No. 23.

THE CHILD WHO DIED
AND LIVED AGAIN.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "PEEP OF DAY."

LONDON:

JOHN HATCHARD AND SON.

1848.

[Pg 1]

THE CHILD WHO DIED AND
LIVED AGAIN.

Did you ever see a person who was dead? Perhaps you have seen one of your own brothers or sisters lying on a [Pg 2] death-bed. What a change takes place when we die! No more breath comes out of the mouth, no colour is seen on the cheeks; the eye can look at us no longer, nor the tongue speak to us; the body soon grows cold and stiff; it has no more feeling than the ground on which we tread. And why? Because the soul is gone out of the body. While the soul or spirit is in us we are alive, but when it is gone out then we are dead. The soul can never die, but the body is only made of dust, and it soon crumbles away and becomes dust again.

No one can make a dead person alive again. Yet once there was a man in this world who made dead people alive. Who was that man? He was called Jesus; he was not only a man, he was God too; he was the Son of God. Most people would not believe that he was the Son of God, [Pg 3] though he said he was. Yet we are sure he said true, for if he had been a wicked man he could not have made dead people alive again. God his Father was with him, and this was the reason he did such wonderful things.

One day a rich man came to Jesus, and fell down at his feet, and begged him to come to his house. He said, "My little daughter is dying." He was very unhappy, he loved his little girl very much, and she was his only child. His name was Jairus, but I do not know the name of his little girl. I do know her age, she was twelve years old. The father thought that if Jesus only put his hands upon her he could make her well.

The Son of God was very kind to people in trouble. He went with the father, and a great crowd followed him. As he went along the road, he was pressed on [Pg 4] every side by those who wanted to see him and to hear what he said.

Before he reached the sick man's house, some people came and said to the father, "Your daughter is dead." They told him it was now of no use for Jesus to come. They little knew what he could do; but Jesus said to the father, "Do not be afraid, she shall be made well."

When he came to the house, he only allowed three of his friends to come in with him. Their names were Peter, James, and John. There was a great noise and bustle in the house; there were men playing music, and people weeping and crying out with loud voices because the girl was dead. When Jesus came into the room where she was lying, he said to these people, "Why do you make this noise? The girl is not dead, she [Pg 5] only sleeps." Then they began to laugh at him, for they knew the child was dead. Why did Jesus say she slept? Because she was soon to be made alive. Her death was like sleep.

Jesus would not let the people who mocked, stay in the room, but he let the girl's father and mother be there, and his own three friends. There were just these five in the room with him when he went to the bed and took hold of the girl's hand and said, "Girl, I say unto thee, arise." Immediately her spirit (or her soul) came again into her body. Then she was alive. She was now quite well; she was not weak now, as she had been; she got up out of her bed and walked about. Then Jesus desired that something might be given her to eat. Her parents were very much surprised. They had been afraid that Jesus would not be [Pg 6] able to make her alive. They did not know he could do everything. He made all our bodies and gave us souls, and one day he will call all the dead people out of their graves.

I wonder whether that young girl loved Jesus. She was old enough to understand what he said. At twelve years old children can understand almost as well as men and women can; they learn more quickly, and remember better. Though they love play still, they have a great deal of sense. Some children at twelve years old begin to take great pains with their learning; then they get on very fast. Some begin to be very useful; they can do more now than take care of the baby or run upon errands, and often they get places as servants. If they are steady, and tell no lies, they are trusted and get on well in the world.

[Pg 7] Some children at twelve years old begin to think about their souls and to say, "What would become of me if I were to die?" They go and hear sermons, and they can understand them. They look in the Bible, and they can understand a great deal which they read. Then some begin to pray and to say, "Merciful God, give me thy Holy Spirit, for the sake of Jesus Christ."

But there are some who at twelve years old will mind their parents no longer. They say, "We are not little babies now, we will do as we please." They forget all the kindness their parents have shown them for twelve years, and they forget the words that God has spoken, "Honour thy father and thy mother."

You can read the history of the daughter of Jairus in your Bible in Mark [Pg 8] v. verses 23, 24, and 35 to end; Luke viii. 41, 42, and 49 to end.

THE DYING CHILD.

THE END.

Macintosh, Printer, Great New-street, London.

[Pg 9]
[Pg 10]

PRAYER.