The Republican., 1918-08-01
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Especially Prepared For Readers Of
The Republican.

Peter l :5-8.
The path of the righteous Is as the
dawning light. that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day. PROV. 4:18
U. S. WRIGHT.
THE FACT OF GROWTH.
We never grow out of anything we
are nor into anything we are not. Birds
may cover every branch of tree but
no branch ever grows into a bird nor a
bird into the squirrel which chatters
from another limb. If the child grows
into manllness it is because it was
germinant in the child and Goodness
carries the same fact with it. This fills
every life with radiance and crowns it
with glory for there is no limit to its
development except that imposed by
its nature. The history of human pro-
gress pictures what goes on in a, per-
sons soul. God gave man his hand but
he soon grew dissatisfied with it and
began to add to its reach and the force
of its blow in sword and sling until the
Kaiser's stretches its forceful fingers
rs miles into Paris. AS his muscles
were weaker than his will he grew
engines in addition. AS his feet were
not swift enough he added locomotives
and Liberty moters. The telescope is
only an extended eye, the wireless an
ear and the telephone tongue. He has
enlarged his personal contacts with ma
ture and the world. And there is limit
less growth for the soul until we reach
the fullness of the stature of Christ. 1t
will be an eternal thing so that growth
will never be thing of the past and
thru all eternity progress will be the
accompaniment of life. Love and faith
bloom richest when the soul house has
grown rickety with years; thru the
broken roof appear the vigorous shoots
of spiritual powers. Growth is the ac-
compartment of life at all stages and
forever and this is its glory.
THE MEANS OF GROWTH.
Jesus grew as all boys grow and it
was thru the use of means for produc-
ing it. Stunted physical forms are
seen in many an alley because proper
food has been lacking. But there is
other growth than the body; Jesus was
growing a soul and was using the same
means for it that are open to US. He
finds himself in the church of His
fathers and is absorbed in its ministry.
All sense of loneliness is gone and in
Its contribution to His hunger He feasts
as any mol NAL boy does at the table. If
there is no attractiveness for the boy
in the church then either he or the
church is sick and it's more likely that
the boy is normal. If the Christian
does not delight in worship there is
peril in the condition that should arrest
both the church and the indiyidual like
an alarm bell. Worship is as natural
as hunger but if we can kill one with
candy it's likely that the other may be
dwarfed also. The home was the 9TH
er institution that Jesus used. The
fact that the only name He could find
for Heaven was MY Fathers House"
shows what sort that Nazareth home
was and the attitude of the Boy to-
ward it. And any failure in atmosphere
registers itself in the character of the
occupants and if these are not what is
desired than another CLAIMANT alning
sounds In our ears.
The METHOD OF GROWTH.
Peter demands writes l. H. Iowett
business Yigilence in the realm of the
spirit. He has been explaining the
wealth open to every believer thru the
promises that make US partakers of
the divine nature and having piled up
our resources urges to business-like
attention to the use of them so that the
zeal of the market places may be seen
in our spiritual acquisitions. The bov
who puts his energies freely into his
games finds his muscles harden under
his enthusiasm. The same eager atten-
tion to study carries with it mental
power and equally so does one find soul
growth in proportion to the intentness.
the diligence, with which justice, fair
ness, honesty, reverence. generally and
other attitudes are put into the institu-
tions in which he finds himself. 1t is
not that one deliberately sets out to
make additions to his store saving.
"Well, I've some faith so | am going
in for virtue now and after that I'll trv
little knowledge" Peters word is
that for chorus leader instead of the
mathmatlcian and he is saying IF you
give diligence to Godliness soon you will
find yourself beating time for whole
choir and perfect chorus of qualities
will be ringing thru every dome and
aisle of your spirit" This has been
called the ladder of the Christian life
but it is not something we can climb
but an enrichment no part of which can
be lacking at any period of our pro-
gress. Think of choir that never
learned new tune or in which some re-
fused to sing!