MAGNET AND NEEDLE.

Phonograph Cylinder.Phonograph Cylinder.

If I take this box, and instead of a string I should place the point of a needle back of it, and a cylinder to revolve, so that the needle would scratch the vibrations upon the cylinder, I would then have a phonograph. I would then be able to record the words, and with another smooth needle to go into the scratches which had been made by the sharp needle, I would be able to reproduce the sound; or, in other words, to make the cylinder talk back again to me the words which I had spoken into the tin box and recorded upon the cylinder.

Just as light carries the photograph or picture, so the air carries the sound of our words and other vibrations of the atmosphere which we call sound. Thus you see the light is one book and the air is another, and God doubtless has many other forms of making and keeping the record of our actions and words—yes, even of our thoughts, and in the great Judgment Day these words which we utter will say themselves over again in our ears. If you uttered any bad or wicked words yesterday or to-day, or shall do so tomorrow, remember you will have to give an account of them in the great Day of Judgment.

But there is another thing connected with our uttering of bad words, as well as the fact that we must give an account of them. Bad words are connected with bad thoughts, and so every bad word which we utter indicates the character of our thoughts and has a bad influence upon our minds and hearts.

Not only do these words record themselves upon the atmosphere, but they also record themselves in a lasting—yes, in an eternal influence upon the hearts and the minds and the lives of those who hear them. Just the same as the words which are spoken into a phonograph are recorded and can be repeated over and over many times, so the bad words and the wicked thoughts which are expressed into the ears of others make an indelible record upon their thoughts and hearts, and are oftentimes repeated to others, thus multiplying the record, and at last all these records will appear against us in the great Day of Judgment. How careful you and I should be to speak only good words and to think only good thoughts.

Questions.—Has God other record books beside the one of deeds? What does one of the other books record? What is a telephone? What is a phonograph? What happens to the air when our words strike it? What are these air-vibrations called? What does the air do with sound? What two things may be used as God's recording books? Must all bad words be accounted for? What do bad words indicate? Upon what instrument can words also be recorded? Are all words like those which are recorded by a phonograph? Why? (Permanent). Will God hold these records against us on the Judgment Day?

Suggestion:—Objects used: A magnet, a piece of paper and an ordinary sewing needle. In the illustration lay the needle flat against the paper directly under the magnet. The ordinary magnet, purchased for a few cents in a toy store, will answer the purpose.

MY DEAR LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: The Bible everywhere teaches us that God is the Supreme Ruler of the universe. Not only has He created the vast system of worlds about us, but He directs each in its orbit. He rules over the destinies of nations, and although wicked men plot and plan, yet over and above them all God is ruling, and He makes even the wrath of men to praise Him.

When you are older and can make a careful study of the Book of Daniel, which is in the Old Testament, and then read the history of the world in the light of the teachings of that Book, you will see how God used the five great empires of the earth to prepare the world for the coming of the Messiah, and how since the time of Christ He has used the other nations to prepare the world for the full acceptance of the truth and the final triumph of righteousness.

But God not only governs in the affairs of nations, He also governs and directs in the life of each individual. He not only gives us being and preserves our lives and health, but He has redeemed us from sin and death by the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ; and if we are willing, He will guide us in all the affairs oflife. Nothing is too minute nor too insignificant to receive His thought and attention, and not even the sorrow of a child over a broken toy escapes His notice or fails to touch His loving heart.

But many people are not able to understand, and seem also unwilling to accept anything that they cannot see, or comprehend with one of their five senses. I have therefore brought this magnet, this piece of paper, and this needle, such as women use when they sew, in order to show you how God can guide us by His unseen hand.

Magnet and Needle.Magnet and Needle.

