XIII-Here pick up green cloth. This represents the jealous anger of the elder brother who knows all about his downfall, and stayed outside and grumbled about the past sins of his brother, and the fact that never was a fatted calf slain for him that he might make merry with his friends also. His Father pleads with him, and since we hear nothing about this elder brother again, we would conclude that he went in and joined in the festivities of his brother's return. The Father's love had conquered both of his sons.
XIV—Here take red cloth, and cover the green with it for the Father's love (red) had conquered the jealousy (green) of his son's heart.34
XV—Here pick up white cloth—the white stands for peace, which was now in the dear old home. Peace which we believe was also in the elder brother's heart. Peace which we know was in the Father's heart, and in the heart of the Prodigal, who had exchanged his rags for the glad robe of eternal salvation. As they all hang upon the line, remember the lesson, and ask the class to tell you what each rag stands for. You can, if you so desire, in place of hanging them on a line, place them on the furniture of the pulpit. The matter of using cloth, muslin or silk or any other substance, is left to the convenience and judgment of the teacher. Even colored papers can be used in place of the rags. In that case name the lesson "The Prodigal Son in Scraps of Paper." Place these scraps in a waste basket and from that place of cast-off things, produce them as you desire.
CHAPTER XX
WHAT CAN TAKE AWAY MY SINS?
Objects used: Large transparent jar of clear water; a small quantity of oxalic acid; some powdered ox gall; a quantity of tincture of iron; a small cluster of flowers; a few coins; a dictionary, It is a lesson with chemical effects.
WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SINS?
A Chemical Talk
PLACE on the table a large jar of plain untinted glass; fill it two-thirds full of water and before the class assembles drop in a few drops of tincture of iron. This receptacle we will call the Human Heart. Secure a two-ounce bottle, paint it red, in which you place a strong solution of oxalic acid. You cannot get this solution too strong. This represents the Blood. Secure a third bottle and paint it black. In this place some powdered nut galls. This represents Sin. On the table have,—a silver coin, a music box, a cup of pure water. These you will use in the body of the lesson later. Announce that you will choose a text for your talk this time and it will be found in I John 1:17. "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Call attention to the large jar which represents the Human Heart. To all appearance it looks as pure as a lily. There seems to be nothing in it to make it evil. It does not look like evil. So it often happens that the evil in us, does not always show on the surface, but is hidden away in our heart. It was born in us. All men are not born sinners, but born in sin, and later on, that sin manifests itself, and we begin to choose evil in preference to the right, and that makes us sinners. The seed of sin was hidden deep in the heart. The jar apparently pure has in it a hidden property no eye can see, but it is there and when evil gets in it finds a response from that hidden power and at once the apparently pure water has turned black with sin. I now pour a few drops from the black bottle, the evil bottle, into the jar. Even these few drops seem to be clear and white also, but when I drop them into the jar of water, all is blackened because the apparent cleanness was only on the surface. "There is a way that seemeth right in the eyes of men, but the ways thereof are the ways of death." You can now talk about things which men do which they say are not bad. They look all right, that is true, but when they enter the soul, they soil it, and sin is supreme. What shall I do to get rid of my sin? What can take away my sin? Can I purchase my salvation? Let us see. Now cast in the jar a number of silver coins, and say these will bring me the white again, but the blackness is yet there, showing that salvation cannot be bought with silver or gold. Can education or refinement take away sin? Let us see. Place over the top of the jar a number of school books to represent education. Of course you see the water is yet black, because you cannot make a black heart clean by learning. Will music take away my black sin? Let us see. Place a music box on top of the jar, and let the music sound forth, but you note the heart is still black and will remain black notwithstanding the finest music of the world. Shall I say the power of the mind can take the blackness away? Let us see. I will say to myself "There is no blackness in this jar. It is a mental delusion. I am mistaken. I don't see black, and if I continue so to do long enough the black will disappear to the eye for it was never there. It was a mental defect to say it was there." All of this sort of thinking would never change the contents of the jar. Can beauty take away the black? Let us see. Cast in now a few flowers. The most beautiful things God has made. Will the handful of beauty take the blackness away? This beauty can never do. What will do it? What is the soul's cry? What can take away my sins? Here produce the red bottle. "The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin." Pour a few drops or more from the red bottle into the jar. Continue to pour it in until the water is made white again. Behold! the blackness of despair has disappeared. The Blood has taken away the sin forever. Before you put the drops of black into the jar, take out a small glass full of the black water and place it down on the table and after the water has been cleared up say "When the blood of Christ takes away our sin, He keeps us when tempted to go black again." To illustrate that truth, pick up the small glass of black water, and say "This represents temptation, and it seeks to get back into the soul again and make it black with sin as before." Pour the contents into the jar but you notice that at once there is a power in the purified water in the jar to resist all temptation and the black does not blacken the water again. The effect of the illustration will be made more striking if you put two or more lighted candles back of the jar. By rehearsal in private, work out the necessary proportions of these chemicals so they will work out correctly when you use them before your audience. Be very careful and keep these chemicals away from the reach of the children as some of them are deadly poisons.