The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1905-06-01
BaCCaLaureate Sermon
B yReV. I. Merrn Ednands
At High School Auditorium May 28, 1906

Heb. 11:24, 25.
A great man, it has we'll been
said, is one who helps to make
other men greater by contribut-
ing something to the material,
intellectual or spiritual wealth
of mankind. He is. greatest
who has rendered tthe creates
service to hie fellowmen.
The earliest of the men who
earned the right to the name
great according to this defini-
tion Of greatness is Moses. He
was great in three departments
of human service. He was a
great leader, the apostle of poll
tical, industrial and religious
freedom. He was a great law
giver. The laws that he gave
lie at the basis of modern juris-
prudence, and are the funda-
mental morality of every civil
lied government.
He was a great prophet. The
three great religions of to-day
Judaism, Mohammedanism aud
Christianity look to him az the
first prophet of Monotheism.
Jesus most lofty claim as a
messenger sent from, God was
that he came to fulfill the law
of Moses.
There is nothing more inter
esting than to study the forces
that enter into the making of a
great man. While there is in
genius something more than
heredity and environment can
explain, a something which
seems to come fresh from the
breath of God, yet there is much
that we many study with pro-
fit as revealing the path by
which humanity may reach. its
highest and best. 8 :
The passage I have taken for
my text sets before,u the criti.
cal moment in the life of Moses
when he determined what kind
of a man he would be. Up to
that time others had done for
him. He had been receivef
of the choicest influences of his
age. He had had exceptional
opportunities for education. As
the adopted son of Pharoah's
daughter he had had all the ad-
vantages that wealth and soci-
al position affords. He had
lived in a palace, had worn fine
linen, and Jared sumptuously
every day.
In Egypt the nobility and the
priesthood had monopoly Of
education. From these classes
came the leaders and rulers in
every department of life. Edu-
cation was a cast. privilege
and into this inner circle of op
portunity Moses had been ad-
mitted. Before him lay posi-
ton, and honor, and rule. He
might be like Joseph become q
prime minister in the kingdom
for he had natural ability and
the personal qualifications that
make men leaders. His educa-
ton was without cost to him
self except that of the personal
application. There is no royal
road to learning except that of
the diligent use of exceptional
opportunities. All the ac-
cumulated wisdom and Culture
of the most civilized nation of
his time was open to him
We see that he had, also, the
highest religious opportunity.
The Egyptians had much truth
in their religion mixed with
much that was superstitious
and childish. They believed in
"a future life and a judgment to
come. But the ideas that Moses
emphasized in his teaching
were not taken from the Egyp.
tains; but from his mothers
God. From her he learned ol
the promise made to his ances-
tors, to Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob. He caught a glimpse OF
a free people worshiping a
;, promise keeping God in a land
that He had given them for an
inheritance. He learned of the
mothers faith that had saved
his life when suspicious king
sought to check the growth o.
his people. He came to fee
that God. had chosen him to be
the leader Of his race. There
he stood on the threshold Of hit
manhood, ready to enter upon
its duties and the responsibili
ties; what he had then others
had largely given him. Freely
he had received, would he now
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