Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-03-01
PEACE and The PEACEMAKER
international Sunday School Lesson for March Is
"Jesus Bringing Peace"-Mark 4:35-5:2O
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS

mad no thought that He would still
the storm, yet they wanted to take
refuge in the shelter of His strong
oharacter Therefore, their petulant
arousal OF Him as He slept. THE
snip that carries Caesar cannot
SINK. That boat with Jesus aboard
was safer than one of the limestone
caves in the hills of Nazareth.
The fishermen wanted only COM
toTt' and they got instead great
cam 1t is glory of the Christian
Ialth that Christ always exceeds ex-
pectations. They who ask for little
get much. His givings are always
more than we desire or deserve. The
affrighed Galileans were still fur
ther amazed when. instead of words
OF counsel or assurance, Jesus spoke
in majesty to the sea, Peace, be
still And the winds ceased and
there was a great calm"
Nature is but a servant whose
master is God. If we will 20 part of
the way with Christ in acceptance
OF His character and work. we are
bound to go all the way and believe
Him when He says, "All authority is
given unto me-" To any who are
troubled by this miracle, the words
} of the Master to the disciples in the
boat may be repeated. "Have We not
AS'NH' utb We may lIdENGl Will
them and cry, "Who. then, is this
that even the winds and sea obey
him?' Marvellous beyond compare
was that wondrous deed, yet what
about Jesus is not marvellous? He
who rules the winds and waves is
still master of this world as in all
human history. Let us stand by our
simple faith that our Christ is om-
nipotent. Amid all the changes that
we face in these troublous times,
this assurance holds us steady, HE
who rules is our Redeemer."
Warning Worlds PeacemaI<er
When we apply this truth to the
storm and wrack of war it is not so
easy to realize that the Christ of
peace is having His way with the
| world. Doubtless He would have
had better way had men let Him.
| Nevertheless, HE maketh the wrath
of man to praise Him." We can see
| through this tempest only by the i'll
| Elimination of the cross, which is the
symbol that righteousness is worth
supreme cost. God will go to all
lengths to serve His holy ends of
justice and love. Nothing necessary
to that purpose has He withheld, not
even the life of His Son. AS Jesus
died in human service, by the divine
will. so are men dying to-day to
bring to pass a peace that will serve
| all the generations to come.
Recently, We perceive that amid
all the tumult and wreckage of war,
the mind of Christ is being victor
| iously fulfilled. What a wonderful
! demonstration of comradeship and
helpfulness and mercy and practical
ministry and religion we are having
from the battlefelds to-day. A sim
gle hysterical outburst concerning
moral conditions in London from one
uninformed preacher may get more
publicity than all the glorious truth
as those who really know have seen
it. For myself. what 1 have beheld
! in London, of quiet strength and
| dignity. on the part of soldiers and
civilians; of service offered as a
| matter of course; of the worlds
greatest city attuned in every de-
| partment to exalted but practical
patriotism, is nothing less than one
of the wonders of the war. I saw
much of religious activity in London,
! and little of vice. After investiga-
ton it seemed to me that righteous
ness is victorious in this particular
! battle. The spirit of Jesus is out
working to a new life in the heart
of mankind; and to a new and bet
| ter order for the whole world.
When Life Is at Stake
Stormy waters are less tumultu-
Gus than the storms that rage in the
! human breast. If we marvel at the
miracle which the fishermen saw, let
us marvel more at that power which
can say, Peace, be still' to a tur-
| bulent life. The miracle of trans
| formed characters of evil men made
! good, of passionate men made serene.
! 10 tot 10 &c,
still, as it has ever been, the su-
! preme miracle of nature.
The succor extended to the imper-
lied boatmen by the stilling of the
| storm must take second place to the
calming of the furies of the demon
| iac'S nature. This poor creature,
who dwelt amid the caves and the
tcmbs of the hills that rise abrupt
| ly from the eastern shore of Galilee,
was an outcast beyond his friends
power to bind, control or appease,
his strength was abnormal and his
delirium was ferocious. In frenzy
he cut himself with stones and rent
the air with shrieks. An outcast
from men. he was feared and yet
accorded that strange sort of rever-
ence that the East gives to the in
sane. I recalled him as I looked
upon a poor naked creature wander
ing about one of the villages of
Northern Syria, a mendicant and an
outcast
The plight of this demoniac was
extreme. Yet Christ cured him. That
is the gospel: Jesus saves unto the
uttermost." There are no men be-
yond His power to change into new
ness of life. When one calls the
roll of his acquaintances who have
been outcasts and drunkards, but
who are now men of godliness and
power, he realizes the potency of
these present experiences as wit
nesses to the miracle-worlSing power
of the Saviour. If any man finds his
faith in Chrst's ability to save
growing dim, let him visit one of the
city rescue missions and hear the
testimony of the made-over men.
What Jesus did to the demoniac of
Gadara He is still doing for tor
mented mankind.
"Let us Alone"
Strong characters always create
foes. especially if they be strong for
righteousness. When the demoniac
came to Jesus the evil spirits cried
out against Him. They recognized
Jesus as their implacable antagonist.
The Master always had enemies in
the spiritual world, and among men
and women. That sugar-and-water
philosophy which thinks it can get
through life without any strife finds
little support in the biography of the
gentIest of earth's Teachers.
Goodness, when it is really effec-
tive, always provokes enmity. There
aI hot Of