THE SABBATH SCHOOL -- CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS
A sermon delivered on Wednesday, September 4, 1850
by the Rev. Professor Finney
of Oberlin College, U. S.
To the Members of the Sunday-School Union,
At the Tabernacle, Moorfield.
“Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:16)
These
were instructions given to Timothy. But
what was true for Timothy in these respects is true of all ministers and people
who are devoted to Sunday school teaching and general religious
instruction. If the conditions stated
above are complied with, in a proper spirit and from proper motives, success is
certain.
In speaking from
this passage, I will notice:
I. WHAT A
RELIGIOUS TEACHER'S “TAKING HEED TO HIMSELF” MEANS
II. WHAT “TAKING
HEED TO THE DOCTRINE” MEANS
III. WHAT
“CONTINUE IN THEM” MEANS
IV. WHAT IS
IMPLIED IN THE ADDED DECLARATION AND PROMISE.
I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE
INJUNCTION, "TAKE HEED TO YOURSELF"
This evening, I am
primarily speaking to religious teachers, who maintain a most important relationship
to all classes of the community. What,
then, is implied in a religious teacher’s, “taking heed to himself?"
First, let him see
to it that his motive is right in undertaking the great work; that the state of
his heart is such that he is truly in harmony with Christ. If he embarks in this business without,
“taking heed to himself” concerning God’s work, he involves himself in deep
condemnation, and must inevitably fail in saving either himself or those that
hear him.
Not only must
religious teachers pay attention to their motive for doing things, but also
that their spirit and temper is of a proper character. If either of these are bad, they contradict
their own efforts, and the efforts of their fellow-workers. They must pay attention lest, by their
frivolous and worldly lives, they contradict their own teaching. This is the case, in various degrees, both
with Pastors in the churches, and Sunday school teachers. Of course, with Sunday school teaches, the
damage isn’t as great, because the teacher’s influence is confined to a smaller
group of people. If the teacher, however,
displays a worldly spirit before the children of his class, he is just as
blameworthy as the pastor whose example is damaging to his flock, and for the
same reason.
You must pay
attention to your qualifications. See that you are truly qualified, that you
are spiritually and intellectually suited for the work, at least in such a
measure as to warrant a rational hope of your giving correct instruction to the
children.
Take heed that you
yourself believe what you attempt to teach.
If you don’t believe it yourself, it is useless to try to persuade your
children. They can tell if you are sincere. You will betray your unbelief in your
manner, and their discovery of it will be their principal stumbling-block. Show them that you personally realize the
importance of what you are teaching; that you believe it with all your
soul. If you do not attend to this, if
you do not “take heed to yourself” you won’t be able to expect success in your
mission.
Make sure that you
personally know Christ, so you won’t have to teach by hearsay, like the sons of
Sceva, who attempted to cast out devils through the Christ who Paul talked
about, and not through any experiences of their own. Satan, of course, has little difficulty in overcoming those who
are preaching a hearsay gospel. At
best, they are poorly prepared to urge it on others, and so they don‘t have a
firm expectation that it will be accepted.
Without any personal communion with Christ on their part, how can they
expect to persuade others? Be careful,
then, that you know the true way of salvation for yourself. Make sure you know by experience how to
present the gospel, how to take advantage of it, and how to teach others the
way that they can benefit from it.
There is a tremendous error among teachers on this subject. Instead of teaching others how to put this
new way of life to use, they teach the exact opposite of what they should teach
them.
Make sure that you
are taught by God. You must have the
spirit of the gospel to explain it to you.
You need to be ministers of the spirit as well as ministers of the
letter. You need to be instructed by
the Holy Spirit Himself. Pay attention
to this, for the Holy Spirit will certainly instruct you. God never forces men to make bricks without
straw, and if, therefore, He has really called you to instruct others, He will
instruct you, if you will let Him do so.
