PLASTIC FACE.

"Beautiful snow! beautiful snow!Falling so lightly,Daily and nightly,Alike 'round the dwellings of the lofty and low;Horses are prancing,Cheerily dancing,Stirred with the spirit that comes from the snow."

Snow-flakes Magnified.Snow-flakes Magnified.

We oftentimes think that God is seen in the fields and flowers in the spring and summer, but He is also seen in the beautiful snow of winter. If you will let some of the snow fall upon the sleeve of your coat and then examine it carefully, you will be surprised at its beauty. It is beautiful when examined without a microscope, but much more beautiful and wonderful when examined with a microscope. Each flake is fashioned into stellar shape. It is formed and fashioned by the same hand which made the stars of the heavens and gave them their sparkle and beauty. Eachflake is a beautiful crystal. Each somewhat like the others, and yet no two exactly alike. There are hundreds of varieties, each beautiful and all glorious. These beautiful little snow stars are all formed with perfect geometrical accuracy. Some have three sides and angles, some six, others eight, and some have more. One resembles a sparkling cross, while others seem almost like the leaves of an open flower. Some are like single stars, others like double stars and clusters of stars; and although the ground in winter is covered with myriads of them, yet each one is formed with as much correctness and beauty as if God had made each one for special examination and as an exhibition of His infinite skill and divine perfection.

But like everything else that God has made, the snow is also useful. You may possibly have thought of it as affording excellent sport in sliding down hill, enabling you to enjoy a sleigh ride behind horses with jingling bells, affording opportunity for a snow-ball fight, or as furnishing the material for making snow men or snow houses. In all these ways the snow is a source of delight and pleasure to boys and girls, but after all, the snow has a special mission in the world during the severe cold of the winter.

A Winter Sleigh Ride.A Winter Sleigh Ride.

The severity of the cold is often greatly modified by the presence of snow. The snow forms a warm mantle to protect the grassand grain fields. It wraps its soft warm covering around the plants, and thus protects them from the frost. Many animals also take shelter in the banks of snow, and are thus kept from being frozen to death. The snow of winter is as important in securing our food and blessing as the rain of the summer. As intense heat and the absence of rain produce the great deserts of the earth, so intense cold and the absence of snow would produce barren tracts upon the earth.

Now, what are the lessons we may learn from what I have said? I think the first lesson that we may learn is that God does everything perfectly. God is not in a hurry, as boys and girls often are when they do not take time to learn their lessons thoroughly or to do their work carefully. Perfection is one of God's attributes. We are impatient and imperfect. But God wants us to be perfect. We should constantly strive after perfection. We are to seek after perfection here upon earth, and although we cannot hope to attain it fully in this world, yet we shall attain unto it in the world of blessedness beyond. Remember that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.

I think the second lesson that we may learn from what I have said, is that God does everything with some good purpose in view. God not only has a purpose in all that He does, but He has a purpose for good. Some boys and girls do things with a bad purpose. Now, God does not do anything with a bad purpose, and He would not have us do anything with a bad purpose. He has given us life and being upon the earth in order that we may accomplish something grand and good. What is the purpose of your life? What have you resolved to make the object which you shall seek to attain in this life? Have some noble purpose, some high aim in life. Whatever it shall be, let it always have in view the blessing and good of others and the glory of God.

The last lesson from this study of the snow is that God has made it a symbol of purity. God is pure, and He wants us to be pure. Do you put tobacco in your mouth? Then your mouth is not pure. Do you use bad words? If so, your mouth is not pure. Do you use your eyes to read worthless story papers and books, or to look at evil pictures? Then your eyes and thoughts are not pure. Do you permit your ears to listen to improper talk? Then your ears and mind are not pure. Do you harbor bad thoughts in your heart? Then your heart is not pure. Do you defile your body by improper eating and drinking? If you do, then your body is not pure. If you and I desire to be pure, we must go to God and earnestly ask Him as David did when he cried unto God and said, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."

Now let us sing this beautiful hymn:

"Wash me and I shall be whiter than the snow."

Questions.—About what did God ask Job, to set him thinking? Where does the snow come from? Does anyone know fully how the snow is formed? Is the snow as wonderful as it is beautiful? What do the flakes look like? Are they all formed alike? Are any two exactly alike? How is the snow useful in winter? Is snow as important in the winter as rain in the summer? Is God ever in a hurry? Are you always patient? What is worth doing well? Does God always have a purpose in whatever He does? Does God expect us to have a noble purpose? Of what is snow the symbol? Does God expect us all to be pure?

