Chapter I: Lay My Sins on Jesus (5)

You now say I have finished my story. It is the most wonderful story in the world, because it is the story of salvation. It is a story without words, because it is a story in colors.

Close the book, and ask the children how many colors they saw in the book. Ask them to name the colors in their proper order. Drill them in repeating the colors of the book. Then ask them to give you the meaning of each color, after this fashion: Black for sin, red for blood, white for righteousness, green for fruitfulness, yellow for heaven.

Drill them now in the meaning of the colors. When I am giving this lesson I ask some little fellow to come to the platform, and offering him the book, I say: "Would you like to have this little book as your own?" Of course, he says, "Yes," and as you offer it to him he reaches out his hand to take it, and you explain that this is just the way to receive salvation. You simply "Take it." Conclude by quoting "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and whosoever will let him take."

A private use may be made of this book in the devotional hour. Look at every page and read the Scripture noted, and then meditate in silence.

[1]The author has prepared such a book. Write to him about it in care of the publishers.

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THE HEART OF SEVEN DEVILS

OBJECTS: Cardboard Hearts and a Number of Colored
Cards=

Text, Luke 8:2: "Mary Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils."

The heart of this unhappy woman was like a steel-girded prison cell. It had locked in it as prisoners seven devils. Jesus opened the door, and cast them out, and went in himself, and shut the door after him, and when he shuts no man can open. Mary Magdalene was in the hollow of God's hand forever.

Let me tell you how the seven devils got into her heart, and the story of how they were cast out when she met Jesus.

Mary Magdalene was just like the rest of us, for we all have seven devils in our heart, and some have a few more. She was born in sin like all of us. She was not born a sinner; none of us are, for we do not become sinners until we arrive at that age when with a free choice we choose to do evil, then we are sinners.

Mary Magdalene began like a pure stream which starts in the mountain; but as it descends to a lower level polluting streams of water flow into it, and by and by the river is dark with impurities.

The Hudson River has its head in the highlands of the Adirondack mountains, 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. It has a good start. It is almost "holy ground." There the trees have grown tall and beautiful for hundreds of years. Beneath the shade of these the baby river rolls out and on. It plunges over the rocks in beautiful cascades and races on to its river bed. Wild beasts wade through its cooling waters, slake their thirst, and at night sleep by the river's side when the high sky hangs out its golden lanterns and smiles at the little baby climbing over the sides of its mountain cradle. And so the river rolls on larger and larger with the benediction of God and nature.

At first the child river is as clear as the air, as polished as the fairest diamond. So Mary Magdalene started life as fair as the mountain stream. She was born on the shore of the blue waters of the Lake of Galilee. She was not born in the slums, nor was she in her early days surrounded by the vicious, she did not spend her childhood in rags and filth. Beyond all doubt she was well born, and belonged to the upper class.

She seems to have inherited wealth which she spent in after years, ministering to the work of the Saviour. She was like a zephyr, pure as the mountain air; she was as free and cheery as the birds of the high hills. Then temptations came, and the polluting streams of sinful rivers flowed into this little mountain stream. At last her beautiful heart became the prison house of seven devils.

To illustrate this lesson prepare a _white_ cardboard heart. Make it a double heart with the top of it left open, so you can put into it seven small cards, representing so many devils.

Call this heart Mary Magdalene, and then as you talk of the polluting streams which flow into it deposit the cards standing for the seven devils into the heart that is clean and white.

Name the devils:

_Disobedience._ This is the sin that is ready to grip us as soon as we tumble over the side of the cradle of life. She went wrong just by disobeying her parents; at least most little folks do, and I suppose she was just like the rest of us. Once there was a prisoner who sat in his cell awaiting the fast approaching hour of his execution. While he was thus waiting, with a piece of clay he drew on the wall of his cell a picture of the gallows upon which he was soon to die. He made a number of steps which led up to it, and called each step after a sin which he had done that soon would lead him up to his doom on the gallows. The first step he marked was "Disobedience to Parents." That was his first great sin, as he saw it. Now take a small _black_ card on which you have written the word "Disobedience" and put it into the heart. This is the first devil.

The next polluting power which entered the heart we will call "Sinful Dress." In the land where Mary Magdalene was raised the people dressed in gay colors, and wore much and very elaborate jewelry on the ankles, arms, neck, and head; there they placed their bands of gold. They had large opportunity to overdo the dress question, and they did so. The rich owned many changes of raiment, and often like the leaders of fashion today could boast that they could change their costumes hourly if they so desired. She was doubtless very beautiful and charming. Her Oriental garments made her look like a queen in royal splendor. She soon "fell" for this polluting poison called "fashion," and like millions of her present-day sisters her feet got tangled up in her robes of fashion, and she slipped and fell from the pinnacle of purity into the madly burning lake of sin. As you make this remark drop in the heart a _pink_ card on which the words "_Sinful Dress_" have been written. This is the second devil.

