No more crying. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Revelation 21.4

Beloved children, a Bible text stands at the top of this page. I should like you to read it twice over. I am going to tell you something which, I hope, will make you remember that text as long as you live. I am going to tell you about three places of which the Bible says a great deal. It matters little what we know about some places, but it matters much to know something about the three places of which I am now going to speak.

Firstly, there is a place where there is a great deal of crying. There is a place where there is nothing else but crying. Thirdly, there is a place where there is no crying at all. Now, attend to me and I will tell you a few things worth knowing.

First of all, there is a place where there is a great deal of crying. What is that place? It is the world in which you and I live. It is a world full of beautiful and pleasant things. The sun shining by day and the stars by night the blue hills looking up to heaven and the rolling sea ebbing and flowing, the broad quiet lakes and the rushing restless rivers, the flowers blooming in the spring and the fields full of corn in autumn, the birds singing in the woods and the lambs playing in the meadowsâ€"all, all are beautiful things. I could look at them for hours and say, What a beautiful world it is!

But still, it is a world where there is a great deal of crying. It is a world where there are many tears. There was crying in Bible times. Hagar wept when she thought Ishmael was dying. Abraham mourned when Sarah died. Joseph wept when his brothers sold him into Egypt. David wept when Absalom was killed. There was weeping at Jerusalem when good king Josiah was slain in battle. There was weeping at Bethlehem when Herod killed all the little children who were not more than two years old. These things, and many like them, you will find in your Bibles.

There is crying now all over the world. Little babies cry when they want anything, or feel pain. Boys and girls cry when they are hurt, or frightened, or corrected. Grown-up people cry sometimes when they are in trouble, or when they see those die whom they love. In short, wherever there is sorrow and pain, there is crying. I dare say you have seen people come to church all dressed in black. That is called being in mourning. Some relation or friend of these people is dead, and therefore they dress in black. Well, remember when you see people in mourning, somebody has been crying. I dare say you have seen graves in churchyards and have heard that when people die, they are buried there. Some of them are very little graves, not longer than you are. Well, remember that when those graves were made and little coffins were let down into them, there was crying.

Children, did you ever think what all this crying came from? Did you ever consider how it first began? Did you ever hear how weeping and tears came into the world?

God did not make crying, that is certain. All that God made was very good. Listen to me, and I will tell you how crying began.

Crying came into the world by reason of sin. Sin is the cause of all the weeping, and tears, and sorrow, and pain which there are upon earth. All the crying began when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and became sinners. It was sin which brought into the world pain and sickness and death. It was sin which brought into the world selfishness and ill nature and unkindness and quarreling and stealing and fighting. If there had been no wickedness, there would have been no weeping. If there had been no sin, there would have been no crying.

See now, my beloved children, how much you ought to hate sin All the unhappiness in the world came from sin. How strange and wonderful it is that anyone can take pleasure in sin. Do not let that be the case with you. Watch against sin. Fight with it. Avoid it. Listen not to it. Take the advice of St. Paul. Abhor that which is evil. Take the advice of Solomon. When sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Say to yourself every morning, sin caused crying, and so I will hate sin.

See again, my beloved children, how foolish it is to expect perfect happiness in this world. It is expecting what you will not find. The world is a place where there is much crying and where things do not always go on pleasantly. I hear many boys and girls talking of pleasures they will have when they are men and women. I am sorry for them when I hear them talking in this way. I know they are mistaken. I know they will be disappointed. They will find when they grow up that they cannot get through the world without many troubles and cares. There are no roses without thorns. There are no years without dark and rainy days. There is no living on earth without crying and tears.

I will now speak of the second place about which I promised to tell you something. There is a place where there is nothing else but crying. What is this place? It is the place to which all bad people go when they are dead. It is the place which the Bible calls hell. In hell there is no laughter and smiling. There is nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. In hell there is no happiness. Those who go there cry on night and day without stopping. They have no rest. They never go to sleep and wake up happy. They never stop crying in hell.

