The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-06-13
JESUS AS A BOY.
SERMON PREACHED BY DR.. TALMAGE
SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 1889.

He Describes Christ Village Lad and
Holds That the Lords Character Was
the Same Then as When He Was n
Man.
BROOKLYN, June "a vast con-
course OF people filling all the avail
able places Joined in the opening
doxology at Brooklyn Tabernacle this
morning. The pastor, the Rev. I. De
Witt Talmage, d. D., expounded the
passage in John about the unwritten
works Of Christ which the world it |
self could not have contained. The |
subject Of Dr. Talmage's sermon was
"Christ the Village Lad" He took |
for his text Luke ii, 40: "And the |
child grew, and waxed strong in
spirit, filled with wisdom; and the
grace of God was upon him." The
preacher said:
About Christ as "A village lad |
speak. There is for tho most part
silence more than eighteen centuries
long about Christ between infancy
and manhood What kind of boy
was he7 Was he genuine boy at all,
or did there settle upon him from the
start all the intensities Of martyrdom2
We have on this subject only little
guessing, few surmises, and here
and there an unimportant perhaps.
Concerning what bounded that boy
hood 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 TAX
ing his first sleep in the rough out
house, all the painters bow, and we
have Paul Veronese's ''Holy Family"
and Perugino's Nativity" and Angel
leo da Biesole's "Infant Christ and
Rubens' "Adoration of the Magi" and
Tintorets "Adoration of tho Magi"
and Chirlandoio's "Adoration of the
Magi" and Raphael's Madonna" and
Orcagnas Madonna" and Murillo's
schools of painting i'll all lights and
shades and with all styles Of attrac-
tive feature and impressive surround
ings, but pen and pencil and chisel
have with few exceptions passed by
Christ the village lad. Yet by three
conjoined evidences / think we can
como TO as accurate an idea of what
Christ was as boy as we can OF what
Christ was as man.
THE BRIEF BIBLE ACCOUNT.
First we have the brief Bible ac-
count. Then we have the prolonged
account Of what Christ was at thirty
years Of age Now you have only to
minify that account somewhat and
you find what he was at ten years OF
age. Temperaments never change
A sanguine temperament never be
comes a phlegmatic temperament. A
nervous temperament never becomes
lymphatic temperament. Re
ligion changes ones affections and am
bitions, but it is the same old tempera
ment acting in a different direction
As Christ had no religious change, ht
was as a lad what he was as n man
only OH not SO large scale. WheI
all tradition and all art and all history
represent him as blonde with colder
hair | know he was in boyhood ;
blonde.
UNINsPIRED STORIES.
We have, beside, an uninspired bool
that was for tho first three or four cen
turies after Christ's appearance recelv
ed by many as inspired and which give
prolonged account of Christs boy
hood. Some of it may be true, mos
of it may be true, none of it may b
true. 1t may be partly built on facts
or by the passage of the ages, som
real facts may have been distorted
But because a book is not divinely II
spired we arc not therefore to conclud
that there are not true things in il
Proscott's Conquest of Mexico" wa
not inspired, but we believe it althoug
il may contain mistakes. Macaulay
History Of England" was not inspii
ed, but we believe it although it ma
have been marred with many error
The SO called apocryphal Gospel
which the boyhood Of Christ is dive
upon do not believe to be divlnel
inspired, and yet it may present fac
worthy of consideration Because
represents the boy Christ rs perform
ing miracles some have overthrow
that whole apocryphal book. b
what right have you to say tn
Christ did not perform miracles at te
years of age as well as ut thirty L
was in boyhood as certainly divine
IN manhood Then while n lad
must have had the power to wol
miracles. whether he did or did IL
work them. When, having reach'
manhood, Christ turned water in
wine that was said to be the begl
ing of miracles. But that may mes
that it was the beginning of that seri
of manhood miracles. In word
think that the New Testament is on
a small transcript of what Jesus d
and said. Indeed, the Bible declai
positively that if all Christ did al
said were written the world would 4
contain the books SO we arc at i
erty to believe or reject those parts
the apocryphal Gospel which say IL
when the boy Christ with his motll
passed n band of thieves he told
mother that two of them, Dumach
and Titus by name, would be the t.
thieves who afterwards would exp
on crosses beside him. Was that nl'
wonderful than some of Christs ms
hood prophesiesl Or the uninsprt
story that the boy Christ made fot
tain spring from the roots of sy'
more tree so that hls mother wash
his coat in the Stream-was that m'
unbelievable than the manhood II
acle that changed common water Ii
a marriage beverage} Or the un
spired story that two sick chlidi
were recovered by bathing IN
water where Christ had wash
Was that more wonderful II
the manhood miracle bye VIII
the woman twelve years &C
olete invalid should have b.
made straight by touching tho fril
OF Christs coatl Or the uninspi
story that when a mother brongh
dead child by the name of Barth'
NEW TO Mary, the mother OF CHI
she said: DO thou place thy son
NV sons bed and cover him with
clothes;n and, so done, the dead cl
opened his eyes and called with L
voice for bread. Is that moro won
full than the manhood miracles
which Christ terminated the {
again and again without going WI
they were or even seeing them9 \
should we disbelieve the apocryI
New Testamentw it says that a
struck the boy Jesus till he cried
or the story that Christ with c
bows made clay figures of birds,
these clay figures took ilfe ana
awayi Is that more unbellevaole
the Bible account that Adam was
out of clay and walked forth
and afterwards scared an immo
Not half so much of an underfa
10 make n bird out of clay as 10 ]
man out OF clay. Or the uninsl
j story that the boy Christ took
cloths of dyers shop and threw
into the fire, and after the dyer's
test and ejaculation brought fort
.totb. -, iba color that the