Part 8

YE LITTLE OLD FOLKS

OBJECT: A Picture of Verse from an Old Illustrated Bible Used 100 Years Ago=

A century ago there were but few books for children. Preachers never thought of a children's sermon, but here is a page which appeared in a rare old book the children used in that day. It is over a century old. It illustrates Deuteronomy 5:29. From some picture-book cut out figures like these to illustrate this Bible verse. Pin them up on some background which they can see. The journals of the day abound in interesting pictures. Cut them out and try to teach the children the Scriptures by pictures they have often seen. It will interest them greatly as it doubtless did Ye Little Olde Folks. This text is one of many that has some words in it for which you can substitute a picture. In fact, the Bible is a picture-book, not simply in the sense that it tells so many interesting stories about men and women and children, and tells them in such a taking way, but even where it is not telling a story, it uses words and sentences that are pictures, not the less effective because drawn or painted in speech. This text is such a sentence.

DEUTERONOMY v. 29.

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THE CRUCIFIXION IN COLORS

OBJECTS: A Collection of Colored Papers=

This is a lesson on the Crucifixion of Jesus. It is taught by small colored papers. Each stage of the crucifixion is illustrated by a color. The paper used is the common glazed paper which can be supplied by any paper store that deals in fancy paper. You can also use little blocks of muslin or any other colored goods. Cut the blocks about 4 x 5-1/2 inches in size; some of the pieces you will notice will be long and narrow. (See Diagram.)

Pin these blocks upon some background so all the listeners may see the work. You will notice by the diagram that when every piece is in its place a perfect cross is formed. Follow the order of the diagram and commence at the foot of the cross. At this place put a brown color. This color stands for the common earth, the ground of Calvary in which the cross was planted. Talk about holy ground if you so desire, but say this is the Most Holy Ground. It was here they placed the cross and crucified Jesus.

The next block is divided into two parts--white and blue. These were the dominant colors of the high priest's garments to whom Jesus was sent the hour of his arrest. Describe now the wild scene--the mad mob all seeking to bring him to trial for death sentence.

The next block is gold--the dominant color in the royal robe of Pilate. It was the color of his scepter and the golden eagle, the symbol of the government of Rome which he represented. Before him Jesus was brought and tried, and ordered to be sent to the cross.

Next put up the purple block. This represents the purple robe the soldier put on Jesus.

The next color is green--the color of the thorns of the bush, which had been twisted into a crown of thorns.

The next color is white--the color of Christ's own robe that the soldiers put on him.

Red is the next color, and it stands for the blood he shed. Black stands for the darkness which was in the land from the sixth to the ninth hour.

Yellow is the next. This stands for the yellowish sponge which was put to his lips.

The next colors, white, red, and purple, were the colors of the veil of the Temple which was rent in twain when Jesus gave up the ghost on the cross. And the last color, silver, stands for the armor of the centurion who, when he saw the Crucified One, proclaimed his belief in the Son of God. You have now built a cross as you talked, and each part of the cross represents some striking step in the tragedy of the Green Hill.

After the color blocks are in their place, ask the children to tell you the story according to the colors. After they have been well drilled let them put the color strips up in their proper place, and tell you the story.

After you are through with this lesson it would be a good plan to paste these colors on a piece of muslin or heavy paper, and hang the diagram up on the wall and often refer to it, and ask the children its meaning. This is a Good Friday subject, and can always be used as a redemption story.

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THE GOSPEL BY RIBBONS

OBJECTS: A Number of Colored Ribbons=

In this chapter the story of salvation will be told by different colored ribbons. This will be attractive to the eye as the bright colors appear, and the colors will not only teach the truth of the lesson but will fasten the truth in the mind for years to come. Color makes a deep impression on the mind. It is like a foot-print in the clay. It comes to stay as time hardens the mental clay.

Some years ago I was asked by an old friend to be a witness to the transfer of a large tract of land into his possession. The document was drawn up in full legal form, and deposited by the housewife in a secure and secret place. About a year afterward my friend informed me that the document could not be found. The wife had forgotten where she had placed it, and believed it to be lost. I was asked if I could remember anything about it. At first my mind seemed to be a blank, and then I remembered all about it, and this was the how of it. On the day of the transfer I remembered the wife took the document and tied around it a piece of red ribbon. I remembered she put it in a small closet back behind the old-fashioned fireplace. In closing the door a portion of the red ribbon was left exposed on the outside. I noticed that _red_ ribbon in that position which I thought it might direct attention to the document and thus expose it to a thief and so endanger its safety. I remembered the wife arose and opened the door, put the ribbon inside, and I let the matter pass from my mind, and it would have passed out of my mind forever, had it not been that that _red ribbon_ had fastened itself down in my memory. The red ribbon located the lost document. A color is a tack which holds down the truth in the human mind. May the colors of the lesson have the same ministry.

