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SERMON OUTLINES
city they unbared a great temple, in which had been both a library and a school. There they found a multitude of books' written, not on paper or wood or skins,'but on clay. The writing was made with a fine pointed tool, and afterwards the clay, was hardened. Among the different clay books in the temple they discovered some little slabs that were very badly written, and on which the same word appeared over and over again. Just as in the chil dren’s copy-books, so on these old books of clay the same word was repeated. This was perplexing, but soon the excavators understood what they had found. This part of the temple had been a school; children or young men had learned to write there, 'and there were their copy-books. Here, then, is the copy written by a lad who was careless; his mistakes^ are £till to be read. Here, too, is the work of one who was careful, and see how his handwriting improved. These clay tablets are four thousand years old at least, and they are in our hands today. Perhaps the careless lad thought, “This clay tablet will soon crumble- and will be thrown away;” but after four thousand years the marks of his carelessness are as plain as ever. Dear boys and girls, our thoughts, our words, our deeds are recorded just as clearly; if delayed ten thousand years, they would meet us some day. That is why you must pray earnestly that your lips may be pure, your hearts kind, your words good. That is why you must seek the Lord Jesus, that you may be pardoned and strength-
A Children’s Sermon—Pictures in the Sand or in the Clay? When at the seaside, have you ever noticed men who do drawings on the moist sand? Very clever drawings they often are—of churches, or of castles, or even of people’s faces. But very speedily the tide comes up and washes out the lines, and they vanish away; or, even before the waves- wash out the marks, people walk* across them, and the sun shines upon them, and the pictures alter and fade away. Per haps you feei that your, thoughts and words pass away just as swiftly as such pictures in the sand; but it is not so. In various ways we are reminded that the marks men’s lives make endure for thousands of years, though the men hacLno intention of doing anything particular. In Suffolk there is a valley where the Romans used to live and work. Some tiles which they made out of clay nearly two thousand years ago are still to be found, and on one of these tiles can be clearly seen the mark of the hobnails of the shoe or sandal of a Roman soldier or citizen. He did not dream that any body would ever notice his footprint when he walked carelessly over the soft clay, but there the mark of his shoe is preserved till this day. On another tile can be seen the prints of a dog’s paw, and on another those of a bird’s claws; after two thousand years they are as distinct as if made yes terday. Perhaps you have heard, too, about the recent excavations in Babylonia. In one
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