When I lift this needle with my fingers and then let go of it you will notice how it drops immediately to the floor. Now, when I lift this magnet in the same way, and then let go of it, it will also drop in the same manner. But now I am going to hold this magnet up, and bring the needle close to the magnet. Now when I let loose of the needle with my fingers you see how it is held by the magnet. The gravity, or, as we would say, the weight of the needle, which would cause it to fall to the floor, is overcome by some greater or stronger power which is in the magnet. Now, you cannot perceive that power with any of your senses; you can neither hear it, smell it, taste it nor feel it. You can see the effect of that power, but the power itself you cannot see. In like manner, also, there are powers and influences all about us which we cannot perceive with any of our senses, but which are constantly exercising their influence upon us and upon things about us.

But now, by the use of this paper, I desire to show you something additional. I am going to place the magnet above the paper, and the needle below the paper, and show you that even through the paper this influence or power which holds the needle exerts itself.You will see now that when I lay the needle lengthwise against the paper, with the magnet upon the opposite side, that the needle is held up against this paper and does not fall, as it would if the magnet were removed. You will notice also that, as I move this magnet from place to place, the needle on the lower side of the paper follows the magnet. In this simple little experiment you are able to see the magnet, but suppose for a moment that this paper were increased in size until it was as large as the ceiling of this entire room. You will understand that then the magnet and any person moving the magnet might be entirely out of sight, and as the magnet would be moved from place to place on the upper side of the paper, entirely out of view, the needle on the lower side, which could be easily seen, would move from place to place, following the magnet.

Paper no Hindrance.Paper no Hindrance.

This little experiment illustrates to usnot howGod guides us, but it will show us that there are powers unknown and unseen by us which can hold and guide even insensible metal. How much more easily, then, can God sustain and guide our thoughts, our purposes, our steps and our lives.

We are free moral agents. God has left us free to resist His power and His grace, and to live in defiance of all that He has commanded us, and of all that He desires us to do. But if we are willing to be led by His Spirit, and to walk in His way, God is willing to guide us, if we will come to Him and ask Him for theHoly Spirit to lead us in the way in which He would have us to walk.

There are many who do resist God's will and purpose, and live in open defiance of all His teachings, and of all that God would have them to do. I take it for granted, however, that there are no such people here, but that you all desire to live in such a way as to secure your greatest happiness and your greatest good upon this earth, and your eternal happiness and blessedness in the world to come.

In closing this little sermon, I therefore desire to impress upon your minds the fact that you and I are without experience in many of the most trying and most important events which come to us in life. We are constantly liable to be mistaken. We cannot see ahead of us, and do not always know what is for our own good. God knows all things, the future as well as the past. He cannot be mistaken and must therefore know beyond the possibility of error what will be for our good. God not only knows what will be for our good but He desires our good, therefore we should let Him guide us.

Now, the question might arise in your minds, how does God guide us? He guides us by the teachings of His Word. He has told us in the Bible how we ought to live, what is for our present and eternal good. If we desire financial prosperity, or physical blessings, or mental quickness, or spiritual peace, we will find in the teachings of God's Word how to obtain them.

God also guides us by the exercise of our consciences, and therefore it is always important that you and I should do what conscience tells us to be right. First of all we should study God's Word, in order that we may have an enlightened conscience, and then we should always follow conscience.

God also guides us by the Holy Spirit, and it is our duty tocome to Him daily and ask Him for the presence and power of the Holy Ghost to guide us through each day, and to bring us at last to Heaven above.

Now, I trust you will all be able to enter heartily into the prayer which we are going to sing, for when we sing thoughtfully we will find that many hymns contain petitions as well as praise, and this is one of the kind which partakes largely of the nature of petition. Let us all sing the hymn,

"Guide me, O, Thou great Jehovah."

Questions.—Who is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe? Who governs the life of every person? Does any little thing escape His notice? Are some people unwilling to believe what they cannot see? Can we see, hear, smell, or feel the power in the magnet? Why do we believe it is there? Are there influences around us like the power in the magnet? Can they all be seen? Will the paper between the magnet and the needle destroy the attracting power of the magnet? Who are like the needle? Like whom is the magnet? Does He guide us? Can we see Him? Are we free to do as we choose? When will God lead us? Do some people defy God? Do we always know what is best for us, or what to do when in trouble? Who does know? By what three means does God guide us?

