OBJECTS: A Collection of Foreign and Domestic
Postage-stamps=
Hold up a letter with a plain two-cent postage-stamp upon it. "Let me
introduce to you the Preacher of the hour! He is clothed in his white
robe (the envelope) and is ready to be a preacher to us all."
1. This stamp is more than a common piece of paper. It has on it the
stamp of the Government; therein is its value. It has the O.K. of the
authorities of Washington. So we must have stamped on our life the
image of the Good Father to make us worth anything in this old world.
We must bear the mark of our Owner before we can be backed by the
kingdom of heaven.
2. If the stamp was made by ourselves it would have no power. The
letter bearing the stamp would be returned. So we can do nothing of
ourselves. There is no good in us. When I was a little boy I was a
stamp-collector, and when we could not find a stamp of the desired
nation, there was issued what is called a "facsimile" of the
original. It was a "make-believe" stamp. It looked all right in our
stamp-book, but it was out of place and worthless on an envelope. It
was only a pretender so we must not be contented with appearances
only. That is the way hypocrites are made.
3. The stamp in the stamp box is always ready for service, just
waiting to start on its journey. It has the mark of approval on it
which the Government has given it. It has the sticking power which
man has given it, and is just waiting to be called into service. Paul
said, "I am now ready" not only to die but to live. He who is ready
to die, is best prepared to live. Always ready for service, like a
postage-stamp, is to be ready to go anywhere for the Master.
4. The postage-stamp is a good missionary. It will work anywhere. It
will go to any part of the homeland or any part of the world, just as
it is directed. No dividing-line between home or abroad, It will go
to any part of the world. It just goes where it is sent. It is like a
pair of bifocal glasses. It can see home needs as well as the
far-away needs. It sees both clearly. That is the plan of Jesus,
Jerusalem and the uttermost parts--both are alike to him as far as
concerns their need of salvation.
5. I remember also that when I was a stamp-collector, I had one page
in my book on which I had a stamp from each nation. They were all at
peace with each other. It was the first picture of "The League of
Nations."
To illustrate the truth, get as many stamps of the various nations as
you may be able, and fix them on a large cardboard, and show them to
the children, or bring them out of the Bible to show that if they are
true to God's Word, they will live together in peace. This is the
only "League of Nations" that can stand through the ages.
6. The postage-stamp does what it is told to do. It fulfils its task.
When it is placed on the envelope, it takes the letter to the address
given. That is its business. That is all that is expected of it. It
does not seek to know the contents of the letter, but to deliver the
letter to the party named. So it is our business to do just as we are
told to do by our Good Father. We are not to pry into his will, or
seek to know his unrevealed secrets. Our business is to carry his
message. We are to speak where God's Book speaks, We are to be silent
where the Book is silent. We should all try to do as well as a
postage-stamp.
7. The stamp is a non-combatant. When it is licked it does not hit
back. It is a peace-lover. It opens not its mouth. So we should learn
that when criticism and hardship come to us, when the road is
difficult, and we are discouraged, when the enemy does his worst, and
Satan tries to dislodge us, we must just stick like a stamp. When we
put the stamp on the envelope, we often give it a blow with our fist.
That just makes the stamp stick tighter. So when we are hit by hard
experiences we should tighten our grip all the more and just stick.
8. The stamp sticks to its job to the finish. It holds tight to the
letter till it gets there. Happy is that boy or girl who continues to
the end. A little newsboy by the name of George in the City of
Philadelphia, Pa., sold papers in the street for a living. He
believed if he stuck to his task he would some day be a great man.
One day he stood looking up at the great building in which the paper
was published and said, "I will some day own that building, and
become the editor of the paper I now sell." He stuck to his task
until at last he was owner of the paper and its editor also. His name
was George Washington Childs, and the paper was The Public Ledger. He
was like the postage-stamp. He stuck fast until he got there. That is
the only way to "get there."
9. The postage-stamp never has a complaining word. Sometimes it is
put on upside down or very crooked, and struck a great blow by the
cancelling-machine in the Post Office, but it never speaks a word of
complaint, just stands by its post and waits. If it goes to an
address that has been changed, the new address is put on the
envelope, and it starts on its journey again. It makes no complaint
because of extra work, but starts away on another journey. So we
should always "try again" and make another start. Many a man has
"made good" by doing this. There is a medical remedy called "606."
When the firm was asked why this number was given it, the reply was,
"We tried 605 times to find a proper remedy, and failed; but the next
time we found just what we were after, and so called it No. 606." Do
not be afraid to try over and over. The next time may be the 606th of
success. Now when you look at the little red postage-stamp let it
preach over and over again to you the lessons I have given you in
this chapter. Look again, and you will see on this stamp the face of
the great George Washington, who lived out all these lessons in his
life, and he is now "stuck fast" to the hearts of his countrymen.
Now, Mr. Postage-stamp, we thank you. You have preached to us a fine
sermon this morning.
When you receive a stamped letter from the postman remember the
Postage-stamp Preacher. Hear ye him.
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