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LIBRARY BOOKS: SERMONS FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULTS
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The Hail & Fire Books Library is a FREE online Christian resource for Christian books, Puritan, Reformed and Protestant exhortative works, Catholic and Protestant polemical and apologetical works, bibles, histories, martyrologies, and works on |
eschatology; in real text, PDF, and scanned image formats. By using the Hail & Fire Library you agree to the following. By using the Hail & Fire Library you agree to the following copyright notice. |
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"Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right." Proverbs 20:11
"Put away evil from your flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth." Ecclesiastes 11:10 - 12:1 "Take firm hold of instruction; do not let her go: keep her; for she is your life." Proverbs 4:13 |
In the words of Reformed preacher Charles H. Spurgeon
“Christian children mainly need to be taught the doctrine, precept, and life of the gospel: they require to have Divine truth put before them clearly and forcibly. ... If there be any doctrine too difficult for a child, it is rather the fault of the teacher's conception of it than of the child's power to receive it, provided that child be really converted to God. It is ours to make doctrine simple; this is to be a main part of our work. Teach the little ones the whole truth and nothing but the truth; for instruction is the great want of the child's nature.”And, in the words of Puritan preacher John Flavel, “for you that are parents, or to whom the education of children is comitted, I beseech you mind the duty which lies on you. ... For to what purpose do we desire them before we have them, rejoice in them when we have them, value them so highly, sympathize with them so tenderly, grieve for their death so excessively, if in the meantime no care be taken what shall become of them to eternity? ... If you neglect to instruct them in the way of holiness, will the devil neglect to instruct them in the way of wickedness? No, no, if you will not teach them to pray, he will teach them to curse, swear and lie. If ground be uncultivated, weeds will spring up."
American Sunday School Union (publisher)
Free Online Books:
History of the HuguenotsAn 1844 Edition history. Written for the American Sunday School Union (ASSU) and revised by the committee of publication.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: CHAPTER I: Dawn of the Reformation in France. Le Fevre and William Farel. Francis Angoulême and his sister. Count Briçonnet, Bishop of Meaux. Francis ascends the throne. Portions of the Scripture translated and distributed. Apostasy of Briçonnet. Persecution of his flock. Intolerant spirit of the court and ecclesiastics. Martyrdom of the Hermit of Livry. CHAPTER II: John Calvin. Marriages of Margaret to Henry D'Albret. Her writings. Expiatory procession instituted. Version of the Psalms. Calvin publishes his Institutes. Persecution of the Christians in Provence. Death of Francis I. Accession of Henry II. Influence of the Lorrain princes. Conversion of Admiral Coligny. Edict of Chateaubriand. Attack upon an assembly of Protestant worshippers. The Pré-aux-clercs. Five members of the Parliament committed to the Bastile. First National Synod of the Reformed. Death of Henry and accession of Francis II. Martyrdom of Dubourg. Catharine de Medicis. Protestants first called Huguenots. Death of Francis II. Accession of Charles IX. Outrages at Vassay. Beza. Persecutions increase. Death of the King of Navarre. Treatise of Amboise. Longjumeau, and St. Germains. Plot against Condé and Coligny. Bloody warfare. Catharine's new policy. Coligny and Jane of Navarre at the French court. Forebodings of the Huguenots. ...
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Hail & Fire Books
Hail & Fire Books is a resource for Protestant Christian, Reformed, and Gospel Theology in the works, exhortations, prayers, and apologetics of those who have maintained the Gospel and expounded upon the Scripture as the Eternal Word of God and the sole authority in Christian doctrine.
H&F Paperback Republications:
Gehazi, The Sinner Detected (Paperback)
A 2010 Illustrated Paperback Edition published by Hail & Fire. Newly Modernized, Revised, and Expanded from D. P. Kidder’s 1848 Sunday School Edition.
"What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26.)
Christian Sermon on Temptation and Secret Sins.
Although written for the instruction of children, this remarkably powerful Puritan style sermon proves to be as soul stirring an admonition to the young and old alike.
Using the Biblical story of Gehazi, servant of the prophet Elisha—2 Kings 5—this work methodically drives home the dangers of allowing temptation and sinful desire to take root within our hearts and entice us to sin. It carefully dissects the whole history of Gehazi, from the beginning of his covetous desire and enthusiastic resolution to sin, through the short lived success of his evil scheme, its detection and punishment. Special emphasis is placed upon the absolute necessity of repentance, a lively faith in Christ Jesus’ atonement, and the continuous sanctification of all those who truly believe and rely upon God.
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James, John Angell (1785-1859)
John Angell James was an English Congregational Minister and an ardent Abolitionist of Slavery. James served as a preacher at Carrs Lane Independent Chapel (1805) and was a founder of the Evangelical Alliance and Congregational Union of England and Wales. He was also a chairman of Spring Hill College in Birmingham.
Free Online Books:
The Marriage Ring: or How to Make a Happy Home
by John Angell James
An 1842 Illuminated Edition.
"Intended as a manual for those just entering the marriage state. ... The secret of happiness lies folded up in the leaves of the Bible, and is carried in the bosom of Religion. Let the two parties in wedded life be believers in Christ Jesus, and partake themselves of the peace that passeth understanding ... united by love, and sanctified by grace."
"The charms of mind increase by acquaintance, while those of the exterior diminish ... the former easily reconcile us to a plain countenance, the latter excite, by the power of contrast, a distaste. ... Instead of determining to stake our happiness upon ... blooming weeds ... let us ask, will the understanding, united with that countenance, render its subject fit to be my companion, and the instructor of my children?"
