Third, a book, that is this book, the Bible.  If you wish to buy an up-to-date book of fiction it will cost you anywhere from $1.00 to $3.00.  But here is a book, the most popular, the most wonderful book that was ever written.  You can buy a Bible for a few pennies, and if you do not have the pennies there is a great Bible Society that will give you a copy, that none may be without the Word of Life.

Finally, the things that are cheapest and best are the things of the soul, the spiritual ministries and influences of life.  They are worship, communion, faith, hope, prayer and love.  No one stands at yonder door and demands a dollar of you as you enter.  The seats in this church are free to rich and poor, aged and young.  These free seats typify the salvation that is here proclaimed.

MEMORY VERSE, Isaiah 55:  1

    “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that
    hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.”

MEMORY HYMN [304]

    "I heard the voice of Jesus."

IN THE DARK

I have here what are commonly known as Chinese lilies.  Two weeks ago they were only two or three inches high.  Now they are between two and three feet.  How rapidly they have grown!  I How can we account for it?  I can give one reason.  It is because they had adequate preparation.  The bulbs from which these lilies grew were kept in the dark for ten days.  There, in the dark, they stored up strength and energy for the work that was before them.

Many years of our Saviour’s life were spent in obscurity.  They were years when, as far as the world is concerned, he was in the dark, preparing for the great work of his public ministry.  My dear young people, do not be fretful over the days and years you have to go to school.  They are not simply days of waiting, they are days of preparation.

Again, these lilies come from dark and humble surroundings.  Here is a very plain dish.  In the dish are a few ordinary stones; picked up in our yard.  Water is poured upon the stones.  Among these stones the lily bulbs take root.  Girls and boys, it does not matter a great deal what sort of a home you have, if only it is a good home.  John Wesley’s youth was hid away in a poor Methodist parsonage.  Abraham Lincoln was born and grew up in the dark and humble surroundings of a log cabin.  Our Saviour himself was born in a manger, and his boyhood home was far from being a palace.  Make the best of what you have and all will be well.  God will take care of you and bring you out of the darkness.

How fragrant these lilies are!  Faith, hope, love, patience, strength and truth, these fragrant qualities of life often grow best in the dark.  May our good Father make your life fragrant is my prayer.

MEMORY VERSE, Psalm 139:  12