The Topeka state journal., 1909-02-27


Lesson for February 2s is. THE
Gospel in Samaria." Acts s: 4-25.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
Outside the quaint old walled city
of Taiku, Korea. are the French
Catholic church and the Presbyterian
mission compound. When the
Protestant missionaries arrived. the
Catholic priest, whose diversion was
his garden, generously shared his
strawberry plants with his neigh
bors. These had been imported and
reared at great labor and the gift was
an appreciated one. The very next
season the priests own crop of straw
berries entirely failed. Then his
neighbors were able to restore to him
what otherwise he would have utterly
lost. Thus it is with all things. The
principle of preservation by propaga-
ton runs throughout life. What we
give we have. The ideas that are
shared are most truly possessed. Re
ligion that is carried abroad is saved
at home.
This present Sunday school lesson.
concerning the bearing of the gospel
to Samaria--the first step over the
borders of Judaism by the infant
church-was the salvation of the
church itself. For today Judea is a
mission land. Christian missionaries
from America and Europe are now at
work in Jerusalem, bearing back the
gospel which they possess because of
the missionary activity of the early
church.
1t was a great dream which that
little band of humble folk in old
Jerusalem cherished; the dream of a
world-conquering faith. Other re-
ligions have held it. too. but now the
vision is fading from every other
faith, and meanwhile is gripping
Christianity with new power. Nations
whose very existence was unguessed
by the early church are today turning
toward the light of the cross. while
others, like North America. then un-
discovered, confess supreme allegiance
to the crucifed, and give richly of
their treasures of life and wealth for
the wider dissemination of the mes
sage which Philip carried to Samaria.
The Scattered E1nbers.
The rod of persecution sent the first
embers of Christianity flying in many
directions. After the martyrdom of
Stephen, the fury of Jewish bigotry
broke, and before it Christians were
scattered everywhere But every flee
ing Christian meant progressing
evangel. Truth thriveS under per-
secution. BY last evenings mail had
a letter from a friend in Japan, point
ing out that in the early days, when
passport restrictions made it impOs-
sible for missionaries to go far into
that country, the latter were aflame
with iTnpatience to carry the gospel to
the remotest interior. Now, however, |
that all obstacles have been removed, |
d strange ldSSlCuQ6 SeeHlS 10 nave De-
set the church, and there are yet mill |
lions of Japanese who have never |
heard q. single presentation of the !
gospel in their own villages and |
towns. 1t does seem as if external |
difficulties promote the gospel, while |
ease without creates difficulties within. |
In Korea the native Christians have !
practice that is commendable. |
Whenever one is obliged to remove his |
home from one town to another. he
counts it as a providential sending |
upon mission. that he may be an |
evangelist to the new neighborhood |
Even further than that many Chris /
tians go. since it is not uncommon |
for a Korean convert to remove his
home voluntarily to a village where |
there are no Christians, simply for I
the purpose Of affording a center for
the extension of the gospel. More of !
that spirit in church work at home |
would wondrously sweeten the church,
as well as the world. If there were
there would be fewer church quar-
rels
An Earthquake Incident.
At this distance it is hard to catch
the significance of the advance of the I
Jewish Christians into Samaria. 1t is
to be remembered that 1.-The Jews
have no dealings with the
Samaritans." Yet such is the LIBERAL
izing power of the gospel of Jesus
that it made these Jewish Christians
Wiling ana eager snare Inelr pest
with the Samaritans, and to take the !
latter into their great family. Any I
vital experience has this tendency to
broaden.
Up until the time of the italian
earthquake there was open
antagonism between the Vatican and
the italian Jew who is mayor of /
Rome. The latter is not only a non
Catholic, but he is a prominent Mason
as well. Yet when the victims of the
earthquake were carried to Rome and
placed in the Vatican hospital, the
mayor of the city, on his round of
ministry and sympathy, was welcomed
to the very Vatican precincts by the |
papal secretary of state. The great
common sorrow had banished the old |
antagonism and made the two parties
simply men and brethren.
When DoNie Invaded New York,
A careful reading Of this narrative
shows that the missionary movement
of the Christians made a general i'm
preston upon both Jerusalem and
Samaria. Possibly IT may be likened
to John Alexander Dowie's invasion
of New York few years ago by his
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