Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-08-24

outrun Peter" Now, no one for a mo-
ment would judge the physique OF Pc
ter TO be that OF valetudInarian. Oh
no! His muscles were those of pow
erfully formed fisherman His skin
was bronzed from many hot sun and
tempest beating down upon Lake Cali
Ice. When the artists draw his picture
u Is always with the swarthy neck and
the deep chest. Yet this other disciple
did outrun Peter. When John sur
rendered bis life to the work of the
Master he did not have TO say, Here,
Lord. Is a pair OF wheezy lungs and a
heart whose valves are out of gear and
brain with all its corpuscles white" "
He did not say. Here. Lord, are my
weak nerves, too much out Of tune to
do anything but call for medicine
chest. Oh, no-that was not ST. Johnl
He came to the Master and. said;
Here. Lord, Is q fine physical body. j
was born well. promise to take care
OF this body to my uttermost and
make it a mighty agent to do thy
work. viii keep 1t we'll supplied
with food. I will look after 1t to my
best ability. SO that may live on
earth fivescore years IL possible to do
thy work. Here II Is. Master. Take Ii
for thy service" VIII we consecrate
our bodies to Gods did John? II we
are prone TO physical ailments, will we
do all In our power to win back that
health In order to become physical as
ter's services?
"Oh, yes" say some people, John
was one OF those lovable men. He
was one of those cllnging vines. He
was the gentle John. He never would
say anything to hurt anybody's feel
ings, He would go miles and miles to
tell pleasant fact. He would go miles
and miles TO escape telling an unpleas-
ant truth" In other words, most art
lists paint John with an effeminate
face. He is supposed to have a face
which could never belong to a great
surgeon who has to drive in the knife
or to great prosecuting attorney who
has to arraign a criminal at the bar of
Justice or tosa great commander who
has to lead on his soldiers in battle or
10 great statesman who has to sign a
death warrant when 1t Is necessary
and right so to do. We do not picture
him as man OF wrath and denuncIa-
ton, but only OF pardon and OF peace,
whereas. in fact, no human face should
be chiseled with firmer features of de-
cision. He was a positive man through
and through. He seemed to be able to
handle the thunderbolts OF heaven as
no inspired writer before or since has
ever been able to do. Where can we
find such awful descriptions OF eternal
punishment as in his book OF Revela-
tionY Where such denunciation of sin
and eternal death as In his apoca-
lypse and his visionsi II you would
be an apostle like st. John you must
be an uncompromising foe of evil as
well as one who breaches the love and
the pardon and the mercy and the for
giveness OF Jesus Christ.
SO. John No Compromfser.
st. John was one OF the favorite dis
ciples OF Jesus Christ ON account of his
positiveness. When the question or
right and wrong came up he was out
and out. up and down, through and
through for the right There was no
compromise Are we going to be like
John I'm our denunciation or evil?
When II Is necessary to use the knife
upon the deadly cancer good sur
geon will keep on driving II In and cut
ting down until he gets out all OF the
rootsf II is dangerous matter. this
tampering with evil. In my Chicago
church there sat Sunday after Sunday
beautiful woman who was the
mother of three fine children. One day
she came to me and said. THE doctor
wants me 10 so to the hospital and
have lump upon my breast cut OUT
The next day she had this operation
done. But the surgeon was one of
those vacillating men He never did
his work thoroughly He made a small
fncision and took out the lump. But
be did not take the roots away. Within
four months the lump came back. Then
another surgeon saw It, He said: Had
] done the hrst operation ] could have
saved her iife. I fear II Is too late
now" Then he laid that woman upon
the table and began 20 cut He cut
away the fcshy part of that woman's
right side. from the waist up into the
cords OF the neck. But. alas! he began
his cutting too late. That mother IS
now In her grave because the frat sur
geon did not cut deep enough. This
charge can never be made against ST.
John. When he uses the knife upon
the cancer of sin be cuts clear down
10 the root. lie was man OF positive
characteristics His lip was a smiling
lip, but 1t was firm lip. May God
help US to be like John. Nav we
learn how to denounce evil. as we'll as
10 preach the pardoning love Of Jesus
Christ
hut as we come into the BANQUET hall
and find the twelve apostles gathered
around Jesus for the last supper there
Is another characteristic to which i
want to call your attention about this
same ST. John. He was not only a dis.
eip'e who saw visions and dream id
creams. but he was one OF the most
practical OF men. All his castles were
hot air castles. All hts Utopias were
hot anchored In the cloudlands. All his
telescopes were not focused upon the
dim futsre. He could see the grass
growing at his feet as well as the stars
gIittering above his head. While he
thought about heayen. he always had
dis feet planted upon the soil of earth.
1he echoing sounds OF the celestial
ehorus did not drown out the roaring
waves beating themselves into foam
upon the rocky heights Of old Patmos:
neither did the Bread OF Heaven" en-.
t:reiy shut his. eyes to the necessity OF
working IN the harvest fields near his
own home. In other words. when John
prayed he prayed like the common
sense Christian Mr.. Sturgeon once told