But he will only instruct you under certain conditions, which are:
(1) that you believe, and
(2) that you renounce
your selfishness and have a single eye to His glory in seeking your
instruction. Don’t seek instructions
for selfish reasons. In the prayer, you
will remember that I mentioned two passages in Scripture. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of
God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to
him.” (James 1:5) and again, that “whoever
of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple”. To be a disciple is to be a pupil. You cannot have Christ for a teacher unless
you forsake all that you have. This
means that you must renounce selfishness, not seeking to be taught for selfish
reasons, but to learn from Him for His sake.
Do this and you may be sure God will teach you. Only seek to be instructed for God’s glory;
pray in faith, and you will certainly receive instruction according to your
need.
Take heed! Don’t be skeptical concerning your
work. Don’t allow yourself to fall into
a skeptical state of mind when teaching religious truth. This very skepticism will defeat the end in
view, and actually tend to increase your skepticism. For example, suppose you go and teach children without expecting
their conversion, and they are not converted, that only confirms and increases
your skepticism. “Then”, you say, “I
didn’t expect it; I had no reason to expect it”. Indeed, you had no reason to expect it, as we shall soon see.
Take heed! Don’t become careless in preparing your
lessons for the class. Be careful that
you are not lacking in diligence, because this, too, will defeat the work. God loves to see you diligent, and unless
you are truly diligent, don’t expect to succeed.
Take heed! Avoid becoming discouraged. That will defeat the work. Nothing is more important than that you
should confidently expect to secure the object that God has set you to secure.
Take heed! Make sure your life and manner doesn’t
contradict your teaching. That will
make a bad impression rather than a good one.
II. WHAT IS
IMPLIED IN “TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE”
There are many
points that people will dispute and disagree over. Setting all these aside, however, there are many issues so
plainly revealed that they are completely beyond the dispute of any reasonable
man. Yet, without being aware of it,
many instructors teach things completely inconsistent with these basic points,
while, if you would state the proposition clearly and ask them if they believed
it, they would agree with you. They
would agree to the doctrine when it is presented as a proposition, while,
unconsciously perhaps, they are continually giving an opposite impression. I will give a few examples of doctrines that
are treated this way, and it is important, therefore, that teachers should take
heed.
First, the blame
of sin belongs to the sinner. Now, you
Sunday school teachers, and other religious instructors, must not only
understand this and believe it yourselves, but you must be sure to lodge it in
the mind of the sinner. Impress on the
little minds of your Sunday school children that they have no excuse for their
antagonistic position towards God and that they must, therefore, immediately
accept the full blame of their sins; that they stand before God as rebels
against His government, without the least excuse to plead in defense of their
sins. If you don’t believe this, you deny
one of the first and fundamental principles of the gospel; you are wholly unfit
to be teachers. You yourselves need to
be taught the first principles of the oracles of God. Take heed then, that, although you do not actually deny it with
your lips, the impression made is that you are opposed to it.
Take heed, that
you don’t give the impression that the awful position of the sinner is not a
crime, but only a misfortune. It is
true that it is a situation calling for pity; but it is not pity for his
misfortune, but pity because he is so infinitely to blame. There is no way in which a person can make
excuses for himself and his sinful conduct.
These things are
unquestionably and universally true of every sinner under heaven, and you must
not fail to lodge these truths in the minds of those you instruct. Be sure that nothing comes from your lips
that a child could construe into any sort of apology for his antagonism toward
the Almighty. I have known scholars to
say such things, even to their teachers themselves, that would make you all
feel how important this issue is, if I hat the time to tell you. Some have declared that the influence of the
tuition in those places nearly made them infidels. A child, once he is allowed to think he is not to blame, will
immediately draw a natural and irresistible conclusion (a logical little mind
will never fail to do this), and entrench himself in the results of such a
conclusion.
Be sure to know
and feel that the carnal mind is hostile towards God. Therefore, children as well as adults, as soon as they become
moral agents, are enemies of God; and that this is a voluntary state of
mind. It is minding the flesh and
fleshly appetites. They should understand
this, and not be left wandering in error.
Their carnal minds are hostile towards God. This is a voluntary hostility.
It is committing themselves to seeking their own particular
gratifications instead of serving God.