Suggestion:—The object used is a small plastic face such as are often sold in toy stores, and even on the streets in large cities. The head of a rubber doll would also answer the purpose.A couple of pictures of faces placed in bottles would illustrate the fact that as the faces are seen through the bottles, so our thoughts are not wholly hidden but shine through our faces.

Suggestion:—The object used is a small plastic face such as are often sold in toy stores, and even on the streets in large cities. The head of a rubber doll would also answer the purpose.

A couple of pictures of faces placed in bottles would illustrate the fact that as the faces are seen through the bottles, so our thoughts are not wholly hidden but shine through our faces.

MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: Here is a soft plastic face; by squeezing it on the side I can make the face very long, and it looks very sober. If I place the face between my thumb and fingers and press upon the chin and forehead it makes the face short, and makes it have a very pleasant appearance. I can make it look as though it were laughing, or make it seem to be angry and cross.

Just so is it with our faces. When we feel pleasant our faces are short and drawn up; when we feel sober, or cross, or angry, they are lengthened and the character of the expression is entirely changed. You would scarcely know the face were you to see it radiant with smiles and pleasantness, and afterwards see the same face when the person is cross or angered. When you look at a person you can tell whether they are in good humor, or whether they are displeased or angry.

Frowns and Smiles.Frowns and Smiles.

Do you know, boys and girls, that our character and our disposition are seen in our faces? It is impossible for us to conceal ourreal selves, even though we might try. I will tell you how it is. If I were again and again to press this face only in this way, so as to make it look very long, after a time it would retain this expression. If I were to press it in this other way, so as to make it very short and give it a very pleasant expression, and were to hold it in that position for a very long time, it would assume that expression, and retain it constantly. It is just so with our faces. When a boy is angered again and again the deep lines of his face become more and more permanent, until after a time he comes to have a face which expresses anger. If a boy is kind and good and generous, these feelings express themselves in his face, and if repeated over and over again, day after day and year after year, it becomes a permanentexpression upon his face and the boy is known by all who meet him as a good-natured, pleasant and agreeable boy.

I suppose that most all the boys and girls here can tell a minister when they meet him on the street. And when you grow older I think you will not only be able to tell that it is a minister, but you may be able to tell, possibly to what denomination the man belongs—whether he is a Methodist, or a Presbyterian, or an Episcopalian or a Lutheran, or to what denomination he belongs. This cannot always be told, but in many instances this can be judged quite accurately. The study of the Bible and the contemplation of holy and good things inscribe themselves indelibly upon the face of those who give them thought and attention.

Beneath a good and generous face you will find a good and generous heart. Beneath a bad face you will find a bad heart. If we are Christians we shall become more and more like Christ. We shall grow up into His likeness, and into His image, and into His stature. We are told that not only will we become more and more like Him, but that at last, in the great Resurrection, we shall behold Him as He is, and we shall be like Him.

If I were to take some pictures and place them in a bottle they would shine out through the glass, and you could see them. So with the thoughts that are in your heart; they shine out through your face and give expressions to it. Even when the body is suffering pain the heart may be at rest. David, the Psalmist, said that God was "the health of his countenance." Even though his body was suffering pain his face might be pleasant, because God was with him, making him happy in his heart. There is an old adage that says, "handsome is, that handsome does." There are some young persons who may have a pretty face, and yet who may not be righteous and holy in their hearts; but as they grow older their character will shine out more and more, until at last their face shallbe entirely changed, and all that is bad in their hearts will appear in their faces. If you want a good face you must have a good heart. Take Jesus into your heart, follow His teachings and imitate His example, and from year to year you will grow more and more like Him. Here is a very appropriate and beautiful poem, which was written by Miss Alice Carey.

TAKE CARE.

"Little children, you must seekRather to be good than wise,For the thoughts you do not speakShine out in your cheeks and eyes."If you think that you can beCross or cruel, and look fair,Let me tell you how to seeYou are quite mistaken there."Go and stand before the glass,And some ugly thought contrive,And my word will come to passJust as sure as you're alive!"What you have and what you lack,All the same as what you wear,You will see reflected back;So, my little folks, take care!"And not only in the glassWill your secrets come to view;All beholders, as they pass,Will perceive and know them, too."Out of sight, my boys and girls,Every root of beauty starts;So think less about your curls,More about your minds and hearts."Cherish what is good, and driveEvil thoughts and feelings far;For, as sure as you're alive,You will show for what you are."

