looking-glass. In the epistle or letter of James, in the first chapter,
we are told, "If any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like
unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of
man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and
continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the
work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James i:23-25.)
[Illustration: Seeing Ourselves in the Looking-Glass of God's Law]
In other words, the Bible means to say that the law of God is like a
looking-glass. When we read the law of God, we see just what God
requires that we should both be and do. He enables us to see what He
requires of us. It shows us also how imperfect we are. It shows us our
sins. It reveals to us the importance of doing something in order to get
rid of our sins.
It is just like a man whose face is all dirty. When he goes to the
looking-glass and looks into it he sees the dirt upon his face. If he
did not look into the glass, other people might see that his face was
dirty, but he would not see it himself. But when he looks into the
glass, he sees for himself that his face is all black and dirty.
Now, when the man finds that his face is all dirty, he does not take the
looking-glass with which to wash his face. The looking-glass was not
made to wash our faces with. It was only made to show us that our faces
needed to be washed. And then, instead of using the looking-glass to
wash our faces, we go and use soap and water.
Now, the looking-glass did not make the man's face black, neither will
it wash his face. It simply shows him that his face is dirty.
So it is with the law of God. The law of God does not make us sinful. We
are sinful, whether there be any law or not. The law is simply designed
to show us that we are sinners, and that we are wicked, and that we need
a Saviour. And when this law reveals to us our sin, and shows us our
need of a Saviour, it purposes, as we are told in the Scriptures, to
lead us to Christ (Galatians iii:24.) No man can cleanse or wash away
his sins by the aid of the law. But the law plainly shows him his sins,
and then leads him to Christ--to the fountain which has been opened for
sin and uncleanness. It is all very beautifully expressed in that hymn
which, I trust, you all know:
"There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains."
Now, I want to tell you the effect of coming to this fountain and
washing. When we come to Christ our sins and guilt are washed away, and
we become more like Christ. And then we grow up into His likeness and
into His image. (Eph. iv: 13.) We become more and more like the Lord
Jesus Christ from day to day. This change which takes place in our
hearts and in our lives is very wonderful. We cannot understand it, but
we cease to be intentionally wicked. More and more we become holy. It is
this wonderful change which is referred to in Second Corinthians, third
chapter and the 18th verse, where it says, "But we all, with open face
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
I think now, you will understand why we have the law. It is not to make
us wicked, for we are wicked already. But it is to show us our
wickedness, it is to reveal to us the fact that we are sinners, and that
we are lost and undone without a Saviour. And then it reveals the Lord
Jesus Christ to us, and we come to Him, the same as men with blackened
faces go to the fountain to wash. So we come with our sins and our guilt
"to the fountain which has been opened for sin and uncleanness," and we
wash all our sins and guilt away; and then we are changed into His image
and into His likeness, from glory to glory, until at last, in the world
on high, we awake in the likeness of Jesus.
QUESTIONS.--To what does the Bible compare the law
of God? For what purpose do people use a
looking-glass? What does a man whose face is dirty
see in the glass? What does it show that his face
needs? Does it suggest that he should wash his
face with the looking-glass? What does he use with
which to wash his face? What does God's law show
us? Does the law make us sinful? Can the law
remove the effects of sin? Who is the fountain for
the cleansing of our sin? Are we saved by the law,
or by the grace of God?
RAIN.
GOD'S WISDOM AND POWER.
SUGGESTION:--A bottle partly filled with dust from
the roadway will help to illustrate the condition
which would quite universally prevail if the earth
were not refreshed with frequent rains.
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: In view of the fact that the weather is so very
warm, the earth so dried and parched and we have had no rain for a
period of weeks, I thought it might be useful to-day to consider what
would be the result if God should withhold the rain altogether, and then
to tell you how, or in what manner God brings us the rain and refreshes
the earth and makes it fruitful.
In order that you might see something of the present condition of the
earth, I have brought in this bottle some dust, taken from the centre of
the road. As I turn the bottle around, you see how dry it is and how it
floats in the air, leaving the inside of this bottle all powdered with
dust. The dust in this bottle is only a sample of what all the earth
would soon become, if God did not send rain at frequent intervals
throughout the year. I suppose you could all tell me of a number of
instances in the Old Testament where we have accounts of drouths that
extended throughout a period of years, and of the hunger and famine and
death which followed.