Beloved children, I am sorry to tell you that there are many people going to hell. Broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be which go in it. I am afraid that many children are going to hell. I see many boys and girls who are so naughty and ill-behaved that I am sure they are not fit for heaven. And if they are not fit for heaven, where will they go if they die? There is only one other place to which they can go. They must go to hell. Dear children, it makes me sad to say these things. I cannot bear the thought of boys and girls going to that dreadful place where there is nothing but crying. My heart's desire and prayer to God for you is that you may not go to hell. But I want you to know some things which you must mind if you would not go to hell. Listen to me now while I ask you a few questions. For one thing, I will ask you, do you love Jesus Christ? You ought to love Him. He died for your sins upon the cross that He might save you from hell. He allowed himself to be shut up in the dark prison of the grave, that your sins might be forgiven, and that you might not be chained in hell forever. Dear children, think about this. If you love nothing but play and eating and drinking and fine clothes and storybooks, and do not love Christ, you are not in the right way. Take care. If you do not mind, you will go at last to the place where there is nothing but crying. I will ask you another thing. Do you try to please Christ? You ought to do so. I read in the Bible that Jesus Christ said, If ye love me, keep my commandments. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. Dear children, think about this. If you are selfish, or passionate, or tell lies, or quarrel with one another, or do not do as you are bid, you are not Christ's friends. Take care! If you do not mind, you will go at last to the place where there is nothing but crying. I will ask you another thing. Do you keep the Sunday holy? You ought to do so. God commands it, and it is for your good. I once heard of a little boy who went to play upon the ice on Sunday instead of coming home straight from church. Tommy, said his mother, why did you do so? Mother, said Tommy, I did not remember that it was Sunday. Tommy, said his mother, that is the very thing God told you not to do. He said in the fourth commandment, remember, remember to keep holy the Sabbath. Dear children, think about this. If you do not like to give God one day in the week, your hearts are not right. Take care. If you do not mind, you will go at last to the place where there is nothing but crying. I will ask you another thing. Do you say your prayers? You ought to do so. God will never be a friend to you if you do not speak to him and ask him to take care of your soul and make you good. If you never pray or say your prayers without thinking, your heart will soon be full of mischief and sin. It will never be empty for a day. I once heard of a boy who had a little garden given to him, all full of flowers, but he did nothing for it. He never raked it or weeded it. And after a few weeks, the weeds came up so thick that the flowers died. Dear children, think of this. If you do not ask God to put the Holy Spirit in your hearts, the devil will soon fill them with sin. Take care. If you do not mind, you will go at last to the place where there is nothing but crying. I will ask you one more question. Do you read your Bible? You ought to do so. That beautiful book is able to keep you from hell and save your soul. If you use the Bible rightly, you will not be hurt by the devil. I once heard of a little boy in Africa who was sleeping with his father in the open air near a fire. He awoke in the middle of the night and saw a great lion close to him, looking as if he was going to seize him. The little boy took up a lighted stick out of the fire and put it in the lion's face and drove him away. Dear children, think of this. The devil is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But he cannot harm you if you make a right use of the Bible. If you would drive him from you, you must read your Bible. If you can read and yet neglect your Bible, you are in great danger. Take care. If you do not mind, the devil will carry you off to the place where there is nothing but crying. Beloved children, remember my five questions. Think of them often and try your own hearts by them. I am not afraid about children who love Jesus and try to please him and keep the Son be holy and pray and read their Bibles. I'm not afraid that they will go to hell if they die. But I am afraid about children who care nothing about these things. I think they are in great danger. I will now speak of the third place about which I promised to tell you something. There is a place where there is no crying at all. What is this place? It is heaven. It is the place to which all good people go when they are dead. There all is joy and happiness. There no tears are shed. Their sorrow and pain and sickness and death can never enter in. There can be no crying in heaven, because there is nothing that can cause grief. Dear children, there will be no more lessons in heaven. All will have been learned. The school will be closed. The rod and correction will be laid aside forever. There will be an eternal holiday. There will be no more work in heaven. Man will no longer need to labor for his bread. The head will no longer have to ache with thinking. The hands will no longer be stiff and brown with toiling. There will be an eternal rest for the people of God. There will be no sickness in heaven. Pain and disease and weakness and death will not be known. The people who dwell there shall no more say, I am sick. There will be always well. There will be nothing but health and strength forevermore. There will be no sin in heaven. There will be no bad tempers, no unkind words, no spiteful actions. The great tempter, the devil, will not be allowed to come in and spoil the happiness. There shall be nothing but holiness and love forevermore. Best of all, the Lord Jesus Christ himself will be in the midst of heaven. His people shall at last see Him face to face, and go out from His presence no more. He shall gather His lambs into His bosom, and wipe away all tears from all eyes. Where He is will be fullness of joy, and at His right hand shall be pleasures forevermore.

Dear children, would you not like to go to heaven? We cannot live always in this world. A day will come when we must die, like the old people who have died already. Children, would you not like to go to heaven when you die? Listen to me and I will tell you something about the way by which you must go. If you would go to heaven, you must have your sins forgiven and your hearts made new and good. There is only one who can do this for you. That one is the Lord Jesus Christ. God has appointed Him to be the friend of sinners. He can wash away your sins in His own precious blood He can make your hearts new by putting the Holy Spirit in them. He is the way and the door into heaven. He has the keys in His hand. Children, if you want to go to heaven, you must ask Jesus Christ to let you in. Ask Jesus in prayer to get ready a place for you in that world where there is no crying. Ask Him to put your name in His book of life and to make you one of His people. Ask Him to cleanse you from all your sins, and to put the Holy Ghost in your heart. Ask Him to give you power to fight His battle against sin, the world, and the devil. Ask Him to give you grace to make you good while you are young, and good when you grow up, so that you may be safe while you live, and happy forever when you die. Children, Jesus Christ is ready to do all this if you will only ask Him He has done it for many people already. He is waiting to do it for you at this very time. Do not be afraid to ask Him. Tell Him you have heard that He was very kind to people when He was on earth, and ask Him to be kind to you. Remind Him how kind He was to the poor dying thief on the cross. Say to Him, Lord Jesus, remember me. I want to go to heaven. Lord, think upon me. Lord, give me the Holy Spirit. Lord, pardon my sins and give me a new heart. Lord Jesus, save me. And now, children, I have kept my word. I have told you of three places. I have told you of a place where there is nothing but crying. I hope none of you will go there. I have told you of a place where there is no crying. I hope you will all go there. I have told you of a place where there is a great deal of crying. That place is the world in which you are living. Would you like, last of all, to know the best way to be happy in this world? Listen to me and I will tell you. The happiest people in this world are those who make the Bible the rule of their lives. They read their Bibles often. They believe what the Bible says. They love that Savior, Jesus Christ, of whom the Bible speaks. They try to obey what the Bible commands. None are so happy as these people. They cannot prevent sickness and trouble coming to them sometimes. But they learned from the Bible to bear them patiently.

Children, if you would get through the world happily, make the Bible your best friend. Shall I tell you a story that I once heard about a little boy in the Bible? Perhaps it will help you to remember what I have just been saying. I want the words I have just written to stick forever in your minds.

Father, said this little boy one day, I do not see any use in reading the Bible. I do not see that it does people any good." Little Johnny said this in a rather cross and pettish way, and his father thought it best not to begin reasoning with him. "'Johnny,' he said, "'put on your hat and come out and take a walk with me.

