The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-04
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
AS LITTLE CHILDRENs" a GREAT
LESSON NOT YET FULLY LEARNED.
short sermon by the Rev. George r..
Chureb, 1t. Bethlehem, Tenn.

Except We be converted. and become as
little children. ye shah not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. MATTHEW xviii, 3.
when Jesus said Of a little child. "Of
such is the kingdom Of heaven" it was a
revelation In it was the strange and heav-
emily lesson which the Christian world has
never yet fully learned; that there is a
childhood into which We have to grow. as
there is a childhood which we have 10 leave
behind, before We can enter into the full
ness and sweetness or a pure Christian life.
We are surrounded by professional plety.
As a nation. vs. are religious. Our govern
ment is strict in its enforcement Of Chris
tian morals. How has our religion affected
our life? What .duence has il had upon
the lives Of others? From the pulpit we
have had for eighteen hundred years beau
tiful doctrines Of love and charity; while
the laws Of business and the laws govern
ing social requirements have come down to
Us. almost unchanged. and in almost un-
broken succession. from brutal pagan
times.
over and above the perfunctory morals
and prescriptive church duties. how much,
then, have We grown spiritually as a peo-
pie? How much have we developed into the
hSA't AAN Rf4 GeAollJ nave We tie spirit
OF the Christ. the genius of His gospel?
When, by sober thought. we take in the
full import Of the Masters declaration
that, unless we become as little children"
We shall not enter the kingdom of heav-
en-" we must see with dismay how little is
the advancement we have made in the
spiritual life-the best Of us. How many of
US protesting goodness have. according TO
this nuHlfNrq riqn ever apfarad the Efpo-
dom Of heaven?
II is a momentous question to US all. Are
we. In the abundance of our religion, be-
coming childHke? We are ever disposed TO
measure ourselves by what is conspicuous.
and tells In our favor With others. Jesus
teaches US to measure ourselves by what is
childlike. All the efforts we may put forth
10 add to our religious stature does not i'm
ply growth, but partakes more of the ma
ture Of spiritual pride. One quaint old
English writer declares that the Christian
grows tall by STOPPING; that the heaviest
wheat is not found upon the most upright
stalks, and so the growth in the divine life
is not marked by imposing greatness.
IT Is IMPERATIVE.
The statement is imperative; we must be-
come as little children, or we most surely
miss our spiritual opportunities, and our
claim TO goodness becomes a mere profess
sional piety, vacuoUs and comparatively
worthless. perfunctory and negative in its
nature, while the affirmative, which alone
gives life and impulse to the soul, is lack
ing.
oh, sweet, happy, loving childhood Is it
possible for US 20 ever taste its sweetness
here on earth again? To many of us the
beautiful sunlit days of childhood are but a
sweet memory. The golden gates of youth
have long since closed behind US. It's CLAM
ors and fairy scenes are past. The ruins of
its ally castles. the dreary wrecks Of our
human hopes. are around US; we are in the
grip Of stern and rugged realities. TIE
world is stripped Of the sweet illusions
through which we were wont to see ii.
and often in our sad hearts are echoed the
touching lines:
Backward. flow backward, o tide of the
years.
! am so weary of toll and tears
Tolls without recOmpense, tears all in vain.
TAX them, and give me my childhood
again.
And the sweet. sad tears fall as we look
back 70 the happy days of childhood long
ago. Most of US are wearied men and wom-
en- Our lives are marked by sorrow and
anxiety. We are pilgrims and strangers,
some of US journeying through an I'M
friendly world; and we are too often bur
dened by the thought that now, in the midst
of cares and the afHictions incident TO this
life, we may look for no other abiding hap
piness here; and thus we find no fruit to
our religion, and miss the grand central
principle Of personal piety. And now comes
the declaration of the great Teacher. '.Ex-
cept ye be converted and become as little
children. ye cannot enter into the kingdom
Of heaven with its CLEAN of heavenly
light. revealing to the weary ard heavy
laden that a sweeter. SUMMER childhood
than any of Us have known here is within
the reach Of all. if we but place ourselves
in correspondence with right conditions by
turning from all that is gross and sordid,
sinful and selfish.
DEMANDS OF CHRISTIAN LIFE.
We all scorn mean actions, and are Civ
en- to impulses of the constitutional good
that may be in US. These alone do not con-
stitute true virtue. The Christian life calls
for more than that. We must develop into
permanent principles the impulses which
spring from the consciousness of what is
right from our somewhat misty and unde-
veloped conceptions Of what constitutes
spiritual goodness. While holding unswerv-
luSly ana VIII CONSCIENTIOUS honesty to
the letter Of what we conceive to be the
gospel of Jesus. we sometimes lose sight Of
the fact that what we hold to so dearly,
and feel ready to lay down our lives for is
OF little value when Invested Of the spirit
OF Jesus; and We lose its virtues and for
felt its promise because we neglect soul
and heart culture. while We are faithful
and true 10 all its intellectual interests.
If we but put the spirit first, and be gov
erned by it in all we say and do, it will cost
US no effort TO grow into sweet. religious
childhood. Behold the lilies OF the field.
how they grow" We Will have no need TO
toll and spin for ourselves what we might
conceive TO be becoming and attractive re-
ligious a~dornments. If we but remember
at all times that the hidden man Of the
feart. In that which is not corruptible.
even the ornament OF a meek and quiet
spirit, which, in the sight Of the Lord is
OF great price" is OF the first Importance
I'm the religious life. and We will grow i'm
perceptibly TO ourselves into Christian
beauty. sweetness and power. and the
bright sunshine Of happy childhood will