Lamp, Bible and magnet

Suggestion:—Object: A small aquarium with a few small fishes.

Fishes in Aquarium.Fishes in Aquarium.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I have here an aquarium with a few very pretty goldfishes in it. As they swim from side to side they look very beautiful. When they see me coming nearer to the aquarium, or moving my hand upon this side or the other, they dart very quickly to the opposite side of the aquarium. They try to get out of sight, but it makes no difference whether they are upon this side or upon the other side of the aquarium, I can see them just as well. I can look right through the aquarium; I can see through the glass, and I can see through the water. And wherever the fishes are in this aquarium, I can see them. It is impossible for them to hide away, or to get out of my sight.

Now, the Bible tells us that "the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Prov. xv: 3.) We are very clearly taught in the Bible, that it makes no difference where we are, God can see us just as well in one place as in another. He can see us in the night just as well as in the daytime, for "the darkness and the light are alike unto Him." David said, "Hethat keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." (Psalm cxxi: 4.) So it makes no difference whether you are in the house or out of doors, whether it is day or whether it is night, God can see right through the house, just as you and I can look through this aquarium and through the water, so God can see right through the thick walls of a house, or even through a great mountain. If you were in the valley beyond the mountain, God could see right through the mountain; that would make no difference. He can even see way through the earth, from this side through to China. It makes no difference to God, for He can see just as well through material substances, through which you and I cannot look, as we can see through the air; indeed much better, for distance limits the possibility of our seeing distinctly and clearly, while God's power to see is not limited or circumscribed.

"There is One Direction That You Have not Looked.""There is One Direction That You Have not Looked."

Once there was a very excellent, good woman, who had a very nice and conscientious little boy, but the mother was poor and had to go out from day to day to earn her living. Each night when she returned home the little boy was very lonely, and would watch very patiently for his mother, and when he saw her coming, he would always run to the door to meet her, and throw his arms about her neck. But one evening when she returned, she noticed that little Willie was not at the door to meet her. She could not understand why, when she came into the house he seemed to be afraid of her. He tried to avoid her. After a time the mother called Willie to her and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him very tenderly. This was too much for the little boy's heart. He looked up into his mother's face, and said, "Mamma, can God see through a crack in the door?" His mother said, "Yes, God can see everywhere." He said, "Mamma, can God see in the cupboard if it is dark in the cupboard?" "Yes, Willie, God can see in the dark as well as in the light."Willie looked up into his mother's face and said, "Then I might as well tell you. To-day I was very hungry, and although you told me that I should not take the cake which you had put in the closet, yet I went to the closet, and when I had closed the door, and it was all dark, I felt around till I got a piece of the cake, and I ate it. I did not know that God could see in the dark. I am very sorry that I have been so wicked and so naughty." And so little Willie threw his arms around his mamma's neck and laid his head upon her shoulder and wept very bitterly.

Eye in the Pulpit.Eye in the Pulpit.

Once a man went to steal corn out of his neighbor's field. He took his little boy with him to hold the bag open, while he should pull the corn and put it in the bag. After they had reached the cornfield the father looked this way and that way, and looked about him in every direction, and when he had given the little boy the bag to hold open, the little boy looked at his father and said, "Father, there is one direction that you have not looked yet." The father was quite frightened and supposed that his son had seen some one coming in some direction. But the son said, "You have not looked up. There is some one inthat direction I am sure who sees us." The father was so much impressed that he turned away from his sinful purpose, and returned home, never again to steal from anyone.