'" Johnny's father took him first to a house where there was an old woman who was very poor, and he talked to her about her poverty. "'Sir,' said the old woman, "'I do not complain. I have read in the Bible these words. I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content." "'Johnny,' said the little boy's father, "'hear what the old woman says.

'" They went on to another house where there was a young woman who was very ill and never likely to get better. Johnny's father asked her if she felt afraid to die. "'No,' she said. "'I find it written in the Bible, "'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.'" said the little boy's father again. Hear what the young woman says.

children, from that very day Johnny was never heard again to say, it is of no use reading the Bible.

Beloved children, remember my parting words. The way to get through the world with the least possible crying is to read the Bible, believe the Bible, pray over the Bible, live by the Bible. He that goes through life in this way will have the least crying in this world. And best of all, he will have no crying at all in the world to come.

The Happy Little Girl Dear children, would you like to know who was the happiest child I ever saw? Listen to me and I will tell you. The happiest child I ever saw was a little girl whom I once met traveling in a railway carriage. We were both going on a journey to London, and we traveled a great many miles together. She was only eight years old, and she was quite blind. She had never been able to see at all. She had never seen the sun, and the stars, and the sky, and the grass, and the flowers, and the trees, and the birds. and all those pleasant things which you see every day of your lives, but still she was quite happy. She was by herself, poor little thing. She had no friends or relations to take care of her on the journey and be good to her, but she was quite happy and content. She said when she got into the carriage, Tell me how many people there are in the carriage. I'm quite blind and can see nothing. A gentleman asked her if she was not afraid. No," she said. I'm not frightened. I have traveled before, and I trust in God, and people are always very good to me.

But I soon found out the reason why she was so happy, and what do you think it was? She loved Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ loved her. She had sought Jesus Christ, and she had found Him. I began to talk to her about the Bible, and I soon saw she knew a great deal of it. She went to a school where the mistress used to read the Bible to her, and she was a good girl and had remembered what her mistress had read.

Dear children, you cannot think how many things in the Bible this poor little blind girl knew. I only wish that every grown-up person in England knew as much as she did, but I must try and tell you some of them. She talked to me about sin. how it first came into the world when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and how it was to be seen everywhere now. Oh, she said, there are no really good people. The very best people in the world have many sins every day, and I am sure we all of us waste a great deal of time if we do nothing else wrong. Oh, we are all such sinners. There is nobody who has not sinned a great many sins.

And then she talked about Jesus Christ. She told me about the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, about his sweating drops of blood, about the soldiers nailing him to the cross, about the spear piercing his side and blood and mortar coming out. Oh, she said, how very good it was of him to die for us in such a cruel death. How good he was to suffer for our sins.

And then she talked about wicked people. She told me she was afraid there were a great many in the world, and it made her very unhappy to see how many of her school fellows and acquaintances went on. But, she said, I know the reason why they are so wicked. It is because they do not try to be good. They do not wish to be good. They do not ask Jesus to make them good.

I asked her what part of the Bible she liked best. She told me she liked all the history of Jesus Christ, but the chapters she was most fond of were the last three chapters of the book of Revelation. I had got a Bible with me, and I took it out and read these chapters to her as we went along. When I had done, she began to talk about heaven. Think, she said, how nice it will be to be there. There will be no more sorrow, nor crying, nor tears. And then Jesus Christ will be there, for it says, The Lamb is the light thereof, and we shall always be with him. And beside this, there shall be no night there. They will need no candle nor light of the sun. Dear children, just think of this poor little blind girl. Think of her taking pleasure in talking of Jesus Christ. Think of her rejoicing in the account of heaven where there shall be no sorrow nor night." I have never seen her since. She went to her own home in London, and I do not know whether she is alive or not, but I hope she is, and I have no doubt Jesus Christ has taken good care of her. Dear children, are you as happy and as cheerful as she was? You are not blind. You have eyes and can run about and see everything, and go where you like, and read as much as you please to yourselves. But are you as happy as this poor little girl? Oh, if you wish to be happy in this world, remember my advice today. Do as the little blind girl did. Love Jesus Christ, and He will love you. Seek Him early, and you shall find Him. Little Things Introduction Dear children, did you ever see a bird's nest? Did you ever look closely at it? Did you ever observe how wisely and cleverly it is made? There are few things so beautiful and well contrived as a bird's nest. Millions of nests are made by old birds every year. Millions of young birds are hatched and reared in them. There would soon be no more thrushes and larks and nightingales if there were no nests.

The most beautiful bird's nest I ever saw was made of stone and timber, and not of twigs and moss. It was not made by the bills and claws of birds, but by the hands of men. Children, what kind of nest do you think this was? I am sure you will never guess, and so I must tell you. The Bird's Nest, which I thought so beautiful, is a large house in Ireland at a place called Kingstown. It is a house built by kind people to take in boys and girls who have no friends. Once received into this house, these boys and girls are washed and clothed and fed and taught until they are old enough to get their own living. Children, do you not think the Bird's Nest was a very good name to give to this house?

Now, it costs a great deal of money to keep up this bird nest in proper order. The clothes the poor friendless boys and girls wear cost money. The food that they eat every day costs money. The teachers who teach them every day must be paid for their work. The servants who help to keep the place clean must have their wages. The house itself must be kept in repair. All this costs a great deal of money. Shall I tell you how some of this money is got? Some of the money which goes to keep up the Kingstown Bird's Nest is collected by little boys and girls in Dublin who ask their friends to help. Think what a nice thing that is to do! How much better to collect money for the Bird's Nest than to waste it on sugar plums and cakes and toys.

