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No. 435 IV. SERIES.
THE BROKEN BOUGH.
Revised by the Committee of Publication of the American Sunday-school Union.
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. PHILADELPHIA: 146 Chestnut Street.
THE BROKEN BOUGH.
Revised by the Committee of Publication, of the American Sunday school Union.
_PHILADELPHIA_: AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, No. 146 Chestnut Street.
THE BROKEN BOUGH.
"What a beautiful afternoon it is!" said little Charles to his brotheron a fine Sunday in the month of May, as they both rose from theirseat in the class to return home. "It is, indeed," replied John, as hepeeped through the old casement window of the school, and saw thepretty lambs feeding in the broad green meadow in the distance; "itis, indeed, and a fine walk we shall have in the orchard, too."
Now, little Charles loved his school and his teacher also; but thethought of going home had its own peculiar charms, for he loved hisdear father and mother, and his little sister Jane: and now hethought, "I shall soon be home, and tell them all that my teacher hastold me." Indeed, the children in the class had spent a very happyday; for Mr. Fulton, their teacher, was so kind, and took such painsto make the lessons plain, that all his scholars loved his company;some of them even said that they had never seen the beauties that werein the Bible until he taught them.
They had been repeating that afternoon those verses in the 15thchapter of John's gospel, in which the Saviour compares himself to avine, and his disciples to the branches. As the orchards were all infull blossom, Mr. Fulton reminded his scholars of the beautiful changewhich had taken place in the appearance of the trees within the lastfew weeks. He said, that though their growth and beauty arose partlyfrom the vegetable life which God had given them, and partly from thesun's warm rays, and gentle dews and showers, yet that both their lifeand growth must be attributed to God.
When they had done reading Mr. Fulton said, "You see, my dearchildren, that the vine is intended to represent the Redeemer, theLord Jesus Christ; through whom spiritual life is conveyed to hispeople, who are as the branches in the vine. Let me impress this truthupon your minds, that they who are made partakers of this life, are asmuch dependent on Christ to maintain its existence, as the branch isdependent on the vine for continued nourishment and support."
It is delightful to a teacher to find that his scholars are attentive;and Mr. Fulton was much pleased by a remark from John, who said, "Ithink, sir, the trees seem to explain the observation which you madethis afternoon, that all the followers of Christ love to follow hisexample, and may be known by their fruit or conduct; for, sir, I seethat all the branches of a tree bear the same kind of blossoms, andthose of each sort of tree differ from all others." "That is quitetrue," said Mr. Fulton: "I am glad you notice these things; for theyare both pleasing and instructive. But there is another lesson whichmay be gathered from the trees, and it is this, that although thebranches differ much in size and strength, and therefore very much inthe number of the blossoms seen upon them, yet the smallest will go onincreasing until it may, in time, become very large. Thus you, thoughnow so young, and like the tender twigs upon the trees, with here andthere a blossom, will, I trust, as years roll on, grow up both strongand fruitful in the ways of God."
Their teacher was about to say something more on the same subject, butthe school-bell rang to prepare for an address: the children then putby their Bibles, and stood up to sing that pretty hymn:
"How sweet the precious Saviour's words. What solid joy this truth affords To those who early pray; They shall the heavenly boon obtain, And Jesus and his favour gain, Who walk in wisdom's way."
After the address, they sang another hymn, and then the school wasclosed with prayer.
It was at this time that little Charles and John began theconversation I have mentioned, about their walk in the orchard ontheir way home; and as Mr. Fulton overheard them, and had beeninterrupted in his remarks by the ringing of the school-bell, he thusaddressed them: "My dear boys, as I am going up the green lane towardsyour father's house, we will all walk through the orchard together;and perhaps I may there find something to supply a better explanationof this day's lesson, than I have yet given you."
The little boys were both much pleased with Mr. Fulton's offer, andwishing their school-fellows good-by, set off with him towards theirhome.
As they walked through the meadows, and saw the young lambs feedingwith their flocks, and noticed their shepherd who watched them, Mr.Fulton called their attention to the language of King David in Ps.xxiii., where he speaks with such confidence in the Divine protectionand care, and says, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." Now,as both John and Charles seemed to be much pleased when their teacherreferred them to this very beautiful psalm, he proceeded to say, "Yousee, my dear boys, that every one of the sheep in the flock is equallythe object of the shepherd's care; and there is not a lamb, howeveryoung or weakly, but he is anxious for its safety. Just so, the Lordis the Shepherd and Keeper of his people; for it is said of him, 'Heshall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs withhis arm, and carry them in his bosom,' (Isa. xl. 11;) and if you arehis disciples, he will protect you as the lambs of his flock."
Here Charles, who had seen some of the lambs pass through an openingin the hedge, and wander from the fold unseen by the shepherd, said tohis teacher, "But the lambs of Christ's flock must be more secure thanthese, sir; for this shepherd cannot see all his flock at once,although he may wish to do so: but you told us, last Sunday, thatthose who love the Saviour, however young or poor, are each as muchthe object of his care, as if there were no others in the world." "Iam very glad to find you remember that remark," said his teacher;"for, as you grow up in life, you may find it a comfort to think, withJacob,'He knoweth the way that I take;' and to adopt the language ofDavid as your own,'I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thyservant: for I do not forget thy commandments.'" Ps. cxix. 176.
By this time they had again entered the green lane, from which theyhad departed to pursue the path across the meadow; and having goneover the stile by the village church, they entered the orchard throughwhich Charles and John had expected such a pleasant walk.