Many years ago, among some of the denominations when they built a church, they used to build the pulpit very high. It was built almost as high as the gallery. And when the people sat in the pews and desired to see the minister, they had to bend their heads back, and look up very high toward the pulpit. At Reading, Pennsylvania, there is still one of these old pulpits which was formerly in use. On the under side of the shelf upon which the Bible rested in that pulpit, there was painted a large eye. And when the people would look up from the pews to see the minister, or towards the Bible, underneath this lid upon which the Bible rested they would always see this large eye. This eye would seem to look right down upon each one individually, and thus they would constantly be reminded of the text, "Thou God seest me," and the text which I repeated at the opening of this sermon, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." And so Sunday after Sunday, and year after year, from childhood to manhood, this object sermon was constantly being preached to them.

Whenever Satan tempts you to do wrong, remember that you cannot escape from the eyes of One who sees you constantly, and although no human being might know of your wickedness, yet God sees you, and God knows it all, for "His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men." (Psalm xi: 4.)

Questions.—Can the fish in the aquarium hide from our sight? How are we like the fish in the aquarium? What does the Bible say about the eyes of the Lord? Can darkness hide us from God's sight? Can He see through the earth? Tell about the little boy who ate the cake in the dark. Tell about the little boy whose father wanted to steal corn. Why was a large eye painted on the pulpit in the church? When we are tempted by Satan, what should we remember?

Suggestion:—Object: An ordinary clock or watch.

I HAVE here a clock, with which I desire to illustrate and emphasize the truth taught us in the twelfth verse of the ninetieth Psalm, where it says, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

Whatever is valuable we measure. Some things are measured by the yard, some things by the quart or gallon, other things by the pound or by the ton. Land is measured by the acre. One of the most valuable things that God gives to us is time. Queen Elizabeth, when she was dying, was willing to give her entire kingdom if she could only have one hour more in which to prepare for death.

As time is very valuable we measure it in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, centuries. In the earliest time men had no means of measuring time, except as they saw it measured with the great clock which God has set in the heavens; for He tells us in the first chapter of Genesis that He made "the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night." The most accurate clocks in the world are those which most nearly keep time with the sun. All the effort to regulate clocks and watches is simply to adjust their movements so as to have them keep time with the movement of the sun. God has given us a conscience which is designed to regulate our lives until they shall be in harmony with the life of Christ, who is the Sun of Righteousness. Hundreds ofyears before Christ came, people may have had some very rude way of dividing the time during the day and night, but their principal division of time was simply day and night, summer and winter. These changes of day and night, summer and winter, helped to mark the progress of time, and they still do. If it were all daytime, or all night, and we had no clocks, we would have no means of measuring time. When Baron de Trench was liberated from his dungeon in Magdeburg, where the King ofPrussiahad confined him in darkness for a period of ten years, where he had no means of measuring how the time passed and had even very few thoughts—when he was liberated, and was told that he had been in prison for ten years, his astonishment was almost beyond expression, for it had not seemed to him to be so long. It had passed away like a painful dream.

In the early period of the world's history, human life was much longer than at present. Men lived to be several hundred years old. I suppose you can all tell how old Methuselah was. He was the oldest man who ever lived. When human life became shorter, time consequently became more valuable and men were more anxious to measure it.

I want to show you how to measure time, and what makes it valuable; for David asked to be taught properly to number his days; and the purpose was so that he might apply his heart unto wisdom.

Now, this watch and this clock are instruments with which we measure time. Once there was a king who desired not to forget that, like other men, he must die, and he had a man whose duty it was to come before him each hour and repeat the words: "Remember thou art mortal!" That is, every hour he had this man remind him that sometime he would have to die. Each time the man came in before the king, he was reminded that he had onehour less to live; so, each and every time that you hear the clock strike, you should be reminded of the fact that another hour has passed, and that you have one less to live. In this sense every clock has a tongue, and when it strikes it tells us that we will now have one hour less to live upon the earth.

Hour-glass.Hour-glass.