Children, when I was over in Dublin, I saw these little collectors of money for the bird's nest gathered together. It was a very pleasant sight to my eyes to see so many little friends to the friendless and helpers of the helpless. I made them a speech to encourage them and cheer them on. This is the speech of which you have part now before you. I hope it will do you good. Children, would you not like to help the bird's nest yourselves? If you would, I will tell you what to do. Send some money to Mrs. Smiley, Grattan Street, Dublin, and tell her it is for the Kingstown Bird's Nest, and I'm sure she will be very thankful. Send it in postage stamps, or buy a postal order. But remember to say who it came from, or else she will not be able to write and thank you.

A Talk with Children

My dear children, I have been asked to speak to the boys and girls who collect for the Kingstown Bird's Nest. I must begin by telling you that it is a very hard thing to do. I must get you all to help me. How can you help me? You can help me by being as quiet and attentive as you can, by sitting as still as you can, and by opening your ears as wide as you can.

What is the first thing we want to do for the boys and girls in the bird's nest? I will tell you. Our great work is to help them to get to heaven. We want their souls to be saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We want them to be washed in Jesus' blood, clothed in His robe of righteousness, and made partakers of His grace. We want them to grow up holy, praying, Bible teaching, God-fearing men and women.

But some people may say, what have boys and girls to do with this bird's nest? Why not leave it to grown people to get all the money? They are better able to do it. Boys and girls should not have anything to do with it.

Why, dear boys and girls, there are no persons in the world that are so bound to work for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the souls of people as children. There are none who ought to try so much to make known the gospel of Jesus Christ as children.

Do you know what children come to in heathen lands? Here in this happy Christian country, when boys and girls are born, there is a great joy and pleasure. On the contrary, it is a very common thing in heathen lands to kill the little child, to bury it alive, or strangle it, or starve it to death. Is it not very shocking But these poor heathens know no better.

You have heard of the South Sea Islands? Look at the map of the world. Those little black dots to the left of South America, they are the South Sea Islands. Well, these islands a few years ago were full of idolaters. The poor people there bowed down to stocks and stones and knew nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Kind missionaries went to them and told them of Christ and salvation by him. God blessed their work and many of the poor heathen were converted and many of these heathen islands are now become Christian lands.

After they were converted, many of the people said, we wish we had heard these things before. If you had only told us these things long ago, we should never have done the wicked things we did. And at one of these islands, a woman got up after a missionary meeting and said, Oh, sir, if I had only heard these things before, I had 19 little children and have murdered every one of them. Because I knew nothing of the Bible, I didn't care for my dear little children.

All that I had known long ago about Jesus Christ and about this blessed Bible and about the way to heaven. I always say that women, children, and the poor ought to do more for the gospel than any others in the world. It brings them so many blessings.

But now comes the question, what can you do? Many people will say, well, what can these little boys and girls do? What is the use of such little help as they can give to the bird's nest?

Oh, my dear children, who can tell the power of littles The power of littles is very wonderful. No one knows what can be done by a little, and a little, and a little. Did you ever think about Noah's Ark? Did you ever think what a large thing Noah's Ark must have been? Just think of Noah having to make a vessel big enough to hold all the beasts and all the birds.

How do you think the Ark was made? It was not done all at once. Oh no! It was made plank by plank and piece by piece, by little and little. Perhaps you would have said, if you had seen Noah at his work, Oh, what's the use of that little piece? Such a bit! Or, what's the use of that one plank? Children, little by little is that which makes a large thing at last.

So we want as many little things as we can get for the bird's nest. and joined together, they will make the whole of what we want. God says in the Bible, who hath despised the day of small things? There is also a text spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ about little things. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much, and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

The real Christian must be faithful in little things as well as in great things. Let me tell you a story of a man who knew the value of little things. The man became one of the most important people in the city of Paris. You know, Paris is the capital city of France. Well, this man came to Paris when he was a boy, a little boy, not bigger than many of you.

When he came there he wanted one to find him something to do. Poor little fellow, he asked one man after another could they give him some work. He was greatly discouraged and almost tired of saying, please sir, can you give me something to do? And hearing the answer, no, I have nothing for you to do. What can such a little fellow as you do? At last one day he went into a banker's house. There were a great many people standing in the office.

So he went up to one of them and said, Please, sir, can you find me something to do?" No, I cannot, was the answer. As he went to the door to go away, he saw a pin upon the floor. He stooped down and picked it up and stuck it in his sleeve. The chief person in the office saw him do this and called him back. Boy, said he, what do you pick up that pin for? I don't want it. It would be of no value to me. But I want to know what made you pick it up."

"Well, sir," said the boy, I will tell you. My mother told me never to waste little things, but always to take care of them. She said, My son, if you will take care of little things, even of pins, you will always find some use for them. Said he, I always like to do what my mother told me. I love my mother, and I always take care of little things.

These words struck the banker so much that he said, My boy, come to me tomorrow morning. He did so, and the gentleman gave him a place in the bank. He turned out so steady and diligent that he soon rose from one thing to another, and in time he became the highest partner in the firm, and when he died he was the richest man in all Paris. His name was Lafitte.

Dear children, See what great results come from picking up a little pen? It showed character. It showed what the boy was. He was a boy that minded little things, and all his success in life afterwards he traced to this little circumstance. Little things are never to be despised. I always tell my own boys never to think lightly of everyday things.

Oh, the importance of little habits. Habits of reading, Habits of prayer, habits at meals, little habits through the day, all are little things. But they make up the character and are of the utmost importance. So, dear children, when people tell you there is no use in little helpers like you, don't mind them. By attending to little things, you will be able to do much for the bird's nest.

