The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-12-06
INTERNATIONAL
NNMSOOM
LESSON
LESSON FOR DECEMBER
THE CHILD IN THE MIDST.
By e. o. sELLERs. Director Of Eve
ming Department The Moody Bible In
stitute Of Chlcag0J

j4EAE5SDN AiGlBN bsl-L1-
GOLDEN TEXT-'In heaven their an
gels do always behold the face Of m!
Father which Is In Observation-Disclosures
i0:l0 n. V.
Like two mighty mountain peak
there stand before us In this lessor
two Tremendously vital lessons. The
1rst and the foremost Is that OF dis
cipleship as suggested by the ques
ton In verse one, Who Is the great
est In the ~kingdom?" And the second
lesson is that Of Christ's attitude to
wards children. Jesus again reveala
himself aa the worlds greatest teach
er. He teaches by example-setting
a child before them. and by exhorta'
ton, Except ye become as children"
by contrast, etc.
The very form Of the disciples
question revealed their coarse ambi-
ton for power and clearly indicated
that they were as yet far from com
pretending the principles Of his
kingdom. One OF the most insidious
temptations that comes to the Chris
tian worker Is the ambitious desire
for place and power. 1t is hard to
reconcile church politics with the
principles Of the kingdom Of God.
Jesus answer their question by
the use OF objective teaching that
always has such an advantage over
the purely metaphysical method Of an
swering such a question. Placing a
child In their midst he answered in
the words found in verse two Of the
lesson.
What He Meant.
The word "yerlly" Is tremendous
with emphasis. Il say" again re-
veals his authority to answer. "Ex-
cept ye turn" what does he mean?
To become childish? No, but to be-
come Childlike; there Is a vast deal
Of difference. There the child stands,
trustful, obedient, submissive, unself'
ish, pure, potential, imperfect, ready
to receive impressions as IA and al
tenacious to retain those impressions
as granite. Pride, self-Confldence,
disobedience, seldshness, impurity,
assumed ~perfectness, and an unwill-
ingness to learn will ~effectually keep
US out Of the Kingdom Of heaven.
What a rebuke his answer implied,
viz, not who Is greatest but rather,
"are you sure you are really in the
kingdom?" The true disciple who
really. comprehends the essence Of
Christ's teaching is far less con-
with his rank in the kingdom
than he is to know him" and thus
make sure of a place In the kingdom.
Ever after this, when wrong ambi
tions arose, these disciples must have
recalled that sweet child and Jesus
"be like that"
Does this lesson then teach us that
all children are by nature children Of
the kingdom? Hardly, though we Ger
tainly do not believe that q child dy-
Ing In Infancy Is lost. Rather We in.
cline to the belief that they have
spirit of teachableness and trust
fits them to center" ". 81 the
kingdom (see John 500. Therefore,
the added significance Of verse six.
The responsibility of parents and
teachers to lead them into the king.
dom at this early age when their
trustfulness has not been destroyed.
Let US look at some Of the condi-
lions whereby we enter the kingdom.
John 1879, II am the door, by me
ye enter" John 3:3. Except
ye be born again" Heb. 1913, They
could not enter because of unbelief."
Read also 2 Peter 1911.
How to Become Great.
Having thus struck at the primary
question involved, Jesus then tells
hem how, once being In the kingdom.
become great, whose humbleth
etc" To humble yourself is
voluntarily to choose the humble, the
owly. place for yourself; that place
'emoved from the admiration and the
ldulation of men. Paul learned this
essen and constantly refers to him
'elf as the bond slave" and wishes
hat he might be accursed for the
Jake Of his brethren Israel. Moses
ound this place when he pleaded with
God to blot him out of the book Of
lis remembrance but to ave the chill
lren Of Israel. Jesus Is himself the
illustration of this principle.
See Phil. 2:8.11.)
Jesus goes on to teach by con.
rast what IL to be our attitude to-
yard those who are In the kingdom.
There Is an incidental illumination
II the attitude of little children to
Tesus. They we're never afraid OF
lin. 1t Is true that he might have
meant here humble men who have
,hildllke hearts, but we are inclined
feel that II vas real children Of
which he ID speaking. Our treatment
II them Ia our treatment OF him, for
10 completely Identifies himself with
hem.
Jesus pictures for us the heavenly
yiory that rests upon children and yet
We In ~ folly too often fail to re-
them. neglect our God-given OPP
portunity, or, worse still, them
stumble, and bring upon ourselves,
ipon our homes and u nation a PEN
slty even worse than that Of being
drowned in the midst Of the sea.
Such ia the greatness Of childhood.
" We are to make sure cf entering
the kingdom It must be as we get
back TO childhood, get back to the
principles OF t~rustfulness, Of humility,
Of service and Of purity. It is then
enter into fellowship with God.