The earliest device for measuring time was doubtless the sun-dial. Perhaps you have never seen one. It is simply a round plate or disc of metal, with a small piece of metal standing upright in such a position that when the sun shines, the shadow will be thrown upon the round cylinder or disc, around which are figures like those on the face of a watch or clock. Such methods of measuring time we know were used at least seven hundred and thirteen years before Christ, for in the book of Isaiah, thirty-eighth chapter and eighth verse, we find a very direct allusion to it. King Alfred of England used to use candles that were of uniform length; each candle would burn three hours, and by burning four candles, one after another, he could measure the hours of the day. In order to prevent the air from blowing against the candle and thus making it burn more rapidly or interfering with its accuracy in measuring time, he placed a horn or shield around it, and in the old cathedrals this was the way they measured time. Later on they had hour glasses, such as you sometimes see placed on the piano when girls are practicing their music lesson. Sometimes you see small ones in the kitchen, which are used for timing the eggs while they are boiling, and it is to these forms of glasses that various poetical allusions are made when death is spoken of as the "sands of life" running out.

"What Use Do You Make of Your Time?""What Use Do You Make of Your Time?"

Later came the clocks. They were first made about 2,000 years ago, but were very rude and awkward. The first watches were made about 475 years ago, but they were very large, and you would almost need to have a man to carry your watch for you, it was so heavy. Smaller watches were first made about 200 years ago, and now they have some that are so very small that you could carry six or seven of them in your vest pocket without inconvenience. How else could we tell about the time of the departure of trains and steamboats, the hours to go to work in the factory or to go to school, when to go to church? And the enjoyment of many other things depends upon knowing accurately what moment we should be on hand. You should learn never to be late, but always to be prompt. Suppose that, with an audience of six hundred people, the preacher should be five minutes late. Each person would then have lost five minutes. This, for the entire six hundred present, would have been equal to more than forty-eight hours for a single person—more than two days and two nights.

But now what is it that makes time valuable? It is the use that we can make of it. David wanted to know about it, so that he could apply his heart unto wisdom. The man who does nothing with his time, in the eyes of others, is worth nothing; but the busy man always finds that his time is very valuable. It is strange, also, that when you go to idle people and ask them to do anything they always say they haven't time, so that the expression has come to be used that "if you want anything done go to a busy man." The more busy the man is the more likely he is to find time, in some way, to undertake any new form of useful endeavor and work.

Now, I want to ask you, What use do you make of your time? Are you faithful in the use of every moment at home, diligent in doing the work assigned you, looking about you, and doing your own thinking, finding, for yourself, what is to be done, instead ofstanding around and waiting to be told? Are you diligent in school, always studying your lessons, learning all that you possibly can, remembering that everything that you can learn will at some time be of service to you? If you are employed in a store, or engaged in any other kind of business, are you faithful, using each moment and each hour, remembering that you are not to be faithful simply when your employer is looking at you, but you are to be faithful at all times? As the Bible says, "Not with eye service, as men pleasers" (Colos. iii: 22), but doing everything as unto the Lord. Are you faithful in the matter of attending church, and then when you are in the church, giving your mind to the consideration of the truth which is being presented, rather than allowing your mind to be engaged with the amusements and plays of last week, or the plans and purposes of next week? Are you faithful in the Sunday-school? Do you listen attentively to the lessons which are taught by your Sunday-school teacher? Each minute of the thirty devoted to the study of the lesson is very important, and all of the other moments in the Sunday-school are very important.

I was wondering the other day why the clock should have the long hand point to the minutes, and the short hand to the hours; but after all, it seems very wise that the greater emphasis, and greater importance should be attached to the longer hand. It points to the minutes, as though it were constantly saying to you and to me, look out for these minutes, look out for these small parts of the hour, and the whole hour will take care of itself. The big hand points to the minutes because, after all, they are the important things. It is like the old saying, "if we take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves." If we will take care of the minutes, the hours will take care of themselves.