Now, what can you do? Take a deep interest in the whole concern. Here are these boys and girls taught to be clean, taught to work, taught to behave well, taught to read the Bible, and taught to know the way to heaven. What a great work is this! What an honor to be a helper of it!

I know a clergyman who was once going to a missionary meeting, and he met a boy running in a very great hurry. So he stopped him and said, My boy, why are you running so fast? What is the matter?" "'Oh, sir,' said the boy, "'I am going to a missionary meeting, and I must not lose a minute, for I am late.'" "'But what makes you in such a hurry about it? You are not wanted at it.'" "'Oh,' said the boy, "'I am part of the concern.'" "'How is that?' said the clergyman. "'Why, sir, it's a thing that I support, and I have a share in it myself.'" So off he ran to the meeting, and the clergyman followed.

The report was read, and the gentleman who read it out read that the total sum of money collected was so many pounds, so many shillings, and one penny. Oh, said the boy, there goes my penny. So his giving the penny made him feel that he was part of the concern.

Second, always pray for the bird's nest. If God's blessing is to be got, it must be sought. It is of great importance that all children should pray for God's blessing on every work they enter upon. One of our missionaries came home from India and told us that he was going home one night. He passed by some trees and heard voices. He thought he would like to hear what was going on, and to his great joy, he heard the voices of children praying. These heathen children were praying for a blessing upon missions. He heard one child pray, Oh Lord, I pray thee to make my grandmother's ears longer. I wonder if anyone here could tell what he meant by that prayer. I will tell you. He meant that as his grandmother was a heathen, her heart was unchanged. She would not listen to what she was told about Christ, or she would pay no attention to what she heard. So her little grandson prayed that she might have longer ears in order to attend more to what the missionary said.

Dear children, cannot you pray that God would make people's ears a great deal longer? People are told about the bird's nest. You talk to them about the bird's nest. You ask them to help you to give something to the bird's nest. But you sometimes speak to them in vain. Their ears are so short that they will not listen or do not understand what you mean. Could you not pray that the hearts of these people may be touched, so that more subscriptions may come in, that more active helpers may be raised up, and that God's work may go on faster and faster?

Third, one thing more I will say. Let me beg of you to help this cause by showing a missionary spirit at home. I should not like to hear of any boys or girls being helpers of the bird's nest, while they don't show a loving spirit, a kind spirit, in their own homes towards their fathers and mothers and sisters and brothers and servants. My dear children, every one of you should be a missionary at home. Try to be a Christian at home. Try to adorn Jesus Christ's doctrine at home. Strive to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep His words in your minds. walk in his steps in your own families toward your fathers and mothers and everyone else.

There is a commandment I often think of about which a great man once said a curious thing. There was in this country, before you or I or anyone now living was born, a great man called Archbishop Usher, a holy, godly, Christian archbishop. This archbishop resolved one day to pay a visit to a very holy Scotch minister called Rutherford. He wanted to see him in his private life, how he went on in his family. So he went dressed as a common labourer that they might not know who he was. He knocked at the door and asked very quietly for a night's lodging. Mr. Rutherford was a good, kind man and was in the habit of receiving strangers into his house. So the door was opened and Usher was allowed to have the night's lodging. He was sent to the kitchen to get some supper.

After supper was over, Mrs. Rutherford, who made it a rule to question and teach the servants every evening, asked any strangers who were present questions, and talked to them about their souls. When she came to the archbishop, she said, Tell me, my good man, how many commandments are there? Oh, said he, there are eleven, madam. And when he said eleven, Mrs. Rutherford said, Alas, what an ignorant man you are! Have you never been at school? Has no one ever taught you how many commandments there are? Then she told him how Moses wrote the ten commandments, and how in the book of Exodus the ten commandments are all written down as plain as possible. How is it, said she, that you are so ignorant? Usher held down his head and said nothing for a time. But when she had done her questioning, he said very quietly, There is a word in the gospel which says, A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another. And I think that a commandment given by our Lord Jesus should be attended to as well as Moses' commandments. And one added to ten makes eleven.

They soon discovered it was the great Archbishop Usher And you may fancy how Mrs. Rutherford felt when she found it out. Now, my dear children, I hope you will never forget the new commandment given by our Lord Jesus Christ. You are to show a loving spirit. You are to be willing to give up your own way, to be good-natured, to keep your tempers. This is love. This is practical religion. This is showing religion at home. This shows that when you go and ask for money to teach the commandments of God to poor children, you yourselves are trying to keep them. Try, last of all, to honor all God's commandments in spirit as well as in letter.

There was a place in London where they sold all sorts of things. It was called the Soho Bazaar. A lady one day took one for her children there, a little girl. The little girl was so pleased with what she saw that she was tempted to do what she ought not. She fell into temptation. I am afraid she did not pray when she said her prayers in the morning. Well, when she got into the bazaar, she saw some things which looked so very nice that she coveted them. So by and by, as she passed one of the could see, she took up a toy and put it in her pocket. But oh, how heavy that pocket felt! Her conscience began to speak to her. How miserable she felt! Oh, that she had not taken that toy! As they were coming back, the mother stopped to talk to the woman who kept the same stall, and the poor little girl pulled the toy out of her pocket and put it back without anybody seeing. She went home, and at night she said her prayers. She seemed unhappy. She was thinking of what she had done at the bazaar. Her mother said, My dear child, what is the matter? Do tell me. And as her mother spoke to her in a kind, loving way, her heart was melted, and she said, Oh, mother, I have been so miserable today. I have not broken a commandment quite. But, oh, mother, I have cracked a commandment. And then she told all.