Make it clear to your hearers that carefulness in dress is not wrong, and neatness is not vanity.

Now produce a blue card on which you have marked two large letters "CO.," which stands for "Company."

Soon Mary Magdalene found evil company as did the Prodigal Son and soon she was a common sinner.

Evil company is like evil spirits seeking to pull down to their level the highest and best. As you say this deposit this card into the heart and say, "This is the _third devil._"

The next devil to enter the heart we will call "Bad Money."

Write down on a yellow card the dollar sign ($), and say that once a minister of the gospel read from his pulpit a request for prayer which was as follows: "Prayers are requested for a young man who has just inherited a fortune."

He certainly did need the prayers of good people, because money can be made a mighty curse unless God is in it. Money is like a skeleton key which unlocks a multitude of sin doors through which we enter to the eternal hurt of our soul. Mary Magdalene found it paid for a season in dollars and cents, but this is tainted money and slips through the fingers, and on wings supplied from the demons themselves flies away to come back no more forever. "His money was his curse," that the people often say when like a devil it has entered and destroyed a human heart. We are now speaking only of the evil use of money. Put the card with the dollar mark on it into the heart and say, This is the fourth devil.

"Temper" is the next devil to enter the sinner's heart. Write this word down on a fiery red card. In anger folks seem to be under control of another power; they do not seem like themselves. There is a strange look in the eye, another expression has seized the features of the face, and they seem for a few moments to be "changed into other men." The reason for all of this transformation is that temper is a devil, and it has taken possession of the heart.

When I was a little boy there were two little brothers who lived on the same street with me. One of them, the older one, had a very bad temper, and when he grew angry he would fling himself upon the ground and kick and scream. All the neighbors noticed this and when they spoke to his mother about it she replied, "Willie is not himself when in temper."

She was speaking the truth, he was possessed by the temper devil. One day this brother was playing with his little brother and in a moment of anger struck him in the face with his clinched fist. When the doctor came he said the little brother would never see again. He would be blind for life. Both brothers lived to be men. The elder brother never had a happy hour afterward. He would often say, "I don't see how I could have done it." This was why he did it; as with Mary Magdalene, the devil had entered his heart. The temper devil had entered the soul and taken full possession. As you say these words put the card into the heart and say "_Temper_ is the fifth devil."

"_Unbelief_" is the sixth devil. Mary Magdalene had sinned and lost her standing in the synagogue. Her sins were punishable by the laws of Moses with death; she was a doomed sinner, she had left God and was alone. If she had kept the devil of unbelief out of her heart when she was first tempted, she never would have fallen into his black hands. It never pays to leave God. Believe his word. He has spoken, trust him. This will keep the devil out. Many years ago in a New England town there was a minister who preached a carefully prepared sermon on "Casting all your care on him, for he careth for you," and on his way home from church fell into a well and was severely hurt. It was laughing-stock for a common community, and it did seem just a little strange that after he had so carefully prepared his sermon and assured the people that if they put their trust in God he would take care of them, and then an hour afterward he should fall into a well and injure himself. The devil of unbelief whispered in his heart, "God did not keep his word, you are a fool to trust him," but the young preacher resisted the whispering devil and said, "Wait a little while, God will make it plain to me," and God did. He was sent to a hospital in Boston, a town he had never seen but always wanted to visit. While he was there some friends urged him to write the story of "How God cared for a man by casting him into a well."

He was a better writer than a speaker; an essayist, rather than an orator. He wrote his story and told the world how he believed God and did not doubt his promises. He told the story of Joseph who had been cast into a well and came forth to be a prince in Egypt. He thus attracted the attention of the entire city of Boston. He leaped into fame at once. He became one of the most famous writers of America, and for years was the leader of religious thought in all New England.

God took good care of him so he should fall into the well, for that was the first round in the ladder of his great success. Many a man has doubted God and stayed down the well of misfortune and upbraided God, denounced him, and so lived the rest of his days in darkness, and dying went into eternal night. Put this card into the heart and say "Unbelief is the sixth devil."

"Unholy Pleasure" is the seventh and last devil of this black-winged group. Have these words written on a piece of gold paper.

This devil of "Unholy Pleasure" is in full dress and a gentleman of the world. A "regular fellow," so the people of the world declare, but he is a deceiver and destroyer. Seek pure pleasure. Play, but play straight, or the lamps of sin over the pleasure garden of the world will blind your eyes, so you cannot see the evil of sinful pleasures.

