16«
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S Tomorrow Bogins By BERTHA B. MOORE Bostic, N. C.
May, 1940
Today
B HE CHILDREN of today will be the men of tomorrow. The children of today will be the nation’s citizens tomorrow. The children of today will be the world’s missionaries tomorrow. Will' they be Christian men? ‘ Will they be desirable citizens? Will they be missionaries of the cross ? TOMORROW BEGINS TODAY! At the beginning, let us understand just what is meant by the term “ child.” For simplicity, the term will be used in its legal sense, that is, from the age of accountability to the* age of matur ity, or from approximately seven or eight years of age^to eighteen and twen ty-one. , " There are about 34,000,000 children in America between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. There must be many times that number between the ages of eight and sixteen. These, then, are tomorrow’s men and women.' The spiritual condition of America’s children is appalling. Statisticians tell us that there are 27,000,000 between the ages of sixteen and eighteen in “Chris tian” America who have no personal knowledge of the Bible as God’s holy Word.* What can be said of the greater army of younger children? j Are Children Lost? It is very old-fashioned and not at all modem to consider children as being lost. Children in hell? Poor little chil dren? One critic wrote, “I cannot think of hell for little children.” Hell was never meant as a place for the child, whether he is eight years old or eighteen. Hell is for the wicked and for the nations that forget God (Psa. 9:17), for the angels that sinned (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6), for "the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sor cerers, and idolaters, and all liars” who “shall have their part in the lake which bumeth with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 20:15), “and the devil that deceived them” who “was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are” where they “shall be tormented^ day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). Could a child be included in this list? Yes! *An estimate based on survey made by Chicago authorities.
Oh, not a little child! Little children need to be growing happily, without having their young minds troubled about their spiritual condition. They need to be thinking about athletics, dolls, school, play, fun. Later is time enough for -spiritual development. That is what you may think,. But thinking never changes facts. The Saviour’s Love for Little Children The Cord Jesus Christ, loved the little children. He said, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of . such is the kindgom of 'God” (Lk, 18:16). Then He took them hi His arms .and blessed them. Had they been grown children, in their teens, it is not likely that He would have gathered them into His arms and held them so lovingly. He might have placed His hands upon their heads and blessed them, but the Bible tells us He took them in His arms. Some may Say that it .is not right to frighten a child into the kingdom of God, that the fright might wear out. The child might actually have never understood enough to have been saved. It is not the child who needs fright ening: It is the adult Christian who is Standing in rthe way of the child’s sal vation who needs a vision of hell, a hell where it is possible for a child to be admitted because he is an unbe liever and has rejected the Lord Jesus as surely as an adult might have re jected Him. , Jesus loved the children. He is the same Jesus yesterday, today, and for ever.- He still loves- the children. It is through loving Jesus that the child should be won. I am speaking of little children, and you may ask, “How young?” The age of accountability varies with the child. Some children can discriminate right from wrong when they are very young. The child’s nature, his environment, his training, his moral capacity—a ll. have an influence upon the age at which he becomes accountable.
Although the truth may be unpleas ant to us, it is a fact nevertheless that children who have reached the age of responsibility are lost unless they have Christ in their hearts. Satan would make us,adults believe that our darlings are -too sweet and tender to be lost, that the Lord Jesus is too loving and kind to punish innocent little ones. Jesus is loving and kind. In infancy, He covers the baby’s inherited sinful nature with His shed blood. The baby makes no resistance. But the child grows in wisdom and stature and in the will to resist. When the child reaches an age when he can recognize right from wrong, when he is old enough to be reasoned with, he is old enough to be saved. He is old enough to be lost! It is for him that the Lord Jesus died on the cross—for him as much as for the most hardened adult sinner. The child may not be steeped in sin, but he sins. Isn’t lying din? Isn’t stealing sin?- One may say that this behavior is' only natural with the child. Just because it is natural, there is need for Jesus to overcome that natural, sinful nature. As adult Christians, let us open our eyes and look upon this great army of unsaved children |in America and claim them for the Lord Jesus. America has one challenge after another flung at her today, 'but the most important challenge that she has is the winning of her lost youth, her lost children, for Christ. If the young men and women of to morrow must face the grave situations that the adults of today are facing, if they are still farther away from the Lord than is this generation that is making such tremendous efforts to make wrong right, what will be the end of it all?. Shall we take Russia or Germany or Italy as an example? We need to wake up and behold the downward march of America’s vast army of unsaved children. - Don’t tell them of hell. Tell it to yourself. Teach the child to love the Lord Jesus, to hate sin, to receive Christ, to desire to please Him because He gave His life for him. Winning the Child in the Home The very best place in the entire na tion for the child to be won for the Lord Jesus is in his own home! It is strange, but true, nevertheless,. that it .4, T Continued on Page .1951
“ Believe on the L o r d J e s u s Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy «house” (Acts 1 6 :3 1 ).
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs