BANKS.

"Work, for the night is coming."

Questions.—Did God assign some work to Adam when he was first created? What was he to do in the Garden? Why does God place the kernel of nuts inside of a shell? Do vegetables and grain grow without being planted? Will weeds grow without being planted? Why did God place the metals, and coal and oil down below the surface of the ground? Are we naturally industrious or lazy? Could God clothe and feed us without our labor? Why does He not do it? How could God have printed His law so that it would not be necessary to have Bibles and preachers? Are idle people healthy and contented? Why not? Whom do idle people tempt? Can an idle person be a good Christian? When is it easiest to learn to work? What should we always remember in our work?

Suggestions:—Objects for use: A child's bank and a metal kettle of any kind to show how people used to place their money in boxes, kettles, etc., and then bury them in the ground.Use the methods suggested in the preceding sermons. Examine the chapter on "Suggestions to Parents" and introduce new features from Sunday to Sunday. Children like variety.

Suggestions:—Objects for use: A child's bank and a metal kettle of any kind to show how people used to place their money in boxes, kettles, etc., and then bury them in the ground.

Use the methods suggested in the preceding sermons. Examine the chapter on "Suggestions to Parents" and introduce new features from Sunday to Sunday. Children like variety.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: What is this I hold in my hand? (Voices: "Bank, penny bank, money bank.") Yes, you are right, this is a bank, and I suppose many of you, perhaps all of you either now, or at some past time have had such a place to deposit your money.

A Penny Bank.A Penny Bank.

In the time of Christ the children did not have little banks like these. Even the big people did not have banks where they could deposit their money. When they had jewels or money they would place them in a box, or a copper kettle, and bury them in the earth. They would hide them awayfrom other people, and thus seek to secure them for themselves. In that period of the world, there were many thieves and robbers; Palestine was often invaded by hostile armies; there were occasional earthquakes, which destroyed whole cities, and so the people used to bury their money for safe keeping. After burying it, sometimes they were killed in war, or perhaps died suddenly, before they had time to tell anybody where they had concealed their money, and on this account all over that land there were buried treasures, or "hid treasures" as they are called, and to-day if you were to go to Palestine you would see many people digging here and there everywhere to find money or treasures that have been hidden away for long centuries. Even in the time of Job people must have dug for treasures, as they are doing in Palestine to-day, for Job says of the miserable and unhappy, that they often "long for death, and dig for it, more than for hid treasures." (Job iii: 21.)

It is altogether right for you to economize and save your pennies. I hope every boy and girl will have a little bank, but while you are learning to save, you should also learn to give to every good cause, to give in Sunday-school and to give for the support of the Church, for missions, and to give to assist the aged and the poor, and to contribute something for those who are in poverty and in distress. If you simply learn to save, or hoard up money, and do not learn at the same time to give, you will become what people call "a miser," and that word means miserable. Misers are always miserable, not because they do not already have sufficient, but because there is so much more that they desire. They always wish for more.

Hiding Treasures in the Earth.Hiding Treasures in the Earth.

But while you are learning to save money and to gather treasures here upon the earth, you must not forget that the Bible says, that we are to lay up for ourselves "treasures in heaven, where mothand rust do not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." It says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." God means that first of all you and I shall give our hearts to Him, and then afterward, in all our getting, we should constantly remember that we are only stewards of God—that is, that all the money and everything else we possess in this world belongs to God. He simply permits us to have it and to use it in His name, and we must honor and reverence Him by giving to help on every good work.

Now, after we have given our hearts to God, and have become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to lay up our treasures in heaven by living right, by seeking to be good, and by doing good to others. We are to lose no opportunity to do that which will be a blessing to those about us.

One of the boys or girls said this was a penny bank. That name is very suggestive. A bank is a place where you deposit money. Now, if you have a bank like this, do you only put into it silver dollars, five-dollar bills, ten-dollar gold pieces? If each boy who is here were to wait until he had a ten-dollar gold piece, or a five-dollar bill, or until he had come into possession of a silver dollar before he placed any money in his bank, I am sure his bank would always remain empty. The way to fill a bank is to put pennies in it—to save each cent and each five-cent piece. To-day a penny, and to-morrow a few pennies, and so on through the week, and through the year, and at the end of the year you will find that you have saved quite a goodly sum.

Now, there are some people who want to lay up treasures in heaven, but they do not want to lay it up there, little by little. They prefer to wait until some opportunity comes when they can do a great deal of good at one time. But the person who does not do good every day and every hour, little by little, will never haveany treasure in heaven. It is the pennies that make the dollars; it is the "many mites that make the muckle." It is the constant doing of little things, for the glory of God and the good of others, that makes a man great. Great men are great in little things, and if you desire to be great men and great women, you must always use the little opportunities, and use them well. Lay up treasure in heaven, each and every day, just the same as, day after day, you would save your pennies, and thus fill your banks. If you want a large treasure in heaven you must constantly be engaged in laying up your treasure there. Never lose an opportunity to do good, and in this way you will have an abundant treasure in heaven.

Questions.—Where do people put money for safe keeping? Is it only silver and gold which is put into a bank? Do thieves ever break into banks? Can any treasure be laid up in the earth where it is absolutely safe? Where does the Bible tell us we are also to lay up treasure? When boys and girls are obedient, is that laying up treasure in heaven? Does being great in little things make a great man or a great woman? Should boys and girls learn to save their money? What would they be called if they spent all their money? What would they be called if they hoarded up all they could get? Should we always use all our money in the fear of God?After the conclusion of the services and after "driving home from church", introduce some other interesting features so as to make the day sacredly impressive.

After the conclusion of the services and after "driving home from church", introduce some other interesting features so as to make the day sacredly impressive.

lying down to read

Suggestions:—Objects: A geography, or detached maps will serve to show that the portions of the earth which are under the water are quite like the portions of the earth which are above the water. Islands are only mountain summits or elevations."Drive to church", have the ushers show different real or imaginary persons to seats, have the little sermon and service precede the reading of the following object sermon.

"Drive to church", have the ushers show different real or imaginary persons to seats, have the little sermon and service precede the reading of the following object sermon.

Outline Map of the United States.Outline Map of the United States.

MY LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: We are all travelers. Now when a traveler starts out upon a journey he always desires to have in his possession one of these things which I hold in my hand. I know you will recognize it at once, and say that it is a map. This map tells you the name of the country; it shows you where there are mountains, where there are rivers, where there are valleys, where there are cities, and shows you the entire United States of America. In traveling through a strange country, if you do not have a map, you might be lost upon the mountains, or your journey would be obstructed by the rivers which you could not cross, and in various ways you would find it absolutely necessary to have a map.

Now, when a traveler goes out upon the sea, it is just as necessary that he should have a map, or what the sailors call a chart, as it is for the traveler upon the land. The chart which the sea captain has, shows the mountains and the valleys and the rivers which are in the sea; for these exist in the sea, as well as upon the land. The rocks, against which ships are sometimes dashed to pieces, are simply the tops of high mountains that come very near to the surface of the sea; and the captain without a chart, not knowing where they are, is likely to run against them with his ship. The islands are simply the tops of these mountains, that rise higher above the water, and form a place of abode for man; and we call them islands, because they are very much smaller than the great continents on which you and I live.

A chart of the sea always locates the dangerous places. They show where other ships have been foundered, and oftentimes where hundreds and thousands of lives have been lost. It also shows what are really rivers in the sea, or great currents, one of which we call the Gulf Stream. When a ship is crossing the Gulf Stream the motion or current of this water might carry it many hundreds of miles out of its course, and if the captain had no chart he would not be able to allow for this distance, which the ship is being carried, either north or south.

Now, you and I are travelers in this world. We are out upon a great voyage, and it is necessary that we should have a chart, and therefore God has given us the Bible, which you and I can use greatly to our advantage. In the Bible, God has pointed out the dangers which lie like the hidden rocks under the surface of the sea. In the commandments God marks out the great dangers which beset you and me. There is the rock of Idolatry. Whole nations of the earth have been wrecked on this rock. Then there is another, Profanity, swearing: Oh! how many boys and men areruined because they do not observe how God has marked this dangerous rock, against which no one can run without danger of losing his immortal soul. Then there is Sabbath breaking, another rock; and there is reverence due to parents; and God marks another, "Thou shalt not kill"; and then there are others, against stealing, against bearing false witness, against covetousness. All these dangerous rocks God has marked in the Bible, in order that you and I may not run against them, and thus be shipwrecked in our voyage to the haven of everlasting rest.