This devil will be at the end of the road to make captive your soul forever. Place this card in the heart and say: "Unholy Pleasure is the seventh devil, and now there is a full house of devils. The heart will soon come to the end of the way as it is now full of devils and full of sin." As you say this produce a red heart the same size as the white heart you have been using, and put it in front of the white heart. You can now see sin covers her heart entirely, she is down but not out, because where the "out" begins Jesus stands and waits. He always gives special attention to hard cases, and Jesus found Mary Magdalene just there, and saved her soul by casting out the seven devils and making her clean again. He had forgiven all her transgressions and remembers them against her no more forever.

As you say this, still holding the red heart in front of the white heart, take out all the devils at once if you can, and as you do so take away the red heart also, drop them all on the table together and say, "Please note that when the devils all go out sin goes also [having reference to the red heart], and the heart is now white and clean, and it will so stay, for the devils have gone out to stay out."

This is the story of how seven devils entered the heart of Mary Magdalene, and the glad story of how they were cast out. God will do the same for you, for he is no respecter of persons.

In delivering this address always keep the heart of Mary Magdalene in full view of the audience. Hold it in your left hand if possible, and load the cards with the right hand. Be sure and make the heart large enough to contain the seven cards you put into it. Practise and rehearse.

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SHOW YOUR COLORS

OBJECTS: An Eighteenth Amendment Flag; a Church
Flag; a Conquest Flag; an American Flag=

Text: Psalm 60:4: "That it may be displayed because of the truth."

This is an expression we often use when we want to be out and out for any cause we wish to represent.

When the World War was on we pinned a small flag on our coats because we were glad we were Americans and wanted to be out and out for our country; we "displayed our colors."

Let us all try to show our colors as good Americans. Produce a flag from an inside pocket and say: "As an American citizen I will now show my colors; our text says, 'That it may be displayed because of the truth.'"

When I was traveling in Europe I always had a little flag in my hotel room. I did not keep it in the bottom of my trunk, nor did I keep it shut up in the closet, but I placed it in a conspicuous place where everybody who came into the room could see it.

I can show my colors also by obeying my country's laws and always speaking well of its President and those in authority. I am not ashamed of them, so I show my colors as an American citizen, I now will place this flag over the pulpit where you can all see it, and place my hand on it and vow I will always show my colors as an American; and lifting up the other hand I say, "So help me God."

From another pocket produce a white piece of bunting with the figures "18" marked on it, and say: "I am a temperance advocate. I believe in the Eighteenth Amendment, and I will support it with all my heart. It is a glorious part of the Constitution of the United States. I will not call it a failure, and thereby cause the wicked to jeer at it. I will not speak slightingly of it, and thereby cause the weak to disrespect it. I believe it came from God and it has come to stay. I am for it with all my soul."

A visitor once came as a stranger to a Southern town on the eve of "a license" or "no-license campaign," and was asked by one of the liquor men which side he was on, He replied: "You just step up to God and ask him which side he is on; step up to the wives and children of the drunkards, and ask them which side they are on; I am on the same side."

He was out and out a defender of the glorious Eighteenth Amendment. Now place this flag over the pulpit next to the Stars and Stripes. At this time produce from another pocket the church flag, which is the white flag with a red cross in its center, and as you display it, say: "I am out and out for the Church of God. I love its walls and its glorious old songs. I live in it and live for it, because I want to do good by my example. I need the church. There is mighty power in 'the assembly.'"

This I say with my lips, and this I say also by my example. Jesus was a church-goer, and I want to be like him. It was his custom to go to the assembly. It was a good custom. The Church is "the meeting-place," not the place where we meet each other only, but where we meet God. It is good to be there. Jesus went there to meet his heavenly Father, for "God is in his holy temple." Heaven bless the meeting-house.

God feels hurt if we do not come to see him, because we are the children of his heart. Let us go to church.

When Mr. Moody was converted he went out every Sunday morning and collected half a dozen boys and brought them into the church, and they sat in the same church pew with him, "He showed his colors." Here wave the church flag and place this flag beside the Eighteenth Amendment flag.

Draw out now from another pocket a missionary flag (the conquest flag) and say, "I believe in spreading the good news of the gospel to all the world." Here is a good story about a missionary potato. A little boy, a son of a rich and prosperous farmer, came home one day from Sunday school very much excited about the stories he had heard about the heathen people who worshiped idols. "Never mind about them, John," said the father, "we have no money to send them, besides we have heathen enough at home."

This did not satisfy John, and he puzzled his curly head with his own plans to help them.