Secure a number of ribbons of the colors about to be mentioned. They can be about one inch wide and each one six inches long. Sew them together at the ends. Place them in a box, and draw out six inches at a time in the following order.

First produce the _white_, holding it in the hand as if considering it, and say: "Thus was man created--in white. He was placed in the White Garden where all was purity and spotless. But the Tempter entered this White Garden and tempted the white soul to sin, and so man sinned and the _black_ of sin took the place of the _white_ of righteousness." As thus you speak you draw out from the box the black ribbon; as you hold this in your hand, you remark that the black is the sign of death, for "the wages of sin is death."

Now draw out the _red_ ribbon, and say, "The blood of Jesus has now come to take away the _black_ of sin and death." As you say this let the _black_ drop out of sight, and let the _red_ appear. "They shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." Tell the story of the scarlet rope which was displayed in the window of the house on the wall at Jericho, and how safe was Rahab when the red signal was in her window. How safe are all they who are hiding behind the red line of Salvation by the Blood. Now draw out the _white_ and remark, "Now the Blood has brought back the white state to the heart again, for when we stand clothed in Christ's righteousness we have been restored to the place in God's heart that Adam occupied before the fall."

Now draw out the _purple_ ribbon. This represents the royal standing of the believer. Purple was the color of the king's robe. The saved are children of the King, joint heirs with the Son. It is the family color. All Christians are children of the King of kings.

Now produce the _blue_ ribbon. This represents the standfastness of the believer. He is "true blue" for God--faithful to the end, and to all the family of God in Christ Jesus.

Now produce the _gold_ ribbon. This represents the mansion of gold in heaven. It reminds us of the streets of the White City of God which, we are told, are paved with pure gold. May our eyes look at, last upon its gates of pearl. May our feet walk through the streets of the city, the streets of gold.

Last, produce the _green_ ribbon. This represents everlasting life, having reference to the fixed color of green, the same all the year round. This ribbon is the trail home to God, our everlasting home in heaven.

After this lesson is taught ask two of the children to take hold of the ends, and let the whole span the front of the room. Ask them to tell you the meaning of the colors. Often give them this drill; it will fasten the Bible truth and Bible order in their hearts for years to come.

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JOINING THE CHURCH

OBJECTS: Seven Cards with the Letter "I" Printed on them=

This is a lesson showing the importance and value of joining the local church after the heart has been given away to Jesus. There are some people who think that this is an act purely voluntary. Do as you please they think is the thing to do, and so they dismiss the question as settled. The fact is they do not understand the arithmetic of the New Testament.

There 2 and 1 make more than three. Joining the church enables the Christian to count more than one. There is power in organization. I may take a piece of red silk, also a piece of white and blue, and I can shoot them full of holes--no one will object. They stand for nothing. They are simply a piece of personal property. I may do as I please with them all. But, if these three colors are united and made over into a flag, then, the man who shoots them full of holes must answer to the government of the United States, for every soldier and marine is pledged to protect those colors from harm. They are organized into a flag. They mean more than simple strips of colors.

To illustrate this big fact, secure seven large cards and have on each one the figure "1" painted, making it as large as possible. Distribute them to children in various parts of the church, avoid giving two children in one row each a card. The children holding the cards represent the Christian who declared that he can be "just as good a Christian outside the church as in it," and so stays outside of organized relationship. Now ask them to give you the number on their cards, and they all exclaim "Number one." That is all they stand for, "Number one." That really means they stand for themselves and by themselves. They stand for "one," themselves. This is just what "Number One" looks like. They represent nobody, they are independent units, they stand alone: they have but small representative power.

Some years ago when the West was a child, a little boy wandered away from his prairie home, and was lost in the tall grass, and could not be found. His parents and neighbors started on a searching expedition to find him. They all went in different directions, and after a day-long search came back without the child. They could not find him by individual searching. The next day they formed a line each in sight of the other and, like a net, swept the prairie, and within two hours the lad was found and brought home to his sorrowing parents. They failed as individuals--they succeeded as a united body. God knew this first, and so established his church, where unity of action could do more than independent service.

Now ask the children to come to the platform, and stand them in a line holding the figure "one" side by side. Once they stood for one only, now united they stand for one million one hundred and eleven thousand one hundred and eleven. This is the large reason why all Christians should join the church, and thereby multiply many times their value to their Master and his Kingdom.

