Sylvanus Stall

“ The sun shines and dispels the darkness, and makes it light. And do you know that the moon does not shine by its own light, but it simply throws back again, as we say, reflects, the light of the sun, just the same as when a boy takes a small piece or looking-glass and throws the light across the street? There is no light in the looking-glass itself, but it simply takes the rays of light which fall upon it from the sun and bends them, or turns them, so that the boy can throw the rays of light across the street, or upon anything that he desires that is in range of him. ”

“ So every one in perplexity reaches out to lay hold of something. But the text which I quoted in the beginning says that this hope which we have as an anchor to the soul lays hold of something, and that something is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is like the ship whose anchor goes down, far below the waves, deep down out of sight, and lays hold of the rocks which form the foundation of the earth. So the faith of the Christian is staid, not on things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen. ”

“ Youth is the spring-time. It is full of hope, and full of bright prospects. But, as we grow older, and the cares and responsibilities of life multiply, then we begin to bear the toil and labor which comes with the later years. Then we are like the farmer who enters into the harvest field where hard work has to be done under a very hot and scorching sun. ”

“ I am sure there is not a single boy or girl who would trade off one of these perfect little telescopes—yes, I will call it a telescope and an observatory also—for God has beautifully encased our eyes, and shielded and housed them more beautifully and satisfactorily than the most perfect observatory which was ever built for any man-made telescope. We would not trade away one of our eyes for one of the finest telescopes in the world, and we would not be willing to give both of our eyes for all the telescopes which have ever been made. ”

“ During the past centuries men have been planting and replanting this seed of divine truth, sowing and resowing the earth with it, gathering and reaping the harvest and sowing again. And the days are coming when all the earth shall wave as one vast harvest field, waiting for the reapers of God, who shall gather this blessed fruitage into the garner of the skies. ”

“ Beneath a good and generous face you will find a good and generous heart. Beneath a bad face you will find a bad heart. If we are Christians we shall become more and more like Christ. We shall grow up into His likeness, and into His image, and into His stature. We are told that not only will we become more and more like Him, but that at last, in the great Resurrection, we shall behold Him as He is, and we shall be like Him.
If I were to take some pictures and place them in a bottle they would shine out through the glass, and you could see them. ”

“ Look about you and see the results of worthless story-papers, of card-playing, of theatre going, of social drinking, of round dancing, lying, swearing, cheating, and all forms of wickedness, and then remember that these same influences, if wrought into your life, will also produce the same result. Do not be like the foolish mouse, which sees its dead companion in the trap, and then walks up unthinkingly and pokes his head into the same inevitable death and destruction; but remember that Satan waits to destroy you, just the same as he has destroyed others. ”

“ When I find a book that teaches a boy good business habits and helps him to become a good business man, I know that book was written with that object in view. When I find a book that teaches one how to understand the human system, the nature of disease and the character of the remedies which are to be used when people are sick, I know that book was written with a view to help people to understand the nature of disease and the character of medicine. ”

“ Many people try to shine or to attract the attention of others to themselves, but that is not what Jesus said or meant, but rather the reverse. Neither are we to attempt to shine, or to attempt to attract the glory or honor to ourselves. Let not yourself so shine, but let your light so shine that others seeing your good works may glorify—not you, but your Father which is in heaven. We must let Jesus Christ shine in and through us. ”

“ Do you use your eyes to read worthless story papers and books, or to look at evil pictures? Then your eyes and thoughts are not pure. Do you permit your ears to listen to improper talk? Then your ears and mind are not pure. Do you harbor bad thoughts in your heart? Then your heart is not pure. Do you defile your body by improper eating and drinking? If you do, then your body is not pure. If you and I desire to be pure, we must go to God and earnestly ask Him as David did when he cried unto God and said, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." ”

“ While we live upon the earth we should use the things of this world but not abuse them; remembering that finally we must go and leave everything behind us, and that we can take nothing with us into eternity except the characters which we formed here. Wealth and reputation, and all worldly things will have to be left behind us; but character, that which you and I really are, shall never pass away, but shall enter into an eternal state of being on high. All these earthly things are the mere chaff, while character is our real selves. ”

“ For, as Isaiah says, "We all do fade as a leaf." We are all very apt to forget that we must die. And so each year, when the summer is over and the fruit is gathered, the leaves begin to wither, and the early frost tinges the forests of the closing year, like the sun oftentimes makes the clouds all crimson and glory at the close of the day. These things should teach us that as advancing years come, we also must fade and die. ”

“ There is another class of men who go through college and who may, perchance, study much, and the more they study the more they come to realize how little they know, and how much there is beyond them that they do not understand at all. With the little light of human understanding they comprehend how very dense and dark are the mysteries all about them, and so in order that they may walk safely through life, and come at last to the city of eternal safety, they take God's Word "as a lamp to their feet." ”