Rocks and Mountains at the Bottom of the Sea.Rocks and Mountains at the Bottom of the Sea.

God also marks the influences which you and I must come in contact with. Every boy who goes to school feels the influence of other boys, some of whom are very bad. If he permits himself to be moved by these things he will go wrong, just the same as the ship that is crossing the Gulf Stream is carried out of its course. So the Bible warns us against bad company.

Now the chart which the sea captain has, indicates also the ports of safety. It shows the location of these different ports, and the direction the captain must take in order to reach them. So the Bible shows us where you and I can find refuge in the day of storm, and in the day of trial, and in the day of sickness, and in the day of distress. To the sea captain, out upon the great ocean, there are ten thousand directions which are sure to end in shipwreck. There is only one safe way to go, in order to reach his desired port in safety.

Now what would you think of a captain out upon the seas who folded up his chart and laid it carefully away, and never looked at it, never studied it, never sought to know what is on the chart? Do you not see how he would go upon the rocks? His ship would go down to the bottom of the sea, just as surely as if he had no chart on board his ship. It is important that he should have his chart in constant use. So it is important, not only that we should have the Bible, but that we should use the Bible, that we should read it, that we should study it, that we should know what it says. I trust that each and all of you not only have a Bible, but that you study it daily, and that you seek to avoid the dangers which God has pointed out, and that you desire to know the will of God concerning you.

Questions.—What should a traveler always have in a strange country? What must a sea captain always carry with him on his ship? What does the chart show? Are we travelers? To what country are we journeying? HasGod given us a chart to show the dangers to which we are exposed in our voyage or journey? Should we read the Bible every day? What are two principal parts of the Bible? Do you know how many books there are in the Old Testament? Do you know how many books there are in the New Testament? Do you know who was the first man? Who was the first woman? Who was the first murderer? Who built the ark? Who had the coat of many colors? Who led the Children of Israel out of Egypt? Who was put in the lion's den?After the entire service has been completed and after the "drive home from church", chairs can be arranged with their backs toward each other, set a little way apart, with a shawl, blanket, or even a sheet, thrown over them so as to form a little tent. A number of tents can be made to illustrate the Children of Israel camping in the wilderness. They were travelers tenting by the way, who forgot about their chart and fell into sin, and God had to turn them back in the wilderness for forty years of wandering. All this suggests important lessons to the parents.A series of tents can be arranged like the one shown in the picture below (see also pages209and271) and then, with one child in each tent the questions can be asked. When a child fails to give the correct answer, he moves down to the last tent in the row, the other children move up, and the question is passed to the child next in order, the same as in a "spelling-bee" and other progressive plays. Questions like those given on this page and on pages25and26can be used; also questions such as are found in the chapter on "Suggestions to Parents," especially from paragraphs 50 onward.

After the entire service has been completed and after the "drive home from church", chairs can be arranged with their backs toward each other, set a little way apart, with a shawl, blanket, or even a sheet, thrown over them so as to form a little tent. A number of tents can be made to illustrate the Children of Israel camping in the wilderness. They were travelers tenting by the way, who forgot about their chart and fell into sin, and God had to turn them back in the wilderness for forty years of wandering. All this suggests important lessons to the parents.

A series of tents can be arranged like the one shown in the picture below (see also pages209and271) and then, with one child in each tent the questions can be asked. When a child fails to give the correct answer, he moves down to the last tent in the row, the other children move up, and the question is passed to the child next in order, the same as in a "spelling-bee" and other progressive plays. Questions like those given on this page and on pages25and26can be used; also questions such as are found in the chapter on "Suggestions to Parents," especially from paragraphs 50 onward.