Take heed also to teach them that the will of every impenitent sinner is
completely opposed to God’s will, and that this is the source of his moral
depravity. None of you will deny
this. You should tell the sinner that
the voluntary opposition of his will to God’s will is his sin.
I’m sure you will
admit that unrepentant sinners are not willing to obey God. The proposition that an unrepentant sinner
is willing to obey God involves a direct contradiction in terms. The opposite of repentance is resistance. How, then, can an unrepentant mind be willing,
in any sense, to obey God? Every man,
woman, and child who is impenitent, is not willing to obey God, and this is
their problem. Let there be no mistake
about this. Let it be so amplified,
enlarged, and dwelt on, in every direction, so that every sinner will clearly
understand that he is stubborn, and will not obey God.
You may admit that
what I have said is true, but, are you sure that you teach nothing inconsistent
with these truths?
Be sure to teach
that sin can never be forgiven without repentance. You will admit that no sinner has a right to be forgiven while he
remains unrepentant. I suppose, you
will admit, that while unrepentant, God has no right to forgive them, and He
has informed them that He will not do so.
I suppose you will also admit that they have no right to expect any such
thing under such circumstances. But
don’t people sometimes teach things inconsistent with this admission?
Take heed to the
doctrine in this respect: repentance consists in the heart forsaking sin, and
turning to God. It is not simply an
involuntary state of turning, while the heart still clings to sin in opposition
to God, but consists in the heart and will rejecting sin and turning to God.
Next, take heed to
this: without faith it is impossible to please God; and that whatever is not of
faith is sin. No one, I should think,
will pretend to dispute this. It is a
simple statement: without faith it is impossible to please God, and what is not
faith is sin. But take heed that you do
not teach something inconsistent with this; after all, for if individuals pray
in unbelief and impenitence, they not only mock God, but commit sin. This cannot be denied, unless you deny the
Bible and all common sense.
Take heed and
teach that all men should pray--that they are required to pray, and to pray
consistently in faith and with true sorrow for sin. Even children are required to pray; and they must be taught to
pray. They must always be taught, that
unless they pray with a penitent heart, they mock God; and that they are never
sincere when they pray unless they pray in faith. If they don’t do this, they can’t possibly be sincere. Every will that is opposed to God, does not
want to be converted. Every will that
is opposed to God does not want the things it asks for if it knew what they
really were. Take heed to urge that thy
need to repent and believe immediately, and the disastrous results of refusing
or neglecting to attend to these matters.
Be sure to make them clearly understand that there is no escape from
this responsibility. God requires all
men everywhere to repent, and considers every moment’s delay wickedness. Neglecting to repent is wickedness so great
that God considers it to be deserving of complete damnation. These things you teachers must believe
yourselves. If you don't, you are
wholly unfit to teach, for in so doing, you tell lies in the name of the Lord. Urge them, then, as I have said, to fulfill
their present obligation. Now is God’s
appointed time; now is the day of salvation, God himself is the Judge. Therefore, no one needs to wait either for
God to be ready or for anything else to be done. God calls on all men everywhere to repent, and to repent
now. He tells them that now is the “accepted
time”, in the sense that today is the “day of salvation”.
Teach sinners that they
are unrepentant, that they consistently and universally resist the Holy Ghost
whenever He approaches them, or has anything to do with them. As long as they reject the truth, and do not
wholeheartedly receive it as the truth of God, they resist the Holy Ghost.
It is remarkable
to the extent that teachers fail to make themselves understood. When you explain anything to a person so
that he fully understands you, how often does he exclaim, “Why, how
strange! I wouldn’t have thought about
that. I never heard of such a thing
before.” Never heard such a thing before,
do you say? Why, you probably have
heard the same thing mentioned, using different words, hundreds and maybe even
thousands of times before. But no one
made the effort to clarify the subject for the public, and, as a result, people
are in great ignorance. People, brought
up hearing the gospel, are used to hearing Scriptural phrases repeated, but not
defined as they should be, and turned over and over, analyzed, and displayed in
their various aspects, so that even children can understand them. This should be the great object of religious
teaching. The religious teacher falls
far short of his duty by merely talking to the sinner using orthodox terms
without clearly defining it’s meaning.