One day he said to his father who seemed to be in a good humor, "Daddy, if you will not give me money to help the heathen will you give me a potato?" "Why certainly, son, I will give you a peck if you like." John said, "No, daddy, only one good one, and give me land enough to plant it in, and all it will produce in four years."

This pleased the father greatly and he promised him he would be glad to do this and he said to himself, "This lad of mine will make a good farmer some day." So John planted his potato, and the first year it rewarded him by producing nine. These he carefully kept for planting, and the second year he had a peck. These became seven and a half bushels the third year, and when the fourth harvest came, lo, the one potato had increased to seventy bushels. When he took them to town he told the store-keeper that he had some missionary potatoes to sell. "That must be a new kind of potato," the store-keeper said, "well, bring them over and if they are all right I'll take 'em." So he sold his potatoes for a good price and gave the money to missions. His father seeing this, concluded he would become a missionary helper also, and gave liberally each year of his money for the cause. So John showed his "missionary colors" and won his father by so doing. Jesus wants us to come out into the open and tell the world the story of his love. "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed [show your colors] because of the truth" (Ps. 60: 4). We are the flags in full view of the people. Let us display our colors.

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THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
IN STORY FORM

A MEMORY LESSON=

It is of the highest importance that we teach our children the names of the books of the New Testament, and that they shall be able to recite them from memory in their proper order.

This is not an easy task as it requires some memory effort, but it is worth the while and the effort. All children love stories, and instruction by stories is always winsome to them. It is easy on their heads. This method puts life and movement into facts, and the little folks like it much because the story method of learning things turns labor into play.

In this chapter the names of the books of the New Testament have been put together in story form. Cause the children to commit to memory the story and then to recite it in concert frequently during the meeting. After they have learned it well, ask them to think of the story, but repeat out loud the names of the books. By this simple method the books of the New Testament will be nailed down in their memory for years to come. This is the story:

=The Books of the New Testament in Story Form=

_Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John_ determined on _Acts_ of discovery, accompanied by seven brave _Romans,_ started on a pilgrimage to find the Temple of Truth. _First_ and _Second Corinthians_ gave them all two changes of raiment, and, as they were passing out of the city gate, they were met by _Galatians_ and _Ephesians_ who supplied them camels for their journey, and there the two famous sword-makers, _Philippians_ and _Colossians_, gave them swords and shields for the conflict. As they journeyed on, they met _First_ and _Second Thessalonians_ seated at Jacob's well reading _First_ and _Second Timothy_. With hearts stirred by the truth, they marched bravely on when they noticed the approach of a lone camel upon which was seated _Titus_, who was returning from a visit to _Philemon_, who he announced was keeping the true faith. They then passed through the encampment of the _Hebrews_, where they found _James_ expounding the gospel to _First_ and _Second Peter_, who announced to them that the Palace of Truth was at the end of the road leading out of the encampment, and that _First, Second,_ and _Third John_ had been watching for their caravan all night. When they arrived at the Palace of Truth, _Jude_ the door-keeper gave them an open door and told them to enter in peace. As they retired to rest in comfort after their long journey, _Revelation_ stood on guard in the tower, watching the signs of the times.

Ask the children to repeat this story in concert as an opening exercise for their meeting.

This is a New Testament rosary. The beads are the books, the string is the story.

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WHAT TEN CORDS COULD NOT DO

OBJECTS: Ten Cords Three Feet Long and a
Double Heart=

When the children of Israel were tenting and wandering in the wilderness God called Moses their leader up into the heights of Mount Sinai. He wished to speak to him alone, and so Joshua, who had gone up with him, was left in the lower parts of the mountain to await his return, while Moses went up to the cloud-crowned top of the mountain to be alone, all alone with God. This conference with God continued forty days and nights, and when it was concluded Moses came down from the smoking top bearing two tables of stone, upon which were chiseled the ten laws or, as we say today, the Ten Commandments. In few and short words they were as follows:

1. Thou shalt have no other God before me. 2. Thou shalt not make graven images. 3. Thou shalt not take in vain the holy name of God. 4. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. 5. Honor thy parents. 6, Commit no murder. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8. Thou shalt not steal. 9. Tell no falsehoods. 10. Do not covet thy neighbor's things.

These ten commandments instruct us in all the duties of life. Yet we may keep all these laws and not be a Christian. Once when Jesus was here among men a rich young ruler came to him asking what he must do to be saved, Jesus asked him about the Ten Commandments. He replied that he had kept them from his youth up, but when Jesus asked him to sell all and follow him, he then saw that the commandments had not gone through to his heart, for there he had the gold idol which he would not give up even to follow Jesus. He had not kept the first commandment. So we can all learn by this story that he was not a Christian although perhaps he had kept all the commandments, as he thought. They cannot change the heart. The law can never do that.

