The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1871-04-29

Gull0sCA. FIX bAc@sMa y, 49,
The able and eloquent sermon oi
Rev. A.E. Goodwin, from the above
text, at the Methodist Church last
Sunday, deserves to be published
in full, and circulated throughout
the country. Regarding it as the
most admirable exposition Of the ma.
ture and Importance of Sunday
School instruction which we have
yet met with, we trust that the fol-
lowing bare and skeleton outline OF
the discourse may not prove unin-
teresting nor Improbable to our
readers.
The preacher alluded at the out
| set to- the common and erroneous
opinion that young children are in
capable of understanding and bene-
filing by religious teaching, and no
ting several remarkable and per-
manent conversions at a very ten
der age, he dwelt with much ear
n~estness on the force of early inn
pressions, and the Importance of
making those impressions religious
ones. He said the maxim here was
/" Early taught or never taught
and that so far as capacity was con-
cerned the only capacity required
of the highest intellect was simple,
childlikefaith in Jesus Christ. "Suf-
fer the little children to come unto
me, and forbid them not for of such
is the kingdom Of God.7 "Who-
soever shall not receive the king
dom of God as a little child, he shall
not enter therein"
Abiding to the desperate assaults
of infidelity and skepticism against
Sunday Sehoolinstruction, he recog-
mzed them as an argument in it's
favor, because thereby the devil ac-
knowledged the Importance of lay
ing the axe at the root of the tree,
and ofpoisoning the fountain of the
river of life. He demolished the
popular skeptical doctrine that
children's minds should be uninfu-
enced by religious teaching, in order
that their choice might be unbiased
and free in ripper years, by saying
that the great enemy of souls sought
that very season of rest from religious
instruction as his best opportunity
to SOW in the virgin soil of the in
fantile intellect the deadly seeds of
moral destruction !; and, referring
back to his remarks about early i'm
pr~essions, he showed that some Of
the most celebrated infidels were
taught to recite infidel writings
before they were ten years of age.
He said the child should be allowed
no choice but to love God, and IN
this connection he enforced with
remarkable power the duty and the
responsibility of parents.
Abiding to the common saying
that ministers had the worst of chill
dren, he said it was one of those
shallow devicesof the devil which
many believed, simply because they
would not take the trouble to inquire
whether it was really true. It was
simply false. Careful statistics,
compiled in Europe and America
within the last few years, had dem
onstrated that a large majority Of
the children of Christ's ministers
were protesting Christians, and that
Of the aggregate number Of profess
sing Christians an immense majority
were children of religious parents.
He said the assertion bore it's falsity
on it's face. It was saying in effect,
/" Teach your child virtue and it
will follow vice /; teach it to love
God and it will serve the devil ;give
it nourishment and it will swallow
poison
As important means of youthful
religious instruction, he instanced
the family altar, the house of God,
and the Sunday School. He said
that religious teaching like charity
should begin at home. 1t was of
little avail to 60 outside of the fam
IL circle in search Of the lessons Of
immortal life, if within it there was
40 prayer to God, no christian pre-
MOI example. The child was
naturally initiative, and confding
its parents. IF they were irreli-
yious it was hard for the child to be
otherwise.
He thought that children should
20 to church, and intimated that if
heir parents would not there evince
before their children q distaste for,
md WEAKNESS under. the ministra.