The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-22
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
For June "a is 1.-The Purpose of Johns
GnSnel n-Inhn 81 .15-2h
BY w. T. ELLIS

Gospel" 21:15-25
The Man Who Saw Thru Things.
A few minutes ago I talked with
man of the type of those who see big
things in a little way. He is essen
TALLY a pettifogger. 1t is well that he
IL sort who have construed the law
into a completely of snares and sub
tleties and technical enactments chief
ly useful for defeating essential JUS
tice. 1t is a relief to turn from the ir-
ritations of a Small-minded man to
the contemplation of one who had
sweep and breadth of vision, and
whose flashing eye penetrated to the
heart of things and discovered what
really matters. In literature and her
aldry, this mans symbol is the far
visioned eagle. For it is of the Apos-
tie John, the Beloved Disciple, write,
whose message in it's entirety is the
theme for present study by the mill
lions of the Sunday school.
Nobody has time nowadays for
musty tones dealing with outworn is
sues. This is the hour of the living
present. We are all eager for light
on our own troubled day. The worlds
quest is for trail thru the tangle of
things. Everybody is open-eared to
hear the man with the master word,
who can tell US something about the
ultimate meaning of this cataclysm
y hich has Overtaken mankind. Of
books upon the superficia1ities of the
situation we have more than enough.
We crave a word of life, that will
steady our nerves and guide our feet,
and make US to see the end of it all.
That is just the sort of book this
man John wrote. Millions of men
and women, whose hearts have felt
the personal touch of the war, are
turning daily to this old volume for
light and comfort. 1t helps them
more than anything else. For John,
the sturdy fisherman who shared with
his brother the title, "sons of thun-
der" saw beyond the days common
round. beyond the severing of families
and the abandonment of ones calling,
beyond the breaking up of the old or
der and the old system of thinking,
beyond suffering and shame and death
itself, into the Ultimate Reality,
where reigns the will of God and the
now triumphant Christ. 1t is not to
be forgotten that this biographer
whose work we have been studying
with such delight and profit was also
eternal mysteries; and the interpreter
of the pre-existent Word.
A Friends Perfect Tribute.
Learned savants have produced a
mountain of commentaries upon this
Gospel of John We do not turn to
them today: Simply and naturally,
and according to its most obvious
meaning. we accept this great book
as the perfect tribute of real man,
whose hand God guided, to the Friend
whom he had known and loved Be
cause John was closest to Jesus on
earth, his biography enables us who
live today to get close to the very
heart of the Christ.
This is the supreme commentary
upon the Fourth Congratulations of
persons turn first to it to find. in
glowing, pulsing reality, the person.
aifty of tie Saviour. With consum-
innate skill, John lets us into the very
secret of the Friend who is the souls
Boon Companion, and who under
stands US when all others walk aside
from. US in misunderstanding or ig-
norance. Somehow, John introduces
US to the everything Christ who alone
can feel with us and for us. He en-
tiers into the secret of the apartness
and loneliness and craving of our
hungry hearts.
"There is mystery. in human hearts,
And tho we be encircled by host
OF those who love us well, and are be-
loved,
To every one of us, from time to time,
There comes a sense of utter loneliness,
Our dearest friend is stranger to our joy,
And cannot realize our bitterness.
There is not one who really understands
Such is the cry of each of us in time,
We wander ina solitary way.
mo matter what or where our lot may be !;
Each heart, mysterious even to itself,
Must live its inner life in solitude.
And would you know the reason why this
1t is because the Lord desires our love-
In every heart He wishes to be first,
He therefore keeps the secret key himself,
To open all it's chambers-and to bless,
With perfect sympathy and holy peace
Each solitary soul who comes to Him.
So when we feel this loneliness 1t is
The voice of Jesus saying, Come to me.
And every time we are not understood
ia Tn
For Christ alone can satisfy the soul.
And those who walk with Him from day
Can never have-a solitary way.
And when beneath some heavy cross you
And say. I cannot bear this load alone
You say the truth. Christ made 1t pur-
/ So heavy that you must return to Him.
The bitter grief which no one under
Conveys a secret message from the King.
Entreating you to come to Him again.
The Man of Sorrows understands IT well
In all points tempted He can feel with
You cannot come too often too near.
The Son of God is infinite in grace
His presence satisfies the longing soul,
And those who walk with Him from day
to day
A Man Who Knew the Facts.
Many books-a recent meaty little
one by Robert E. Speer being one of
the best-have shown that the Fourth
Gospel bears all the marks of an eye
witness record. The illusions to
time to places, to local usages, all
testify to the intimacy of the writer
with the actual scenes he describes.
He was not only present wherever any
other one of the friends of Jesus was
for John belonged to the inner Cir
Gle of three-but he also had a spir-
uously in the irresistible manner
had first aftra Jim.