A man may be perfectly orthodox in his teaching as far as his words are
concerned, but the people may, nevertheless, be as ignorant of his real meaning
as if he was speaking in Greek, or in Hebrew, or any other language; for they
fail to understand the one he uses.
Some of the most
common words, for instance, which are used by religious men, have no sort of
meaning attached to them by worldly men.
Some time ago, the question of sanctification came up for discussion in
the United States, and not one out of forty of the ministers could give any
clear definition of what it really was.
The press said some of the strangest and most absurd things about
it. As a result, we had almost as many
definitions of it as there were men to discuss it. The same may be said about many other words, such as
regeneration, repentance, faith, and many of the words most commonly used. Many people have never formed a definite or
an accurate idea expressed by these words.
A child has a mind and consciousness, and really, is just as able to
understand these words as any person in the world.
If you were going
to tell a child anything requiring great logic and penetration, you might have
some difficulty trying to show him what you mean; but matters involving
consciousness--such as the terms, love and faith, these you can explain to a
child just as well as you can to an adult.
You can teach a child what it’s like to believe. If his father, yielding to his worrying,
promises to buy him a bicycle, such a promise would satisfy the child, he would
rest on it, believing that his father will really get him one. Well, what is this but faith? Now, if you ask a child, “do you know what
faith is”, he would most probably say, “no, I can’t say”. Well then, just tell him, “Suppose you
wanted a bicycle; that you were very distressed for one, that your best friend
had one, that you beg your father to get you one until he promises he
will. You leap for joy. What’s the matter with you? You don’t have it! No, but your father has promised you, and you believe him.” I mention this simply as an illustration of
what you can accomplish this way. Be
sure to make an effort to really analyze these questions, and sift them to the
bottom, making yourself so familiar with them, that you can illustrate them in
such a way that it will consistently hold the attention of the children, and
enable them to understand your meaning.
Beware of leaving
a false impression. For example, don’t
let them think that they aren’t expected to believe just yet. Never let them think they can do it
later. Don’t let them think this. Don’t leave this impression, either directly
or indirectly, by anything that you teach, either in matter or manner. If you do so, as we shall see shortly, you
have done them the greatest evil you could inflict on them. Beware of this, as you would beware of
ruining their souls. Be sure! Lodge the impression in their minds. Keep it before them, that they are expected
to do it now. Encourage the idea that
they should display a desire to obey now.
Be careful not to
let them run away with the idea that they are can’t obey the truth; because if
you do, by a natural and irresistible law, they will come to the very natural
conclusion that they are under no obligation to obey. If they are convinced that they are unable to obey, it is
impossible that they will feel any sense of moral obligation. There never was, nor can there ever be such
a thing as a human mind believing or affirming it’s moral obligation to perform
an impossibility. If, therefore, you
leave an impression on a child’s mind that he is unable to do what he is
required to do, you have done him the greatest possible damage. Why?
Because of an irresistible law in his heart, he will throw off his responsibility,
and you will be helpless to do anything about it. He will not only do that, but he will accuse God of being a tyrant.
He will do this in his heart, even if
he dares not say it with his lips. If
you tell him God will send him to hell because he did not do what he is
naturally unable to do; why, a child can’t believe this! They have minds, and their minds have laws;
they will draw certain conclusions, and you cannot prevent it.
Don’t give them
the impression that they are willing to be Christians. In talking with parents concerning young
people, I have often found them saying, “Oh, he wants to be a Christian, he is
friendly towards religion, he is trying to be a Christian”, not one word of
which is true! I have had to tell such
people, hundreds of times, “What! Do
you teach your children that? Do they
want to be Christians? Does God say
so? No indeed! You say they are friendly to God, but God
says they are at enmity against Him; you teach their willingness; God reveals
their unwillingness.” Now, what can
parents do worse than this? What can
they do that’s worse than this?
Nothing! They teach the direct
opposite of the truth, and what every orthodox Christian knows and believes is
truth. It is common for Sunday school
teachers to teach this, and to leave such impressions.