H&F Paperback Republications:
The Marriage Ring or How to Make Home Happy (Paperback)
by John Angell James
Featuring added footnotes and an additional sermon by John Owen
A 2010 Paperback Edition published by Hail & Fire: Modernized and edited from the 1842 Edition.
"As the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." - Ephesians 5:24-25.
An exhortation on Christian Marriage and its Duties.
The secret of happiness lies folded up in the leaves of the Bible and is carried in the heart of true religion. A good Christian cannot be a bad husband or father and, as this is equally true in everything, he who has the most piety will shine the most in all the relationships of life.
A Bible placed between man and wife as the basis of their union, the rule of their conduct, and the model of their spirit will make up for many differences between them, comfort them under many crosses, guide them through many straits, support them in their last sad parting from one another and reunite them in that happy world where they shall remain forever. Let the two parties in wedded life be believers in Christ Jesus and partake themselves of the peace that surpasses understanding. And if happiness is to be found on earth, it will be enjoyed within the hallowed circle of a family thus united by love and sanctified by grace.
BONUS SERMON - included at back of book:
Right to Divorce and Remarriage in the Case of Adultery by John Owen
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J. H. C.
Free Online Books:
Historical Tales for Young Protestants
prefaced by J. H. C.
Short historical tales, 1900's Edition, Religious Tract Society.
"Fact is as attractive as fiction, and is of much higher moral value. The pages of history contain incidents which equal in thrilling interest the most successful efforts of the human imagination. From its ample records, the following short stories, connected with the rise and progress of Scriptural Protestantism, have been selected. If it has been found necessary to advert to the dark deeds of the papacy, it is from the conviction that the principles and spirit in which they originated in former ages are not extinct in the present day. In supplying books for the young, it may be well to make them the means of fortifying their minds against soul-destroying error, and of establishing them in those great doctrines in the defence of which their forefathers suffered and died."
Young French Huguenot caught up in the persecution of the Protestant Christians in 1700 after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. At sixteen years of age he was imprisoned for the Reformed faith and when he would not convert to Catholicism, he was sentenced to slavery for life on the French Royal Galleys. After being freed through the intercession of the Protestant princes of Europe, he wrote his Memoirs recounting his experiences.
Free Online Books:
The Huguenot Galley Slaves. A Story for the Young
by Jean Martielhe
An 1882 Edition. As included in a history of the French Protestants by Johann Jacob Rambach (1693-1735), Published Originally in French (1759). Edited and abridged by Rev. Christian G. Barth, D.D. (1799-1862).
H&F Paperback Republications:
The Huguenot Galley Slaves (Paperback)
from the Memoirs of Jean Martielhe
Featuring additional footnotes and illustrations by Hail & Fire.
A 2011 Illustrated Paperback Edition published by Hail & Fire. Taken from the Memoirs of Jean Martielhe, as included in a history of the French Protestants by Johann Jacob Rambach (1693-1735). Published Originally in French (1759). Edited and abridged by Rev. Christian G. Barth, D.D. (1799-1862). Edited, updated, and footnotes and illustrations added by Hail & Fire. Translated from the German by Constance Cheyne Brady. Preface from the 1914 Edition by J. Forbes Moncrieff.
The captivating true story of Jean Martielhe, who, at sixteen, was forced to flee home and country in search of religious freedom. In the year 1700, a fresh revival of persecution against the Huguenots was storming across southern France under the command of the Duke de la Force.
King Louis XIV had issued the infamous “Revocation of the Edict of Nantes” in 1685 and 15 years later, still finding no end to the number of adherents to the Reformed faith, unleashed yet another wave of dragoonades in a determined effort to abolish Protestantism and unite France under Pope, creed, and King. Bibles were burned, children were taken from their parents, conversions were forced by every means, and the citizens were subjected to outrages, torture, and death. Such an unbridled fury against the Protestants excited an exodus of France’s most productive and pious citizens, and no further threat of penalty, imprisonment, slavery for life, torture, or execution, could stop it.
Follow our young Christian as he perseveres through imprisonments, attempts to bring him to renounce his faith, and ultimately his enslavement on the French Royal Galleys.
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Welldon, James Edward Cowell (1854-1937)
James Edward Cowell Welldon or J. E. C. Welldon, D.D. was an English Clergyman, master of Dulwich College (1883), Headmaster of Harrow School for boys (1885-1898), Bishop of Calcutta, India (1898), Canon of Westminister (1902), the Dean of Manchester (1906) and Durham (1918).
Free Online Books:
Be Strong: Lessons for Young Lives
by J. E. C. Welldon
Short sermons for young adults, 1907 Edition, The Religious Tract Society.
"It is sometimes assumed that virtue is always attractive everywhere. But is it so? Are there not minds so dark, so foul, that when they see goodness, they try to defile it, and, if they cannot succeed in defiling it, hate and persecute it? Does he love virtue - the boy ... who would deliberately ... corrupt boys younger and more innocent than himself? Does he love virtue - the man who makes his boast of betraying and ruining and consigning to destruction the pure souls and bodies of the maidens who trusted him? Nay, to him virtue is not lovely, it is a reproach and an offence to him, he delights in violating its sanctity. Now look with me for a moment at the case of Judas Iscariot. I believe that from the time when he entered the society of the Lord's disciples he began to hate Him for His holiness. The divine words which awoke the consciences of others stirred in him only bitter malignant feelings. He could not bear to look upon His deeds of mercy. He could not sit by and see Him honoured by the loving gratitude of the souls which He had saved. He felt for the Saviour that very loathing which none can feel but such as have seen the vision of purity, and have turned their backs upon it and have committed that 'sin against the Holy Ghost' which, if it be anything, can be nothing else than the hatred of goodness just because it is so good."