When you are out of doors and look about you, you cannot but be
impressed with how dry and dusty the trees and grass and everything
about you is. If this dry weather were to continue long you could
understand that soon everything would wither and die, and if it were to
continue for a few years, men and beasts would not only die of thirst,
but even the air itself would suck out from our bodies the moisture that
is in our blood, and death would speedily follow. But if you were to
remove all the moisture from the air, the earth would not only become
barren, but it would become intensely cold. It is due to the moisture
which is in the atmosphere that the warmth which comes to the earth from
the sun is retained near the earth after the sun has gone down. If it
were not so, even in a summer's night after the sun has gone down, the
coldness which exists above the clouds would quickly come in contact
with the earth, and the cold would become so intense that every person
and every living thing would be in danger of being frozen to death in a
single night.
You will remember that the great Sahara Desert is a vast tract of
thousands of square miles where no rain falls, and where the heat is
intense. There is, however, much moisture in the air that floats over
the plains, but the reason that no rain falls is because there are no
mountains in that portion of the globe for thousands of miles.
Now suppose that there were to be no rain at all, and people should
undertake to water the earth by bringing the water from the rivers. On
an average of about thirty-three inches of rain fall upon the surface of
the entire earth each year, in some places more, in others less. The
weight of this water in one single square mile would be nearly two and
one-half millions of tons, and if this water which falls upon one single
square mile had to be drawn in cars, it would require 100,000 carloads
of water to keep this one single mile as wet as God usually keeps it
throughout the year by the rain from heaven. I think you will see, from
what I have said, that all the cars in the entire United States, and
there are hundreds of thousands of them, would not be sufficient to haul
water from the rivers for any considerable distance to keep more than
ten miles square of earth watered. But you can also see that if all
these cars were to be run on a piece of ground only ten miles square,
that entire piece of ground would be almost completely covered with
railroad tracks, and we would scarcely be able to raise anything on it
in the way of grain or vegetables or food of any kind. But even if we
could successfully water ten miles square of land, what would that be
compared with the absolute necessity of watering the entire continent
and all the continents of the globe in order to make life possible upon
the earth. Now the question arises, how does God accomplish this great
result?
[Illustration: Train of Cars.]
I suppose you have all noticed the teakettle when it is upon the stove
and the steam is coming out of the spout, and around the lid. You have
there had a practical demonstration of how God can cause the water,
which is 800 times heavier than the atmosphere or the air, to rise and
float, for you know that any substance heavier than air will always fall
to the earth. In the instance of the teakettle you will see how heat
causes the water to become steam and thus to rise in the air and float
away, rising to the height of the clouds which float two, three and
four and sometimes more miles high above the earth.
Now, just in this same way God makes the heat from the rays of the sun
to cause that from every river and lake and all the expanse of the
ocean, as well as from the surface of the earth, there shall constantly
arise a very fine vapor, which, although it is somewhat like steam, is
still so much finer that you and I cannot see it with our unaided eyes.
It is by means of this vapor that God raises the moisture from the
oceans and all bodies of water and from the earth, to fall again in
gentle showers.
[Illustration: Steam Rising from Teakettle.]
But when this vapor has been lifted up from the ocean, you will see
readily that if it were to descend again in rain upon the very places
from which it had been lifted it would accomplish no good. It is
necessary that instead of falling back into the ocean and into the lakes
and rivers, it must be carried over the land. So you see that we might
aptly compare the vapor to a great pump, by means of which God lifts
millions of gallons of water every hour from the sea into the
atmosphere.
Now just the same as men load grain and fruit and other things into the
cars to ship them to some distant place, so God loads these vapors into
the atmosphere or into the clouds. When the clouds are all loaded with
vapor, or that which is to descend upon the earth in the form of rain,
God sends the winds, and these winds blow the clouds from over the ocean
far inward over the land until they come to the place where God wants
to pour them out in showers and rain, and in snow and blessing.
[Illustration: Clouds and Rain.]
But now, you will see that there is another difficulty. When all this
vast quantity of water is held in the clouds, a mile or two above the
earth, if it were to be poured out, it would come with such force upon
the earth that it would destroy every living thing. Now, as God used the
warmth from the sun as His agent to lift the water into the clouds, so
also, when He desires to unload the clouds, to pour the rain upon the
earth, He causes the warm air which carries the water to be blown upon
by the colder air which floats above it, and as the heat lifted the
water, so the cold causes it to descend; and immediately it begins to
form as clouds, one particle or atom of moisture touches another, and
the two form the larger atom, and these again unite with others, until
finally a drop is formed, and it begins to descend and comes down in
gentle showers upon the earth as though it were sifted through a very
fine sieve. These small drops fall upon the earth so gently as not even
to bruise the leaf of the tenderest flower or the tenderest insect that
walks upon the earth.