Questions.—How will a plastic face look when you squeeze it on the head and on the chin? When persons are serious or angry, are their faces lengthened? When people laugh what happens to their faces? Suppose one were to be cross and ugly constantly what would occur? If a person were to laugh constantly, what would be the effect upon their face? Can you tell a minister when you see him? If you put pictures in a bottle do they shine through? Do thoughts in the heart shine through the face? Can you repeat that couplet which begins: "Handsome is—"? If we think Christ's thoughts constantly do we become more like Christ? If we think bad thoughts do we become unlike Him? What book is it which says: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he"?

Looking into the glass

Suggestion:—Seeds, or grain and fruit of any kind can be used for illustration.

MY YOUNG FRIENDS: I have here to-day quite a variety of seeds. Some of them are very small, and some, as you see, are quite large. The seeds of each class have in them a principle of life, which makes them differ from sand, or small stones of similar size, because if I plant these seeds in the ground they will grow.

Different Kinds of Seeds.Different Kinds of Seeds.

When you take different kinds of seeds, there is one thing that is very interesting about them. It is the different kinds of coverings in which they grow. For instance, if you take a chestnut, it grows in a burr with sharp thorny points; others are folded as though rolled up very tightly in leaves, as you will find in the hazel nut or filbert. Some seeds grow in rows, like beans and peas in a pod. Some grow in a very soft bed, like cotton seeds. Some grow imbedded in a downy substancewhich blows all around, carrying the seed with it, like the thistle, and the light fuzz of the dandelion. Sometimes the seed is buried in the inside of fruit, as in the case of apples, pears, peaches, plums, and various other kinds of fruit. Sometimes it is buried beneath the beautiful leaves of the flower. So you see there is great variety.

Now, these seeds may represent words. There are a great many varieties of words. All words have the principle of life in them, because they express thought; and these thoughts when received into our minds develop into action. Therefore we say that words have a principle of life in them, and it is important that we should be careful not to permit bad words to have a place in our minds. Very often you will see boys and girls reading worthless papers which they think will do them no injury. But the fact is, that these boys are influenced in all their living by that which they read in these papers. It might be very light and trifling, but it tends to corrupt the mind, to give the boy false ideas of life, and it gives him such opinions as are not real, and therefore very injurious to any one. It is much better that a boy's valuable time should be spent in reading good books and good papers, and securing such information as will be of value and assistance to him all through life. For the life of every boy and of every girl is a very great struggle, and no boy or girl can afford to waste time in the beginning. If they are ever to amount to anything in this world, it is important that they should begin very early in life.

I want to call your attention to another characteristic of these seeds. And that is when a single seed is planted, it grows up and produces a very great number of other seeds. If you plant a seed of wheat, it will produce 30, 60, or sometimes 100 other seeds. If you plant one sunflower seed it might produce as many as 4,000 seeds. If you plant one single thistle seed, it has been known toproduce as high as 24,000 seeds in a single summer. If you were to plant only one grain of corn and let it grow until it is ripe, and then plant the seeds again which grew on these few ears of corn, and thus continue to re-plant again and again, we are told by those who have calculated it very carefully, that in only five short years the amount of corn that could be grown as the result of the planting of the one single seed would be sufficient to plant a hill of corn, with three grains in every square yard of all the dry land on all the earth. In ten years the product would be sufficient to plant not only this entire world, both land and sea, but all the planets, or worlds which circle around our sun, and some of them are even a thousand times larger than our own globe. So you see that there is wonderful multiplying power in the different kinds of grain which you plant.

So it is with the thoughts and the words which we have in our minds. Good thoughts enter into good acts, and these acts influence others just as though the same thought was sown into their minds, and then it springs up into their lives and influences them. Just so when we have read a book, whether the book is good or bad, its influence goes on reproducing itself, over and over again in our lives, every time in a multiplied form. Suppose with your money you send some Bibles to the heathen, and as a result a single person is converted. Immediately that person would influence other heathen people whom he would meet, and so, one after the other, these heathen would be influenced as the result of what you have done. This good influence would go on repeating itself over and over again, as long as the world shall stand, and only in eternity would the wonderful results of what you have done be fully known. So it is with all that we say and all that we do; it goes on repeating and multiplying itself over and over again.

