The Palatka news and advertiser., 1903-03-20
COPYRIGHT, DAVIS W. CLARK.
PLEASANT FIELDS OF HOLY WRIT
, Save for my daily range
Among the pleasant fields of Holy Writ,
| might despair. -Tennyson.
The international Sunday School
Lesson.


might despair. -Tennyson.
The international Sunday School
Lesson.
First Quarter. Lesson xii. Eph. ii,
lie. March %, 1903.
PAUL's MESSAGE TO THE
EPHESIANs.
The Epistle to the Ephesians is one
of the most remarkable things ever
done with pen. 1t has the effect
upon the reader of something articu-
lated, not something written. 1t is
fairly rapturous-a trumpet-call to
the soul. And it has this ecstatic
quality in spite of its having been
written in prison. 1t has been aptly
called an afternoon Epistle,' refer
ring to the mature period in Paul
life in which it was written and the
corresponding maturity of its con-
tents. 1t is said to have the reflec-
tive tone natural to prison life
Adolph Monod affirms that, in spite
of its brevity, it embraces the whole
field of Christian religion. Cole
ridge believes it one of the divinest
compositions OF man, and Crysostom
says it Overflows with lofty thoughts,
The Epistle has been likened to the
siXty-eighth Psalm, which. in turn,
is described as an eXortation to
praise God for his great mercies and
works, and for his care of the
Church.
Ephesians is written by the prison
er apostle CA. d. 59-62) possibly as
an encyclical to the cluster OF
Churches of which Ephesus is chief.
The writer has Il clear and full view
of the environment of the Church
addressed He abounds in local al
lusions to temples, mysteries, man,
neIs and customs, persons and
places. The Epistle has Il general
likeness to the Epistle to the COlos-
siars, and the identity of certain pas
sages show them to have been writ
ten about the same time, possibly
about four years after the parting
with the Ephesian elders at Miletus
| Tychicus is the hOnOred meSsengel
by whose hand it is sent.
1t is curiously asserted that the
Epistle to the Ephesians is not tie
Enistle to the Ephesians. In the
oldest manuscripts of the New Tes
lament, such as the one in the pOpe's
library, called Vaticanus, and tht
one discovered by Tischendorf in thu
monastery on Mt. Sinai, and calleC
Sinaiticus, the words "at Ephesus'
| Il, y do not appear in the text, bu
in the margin, and by a later hand
The internal evidence against tn
FDheSian destination is: l. Tht
Epistle contains no personal greet
ings, although Paul lived three year
in Ephesus. 2. Could not describ
the Ephesian Church as one o
whose conversion he knew only b.
report ii, l5.) 3. Could not describ
the Ephesian Church as knowing
him to be an apostle by hearsay on
: ly. iii, 2.) 1. Could not describ
the Ephesian Church as being Gen
tile exclusively. iii, IL; iv, ~ Il
explanation, some affirm this to b
: the Epistle to the LaOdiceans (Co
: iv, l6), which is otherwise lost
others, that it is an encyclica
which went possibly first to tn
Church at Ephesus, or which wa
issued in duplicate.
Chapters iv, V, vi, constitute whG
Theodoret has aptly called 9TH
Moral Admonition," the most con
; plete system of Christian precept
4 eXtant, duties to God, self, and ott
E, ers. In a general way the whOl
EDistle is a contrast between Chris
-. tian and heather principles an
practices.
= The heart and motif of the Epistl
e is the portrayal of the glory and e2
q cellence of the Church in Chris
. The finding of the long-sough
I idealized. ethical cosmos in the rel
= and realized Church: the ground, e,
o tent, course, object, and destiny
Il the Church, are portrayed. Th
paragraph in particular presents
= vivid, double portraiture: First, b.
; levers as they We're; Second, belle
= ers as they are.
e THE TEACHERS LANTERN.
e The reality, extent, turpitude, al
. ultimate outcome of the sinful sta
y needs emphasis in our day. Sin
: not lust an error or accident. 1t
not so much Il series of acts, but
state of mind and heart out of whiC
they spring and which makes thel
possible. Sin of sins is the fosterin
q of an evil disposition, either negati7
! or positive, toward God.
u Out of this condition one needs
l. be aroused as from sleep or deaf
e The divine agencies for the accOn
% plishment of this end are manifo
and constantly operating, but cs
t not be effective, except by hums
Is consent and cooperation.
If When so operating, the resulta1
q is the Christian character, in striI
ing contrast to the un-Christian,
II character which, in successi'
e epochs, keeps exhibiting. in increa
" ing measure, the riches of grace al
= the kindness of God.
- Paul. himself the Roman citize
J. the wide and Observant travele
d was the most fearless ard forcef
= among the Christian critics of heat
:. en- immortality. He threw the gaun
" let of his invincible logic down b
II fore the famed and priced myst
a ries-the holy of holies of class
y. heathenism. He declared the thin
done in these mystic rites under co
er of night to be so vile that it wOu
} be an offense against modesty
1r mention them; that the heath
y justified their crimes by eXampl
Ia of the crimes of their gods, to Gel
IS brate and portray which the myst
TO ries were instituted.
RS This paragraph is like the dew
le which, from one angle, shows o
al portrait, and from another, anoth
portrait, quite in contrast. In tt
instance the first is rcpulsive, Il
- second attractive. If the who
+. Epistle resembles the siXty-eigh
d. Psalm, this part of it is like t
u thirteenth verse: "Though We ha
es lien among the pots, yet shall ye
7 nc tho ,rinnS of y dove covered wi