The Children of Israel Camping in the Wilderness.The Children of Israel Camping in the Wilderness.

Suggestions:—Object: Anchor of any kind. One cut from paste-board would answer. During the week the little ones might be interested to cut out both anchor and the chain, using paste-board.Before reading the following sermon, "drive to church" and after the audience has been shown to seats, begin the service with singing, have the regular prayer and have one of the children preach over the sermon at the church in the morning or the object sermon of last Sunday.

Suggestions:—Object: Anchor of any kind. One cut from paste-board would answer. During the week the little ones might be interested to cut out both anchor and the chain, using paste-board.

Before reading the following sermon, "drive to church" and after the audience has been shown to seats, begin the service with singing, have the regular prayer and have one of the children preach over the sermon at the church in the morning or the object sermon of last Sunday.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I want to talk to you to-day about a very important subject. The Bible speaks of hope, and says, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." (Hebrews vi: 19.)

The Anchor.The Anchor.

I suppose most of you have been on board a ship or large boat. Very near the bow, or front end of the boat, you have doubtless noticed a chain, at the end of which was an anchor, made in the form of this one which I hold in my hand. Now, I would not care to go out to sea on any ship which did not have an anchor on board. In crossing theAtlantic you may sometimes be out for days and weeks, and sometimes even for months, and have no need of using the anchor. But all the time, while the weather is pleasant and everything is moving along prosperously, the fact that the anchor is on board the ship and that it can be used in time of danger, gives a sense of security to all the passengers. If it were not there you would constantly fear, lest the storms or fog might come when your ship was near land or dangerous rocks or shoals, and then your ship might be lost with its many hundreds of lives on board, simply because it had no anchor.

Every man and woman, and every boy and girl, needs to have hope as an anchor to his soul. We should have faith in God, and then at times when all is well, when we are prosperous and blest, and everything goes along like the ship in pleasant weather, we will constantly have peace and rest in our minds and hearts, because we know that our hope is staid on God, and that though the world be removed, yet God will not disappoint us.

Some people seem to think that religion is a good thing to have when they get sick, or when adversity or sorrow or great affliction comes. But the fact is that religion is a necessary thing at all times. We need it when we are well and strong, as well as when we are sick and weak. We need religion in this world to live by, as well as to die by, as well as for our salvation in the world to come.

The anchor is very serviceable indeed in time of storm. Often it has to be used in order to secure the ship and save the lives of all who are on board. If it were not for the anchor the ship might be thrust upon the rocks, or it might be dashed to pieces by the waves that break upon the coast. The anchor is oftentimes very serviceable. So it is with the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. When trials and perplexities and adversities come, as they do in every life, then it is that this anchor is a source of very great blessing, becauseit saves from shipwreck, occasioned by unbelief and the perplexities into which those are cast who have no hope, or trust in God.

Anchor Laying Hold of the Rocks.Anchor Laying Hold of the Rocks.

To be serviceable the anchor must take hold of something. If it simply drags along it will not hold the ship; but the ship may go to pieces on the rocks, even though it has an anchor, which has already been cast over. Now in time of sorrow and perplexity or distress every one throws out an anchor. That is, he tries to take hold of something which will sustain him and keep him, just thesame as a boy who falls into the water would grab after a board. They say that a drowning man will even grasp after a straw in order to help to support his body, so that he may save his life. So every one in perplexity reaches out to lay hold of something. But the text which I quoted in the beginning says that this hope which we have as an anchor to the soul lays hold of something, and that something is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is like the ship whose anchor goes down, far below the waves, deep down out of sight, and lays hold of the rocks which form the foundation of the earth. So the faith of the Christian is staid, not on things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen. As the text expresses it, it lays hold of those things "which entereth into that which is within the veil." That is, this figure refers to the Temple at Jerusalem, where the Holy of Holies was concealed from the rest of the Temple by a large curtain or veil, and no one was permitted to go into this Holy of Holies except the High Priest, and he but once a year. But when you and I have the faith of the Christian, although we may not be able to enter into the great mystery of God's grace and mercy, yet our faith lays hold of that which is beyond our understanding, and beyond our possibility to see or fully to comprehend, and thus our faith lays hold of that which is "within the veil." With our understanding, you and I cannot enter into the mysteries of God, but by faith we can enter into them. I trust that every boy and girl here will have that faith in God, which will be as an anchor to his soul, sure and steadfast, entering within the veil at all times.