If you are a Christian make the most of yourself, and you can do this by coming into church relationship with the brotherhood of Christians. A young convert gave as his reason for joining the church the following: "If I was going to Chicago on the Broadway express and had my ticket straight through to my destination, including the comforts of a Pullman car, and then stood outside on the platform all night, standing up and facing the storm, what a miserable man I would prove myself to be, and what a faulty thinker I would also be. But I am going to get all my ticket grants me. I will go inside and take all the pleasure and comfort of the journey. So I am going into the church and take all my salvation has provided for me. I will no longer stand on the platform of the world. I want the best and all of it." He was right. Get all that is coming to you, and get it now. Come inside; you are entitled to a seat.

Years ago a boy, sixteen years old, came into New York City, with a pack on his back containing all his belongings. He was a stranger in a great city. Wandering through the streets one night, he saw a lighted church with open doors, heard sweet singing from within. He entered uninvited except by the open door. He heard the story of Jesus and was saved. At once he offered himself for baptism, and was received into church-membership. There the lad was trained and schooled in righteousness. He became a great man. His name was William Colgate, the founder of the great firm bearing his name. He died worth millions, most of which he gave to his church, and left a name that will never die. His influence permeated the denomination that he honored as the perfume from his shops has permeated the world. The Colgate Perfume Company of which he was the first member, gathered its first sweetness from the Rose of Sharon that he found in the Lord's sweet garden--the church of the First-born.

Before you dismiss the children and send them to their seats, pray that God may deepen the lesson of the hour so it may sink into their hearts, and charge the children to go and govern themselves accordingly.

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GOD'S MAIL-BAG

OBJECTS: The Bible and Nine Lettered Cards Spelling the Word "Salvation"=

Hold up the Bible and say: "This is God's Mail-bag; the Holy Bible, filled with holy letters for you. This Mail-bag came from heaven. It contains God's latest wonderful message. I am God's letter-carrier. I have nine special-delivery letters. They are all directed to you. My business is to carry the mail for God. I will now deliver the mail God has addressed to you."

Before the meeting secure nine envelopes, commercial size, and on each draw in large outlines one of the letters in the word Salvation. Before the meeting place these letters in various parts of the Bible. Holding the open Bible in your hand, you say: "I have now opened the Mail-bag from God, and find nine letters for you. The first letter you take from the Bible you find in Genesis, and it is the letter 'S.'" Give this to the child who takes the first place in the line. Explain that the message which you wish them to remember is the message of the Ark. Eight souls were saved in this big ship. All were invited, only those who accepted were saved. All who did accept were safely delivered into the new world. During the voyage they just trusted God. He fed them as he did the widow with her cruse of oil and little portion of meal. The supply was given each day according to their need.

God will take care of you. God will supply all your need. This is the message of "S." It is a lesson in salvation. Now produce the letter "A" from Genesis containing the story of Joseph. Give this to some child who now takes his place next to the child with the letter "S." The message God gives from this story is that Truth wins out at last. Joseph, hated, sold in slavery, because of false accusation cast into prison, but at last elevated to the throne, did not forget the home folks. These are great facts to be remembered because they were steps upward. Because he was true to God, he found his feet at last walking in the golden way of true success. That is the message of the letter "A." This is a story of salvation.

Return to the Mail-bag, and draw out the letter "L" from the book of Daniel. Give that to the child next in line. This is a letter from Daniel, and his message is always dare to stand firm for God. When away from your home as was Daniel, don't be ashamed to let people know that you pray. Daniel prayed before the open window because he was not ashamed to be seen talking to God. He faced the lions as well as the people, and God gave him the victory over both, and his testimony counted one hundred per cent, because he was a real servant of the Most High God, and this is another story of salvation.

Open the Mail-bag again, and produce the letter "V," from the story of the Hebrew Children, asking another child to hold the letter, standing next in line. The message from these three faithful boys is that God's children should stand together like three links in a chain. This gives strength stronger than iron. Good companionship is the need of boys today. Fall in with the right crowd. A minister of the gospel, who was appointed spiritual adviser to a boy about to be executed, asked him one day what was his first step downward, and he replied, "I fell in with the wrong crowd." The Hebrew Children were a crowd made good by God, and they went through the fire before they would bend their knees to the idols of the heathen land. God stands with such a crowd; one and two made four in God's table of numbers. He is always in the midst of them. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The king saw him and said, "He is like unto the Son of man," and this was the reason. Three boys were fire-proof saints, so the fire did them no hurt.

