The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-08-25
For August 81 is "Journeying To Je-
rusalem. Acts 20:16-38.
When Strong Men We

clety is tnaI II tries 10 DlnQ people
together by ties which have no hold
ing force. Social solidarity comes
thru real fellowship in a common task
and common suffering and a COM
mon peril. There has never been a
| secret society devised, for instance,
that can hold men together in real
fraternity such as comrades of the
Civil war know. These men had their
hearts knit together by the hardships
and dangers they shared, and by the
cause they served at the risk of life.
This principle, which is an impor-
tant one for our own times to recog-
nize, appears clearly in the present
Sunday school lesson, which bears the
! colorless title, "Journeying To Jeru-
salem,' but might better be called,
The Ties That Bind Christians" Here
we see a really sublime by-product
of the work Paul and his associates
We're doing, namely, the creation of
| a bond of fellowship that was
stronger than any other tie. All the
riots and perils and buffetings that
the Apostle had undergone were not
worth mentioning alongside of this
new Brotherhood which had been
built up. Demetrius and his Silver
smiths Guild had seemed important:
certainly they were noisy. but it was
an evanescent bubble alongside of the
tians were creating, Fellowship des-
tined to outlast the Roman Empire
itself.
The Man Who Attracts Men.
| Like the good historian that he
was, Luke does not hesitate to write
down the various charges that were
made, from time to time against his
leader. Paul The latter's influence
doubtless kept him from writing more
| of the little personal and intimate
details of his chiefs Individuality
what he looked like, his manner of
lSDooCh n hf ~
in the flesh. All the criticisms of
| Paul were refuted the way in
which he drew men to himself. and
| by the sort of men who followed him
| In this. Paul was like Jesus. Some
foolish attempts have been made to
represent Christ as a weakling; the
sufficient answer is the sort of rough
and rugged and out-of-doors men
intimate disciples. The Peters and
| the Thomases do not travel in the
train of a mollycoddle.
| Pauls following consisted of men
was Silas-'the famous prison solo
ist," 1 suppose the billboards would
call him nowadays-and Timothy ana
Luke. the beloved physician and beer-
less historian: and Sopater, of Berea;
and Aristarchus and Secundus, of
Thessalonica: and Gaius, of Derbe,
and Tychicus and Trophinous of Asia.
That is a pretty good personal cabinet
Tor q mere Lentnaker WITH no I11lCSSs
10 give and no honors to bestow.
In passing the implication needs
but to be mentioned that a fundamen-
tai responsibility resting upon every
teacher and preacher is to make dis
ciples. Everybody who has mes
sage from God and a sense of leader-
ship should prepare others to carry
forward that torch. 1t is worth
while to impart the best of life and
personality to a chosen few, with a
sacred responsibility for transmitting
it, I know minister who never was
much of a preacher; but he realized
his opportunity for leading young peo-=
pie into the ministry and other pub
lie service, so that now he is doing,
through them, a greater work than he
ever could have accomplished himself
1t is real greatness to lead others to
become great.
| A Traveller in Famous Waters.
After the riot at Ephesus, consid-
cred last week, Paul travelled to Mace
donia and back again, by land and sea,
to bid farewell to his converts and to
strengthen their hearts. He knew that
! he should, never see them again, for
after Jerusalem, for which his heart
hungered, bonds and imprisonment
awaited him. This journey to Jerur
salem can be studied in the latest war
maps, for it is the scene of present
activity, naval and military; or, bet
ter, the war can be STUDIED through
the map of Paups journey. Or, for the
classical student, the maps of the
ancient world, with all the history and
| romance that centered in golden
Greece, afford an interesting back
ground for this lesson. Paul was
| travelling amid the scenes of the ex-
ploits of the gods and heroes of the
age of mythology; and his adventures
were more significant than any re-
corded of them.
The travel notes in the Book of
Acts afford a good guide for in
anywhere ir the world, altho it is out
Of the question today. The suffering
| at Jerusalem, which stirred PauPs
heart so that he took collections in all
his churches, is exceeded many hum
: dred fold today. From Saloniki to
Jerusalem, clear round the upper
, Mediterranean, there is now to be
found one of the worst spectacles of
woe the world has ever looked upon;
and it we its for succor from the Chris
. tan west.
A Church-Hungry Saint.
. great and consuming desire had
: grown up in the heart of Paul to be
present at the Jerusalem passover.
The aged well understand this yearn-
ing for familiar scenes and familiar
faces Paul wanted to see the friends
at Jerusalem-Peter and James and
John and Aninias and the othsr
brethren. He was eager to hear the
news of the triumphs of the Cross in
other fields. He wanted to meet the
new disciples from regions beyond.
His beloved Antioch brethren would
, be there. Besides, he. too. had a
story to tell of victory thru the Name
Even so the exiles in Babylon
2 longed for Jerusalem. Thus jewellers
in distant lands yearn for home
D few dsys ego a venerable wcrld-leader
/ in Sunday school work unburdered to
] me his deep desire to attend the
I Worlds Sunday School Convention in
I Toxic, after the war. Thus 1T is that
i bedridden saints long for the house OF
e the Lord. Even like his people OF
cid, Paul was eager for the reunion
of the Great Feast.
The godlier persons are, the more
= deeply they feel the need of the re-