Oh dear children, take care and don't crack any of the commandments. The new commandment I have told you of is in the 13th chapter of John and the 34th verse. Love one another. Remember that. If you wish to help this blessed bird's nest, do not forget the new commandment. Love one another. Every one of you can understand that. The Bible says, even a child may be known by his doings. we can soon tell when a little child is trying to keep Christ's new commandment. Keep it whole. Don't let it be cracked or scratched. May God help us all to keep it with a new heart and a lively faith in Christ. Then when we stand at Christ's judgment seat, He will say, Well done, good and faithful servants. Enter ye into the joy of your Lord.

seeking the Lord early. I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me. Proverbs 8, 17

Dear children, I am going to talk to you about Jesus Christ and your souls. I want to make you happy, but I know that people are never really happy unless their souls are happy. And I am sure that people's souls cannot be happy unless they love Jesus Christ. And that is the reason why I'm going to preach to you now. I want to tell you something about Jesus Christ and your souls.

Dear children, I hope you will all attend while I talk to you. I pray that the Spirit of God may come into your hearts and make you able to do so. Try to listen to me. Try to understand what I say. Try to remember and carry away something in your minds. I wish to do you all a great deal of good. Do not forget I am preaching to you, not to the grown-up people, but to you, only to you.

Now just think what a pleasant text we have got here. It is said, I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me. These are sweet words indeed, and who do you think says them? They are said by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He is called Wisdom in this chapter. But we know it means Jesus Christ, for there are things said about Wisdom in this chapter which cannot be said truly about anyone but Jesus Christ himself.

Come now and let us see what Jesus Christ says. Listen, dear children, for this is very important. He tells us, I love them that love me. Now, what can we make out of this? First of all, do you not think it is very pleasant to hear that there are people whom Jesus Christ loves? You know we all like to be loved in this world. Only think how disagreeable it would be for you and me if there was nobody alive who loved us. Suppose that no man or woman cared a bit for us. Suppose that everybody neglected us and left us alone. What should we do? We should be wretched and miserable and unhappy. I'm sure we all like to be loved.

Well then, just consider what a blessed thing it must be to be loved by Jesus Christ, by the Son of God Himself. You know that sometimes people love us in this world, and yet can do nothing for us. Your dear fathers and mothers love you, but perhaps they are poor and cannot buy what you want. Or perhaps they are sick and very old and can do nothing to help you. But, dear children, these are things that can never happen to Jesus Christ, and I will tell you why. Jesus Christ is very great. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is maker of all things. He is God himself. He is almighty. He is able to do anything whatsoever He likes. Oh, what a thing it must be to be loved by Jesus Christ!

And again, Jesus Christ is very rich. He has got everything to give away which you can want, either for soul or body. He keeps the keys of heaven. He has got an endless store of blessings in His treasure house. far more than I could describe. Oh, what a thing it must be to be loved by Jesus Christ!

And again, Jesus Christ is very good. He never refuses anyone who asks Him favors in a proper way. He was never known to say no to any person who made a prayer to Him with a meek and humble heart. Oh, what a thing it must be to be loved by Jesus Christ!

Dear children, Consider these things. Do you want a great friend? Do you want a rich friend? Do you want a kind friend? Is this the sort of friend you would like? Then be sure there is no friend in all the world like Jesus Christ. There is no love so well worth having as the love of Jesus Christ. Blessed and happy are those whom Jesus Christ loves. I could not tell you a tenth part of all the great things He does for their souls. He pardons all their sins. He forgives all the bad things they do. He washes them in His own blood and makes them whiter than snow so that not a spot remains.

Dear children, I think that is just what you and I want. We have all sinned many, many sins. Besides, He gives them power to become good. He puts His Spirit in their hearts and makes them love God's ways and like to walk in them. Dear children, that too is just the thing you and I want. We have very bad wicked hearts by nature. We never love God's ways of ourselves. Besides this, He takes care that none whom He loves shall be lost. He keeps them as a shepherd keeps his sheep. He will not allow either wicked men or the devil to destroy their souls. Dear children, that too is just what you and I want. We are all very weak, foolish creatures. We should never be safe if left to ourselves. And lastly, he is getting ready a place in heaven for those whom he loves. He has a glorious house for them there, far away from sin, sorrow, and trouble. Dear children, that too is good news for you and me. Is it not pleasant to think He has prepared a home for us, so that whenever we leave this world we shall go to a place of peace and rest?

All these things the Lord Jesus Christ does for those whom He loves. Only look at them! What mighty things! What glorious things they are! He cleanses them from all their sins. He gives them power to be good. He takes care that they are not lost. He gets ready a house for them in heaven. Dear children, this is love indeed. This is love worth having. Did I not tell you truly there is nothing in all the world to be compared to Christ's love? There's nothing like being loved by Jesus Christ.

But let us see next who are those that Jesus Christ loves. He tells us in our text. He says, I love those that love me. Now, how shall we know whether we love Jesus Christ or not? This is indeed an important question. Are there no marks or signs, perhaps you will say, by which those who love Him may be found out? Yes, dear children, I think there are. And what those marks and signs are, I shall now try to show you. Remember then, for one thing, those who love Jesus Christ believe whatever He says in the Bible. The Bible says we are all sinners, lost, perishing sinners, full of wickedness and deceit, deserving of nothing but God's anger. Many people cannot quite believe this. They cannot bring themselves to think they are so bad. They dislike to be told of it. Not so those who love Jesus Christ. They believe it all. They are ready to say, it is true, true, quite true.

