The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-12-08
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY
SCHOOL LESSON
BY w. T. ELLIS.

For December 10 is Faithful Unto
Death. Revelations: Chapters 2
and 8
Does the Church Count?
Many persons today have no time
for the church, and they are brainy,
moral and public-spirited persons.
too. That unpalatable fact is COM
monty lodged by church folk. I'm
deniably tho. there is a large group
of social reformers who do not take
the church into their thinking. They
do worse than oppose it: they ignore
it. Now what shall the open minded
Christian say to this condition?
The question is pertinent in the
light of the present Sunday school
lesson, which deals with the seven
churches of Asia-for, altho only
three churches are indicated in the as
signed passage, the study would be
lop-sided unless it considered all
seven. These were seven city churches
established in the great centers of
Asia Minor, in the seats of Roman
power and culture. The wonderful
achievements of the new Gospel are
apparent from the simple fact that
within the lifetime of one man, the
Apostle John, who had stood by the
cross of the crucified and apparently
defeated Founder of the Church, the
Brotherhood has become a real power
in all the imperial centers of Rome's
dominions. So fully matured has the
church grown to be that we find John
now warning it against danger and de-
cline. Certainly the Christian church
was not negligible quantity in the
first century of the Christian era.
The Church Before the City.
This author, who was translating
messages straight from heaven, did
not write to the seven cities in Asia.
Any WorldlywiSe author would have
done so, as any statesman. Great and
proud cities were these beautified by
the art of Rome and Greece-Ephesus
Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis,
/ Philadelphia, Laodicea. Every one
was city of distinction, a factor in
the life of that Roman province known
as Asia, now called Anatolio The
student of history finds a wealth of
interesting material in the mere facts
of the rise and progress of these seats
| of dominion
Yet the inspired writer addressed
these centers as churches. To him,
the body of believers was more than
the marble theaters. the statue-adroned
/ forums, the temples. or the other
great works of architecture Not
word do we find in this book about the
dlgnified names associated with these
| cities some of whom ignored and de-
splsed the little community of Chris
I X
one essential and abiding force from
Johns standpoint. The church in
Ephesus meant more to him than the
city of Ephesus itself. for these groups
OF believers were representative of a
| permanent and ever-increasing shirt
ual force, and the Kingdom that out
lasted the sway of the Caesars
Ihat is why living church is the
most important force in any city 1t
represents eternal values. Its work is
/
In sense incomprehensibIe to mere
materialists it is shaping DESTINY. The
church lives in and for two worlds. IT
is not merely an international CORPORA =
ton but also universal corporation,
! with its largest destiny in the world
which lies beyond the present life. All
its most important transactions and
traffickings of life have to do with
the things which are eternal.
Why Watch the Church?
Herein is the big blunder of the
men who are not interested in the
church, and who are formulating pro-
grams for the ameliorating of the
worlds evil conditions without a CON
sideration of the Christian church
| Despite all her shortcomings, and
the Observation-Disclosures of many of
| her leaders, the church is shapine life
I fundamentally, and for both time and
eternity. She alone has adequate mo-
! tives to bring to bear upon human ma
ture. No other program but hers IN
| dertakes to make over the essential
| character of mankind
So the person who goes into church
work sets his hand to the biggest task
of all. He is serving the world in the
| ways that count most, because he is
building for eternity. The highest
expression of human capacity is found
in the man who is working most po-
tently in and thru and for the church
Because the church is so vital, all
who love her should be fearless in
| guarding her against wrong tenden-
cies. 1t is a sorry day when the men