The Personal Preparation for the Coming of the Lord
M. C. WILCOX
There is nothing in a personal way, to you or to me, of more importance than our relationship with God, and the answer that we shall make, by our record, when the Judge shall pass sentence. How shall we meet him when he comes? Over and over we sing—sometimes almost thoughtlessly—the eternally vital question:—
“When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come
To call thy ransomed people home,
Shall I among them stand?
Shall such a worthless worm as I,
Who sometimes am afraid to die,
Be found at thy right hand?”
Let us seriously, thoughtfully, humbly, prayerfully study what is involved in the subject.
Our Lord is coming again. By promise and prophecy he has proclaimed a thousand times that he is coming again. Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the living God, our Brother in the flesh, is coming again,—coming personally, not by a representative; coming visibly, for every eye shall see him; coming for the eternal salvation of his children, salvation from sin, disease, death, and all related troubles; coming, not as a Man of sorrows, in humiliation, but as King of kings, in glory transcendent, bringing to his children salvation and eternal progress and bliss. Do we not all want a part in that salvation?
Jesus is coming soon. More than twelve lines of prophecy focusing in our day, all of them bearing in fulfilment the focal point, declare that his coming is near; twelve different time-tables all declaring that the prophetic train on each line is nearing the grand central station, the coming of Jesus.
There are a score or more of special signs, omens, precursors, heralds of that coming, lifting up burning banners, shouting in stentorian voices, pleading in unutterable tenderness, in the physical, social, religious, and political worlds; yet all unite in harmony with the prophetic word in declaring that the opening heavens will soon disclose the forthshining of the glory of our Lord’s personal presence. We cannot delay it, we cannot veil the awful glory, we cannot hide from it. Do we not wish to share its life-giving, body-transforming, immortality-bestowing power?
God has warned us, his professed children, of that awful, glorious event. In thus doing, he recognizes our lean spiritual condition, clearly diagnoses our cases, and warns us of our danger. He does not deceive us, he does not flatter us. He knows as we do not know. He knows the dire results of cherished sin. He alone has the remedy. Listen to his warnings in that great discourse of his second coming as recorded by Luke. After faithfully portraying his coming, summarizing the signs which precede that event, knowing the ways in which Satan would work to draw mind and soul1108away from the things of paramount importance, he says: “Take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare: for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth.” Luke 21: 34, 35.
Listen to the words of our Lord again, in his last letter to the churches: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”
Do these diagnoses meet our cases? God’s “Take heed” means something. Invariably it is a warning, whenever used, concerning dangers into which his people are likely to fall or have fallen. Are we drunken in pleasures? Are we surfeited to the benumbing of heart and soul and conscience? Do the cares of the world shut out Christ, and give no time to get acquainted with him? Are we earth dwellers, satisfied with heaping up treasures here, or are we pilgrims and strangers bound for a better land? Are we lukewarm, indifferent, without a real sense of the meaning of the times? The day as a snare is approaching,—a day whose approach will be marked by nothing visible. What if it should come next month, next week, tomorrow? Are your deeds tasteless and nauseating to God? Are you so indifferent as to be satisfied? These are vital questions. If we do not answer them to God now, how shall we answer them when our Lord shall come?
The Lord’s Appeal
Listen to his appeals to you and to me: “And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Rom. 13: 11-14.
We are children of the day, and the day is just at hand. We must be sober and watchful, and put on the whole armor of God. It is ours by faith. We must put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation; put on the Lord Jesus Christ, for God has not appointed us unto wrath.
WORKERS IN ARMENIAN MISSION FIELD, IN ASIATIC TURKEY
These men are laboring amidst peril from Catholic and Moslem fanaticism.
How earnestly the prophet cries to us! How he would arouse and hurry us to decisive, holy action! “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together” in Christ. Seek him, “seek righteousness [his righteousness], seek meekness.” Before the decree of wrath bring forth, before the day of salvation pass as lightly as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah falls upon sin and all identified with it. “It may be ye will be hid.” The uncertainty is ours. How could a plea be stronger or more urgent? What language could God better use to arouse us from the lethargy of sin?