Again, the Bible tells us we must come to Christ and trust only in Him if we would be saved. It says that nothing but His blood can wash away our sins, that it is only for His sake that anyone can be forgiven. Many people will not believe this either. They cannot think their own goodness will not help to get them to heaven. But those who love Jesus Christ believe it all. They take the Lord at His word. They leave off trusting in their own goodness and are ready to say, none but Christ, none but Christ is my hope. Dear children, no one can love Jesus Christ who does not believe what he says. Think what a sad thing it would be if you and I could not get our relations to believe us. Only fancy how hard and unkind it would seem if they were to say, we do not depend at all on what you tell us, we cannot trust your word. I am sure we should suppose they no longer loved us. This then is one mark of those who love Jesus Christ. They never doubt what He tells them. They believe every word.

Remember, for another thing, those who love Jesus Christ try to please Him. You know when you love people in this world, you try to please them. You try to do what they bid you, and to behave as they wish you, and to remember what they teach you, and to mind what they tell you. And why do you do so? Because you love them. And besides this, you try to please them not only before their faces when they can see you, but also when they are gone away and out of sight. True love makes you always think, what would my dear friends like me to do? If your father and mother found you doing naughty things, doing what they told you not to do, might they not well say, dear child, I am afraid you do not really love me. Yes, indeed they might. True love will always cause true obedience, and the Bible says, even a child is known by his doings. Proverbs 22. Now, dear children, just as you try to please your friends if you love them, so do those who love Jesus Christ try to please Him. They are always trying to do His will, to keep His laws, to live after His commandments, to obey His precepts. They do not think any of Christ's commands grievous. They never say that His laws are hard, strict, and disagreeable. It is their delight to walk in His paths. Dear children, no man or woman or child can really love Jesus Christ if they do not try to obey Him. Ye are my friends, He says, if ye do whatsoever I command you. This then is another sure mark of those who love Jesus Christ. They try in all things to please him.

Now we have got through one part of our text. Sit still and think for a moment about what you have heard. Each of you ask your own heart this little question. Do I love Jesus Christ or not? Do I believe what he says or do I try to please him? Those who can answer yes are the children he especially loves. Oh, remember what he says, I love those that love me. But let us look next to the other part of our text and see what we may learn from it. I really think this part is almost as pleasant as the first, for it contains a sweet promise. Those that seek me early shall find me. Dear children, how are you and I to seek Jesus Christ? he does not live upon earth like one of us, we cannot see him with our eyes, we cannot reach him and take hold of him with our hands, and yet he says, those that seek me shall find me. What can this mean? Let me try to tell you. First of all, you must seek Jesus Christ in his own book. The Bible is Jesus Christ's book, and all who want to know him must be very diligent in reading their Bibles. He says to every one of you, search the Scriptures, and He will give the Holy Spirit to those who seek Him in the Scriptures, and teach them all about Himself.

Dear children, be regular readers of the Bible all your lives. Let the Word dwell in you richly, and then you will be truly wise. Read it daily. Read a great deal of it. Try and remember it. Learn text by heart. I remember a little girl in my first parish who could learn 70 verses of the Bible in a week. How pleasant it is to find the Apostle Paul reminding Timothy that from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures. Now, why should not all of you be like Timothy in this? I should like to hear that you were all Bible-reading children, children who read the Bible at home as well as at school. This, then, is one way to seek Jesus Christ. you must seek him in the Bible.

Secondly, you must seek Jesus Christ in his own house. Jesus Christ has many houses in this country where people meet together to pray to him and to hear about him. This church is one of them and wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus Christ's name, the Lord himself is really present, though we cannot see him with our eyes.

Dear children, I hope you will all regularly go to Jesus Christ's house as long as you live. I hope you will never do like those foolish people who keep away from it. Oh, what sad harm they are doing to their poor souls! And when you go, try to attend to all you hear and to get good from it. Do not stare about and make a noise or talk to other children, but listen well to all that is read or preached. Jesus Christ is there, and He sees how you behave. He loves to see little children coming to His house and behaving well. And if you persevere in doing so, you may be sure He will put His Spirit in you and fill you with all knowledge.

This, then, is another way to seek Jesus Christ. You must seek Him in His house.

Thirdly, you must seek Jesus Christ on your knees in prayer. You must ask Him with your own mouth to give you everything that your soul wants. You must ask Him to cleanse you from all your sins in His blood, to give you His Spirit, to make you good, obedient, gentle, kind, truth-speaking children, to keep you from being selfish, idle, greedy, passionate, cunning, or ill-tempered. You must tell Him all you are afraid of and all you feel, and all you wish to have for your soul. This is prayer. And you need not be afraid of him at all when you pray. He would like you to tell him all in your own simple way, just as you tell your own mothers when you want anything. He loves children very much. He was once much displeased with his disciples because they prevented people bringing their children to him, and he said, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. And he is just the same now that he was then.

" Dear children, I should like you all to be praying children, children who tell the Lord all your wants and are not afraid to speak to Him. Prayer is the surest way to seek Him, and without prayer your souls will never prosper. Never mind if your prayers seem very poor and weak. Only let them come from your hearts, and the Lord hears them. The Lord Jesus hears every prayer that is prayed to him in earnest. The least prayer of a little child on earth is loud enough to be heard plainly in heaven above. Heaven seems to be a long way off, but you may be sure the very moment the prayer is spoken, it is heard there. A little key will often open a great door. Prayer is a little key of that sort. It can open the door of heaven. and take you up to the very throne of God himself. Blessed are they who delight in prayer and call much upon God.

This, then, is the third way to seek the Lord Jesus Christ. You must seek Him in prayer.

Dear children, I have told you how to seek the Lord. Ask yourselves, each one of you, before you go any further, do I really seek Him? But our text tells us something about those who seek Jesus Christ. And what is it? It says, they shall find him. The Lord promises, they that seek me shall find me. How sweet it is to hear that. Think how disagreeable it would be to seek and seek all our lives and have our trouble for nothing and never find him. But the Lord says, they shall find me.

