Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-12
CHILDREN HAVE
GREAT INFLUENCE
POSSESS MORE POWER THAN
PARENTS
Rev. Frank Dewitt Talmage Believes
Reform Must Begin with Younger
Generation to Accomplish
Great Good

Great Good
Rev. Frank Dewitt Tolmage preached
the following sermon yesterday:
Instead of seeking the richest fields,
God Is here telling us to SOW in the most
undesirable ones. Now. as I begin to
run over some of the most unpromising
regions for gospel seed planting, my
mind in the first place naturally turns
toward the child who Is born of disso-
lutte or degraded parents. oh, you say,
as you look at him, there Is no use
wasting anything upon that boy. He
was born of bad mother His father
was divorced from her on account of
her fragrant sins. She is never at home.
You might as well try to change
leopard's spots as to overcome the
parental taint in his blood Or you say
What's the use? That boys father is
a drunkard and an infdel. He daily
SCOTS at the Bible. Any good seed we
might SOW in that child's heart would
be rooted out in a night by the ridicule
of his parent Yes, Sunday school
teacher. ! know how discouraged you
are over that boy. But do not despair
Go on sowing you gospel seed in that
child's heart whenever you have an
opportunity. Christ will look after the
result. The gospel harvests in that life
will surely come. Do you not recall the
divine promise given to us in Eccle-
siastes, Cast thy bread upon the wa
ters"? That means, Cast thy seed in
the unpromising fields, for thou shalt
find it after many days
And why should we not cast the
gospel seed upon the child heart? Have
you a right to say that any child can
not be led to Jesus Christ until you have
tried to lead him there, not only seven
, times seven, but seventy times seven?
A child's heart seems to me to be like
the desert of Arizona. Now there are
two kinds of desert There is the desert
of sand and rock like that of Sahara.
You might as we'll expect a dotted
sieve to hold water as such desert
You can pour rivers upon rivers into
it and have shower after shower de-
scend upon ii, and those waters will al
most instantly disappear. 1t would take
centuries upon centuries of foundations
to change the Sahara sands into the
rich soil of a harvest field.
But such a desert as that is not to
be compared to the Arizona desert.
There the lands are rich beyond all
human computation in all the elements
! that are essential to develop vegetable
! life. You could grow wheat there. You
| could grow corn there. You could grow
! orchards there. You could grow the
most exquisite of flowers there, If you
only had water. Travellers will tell
you that when the short rainy seasons
! come to the Arizona desert it Will be
literally covered with wild flowers ano
the richest of grasses will spring uI
as If by magic l never cross the Ari-
zona desert but every sage bush, every
bare mound. every inch of parched
soil seem to cry out to me this one SEN
Give me water and / will cover these
/ wide eXpanses with farm lands. Give
! me drink and / will feed multitudes
| of people who will not only dig gold out
of yonder mountains but cover these
prairies with harvests and orchards
worth far more than the minerals
buried in my depths. Water! Water!
| oh, give me water and then let the
| starving people come and fill them
selves with my abundance. Thus l feel
7 when i look off upon a great commu-
| nifty, with it's many children. There L
do not find rocky hearts, stony hearts,
flinty hearts, which cannot be touched
by a Savior's love. But, like the Ari-
zona plains, / find rich soil just ready
/ for the gospel showers. Give the child
! chance for God. Sow the gospel seed
| In the homes where the parental life
! is not what it should be. Christ will
look after the result. The harvest will
surely come for his glory. Dare you
deny that Gods promises are true?
Cast thy bread upon the unpromising
fields, and thou shalt find it after many
days
AYE, not only has a. little child infiu-
ence, but 1 sometimes think children
have a greater influence upon the
parental lives than the older folks.
LET me open fo-sa a moment the door
of your home. For whom do you chiefly
/ living? I think your chief desire Is for
your children. You may say to your
wife: No, Mary, I will not allow that.
The children must not CO. But after
the supper is over your little daughter
climbs up into your lap and begins to
talk. The first thing you know you
have not only consented for her to do
what you said she might not do, but
you have consented to let her take you
along. 'Oh, john your wife says, those
babies can twist you about their little
fingers. You have no mind of your own
when they are about You answer: Not
at all. Not at all. l always make them
do what I feel best But tell me hon.
estly-the children are not listening
do you not live for them? Do they not
lead you anywhere they will by the
string of love? Now, my friends. If your
children have such an influence over
you, your neighbor's children have just
as much influence over him. Remember
this fact, If you win child of worldly
parents to Christ that child, In all prob
ability, will lead the parents to Christ
also. oh, my brother. are not these
gospel prizes worth striving for? The
easiest way to get Christ into a worldly
door of child's heart. Cast thy bread
upon the ehild's life and thou shalt find
1t after many days."