Teaching children about death and the gospel

Wise parents look for opportunities to teach their children valuable lessons. What better time to teach a child about life and death and the world to come than in the days and months following the death of a family member or a close friend. We should be so zealous for our children’s souls that we point them to real and lasting comfort in the Savior. Instruct them in godliness and in the eternal blessings of those who die in Christ. Teach them this verse: “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be not more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Rev. 21:4). Then read them this story written by Bishop J.C. Ryle in the nineteenth century from his book The Two Bears and Other Addresses to Children. [You may listen with your children to this book being read on line.

Beloved children, I am going to tell you something which, I hope, will make you remember this verse as long as you live. I am going to tell you of three places about which the Bible says a great deal. It doesn’t matter much what we know about some places; but it matters much to know something about these three places.

There is a place where there is a great deal of crying. What is this place? It is the world where you and I live. It is a world full of beautiful and pleasant things. The sun shining by day and the stars by night; the blue hills looking up to heaven, and the rolling sea ebbing and flowing; the broad quiet lakes, and the rushing restless rivers; the flowers blooming in the spring, and the fields full of corn in autumn; the birds singing in the woods, and the lambs playing in the meadows-all, all are beautiful things. I could look at them for hours and say, “What a beautiful world it is!” But still it is a world where there is a great deal of crying. It is a world where there are many tears.

There was crying in Bible times. There is crying now all over the world. Little babies cry when they want something or feel pain. Boys and girls cry when they are hurt, afraid or corrected by their parents. Grown up people cry sometimes when they are in trouble, or when they see those die whom they love. Wherever there is sorrow and pain, there is crying.

You have seen people come to church all dressed in black. That is called being in mourning. Some family member or friend is dead, and therefore they dress in black. Well! remember when you see people in mourning, somebody has been crying. You have seen graves in churchyards, and have heard that when people die, they are buried there. Some of them are very little graves, not longer than you are. Well! remember that when those graves were made, and little coffins were let down into them, there was crying.

Children, did you ever think why there is all this crying? How it first began? Did you ever hear how weeping and tears came into the world? God did not make crying - that is certain. All that God made was “very good.” Listen to me and I will tell how crying began.

Crying came into the world because of sin - it is the cause of all weeping, and tears, and sorrow, and pain upon the earth. All the crying began when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and became sinners. It was sin which brought pain and sickness and death into the world. Sin brought into the world selfishness, unkindness, arguing, stealing and fighting. If there had been no sin, there would have been no weeping; no sin, not crying. See now, my beloved children, how much you should hate sin. All the unhappiness in the world came from sin. How can anyone take pleasure in sin? Do not do that! Watch against sin. Fight with it. Avoid it and don’t listen to it. Say to yourself every morning, “Sin caused crying, and so I will hate sin.”

So, children, do not look for perfect happiness in this world; you will not find it. The world is a place where there is much crying and things do not always go pleasantly. I hear many boys and girls talking of pleasures they will have when they are men and women. I am sorry for them when I hear them talking this way. I know they are mistaken. I know they will be disappointed. They will find when they grow up, that they cannot get through the world without many troubles and cares. There are no roses without thorns. There are no years without dark and rainy days. There is no living on earth without crying and tears.

There is a place where there is nothing but crying. What is this place? It is the place where all bad people go when they are dead. The Bible calls this place hell. There is no laughter and smiling; there is nothing but weeping. There is no happiness. Those who go there cry night and day without stopping. They never go to sleep and weak up happy. They never stop crying in hell.

Beloved children, I am sorry to tell you that there are many people going to hell. It makes me sad to say these things, and I cannot bear the thought of boys and girls going to the dreadful place where there is nothing but crying. My heart’s desire and prayer to God for you is, that you may not go there. So I want to know some things which you must think about. List to my questions. do you love Jesus Christ? You ought to love Him. He died for your sins upon the cross that He might save you from hell. He died that your sins might be forgiven. Dear children, think about this! Be careful. If you do not love Christ you are not in the right way.

Do you try to please Christ? You ought to do this. In the Bible you may read that Jesus Christ said, “If you love me, do what I command.” Think about this. If you are selfish or tell lies or fight with others, you are doing what He says not to do. Be careful so that you do not go to t he place where there is only crying.

Do you say your prayers? You should do this. Ask God to take care of you and help you to obey. If you never pray, your heart will soon be full of mischief and sin. I once heard of a boy who was given a little garden full of flowers. But he did nothing for it. He never raked it or pulled out the weeks. After a few weeks there were many weeds, and the flowers died. Dear children, think about this and ask God to put His Holy Spirit in your hearts and protect you from the devil.

Do you read your Bible? You should do so. That beautiful book is able to save your soul and keep you from going tot he place where there is nothing but crying. I once heard of a little boy in Africa who was sleeping with his father outdoors, near a fire. He awoke in the middle of the night and saw a great lion close to him. The lion was about to pounce on him, but the little boy took a stick out of the fire and put it in the lion’s face, and drove him away. Dear children, think about this! The devil is like a roaring lion. You must read your Bible if you would drive him away. If you do not read your Bible you will be in great danger.

There is a place where there is no crying at all. What is this place? It is heaven - the place where all good people go when they are dead. There all is joy and happiness. There are no tears. Sorrow and pain and sickness and death are not there. Nothing is there that will cause you any grief. Schools will be closed; there will be no more work. Heaven is an eternal rest for the people of God. There will be no more sickness in heaven. people who live there will not say “I am sick.” They will always be well. There will only be strength and health forevermore. There will be no sin in heaven. There will be no bad tempers, no unkind words, no hateful actions. The devil will not be allowed to come in and spoil the happiness. There will be nothing but holiness and love forevermore.

Best of all, there can be no crying in heaven because the Lord Jesus Christ is there. Everyone who goes to heaven will see His face and be with Him forever. He will take you in His arms and wipe away all tears from your eyes. With Him there will be fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

Dear children, do you want to go to heaven? We cannot always live in this world. A day will come when we must die, like the old people who have died already. Children, would you like to go there when you die? Then listen to me, and I’ll tell you the way you must go.

First, you must have your sins forgiven and your hearts made new and good. The only One who can do this for you is Jesus Christ. He can wash away your sins because He died for sinners. He can make your hearts new by putting the Holy Spirit in them. He is the Way and the Door into heaven. He has the keys in His hand. If you want to go to heaven, you must ask Jesus Christ to let you in. Pray and ask Him to prepare a place for you in heaven, to put your name in His book of life, and to make you a Christian. Ask Him to forgive all your sins and put His Spirit in your hearts. Ask Him to give you grace to make you good while you are young, and good when you grow up, so that you might be safe while you life, and happy forever when you die. Children, Jesus will do all this if you will only ask Him. He has done it for many other children already. Do not be afraid to ask Him. He was very kind to children when He was one the earth; ask Him to be kind to you. Say to Him, “Lord Jesus, save me.”

And now, children, I have told you of three places. I have told you of a place where there is nothing but crying. I hope you will not go there. I have told you of a place where there is not crying. I hope you will go there. I have told you of a place where there is a great deal of crying. That place is the world in which you are living. Now I wll tell you the best way to be happy here.

The happiest people in this world are the ones who read the Bible often. They believe the Bible. They love Jesus Christ, and they try to obey what the Bible commands. No one is more happy than these people. They may become sick or go through troubles, but they are patient. They are happy because the Bible is their best friend. Children, remember my last words. The way to get through this world with the least possible crying is to read the Bible, believe the Bible, pray over the Bible, live by the Bible. If you go through life this way, you will have the least crying in this world. And best of all, you will have no crying at all in the world to come.