I will tell you how this anchor of faith and hope can be of service to you. There are times when you see other boys and girls who have many more comforts and luxuries and possessions than you have. You may even be discouraged sometimes because you think your lot in life is more than usually hard and difficult.

When I myself was a boy, my father died, and only threeyears later my mother died. I was left an orphan and without a home. I had to become an errand boy in a store, and for a number of years I had a hard struggle. I was a Christian boy, and I had this anchor of faith and hope. I trusted in God that He would make all of these things to work out eventually for my good. I could not at that time understand how. It was beyond my understanding, but later on in life I found how all the trials and struggles of my earlier years had worked together for my good. I understood that passage of Scripture which says: "All things work together for good to them that love God." (Romans viii: 28.)

So, when you see others who have it easier and who have more comforts and luxuries than you have, if you have this hope which the text speaks of as "laying hold within the veil" be sure that in God's own good time, in His infinite wisdom and love, He will work out for you also the blessing and the good which you can only hope for, but which at the present time you can neither see nor understand.

Questions.—What does every ship carry? Would a ship be safe without an anchor? When the anchor is let down into the deep water, must it take hold of something? When is the anchor used? If a ship did not have an anchor in time of storm along the rocky coast, would it be safe? Do men and women, boys and girls, also need an anchor? Can we have peace and happiness without hope? Is religion necessary only when we are in trouble? On what does hope lay hold? Can we see the things on which the Christian's faith lays hold? Can we always understand God's providences? Did the writer of this book have trials when he was a boy? Could he understand them then? Did he understand them later on in life? Do all boys and girls have trials? If received in the proper spirit, will they always work out for their good?

Suggestion:—If the children can obtain some of the pods which are called "husks" in the Scripture, which can be had in some towns and cities, and which the children usually call "Johnny-bread" they will be able to taste the husks which the prodigal fed to the swine and which he himself desired to eat. If these cannot be had, the pods from the sweet locust tree will be serviceable.

I HOLD in my hand what I suppose most of you have seen, and perhaps many of you have eaten. It is what boys oftentimes call "Johnny bread." It looks very much like the long pods which grow on the honey locust trees. It is sometimes called "Johnny bread," because some people mistakenly think that this was the kind of locust that John the Baptist ate when he came in the Wilderness, preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and that men should repent. We are told in the Scriptures that he ate locusts and wild honey. The locusts which he ate were very much like our grasshoppers, such as are still eaten by very poor people in the East.

Husks.Husks.

In the 15th chapter of the gospel by St. Luke, we have a verybeautiful parable, called the parable of the prodigal son. In connection with the husk which I hold in my hand, I want to tell you something about this prodigal son.

In this parable Jesus tells of a very kind father who had two sons, but the younger son was dissatisfied and discontented. He was a boy very much like many who live in this country and at this time. He was a boy who wanted to have his own way. He thought that his father was an "old fogy." The son wanted gay company and gay clothing. He wanted to travel and see something of the world; so he asked his father to give him the money which would come to him at his father's death, in order that he might go immediately and have his own way, and have a good time, as he supposed.

His father was very sad, for he had tried to bring up his boy in the right way. But when he could not prevail upon him, and his son would not listen to him any longer, but insisted upon having the money, and going away from home, the father granted his request.

When the money had been counted out, the son gathered it all up, bade his father and brother and all his friends good-bye, telling them what a happy time he was going to have, and started out for a far country.

This same desire to see something of the world has induced many boys to run away from home. Many years ago, when there were numerous ships that went out on long voyages to catch whales, oftentimes boys who had run away from home went away to sea with these ships. Now, however, restless and discontented boys, who have read worthless and deceptive books, sometimes go to live a wild life on the plains in the West. Sometimes boys even become tramps. Scores and sometimes hundreds of them can be met any week by going to the Breakfast Association, in Philadelphia;or some of the Rescue Homes, in New York, where poor, wandering boys and tramps are given a free meal on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. Prodigals now, as in the time when Christ lived, have a very hard time of it. They start out with high hopes, sometimes with money in their pockets, with fine clothing and bright anticipations, expecting to have a good time in the far country which they are seeking. But their experience is always the same.