If you have never thought on these things, and have been an idler, I want to ask you to "Redeem the time." (Eph. v: 16.)That is, do not let your time go to waste. If you are not a Christian, even though you are very busy and very industrious concerning temporal things, you are really wasting your time. We are placed here upon the earth in order that we may love and serve God. That is our main business here. If we are going to serve Christ, we should study to know His life and His teachings, and yet some people know very little about the Bible. Did you ever stop to think that a man who is thirty-five years old has had five solid years of Sundays? And the man who is seventy years old, has had ten solid years of Sundays? With ten years given to worship and the study of God's Word, a man at seventy ought to know a great deal concerning the teachings of the Bible. May God teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Questions.—How do we measure cloth? Are sugar and coal measured by the yard? How do we measure land? How do we measure time? How many divisions of time can you name besides seconds? What was the first instrument with which time was measured? With what did King Alfred measure the hours? What was later used for measuring time, after the sun-dial? About how long ago were clocks first invented? About how long ago were watches first made? Why did David want to be taught to number his days? Can the idle man or the busy man more easily find time for necessary duties? Will you always make diligent use of your time? Why does the larger hand of the clock point to the minutes? If we take care of the minutes, what will the hours do?

Suggestion:—Object: Architect's drawings for the building of a house.

MY DEAR LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: I have here what the architect calls "plans," or drawings for a house. Unless the carpenter and builder had a copy of the plans he is to follow he would not be able to build successfully. He would not know what kind of material he would need. He would not know where to place the doors, or how large to make the windows, and whether to put the dining room on this side of the house or on the other side of the house; whether the parlor was to be on the first floor or on the second floor. So when a man is going to build, the first thing to be done is to decide what kind of a house he wants, and then to get an architect who is able to draw the plans perfectly, so as to show the size of every door andwindow and room, and the exact position and place of everything that is to enter into the building of the house. These plans cost a great deal of thought and oftentimes much delay in beginning, but in the end they save both time and expense, and secure the most desirable results.

Plans for Building a House.Plans for Building a House.

Every boy and girl should have a plan, for we are all builders. We build day after day and week after week, and year after year. First of all, you should have some great purpose in life, and then all your other plans and purposes should be made to further and help the great main object which you have in life.

Once there were two boys who were very intimate when they were young. They played together, and came to love each other very much. One was a boy who always had a plan. He had a plan for studying his lessons; he had a plan which showed what time he had resolved to get up in the morning; how many hours he would devote to study; what portions of the day he would give to play, and how much to work. So each and every day he had his plans. At the beginning of the year he had his plans for each month of the year.

The other boy never had any plans. Everything went along just as it happened. The boy who always had the plans had no money; his father was poor. But the boy who had no plans had plenty of money, for his father was rich. These two boys both became merchants, had stores in the same square in a large city. The one who had the plans always knew what he purposed to do, before the season began. He knew just when to purchase his goods for the spring trade; he knew when to sell them; everything was done methodically and with a plan. As the result of his thoughtful plans he soon began to accumulate wealth, obtained a place of confidence in the minds of business men, and eventually became one of the most honored and influential men in the city. With the other boy it was notso. He bought his goods whenever he chanced to see something that he fancied; often bought too much of one thing; had no method in business, and consequently in the course of a few years lost what money he had and died a poor man.

Let me hope that you will always have a plan for everything you do. God is the God of order, and we should also be orderly in all that we do.

Plans for Building a Life.Plans for Building a Life.

These plans of the architect, when followed by the builders, will tell the stonemason, the bricklayer, the millman and the carpenter, the plasterer and the painter, just what each is to do, and all will be able to work in harmony, so as to secure a nice, comfortable and desirable home when the work is completed.

Now, we are all laying foundations in this world, and the perfect character cannot be obtained until in eternity. So when you come to plan for life, do not think that your stay in this world is to be all there is of your life. Let your plans take in eternity. If they leave out eternity they leave out the greatest portion of your existence. If you leave out the idea of eternity you will be like the man who simply lays the foundation and then never builds a house on it, and there, year after year, the foundation stands as the monument of his folly.