These Ten Commandments are like ten shining cords which may hold us back from evil-doing, but which can never change our heart and make us Christians.

To illustrate this point of the lesson secure ten strong cords, each of them at least three feet long; hang them over the back of a chair where the audience can see them. Call these ropes the Ten Commandments, and name each rope after one of the commandments. Then tell the following story. The ancient Greeks had a strange fable about the Sirens. These were bewitching little sea-nymphs who sat on a great rock in the sea called Sibylla, and as they sat there they sang such charming and wonderful songs that they lured the sailors to their destruction on the rocks. One day when the charming Ulysses was passing that way with his great ship, Circe warned him of the peril of these dangerous singers, and assured him that many a gallant ship had been lost in these stormy waters. So Ulysses took heed to the word of caution and ordered that the ears of the sailors should be filled with wax. Then he had himself fastened to the mast by many strong cords, so when their ship reached the place where the beguiling sea fairies worked, the sailors could not hear their music, and although Ulysses was enchanted by the music and struggled to break the cords which bound him, he failed to release himself, and so passed the temptation rock in safety and soon the music died away in the distance.

Some days afterward the brave and wise Argonauts were sailing over the same enchanted waters, but they had on the ship with them the famous Orpheus. He was a masterful player on the lyre, and when the ship came near to the dangerous rock he poured forth such heavenly music that the sailors had no ear for the tempting tones of the Sirens' songs, and so passed by in safety. The Sirens, seeing that their spell was broken, leaped into the sea, and their alluring tones were never heard again.

The Ten Commandments were like the ten cords which bound Ulysses to the mast but did not keep his heart from desiring to fly to the sinful song-makers. The cords kept him from sin, but did not take the love of sin from his heart.

The Ten Commandments may keep us from doing and saying wrong things, but they will never take the love of sin away or change our hearts. The two new commandments of Jesus are like the music of Orpheus; they fill our hearts with a holy spell, and we lose all love for the pleasures of sin, because the two new commandments have reached our hearts and made us Christians. To love God with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves is the full teaching of Christ's two new commandments.

To illustrate this truth, make a double heart out of strong cardboard so it will open by a hinge. Call this the Christian's heart. Mark it on the outside with a cross. As you open the heart let them see the word "God" marked on one side and on the other side the word "Man."

In the heart of every Christian you will find love for God and love for man. This heart will keep us from evil by taking away the call to evil. This the ten cords could not do. The only way to get such a heart is to go to Jesus. He gives new hearts for old. This is the only heart he gives away. If you will take it he will take all your sins away to stay.

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OBJECT-LESSONS EXTRAORDINARY

OBJECTS: Pictures of Animals and Living Objects=

This chapter is simply a study for the object worker. It is an illustration of how ponderous and unusual objects can be used to teach religious truths. It is a far swing from the smaller and common objects which are available for the regular teacher who employs the eye appeal. Yet it is well to remember that ponderous things talk for God, for it is written that the heavens declare the glory of God, and there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

It is our big business to interpret the language of things in terms the people can understand. Translate the voice of the heavens into English. Some starlit night use the sky as an object-lesson. Gather the children around you and ask them to look up at the sky. Tell them a few things that astronomy has told you, concluding with the story of the Wise-men and the Christmas Star and other Biblical star stories. By so doing you will make the stars a golden path to Jesus and the objects in the heavens will preach of righteousness. If some day you can stand with the children by the side of the sea you can use the ocean as an object-lesson. Tell them stories of the wonders in the deep.

Tell them the tales of sea adventures by the hardy mariners. Talk about the ocean shells and sands at their feet. Conclude by telling them Bible sea stories; how a runaway prophet was cast into the sea during a great storm and what happened to him. Tell them about the storm on the sea of Tiberias, and how Jesus commanded the winds and the waves to obey his word. Tell them about Paul's sea journeys, and the wreck of the prison ship, and how they all escaped to a friendly island. In concluding tell them about the heavenly land where there shall be no more sea, and of the mercy of God which is like the wideness of the sea.

You will note that you have used ponderous object-lessons, the sky and the sea.

Sometime when it is possible use household pets as object-lessons. Tell them how to be kind to animals. Explain to them the habits and needs of the little creatures. Tell them when possible Bible stories in which these animals figure. A bird in a cage, a fish in the bowl, etc., will make most interesting and fascinating object-lessons.

