Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-06-20
THE SAVIOUR'S BOYHOOD
A Sermon By DR.. Talmage on the
Boy Jesus.
The Grand Natural Scenery Where He
Passed His Early Life-The Boy in the
Carpenters shop and i'm the Tenn
ple-His Simplicity.

In receut sermon at BROOKLYN Dr. Tai.
| uage's subject was ''Christ, the Village
Lad" He took for his text Luke ii. 40;
Sand the child grew, and waxed strong
in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the
grace Of God was upon Him" The preach.
| er said:
About Christ as a village lad I spesk.
There is for the most part a silence more
than eighteen centuries long about Chris,
between infancy and manhood. Wha,
kind of boy was He? Was He genuine
boy at all. or did there settle upon Him
from the start all the inteusities of mar
| tyrdom! We have on this subject only a
little guessing. a few surmises, and here
and there an unimportant perhaps" !"
Concerning what bounded that boyhood
on both sides we have whole libraries of
books and WHOLE galleries of canvas and
sculpture Before the infant child in
Mary's arms, or taking His first sleep in
the rou IN Clubhouse, all the painters bow,
and we have Paul Veronese's holy Fam
ily," and Perugino's Nativity" and An
geilco da Fiesole's 'Infant Christ" and
Rubens' Alteration OF the Magi," and
Ilntorets Alteration Of the Magi," and
Chirlandojo's Alteration of the Magi. -
and haphaePs Madonna" and Orcagna's
Madonna" and Murilo's Madonna, -
and Madonnas by all the schools of paint
ing IN all lights and shades and with all
styles or attractive feature and impressive
surroundings, but pen and pencil and
chisel have with few exceptions passed
by Christ the village lad. Yet by three
conjoined evidences l think we can come
to as accurate an idea of what Christ was
as boy as we can of what Christ was as
a man.
First, we have the brief Bible account
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. sanguine temperament never
becomes a phlegmatic temperament A
nervous temperament never becomes a
Emphatic temperament Religion changes
ones affections and ambitions, but it is
the same old temperament acting in diff
ferent direction. As Christ had no relig-
ious change. He was as lad what He was
as man, only on not so large a scale.
When all tradition and all art and all his
tory represent Him as blonde with gol-
den hair 1 know He was in boyhood a
blonde.
We have, beside. an uninspired book
that was for the first three or four GEN.
turies after Christ's appearance received
by many as ins pired and which gives pro-
lOnged account of Christ's boyhood. Some
OF it may 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 dis
torted. But because book is not divine
ly inspired We are not therefore to con-
clude that there are not true things in it.
Prescott's Conquest of Mexico" was
not inspired, but we believe it,
although it may contain mistakes
Macaulay's "History of England" was
not inspired, but we believe it, although it
may have been marred with many errors.
The so-called apocryphal gospel in which
the boyhood of Christ is dwelt upon l do
not believe to be divinely inspired, and
yet it may present facts worthy of consd-
Grafton. Because it represents the boy
Christ as performing miracles some have
overthrown that whole apocryphal book.
But what right have you to say that Christ
did not perform miracles at ten years of
age as we'll as at thirty? He was in boy
hood as certainly divine as in manhood
Then while a 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 in
to wine that was said to be the beginning
of miracles. But that may mean that it
was the beginning of that series of man
hood miracles. In word, l think that
the New Testament is only small tram
script of what Jesus did and said. Indeed,
the Bible declares positively that if all
Christ did and said were written the world
would not contain the books.
While do not believe that any of the
so-called apocryphal New Testament is
inspired, L believe much Of it is true; just
as l believe a thousand books, none of
which are divinely inspired. Much of it
was just like Christ. Just as certain as
the man Christ was the most of the time
getting the men out of trouble, think
that the boy Christ was the most of the
time getting boys out of trouble / have
declared 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 objects enwreathed themselves
into His sermons after He had become q
man, conclude there was not rock or a
hill or q cavern or a tree for miles around
that He was not familiar with in child
hood. He had cautiously felt his way
down into the caves and had with 1.-the
and agile limb gained poise on many a
high tree top. His boyhood was passed
among grand scenery, as most all the great
natures have passed early life among the
mountains. They may live now on the
fat hnf hav
of ladhood among the hills, among the
mountains of New Hampshire or the
mountains of Virginia or the
mountains of Kentucky or the
mountains of Switzerland or Italy or
Austria or Scotland. On mountains as high
and rugged as they, many of the worlds
thrilling biographies began. Our Lords
boyhood was passed in a neighborhooi
twelve hundred feet above the level OF the
sea and surrounded by mountains five or
six hundred feet still higher. Before it
could shine on the village whore this boy
slept the sun had to climb far enough up
to look over the hills that held their heads
far aloft Authors have taken pains to
say that Christ was not affected by these
surroundings, and that He from within
lived outward and independent of circum-
stances. So far from that being true, He
was the most sensitive being that ever
walked the earth, and if pale invslid's
weak finger could not touch His robe
without strength going out from Him
these mountains and seas could not have
touched His eye without irradiating His
entire nature with their magniicence. l
warrant that He had mounted and ex-
plored all the fifteen hills around Naza-
reth, among them Hermon with its crystal
coronet of perpetual snow. and Carmel
and Tabor and Gilboa, and they all had
their sublime echo in after time from the
Oivetic pulpit