"A dreary place would be this earth
Were there no little people in it;
The song of life would lose its mirth
Were there no children to begin it;
"No little forms, like buds to grow,
And make the admiring heart surrender;
No little hands, on breast and brow,
To keep the thrilling love-chords tender.
"No babe within our arms to leap,
No little feet towards slumber tending;
No little knee in prayer to bend,
Our loving lips the sweet words lending.
"Life's song indeed would lose its charm,
Were there no babies to begin it;
A doleful place this world would be,
Were there no little people in it."
And if children have so great an influence in the world it was wise
in Jesus to desire to have them brought early to him that they might
learn to use that influence in the best possible way.
And then it was wise in Jesus to desire this, again, _because
bringing children to him prevents great trouble, and secures great
blessing_.
We are all familiar with Dr. Watts' sweet hymn, which says:
"'Twill save us from a thousand snares
To mind religion young."
Here is a striking illustration of this truth in the history of:
"One Neglected Child." A good many years ago, in one of the upper
counties of New York, there was a little girl named Margaret. She
was not brought to Christ, but was turned out on the world to do as
she pleased. She grew up to be perhaps the wickedest woman in that
part of the country. She had a large family of children, who became
about as wicked as herself; her descendants have been a plague and a
curse to that county ever since. The records of that county show that
two hundred of her descendants have been criminals. In a single
generation of her descendants there were twenty children. Three of
these died in infancy. Of the remaining seventeen, who lived to grow
up, nine were sent to the state prison for great crimes; while all
the others were found, from time to time, in the jails, the
penitentiaries, or the almshouses. Nearly all the descendants of this
woman were idiots, or drunkards, or paupers, or bad people, of the
very worst character. That one neglected child thus cost the county
in which she lived hundreds of thousands of dollars, besides the
untold evil that followed from the bad examples of her descendants.
How different the result would have been if this poor child had been
brought to Jesus and made a Christian when she was young!
"The Result of Early Choice." Here is a short story of two boys, of
the choice they made when young, and the different results that
followed from that choice.
A minister of the gospel was preaching on one occasion to the
convicts in the state prison of Connecticut. As he rose in the desk
and looked around on the congregation, he saw a man there whose face
seemed familiar to him. When the service was over he went to this
man's cell, to have some conversation with him.
"I remember you very well, sir," said the prisoner. "We were boys in
the same neighborhood; we went to the same school; sat beside each
other on the same bench, and then my prospects were as bright as
yours. But, at the age of fourteen, you made choice of the service of
God, and became a Christian. I refused to come to Christ, but made
choice of the world and sin. And now, you are a happy and honored
minister of the gospel, while I am a wretched outcast. I have served
ten years in this penitentiary and am to be a prisoner here for
life."
Jesus knew what blessings would follow to those who were early
brought to him, and we see that there was great wisdom in the words
that he spake when he said--"Suffer the little children to come unto
me."
_In the next place there was_--GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT--_in what Jesus
did and said about children_.
If a company of boys or girls should try to get into the presence of
a monarch, some great king, or emperor, they would find it a pretty
hard thing to do. At the door of the palace they would meet with
soldiers or servants, the guards of the queen or king. They would say
to the children--"what do you want here?" And if the children should
say, "Please sir, we wish to go into the palace and see the queen,"
the answer would be: "Go away; go away. The queen is too busy. She
has no time to attend to little folks like you." And the children
would have to go away without getting to see the queen.
But, Jesus is a greater king than any who ever sat upon an earthly
throne. He has more to do than all the kings and queens in the world
put together. And yet he never gave orders to the angels, or to any
of his servants to keep the children away from him. On his great
throne in yonder heavens he says still, what he said when he was on
earth--"Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them
not." And he says this on purpose to encourage the children to come
to him. And the thought that Jesus loves them and feels an interest
in them has encouraged multitudes of little ones to seek him and
serve him. Here are some illustrations of this:
"Learning to Love Jesus." "A little girl came to me one day," said a
minister of the gospel, and said, "'Please sir, may I speak to you a
minute?' I saw that she was in some trouble; so I took her kindly by
the hand, and said, 'Certainly, my child. What do you wish to say?'
"'Please, sir,' said she, as her lip quivered and tears filled her
eyes, 'it's a dreadful thing; but I don't love Jesus.'
"'And are you not going to love him?' I asked.
"'I don't know; but please sir, I want you to tell me how.' She spoke
sadly, as if it was something she never could do.
"'Well,' I said, 'St. John, who loved our Lord almost more than any
one else ever did, says that "we love him because he first loved us."
Now if you go home to-night, saying in your heart, "_Jesus loves
me_," I think that to-morrow you will be able to say--"I love
Jesus."'
"She looked up through her tears, and repeated the words very softly,
'Jesus loves me.' She began to think about it on her way home, as
well as to say it. She thought about his life, about his death on the
cross, and about his sweet words to the little ones, and she began to
feel it too.
