The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1912-02-08
INTERNATIONAL
SUNMS0lOOL
LESSON
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY II.
THE BOY JESUS IN THE TEMPLE.

LESSON TExT-Luke 2;e-b,,
GOLDEN TENT-"fiow In II that ye
sought mel Visit ye not that ! must %
about my Fathers business."-Luke 2;ts
MEMORY vERsES-w a.
This lesson Is the one solitary In
stance recorded IN the strangely seal
ed thirty years Of the Masters HE.
Here Is an illustration OF what 10
meant by the inspiration OF election
only those things that were OF vital
and redemptive Importance In the life
Of Jesus are recorded. John says.
MANY other signs truly did Jesus
which are not written In this book:
But these are written. that ye might
believe that Jesus is the Christ. the
son Of God: and that believing ye
might have life through his name
For this reason. we should value every
word that IL written.
The lesson furnishes q model In
character building for the youth.
Jesus IL the example. and the model
boy. Jesus was a real boy. He ate.
drank, played. grew. asked questions.
JUST rs Otner boys 10.
His character. like all other char
acter building. was a growth: He In
creased In wisdom and stature" No
character In instantaneous: Il is the
work O! growth and OF years. indeed.
Of a lifetime. An icicle II formed drop
by drop. Character is formed by sim
gle words and acts. A mushroom may
grow in . night. but surely not the
! character OF a man. Just as words
and sentences are formed by means
Of the single letters OF the alphabet.
so words. thoughts. deeds. actions.
looks, motiyes-these are the alphabet
from which we spell character. Sow
a thought. and reap a word; SOW
word. and reap an act: SOW an act.
and reap n habit: SOW a habit. and
reap a character: SOW q character, and
reap n destiny.
Christ's character was developed In
the home. lie had a Christian home
the greatest gift OF God this side Of
heaven. What chance has many
child today to build character In q
home where the parents know not God,
never read the Bible. never pray. new
er go to church! II for no other rea-
son, parents should become Christians
for their children's sake. II our chill
dren are lost. we parents are to blame.
unless We have set before them the
example OF Christian life.
As a boy. Christ was obedient to his
parents. This was a manly thing.
Parents are In the place OF God to the
child: God cannot be everywhere. %
he made parents. The FIRST command
ment on tho second table Is obedience
| 10 parents. and II Is the first COM
! mandment with promise. The apron
strings of the mother may become the
reins Of government Of the nation. We
must obey before we can command.
The character OF Jesus was develop
ed In the church also. His parents
were churchgoers. and they had cul-
tivated that habit in the child In
/ speaking of Jesus as churchgoer.
Luke says that "as his custom was.
he went into the synagogue" What
! great thoughts must have come to the
mind OF Christ as he visited the tenn
/ pie! What dormant potentalities were
/ aroused as he sat and listened to the
I expedition OF Gods word. Humanity
sreaklng. Christ owed great deal in
/ the development of his character TO
his attendance at the temple. Can n
symmetrical character be produced
outside Of the church and religion?
We think not; certainly the best char
acter cannot be produced in one who
| ignores these, In spite of all her fail
/ ures. the church is the best instit ution
in the world today for the building OF
character. We do our children a great
wrong when we deprive them OF the.
privileges OF the church.
But Jesus was also member Of the
Bible school-the teaching part OF the
church. This is evident from the fact
that the instruction received was In
answering and asking questions No
doubt many OF the Scripture passages
quoted by him were learned In the
Jewish Bible school.
The boy Jesus was an Interested
as well as an interesting scholar In
the school. He was no mere visitor.
He came with a we'll prepared lesson,
and that indicated that he had studied
the lesson at homo under the instruc-
ton of his parents. What lesson for
parents todayi
Have you ever considered how many
great and noble men the Sunday
school OF our land have been instru-
mental In producing, Did you ewes
think how many Of the most infiuen-
tial men OF the world today give their
time 10 Sunday school work. thereby
recognising the power that their own
early vaining In the Sunday school
had been In their lives!
Consider the great characters that
have played upon the stage OF Ameri-
can history-or the history Of the
world over for that matter--and you
will find that q great part. II no, the
greatest part OF the credit for the
splendid characters possessed by these
noble men and women is TO be given
10 religion and the church.