C. H. Woolston

“ No fairy or any human power can change the black of sin into the white of righteousness.
The pool of life is full of these fancy colors that declare that they have the power to change black to white, but they are only bubbles on the surface. Don't trust them. This is a matter for eternity. God alone can change black into white. The blood of Jesus Christ takes all sin away. ”

“ No boy or girl can love himself or herself above all others without dying inside. Like the African ant, selfishness destroys from within, it kills the heart.
Bishop Butler, one of the most learned men, said, "Be more afraid of thyself than of the world." Be afraid of the idol of selfishness, it is yourself at your worst. Put it away, not to bed.
A poor little girl in the slums of London one cold snowy night said to her little brother who was shivering with the cold by her side, "Come closer to me, dear little brother, come under my shawl, it will stretch and cover us both." ”

“ Outwardly he is gay and happy, but if the door of the heart could be open we would behold a house of mourning. A hopeless sorrow, the saddest of all sadness, because there is no Jesus there to bear his sorrow with him. At last produce the heart with a black stain on it; this is to teach us that down in the depths of life, so long as the heart is wrong, all else is wrong, for "out of the heart are the issues of life." What will the angels do with this bundle if it remains as it is until the last day? They will cast it into the pit of destruction, the place where all evil works must go at last. ”

“ Our colonial fathers when they spilt salt at the table, threw a pinch of it over the left shoulder to keep the witches away; so it seems that often this black bottle of ignorance finds a place on our table of daily bread. Let us seek knowledge and light always. Learn something every day, and keep far away from this bottle of dark ignorance. Remember the mountaintop window of light is to know God aright, and to love him and keep his commandments. ”

“ The joy the world knows is like the desert plant. It fastens its root by the side of a little stream, and drinks in the moisture, and spreads out its leaves of life. The stream is dried up at last by the heat of the desert, and the roots loosen their hold on the soil, and the windstorm rolls the plant over the desert like a dead leaf until another piece of wet ground is found. ”

“ It is the man who can believe the longest and work the hardest that will find the North Pole of the Bible. This is the secret passage to the Greater Pole: Love God, and stick to it until you can do it with all your soul. It is sad to think that not every one will do this. This is why God can't reign in his own world, because of the people's unbelief.
God is yet waiting to show the world what mighty things he can do for us with the man who loves him with his whole heart, and the man who does this has reached the North Pole of the Scriptures. ”

“ There it fastens for another short season, and again the sun dries up this spring of life, and hurls the root on in the heart of the desert storm, This is repeated over and over again until at last it tosses it out into the piercing rays of the sun a withered dry old root dead at the heart. So men and women are like this dry root. ”

“ All the world seem to fix their eyes on the golden country, but the road is so narrow that few there be that find it. All people are pilgrims seeking that fair land, but at the end of their trail they meet the wreckage of the failures of the ages. Harken, and I will tell you how to find the trail that leads to the Land of Happiness. Once upon a time a lad called upon a wise man and asked him if he would direct him to this land of joy. ”

“ Mother is heaven, her shining eyes are the stars. There is a cry in the night. Mother understands its language and gives her holy ministrations. Watch Mother, she is the teacher God has trained. Listen to her first "few words." Baby does. Mother understands. God give the preacher this understanding. Learn how Mother her first "few words," then "try, try again." Learn your first lesson in the language of a child. It loves picture words. It learns the names of common things first. Things fix themselves in the eyes. Its language is born as it looks. Looks at a cow and calls it "moo cow." ”

“ Watch it shine, and you will notice it puts its whole life into the business of shining. Measure it as it shines, and you will discover it grows less and less, and leaves nothing behind it—gives itself, and all of itself into the business of shining. It consumes itself in the process of shining, This is a true light picture of the Christian. Real service requires the giving of the entire self. David Livingstone, the heart of Africa missionary, gave all that he had and consumed all his energies for the good of the Dark Continent. ”

“ Weeds are not good things in a garden. They are not good things in the heart, Watch them when they first show their little heads. Close the door at once, they soon turn to poison and death in the soul. ”

“ Every little cradle is a ship starting on the voyage of life. Little Eyes looks out from its cabin windows and discovers that the land it sees is America. It is not dreaming of lakes sublime or rivers majestic. It is not in fact a discoverer. It is a see-er. It is seeing things, real things, in the land it has just discovered. Its first adventure is the finding of Mother, which means it has discovered perfect love, protection, and tender care. ”

“ Money is like a skeleton key which unlocks a multitude of sin doors through which we enter to the eternal hurt of our soul. Mary Magdalene found it paid for a season in dollars and cents, but this is tainted money and slips through the fingers, and on wings supplied from the demons themselves flies away to come back no more forever. "His money was his curse," that [200] the people often say when like a devil it has entered and destroyed a human heart. We are now speaking only of the evil use of money. Put the card with the dollar mark on it into the heart and say, This is the fourth devil. ”

“ Here we are taught the Bible is food for the soul. Without it we will all perish.
"I have esteemed thy word more than my necessary food" is the confession of the heart that finds the Bible the real bread for the soul.
The prophet said, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? harken diligently unto me, [15] and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." This is free bread; it is without money and without price. Come to the gospel Free Market and live. ”

“ As I look at the flag again I learn the lesson of the strength of organization. The Red, White, and Blue as separate colors stand for themselves alone. Unite them in the flag, and they stand defended by the Army and Navy of the country. Christians often say they can live the Christian life outside the organized body of Christians, called the church, but by so doing they stand alone and for themselves. United in the church, they are backed by the greatest organized power in the world, the church of Jesus. ”