When this prodigal came to the far country, for a few weeks, or possibly a few months, he had plenty of money. He thought his money would always last. Bad men and women gathered around him, for they all wanted to enjoy what his money would secure for them. But it didn't take long; his money was soon spent, and when his money was gone his pretended friends were gone also. He soon found himself penniless, friendless and hungered. He had to go out and seek for work. Perhaps he had been too much indulged at home. He had never learned a trade, and possibly had never learned to do work of any kind, and so there was nothing for him to do but to accept the humblest and meanest kind of labor. He was a Jew, and for a Jew to tend swine or hogs was one of the meanest things in all the world. And yet he was willing because of his poverty and his want, to do even this most degrading service. This boy who wanted to be his own master, now became the most menial of slaves, even to the tending of swine. He wanted gay company, but he had only pigs for his companions. He wanted wine and feasting, but now no one even offered him husks to eat. He left his home to seek happiness, but he found only misery.

The Disappointed, Hungry Prodigal Tending Swine.The Disappointed, Hungry Prodigal Tending Swine.

These husks which I showed you, which some boys call "Johnny bread," are exactly what this wayward, disappointed, disheartened, hungry boy was given to feed to the swine which hewas hired to tend. He was so hungry that he would have been glad to eat these husks with the pigs, but no one gave him any to eat.

When this wayward boy was thus brought down to poverty and hunger in that far-off country, while he was tending the swine, he began to think. If he had only stopped to think before he left his home, he would never have started away. He would surely have known that he was better off at home than anywhere else. But now that misery and want had come to him, we are told that "he came to himself." That is, he came to his senses. It was sentiment which led him from his home. It was sense that brought him back. The trouble with boys and girls, and with older people too, is that they do not stop to think. They follow their fancies and sentiments, and they are led astray in this way.

God wants us to stop and think, and He says, "Come, let us reason together." God does not ask any unreasonable thing of us. He simply wants to treat us as thoughtful beings, but we want to follow our own inclination and our own desire. God treats us very kindly. He gives us every needed comfort and every daily blessing, and yet oftentimes people are discontented and dissatisfied with God; they complain and think they have a hard time of it. Instead of being faithful and true to God, they turn away from him. They desire to forsake God and serve Satan. They desire to accept what Satan says, and so turn away from God and all that is good. But they have the same experience over and over again that this young man had. He went out with fine clothes and plenty of money, and with high hopes; but he returned home in rags, without a penny in his pocket, disappointed, penitent and ashamed.

The Returning ProdigalCopyrighted 1911 by Sylvanus Stall.The Returning Prodigal

But I must not forget to tell you, that when he had journeyed many a week, toiling wearily over the long road that had separated him from his father's house, at last he came near his old home. In going away he had nearly broken his father's heart. With sorrowhe was bringing his aged father down to the grave. But his father still loved his wayward boy, and expected him home. As he sat watching at the door looking over the hills, he saw the returning prodigal when he was yet a great way off. This loving and forgiving father had compassion upon his son, ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and welcomed him back home again. The wayward boy's heart was all broken up by such kind treatment. He fell upon his knees at his father's feet and said to his father, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants."

But the father called his servants and commanded them to bring the best robe and put it upon this boy who had given him so much sorrow; to bring the ring and put it upon his finger; and then to kill the fatted calf, so that they might make a great feast, in order that all might be made very glad, because this his son, who was dead, was alive again, he who had been lost was found.

So when we come back to God after we have sinned against Him, and are repentant and sorry for what we have done, in love and great tenderness He forgives our sins. And like the prodigal, in the time of his sorest misery, found in his father's heart the greatest mercy, so you and I may come to God knowing that in the day of our dire distress He is always willing to love us and to forgive us as His own dear children. Let us be careful not to sin against Him, and then we shall not have the humiliation and the sorrow of coming back, like this poor prodigal, when he returned in rags and poverty to his father's house. Never make the mistake of going away from your God and then you will not have the remorse which will bring you back in sorrow and shame.