Don’t teach them
that they can do their duty in any situation, or under any circumstances,
before they have given their hearts completely to God. Therefore, instead of having them to do
things to get a new heart, teach them to immediately give their hearts to God. A new heart--what is it? A mind devoted to God by an act of free
will, repenting, believing. In short,
submitting the whole being to God. I
would rather tell a man to drive right straight along a road when I knew that,
in fifteen minutes, he would drive off a cliff into the abyss beneath. What!
Does God require the sinner to do something to persuade God to make in
him a new heart? No indeed! God is constantly persuading the sinner to
yield himself up to Him. Now, this is
just what he is unwilling to do. Why do
you not yield, when God is begging you, “My son, give me your heart?” “Why would you die?” This is what God says; and do you throw it
back on God? Instead of teaching him to
do his duty, to accept Christ, and give himself up to God, you send him away
with the idea that he already does his duty.
Now, he will never be converted until he discovers that such teaching is
false. If he ever gets saved, it’s not
because of the teaching, but in spite of it.
Until he loses sight of the idea that he is going, in some way, to persuade
God to do something for him in the way he thinks, he will never be converted.
Look at the life of such
a soul: He has been praying and praying, struggling and struggling, pretending
to wait for God, and after all of this, he suddenly sees that he should believe
at once. He suddenly believes that he
should immediately submit. He does
submit, and now the thing is done.
Thus, in multitudes of cases, I have known individuals struggle for a
long time under this false teaching, and finally, in a moment, the Spirit turns
their thoughts away from their false teaching, and they suddenly see what they
should do. Now, you can easily see that
if you teach anything inconsistent with these certain and universally admitted
truths, you are going right against the Spirit of God; you are putting weapons
into the little sinner’s hand to fight against his God, to stand and find fault
with Him.
Be sure to make children
understand the nature of their dependence on God. Now, if you talk to them a lot, as you naturally will, and as the
Bible does, about the Spirit of God converting them, and about His agency, and
you don’t explain to them the nature and need for this agency, you will commit
two mistakes which, if not fatal, no thanks to you. The Bible does not overlook this question; it is stated as
clearly and repeatedly as anything else that’s in the Bible. If you teach them that the Spirit of God has
something to do with them, and that there is a need for His agency, and don’t
teach them what it is, they think it is like some electric shock, or something
similar, which they have to wait for.
But teach them that as long as they are waiting for this experience from
God, they are resisting the Spirit of God.
This is a very obstinate wickedness.
This is the very reason why they don’t immediately turn to God.
Ask them, “Don’t you know
you should turn to God?” “Yes.” “Don’t you know that it is wicked for you to
live in sin?” “Yes.” “Now, then, why do you grieve the Spirit of
God by refusing?” “Why?” “For the same reason that you would make up
your mind to resist your father? He
tells you not to go down to the river.
He tells you not to play near the water. You are determined to go off with the boys and do so. It happens that you have made up your mind
so strongly, that, unless someone comes to you and presses the matter home
until he prevails with you, you will certainly go. Now, in what sense do you need such a person’s agency? You will certainly go, and he knows it,
unless he can influence you.”
You can easily show this
to a child; that his dependence on this agency is his crime. It is only because of his obstinate
wickedness; and in proportion to the importance of him not being without this
influence that determines the greatness of his wickedness. The thing needed is to make him willing. It is, therefore, quite clear that he cannot
justify himself because of his dependence.
His dependence is really evidence of his guilt. The result is that the influence of the Holy
Spirit must be acknowledged. If any of
you should think of denying it, mark the consequences; if you deny the need for
the agency of the Holy Spirit, because of the sinner’s obstinacy, and that his
dependence on the Spirit suits his wickedness, you deny that the Spirit’s
agency is gracious. If you think the
sinner is really unable instead of unwilling, then the Spirit’s agency is not
grace but justice.