I do not wonder at their wishing to go home that way, for the trees wereall so full of beautiful pink and white blossoms, and the birds sang sosweetly as they hopped from twig to twig, or fluttered on the branches,that you could not have been there without rejoicing with them.
It was not long before Mr. Fulton invited the attention of hisscholars to a little apple tree, on every twig of which were buds andblossoms. The two little boys, on seeing it, cried out together, "O,what a beautiful tree!" to which their teacher replied by saying, "AndI hope you will be like it." This remark surprised them both,especially little Charles, who looked at his teacher as if he wouldinquire, "How can I be like this tree?" He was not kept long waiting,however, for Mr. Fulton, observing his astonishment, explained himselfby saying, "I wish that, as this little tree has so early put forthblossoms, so you both, my dear boys, may begin, while young, to showthat you are His, who said, 'I love them that love me, and those whoseek me early shall find me.'" Prov. viii. 17.
As they walked onward, the grass beneath the trees was strewed in someplaces with blossoms, which the recent thunder-storm had broken off;and whilst the little boys stooped to pick up some of them,exclaiming, "What a pity! what a pity!" their teacher availed himselfof that opportunity, also, to teach them a lesson. "It is a pity,"said he; "for each of them mi
ght have become a fine rosy apple; butthey will not have fallen off in vain, if we learn this truth from thecircumstance, that death sometimes calls away those who have scarcelyyet begun to live to God. But it is cheering to see a young treepromising to be fruitful; and it is much more pleasing to see youngpersons likely to bear the fruits of wisdom and goodness."
"I remember, sir," said John, "that last year our pear tree was fullof blossoms; but father said the blight had killed them." "Yes, mydear boy," said Mr. Fulton, "storms, and tempests, and blights alsofrequently disappoint our fondest expectations: so also there aremoral blights, as I have sometimes told you in the class at school.You both remember poor George King, the orphan boy; how well he saidhis lessons, and how serious and attentive he was; but when his piousmother died, he fell into bad company, and is now a sad evidence thatthose who associate with the wicked have turned their backs upon theways of God. O, then, flee from bad people, bad books, and bad scenes,as from that which will blight the best interests of your souls."
Their teacher had never had such a happy opportunity of conversingwith them until now, and as they both seemed to look upon the treesaround them as so many objects from which instruction might begathered, he proceeded to point out a circumstance which had beforeescaped their notice; it was this, that where the branches had beensheltered from the passing tempest, there all the blossoms wereunhurt. "Now," said Mr. Fulton to his young companions, "whilethinking of our Saviour's language in this day's lesson, 'I am theVine, ye are the branches,' we may learn not only that the life of oursouls must be drawn from him, but that if we bring any fruit toperfection, it is the result of his most gracious and protecting care."
At this moment, Mr. Fulton's attention was drawn to one of the largesttrees in the orchard, which seemed to surpass all the others in thebeauty and abundance of its blossoms; but the boisterous winds hadbroken off a fine bough, one end of which lay spread upon the grass,whilst the other continued hanging by a long strip of bark which ithad torn away in falling. It must have been some time in thissituation; for the tree was not only full of blossoms, but was puttingforth its green leaves in every direction, whilst, on this poorbranch, there was not a trace of either bud or blossom; but it hungupon the ground both dry and dead.
This was too striking an object to be passed by without anobservation; therefore their teacher immediately availed himself ofit, to explain that part of the chapter which his scholars had beenlearning, in which the Saviour says "If a man abide not in me, he iscast forth as a branch, and is withered."
He felt very anxious also to impress upon their minds that truereligion does not consist in being called a Christian, or in anyoutward distinction; but that it is a living principle in the heart.
"Without the fruit the Lord expects, Knowledge will make our state the worse; The barren trees he still rejects, And soon will blast them with his curse."
"Now," said Mr. Fulton, "you see, my dear boys, that the broken boughhas no life, because it is severed from the tree, and therefore getsno sap or moisture from the root. And as our Lord remarks, 'The branchcannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;' so thebroken bough has not a bud or blossom, whilst the tree is full ofboth. You see then that there must be life and union, or there can beno fruitfulness; and as the root supplies the living sap to all thebranches, so Jesus is the source of life to all his people. It is yourblessing, my dear boys, to have godly parents; but do not think thatthis will prove a substitute for true religion in your own souls. Seehow the bough hangs to its parent tree by the strip of bark; it istrue, they are not altogether parted; but, whilst the tree is living,the broken bough is dead. Learn, then, that without an interest inChrist and union to him, you must perish. No Christian relatives cansave you; their life is drawn from him, but they cannot give that lifeto you. It is possible you may have thought yourselves almostdisciples, because you have kept company with those who are such; butthis fellowship, so long as you keep your hearts from Christ, is onlylike the strip of bark which holds the broken bough; no life flowsfrom it. Let us then, on parting, each go home, and pray to Him who'quickeneth whom he will,' (John v. 21,) to make us indeed livingbranches of the true vine."
A HYMN.
Another fleeting year Has fled and passed away, Since we were taught to worship here, On this most holy day.
Years hurry quickly by, And we are fading too; And soon the year when we shall die, Will come upon our view.
If we are ready then, For us it will be well; Removed from this low earth of pain, With God in heaven to dwell.
Transcriber's Note
* Obvious punctuation errors repaired.