Pyramids.Pyramids.

Egyptian Mummies.Egyptian Mummies.

Now, there is another interesting feature of these seeds towhich I want to call your attention. And that is that the life in the seed may continue for a very long time, even hundreds of years. Over in Egypt, centuries ago, they built large pyramids, and when a king died, instead of burying his body in the ground, they embalmed it with spices and dried it, so that it would not decay. Then they wrapped it up in cloths, and with these cloths and bandages they sometimes wrapped wheat or some other kind of grain. Some of these mummies, for so they are called, which have been buried possibly twenty-five hundred years, have been found; and when the wheat has been taken out of the hands of these mummies and planted in the ground, under favorable conditions, it has grown just the same as the wheat which was harvested from the fields only last summer. The life which was in the seed had not been destroyed by the many hundreds of years which have passed since it was placed in the hand of the mummy.

Some years ago there was a very interesting case of this kind in England. At Dorchester they were digging down some thirty feet below the surface, and at that depth they came upon the remains of the body of a man, with which there had been buried some coins. By the date upon the coins, they knew that this body had been buried at least seventeen hundred years. In the stomach was found quite a large quantity of raspberry seeds. The man had doubtless eaten a large number of raspberries, and then might have been accidentally killed very soon afterward, so that the seeds were not injured by the gastric juices of the stomach. These seeds were taken to the Horticultural Garden, and there they were planted. What do you think! After seventeen hundred years and more, these seeds grew, and in a short time there was an abundant fruitage of raspberries, just the same as though the seeds had been gathered from raspberries which grew only the year before. Although hidden and seemingly dead, yet these seeds retained their life for seventeen hundred years or more.

In this same way there is a deathless power in the words which we speak, even though they are spoken hastily and without thought upon our part. Our words have in them the element of a life which is well-nigh endless. You may yourself remember some unkind words which were spoken to you months and months ago. The boy or girl who spoke them may have forgotten all about them, but you still remember them, and they cause you pain every time you think of them. Or it may be that some kind person has spoken tenderly and affectionately to you. The person himself may have been so accustomed to speaking kindly that he forgot entirely what he had said, but his kind words still live in your memory. There is a beautiful hymn written some years ago, which begins: "Kind words can never die."

About fifty years ago there were some boys in a school yardplaying marbles. Two other boys were playing tag. One of the boys who were playing tag chanced to run across the ring in which the boys were playing marbles. One of these boys was accustomed to speaking ugly words and doing very hasty and cruel things. He sprang to his feet and kicked the boy who had run across the ring, wounding him in the right knee. The injury was of such a nature that the bones of that leg below the knee never grew any more, and as a result, for over forty years that boy has had to walk on crutches. You see how permanent the result of this injury has been; and the results of unkind words may be just as injurious and no less permanent than the unreasonable and wicked thing which this boy did in his anger.

You may sometimes be discouraged because the kind words which you speak and the kind deeds which you do seem to fail of a good result. But you can be assured that even though you grow to old age and your body were to be laid away in the grave, yet sometime, in the lives of those who come after you, the good you have done will surely bear its fruitage of blessing.

Questions.—Are there many different kinds of seeds? Do apple trees ever grow from peach seeds? Do good thoughts grow from bad words, or bad thoughts from good words? Do seeds have a principle of life in them? Do words and thoughts have a principle of life? How many centuries have seeds been known to retain their life? Have the teachings of the Bible retained their life for many hundreds of years? Into what do good thoughts turn? (Acts). Into what do good acts turn? (Character). Can any boy or girl afford to use their time in reading worthless books or papers? Do words and deeds have the element of unending life in them? Is it a dangerous thing to get angry? What did one of the boys who were playing marbles do to the boy who ran across the ring? As the result, how many years has the injured boy walked with crutches? Will the good that we do be as permanent as the evil that we might do?