Another error is
failing to let the sinner understand the nature of this agency. If you fail to do this, he will resist the
Holy Spirit, and all the time, he will not think that he is resisting Him. He says, “How can I, a puny human, resist an
omnipotent God”? He does not know that
resisting truth, when clearly presented to his mind, is resisting the
Spirit. He will not admit that he is
resisting it. If you do not teach him
the nature of the agency, he will not see that, while he is praying for this
agency, he is resisting it. Seeing
these points are so momentous, warn the little sinners against delay, and
against throwing the blame on God because they don’t have the Spirit. Do this in a proper spirit and in a suitable
manner, and you will make their little consciences quiver. You will feel sorry for them. So does Christ, and that is the reason he
wants you to urge them to step forward.
Take the little fellow up, appeal to his little conscience, draw him
kindly to you, cut him off from his refuges of lies, shut him up, alone with Jesus. That is what must be done for him, to save
him.
Be sure to make
him feel that his condemnation is just; for the more you fail in this, the more
you throw a veil over the gospel. The
sinner must understand that his “condemnation is just”. The better this is understood, the better
the need and glory of the gospel is understood. Fail in this, and you may talk to the sinner to the day of his
death without doing him any good. How
can he understand God’s love without understanding his own guilt? How can he understand the need for Jesus
dying, unless he knows that he deserves to die himself, and that Jesus died for
him? Poke the little sinner’s conscience
on this point, for on it hangs his salvation.
We cannot deny that the child deserves to be condemned, because if it
wasn’t true, what need would there be for a Savior or an atonement? If he did not deserve to die himself, Jesus
would not have died for him. This
should be always taught and insisted on; in fact, it should never be kept out
of sight.
Be sure to expect to
secure the early conversion of children.
Aim at it and be wise in the selection of the proper means. And, let me say, take head to yourself and
the doctrine, and persevere in presenting it.
IV. WHAT IS MEANT
BY THE PROMISE?
What is meant by
the promise? Simply this. That if you do what is commanded in the right
spirit, the promised results will follow.
From this, we may conclude that the connection between conversion and
the means used, on the part of the church and those who instruct the people,
does not change. What else can it
mean? Now, whatever people may say
about God’s sovereignty, one thing is certain--that if religious teachers take
heed to themselves and to the doctrine, and continue in them, they will save
both themselves and those who listen to them.
This is the law of God's government; it is God's absolute truth, and is
as true as God is true.
A few remarks must
conclude what I have to say. A
tremendous responsibility rests on the religious teacher! But there is something better than
this. There is a glorious encouragement
held out to him. When I preach to
parents about their responsibility concerning the conversion of their children,
I try to impress them with the fact that God has made them responsible for the
conversion of their children. On one
occasion, after a sermon on this subject, in which I had been showing the
responsibility of parents, a man came to me in the vestry, and told me he did
not like what I had preached. But he
was soon reminded of the fact that God had laid this responsibility on him, and
that it was a most glorious encouragement, for God had connected their
salvation with the persevering use of means within his reach. If this subject were regarded in its proper
aspect, instead of mourning, parents would leap for joy and say, “Well, in the
name of the Lord, my children will not be lost!” “By the grace of God”, the teacher might say, “My class will not
be lost”! This is your glorious
privilege. Will you shrink from your responsibility? No indeed!
Suppose a mother
with a sick child is told, “Your child will die unless you meet with certain
conditions”. Would she say, “Oh, that’s
such a responsibility”! Oh! No!
You know what she would say.
When you tell her the conditions, she would accept them, exclaiming, “If
there is anything I can do, I will gladly do it”! The mother is completely devoted to secure that end.
Unbelief in religious
teachers is the greatest of all their stumbling-blocks. Sinners would be much better off without any
teachers at all than an unbelieving one.
I would rather trust them with the Bible alone, a thousand times. Suppose, for example, a minister always left
the impression that he did not expect his listeners to be converted; that it
would be unreasonable to expect it.
Suppose he were to preach and pray as if he did not expect it; that he had no rational reason to expect it. Why, such a man would be the greatest curse
a congregation can have! The same is
true with the Sunday school teacher who does not believe that his children will
be converted. I would never send my children
to such a school as that. No! I would rather not send them anywhere if
that is what they would be taught.
