The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-11-16
Ry WILLIAM T. ELLIs9


CRY WILLIAM T. ELLIS9
The guns have been roaring on llie
Balkan Peninsula for a rev "eohS , -. -,
Most persons in this western Worlu a. :
- Ls,d5Iad as to the actual reason
Fundamentally these guns are iIldFAili .
orSIxer 10 THE great question winch
the present Sunday school lesson a9H %
The Christian allies are thuhoerlli5 ~
broad eunpowder tones, Ihou ART IAe
Ott.<sI. p 1Thou and not Mohammed-
ma issue that has brought on TINS long
ernacted war is at root the question OF
the place of Christ in HE ShaH tI,e
Carpenter be sovereign or the caiileI-
driver? May MoSlem continue " W
press Christian?
vivid and near as this supreme ques-
+ion of life is made by the war IN
Europe it is not singular Tor II mus
TO be actualized. This is the ISSUE
which has been dividing human society
and creating wars and conflict, ever
since the gentle Gallilean Peasant trod
the pleasant fields of Palestine walk
ing close by every man and nation, ana
rising TO assert itself at the most uh-
expected moment, is this question OF
ouestions. which no man can answer
FOR another and which no man can es-
cane for hirnseIf-"Whom say We that
amp
Getting Down to Basis.
A town meeting is called 10 cohslue5
an important and immediate ISSUE anu
then it fritters its opportunity away III
irrelevant questions and discususlohs'
This is so with almost every gatherlhs-
Living on the surface of this tragic con-
ference at Caesarea Phillippi, winch we
study today are many subjects Tor ais
cussion Yet at bed rock the issue Is
wholly one of the character and mission
of Christ. Was He the Messiah, the
One long prophesied and expected?
The Heutenants of Jesus reported TO
their leader the common opinion OF
their day and world. He was reputeu
by one party, they said, TO pc x
Rautist: another declared that He was
Elijah come again: others contenoea
that He was jeremiah in the flesh. All
conceded Him an extraordinary place
This was the opinion of the scholars
and of the sophisticated men OF the
time. The worlds best wisdom agreed
that Jesus was not like other men: and
the most grudging of verdicts in the
centuries since grants Him at least thls
much.
Not hattered, but rather disheart-
ened by this report, Jesus turned
from the wisdom of the wise to the
simple faith of His own friends. Then
as now. the eyes of the heart had
clearest vision. Lowly belief saw
further than scholarly skepticisn1.
Therefore Peters prompt reply rang
boldly out, thrilling the heart Of the
lonely Leader, who in this. hour es-
peciaIIy needed the comfort of being
understood and trusted, Thou art the
Christ With all his faults. Peter had |
that spiritual faculty which dfscerns
the inwardness of truth. His was ele- /
mental wisdom.
That same wisdom discerns Christ !
standing at the crossroads of time, |
awaiting the judgment of men upon /
Himself, by which judgment men them |
selves are to be judged.
A Great Souls Suffering.
Lifting its snow-covered head in /
grandeur so high that it dominates the
entire region of Palestine from Jeru- i
salem north. stands Mt. Hermon, strong /
In its majesty and beauty. To tie /
solitude and strength of this noun
tain Jesus had taken His friends. At
its foot, in or near Caesarea Phillippi,
He underwent this experience which |
some writers have called the passion !
of the north" Here He faced the ques-
tion of what He had come into the !
world for and how far the world recog- +
nized Him and His mission. Into every
strong life there come these experiences,
when the soul is searched to it's depth.
and the eternal "why?'' is fronted in all
its solemnity.
Suffering by anticipation is keenest
pain. 1t is not the shock of the bullet
in the body. but the thought of it that
hurts the more. Jesus underwent His
of Mt. Hernon. What this crisis of
determination and of realized public
appraisal meant to Him we cannot I'M
derstand. We know that His soul was
exceeding sorrowful Out of the deeps
of this hour flowed the sublime teach
ing of Observation-Disclosures Christ
lifted up the cross upon which He was
later to be lifted
A Friends Foolish Counsel.
Nobody suffers alone. We are tied
together in the bundle of life, for veal
or for woe. The sharpest thorn in the
Leaders crown Of sorrow was the
knowledge of the suffering of His dis
ciples- To prepare them for what lay
before them Jesus began to teach
them, that the Son of Man must suffer
many things and be rejected by the
elders and the chief priests and the
scrfbes and be killed. and after three
days rise again" Without figure of /
speech and with utmost directness and
plainness He told these men who were
looking forward to earthly crowns that
the world had for them nothing better
than crosses.
At this point the mistake which is /
being made every dav by fond parents
and friends was made by impuIsive
Peter he wanted to spare his daar
Master the suffering which Jesus had
indicated. OF course he was short
sighted and foolish. The Peter pIan is I
responsible for thousands of sons and
daughters who have come to mans es-
tate unfit for lfe's burdens. Parents
have spared children hardship to the
softening of their soul fibre. Pedagogy.
philosophy and religion all unite in the
admonition to parents to teach their
children to endure hardness No price
OF suffering is too great to pay for high
est usefulness. We cannot escape tbe
profound truth that ability to serve
mankind in loftiest ways always costs
tears and bloody sweat.
something of shock comes to us as
We md the gentle Master saving sbarD-