The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-09-04

The international Sunday School Les.
son for September s is PauIs InlIo
Missionary Journey-F'areWeLls AceS
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
Heart ties are strongest. The "old
Home Week." which is coming so Ml9 9'7
ly into vogue, gathers within It's lnnu-
ence the busiest men Of the time, VINO
find it possible to lay aside muItltuoes
of engrossing cares in order 10 renew
the sentimental associations OF the
fundamental, personal, human relauon-
ships. There is no more appealing touch
ir the story of the travels OF the great
apostle Paul than the narrative OF
how when ending his third MISSION
airy trip, he could not resist the oppoI-
funttv 10 meet again with his friends
ct Ephesus and to bid them tareWelL
The episode Is quite like what may oe
seen by a traveller upon almost any
through train. For occasionally, at
certain stations, friends and kindreds
will come to greet travellers, II only
for a few minutes. Like a glimpse OF
the old home through train WINDOW,
was PauPs touch with Ephesus as ne
INTERRUPTED his journey at Miletus.
Despite his cosmopolitanism and states
mapship and philosophy and vast ad-
ministrative cares, this man Faul ndu
time and aptitude for making IrleLos'
He was more than leader and worker;
ne was a comrade and counsellor. a
flood of light is thrown upon his cnar-
acter by the fact that when he stdrteo
back to Jerusalem on this thlro mus
sjonary Journey be was accompanied as
far as Asia by seven friends. AT Mile
tus the leaders of the Ephesus church
came down to greet him. The occasion
was not merely a formal recognition OF
the passing by Of the foremost eccl eIsl
asticaI official of the Christian COM
munity, it was Paul the 1atnerly
friend, who drew them
The Personal Ties.
boy would rather go to circus
than see a friend; his grandfather
would rather meet with an old 1rleno
than see all the circuses that ever came
to town AS we grow older the per-
sonal ties become more precious youth
is interested in things; age Is interest
ed in people. In early life we 90 not
perceive the supreme value OF the as
sociations that we form and of the
friends that we make. This is lesson
that is taught only by time. A wise
old man knows thai friend is the
best fortune All the wonders of the
great cities through which he Travelled
meant less to Paul than the glimpse
of a familiar face and the sound OF
loved voice.
one of the by-products of service. is
fellowship. The person who goes into |
Christian work does not reckon with |
this factor at first, but as the years
pass he finds that in the community
of a common labor for a common LORD
Id
of kindred spirits who. he discovers, are
his best friends. Thus he gradually
perceives the profound truth that one
of the greatest rewards Of CHRISTIAN
service IS Christian fellowship. Not only
has he been a laborer together with
God, but he has also learned the privi-
lege and delight of being laborer to-
eether with Gods other fellow work
ers.
Dean Bosworth. of Oberlin college,
has said that there are four things
which bind men most closely together:
the first is a common hope, the second
IS a common work. the third is deIv-
erance from a common peril, and the
fourth is loyalty to a common friend
On this quadrilateral Christians find
themselves united in community OF
interest that constitutes the strongest
bond in the world. The great combi-
nation of politics and of business and
Of exploitation all have In them
he elements of disintegration; but the
lie that binds Christians together grows
stronger with the passage of years. In
our own day there is discernible a ter
lency to stress the sacredness and
7alue of the Christian fellowship. The
various brotherhoods in the churches
are asking themselves the question::
Why should not our Christian fellow
ship mean more to US. in all practical
ways, than the fellowship in any secret
1r fraternal organization, or than any
If those accidental ties of propinquity,
1OUIlCS,
If her unity once possesses the Chris
ian church, she will move with ire
;1stible impact upon those social evils
which thus far have presented an al
L ost mistaken front to the world.
The Korean Escort.
The Oriental custom which is mar
rated in this passage in Paul's life, of :
a friend on his way, has
persisted to this day. From Corintn
and Thessalonica populations of lead
ng Christians journeyed part way with
Paul. Then, after his meeting with
he Ephesian elders at Miletus. they
brought him on his way unto the
ship" One of the delights of japanese
social life is the custom of escorting to {
he train one who is about to take Il
Journey, and of meeting in force when '
lie returns. Repeatedly have I seen I
arge Populations of Japanese at the t
rain to bid welcome or farewell to e
travelling friends. Two young women 1
rom America had gone to Japan to /
DIN the Southern Methodist Mission I
1t Hiroshima, and they were greeted /
It the station by a company of no less E
han three hundred persons. V
One morning I left the city of Pyeng
Fang, in northern Korea, long before
daylight to travel through the wintry
darkness to the railway station, some
hree miles distant. 1t was a time
vhen one would be tempted to sit as
lose to his own f1reside as possible;
'et simply because I had been intro
uced to them as a Christian man. nine t
f the officers Of the Korean church s
ook this long journey through the t
arkness and the cold, in order to bid b
ne go on my way in peace. Only those a
Tho have experienced it can know how 2
UGH signs of fellowship warm the o
ockles of a mans heart. 1t meant e
1ore to Paul than even the heartbreak %
I the narrative reveals to have the lit 8
ie reunion with his Ephesian friends S
s he journeyed on to Jerusalem. and t
D the unknown fate before him. t
Pointing to the Past b