Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-19
THE GOSPEL OF LOVE
And How Saint John Learned to
Preach it so Sincerely.
A TOTAL CHANGE OF CHARACTER
From the Time He Net Jesus Until he
Wrote His Epistle.
LESSONS THAT CONE HOME TO ALL

WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH!
"Beioved, let us love one another, for love
is of God, and every one that loveth is born
of God and knoweth Cod
st. John wrote that. He wrote that who
stood one day beside the gate of a village In
Samaria and wished that the whole village
might be struck by lightning and all its
houses burned into cinders, and all its In
habitants roasted in the ruins. The Master
and the Apostles. weary with their journey,
had sought lodging in that village, and the
villagers had refused to take them In for
either love or money. Hating Jews, as all
Samaritans did, they had no open doors for
this company OF Jewish pilgrims bound for
Jerusalem. John was very angry about it.
Beloved, let us love one another. He
wrote that who saw one day man doing
some good deed in Christ's name, and the
man was not numbered among the apostles.
And John wanted that good work stopped.
The man seems to have cared more for
Christ than he did for Christians. He
revered the name of the Master, but he did
not choose the company of the disciples.
Perhaps he was one OF those people who
work better by themselves, or perhaps,
while accepting a good deal of Christs teach
ing he was not able yet to accept it all. He
was a Christian, but he.belonged not to the
Christian society. For whatever reason,
good or foolish, he was in the anomalous
position of a worthy and righteous man to-
day who stands outside the church.
TIME OF FAILURE.
| The apostles came upon the man just
after a time of great modification and
humiliation for them. They had tried to
cast out devil and the devil had somehow
managed to DEFY them. And great crowd
had gathered around and there was no little
tumult, and no doubt there we're accusations
of imposture, and the apostles were in
sad plight when Christ came, descending the
mountain of His TRANSPORTATION. bringing
| them His heavenly help.
"Why could not We cast him out?" was
their question as they were lett alone with
Him after the departure of the crowd. And
| the question evidences their state Of mind.
And here they come upon this man, not an
| apostle, not proposed follower OF Christ,
and yet able to do what they have just now
failed to do. The man is casting out devils
In Christ's name. The spirit of jealousy
seizes them, they rebuke the man, j ohm being
| their spokesman.
Preaching is so much easier than practie-
ing! Upon still another occasion this same
apostle who writes these words of love got
! his mother TO go to the Master, being really
ashamed to 60 himself. and asked by her
lips that he and his brother James might
have better places than any of the other
apostles in the kingdom of heaven. There
was going to be kingdom of heaven pretty
soon, he thought, which would have some
what of earth about it, too. ANY way, there
would be offices in it, and preierments. aad
enoluments, and thrones, and scepters, and
titles; and James and John wanted to an
ticipate the others and get the best for them
selves first.
THEIR EXALTED IDEAL.
Christ would sit upon some great gold
throne somewhere in Jerusalem, and the
two simple peasants wanted to sit one on
the right hand and the other on the left. Up
would come IN homage'the proud kings and
the nations, down would bow the naughty
knees of Caesar, in would be led the Gen
erals OF Rome with chains about their
wrists and sitting BY and looking on, and
sharing in all the splendor and the triumph
Of the scene would be these two plain men
from the fishing feet OF Galilee, on the one
side John and on the other James. Peter
and Andrew ard Thomas and the others
might have whatever honor might remain.
They must look out Tor themselves. The
sons of Zebedee would have the best.
The apostle John then, whom we often
call the "apostle of love-" and who wrote
these words of love which we read to-day
and many others like them, was not born
with smile upon his lips. He was not a
man blessed with disposition naturally
and easily amiable.. The great painters
have for the most part given him face like
a woman's, in which the prevailing express
sion is sweetness rather than strength; but
you see what sort of a man he was. Christ
saw straight into the hearts of those two
brothers when He called them sons of anger.
1t was natural for the apostle John to hate
his enemies with vigorous and vindictive
hatred. 1t was natural for him to be jealous
people who were more successful than he
was. 1t was natural Tor him to be self
seeking, and regardless of the welfare of
others. A vrdictive, Intolerant and selfish
man was the apostle John when he met
Christ, and for good while afterward.
HOW ST. JOHN CHANGED.
But when St. John wrote in his old age
the words which we read to-day, all that
had long gone by. Beloved" he saws,
and the words come out of heart full of |
love unfeigned, "let us love one another, for |
love is of God" Presently he tells us that |
"God is love-" Twenty-seven times in this |
short epistIe of his does he write the word |
love. You see what Christ did Tor John. |
He made a new man out OF that 'son of |
anger" John, after he had come really to
know Christ, kept all the strength of his !
character, but put away the weakness of it |,
put away the quicknpss of rassion, the ieal-
ousy, the selfishness which marred and
manned him, and hecame'a new man. That
is what Christ did for John.
He will do as much as that for us. John
is common name. And there are great
many people who are like john in more
than name-like John as he was when he
met Christ. Those men of the old time were
not different from us. They had as many
iaults as we have. They did not, it is true,
talk in the English language, but they found
it just as hard to hold their tongues in Greek
or Syriac, and just as easy to say things
which they needed to be sorry for They
had the same temptation of temperament
and of surroundings to test their tempers
and to persuade them into intolerance and
selishness which we have. Here is this
vindictive, quick-tempered, hot-spirited,
jealous, selfseeking John. Who of us can
look at him and not see something of our
selves mirrored in him? But he got the