But he makes a still stronger, mightier plea to our poor, insensate, lukewarm hearts. Nauseating as Laodicea is, he comes down to its homes. He knocks at each door. He speaks with infinite love to each poor, life-barren heart: “I counsel thee to buy of me” the gold of faith and love, tried in the fire of affliction. Buy the white raiment of God’s righteousness to cover thy nakedness. Anoint the sin-blinded eyes of heart and mind with the eye-salve of the Spirit of light and discernment, that thou mayest no longer walk in darkness. All are free. Our Lord’s very reproof and chastening are evidences of his love. He would not have us lost. He would not have us deceived. “Be zealous, therefore, and repent.” Feeling or no feeling, be zealous in the repenting. Turn from the sin. Open wide the door. Let in the Holy Ghost, who brings with him all the riches and benedictions of heaven. He will take all our sins, partake of all our toil and labor and sorrow, and he will spread our board with heavenly, delectable food. Let him in! O, let him in!
A Clean Heart
Is there aught to do, dear soul, then, but to believe the Master? Is there any other safe way, when the Great Physician declares that our heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,—desperately corrupt, desperately sick, as differently rendered? Shall we not believe him? When he tells us—he who had the human heart of flesh—that “from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness,” shall we not believe? Do we not know that many of these sins have been manifest in our own lives? Do we not know that the saved will be without guile, without fault, even in the sight of the all-seeing, all-piercing eye of the holy God? Knowing all this, should we not confess our sins and cry to God for cleansing? He asks this. Could he ask less?
Does not he want us to pour into his ear our sins, our crimes, our filthiness? He knows all now, but he wants us to be rid of them, to break partnership with sin forever; and this is done by confessing and forsaking sin, and confessing and uniting with Christ. Listen! “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
The real heart of confession is that it separates from the sin, and separates unto God. It breaks the wicked band which binds us to the traitor of God’s kingdom, and places us in the army of King Immanuel.
Let us pray. Let us confess the sin. Let us believe that he does forgive our sins, our backslidings; that he does cleanse from all unrighteousness. Thus has he spoken; our God cannot lie. Nay, let us pray not only for cleansing for past sins, but for strength in the place of weakness, victory in the place of defeat, courage in the place of cowardice.1109patient endurance in the place of yielding, love in the place of selfishness, a glad, hopeful heart in the place of gloom and moroseness, for life in the place of death.
Fearful are the struggles and trials of the closing journey, deadly the miasma of the enchanted ground. We must have the constant presence and atmosphere of God. Note these messages from the book “Early Writings,” pages 71, 270, 271:—
“I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful, and were looking to the time of ‘refreshing’ and the ‘latter rain’ to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord, and to live in his sight. O, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation, therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets, and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it, and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. Before this time the awfully solemn declaration has gone forth, ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.’ I saw that none could share the ‘refreshing’ unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord, and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy, and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in his presence.”
“As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts, and light up their countenances. Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these, and went to the aid of the earnest, praying ones. I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels, and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But his angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them. . . .
“Said the angel, ‘List ye!’ Soon I heard a voice like many musical instruments all sounding in perfect strains, sweet and harmonious. It surpassed any music I had ever heard, seeming to be full of mercy, compassion, and elevating, holy joy. It thrilled through my whole being. Said the angel, ‘Look ye!’ My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers. Their countenances expressed the severe conflict which they had endured, the agonizing struggle they had passed through. Yet their features, marked with severe internal anguish, now shone with the light and glory of heaven. They had obtained the victory, and it called forth from them the deepest gratitude and holy, sacred joy.
“The numbers of this company had lessened. Some had been shaken out and left by the way. The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks. Evil angels still pressed around them, but could have no power over them.
“I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound; some wives by their husbands, and some children by their parents. The honest who had been prevented from hearing the truth now eagerly laid hold upon it. All fear of their relatives was gone, and the truth alone was exalted to them. They had been hungering and thirsting for truth; it was dearer and more precious than life. I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.’”
O brethren, friends, young and old, let us verify in our own lives the precious assurances of the word of the living God, “They that stumbled are girded with strength.” “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.” “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.”
God is more willing to give his Spirit to us in these last days in its outpouring than is an earthly parent to give good gifts unto his children. Believing this, we can indeed say, and say forever, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again; he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
What Will You Do?
Lesson for the Children—No. 7
What Will You Do?
