The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-10
CHRIST A VILLAGE LAD.
TALMAGE TAKES UP THE Boy
HOOD DAYS OF THE SAVIOUR.

Lie or the Redeemer Between In
fancy and Manhood1c6sjoined Evil
dences Which Make an Accurate
Idea OF What He was Like Possi-
BILE.
BROOKLYN, June "a vast concourse Of
people, filling all the available places, Joined
IN the opening doxology at Brooklyn Tab
ernacle this morning. The pastor, the Rev.
L. DE witt Talmage, d. D., expounded the
passage in John about the unwritten works
OF Christ which the world itself could not
have contained. The subject of Dr. Tai
images sermon was "Christ the Village
Lad" He took for his text Luke ii. 10:
And the child grew, aud waxed strong in
spirlt, filed with wisdom; and the grace of
God was upon him" The preacher said:
About Christ as a village lad l speak.
ihere is for the most part a silence moro
Snah eighteen centuries long about Christ
between infancy and manhood. What
KIND OF boy was he9 Was he genuine
boy at all, or did there settle upon him
from the start all the intensities of martyr
doms We have on this subject only a llttle
guessing, few surmises. and here and
there an unimportant perhaps Concern
ing what bounded that boyaood on both
sides we have whole libraries of books and
whole galleries of canvas and sculpture.
Before the infant Christ in Mary's arms. or
taking his first sleep in the rough out
house, all the painters bow, and we have
Paul Veronese's "Holv Family.p and
Peruginos Nativity" and Angelica da
Fiesole's Infant Christ" aud Rubens,
Alteration Of the Magi," and Tintoret,s
Alteration of the Magl, and Chirlandolo's
Alteration of the Magi," and Raphaeps
htMAHnnna nj
na," and Murillo's Madonna and "Ma-
donnas" by all the schools of painting.
IN all lights and shades, and with all styles
OF attractive feature and impressive sur
roundings; but pen and pencil and chiseI
have, with few exceptions, passed by Christ
the village lad. Yet, by three conjoined
evidences l think we can come to as accu-
rate an idea OF What Christ was as a boy,
as we can of what Christ was as a man.
First, we have the brief Bib account.
Then we have the prolonged account Of
what Christ was at 30 years of age. Now
you have only to minify that account some-
what and you iiud what he was at 10 years
of age. Temperaments never change. A
sanguine temperament never becomes a
phlegmatic temperament. A nervous tenn
permanent never becomes a lymphatic tenn
permanent. Religion changes ones affections
ana ambitions, but it is the same old tenn
perament acting in different direction,
AS Christ had no religious change.
he was as lad what he was
as man, only on not so large a scale.
When all tradition and all art and ali his
tory represent him as blonde with
golden hair know he was in boyhood a
blonde.
We have, beside, an uninspired book that
was for the first three or four centuries
after Christ's appearance received by many
1DEnirad aud pyhirb nj
count OF Chrjst's boyhood. Some OF ic NAV
be true, most Of it may be true, none of it
may be true. 1t may be partly built on
facts. or by the passage Of the ages, some
real facts may have been distorted. But
because book IS not dlvinely inspired we
are not therefore to conclude that there
are not true things In it. Pres
cott,s Conquest OF Mexico" was not
inspired, but we believe it although
1t may contain mistakes Macauay's His
tory OF England' was not inspired, but we
believe 1t, although it may have been
mafred with many errors The so-called
apocryphal gospel, In which the boyhood OF
Christ Is dwelt upon. do not believe to be
dlvlnely inspired, and yet it may present
facts worthy OF consideration. Because it
represents the boy Christ as performing
miracles some have overthrow that whole
apocryphal book. But what right have YOU
to say that Christ did not perform miracles
at III years OF age as well as at d09 He
was In boyhood as certainly divine as
in manhood. Then while q lad he must
have had the power to work miracles.
whether he did or did not work them.
When, having reached manhood, Christ
turned water into wine that was said to be
tho beginning of miracles. But that NAV
mean that it was the beginning of that
series Of manhood miracles. In word,
think that the New Testament is only a
small transcript Of what Jesus did and said.
Indeed, the Bible declares positively that il
all Christ did aud said we're written the world
would not contain the books. SO we are at
liberty to believe or reject those parts OF
the apocryphal gospel which say that
wnen the boy Christ with his mother
passed band of thieves he told his
mother that two of them, Dumachus
and Titus by Ename, would be the two
thieves who afterward would expire ON
crosses beside him. Was that more WON
derful than some of Christ's manhood
propnesiesf Or the uninspired story that
the hoy Christ made a fountain spring
from the roots OF sycamore tree so tnat
his mother washed his coat in the Strean---
was that more unbelievable than tine man
hood miracle that changed common water
into marriage beverages Or the unin-
splred story that two sick children were re-
covered by bathing in the water where
Christ had washeds Was that more won
derful than the manhood miracle BY which
the woman twelve years a complete invalid
should have been made straight by touch
ing the fringe of Christs coat9
In other words, while I do not believe
that any Of the so-called apocryphal Now
Testament is inspired, believe much of it
is true; just as | believe thousand books,
none9f which are divinely inspired Much
OF 1t was just like Christ. just as certain
as the man Christ was the most of the time
getting men out of trouble, think that
the boy Christ was the most of TIE time
getting boys out of trouble / have de-
clared to you this day boys Christ And
the world wants such a one. He did not sit
around moping over what was to be, or what
was. From the way in which natural OBJ
jects enwreathed themselves into his ssr-
mons after he had become a man I conclude
there was not a rock or hill or a cavern or
a tree for miles around that he was not
familiar with in childhood. He had eau
tiously felt his way down into the caves and
had with 1.-the and agile limb gained a
poise on many high tree top His boy
hood was passed among grand scenery as
most all the great natures have passed ea~ly
life among the mountains They may Ii We
now on the flats. but they passed the recep-
tive days Of ladhood among the hills.
Among the mountains Of New Hamp-
shire or the mountains Of Virginia or
the mountains of Kentucky, or1t le mount
aims OF Switzerland, or Italy, or Austria. or
Scotland, or mountains as high and
rugged as they, many of the worlds thrill
~ .ax.lxI 1. a.