“ Now bring in a plain white candle and say: "After all, this white candle shines forth as brightly as any one of them. It makes no noise, says nothing about itself, but just goes on and shines. It is not the clothes which make the light of life shine the brighter." ”

“ Let me tell you how the seven devils got into her heart, and the story of how they were cast out when she met Jesus.
Mary Magdalene was just like the rest of us, for we all have seven devils in our heart, and some have a few more. She was born in sin like all of us. She was not born a sinner; none of us are, for we do not become sinners until we arrive at that age when with a free choice we choose to do evil, then we are sinners. ”

“ That is the way to shine forever. Burn out here, and you will shine forever in God's kingdom. So we learn that we are not only letting our light shine as a business, but in so doing we light the dark corner lights around the world. This candle I now hold in my hand can light a thousand other candles, and they in turn another thousand, and so on until it could light shining candles girdling the round world. Light is contagious. It easily passes from one candle to another.
One courageous enthusiastic person can fire many others to shine in their dark corners also. ”

“ Prepare a large black card with the words "My Sins" painted upon it. Hold it up before the audience so all can see it, and remark: "My sins are dark and terrible. The Bible tells me they are like a thick cloud. (Isa. 44:22.) Note the first letter of sin is an S, which resembles a serpent in the act of striking its deadly blow. You cannot pronounce the letter S without hissing as a serpent. Sin is a deadly thing. It is poison for the heart and will. Sin is like a monster serpent coiled around our soul, and will at last crush out its life forever. ”

“ John Hus reached out his hand and drew the fagot close to his side and said, "With my heart I forgive you," for John was a Christian. She was a heathen putting her idol of "hate" to bed. She was so blind with hate that she did not know a saint when she saw one.
Be like Jesus who loved all men. A brother of mine when he was converted said, "I feel like kissing everybody." He had put the idol of hate in the rag-bag and, like Jesus, loved everybody. ”

“ We call the place where we bury the dead "cemeteries," which means "sleeping-places." It is a beautiful thought to think of the little graves as little cradles where rest the bodies of little children, but only our bodies sleep there, for the soul has gone to the God who made it. ”

“ The world is richer than it has ever been, that is because we have learned to make money. The world is wiser than it has ever been; that is because we have learned to make many books. The world at heart is sadder than it has ever been ”

“ Then again the weeds say to me: "My real name is Determination. I will come in, and you will have a hard time to get rid of me." They are determined to stay. It is no use to pull off their leaves, but pull them up by their roots and cast them into the fire. Just as soon as an evil thought comes into our minds, kill it at once. ”

“ He has indeed lost his heart. He loves his gold, he loves it so much that he has given himself to the bank and forgotten God. Now, little girl, you can help your father find his heart again, for I am going to tell you where his heart has gone." The angel said: "On yonder shelf you will see a little iron bank; open it up, and you will find buried beneath the coins of this bank your father's heart." She did as the good angel directed, and there, sure enough, amidst the copper and silver coins, she found her Daddy's heart. ”

“ I see another prophet approaching. It is a foreigner. As he comes to the platform he bears the flag of China, and carries a Chinese lantern. He is coming not to preach but to listen. Hold up the lantern close to the preacher candle and say: "China is asking for the true light. What doth the preacher candle say?" And the candle answers: "Hear me, all ye people, Our Master's great commission tells us we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel. China is the largest nation of the world, and so according to the order of the Light of the World, we give China the light." ”

“ Five thousand dollars was the legal value of a child. Would you sell your little girl for that figure? Is that what your child is worth? Are children for sale in this world of sin and unbelief? This child is for sale, and the world, the flesh, and the devil bid for him. Who bids first for this child?"
A man then walks up to the platform saying, "A business man makes the first offer." Read the card and say: "Mr. A. Cigaret, representing the Smoke and Brownleaf Co., bids for the child. He offers good fellowship, the thrills of the happy smoker, and the name of a jolly good fellow." ”

“ It eats books, furniture, trunks, chairs, dolls, and toys, or anything.
Selfishness is like this ant. It secretly eats away the heart of love, and we are dead to the appeal of the world for sympathy. ”

“ I think it will become entirely white if you pray to Jesus to forgive you. Tell your classmate and teacher and the scholars how sorry you are." William said to himself, "I will." That night he prayed long and earnestly and when the morning had come he was astonished to see how much lighter his heart had grown. This pleased him very much and he said: "I don't think I will trouble any more about my heart. It is growing so much lighter that I think the last remnant of the blackness will pass away in a day." ”

“ The little paw which I held in my hands would soon be so strong and wild that it could bring down in death the strongest man alive. I then permitted a few little girls to come to the platform and hold the little fellow for a few moments, which they did with great glee and will tell their children's children of the day when they held a real living baby lion in their arms. I then told them that we all like lions have an evil nature. While we are young we are like this little lion, gentle and mild, but later on when our wild nature develops we do very wicked things and become sinners. ”

“ Produce a candle from a box in the corner. This represents a hidden light which does not shine even "in its own corner." It is a light hidden under a bushel. [78] Many a soul has fine powers to serve the world for Jesus, but they are hidden in the dark box of disuse, and are worthless in the black world. They have buried the talent. Take it out of the box, light it, and place it on top of the box, and say, "Henceforth thou shalt be as a city set on a hill whose business it is just to shine." ”