Suggestion:—The object used is a bag or sack, or a pillow slip would answer the same purpose, hung about the neck as a farmer uses it when sowing seed. While this is not essential, it can be used if desired.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: Spring is the most pleasant season of the year; the snow has melted, the cold weather has passed away, and now the warm, pleasant days have come. The trees are all in blossom, the fields look beautiful, and the air is full of sweetness. If you go into the country at this season of the year you will find the farmers plowing their fields, and some are sowing grain. The spring wheat has already been sown, the oat fields will soon begin to look green, and in the course of a few weeks the farmers will be planting their corn.

It must have been at a corresponding period of the year in the East, when Jesus spoke those beautiful words which are found in the 13th chapter of St. Matthew, contained in the parable of the sower who went out to sow. A great multitude of people had gathered to hear the words which fell from the lips of Jesus. They could no longer gain admission into the house, and so Jesus went down by the sea, or the large lake, and getting into a boat he pushed out just a little way from the shore, so all the people standing along the shore could see and hear Him, and then He began to preach to them. Just back of them on the plain was a farmer who was more intent upon sowing his field than upon listening to the words of theSaviour. As Jesus saw him pacing to and fro across the field, scattering the grain in the furrows, Jesus very likely pointed to the man, calling the attention of the multitude to what he was doing, and said to the people, "Behold a sower went forth to sow," and then called the attention of the people to the character of the soil in the different places where the seed fell.

In the country the farmers use a sack or bag. After having tied the opposite ends together, they hang this over their neck and shoulder, and with the right hand left free, they march up and down the field, sowing the grain. This sowing is not so common any more, because farmers now often plant their grain fields with a machine called a drill.

With this sack suspended about the neck, in this way, the farmer reaches in and takes out a small handful of seed, and then swinging his hand, throws the seed over a considerable portion of the ground. Thus he walks from one end of the field to the other, sowing the seed, until he has the entire field sown and ready for the men who follow with the harrow to cover up the grain.

Well, boys and girls, this is the spring-time of life with you. These are the pleasant days and years of your life. You have very little care. Yet it is, nevertheless, the spring-time. You are now making preparations which will tell what is to be the harvest in the later years of your lives. As the farmer goes out and plows the field, so by discipline and by counsel, and by instruction are your parents preparing your minds and hearts that in after years you may enjoy a harvest of great blessing.

Behold a Sower went Forth to SowCopyright by Sylvanus StallBehold a Sower went Forth to Sow

In the spring-time of life, when young persons are to do the sowing, they need much careful counsel and instruction. I suppose that there are many boys and girls who, if they were to go into the country, could not tell the difference between wheat and barley, or oats and rye. Some might not even be able to distinguish betweenoats and buckwheat. If the farmer were to send you out to sow, you would, most likely, sow the wrong kind of grain. In the same manner, it is important that you should be directed by your parents, because they can distinguish between right and wrong. They know what you should do, and what you should not do. Therefore it is important that they should direct you in the spring-time, lest you should sow the wrong kind of grain. And you know the Bible says: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Wheat and Tares.Wheat and Tares.

It is not only difficult for those who have never seen something of life in the country, to distinguish between the different kinds of grain which the farmer sows, but even after the grain begins to grow, it is sometimes difficult, even for those who are familiar with country life, to distinguish between the true and the false. In that same thirteenth chapter of the gospel by St. Matthew, to which I referred in the beginning, Jesus tells of a farmer who sowed his field with wheat, and while he slept an enemy came and sowed tares. Of course he could not discover this until the grain began to grow. When it began to get ripe, then for the first could he distinguish between the stalks of the wheat and the stalks of the tares. By doing thiswicked thing the enemy gave the farmer a great deal of trouble. Just so it is with you when you have tried to do right, Satan comes and puts evil thoughts and wicked purposes into your mind, and then if you permit these to grow up, you will find that they will give you a great deal of trouble. It is important that only the good seed should be sown in the field of your heart, and in the field of your mind, so that you may have a fruitage that shall be wholly good.

Sometimes you see boys and girls who are doing things which you would like to do, but your mother and father tell you that you should not. You may not be pleased because you are restrained from doing what you would like to do. I well remember how my father, when I was a boy, oftentimes used to restrain me from doing what I saw other boys doing. I used to think, at that time, that he was not considerate, and possibly not kind to me. But now that I have grown older, and have seen the results which have come to those boys, some of whom have gone astray, and others who have turned out badly in life, I see how wise my father was. Although I did not feel at the time that he was doing that which was for my good; now I see it all very plainly.