When this is not possible use pictures of the animals you want to talk about. Let me tell you how once upon a time I gave an object-lesson extraordinary by using living wild animals. From childhood I have been a lover of wild beasts. I could sit up all night and read about wild animals, I loved these stories more than I loved my play. As I grew older I made them my special study. In later life it was my good fortune to study them at close range which finally enabled me to go into their cages with them. They became my good friends. They treated me with the greatest consideration. It seemed to them I was their second keeper. Let me tell you about the wild animals that I have met, and whose pictures you will see on the following pages.

="ATLAS" THE BIG LION=

Atlas was four years old and as friendly and gentle as the house dog. Wild animals, like humans, differ as to their dispositions; some are snarling and cross, others are gentle and winsome. Atlas belonged to the latter class.

One evening I invited 1,000 children to come to his winter quarters and see him. In the center of a large room there was a great cage into which the animals were taken one by one for their daily exercise and run about. Into this big cage Atlas was brought, and I went in with him. While we were together in this great cage he was as friendly as any of my little pets. He purred away like the family cat behind the kitchen stove on a snowy day. He would take his meat from my hand, displaying at all times great concern lest he should in any way harm me. I did not use a whip or a gun, simply a little rod to urge him on a bit, but controlled him by tones, persuasive tones to which he made quick response. I told the children to use kind words with animals as well as humans, as these were very winsome powers. A lion of docile disposition was dangerous only when sick, hungry, in temper, or acting in self-defense. When the lion is seeking food he displays great intelligence. The monkey is a mimic, and can only do what it is taught to do, and even this he cannot in turn teach to its offspring, but a lion seems to think out its problems.

A man in Central Africa was once out late in the day and far from home. He saw a lion at some distance from him. The lion saw him and also followed him slowly.

When the man walked fast, the lion walked fast; when the man stopped, the lion stopped also. The big idea in the lion's head was to follow him all day until dark, and then in the dark spring upon him. This was the way the man outwitted the lion. When he came to a high cliff below which there was a deep hollow in the rock, he climbed down into this cleft where the lion could not see him. Here he fixed a stick on the rocks and put on it his hat and coat so as to make them look like a man, and then hid under the rock to watch results. Soon the lion came creeping slyly along, and seeing the coat and hat he made a sudden spring at them, and falling down on the rocks below, was killed. But you see I was safe in the cage with Atlas, because they took good care of him and he was _not hungry_.

I concluded by telling the little folks about the story of Daniel who was cast into a den of lions, which is the most remarkable lion story in the world, for in those days they kept the lions in a state of hunger so that they might destroy their victims with haste. Daniel was saved from the hungry beasts because God sent his angel, and they could not open their mouths and had no desire for food. Our God is able to deliver his children.

=THE BABY LION=

One morning when I went to see my friend Atlas in the winter quarters the friendly keeper said to me, "Doctor, look into the lions' cage, in yonder corner." When I did so, what do you think, children, I saw there? Lying close to its big mother lion I saw a little baby lion fast asleep. The big mother seemed very proud of it, for she looked at me with her big eyes and seemed to say, "This is the most wonderful baby of the lion kingdom." And when the little baby opened his eyes I thought so too. After a few days the little fellow would play on the floor with me. He looked just like a big cat, and often when he went after the ball I sent rolling over the floor, he seemed to be a big cat and had the cat's way when he played.

I took him to my church one day. The first lion who ever went to Sunday school--and as it was an anniversary day with the school I gave an object-talk with the little fellow in my arms. I told the children that this lion, so docile and harmless, had a wild nature, and in a short time when that nature was fully developed it would not be safe for the boys and girls to come near him. The little paw which I held in my hands would soon be so strong and wild that it could bring down in death the strongest man alive. I then permitted a few little girls to come to the platform and hold the little fellow for a few moments, which they did with great glee and will tell their children's children of the day when they held a real living baby lion in their arms. I then told them that we all like lions have an evil nature. While we are young we are like this little lion, gentle and mild, but later on when our wild nature develops we do very wicked things and become sinners. The little lion must always be a lion, there is no power on earth that can change its nature. But although we have an evil nature, Jesus has come to take away the evil within us and make us his gentle, obedient, and loving children. I then told the children how much the mother lion loved her little baby. Mother love is so strong that she is most dangerous when she has little cubs of her own; she so greatly fears the stranger will do them harm.

Then I told a baby lion story. A circus was in progress at Woodbury, N.J., one afternoon in May, 1919, when the keeper of a lioness named Lucy and her two cubs entered her cage. He succeeded without difficulty in driving the mother lion into a compartment at the other end of the cage, thus separating her from her cubs. All would doubtless have gone well had he not stopped to fondle the cubs. This aroused the wild anger of the mother, and she sprang with all her might against the separating door, burst it open, and seized the keeper by the neck and killed him instantly. She was transferred into a mad lion when she thought her cubs were in danger. This story shows us how much the mother lion loves her little ones.