MEMORY TEXT: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:14:
Jesus will not come until the people on earth have been warned. Missionaries must be sent all over the world. Mark 16:15.
But it takes money to send men and women so far. They must have clothing, food, and homes, and also books, tracts, and other things to work with.
God asks us not only to give ourselves, but also to bring our offerings. Can the children help?—Yes, even though they cannot give large sums; each penny will be like a brick in the wall, and the work will grow stronger and reach farther.
(Ask for experiences in missionary effort, and help the children plan how to work and what to give. They may learn to save and to earn, so they may have something of their own to give. Some self-denial on their part may enable them to bring an offering during this week of prayer. Experiences of children who have made a real sacrifice so they might bring an offering to the Lord may be related.)
Children may begin to work for Jesus at home, and thus become fitted to go to other lands as missionaries. By giving themselves they will make the most costly gift of all.
(Show a wreath of leaves to illustrate the crowns of earth that soon wither, then describe the crowns of gold given those who labor for God. Tell the children of the stars on the crowns, in number corresponding to those brought to Jesus by the one who wears the crown. See “Early Writings,” page 16, for a description of these starry crowns.)
(Tell of the part children will act in the work before its close.) What kind of children can God use? Will it be the unthankful and disobedient, those who are unlike Jesus?
In “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, pages 202, 203, these words are found:—
“As the children sang in the temple courts, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,’ so in these last days, children’s voices will be raised to give the last message of warning to a perishing world. When heavenly intelligences see that men are no longer permitted to present the truth, the Spirit of God will come upon the children, and they will do a work in the proclamation of the truth which the older workers cannot do, because their way will be hedged up.
“Our church-schools are ordained of God to prepare the children for this great work. Here children are to be instructed in the special truths for this time, and in practical missionary work.1110They are to enlist in the army of workers to help the sick and the suffering. Children can take part in the medical missionary work, and by their jots and tittles can help to carry it forward. Their investments may be small, but every little helps, and by their efforts many souls will be won to the truth. By them God’s message will be made known, and his saving health to all nations.”
(Prayer should be offered that God will fit the children for the work he has said they should do, and help them to begin now.)
(Reading for Sabbath, December 20)
By Ellen G. White
The Blessed Hope
MRS. E. G. WHITE
The time of Jesus' betrayal, suffering, and crucifixion was drawing near; and as the disciples gathered about him, the Lord unfolded to them the mournful events that were about to take place. As they listened, their hearts were filled with sorrow, and to comfort them he spoke these tender words, “Let not your heart be troubled. . . . I will come again, and receive you unto myself.” He directed their minds from the scenes of sorrow before them to the mansions of heaven and the reunion that would take place in the kingdom of God. “I go to prepare a place for you,” he declared. Though he must ascend to the Father, his work for those he loved was not to end. He went to prepare homes for those who, for his sake, were to be pilgrims and strangers on the earth.
After his resurrection, Christ led the disciples out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. “And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” And as he went, angels gave to the sorrowing disciples the assurance, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
The great truth of Christ's second coming is ever to be kept before the church. “Let your loins be girded about,” we are admonished, “and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. . . . Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”
Because we do not know the exact hour of Christ's coming, we are commanded to watch. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching.” Those who watch for the Lord's return do not wait in idle expectancy. They purify their hearts by obedience to the truth. With vigilant watching they unite earnest working. Because they know that the Lord is at the door, their zeal is quickened to cooperate with divine intelligences in working for the salvation of souls. These are the faithful and wise servants, who give to the Lord's household their portion of meat in due season. They are declaring the truth that is now specially applicable. As Enoch, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time, so will Christ's servants now give the special warning for their generation.
Now is the time to prepare for the coming of our Lord. Readiness to meet him cannot be attained in a moment's time. Preparatory to that solemn scene there must be vigilant waiting and watching, combined with earnest work. So God's children glorify him. Amid the busy scenes of life their voices will be heard speaking words of encouragement, faith, and hope. All they have and are is consecrated to the Master's service.
But like the dwellers in Sodom, those who refuse to serve God will be awakened only when it is too late. As the sun rose for the last time upon the cities of the plain, the people thought to begin another day of godless riot. All were eagerly planning their business or their pleasure, and the messenger of God was derided for his fears and his warnings. Suddenly as a peal of thunder from an unclouded sky fell balls of fire on the doomed capital.