“ It is altogether right for you to economize and save your pennies. I hope every boy and girl will have a little bank, but while you are learning to save, you should also learn to give to every good cause, to give in Sunday-school and to give for the support of the Church, for missions, and to give to assist the aged and the poor, and to contribute something for those who are in poverty and in distress. If you simply learn to save, or hoard up money, and do not learn at the same time to give, you will become what people call "a miser," and that word means miserable. ”

“ Can any boy or girl afford to use their time in reading worthless books or papers? Do words and deeds have the element of unending life in them? Is it a dangerous thing to get angry? What did one of the boys who were playing marbles do to the boy who ran across the ring? As the result, how many years has the injured boy walked with crutches? Will the good that we do be as permanent as the evil that we might do? ”

“ In some households Sunday is looked forward to with anticipations of pleasure throughout the entire week. In these homes, the father does not come down stairs on Sunday morning and say: "Now, children, gather up those flowers, throw them out of the window, pull down the blinds, get down the Bible and we will have an awful solemn time here to-day." Neither is the day given to frivolity or the home to demoralizing influences. From morning until night there are two great principles that govern; first, the sacredness of the day, and second, the sacredness of the God-given nature of childhood. ”

“ Now the Bible represents the natural heart as being wicked. We are told in the Bible that our hearts have no feeling; that God loves us, and yet that we do not appreciate it; that God bestows upon us our daily food, and that He clothes us, and blesses us with every good, and has provided for us mansions in the skies, and that He desires to give us everlasting salvation. He loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, and yet with the natural heart no one ever loves God, or appreciates anything that He has done for us. ”

“ Are you the child of a King who is the King above all kings? Has He promised you a crown? Will your crown be perishable? How long will it last? Can you quote any of the passages of Scripture which tell of our being the children of the King of kings? Could the crown of an earthly king be bought? Is there money enough in the world to buy a crown of everlasting life? How then is this crown to be obtained? Who once stole a crown and the crown jewels of England? Was he successful in getting away with them? Who tries to steal our crown of everlasting glory? Is he ever successful? ”

“ The Bible tells us very clearly that our Father in Heaven is King over all earthly kings; greater than any of them; greater than all the kings of earth put together; a million times greater; yes, millions and millions of times greater; so much greater that the two do not compare in reality, but earthly kings simply suggest to our minds something of our great Heavenly King. God, this great King, created us and we were His children. But our first parents sinned and rebelled against Him, and refused to recognize Him as Father and to obey what He wanted them to do. ”

“ The man who has lots of money and has a consecrated heart, and who is willing to use his money to help him in his work for Christ, will be able to accomplish very much more than the man who has no money. He can use his money in such a way that it will enable him to cast a light in many a dark corner of the earth, to bring light in many a desolate home, and to cast the rays of his Christian influence even across the ocean into benighted heathen lands. ”

“ All we do is being constantly photographed, not in a camera like this, but upon the rays of light as upon the pages of a great book, and in the great Judgment Day, God will judge us out of the things recorded against us in these books. Our acts record themselves, and in that great day we shall no more be able to deny the correctness of the record than we would be able to deny the personality or identity of our own photograph. ”

“ Can any treasure be laid up in the earth where it is absolutely safe? Where does the Bible tell us we are also to lay up treasure? When boys and girls are obedient, is that laying up treasure in heaven? Does being great in little things make a great man or a great woman? Should boys and girls learn to save their money? What would they be called if they spent all their money? What would they be called if they hoarded up all they could get? Should we always use all our money in the fear of God? ”

“ If a dog can make himself so useful as to save the lives of sixty-eight people, you and I should ask ourselves the question [278] whether we are doing as much for the blessing and the salvation of men as this faithful dog did on the mountains of Switzerland? But you can do a great deal more than this dog. He could only save the lives of people, but God can use you to save their souls as well, by the influence of a noble Christian life, by what you say and do, by your contributions to missions, and in various other ways you may help to save the souls of many who must otherwise perish. ”

“ More and more we become holy. It is this wonderful change which is referred to in Second Corinthians, third chapter and the 18th verse, where it says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
I think now, you will understand why we have the law. It is not to make us wicked, for we are wicked already. But it is to show us our wickedness, it is to reveal to us the fact that we are sinners, and that we are lost and undone without a Saviour. ”

“ The influence of bad companions will tend to destroy all our best interests physically, by leading to every kind of vice and evil; destroy us financially, by causing us to be inattentive to our work, causing us to prefer idleness and pleasure to labor and usefulness; destroy us morally, by making light of the teachings of the Bible, the importance of the Sunday-school and of the Church, the authority of father and mother and the wisdom of what they teach and require of us. ”