accurate, as the law requires.

Scales and Measure.Scales and Measure.

But, if you look on the other side of this tape-measure, there is a different standard of measure. This, on the reverse side, is themetric system, used in France and many other countries. If you were to go into a store in France and wanted to purchase cloth, you would not ask for a yard, you would ask for a metre of cloth, which instead of thirty-six inches, which makes our yard, would be a little over thirty-nine inches; so the standard of measures and values varies in different countries. There is a slight difference in the length of the English yard and the American yard. In this country we also speak of dollars and cents. In England they have the penny, shilling, pound or sovereign. And so in different countries there are different pieces of money, having a great variety of values.

I have spoken of these things simply to call your attention to the fact that God has a standard of measure, and a standard of value, as well as men. When the Government enlists soldiers into the army every man is measured, and he must be of a given height; if he is not as tall as the requirement, then he is rejected. When Napoleon chose his body-guard the men all had to be exceedingly tall.

God also has His standard of measure. He does not measure us according to the height of our body, but according to our moral character. He measures us to see whether we are good or bad. God's standard of the measure of our moral character is found in the Bible. You will find it, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament we have the Ten Commandments, in which we are required to worship God, and to worship nothing else; to keep the Sabbath day holy; to honor our parents; and various other requirements. In the New Testament we have a great many principles for moral government which Jesus announced when He was upon the earth.

We have all broken some one or more of the Ten Commandments and the precepts which Jesus left for us to follow. If youdesire to see how you should live, if you would keep the law perfectly, you will have to look at the life of Jesus Christ. He was the only perfect man who ever lived. He came to this world to set a perfect example for men to imitate. Just the same as you copy after the lines correctly written at the top of your writing book, so you and I are to copy after the life and character of Jesus Christ.

The moral law is a perfect law; the Psalmist says, "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." I showed you how in France they have a different standard of measure from that which we have in the United States, but with the moral law the standard is the same everywhere and at all times. It is wrong to lie or steal in America, and it is equally wrong to lie or steal in France, or in Africa, or in India, or on the islands of the sea, or anywhere in all of the universe. If it is wicked now to swear, or to commit murder it always was wicked. It was just as wicked three thousand years ago as it is to-day, and it never will be right to take the name of God in vain, or to destroy human life. God has but one standard of morality for all people and for all time.

What God requires of the young in order that they may be pure and holy, He requires also of grown-up people. If it is wrong for the preacher and the Sunday-school superintendent to go to the theatre, or to do anything else, it is equally wrong for every member of the church and for every member of the Sunday-school. Before God we must all be measured by the same standard of morality.

If I had one year ago measured the height of each of you and written it down, and then measured you again to-day, I would find that during these twelve months each of you had grown. You are taller to-day than you were a year ago. Now, God has given us a standard of moral character, right and wrong, and I want you all to study it very carefully, so that you may see how tall you are,how far you come short of the character of Jesus Christ. And as you grow taller in body, so you should grow in moral character, and if you will study God's word carefully, you will be able to discover what progress you are making in becoming more like Christ, in becoming better boys and better girls, and afterward better men and better women, from year to year, than you were each preceding year.

May God bless you abundantly, and may you grow daily "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (Eph. iv: 13.)

Questions.—How many kinds of measures can you name? Are the standards of weights and measures the same in all countries? How many standards of measure does God have? Where can God's standard of measure be found? Are God's standards the same for all persons in all countries, in all parts of the world? Is there any place in the world where it would be right to lie or steal, or murder? Who was the only perfect man? Does God's standard ever change? Should we constantly strive to become like Christ? How can we tell what progress we are making in becoming more like Christ?

Girl lying down to read

Suggestion:—A small magnet can be purchased in almost any hardware store at trifling cost. With this, also have some little tacks, nails both small and large, together with some old rusted and crooked nails, and a pocket knife.Do not omit "driving to church" and the other play features suggested in previous sermons.

Do not omit "driving to church" and the other play features suggested in previous sermons.

I AM sure that there is not a boy or girl here, who has not at some time felt a desire to be good and do right. When you have felt this way, it has been due to the fact that the Holy Spirit has come to you and has put these good thoughts and good desires into your heart.

Magnet and Tacks.Magnet and Tacks.

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 unseenpower. 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.

Magnet and Small Nails.Magnet and Small Nails.

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.

Magnet and Larger Nails.Magnet and Larger Nails.

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 themagnet 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.

Magnet and Large Nails.Magnet and Large Nails.

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 shouldyield 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 outand 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?

Daniel in the Lion's Den.Daniel in the Lion's Den.

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.

Lock and Key.Lock and Key.

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 intothe 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.

Lock and Key.Lock and Key.

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.

Yale Lock and Key.Yale Lock and Key.

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 fitsexactly 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?

Keys and Bible

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.)

Mouse Trap.Mouse Trap.

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 strongspring 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.

Mice and Trap.Mice and Trap.

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 madeattractive 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 ofhaving 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.

Fish Doing a Dangerous Thing.Fish Doing a Dangerous Thing.

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 drunkardsand 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?

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.

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.

Loaf of Bread, Roll and Biscuit.Loaf of Bread, Roll and Biscuit.

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 wholesomefood. 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."

Plants Reaching Out Toward the Light.Plants Reaching Out Toward the Light.

Now, when you desire to be good, when you desire to live like Christ, you desire to know more concerning Him; and whenyou 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 JesusChrist. 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?

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.

Pricking a Stone.Pricking a Stone.

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.

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