Questions.—Who first told the parable of the prodigal son? Why did the prodigal leave his home? What did he do with his money? Did his pretended friends stay by him after his money was gone? In his poverty what did he do?Did he have enough to eat? When he was in want and came to himself, of whom did he think? What did he resolve to do? What do boys who run away from home generally become? Are tramps happy? Was the father sad all the time the boy was away? How did he receive the returning prodigal? Does God love us even though we do wrong? Will God forgive us and accept us? Is God glad when we repent?After "driving home from church" a series of tableaux could be arranged: (1) Showing the father counting out the money to the boy. (2) The boy bidding good-bye to his father and friends. (3) Surrounded by flatterers for whom he is spending his money. (4) In poverty tending swine. (5) In rags returning home. (6) Being welcomed by his father.Or the children may arrange a tent in which the prodigal is presumed to live on the plains while tending the swine, which may be represented by a series of books, toys or any objects; for the imagination of the children will convert any object into any other object, person or thing.

After "driving home from church" a series of tableaux could be arranged: (1) Showing the father counting out the money to the boy. (2) The boy bidding good-bye to his father and friends. (3) Surrounded by flatterers for whom he is spending his money. (4) In poverty tending swine. (5) In rags returning home. (6) Being welcomed by his father.

Or the children may arrange a tent in which the prodigal is presumed to live on the plains while tending the swine, which may be represented by a series of books, toys or any objects; for the imagination of the children will convert any object into any other object, person or thing.

The Prodigal's Tent.The Prodigal's Tent.

Suggestion:—Objects used: A piece of old iron, some nails, broken clock and watch springs, and also a piece of native iron ore, if convenient.

MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I want to show you to-day that there is a great difference in the value of things, even though they are made of the same material. In the second chapter of Genesis we are told, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." So, you see that all men and women are made of the same material, yet men differ greatly, both in character and works.

Iron Products.Iron Products.

I have here some iron ore, some old iron, some nails; here are some clock springs, and here are some springs of watches. This iron ore is as it is dug from the earth. It is called the native iron, but mixed with it there is much earth and stone and dross, which must be separated from it in order to make it pure. This is done by casting the ore, together with limestone and other materials, into a huge furnace, where the fire is so intensely hot that all are melted and thus the iron is separated from the dross, or stone and earth, which is now mixed with the ore. When the iron is thus separated and molded into large bars, it is worth from a fraction of a cent to two cents per pound, according to quality and marketprice. After it has been cast into great iron bars, and is known as pig iron, it is afterward bought and melted over again and molded into the form of stoves and wheels, such as are used in factories, and a variety of other forms for manufacturing and other uses.

Nail, Pen and Clock Spring.Nail, Pen and Clock Spring.

Now, here I have some pieces of iron, such as boys call "old iron." They often find pieces of this kind of iron, which have been thrown away, and gather and sell them at a price varying from one-quarter to a cent or more a pound, according to circumstances. Then it is melted over again and made into stoves, or whatever the manufacturer may desire. Now, here are some nails, such as sell at five cents a pound, and here are some steel pens, which are worth from one to four and five dollars a pound. Here are some springs, such as are used in the construction of clocks. These are the springs which make clocks go. When you wind up the clock you simply tighten this spring, thus storing the power which is necessary to keep the clock in motion for twenty-four hours, for eight days, or even a longer period.

Now here are some springs, such as are used in watches. These springs are worth, according to their size and quality, fromtwenty to fifty or sixty dollars a pound. Here also are some little screws, such as are used in the construction of watches, and which are worth even a hundred dollars a pound.

While these different articles are all made of the same material, you see there is a great difference in their value. One is not worth a single cent a pound, and another may be worth one hundred dollars a pound. Now this difference in value is due to two things. One is, difference in quality, and the other is the use which is made of the article into which the iron is manufactured.

Watch Spring and Screws.Watch Spring and Screws.

