The Tupelo journal., 1912-02-09

MEmOH1 tEHSES-40b ~.
This lesson Is the one solitary in
stance recorded in the strangely seal
ed thirty years Of the Masters life.
Here is an illustration Of what Is
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 We might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
son Of God; and that believing We
might have life through his name
For this reason, we should value every
word that is written.
The lesson furnishes a model in
character building for the youth.
Jesus is the example, and the model
boy. Jesus was a real boy. He ate,
drank, played, grew, asked questions,
just as other boys do.
His character, like all other char
acter building, was growth: HE in
creased in wisdom and stature" No
character is instantaneous; 1t is the
work of growth and of years, indeed,
of lifetime An icicle is formed drop
by drop. Character Is formed by sim
gle words and acts. A mushroom may
grow In o night, but surely not the
character Of man. Just as words
and sentences are formed by means
of the single letters of the alphabet.
20 words, thoughts. deeds. actions.
looks, motlves-these are the alphabet
from which We spell character. Sow
. thought, and reap q word: SOW =
word, and reap An act: SOW an act.
and reap q habit; SOW habit, and
reap q character; SOW character, and
reap q destiny.
Christ's character was developed Ia
tho home. He had Christian home
the greatest gift Of God this side Of
heaven. What chance has many q
child today to build character IN q
homo where tho parents know not God,
never read the Bible, never pray, new
er go to church! If for no other rea-
son, parents should become Christians
for their children's sake. If 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 manly thing.
Parents are in the place of God to the
child: God cannot be everywhere, SO
he made parents. The first command
ment on the second table is obedience
to parents, and it 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 potentialities were
aroused as he sat and listened to the
exposition of Gods word! Humanity
speaking, Christ owed a great deal in
the development of his character to
his attendance at the temple. Can
symmetrical character be produced
outside of the church and religion?
We think not; certainly the best char
acter cannot on produced In one who
ignores these. In spite Of all her fall
ures, the church is the best institution
in the world today for the building of
character. We do our children great
wrong when We deprive them Of the
privileges Of the church.
But Jesus was also a 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 well prepared lesson,
and that indicated that he had studied
the lesson at home under the instruc-
ton of his parents. What a lesson for
parents today!
Have you ever considered how many |
great and noble men the Sunday
school of our land have been instru-
mental In producing! Did you ever
think how many Of the most infuen-
tial men Of the world today give their
time to Sunday school work, thereby |
recognising tho power that their own
early training IN the Sunday school |
had been In their lives?
Consider the great characters that
have played upon the stage Of Amert
can history-or tho history Of the
world over for that matter-and you
win find that great part, il not the
greatest part Of the credit for the
splendid characters possessed by these
noble men and women Is to be given