In closing, let me say to you, do as Isaiah suggested, "Sow by the side of all waters." That is, be very diligent, that day by day you may do some kind act, which will hereafter spring up into a fruitage of very great good. The Bible enjoins upon both young and old to be very diligent in this work, for it says, "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." (Eccl. xi: 6.)

When you go to school during the week, and to Sunday-school and church service on Sunday, and when being instructed and taught at home, remember that all the instruction you arereceiving is like the seed that falls upon the waiting soil in the early spring-time from the hand of an intelligent farmer. In the parable which Jesus spake, He tells how that some of the seed fell by the wayside, some among thorns and some upon stony ground, while others fell upon good ground. While the seed was the same kind in all instances, it was only that which fell upon the good ground which brought forth a fruitage of thirty, sixty and an hundred fold. If the fruitage of your life in the harvest of the after-years is to be abundant in good and blessing, it can only be because you receive the instruction of your parents, your teachers and your pastor into a good and honest heart. Others may sow faithfully, but after all the result must depend upon you.

Questions.—Which is the most pleasant season of the year? Why? What is the farmer's special work in the spring-time? Why is the farmer careful to sow good grain? What period of life is best represented by spring? If the farmer failed to sow in the spring, would he have a harvest in the autumn? How does he know what kind of grain he will reap at harvest time? Does wheat ever produce oats? Or clover seed produce wheat? What happened while the farmer slept? Who sowed the tares in his field? Who sows the tares in our minds? What do we call these tares? Should they be removed or permitted to grow? Should we be thankful to our parents for preventing tares from being sown? In what kind of soil did the grain grow to a fruitage of thirty, sixty and an hundred fold?

Chair tent

Suggestion:—The object used is a small sheaf of grain. For this might be substituted fruitage of any kind—apples, peaches, pears, grapes, etc., and after reading the sermon, the parent could apply in the manner suited to the objects used.

MY DEAR LITTLE HARVESTERS: Last Sunday I talked to you of spring-time—the spring-time of the year, and the spring-time of life. To-day I have brought a small sheaf of grain to tell us of the harvest-time. The spring-time is very pleasant, the air is fragrant, the birds are singing, and all nature seems to be rejoicing in its freshness and beauty. The world looks just as new and beautiful as it did thousands and thousands of years ago. Each spring it puts on youth anew.

Sheaf of Grain.

But when the summer-time comes, when it gets along to the harvest time, along in July and August, then the weather is very warm. The color of the fields has then greatly changed, the blossoms have disappeared from the trees, and we find that everywhere the fruit is beginning to appear. The harvest fields are ripe and are waiting for the husbandmen.

There is just about that same difference in life. Youth is the spring-time. It is full of hope, and full of bright prospects. But, as we grow older, and the cares and responsibilities of life multiply, then we begin to bear the toil and labor which comes with the later years. Then we are like the farmer who enters into the harvest field where hard work has to be done under a very hot and scorching sun.

A man, called a naturalist, who has devoted a large amount of time to the study of plants, tells us that there are about one hundred thousand different kinds of plants. Each kind of plant bears its own seed, and when that particular seed is sown, it always bears its own kind of fruit. Wheat never yields barley, nor do oats ever yield buckwheat. When you plant potatoes, you expect to gather potatoes and not turnips. An apple tree has never grown from an acorn, or a peach tree from a chestnut. Each seed, always and everywhere, bears its own kind. It is on this account that the Bible says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." (Gal. vi: 7.)

There are some grown persons, as well as children, who think that they can do very wrong things while they are young, and afterwards suffer no bad results. People sometimes say, "Oh, well! let us sow our wild oats while we are young." Now the Bible tells us that if we sow wild oats, we must reap wild oats. Four or five handfuls of wild oats will produce a whole bag full of wild oats when gathered in the harvest of after life. Be assured, my dear friend, that "those who sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption," and "those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind." "Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny."

"The Harvest Fields Are Ripe and Are Waiting for the Husbandmen.""The Harvest Fields Are Ripe and Are Waiting for the Husbandmen."

It may seem a long period between the spring and the harvesttime of life; but be assured, my dear young friends, that the early years will speedily pass. Before you are aware of it, you will be men and women with all the responsibilities of life upon you, and then you will be sure to reap the reward of what you do now while you are boys and girls. Lord Bacon said that "Nature owes us many a debt until we are old," but nature is always sure to pay its debts. The ancients had an adage that said, "Justice travels with a sore foot," but it usually overtakes a man.

