To those who are struggling, however weakly, to do what is right He says, “I know thy works.  Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and none can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name.  Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation.”

And to those who mourn for those whom they have loved and lost He says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.  He that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.”

For every one of us, according to his character and his needs, Christ speaks a fitting word from God, because He is The Word of God; and every word which He speaks to us is true, and sure, and eternal, according to the laws of God His Father.  For He is The Word who endures for ever in heaven; and though heaven and earth may pass away, His words cannot pass away.

Yes; Christ The Word speaks to all:  but most of all to children:  to the children, of whom He said—­“Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not;”—­of whom He said to grown-up people, not—­Except these children be converted and become as you—­He left that message for the Pharisees of His own time, and of every age and creed:  but—­Except you grown people be converted and become as little children, you, and not they, shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Let us tell children that—­that Christ Himself is speaking to them.  That The Word of God is educating them.  That the Light who lightens every man who comes into the world is labouring to enlighten them, their intellect and memory, their emotions and their consciences.  Let that be the ground of all our education of children.  Then it will matter little to us who teaches them what is miscalled secular knowledge.  For we shall tell our children—­In it, too, Christ is teaching you.  The understanding by which you understand the world about you is Christ’s gift.  The world which you are to understand is Christ’s world; for He laid the foundation of the earth, and it abideth.  The physical laws of the universe are Christ’s laws; for all things serve Him, and continue this day according to His ordinance.  Every natural object is a result of Christ’s will, and its organization a product of Christ’s mind; for without Him was not anything made that was made.  The whole course of events, great and small, is Christ’s providence; for to Him all power is given in heaven and earth.  So far, therefore, from being afraid to teach our children Natural Science, we shall hold it a sacred duty to teach it; for it is the will and mind of Christ, The Word of God.