About this time the baby lion grew restless and wanted to go home, so when we had named the little cub Norman after the youngest child present that afternoon, we took him back to his mother.

=THE BABY LEOPARD LESSON=

From the wild animal market one day I borrowed a little baby leopard. He was timid as a baby rabbit. He trembled with fear all the time I held him in my arms. The little folks did not seem to be afraid of him, because he looked just like a big cat, and indeed he was the cat's wild brother. As I held him in my arms I recited Jeremiah 13:23: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil." The great lesson this passage of Scripture draws forth from the leopard is that none of us by our own effort can change our hearts and make them over into good hearts. Jesus must do this. The leopard can never change his spots nor can we alone ever change our hearts.

=THE LITTLE BEAR STORY=

One day when I was thinking out a talk which I was to give to 1,000 children in my Happy Hour Service for them, I learned that a rich man in my city had purchased a little bear for his children to play with. I said to myself here is a new and different object-lesson. At once I called on the owner, and he very gladly sent me the little fellow and his keeper with him. He was a restless little bear and wanted to play all the time. When I took him into the meeting I had placed on the table by his side a tub of water, for it was Teddy's delight to get into the water and set up a great splash, which hugely amused the children. The bear is the clown of the animal kingdom. He is not an imitator like the monkey, but thinks out his own stunts. He has more intelligence by far than the monkey and is more human in his head. They are often quite droll in their fun, they play leap frog, have wrestling-matches, and play bo-peep. This is the reason why they are called the "Clowns of the Animal Kingdom."

This little bear, I said to the children, teaches us how foolish it is to be self-willed and stubborn. He must have his own way. You can punish him with a whip and hit him so hard he cannot for a few minutes stand upon his feet, yet when he does get his strength back he will stand up and do the same thing over again. When wounded by the hunter with a deadly shot he seems to be stronger in resisting power than ever. He cannot be taught to give up himself. That is the reason we say "as stubborn as a bear." Sometimes boys and girls have the will of a bear. Be stronger than a bear by giving up when you are in the wrong. So you all see now that ponderous unusual objects can be used for teaching great religious lessons. This is a good chapter to read to the little folks.

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A BOTTLE OF MOSQUITOES

OBJECTS: Five Prepared Bottles=

In the beginning God made a beautiful garden and dropped it into the Pacific Sea. There it rested in sweet repose like a lily fair upon the bosom of the deep. It was a Garden of Love as peaceful and calm as a star. Its name was Tahiti, but as the years passed by the worst features of European civilization were flung into it, and like Eden of old the serpent came also and destroyed its primeval glory, and its royal beauty soon faded away forever.

Among the destroying influences introduced was a bottle of mosquitoes which a sailor out of sheer spite and hateful fun took to the island, and soon the land was overrun with these disturbing little pests which, added to other black things of civilization, soon robbed these islands of their virgin excellence.

The world today is full of its black bottles loaded with destructive contents. Let us consider some of them.

Secure three dark glass bottles; paint them black if necessary; load and label them as herewith described.

_Bottle No. 1._ Label this bottle "Liquor." Fill it with strong tea, which resembles liquor in color. Pour out a little in a glass, and tell the story of the wreck and ruin this bottle has caused on God's island called the "World."

This bottle came to us in earth's earliest ages. No one has ever discovered the date of its first appearance. Back before the Flood and in the days of Noah we read that wine was wrecking things. First came the deluge of wine, then the deluge from the great deep. It was a world-wrecker then, and is in the same business today, and will continue on in its black business unless the hand of God and the arm of the law shall shatter it and grind it to powder.

Prohibition has chained the monster of this black bottle, but not slain it. It still lives and is seeking to break its chains of bondage and start on its rampage again. There is a popular cry among men now which demands we shall let the monster loose again. They say, "Give us light wines and beer." This is a noise from hell. Light wines and beer would be leaks in the dam that now holds back this flood of death. Open the leaks, and that will finally wash away the dam, and let the river of death loose upon the people again. Place the cork in the bottle and call the cork the Eighteenth Amendment. It shall never come out. The monster of rum must never come back.

_Bottle No. 2._ Label this bottle "Ignorance."

Pour out from this bottle into a glass a liquid that has been made black by a few drops of ink, and this you call the "Darkness of Ignorance," the bottled "night of the Dark Ages." It is as black as Egyptian darkness.

