Matthew 19:13-15 Then were there brought to him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.… I. THE PRINCIPLE ON WHICH THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL SHOULD BE FOUNDED. It must be founded and carried on in Faith, in its usefulness, its worth, its importance. Faith in your schools; faith in God; in the child whom you teach; and in the Scriptures which are to be taught. II. THE END, THE GREAT OBJECT, WHICH SHOULD BE PROPOSED AND KEPT STEADILY IN VIEW BY ITS FRIENDS. The great end is, to awaken the soul of the pupil, to bring his understanding, conscience, and heart into earnest, vigorous action on religious and moral truth, to excite and cherish in him spiritual life. The great end in religious instruction, whether in the Sunday-school or family, is, not to stamp our minds irresistibly on the young, but to stir up their own; not to make them see with our eyes, but to look inquiringly and steadily with their own; not to give them a definite amount of knowledge, but to inspire a fervent love of truth; not to form an outward regularity, but to touch inward springs; not to burden the memory, but to quicken and strengthen the power of thought;... not to tell them that God is good, but to help them to see and feel His love in all that He does within and around them. In a word, to awaken intellectual and moral life in the child. III. WHAT IS TO BE TAUGHT IN SUNDAY SCHOOLS? The Gospels, the Gospels, these should be the text-book of Sunday Schools. There are three great views of Christianity, which pervade it throughout, and to which the mind of the learner must be continually turned. 1. The spirituality of the religion. 2. Its disinterestedness. 3. The vastness, the infinity, of its progress. IV. How SHALL IT BE TAUGHT? Attention must be secured by moral influence. You must love the children. You must be interested yourselves in that you teach them. Be intelligible. Teach by questions. Teach graphically where you can. Lay stress on the most important things. Carry a cheerful spirit into religious teaching. (Dr. Channing.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. |
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