Possibly some children may not fully understand, but the older ones will
get some idea of the vast quantity of water which God pours upon the
earth, when they are reminded that all the water that flows in the
rivers has been let down from the clouds. God is daily pumping up from
the ocean and other bodies of water rivers as vast as the combined
waters of the Mississippi, Missouri, Susquehanna, the Hudson, and every
creek and streamlet and river that flows, not only on this continent,
but in all the world. And God is doing this constantly by His own
infinite wisdom and infinite might. The machinery with which men pump
the water from the river for the supply of a single city wears out; but
these great engines with which God is constantly keeping the earth
supplied with water for man and beast, for tree and flower, for garden
and field, never wear out. Truly with the prophet we may exclaim: "He
that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out on the face
of the land: the Lord is His name." (Amos v: 8.)
From what I have said I think you will all see how constantly we are
dependent upon God for everything which we enjoy. If God were to
withhold the rain or the sunshine, famine and want and death would soon
follow. Yet in the most wonderful way God is constantly providing that
with which we are daily to be fed and always to be clothed. God is not
unmindful of us. He never forgets, but in His own good time and in His
own most wondrous way He sends us the rain and every needed blessing.
God never forgets us, but I fear that we often forget Him and forget
when we drink the refreshing glass of clear, cool water, that it is God
who gave it to us. When you sit down at the table, do you remember that
it is God who gives you the food, and do you thank Him for the food
which He gives you, or do you, like the unmannerly boy who receives a
gift and never thanks the donor, sit down and eat and go away without
ever thanking God the Giver? When He watches over and keeps you during
the night, do you forget to kneel down and thank Him in the morning?
When day after day He clothes you, do you thank him? When He feeds and
clothes you, do you love and serve Him, or do you accept of these
blessings and then run off and serve Satan, God's great enemy?
These are serious questions, and I trust you will think seriously of
them, and daily, when you receive God's blessings, that you will turn to
Him in grateful thanksgiving and faithful service.
QUESTIONS.--What would the entire earth become if
there should be no rain? If all moisture were
removed from the atmosphere, what would be the
result? What is the average rainfall? What is the
weight of rainfall in a single square mile? How
many cars would it require to carry water for one
square mile? How does God accomplish this? How is
the water raised up from the sea and the rivers?
Can you explain it by the teakettle? Where does
God store this vapor? How do the clouds carry the
moisture to the places which need it? How does the
moisture in the clouds fall? Does God do all
things wisely and well? Is God ever unmindful of
our needs? Do you ever forget to thank Him? Do you
always remember to serve Him?
SNOW.
THE LESSONS WHICH IT TEACHES.
MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: When God desired to set Job to thinking, among
other questions He asked him: Canst thou enter into the treasures of the
snow? (Job xxxviii: 22.) While coming to church to-day, when I saw you
frolicking and glad in the midst of the snow, which was falling all
about you, I wondered whether you had ever stopped to think much about
the snow. So I thought to ask you the question which God asked of Job
nearly thirty-five hundred years ago: "Hast thou entered into the
treasures of the snow?"
When you were all so glad on account of this first snowstorm of the
winter, did you stop to think that the snow comes from God? Now like
everything else which comes from God, the snow is wonderful. No
philosopher has ever yet been able fully to explain how the snow is
formed and to tell us all about it, and I do not suppose that all the
mysteries concerning it will ever be fully and perfectly solved. It is
wonderful, however, because it comes down so lightly and noiselessly. It
drops upon the earth almost like feathers, covering the ground, hanging
upon the limbs of the trees and shaping them into things of strange
beauty, piling up on the post by the side of your gate, until perhaps it
looks more like the white man from the flour mill than like that to
which people tie horses. Yet it comes down so noiselessly that we
scarcely notice it.
When the snow falls upon the ground a foot deep it is said to be equal
in weight to one inch of rain. Now one foot of snow, on one square mile
of street, would weigh, it is estimated, about sixty-four thousand tons.
If this snow, which covers only one square mile, were placed in wagons
loaded with one ton each, and allowing sufficient space for these teams
to move one behind another, these wagons would make a string or
procession reaching from Philadelphia to New York, and from New York up
the Hudson River almost to the city of Albany. I am sure you will be
astonished at this, but when you consider that some snowstorms cover
thousands of square miles, and are sometimes more than one foot deep,
you will see how increasingly wonderful it is that all this great weight
falls so gently upon the earth as to produce no disturbance, no shock,
and generally goes away as quietly and peaceably as it came.
Like everything else that God has made, the snow is very beautiful. Did
you ever hear that poem which begins:
"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."
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.
Each flake 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.
[Illustration: Snow-flakes Magnified.]
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.
[Illustration: 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 grass and 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?
PLASTIC FACE.
CHARACTER IN THE COUNTENANCE.
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.
[Illustration: Frowns and Smiles.]