Centuries ago where the City of London now stands, a tribe of benighted people lived. When they wished to start on a pilgrimage of murder and plunder, and did not know which way to go to find the greatest spoil, they placed a little maiden in a large basket, and pierced it through with a sword slaying the little one, and they watched to see through which side of the basket the blood would flow first. This, they declared, indicated the direction in which they were to go on their murderous pilgrimage. They had all been drinking from the black bottle of ignorance. Yes, you say, that might all be true of heathen tribes. But it would be well to remember also that the black bottle of ignorance is found with the wiser people of this day also.

The placing of the horseshoe over the door, the fear of the black cat which crosses our path at night, the dread of the number 13 and the day Friday, are all drops from the bottle of ignorance; and so it appears that civilized people are often influenced by these things. Our colonial fathers when they spilt salt at the table, threw a pinch of it over the left shoulder to keep the witches away; so it seems that often this black bottle of ignorance finds a place on our table of daily bread. Let us seek knowledge and light always. Learn something every day, and keep far away from this bottle of dark ignorance. Remember the mountaintop window of light is to know God aright, and to love him and keep his commandments. If this we do, the cup of life will be so full that ignorance will find no place to dwell in it. The liquid night cannot reign where we all love Jesus and walk in his light.

The third bottle is labeled "War." Load this bottle with a red liquid which can be produced by red ink or from regular dye-stuff. This liquid represents the blood that war has shed. As you pour this out into the glass say, Modern war is murder made lawful by the nations, but it is unlawful by the laws of God. War is sin, it is an enemy to Jesus. He came to give peace on earth and good-will among men. That was his way among men. "Put up thy sword" is one of the commandments of the New Testament. It is the word of the Prince of Peace. All the world questions should be settled by arbitration. "Come let us reason together" is God's good way to settle questions with the sinner or the nations. The spirit of this bad black bottle has slain its countless trillions, and if all the human skulls through which war bullets have crashed could be assembled in one great Potter's Field they would cover an acre of Towers of Babel. If all of the bones of the slain by war could by some magic magnet be thrown together they would well nigh cover the civilized acres of the world.

Put the stopper into this bottle and say, Paralyzed be the hand that ever draws out the stopper of the bloody bottle of war.

_Bottle No. 3._ Labeled "Gold." Fill this bottle with a yellow liquid which resembles the gold color. Pour out into a glass and remark: The love of this yellow stuff is a universal destroyer. The worship of this demon will cause a man and woman to do all manner of evil. They will lie, steal, deceive, and sell their souls for it. They will offer up the sacrifice of their own lives to possess it. They will sell out both worlds just to toy with it for a few days. Gold is evil only when we worship it, that is, think more of it than we do of God. This is forbidden by the First Commandment. The Israelites did this when in the wilderness they erected the golden calf and worshiped it. When we use it aright it is not a black bottle, but a bottle with glad yellow sunshine. We then call its contents charity (love). Paul said charity is even greater than faith and hope. This bottle is not yellow with the sunshine of love, but of sin, so I will put the cork into this bottle and put it out of sight. May I put it out of my mind as I have put it out of sight. But here are two other bottles from which I may and will drink most freely and live ever more.

Secure two plain glass bottles. Label the first one "WATER," and the second, "MILK." Lifting up the bottle marked "Water," explain that it stands for the Water of Life. Lifting up the bottle marked "Milk," explain that it will stand for the pure "Word of God." Holding up the first bottle, pour a little of the contents into a new clean glass and say: This crystal water stands for the Water of Life or God's Salvation. Jesus once offered it to the woman of Samaria, and she drank of it and was saved; she told all her town people of this water, and hundreds drank from the same bottle to the salvation of their souls. Lift high the glass and say: This living Water is free to all; come, and drink, and live. Remember, O ye people, that just looking at it with admiring eyes will not save you. Drink of it, partake of it--this alone will give you salvation. A thirsty man does not have his thirst quenched by admiring the gushing fountain, he must drink to lose his thirst.

My next and last bottle is labeled "Milk." This stands for the Word of God, "the pure milk of God's word."

This Bible milk adds daily strength to the soul which will live on it. It is heaven's prepared food. The Bible by its promises of help gives us a "tall" lift when we are weak and worn down.

When the ten virgins went forth to meet the Bridegroom, the five wise virgins not only took their lamps with them, but also other vessels filled with reserve oil to be used in replenishing their lamps when the oil had burned away. The extra bottle was their life preserver, for when the midnight cry was heard, from this bottle they refilled their lamps, and went in to the wedding with the Bridegroom. In our journey home to God we must take this bottle of heavenly "milk," God's word with us. Take a _Milk Verse_ every day--that is, inwardly digest a promise of God daily. This will give you strength now and victory in the hour of death.

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A CHRISTMAS TREE IN AUGUST