The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-02-22
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL, LESSON
BY w. i. ELLIS

J.
| that the prince of the powers of
this world is having things all his
own way. They are sure that the
! world is growing worse, and the
! only comfort their little souls enjoy
! is that they themselves are a saving
I salt in the midst of so much wick
edness. There is no rainbow in their
sky. All the signs that come to them
are interpreted as tokens of defeat.
! These. too, need the parable of the
/ kingdom that grows greater and Of
! fers shelter for many creatures. They
especially need to observe more
! closely things in the large.
Signs of Promise.
Why did Jesus tell this story, any
! how? What was the first purpose Of
/ the parable? Was IL not to hearten
| His friends. who. would have many
conviction that the kingdom, to
which they had given their lives
! was a conquering kingdom At the
| base of the parable is a note of as
coming. Let US get that conviction
| into the groundwork of all our think
| ing, and we shall see its fulfillment on
every hand. Who so looks at life in
| its relationships and with wide hori-
| ION, knowing somewhat of other cen
! turtles than his own. will observe signs
! of promise everywhere.
i Five years ago it would have been
i thought incredible that the worlds
| foremost statesmen would be chart
| ing the cruise of civilization by the
| very ideals of Jesus. Now the whole
world is coming to accept as tru1snn
the proposition that all mems good.
in obedience to the righteous laws
| of God should be every nations first
| consideration.
In this time the church. which is
the custodian Of the kingdom, is called
upon to subordinate all Things
| creeds and organizations and distinc-
tive denominational titles and act1U-
ties and mbitions-wherever neces-
sary to the coming of that new order
! of God which all Christians hold IN
supreme honor and affection
Old Asia's New Place on Map.
Terse Comments on the Uniform
Prayer Meeting Topic of the Young
Peoples Societies-Christlan En-
| deayor. Etc-For February "a:
ssThe Power of the Cross in Asia.
i Psalms 96:113.
President Wilson and Lloyd George
have given new hope to aspiring Asia
In their statement of peace terms we
find the power of Turkey over Chris
tan peoples broken, the independence
of Armenia, Palestine, Arabia, Assyria
and Mesopotamia guaranteed ana
protection promised to weak CHINA
and Persia. This tremendous change
in the worlds map is full of religious
Significance. It means the passing or
intolerance and the sway of Islam
scimitar. 1t means the new concen-
tration of worldwide Christian
thought upon the region which gave
the religions of revelation to mankind
1t means a free path for research in
archaeology. In word, IT means tnat
the path of the cross is cleared anew
| in the land of the cross
Ia lie n
everybody who is not himself asleep
with respect to the big world. This
awakening is one Of the big factors
in the life of today. Merchant, imam
cier, statesman and dlpiomaust are an
interested in it. Forces are ast1r in
the ancient east which portend
changes in the maps of the world and
bid fair to profoundly after the pres
ent conditionS of society: DeepeSt OF
all the new movements is that which
affect the religious faith of the Orient.
What a nation believes with re-
spect to religion is OF far more sig
nificance than what it buys and sells
Broadly speaking. Asia is in a state
of religious unrest. 1t IS aVoWeoiy
dissatisfied with the present conU-
tons of the ancient faiths. By the
testimony of their own leaders, the
educated youth of he-Asiatic nations
are slipping rapidly away from the
faiths of their fathers into lndlf1er-
ence and agnosticisIp. Only Chris-
tia nity and Islam, the two monotheiS-
tic faiths, show any real vitality. A
great number of scholarly observers
unite in declaring without reservation
that one of those two religions Will
short time.
I America is discovering Asia. Until
recently the continent which is the
rrAtr %rA
into the background of mems think
ing Its people had ceased to be pres
ent factors in the problems or life;
dcadness of self-complacency and self
isolation had fallen upon it as a pail.
Now almost of a sudden, within the
present generation Asia has been
aroused. And with equal suddenness,
America has been awakened to some
degree of understanding of the phe-
nomenon of the revivified Orient. 1t
is nothing less than a discovery of the
east by the west; and the effect upon
the future of the western world will
be quite comparable to the effect upon
Europe of the discovery of America
by Columbus.
Whenever you think of Asia, think
of potency. The largest of the five
continents has the smallest name, but
the greatest potency potency of
people, of natural resources. of imag- |
nation, of industry aI,E of thrift. The
more one muses. upon the meaning of
Asia awake the more impressed his |
ina gination becomes.
The yeast of the new life that is !
stirring Asia has many component ,
parts Trade us one. The newspaper
is another. Travel is another. The |
mechanical appliances of civilization |
are another. The days world-spirit |
is another. But the most noticeable |
part of the leayen that is now at |
work in the Orient is western educa- |
ton
All Christiandom knows that the
Christian church in Korea is an eX-
ample to the western churches in I
IT,