Open the Mail-bag again and produce the letter "A." This you take from Psalms--open to the Twenty-third Psalm. This letter hand to another child and tell the message of the Psalm, God is the Shepherd of his people, and his sheep shall know no want. They shall find green pastures, which signifies fresh pastures. Still water, deep waters, and so an endless supply. Still water runs deep in the Twenty-third Psalm. Paths of righteousness open up before the soul, like the golden sunrise every morning. Evil cannot make afraid, no enemy can destroy. Goodness and mercy, like two faithful shepherd dogs, follow and protect in the rear till the house of the Lord lifts itself above the clouds of time, and the "forever with the Lord" comes at last to all who follow the Good Shepherd. This is the story of salvation from our enemies and the open door to the house of the Lord in heaven.

At the first part of Matthew open again the Bible Mail-bag and take out the letter "T," and ask another child to hold it and take his place in line as before. Let this letter stand for the birth of Jesus, the Angels' glad song, and the sky's "Merry Christmas" to the Shepherd with its glad melody of Jesus now born among men, the Virgin's Son. This is the story of the Glory Song of Salvation.

Open again the Bible Mail-bag at the resurrection and take out the letter "I," asking another child to take his place in line with this letter. This letter delivers the message of the resurrection of Christ. It is God's special-delivery letter that the last and latest news is that Christ is risen from the grave, and orders that all the bells of joy shall be rung and the message declared to all the people. Salvation has been accomplished, and the stone that was rolled away from the grave by an angel's hand, has become the keystone of our faith. This is the story of salvation from the grave.

Now take out the letter "O" from the Bible Mail-bag opened at the book of Acts. This is to proclaim how the gospel works among men, how it turned cities upside down, and multitudes were converted. It proclaims that all must be saved through the name of Jesus. Even the wicked Saul of Tarsus is turned into another man by the gospel's power, and all who will come in truth will also be turned, and by God's grace will stay turned. This is the story of the salvation of the soul. Tell the children that they can never get God's full mail from just one letter from the book. We must seek to get all God has said before we can know his perfect truth.

There is yet one more letter to come to give the full Bible message. Open once more the Mail-bag, and in the book of Revelation you find the last letter from God, and then you produce the letter "N." Ask again some child to come forward and hold this letter standing last in the line. This is the message of the book of Revelation. "Jesus is coming back again," and our prayer should be "Come back, Lord Jesus, the world is on fire, come back quickly."

Now you will note the nine letters from God spell "Salvation." That is the message the Mail-bag contains. This is the message to you and to the world. God's Mail-bag contains nine letters for the "Whosoever Tribe," which means all kindreds and tribes that on the earth do well. These letters can then be pinned up on some background in the form of a cross, teaching the truth that Salvation comes only through the Cross. There is no other way.

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TURNING THE PALMS INTO A CROSS

OBJECTS: Strips of Palm-leaves or Strips of Green Paper=

Have you ever noticed on the Sunday before Easter that some of the boys and girls wear in their coats a cross made out of strips of palm-leaves? It always seemed strange to me that the palm-leaf of joy should be turned into the cross of tears, but that was just what happened one day in Jerusalem. Jesus was to enter the city as a King. The people were very glad because they thought that he would deliver them from the Roman rule, which was very cruel and hard for them to bear. They were all very much excited at the thought of seeing Jesus, for they had heard so many wonderful things about him. They thought he was coming to do wonderful things for them also, so they flocked around the gates of the city to welcome him when he came. They all sent forth great shouts of welcome, and the children stripped the beautiful big leaves from the palm-tree and made a pathway of them for Jesus, and the children sang and shouted their praises. It was the first junior choir we ever read about in the Bible, a choir of boys and girls praising Jesus.

Secure, if possible, a long green leaf which you can call a palm-leaf, or make one out of green paper, and pin it on the blackboard. Teach them the Hosanna cry which the children used to welcome Jesus. After this is done, say: "But in a few hours a great change came over the people, and they no longer showed their joy, but were silent, then angry.

"He did not cast out the Roman governor. He did not end the wicked rule of the government. They did not understand that his kingdom was to come first into the hearts of men. They could not grasp this truth. They wanted a new law. Jesus had come to give them a new life, and they must patiently wait God's time. So their hearts grew cold, and then they grew angry. They listened to evil men who wanted to get rid of Jesus, and so it came to pass in a few days the crowd rushed into Pilate's hall and cried 'Crucify him,' and went to Calvary, and with hard hearts saw him die."