It is common for
people to teach children that they should be converted now, while it is very
clear from the way they teach, that they do not expect them to be immediately
converted. They expect it sometime in
the future. Isn’t this true? If the child is old enough to be taught, why
isn’t he old enough to be converted? If
he is old enough to sin, why isn’t he old enough to repent? It is more natural to expect people to be
converted early, when they first get the doctrines of the gospel into their
minds, because then they are naturally more impressed with the subject. After a while, they begin to lose their hold
of it. If I believed my child couldn’t
be converted while he is young, I wouldn’t teach him religion until he is
older. If they must be grown men or
women first, I won’t teach them a word about religion until then. Why?
Why should I state these truths merely to harden their hearts and
increase their guilt! Why should I do
this before I expect them to obey the truth?
How absurd!
What a great evil
it would be if little children should die after they are old enough to sin, but
before they are old enough to repent; if they can be taught now, but can’t be
converted until sometime in the future!
Bring up a child from her very infancy to drink beer. Be sure her mother, while nursing, takes
enough to keep the child drunk. Give
her a little after awhile. Let her sip
a little out of her cup and thus raise her up to use it. Don’t teach her temperance until she becomes
an adult, after she has become hardened and steadfast in her course, after
alcohol has taken control of her body and she is bewildered and stupefied by
drink. Then try to reform her! Is this the way? Yet, this is just as true of every other form of sin, as it is of
this. When the first sense of sin
afflicts their little consciences, teach them to come to Christ at once for
forgiveness. Then, if ever, is the time
you may expect it. Every moment's delay
only makes sin a habit, hardening the heart, and stupefying the conscience. Oh!
What a mistake it is to let children grow up in sin, expecting them to
be converted after they have become more hardened and resistant.
I wanted to spend
some time here on the method of promoting revivals of religion among children,
how it may be done, how it has been done, and what the results have been. I wish I had time to state my views of the
importance of getting them to think and act together; to move in one direction. There is nothing on which the great law of
sympathy has so powerful, direct, and glorious a bearing as in getting masses
of men to seek religious truth; in bringing them to rise up and act
together. This is especially true
concerning children; it is the most elevating, fascinating, and glorious thing
conceivable to see masses of children turning to God.
Another great
difficulty in the way is the unbelief of the Church concerning the willingness
of God and the certainty there is that He will immediately put His hand in the
work. One day, while talking with a
brother minister, he replied, “I praise God for the idea of the truth of which
I now have no doubt, that when I do just what He has told me to do, I can
depend on His immediately seconding my efforts and cooperating with me”. While thinking about this, it occurred to me
that to doubt this, or to leave the question open to debate would be to doubt
God’s own word, and to throw a stumbling-block before my own feet. Now, the truth is, that Christ has said He
will be with us everywhere, every time; and for what? Why, to secure the very end He has sent us to accomplish--the
salvation of men.
Now, dearly
beloved, we should expect this cooperation as certainly as we believe in the
natural laws that govern the universe.
It is as certain as the law of gravity.
It is as certain, and may be depended on, just as much as any natural
law may be depended on when all the conditions of its fulfillment are strictly
and fully complied with. Whenever this
is tried and tested. Whenever we can
truly say we have in all respects done our duty, God has never failed. If He has, let examples be brought forward! It cannot be done. How long, then, shall this unbelief stand in the way of God’s
work?
I have a lot more
to say on this and other similar topics, but time will not permit. But let me say that if you take heed to
yourself, and to the doctrine, and continue in them, your classes must be
saved! Doesn’t God distinctly tell you
so? I ask for no more than this one
thing concerning my ministry, I want no higher assurance than this. To be sure that I know very well that I am dependent
on Divine grace, but I know that I am dependent on it in such a sense as that I
will certainly receive it. God has not
sent me to preach the gospel like the Israelites in Egypt had to make bricks
without straw. God said to Paul, and it
is true of every preacher “My grace is sufficient for you”; He has also said,
“As your day is, so shall your strength be”.
Beloved, then, hold on. Hold
on! Oh! Hold on to this! Amen.