"The next evening she came to see me again; and, putting both her
hands in mine, with a bright happy face, she said:
"'Oh! please sir, I love Jesus now; for I know he does love me so!'"
Here was a little one encouraged to come to Jesus by thinking of the
interest he feels in children.
"Doesn't He Love to Save?" A mother had just tucked her little boy in
bed, and had received his good-night kisses. She lingered awhile, at
his bedside, to speak to him about Jesus, and to see if he was
feeling right toward him. He was a good, obedient boy, but that day
he had done something that grieved his mother. He had expressed his
sorrow for it, and asked his mother's forgiveness. As she stooped
down for the last kiss, he said--"Is it all settled, mother?"
"Yes, my child," she said, "it's all settled with me; but have you
settled it all with Jesus?" "Yes, mother: I've asked him to forgive
me: and I believe him when he says he will; for _doesn't he love to
help and save children_?" "He does, my child, he does," said his
mother, as she gazed on his happy little face, lighted up with the
joy of that gospel, so often hidden from the wise and prudent, but
revealed to babes.
Here we see how this little fellow was encouraged to seek Jesus from
the assurance that he feels an interest in children, and loves to
help and bless them.
"Love Leads to Love." A little boy named Charley stood at the window
with his mother one morning, watching the robins as they enjoyed
their morning meal of cherries from the tree near their house.
"Mother," said Charley, "How the birdies all love father."
"They do," said his mother, "but what do you suppose is the reason
that the birdies love your father?"
This question seemed to set Charley to thinking. He did not answer at
first, but presently he said, "Why mother all the creatures seem to
love father. My dog is almost as glad to see him as to see me. Pussy,
you know, always comes to him, and seems to know exactly what he is
saying. Even the old cow follows him around the meadow, and the other
day I saw her licking his hand, just as a dog would. I think it must
be because father loves them. You know he will often get up and give
pussy something to eat; and he pulls carrots for the cow, and pats
her; and somehow I think his voice never sounds so sweet as when he
is talking to these dumb creatures."
"I think his voice is very pleasant when he is talking to his little
boy," said his mother.
Charley smiled, and said, "That's so, mother. Father loves me, and I
love him dearly. But he loves the birdies too I am sure. He whistles
to them every morning when they are eating their cherries, and they
don't seem a bit afraid of him, although he is near enough to catch
them. Mother I wish everything loved me as they do father."
"Do as father does, Charley, and they will. Love all things and be
kind to them. Don't kick the dog, or speak roughly to him. Don't pull
pussy's tail, nor chase the hens, nor try to frighten the cow. Never
throw stones at the birds. Never hurt nor tease anything. Speak
gently and lovingly to them and they will love you, and everybody
that knows you will love you too."
Now Charley's father, in acting as he did, was trying to make all the
dumb creatures about him know that he was their friend; that he loved
them, and had nothing but kindness in his heart towards them. In
this way he encouraged them to come to him, and not be afraid of him.
And this is just the way in which Jesus was acting when he did and
said so much to show his interest in children. He wants them all to
understand that he is their friend; that he loves them, and wants
them to come to him and love and serve him. And so every child who
hears or reads about Jesus may feel encouraged to say:
"Once in his arms the Saviour took
Young children just like me,
And blessed them with his voice and look
As kind as kind could be.
"And though to heaven the Lord hath gone,
And seems so far away,
He hath a smile for every one
That doth his voice obey.
"I'd rather be the least of them
That he will bless and own,
Than wear a royal diadem,
And sit upon a throne."
And so we may well say that in what Jesus did and said about the
children there is great encouragement.
_And then there are_--GREAT LESSONS--_too, in this part of the life
of Christ_.
There are two lessons taught us here. One is about _the work we are
to do for Jesus here on earth_. When Jesus said to Peter, "Lovest
thou me? Feed my lambs," he meant to teach him, and you, and me, and
all his people everywhere, the best way in which we can show our love
to him. The lambs of Christ here spoken of mean little children,
wherever they are found. And to feed these lambs is to teach them
about Jesus. When we are trying to bring the young to Jesus and
teaching them to love and serve him, then we are doing the work that
is most pleasing to him:--the work that he most loves to have his
people do. It was thinking about this that first led me to begin the
work of preaching regularly to the young. And this is the lesson that
Jesus would have all his people learn when he says to each of
them:--"Lovest thou me? Feed my lambs."
"The Angel in the Stone." Many years ago there was a celebrated
artist who lived in Italy, whose name was Michael Angelo. He was a
great painter, and a great sculptor, or a worker in marble. He loved
to see beautiful figures chiseled out of marble, and he had great
power and skill in chiseling out such figures. One day, as he was
walking with some friends through the city of Florence, he saw a
block of marble lying neglected in a yard, half covered with dust and
rubbish. He stopped to examine that block of marble. That day
happened to be a great holiday in Florence and the artist had his
best suit of clothes on; but not caring for this he threw off his
coat, and went to work to clear away the rubbish from that marble.
His friends were surprised. They said to him:--"Come on, let's go;
what's the use of wasting your time on that good-for-nothing lump of
stone?"
