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?
THE CLOCK.
MEASURING TIME.
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 of years
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 of Prussia had
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 one hour 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: "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 of standing 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?
PLANS.
LIVING WITH A PURPOSE.
SUGGESTION:--Object: Architect's drawings for the
building of a house.
[Illustration: Plans for Building 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 and window 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.
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 not
so. 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.
[Illustration: 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 plans for 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?
THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
THE LESSONS WHICH IT TEACHES.
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 Christmas period 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.
[Illustration: The Christmas Tree
Copyrighted 1911 by Sylvanus Stall]
The custom of setting up a tree at Christmas time and loading it with
fruit and gifts seems to have originated in Germany, and the thought
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, wickedness and 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.