_Winning the Young_
"There is a lad here," John vi. 9. Jesus had just crossed over the sea
of Galilee and, attracted by the miracles which he had wrought, great
multitudes had followed after Him. In order that He might escape the
throng, He went up into a mountain and there He sat with His disciples.
When the Master saw the great company stretching out on every side of
Him He said unto Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread that these may
eat." Philip was so amazed at the crowd that he answered Him, "Two
hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one
of them may take a little." Then one of His disciples, Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother, said unto Him, "_There is a lad here_ which hath
five barley loaves and two small fishes." Then Jesus made the multitude
sit down, and took the loaves and gave to the disciples, and the
disciples to them that were seated, and likewise of the fishes as much
as they would, and when they were filled, the fragments that remained
filled twelve baskets.
The presence of this lad and the service which he rendered to Jesus, as
well as the use which the Master made of him, all help us to teach our
lesson. Youth is the time to turn to Christ. The wise man knew this
when he said, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth; while
the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh; when thou shalt say, I
have no pleasure in them." Sin has not so strong a hold upon a life in
the time of youth, therefore it is the easiest time to turn to Christ.
I once heard a man tell the story of his special work among outcast men
and women, and when I asked him he told me how he himself was converted.
He said that as a boy in London, he was left one day in charge of the
private office. He said "I wanted to write a letter and I took the
firm's note-paper; I used one of their envelopes, and when I wanted
postage I opened the private drawer of the safe, the door of which was
swinging open, and took out one postage stamp, and when I put this stamp
upon my letter and dropped it into the post-box I felt as if I had
dropped my character with it. That was the beginning, and the end was a
prison cell, for I went from one form of thieving to another until I was
obliged to pay the penalty. I found Christ while I was in prison, but I
feel as if the mark of my early sin would never leave me. I would urge
every boy to accept Christ," he said, "before the cords of sin bind him
too securely."
When one reaches the age of eighteen he finds it extremely difficult to
turn away from the sins that are mastering him, and when he passes
beyond twenty years of age, the tide against him is extremely heavy.
The critical time in the life of boys and girls is from twelve to
twenty. If they do not accept Christ during these years, it is wellnigh
impossible to win them. If this is true then we must make the most of
the opportunities of influencing the youth whom God is ever bringing
before us.
The Scripture used in connection with this feeding of the multitude is
a good illustration. It is a lad who confronts us, and this is, as has
been said, the favourable time for bringing Christian influence to bear
upon him. There is a time in the life of every boy when it is
comparatively easy to win him to Christ. Parents surely know this, and
Sunday school teachers may easily discover it. "How did you come to
Christ?" said a New York minister to a little boy. His reply was, "My
Sunday school teacher took me last Sunday out into the park. She drew
me away from the crowd and took her seat beside me. She asked me if I
would become a Christian. I felt that I ought to do so, and because her
invitation was so definite, and she seemed so interested, I told her I
would do so, and because I am a Christian I went to join the Church."
Too much cannot be said in favour of reaching the young while they are
in the days of their youth. Recently in an audience of 4500 people I
found that at least 400 of the audience came to Christ under 10 years
of age; between 10 and 12, 600; between 12 and 14, 600; between 14 and
16, about 1000; between 16 and 20, fully one half, and in the entire
audience not more than 25 people came to Christ after they were 30
years of age. Five hundred ministers were in the same audience. The
majority of them were converted before they were 16 years of age; 40 of
them between 16 and 20; and only 15 out of the 500 ministers were
converted after they were 20. This in itself is an unanswerable
argument in favour of personal work for the young.
The lad is here now before us, but he will soon be gone. Boys quickly
grow into manhood. As a rule religious influence weakens as they pass
on, while the power of sin increases. Many young men would turn to
Christ if they thought they could, but it seems to them that the
attraction towards evil is almost, if not quite irresistible. I
recently heard a Christian gentleman speaking before a great audience
in London. He was telling of his going over the Alps in the care of a
trusted guide. As they came to one of the most dangerous places in the
journey his guide stopped him, and said, "Do you see those footprints
off here to the right?" The gentleman said he did, plainly. "Do you
notice," said the guide, "how they get farther and farther apart?" And
when asked to give an explanation he said that a week before a young
telegraph operator had attempted to cross the mountains without a
guide, that just at the place where they were standing his hat blew
off, and, without thinking, he reached out after it, lost his balance
and started to fall. In trying to recover himself he started down the
mountain to the right. The way was all covered with snow; when once he
started he could not stop; farther and farther apart were his footprints
until at last they were lost on the edge of a great abyss. He had gone
over to his death. It is thus that young men go to destruction. Because
they do, we ought to be instant in season and out of season in seeking
to arrest their downward progress.
When Jesus took the loaves and fishes in the possession of the lad and
brought to bear upon them his own marvellous power, the results were
great. No one realises what is being accomplished when he assists or
influences a boy. I am wondering what that minister, who led Spurgeon
to Christ, thinks of his work now that he sees it from the heavenly
standpoint, and I have many times thought I should like to ask the
business man who spoke to D.L. Moody about his soul, what estimate he
puts upon the importance of the work he did that day. To win a boy to
Christ may be to turn towards the Master one who may one day move the
world for Christ.
A great number of Chinese young men have come from their native land
to study in the educational institutions of the United States. Some
of them have found Christ in these institutions, others have passed
through their course of study and returned to their native land without
a hope in the Saviour. What a marvellous work might have been accomplished
if the Christian students in these educational institutions had set
themselves to win these Chinese boys. The students in China are to have
an increasing influence in the Government, and if the majority of them
had been led to Christ, the whole Chinese Government might have been
powerfully affected. Some years ago there came to the United States a
little Chinese boy. He was sent to a New England educational institution,
and made his home in the house of a very humble woman. She knew Christ
and loved Him, and she recognised the presence of this little boy as
presenting an opportunity for service. She treated him as if he were
her own child. She mothered him and grew to love him. She taught him
how to read the Bible and she told him the story of Jesus and His love.
That little boy came to Christ. He passed through the educational
institution, went back to China to exercise his strongest influence for
righteousness, and has recently been entrusted with the commission of
bringing to the United States a number of other Chinese boys, all of
whom, it is said, he will place in institutions that are Christian. The
poor woman in New England did not realise that when she led one boy to
Christ that she was touching forty others. This is the fascination of
Christian work.
Some of the noblest men and women the Church has ever known came to
Christ in youth. Polycarp, Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, the
immortal Watts, John Hall, and a countless host of others who have
served conspicuously in the advancement of the Kingdom of God, came to
Christ before they were fifteen years of age, some of them coming as
early as seven. The lad is here, it will be a pity if we allow him to
grow to manhood without a hope in Christ all because we do not seek to
win him.