"O, there's an angel in this stone," said he, "and I must get it
out."
He bought that block; had it removed to his studio, and then went to
work with his mallet and his chisel, and never rested till out of
that rough, unshapen mass of stone he made a beautiful marble angel.
Now, every child born into our world is like such a block of marble.
The only difference is that children are living stones--marble that
will last forever. And when we bring our children to Jesus, and by
his help teach them to love and serve him, we are doing for them just
what Michael Angelo was doing for his block of marble--we are getting
the angels out of the stones. And this is what Jesus loves to have us
do.
"How to Get the Angels Out." A Christian mother, whose children had
all been early taught to love and serve Jesus, was asked the secret
of her success in bringing up her children. This was her
answer:--"While my children were infants on my lap, as I washed them
day by day, I raised my heart to God that he would wash them in that
blood which cleanseth from all sin; as I clothed them in the morning,
I asked my heavenly Father to clothe them with the robe of Christ's
righteousness; as I provided them food I prayed that God would feed
their souls with the bread of heaven, and give them to drink of the
water of life. When I prepared them for the house of God I pleaded
that their bodies might be made fit temples for the Holy Ghost to
dwell in. When they left me daily for the week-day school, I followed
their youthful footsteps with the prayer that their path through life
might be like that of the just, which shineth more and more unto the
perfect day. And night after night, as I committed them to rest, the
silent breathing of my soul has been, that their heavenly Father
would take them under his tender care and fold them in his loving,
everlasting arms."
Let Christian mothers follow this example and they will not fail to
bring the angel out from every block of living marble that God has
given them.
"The Best Time for Doing This." A faithful minister of Christ had a
dear only daughter. She had been a thoughtful praying child. When
only twelve years old she had joined her father's church. She now lay
on her dying bed. "As I sat by her bedside," says her father, "among
the things she said which I shall never forget were these:--'Father
you know I joined the church when I was young--very young. Some of
our friends thought that I was too young. But, oh! how I wish I could
tell everybody what a comfort it is to me now to think of it.' Then
reaching out her hand--the fingers were already cold--and grasping
mine, she said with great earnestness:--'Father, you are at work for
the young. Do all you can for them while they are young. It's the
best time--the best time. Oh! I see it now as I never did before. It
is the best time--while they are young--the younger the better. Do
all you can for them while they are very young.' And then she fell
asleep in Jesus."
This is the lesson about the work we are to do for him on earth, that
Jesus taught in what he said concerning the children.
But when we think of those sweet words of Jesus--"Of such is the
kingdom of heaven," we are _taught a lesson about the company we
shall meet there_. We learn from what our blessed Lord says on this
subject that he saves all the little ones who die before they are
accountable for their actions. And we know that of all the persons
born into our world more than half of them die before they reach this
age. And this makes it very certain that more than half the company
of heaven will be made up of little children. This is a very sweet
thought to those who have lost little ones; and to those who love
them.
And some people think that when young children die and go to heaven,
they will not grow up to be men and women, but will always remain
children. The Rev. Mr. Bickersteth, of England, in speaking of a
father meeting his little ones in heaven, who died years before he
did, represents him as meeting them there, just of the same age and
size as they were when they died. And then he expresses his own
thought on this subject in a single line:
"A babe in glory, is a babe forever."
But God has not said anything on this subject in the Bible. And when
he himself has not spoken on such a point as this, it is impossible
for us to say certainly which way it will be. But when we get to
heaven and find just how it is, we shall all agree that God's way is
the best way.
And then Jesus shows us plainly _what our character must be if we
hope to go to heaven and join the happy company there_.
These are the words he spake on this subject; "Verily I say unto you,
whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he
shall not enter therein." Mark x: 15. Jesus refers here to some of
the best things that we find marking the character of a good child.
Such a child is gentle, and loving, and kind; and this must be our
character, if we hope to enter heaven. Such a child is willing to be
taught:--believes all that his parent or teacher tells him; and does
everything that he is told to do; and such must our character be if
we hope to enter heaven.
And so when we come to study out this part of our Saviour's life, and
think of all that he did and said to show his interest in children,
we see these four great things in it: viz., great love; great wisdom;
great encouragement; and great lessons.
I know not how to express in a better way the feelings which should
be in the heart of everyone, young or old, on thinking of this great
subject, than in the words of one who has thus sweetly written:
"Lamb of God! I look to Thee,
Thou shalt my example be;
Thou art gentle, meek and mild;
Thou wast once a little child.
"Fain I would be as Thou art,
Give me thy obedient heart:
Thou art pitiful, and kind;
Let me have thy loving mind.
"Let me above all fulfill
God my heavenly Father's will;
Never his good Spirit grieve,
Only to his glory live.
"Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb!
In thy gracious hands I am;
Make me, Saviour, what Thou art;
Live thyself within my heart.
"I shall then show forth thy praise;
Serve thee all my happy days;
Then the world shall always see
Christ, the Holy Child in me."