But you may desire to know where you can get the plans for a good and noble life—a plan that will include eternity. I will tell you: in the Bible. This is the best book in which to find the plansfor a perfect and complete life. Just the same as the man who is going to build a house desires to go and examine other houses, so if you desire to be great and good, you should desire to read the biographies, the story of the lives of great men. I do not mean the fancied stories of lives which were never lived, which are so often told in some kinds of books, but I mean the lives of real men. When you see the difficulties which have been overcome by others; when you see how great and good other people have been, it will help you to be great and good. But after you have studied the lives of all the greatest and best men who have ever lived, and then compare them with the life of Jesus Christ, you will eventually come to see very clearly and distinctly, that after all there has never been but one perfect life lived on this earth, and that was the life of Jesus Christ. So you will readily see that if you desire to use a model which is perfect, you will have to take the life of Christ. You will find it fully portrayed in the Bible, especially in the first four books of the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This will give you the model of a perfect life and enable you to live so as to make your life glorious while upon the earth, and prepare you for an eternity of happiness and joy beyond this world. Have a plan and live to it, and let your plan include eternity. And may God give you grace to live up to a high ideal, to be noble Christian men and noble Christian women.

Questions.—What are needed before a house is built? Are all boys and girls builders? Builders of what? Do they need plans? Should we all have a main object in life? What must we use all other plans and purposes for? Which boy in the story turned out the better? What does the story illustrate? Should we have a plan for each thing we do? Does God love order? What foundation are we laying in this life? Should our plans concern only this life? What kind of a builder are we like, if we make no plans for the life to come? Where can we get our plans? What perfect model can we follow?

BOYS and girls often think that big people have set apart Christmas as a day for gathering around the Christmas tree, as a time for Santa Claus, for the giving of presents and for having a good time generally. This is not the case. I will tell you why we celebrate Christmas, and particularly the significance and meaning of the Christmas tree. Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into this world to redeem us from sin and everlasting death; and the Christmas tree, laden with its many gifts and suggestive of so much joy and blessing, is a symbol of the Saviour. In order that you may best understand the full meaning of the Christmas tree, I must call your attention to the season of the year when Christmas came. You will remember that last summer, when the sun rose at half-past four in the morning and did not set until half-past seven in the evening, the days were very long, and you could see to go about in the evening until about eight o'clock and after. At Christmas time the sun goes down at half-past four in the afternoon, and does not rise until half-past seven in the morning. So you see that the days are about six hours shorter in December than they are in the latter part of the month of June. Christmas occurs at that season when the days are shorter and the nights are longer than at any other period of the year. In the Bible darkness represents sin and unbelief and wickedness; and the daytime or light represents truth and righteousness and godly living. So you will see that the long nights at the Christmasperiod of the year, and the short days, fitly represent the condition of the world at the time when Jesus, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem. At no other time in the world's history was there so much of moral darkness and sin and wickedness and corruption in the world. Cruelty and crime and wickedness abounded everywhere. If I were to stop and tell you of the condition of society, of the wrong and the iniquity, which abounded everywhere, you would be greatly horrified. It was at such a time as this in the world's history, when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this world, that sin might be banished and righteousness might abound. So you see that Christmas occurs at that period of the year when the night and the darkness are the longest of any of the entire year, and it very fittingly represents the condition which existed in the world when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, as the Saviour of the world. He came to banish the moral darkness which covered the whole earth.

Not only the time of the year, but also the character of the Christmas tree suggests something. With the long nights comes also the cold winter. The earth is wrapped in snow. The trees, which a few months ago were green and beautiful and in the fall all laden with fruit, are now all naked and bare, and if you were to go out into the orchard or forest you could not tell the difference between a dead tree, and all the others which seem to be dead. Among all the trees you would only find such as the pine, the hemlock, the fir and other varieties, such as are known as evergreen trees, that would be green and give evidence of life. So you will see again how the Christmas tree fittingly represents Christ, because these evergreens, in the field and in the forest, seem to be the only things that have greenness and life, while all else around them seems to be dead and laid in a shroud of white snow.