“So shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” The people will be eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage, until the wrath of God shall be poured out without mixture of mercy. Men have been taught by their ministers to believe that the coming of Christ is to be spiritual, or is to take place in the distant future, and the message of his soon return has been denounced as fanaticism or heresy. Skepticism and “science falsely so called” have undermined faith in the Bible. The multitudes are striving to forget God, and they eagerly accept fables, that they may pursue the path of self-indulgence undisturbed. The people are hurrying to and fro, the lovers of pleasure intent upon amusement, the money-makers seeking wealth; and all are saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
The Jews misinterpreted and misapplied the Word of God, and they knew not the time of their visitation. The years of the ministry of Christ and his apostles—the precious last years of grace to the chosen people—they spent in plotting the destruction of the Lord's messengers. Earthly ambitions absorbed them, and the offer of the spiritual kingdom came to them in vain. So today the kingdom of this world absorbs men's thoughts, and there are few who take heed to the rapidly fulfilling prophecies, and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of God.
Christ tells us when the day of his kingdom shall be ushered in. He does not say that all the world will be converted, but that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” By giving the gospel to the world, it is in our power to hasten the coming of the day of God. Had the church of Christ done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned, and the Lord Jesus would have come to the earth in power and great glory.
Living power must attend the message of Christ's second appearing. We must not rest until we see many souls converted to the blessed hope of the Lord's return. In the days of the apostles the message that they bore wrought a real work, turning souls from idols to serve the living God. The work to be done today is just as real, and the truth is just as much truth; only we are to give the message with as much more earnestness as the coming of the Lord is nearer. The message for this time is positive, simple, and of the deepest importance. We must act like men and women who believe it. Waiting, watching, working, praying, warning the world—this is our work.
When Christ came to this earth the first time, he came in lowliness and obscurity, and his life here was one of suffering and poverty. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Men hid as it were their faces from him, and at the last they crucified him. Still bearing humanity he ascended to heaven, triumphant and victorious. He has taken the blood of the atonement, sprinkled it upon the mercy-seat and his own garments, and blessed the people. Soon he will appear the second time to declare that there is no more sacrifice for sin.
At his second coming all will be changed. Not as a prisoner surrounded by a rabble will men see him, but as heaven's King. Christ will come in his own glory, in the glory of his Father, and in the glory of the holy angels. Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, the beautiful, triumphant sons of God, possessing surpassing loveliness and glory, will escort him on his way. In the place of a crown of thorns, he will wear a crown of glory—a crown within a crown. In the place of that old purple robe, he will be clothed in a garment of whitest white, “so as no fuller on earth can white” it. And on his vesture and on his thigh a name will be written, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.”
Then the last trump will sound, the voice of God will speak, and the whole earth, from the summits of the loftiest mountains to the lowest recesses of the deepest mines, will hear that voice. It will be heard in the dungeons of men, in the caverns of the deep, in the rocks and caves of the earth, and it will be obeyed. It is the same voice that said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,”—the same voice that said, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” And those who obeyed that voice when it said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,1111and take up his cross, and follow me,” will now hear the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” To them that voice will mean rest, peace, and everlasting life. They will recognize it as the voice of the One who has been touched with the feeling of their infirmities.
And those who pierced the Saviour, those who scourged and crucified him, will also be raised, to behold him whom they mocked and despised coming in the clouds of heaven, attended by the angelic host. Before the priests and rulers will rise the scene in the judgment-hall. Every circumstance will appear as if written in letters of fire. Then those who prayed, “His blood be on us, and on our children,” will receive the answer to their prayer. Then those who have chosen to war against God will know and understand what they, poor, feeble, finite beings, have been fighting against. In agony and horror they will cry to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
While the world is plunged in darkness, there will be light in every dwelling of the saints. They will catch the first light of his second appearing. The unsullied light will shine from his splendor, and Christ the Redeemer will be admired by all who have served him. While the wicked flee from his presence, Christ's followers will rejoice. The patriarch Job, looking down to the time of Christ's second advent, said: “Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger.” To his faithful followers Christ has been a daily companion, a familiar friend. They have lived in close, constant communion with God. Upon them the glory of the Lord has risen. In them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ has been reflected. Now they rejoice in the undimmed rays of the brightness and glory of the King in his majesty. They are prepared for the communion of heaven; for they have heaven in their hearts.