Now I want to tell you what this finding means. We shall not see him with our eyes, for he is sitting at God's right hand in heaven and not on earth, and yet we are told we shall find him. How can this be? Let me tell you. You will find the Lord's presence in your own hearts and minds. You will feel something within you as if the Lord Jesus Christ was sitting by you and taking care of you and putting his arm around you and smiling upon you, and speaking kindly to you. Just as a blind person feels brighter and happier when the sun is shining pleasantly on him, though he cannot see it, so you and I, if we seek Jesus Christ in earnest, shall soon feel our hearts lighter and happier, and something within us will make us know that we have found Him.

Dear children, It is sweet and comfortable, indeed, when we feel that we have really found Jesus Christ. Oh, that you may never give up seeking until you have found Him. And you will find Him, I know, if you seek on, for He is not far off. He is very near every one of us. He is waiting for us to call upon Him. When you have found Him, you will feel as if you have got a sure friend in whom you can trust. A friend who will always love you, always watch over you, always take care of you, always be good to you, never fail you. When you have found Him, you will feel as if you had got strength and power to walk in God's ways, strength to keep yourself from bad words and bad company, strength to do things which please God. When you have found Him, You will feel as if you had got a pleasant comforter living in your heart. You will be far more happy and cheerful and content than you were before. Little things will not put you out as they used to do. You will not be afraid of sickness or pain or death.

Dear children, how delightful it will be to feel all this. Try, all of you, do try to find Jesus Christ.

And now there is only one thing more in our text that I want to talk to you about. Only one little word. But that little word is so very important that I dare not pass it over. It is the word early. They that seek me early, the Lord Jesus Christ says, they are those that shall find me. Dear children, that word early was meant particularly for yourselves. Seeking Jesus Christ early means seeking Jesus Christ when you are quite young, and that is just what I want you all to do. Children, the Lord sends a message to you this very day by my mouth. He says He should like you to begin seeking Him at once. Now, do remember, all of you, you cannot begin seeking Jesus too soon. Seeking early is the safest way. Children may be young and healthy, But no children are too young and healthy to die. For death is very strong. He can soon make the healthiest of you pine away, and make your rosy cheeks pale and sickly. And death is very cruel. He does not mind whom he takes away out of families, and he will not wait for anyone to get ready. He will take you just when he pleases. I think quite as many young persons die as old ones. I see the names of quite as many young people as old on the gravestones. Children, you would not like to die without having sought the Lord at all. Oh, remember, seeking early is the safest way.

And then, besides this, seeking early is the happiest way. Surely, if it is so pleasant to have Jesus Christ for a friend, the sooner you have Him for a friend, the better. You cannot think how happy a child's life goes on when his ways please the Lord. Everything seems bright and cheerful. Lessons seem more easy, and play seems more pleasant. Friends seem more kind, and trouble seems less troublesome. And everything in life seems more smooth. Dear children, I want you to enjoy all this. Then make haste and delay not to seek the Lord.

And last of all, seeking early is the easiest way. When you and I have got a great deal of work to do, you know there is nothing like beginning in good time. Now this is just what you should do about your souls. You should begin in good time to seek Him who alone can save them. People that have got work to do that must be finished before dark take care to get up early in the morning. So should you, dear children, in working about your souls. You should seek the Lord in the morning of life, and get your work done before the night of death cometh, when none can work. Every year you put it off, you will find it harder work, more to be done, and less time to do it. Every year you will find your hearts more stubborn, more unwilling to do what is right. Now they are like young trees, so soft and tender, that by the Lord's help you may bend them anyway. In a few years they will be like strong, thick trees, so tough and well-rooted that nothing but a mighty wind can shake them.

Dear children, begin to seek the Lord at once. I want you to have as few difficulties as possible in your journey to heaven. Consider these things. Consider these things well and begin early to seek the Lord. It is the safest way, the happiest way, the easiest way. Try to be like Obadiah, who feared the Lord from his youth. Try to be like our blessed Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who grew up in favor with God and man. Think of the day when Jesus Christ shall come again to this world. He means to come again in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will come very suddenly, in an hour when no man thinketh. like a thief in the night. He will gather together all who love Him and take them home to His Father's house to be forever happy. He will leave behind all the idle and wicked and unbelieving persons who have not sought Him, to be wretched and miserable forever.

Dear children, Jesus Christ might come very soon. We do not know how soon. How sad it would then be to see others taken up to heaven and ourselves left behind. How dreadful to feel, I might have been taken up too, but I would not seek the Lord! Think, too, of the great day of judgment, when all of us shall stand before God and give account of our works. Some of the people who are saved will say then, I never began to seek Jesus Christ till I was forty years old, and I wasted away more than half my life. Others will say, I never began to seek Him till I was twenty, and I wasted many years of my life. But some will be able to say, I sought the Lord when I was quite young, and I can hardly remember the time when I did not try to love Him.

Dear children, how pleasant it will be for those people to think this! How sweet to feel that they gave the first days of their lives, as well as the last, to Jesus Christ! How glorious they will appear who have loved their Savior in the beginning of their time as well as in the end. The Lord grant that many of you may be found among them. Oh, seek the Lord early. Seek Him while He may be found.

And now, dear children, it is time for me to leave off and let you go. Perhaps I shall never see you all together again in this world. Indeed, I am almost sure I shall not. But we shall all meet at the last day I do hope you will think of what I have told you about Jesus Christ in your souls. Remember, I want you all to be happy children, and in order to be happy, you must love Jesus Christ.