The Christmas Tree Copyrighted 1911 by Sylvanus StallCopyrighted 1911 by Sylvanus StallThe Christmas Tree

The custom of setting up a tree at Christmas time and loading it with fruit and gifts seems to have originated in Germany, and thethought of these people in introducing this custom centuries ago, was that they might teach their children this very lesson to which I have referred.

Now, I desire to call your attention also to the fruit which is so often hung on the Christmas tree. The Bible tells us that a tree is known by its fruit. If you go into the orchard you could tell the apple tree from the pear tree, and you could tell the plum tree from the peach tree. If you did not know them by their leaves, you would at least know them by their fruit. But when you come to look at this tree you find oranges upon it. Now, this is not an orange tree. You find dolls upon it, but it is not a doll tree. Here are a pair of skates, but it is not a skate tree. Here are some candies, but it is not a candy tree. Neither can it be known by the name of any one of these various things which hang upon the tree. But it is a Christmas tree. And all these various kinds of things are properly hung upon the Christmas tree to represent the fulfillment of that promise that, with His Son Jesus Christ, God would also give us all things richly to enjoy.

The gifts hung on Christmas trees are usually presents from one person to another—often not only from parents to children, but from teachers to scholars, and from friend to friend. Now, until Christ was born, there were no Christmas presents. There was no Christmas day celebrated. But the reason we give presents on Christmas day is to remind each other of God's Great Gift to man, the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Redeemer and Saviour. With Jesus Christ, God also gave us grace and truth, reconciliation, and pardon and peace and salvation. Man had sinned against God; was living in open rebellion against God. Whatever was good, man hated. He loved to do wickedly. He preferred to serve Satan, rather than to serve God. And Jesus came in order to reconcile men to God—to get them to turn away from sin, wickednessand Satan, and to accept of God's love and pardon and everlasting salvation, and to do that which was right and good and holy.

If you could travel through the countries where they do not know of Christ and do not worship Him, and then travel through Christian countries, where Jesus is loved and honored, you would soon see what a great difference there is between the two. We have railroads, steamboats, and telegraphs, and telephones, and phonographs, and every kind of cloth, and silk, and furs with which to clothe ourselves for greatest comfort, and when we sit down at our tables there is no good thing that is produced in any nation under the sun, that is not available even to those of limited means.

In the heathen countries it is not so. They are still riding in carts drawn by oxen. Without clothing and without comforts, the people in Africa are still groping through the bushes and jungles. And if you go to India and China and Japan you will find that only in so far as they have been brought under the influence of the religion of Jesus Christ, do they have even now the material blessings which come with the Gospel.

But there are other blessings which come to us with the preaching of the Gospel. In heathen countries they have no asylums to care for the orphans, no hospitals for the sick and the distressed and the dying; no institutions of charity and of mercy; but few schools, and these only for the rich and the upper classes. So you see that these things are among the gifts which God has given us with His Son Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate on Christmas day.

Then there are also the spiritual blessings and gifts. God's grace, communion with God, and the joy and satisfaction we have in our hearts in knowing that we are the children of God; that Jesus Christ has redeemed us from sin and death; that we are the heirs of everlasting life, and of everlasting glory. And the Bible promisesus that in the world to come we shall enjoy everlasting blessedness, and happiness and joy—that we shall dwell forever with Jesus Christ; that we shall be made kings and queens unto our God. The Bible tells us, that it has not entered into the heart of man to think or to conceive of the things which God has in store for those who love Him. If we were to laden this tree with all the richest treasures of the world they could not adequately suggest the great blessings which God has in store for you and for me.

How fitting, then, that we should be glad and joyous on Christmas day!—that you and I should receive not simply these material gifts, but that we should also accept of Jesus Christ in our hearts and receive His spiritual blessings; and so be adopted into the family of God, and be permitted to dwell for ever in His presence on high. May God always bless you in your Christmas joy, and may you be glad not only because you receive the gifts of your parents and friends, but also because God gives to us all, His Only Begotten and Well Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Redeemer and Friend.

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