28(i 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1. 



come forward. Then I thought of my little 

 text—" O thon of little faith!" 



I lefi the anxious-seat and went back, and 

 pushed past the otlu'r boys until I came near A. 



"A., do you not believe that, if you and I 

 both should go forward to that anxious-seat, 

 and both take a start on the rock Christ Jesus, 

 we could get along together in our business re- 

 lations? Will you not come forward if I go 

 with you as I did with E.?" 



" Mr. Root," said he, "' I am ready to try it." 

 And then I kncnv he was in dead earnest. I led 

 him up, amid a general rejoicing. " Now, dear 

 friends, several temptations beset me at this 

 point. I have been getting older and steadier 

 within the past few years. I hope I have been 

 getting where God can consistently trust me 

 with spii'itual prosperity. But after twfj boys 

 had come right along with only a little exhor- 

 tation, it seemed to me that I was going to get 

 all of the bovs in that corner— yes. whole seats 

 full of them.' Well, I am not sure but that such 

 a thing )nki]it have been possible, if nothing but 

 Christ Jes'as had shone from my face when I 

 went back to talk with them. The third one 

 had started, and I thought he was coming for- 

 ward. Then he hesitated, and said that he was 

 afraid that he was rather young to take such a 

 step. I talked with several more; but the ex- 

 ample of one holding back had at least some 

 effect on staying the rest. I was like poor Pe- 

 ter when he stalled to walk on the water, and 

 iDegan to get a little vain of my succ(^ss. Now, 

 somebody may ask i-ight here. "'Mr. Root, why 

 do you take it for granted that it was a wise 

 thing or the best thing to ask those boys to 

 come forward, under the circumstances, espe- 

 cially the very young ones? Is it well to have 

 them make such a start without counting the 

 cost, and then have them give up and go back, 

 as so many of them do ?" 



Well, I have studied on this matter, and I 

 have prayed over it a good deal, and I have for 

 years watched the result on boys who have 

 thus started. " It (n well to have them start. 

 I never knew a boy to make such a start but 

 that it proved to be a safeguard and a protec- 

 tion round about liim. If he has been swearing, 

 the consciousness of having made such a public 

 promise is quite sure to keep him from it. Un- 

 less something extraordinai'y happens, the I'e- 

 sult of making such a start (in any of our 

 churches) has always been, so far as I know, 

 good and only qdoil ; and it almost always 

 proves the tui-ning-|)oint in the boy's life. It 

 often results in a complete change of compan- 

 ions and associates. The books he reads begin 

 to assume a (iilTerent character. His purposes 

 and desires at once begin to chiinge. He begins 

 to loiie righteous nesx and to hate ini<iulty.'" 



As we knelt at the anxious-seat, a whole long 

 row of us, a heavy responsibility began settling 

 down upon my poor self, and I began to pray 

 most earnestly. '' O Lord, help me to remember 

 the exceeding sacredness and solemnity of the 

 step I have taken to-night. These young 

 friends have given me their confidence; they 

 have decided to be guided by my wisdom, and 

 the future with them largely depends upon my 

 poor self. Is it possible that I shall forget this 

 sacred time and place, and be hai'sh and severe, 

 as I have been in times past, perhaps, when 

 these poor boys were doing tiie vei-y best they 

 knew how ? Lord, help me to have more char- 

 ity and more willingness to overlook mistakes; 

 and help me to keep in mind more constantly 

 the fact that I was a boy only a few brief yeai's 

 ago. Lord, help me in this most imT)ortant duty 

 that now devolves upon me, of '• feeding " and 

 ministering unto the precioiis " lambs" of thy 

 fold. Help me to be more patient: help me to 

 be more kind; and if it be indeed true that 



these (the lambs of thy fold) are looking to me 

 with more faith and confidence than toward 

 their pastor or relatives, O Lord, help me to be 

 worthy of this confidence they have seen fit tO' 

 repose in me. Help me to believe that, if they 

 do not liold out, it will be largely my own 

 fault." 



I felt at once, as soon as I began talking the 

 matter over with these boys, that thetj greatly 

 feared they might not hold out, or that tliey 

 might do something that would be inconsistent 

 with even a young follower of Christ: therefore 

 we were, as it would seem, standing on common 

 ground. I am older than they, and I have been 

 years in Christ's service; I am a teacher and an 

 exhorter. They look to me with confidence, 

 and wish my opinion in regard to this matter of 

 starting out to be a Christian; therefore it is 

 far more important that my example should be 

 good and wise and kind. I feel to-day, it seems 

 to me, as I never felt before, how much we need 

 grace from on high. Yes, I need it just exactly 

 as the boys need it, for more is required of me. 

 And it is not the boys alone that live here in 

 iVfetZirui, or that work at our factory who need 

 praying for. It is the boys all over the United 

 States of America; nay, wider still — the boys 

 all over the wide woi'ld — the lambs of the flock. 

 And the J)oys are by no means the only sbniej-s 

 concerned. The ministers have a responsibility 

 to bear, and the pai'ents and teachers. Jesus 

 said to Peter. " Feed my lambs." Now. there 

 are not only lots of lambs to b(^ fed. but there 

 ai'e lots of Peters who are doing the feeding. 

 May God help the Peters! May God help you 

 and me, my friends! 



I have been told that the children read these 

 Home Papers, and the young men: and I know 

 many pai'ents and spiritual teachers read them 

 also. In view of what I have said this morn- 

 ing, do you not, dear friends, all of you, feel the 

 responsibility and the need of a deeper work of 

 grace in your hearts? In view of this shall we 

 not pray ever so much more earnestly than we 

 ever have before, '■ Give us, O Lord, of thy Holy 

 Spirit that we may discharge well and faithful- 

 ly this office that we can not escape, and that 

 so continually devolves upon us. of feeding and 

 caring for the lambs of thy fold "? 



The next evening I succeeded, through Christ 

 Jesus, in bringing forward another of these 

 boys. But this was the close of the revival 

 meetings, and some way the boys had got a 

 start in this new life, and it did not seem best 

 to stop the meetings entirely: therefore two 

 more meetings were held the present week. 

 Th(>y were not so well attended as formerly, 

 but there were many young peo])le present. 

 The pastor invited me to talk 15 minutes the 

 last evening. Some way, when I planned my 

 talk those boys and the young people kept com- 

 ing up before me in my mind's eye again and 

 again. I chose for my "text, " The wages of sin 

 is death; but the gift of (iod is eternal life 

 through Jesus Christ our Lord." Before I be- 

 gan speaking, the pastor said something like 

 this: "Mr. Root, the people of Medina could 

 not liave paid you any higher compliment than 

 they have. See the youthful faces before you, 

 and especially a lot of boys who have come to 

 hear you talk. If we get the children we shall 

 have the parents by and by." At the close of 

 my talk, two more boys rose up and declared 

 before the congregation that it was their put'-, 

 pose to serve Christ Jesus henceforth and for 

 ever. 



At the close of the meeting the good pastor 

 called them all up around him; and by encour- 

 aging words, each boy rose to his feet, one after 

 another, and gave his testimony in a tew simple 

 words. Manv of these boys were so exceedingly 

 bashful and timid that it was a very great cross 



