The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1912-12-05
INTERNATIONAL
SUNI(AYS0lOOL
LESSON
CBy b. o. SELLERS. Director of Eve
ming Department The Moody Bible In
stitute of Chicago)
LESSON FOR DECEMBER
THE CHILD IN THE MIDST.

LESSON TExT-Matthew 1S;1-14.
GOLDEN TEXT-'In heaven their an
gels do always beho.d the face OF my
Father which is In heaven. ."-Matthew
1910 r. v.
Like two mighty mountain peaks
there stand before us in this lesson
two tremendously vital lessons. The
first and the foremost is that of dis
cipleship as suggested by the ques-
tion In verse one, who Is the great
est in the kingdom?" And the second
lesson Is that of Christs attitude to-
wards children. Jesus again reveals
himself as 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-
tion 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 answers their question by
the use of objective teaching that
always has such an advantage over
the purely metaphysical method of an
swering such question. Placing
child In their midst he answered in
the words found in verse two of the
lesson.
What He Meant.
The word verify" is tremendous
with emphasis. II 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 vast deal
of difference. There the child stands,
trustful, obedient, submissive, unself-
ish, pure, potential, imperfect, ready
to receive impressions as wax and as
tenacious to retain those Impressions
as granite. Pride, self-conf1dence,
disobedience, selfishness, &impurity
assumed perfectness, and an unwill-
ingness to learn will effectually keep
us out of the kingdom of heaven
What 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 oi
Christ's teaching is far less con
cerned 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
saying, "be like that"
Does this lesson then teach US thai
all children are by nature children o
the kingdom? Hardly, though we Ger
tainly- do not believe that a child dy
ing In infancy is lost. Rather we in
cline to the belief that they have
that spirit of teaehableness and trus
that fits them to "enter" ". - the
kingdom (see John 3:6). Therefore
the added Significance of verse six
The responsibility of parents ant
teachers to lead them into the king
dom at this early age when thei
trustfulness has not been destroyed.
Let US look at some of the condi
tions whereby we enter the kingdom
John 10:9 81 am the door, by M
shall ye enter" John 3:3, "Excep
ye be born again" Heb. 3:19, "The.
could not enter because of unbelief
Read also Peter 1:5-11.
How to Become Great.
Having thus struck at the primar
question involved. Jesus then tell
them how, once being in the kingdom
to become great, whose humbletl
himself, etc" To humble yourself /
voluntarily to choose the humble, tn
1owly, place for yourself; that plac
removed from the admiration and tn
adulation of men. Paul learned thi
lesson and co-etartly refers to min
self as the "bond slave" and wishe
that he might be accursed for tn
sake of his brethren Israel. Nose
found this place when he pleaded wit
God to blot him out of the book @
his remembrance but to save the chi
dren of, Israel. Jesus is himself tn
greatest illustration of this principle
(See Phil. 2:6-11)
Jesus goes on to teach by COZ
trast what is to be our attitude t.
ward those who are In the Kingdom
There is an incidental illuminatio
of the attitude of little children t
Jesus. They were never afraid c
him. 1t is true that he might hav
meant here humble men who hav
childlike hearts, but we are incline
to feel that IL was real children c
which he is speaking. Our treatmen
of them is our treatment of him, fo
he completely Identifies himself wit
them.
Jesus pictures for us the heavenl
glory that rests upon children and ye
we in our folly too often fail to r.
ceive them. neglect our. God-given ol
portunity, or, worse still. cause thel
to stumble, and bring upon ourselves
upon our homes and our nation a pei
atty even worse than that OF bein
L.. 1-k -