A few Sundays ago I told you that as the result of planting a single grain of corn, a fruitage sufficient to plant the entire earth might be secured in only five years. It is told us by historians that, in olden times, the harvest in Egypt and Syria would return an hundred fold for one sowing, and in Babylonia oftentimes two hundred fold for one sowing. Now, if a single grain of wheat were planted in soil as fertile as that of Egypt, at the end of eight years of sowing and reaping, if we had a field large enough, the product would be sufficient to feed all the families of the earth for more than a year and a half. But if we were to undertake to plant one grain of wheat in this way, after a few years we would fill all the fields which would be suited for a wheat harvest. Down near the equator it would be too hot for the wheat to grow successfully. In the north it would be altogether too cold. On the mountain side the soil is not fertile, and oftentimes is very rocky. For these, and various other reasons, it would be impossible to cover any large portion of the earth with wheat, for not every portion would be suited to produce a harvest. Were it not for this fact, in the course of seven or eight years, the entire earth might be made to wave as one vast field of wheat.

But there is one truth which God has planted in this world. That truth is God's love manifested in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ for the salvation of all mankind. This truth is suited toevery age of the world, to every nation of the earth, to all classes and all conditions of people, and to every human heart. During the past centuries men have been planting and replanting this seed of divine truth, sowing and resowing the earth with it, gathering and reaping the harvest and sowing again. And the days are coming when all the earth shall wave as one vast harvest field, waiting for the reapers of God, who shall gather this blessed fruitage into the garner of the skies.

It is your privilege and my privilege, both one and all, to have some part in this glorious work of sowing and resowing, and the Scriptures assure us that "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seeds, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (Psalms cxxvi: 6.)

AFTERWARD.ANONYMOUS.

Now, the sowing and the reaping,Working hard and waiting long;Afterward, the golden reaping,Harvest home and grateful song.Now, the pruning, sharp, unsparing,Scattered blossom, bleeding shoot;Afterward, the plenteous bearingOf the Master's pleasant fruit.Now, the plunge, the briny burden,Blind, faint gropings in the sea;Afterward, the pearly guerdon,That shall make the diver free.Now, the long and toilsome duty,Stone by stone to carve and bring;Afterward, the perfect beautyOf the palace of the king.Now, the tuning and the tension,Wailing minors, discord strong;Afterward, the grand ascensionOf the Alleluia song.Now, the spirit conflict-riven,Wounded heart, unequal strife;Afterward, the triumph givenAnd the victor's crown of life.Now, the training strange and lowly,Unexplained and tedious now,Afterward, the service holy,And the Master's "Enter thou!"

Questions.—Last Sunday our lesson was about the spring-time and sowing; what has it been about to-day? What are the only results which a farmer can reap at harvest? If he sowed wheat, what will he gather? About how many different kinds of plants are there in the world? Do peach trees grow from chestnuts? The Bible says, "Whatsoever a man soweth"—can you repeat the rest of that passage? Can boys or young men, girls or young women, sow "wild oats" and reap blessing later on? If we sow "wild oats" what must we reap? If you sow an act, what do you reap? If you sow a habit, what do you reap? If you sow a character, what do you reap? How did the old adage say that justice travels? Could all portions of the globe be converted into a wheat field? Why not? Is the truth concerning God's love and salvation suited to all ages, all nations, and all people?

Reading with wheat

Suggestion:—If the children can secure a few handfuls of some kind of grain and chaff, the idea of separation can be beautifully illustrated by pouring the grain and chaff from one hand to the other, and at the same time gently blowing the chaff, separating it from the grain. By turning it in this manner once or twice and blowing gently, the chaff may be entirely separated from the grain. If a larger quantity were used, it could be poured from one basket or pan to another while blowing the chaff from the grain with a palm leaf or some other fan. This would illustrate how the grain and chaff were separated at that period of the world in which Christ lived.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: I want to read you a very beautiful little psalm, or hymn, or poem, written by David. It was originally written in metre or verse, but poetry when translated becomes prose. This first Psalm of David reads as follows:—

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night; and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

"The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away; therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for theLord knoweth the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

We find in this Psalm how the righteous are set forth, and how the ungodly are compared to chaff. John the Baptist said of Jesus, "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

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