The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1909-02-26
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV EDWARD NILES.
Theme: Johns Second Epistie.

the Bible in four minutes. Shortest
of all the siXty-siX, it is easily written
on three pages of lady's note paper.
The most precious goods comes in
small parcels. A vest pocket full of
gold buys coal enough to heat and
light this church for years. The thir-
teen verses of Second John are more
precious than the thirty-siX chapters
of Second Chronicles.
Especially interesting is this letter
to every woman-and to every man
whose dearest friend is woman.
Few are outside one or the other cate
CORY. While nine of the twenty-five
New Testament letters are directed to
four to Christians in gen.
eral, two to the Jews and five to in
iividual men, this Is the only one sent
to a woman.
The writer was John the aged, her
spiritual adviser and intimate friend.
Often entertained at her home in
Ephesus, he often thought of her
when out of the city.
l believe we are right in giving her
a name The word translated lady"
in the English text, in the margin is
"Cyria." Like Martha" in the He
brew, "Cyria" means lady" but was
Just as much girls name among the
Greeks as Flora" with the Romans
Or Grace" with us.
Cyria, then, was a we'll known
Christian with no less than four chill
dren. At least two were young men
whom John had just found to be
disciples in the town where
he was holding evangelistic services.
There, too, was the home of Cyria's
married sister, as, we'll as of some
1ieces and nephews. With them the
apostle probably stayed. Cyria was a
widow of means, leisure and inclina-
ton for good works.
Not long before this time, Petron-
Jus. Nero's "arbiter Of elegance, a
prominent character in "Quo Vadis, !"
published his "Ephesian Widow" 1t
is a satire upon silly women, living
for pleasure, devoted to dress, so evil
and foul mouthed that its
is prohibited our mails.
The contrast between that typical
heather widow of Ephesus and this
typical Christian widow of Ephesus
speaks most eloquently of how the
Gospel transforms womankind.
The motive of Johns letter Is two
fold: To commend the widows chill
dren whom he has seen and to warn
the widow lest the children still at
home be contaminated.
Only pastor fully, understands
Johns delight at writing with clear
only mother fully under
stands Cyria's delight at reading with
beating heart, Il rejoiced greatly that
IF
in truth" Archimedes
leaped out of his bath shouting
Eureka! 1 have found it," when he
there discovered the long sought
proof of his pet theory. John cries
put "Eureka!" with even more joyful
intensity when he finds in Cyria's
children proof of his and Peters the
Dry propounded at Pentecost, "the
promise is unto you and your chill
dren." When boys could go away
from a Christian home and, in the
midst of paganism, live pure, Christ
like lives, Johns preaching had
passed beyond the experimental
stage.
A shadow falls ever even this joy,
Some of your children" indicates
that the cup of happiness was not full
to running over.
Rumors had reached John that
Cyria's hospitality was being abused
by plausible counterfeits of Christian
ministers who were circulating the
that Christ did not really
live on earth in flesh and blood. II
was only an appearance. So these
men were later known as "Docetists.
Those children were in imminent dan.
ger of being led into perdition by the
heresy which asserted that only Jesus
of Nazareth was crucified; not the
Messiah at all. Divinity, they
claimed, could not be subject to hui.
Matter is essentially evil,
All sin comes from the body. The
passion story is drama, not history,
Nothing is real but mind. They
called themselves advanced think.
ers," because they wanted Christian.
ity to keep pace with the times and
infuse itself with the popular Orienta'
Progress" was theil
watchword. In reality, says John, il
is retrogress, for they "go onward by
not abiding in the teaching of Christi
The glamour we are inclined to
cast about the early church is moi
justified. It's members had the same
failings as ours. It's vagaries are
strikingly duplicated now and here
Theosophy, Free Thinking, Christian
Science f1ourished in Ephesus. "The
teaching OF the Twelve Apostles" a
church manual probably written be.
fore John died, warns believers
against many who went into evangel-
ism for what they could make out Of
it. 1t lays down this very practical
test of genuineness: eff he stays
more than two days he is false. If he
teaches the truth and doeth it not, he
is false. Whatsoever shall say in the
spirit, Give me silver or anything
else, We shall not listen to him. If he
tell you to give for others who are
in want, let no man judge him."
Let us apply this test on the pres:
ent-day professed improvements upon
The old faith: How much do they
charge for their text books? What
is the price of their treatment? Dc
the poor have these substitute gospels
preached to them?
The central thought of this NINA.
ture epistle is the same as in all oil
Johns writings, love. Faith is loves
basis. When belief is false, love dis.
appears. The disciple whom jesuit
loved was now a hundred years old
Although his handwriting was trem,
ulous with age, he was still Son o.
Thunder. His conception of love waf
not an invertebrate sentimentality
but discerning reasonableness. HI
ever emphasized the need of an ao
tual, incarnate Christ on whom tt
focus affection.
So he hurled his thunders at who
ever would emasculate the love-re-
ligion and stirred Cyria to guard her
family against them.
Shortly afterward, John is said to
have returned to Ephesus, so weak
he needed to be carried to the Chris
tian meeting place on young men S
shoulders. Unable to stand up and
preach, Sunday after Sunday he
spread his hands over the worshipers,
using the same fve-word sermon,
" Little children, love one another. d"
When asked why, he replied, BE
cause that is the command Of the
Lord, and nothing can be done unless
this is done"
The word "Cyria" has still another
meaning. 1t is what relates to the
7 ord " and hanco "churph From If