With uplifted heads, with the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining upon them, with rejoicing that their redemption draweth nigh, they go forth to meet the Bridegroom, saying, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us.”
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. . . . And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” “He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
More than eighteen hundred years have passed since the Saviour gave the promise of his coming. Throughout the centuries his words have filled with courage the hearts of his faithful ones. The promise has not yet been fulfilled; the Life-giver's voice has not yet called the sleeping saints from their graves; but none the less sure is the word that has been spoken. In his own time God will fulfil his word. Shall any become weary now? Shall we lose our hold on faith when we are so near the eternal world? Shall any say, The city is a great way off?—No, no. A little longer, and we shall see the King in his beauty. A little longer, and he will wipe all tears from our eyes. A little longer, and he will present us “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”
All heaven is astir, engaged in preparing for the day of God's vengeance, the day of Zion's deliverance. The time of tarrying is almost ended. The pilgrims and strangers who have so long been seeking a better country are almost home. I feel as if I must cry aloud, Homeward bound! Rapidly we are nearing the time when Christ will come to gather his redeemed to himself. Then by innumerable voices will be sung the song, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”
“The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
(Here let the offering for missions be gathered. The isolated believers who read this should send their gifts to their church or conference treasury.)
Show Me My Way Home
Lesson for the Children—No. 8
“Show Me My Way Home”
MEMORY TEXT: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Cor. 5:20.
That word am-bas-sa-dor is a hard one for little folks; it means one who talks or acts for another. (Tell how our country sends ambassadors to other nations, and that it is a high and honorable position.)
But instead of making only one his ambassador, God sends all his people to others to help them to love him. It is a great privilege to be chosen for this service, and he wants us to live so others will serve him.
I have in my hand a little salt. What is it good for? “To keep things from spoiling,” you say. Yes, and we should not care to live in a family where they did not put salt in the food. It would not taste good.
Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Matt. 5:13. As salt flavors and preserves our food, so we are to be in the world “a savor of life unto life,” to draw others to Jesus, who has done so much for us all. We must not only get ready ourselves, but help others.
A boat was seen drifting on the ocean, and a ship that was passing went to rescue any who might be in it. A man was there, and they lifted him out, for he was nearly dead. As soon as he was safe, his first words were, “There’s another man in the boat.” He did not think of himself, but of the “other man” who might be lost.
It was so with Andrew when he found Jesus. “He first findeth his own brother Simon, and . . . brought him to Jesus.” This is our work now: to find our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers, if they are not saved, tell them how Jesus forgives and loves us, and ask them to love him, too. James 5:20.
(Produce a magnet, and a needle or some object of steel that it will lift.)
If I lift this needle with my fingers and then let go, it drops to the floor. But if I touch the needle with the magnet, the magnet draws and holds the needle so it does not fall. There is a power that keeps it from falling.
Perhaps you have sometimes felt afraid to start to be a Christian because you thought it so easy to do wrong and sometimes hard to do right. Now the Lord says he is “able to keep you from falling” into sin (Jude 24), and he will if you ask and trust him. More than that, he will “present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” Think of it! Not even one fault or stain of sin! What joy to meet Jesus that way! But we must come close to him, as the needle does to the magnet, and ask him to do this.
Many others would be glad to know such a Saviour. (Tell of the ways some try to make themselves righteous, and why they fail.) We may win their love by our lives, and tell them Jesus loves them.
A little child was lost in a great city. A crowd gathered round, and it was frightened by seeing only strangers instead of friends. But one man looked so tenderly into the little face that when the child saw him, he reached up his arms, and said, “Please show me my way home.”
There are so many who long for home and heaven, but they don’t know the way. They are lost. They reach out their hands to us from near and far, asking us to show them how to find Jesus and their heavenly home. Shall we not try to help them?
(Tell of different ways children can do good. Even at home they may be helpers, and by their prayers and gifts they can also assist others who go as missionaries.)
Restfulness Reveals Our Attitude Toward God
A MAN’S attitude toward God may be told by the restfulness of his inner spirit, his ability to rest. And more, a man’s attitude toward God’s rest day tells us men his attitude toward God.— S. D. Gordon.