I suppose, if these different pieces of metal could think, and had the power of speech, this piece of old iron would complain to the other pieces which are of more value, and say to the watch spring, "I am just as good as you are, we were both dug from the same ore bank. I remember the time when we were both cast into the hot fire and melted in the furnace; after that I was taken to the foundry, and made into a stove, and after a few years of use I was rejected and cast into the alley. I have had to lie about in the mud and in the cold and snow, and men have passed me by and scorned me as though I were of no value. But I want you to understand, Mr. Clockspring and Mr. Watchspring, that I am just as good as you are, and there is no reason why I should be cast out into the mud and cold, while you are placed in a gold case and carried in a gentleman's pocket."

The nail also would cry out, and say that he was just as good as the little screws which are used in the watch, and would complainagainst being driven violently into a board, where it is compelled, year after year, to hold a board on to the side of a building; to have putty placed over its head, and then paint over the top of that, so that nobody could even so much as see where it was, or know what it was doing.

Now, the old iron, and the nail, and the others have no right to complain. There is a vast difference of quality, and there is also a difference of work.

The higher grades and better qualities of metals are secured by refining processes. Again and again the metal is cast in the fire and melted. Sometimes it is beaten on the anvil into such shapes and forms as will render the metal of greater service, and consequently of more value.

Suppose this metal had feeling, and the power to express its wish. Do you not see how it would cry out against being cast into the fire, and being beaten with great hammers upon the anvil? I am sure the fire, the hammers, and the anvil bring no sense of pleasure to the metal while being refined and being beaten into such forms as render it of greatest value.

Just so, in some senses at least, are all boys and girls alike. If they were all permitted to grow up in neglect, without being governed by thoughtful parents, without being educated and refined, without being sent to school and required to attend church, without being taught at home and being instructed in the Catechism and in the Bible, and without being shown their duty to God and their fellow men, they would all be pretty much alike. It is the difference in the influences that are made to refine some boys that causes them to differ so much from others who are about them. The boy who has only been taught to pick stones, or sweep the streets, or dig ditches, may cry out against the boy who is gentlemanly, and obliging, and obedient, and truthful, and reliable, and who has a positionof great responsibility in a bank, or in the office of some man who occupies a very responsible position; yet oftentimes, and quite universally, there is a very great difference in the merit and value of these two boys. One has been disciplined and governed and controlled, educated and taught, while the other has likely been neglected, and consequently has not learned the importance of these things.

God designs to refine all of us, and therefore He desires that all should be taught to study, should learn to read and write, should learn all they can from the schools, should be taught to work, should be taught to expect trials and self-denials, and should be led to expect sickness and disappointments, and all these things by which God designs to make us better from year to year. But, just the same as the iron would cry out against being cast into the fire and being beaten upon the anvil, so do boys and girls, and men and women also, cry out against the providences by which God is refining them and making them better for this world and fitting them for the world to come.

If we desire to be of largest service in this world, and to occupy a place of honor in the world to come, we must expect that God will deal with us, as He has told us in the ninth verse of the thirteenth chapter of Zechariah, in which He says, "I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried." And in the book of Malachi He says that He, that is God, is "like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap, and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and purge them as gold and silver."

When the gold and the silver is cast into the crucible to be purified, the fire is made very hot, and the metal is left in the crucible until the man who is refining it and who sits looking into the crucible can see his own image reflected in the metal. So we are cast into the fires of affliction, and God looks down upon us; butwhen we become like Him, so that God sees His own self reflected in our character, and in our disposition, and in our temper, then we shall have been refined as God desires, and He will then be ready to receive us into His own home on high.

Questions.—Can you name different things made from iron? Is a horse shoe as valuable as a watch spring? What makes the difference in their value? How are iron and steel refined, or made more valuable? Are unrefined and untaught boys and girls all quite alike? What makes them become different? Do some boys and girls become more useful and valuable in the world than others? What causes the difference? Would the iron cry out against being refined? Do boys and girls object to being taught and disciplined? How does the Bible say that God refines us? Can the refiner see his image in the melted metal? Does God want to see His own image reflected in us?

Back to Index Next