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To pray to God, and to praise him, is a delightful employment; to show forth his loving kindness in the morning, and his faithfulness every night.

Religion is a good thing; for it teaches us to be good ourselves, and to do good to all around us.

The religious child will be a good child. He will obey his parents, not only because he loves them; but because God hath said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and because Jesus Christ has said, Children, obey your parents in all things. He will be merciful and kind, because his heavenly Father is merciful and kind to all. He will be diligent and industrious, because his Bible tells him he must not be slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. In short he will be a good child, that he may be the child of God, and have God for his father and his friend forever. And now, my little friends, must not that be a good thing that will make you thus good and happy?

Jesus had said, this good part shall never be taken away from you; your parents and friends may be taken from you by death; but if you are good, God will be your father and friend forever. Your riches may be taken away from you; but if you are good, you have better treasures in heaven. Death itself cannot take this good part from you; for Jesus has triumphed over death, and will give eternal life to all his faithful followers.

And now, Children, what shall I say more to persuade you to choose this good part? Your parents tell you it is the good part; they have found it so themselves, and they wish, above all things, to see you make the same choice. Jesus says it is the good part; go to him, sit at his feet, and say to him, Blessed Jesus, to whom should we go but unto thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life; teach us what we must do to be saved; teach us the one thing needful; teach us, like Mary, to choose that good part, that shall never be taken away from us.

A HYMN.

Though children in knowledge and years,
Religion is needful for you;

For, young as you are, you may die,
And must answer for all that

you dos

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Sermons to Children.

"I'is needful for you who are young,
To remember the God whom you love ;
To serve him and worship him here,
Would you dwell in his presence above.

Go, sit at the feet of your Lord,

And learn without further delay;
He'll teach you to choose the good part,
That shall never be taken away.

SERMON IX.

LUKE XI. 8-14.

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And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards mén.

To you, Children, as well as to the shepherds, were these glad tidings sent; for you was born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. His name was called Jesus, because he should save his people from their sins.

And is not this joyful news indeed, that Jesus, the beloved Son of God, should come down from heaven, be born into the world a feeble infant, like one of us, that he might save us from our sins? And you see there was joy not only on earth, but in heaven too; the holy angels, those kind and friendly beings, rejoiced to bring this good news to man.

No sooner had the angel told the news to the shepherds, but suddenly there was with him a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest!

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Sermons to Children.

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They sang glory to God, because he so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

They sang peace on earth. Jesus the Prince of peace, was now come to bring peace on earth; to reconcile guilty man to the blessed God, whom they had offended; to teach them to love God, to love one another, that they might be fit to dwell with God, and with his holy angels, forever in heaven.

These holy and blessed spirits rejoiced to see, instead of sin, wickedness, hatred, and strife, righteousness and peace, and joy among men.

They sang good will to men. When man was first made, the holy angels, these morning stars, sang and rejoiced together; but when they saw man rebel against his Maker, and condemned to die, their joy was turned into sorrow. But they rejoiced again to see him restored to the favour and love of God, to holiness and happiness; to see the works of Satan, the great enemy of God and man, destroyed, and peace restored on earth.

They rejoiced to think that good men should come from the east, and from the west, from all parts of the world, and dwell with them forever in heaven. The friendly angels had often been sent down to do service to good men here below, but they never came with so much joy as upon this occasion. This was good news to the whole world; good tidings of great joy to all people; to the rich and to the poor, to the old and to the young; for all stand in need of this Saviour.

Yes, Children, to you is this salvation sent. And will you not receive it with joy? With the Children in the temple, will you not cry, Hosanna! blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord! Will you not join with the holy angels, in saying, Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good will to men? Do they glorify God for his love to you, and can you be silent? Do they rejoice in the hope of your salvation, and will you not wish to be saved from sin, and hell, and to dwell with the holy angels forever in heaven ?

It is pleasant to think of the holy angels being employed for our service here on earth; but it is still more delightful to think of joining with them in the praises of our God and Saviour in heaven.

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Sermons to Children.

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Then shall we sing glory to God in higher strains than we can do here on earth. There we shall join with those blessed spirits, who cease not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come! Then shall we join with thousands of angels, saying, Worthy is the LAMB that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

Blessing, honour, glory and power be unto Him who sit teth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. Amen.

A HYMN.

Glory to God, the holy angels cry,
Glory to God, let ev'ry heart reply;

The Sun of righteousness now shines on earth,
And peace returns at our Redeemer's birth.

Good will to men, the holy angels cry,
Good will to men, let ev'ry heart reply;
Let hatred, strife, and wrath be heard no more,
But
peace and love be spread from shore to shore.

Glory to God, who sent his Son from heaven;
For us a child is born, a Saviour given;
He comes with peace and pardon from above,
And rules his people with the laws of love.

Jesus, the long expected Saviour's come,
Let every grateful heart prepare him room;
Let infant tongues proclaim his love abroad,
And join to praise their Saviour and their God..

SERMON X.

MATTH. XXI. 15, 16.

And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased.

And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea, have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise?

You have in this chapter the pleasing account of our Saviours' entrance into Jerusalem: not like an earthly mon. arch, surrounded with his men of war, and adorned with trappings of gold and silver, but meek and lowly, sitting upon an ass, a colt, the foal of an ass. The richest car

pets he rode upon were made of the boughs of the trees, and the garments of the people; and they suited his humble appearance better than the richest tapestry. He was indeed a king; King of kings; but he appeared on earth only as king of his church; king of his saints; king of Zion.

And the multitude who went before, and the multitude who followed after, cried, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! These songs of praise were more pleasing to the blessed Jesus than all the honours they could give him; he came not to conquer his enemies, but to reign in the hearts of his people; not to save them from their enemies, but to save them from their sius. This was the kind errand upon which he came. Well might the people ery Hosanna! well might the children join in the song of praise to this compassionate Saviour! Surely, if these held their peace, the very stones would cry out for shame against them.

It was to your honour, Children, that you welcomed Jesus to his temple, while the scribes and priests were too proud to acknowledge him for their Saviour and their king.

When they saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? Jesus answered and said unto them, Yea, have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ?

You see Jesus was ready upon all occasions to show his love to you, the lambs of his flock; he would not suffer the scribes and priests to stop the infant mouths that were employed in his praise. It was foretold in Scripture, that you

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