The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-03-12
International
SundaySchoolLesson
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

For March Ia is John on the Isle of
Patmos. Rev 1:4-1s.
The Island That Saw Heaven.
BY way of a notebook, I have been
transported. Sitting at my desk. I
Ehave yet been in spirit far away on
4 the shining Mediterranean, amid the
ella Ssic Isles of Greece. My diary tells
me that a, year ago-on March 3. 1919,
to be exact was sailing along the
| shores of the Island of Patmos. a to-
paz islet set in a sapphire sea. Light
clouds encircled it's mountain crest,
Pike a Spanish lady's filmy veil. On
its westward shore the island rises
sheer from the sea, its face gray and
! brown and wine-colored. There was
not a tree In sight. The gullies in the
limestone hills gave variety to the
/ color. On the mountain, between its
I two peaks. shine white the ruins of
| the ancient acropolis. Still higher
stands a Venerable monastery, built
over the cave which tradition calls the
/ scene of Johns vision.
I All-surrounding and all-dominating
\ is the spacious sea, with its changeful
l moods and colors. Sometimes it
speaks with the voice of many wa
! ters;" sometimes, at eventide. as when
saw it. the Mediterranean is a sea
| of fire" and a "sea of blood" often it
1 is a crystal sea-" The white gulls
circle round and ride the waves. be-
cause this day is peaceful; but there
are times when every dweller on the
island (now only few Greeks, most
| ly sponge fishermen) conceives of a
better life where there shall be no
more sea-"
! Every phase of the surroundings of
! Patmos colors the Book written on
this lonely little island. Within sight
are the Isles of Greece-nowadays an
| object of barter by the supreme coun-
cil-with all their reminders of Gre
clan mythology, against the back
ground of which a Cross had been
| uplifted To the north and east lies
the mainland, with its precious mem
cries for this homesick. exiled Seer.
whose heart was across the pillows in
his beloved Ephesus. How could he
help thinking of the seven churches of
Asia Minor where he had minlstered
in the Word, and whose members
were, many of them. known to him
personally?
AS John sat at eyentide on one of
the high promontories of Patmos
(not in a cave, assuredly), his eye of
love saw the seven cities of the main
land. where the church had been
planted: and his eye of faith saw.
even in the imagery of the sunset
clouds to the west, the heavenly city,
the New Jerusalem; and he linked the
needs of the seven with the power OF
the one. Yearning for the welfare OF
the churches he loved, John sent them
a message of immortal hope. After
all has been said. eternity is the great
remedy for time. heaven is the cure
of earth.
Turks Fight Amid the Seven Churches.
Memories of Patmos fill my mind
as 1 glance over my notebook-ano
then my eye falls on a present-day
clipping of the recent fighting in Ana
1N he
Churches of Asia, to which the BOOK
of Revelation is addressed To most
readers these places are quite as un-
real as the mystical figures IN John
vision. They may read of smyrna IN
the days dispatches and of Smyrna
in the Revelation, but 1t never occurs
to them that the cities are one ana
the same. The names in the chapter
which the Sunday schools study today
are real names of real places: L myself
have personally visited most OF them:
At the moment, they are the scene or
unrest and military operations. 1t is
of greatest interest that the day
news is so closely interviewer with the
New Testament This is a time to
read the newspaper with the Bible and
its maps at ones elbow.
In spirit as we'll as in place, the
present lesson is close to the news
John wrote to comfort Christians
amid the tremendous conflict between
right and wrong, wherein wrong
seemed triumphant Temporal power
was devastating the followers OF IDEAL
ism. He tried to comfort the appar-
emily defeated by the reinsurance OF
the long look: he called in eternity to
redress the wrongs of time. To him II
was given to draw aside the curtain
which concealed an inevitable ana
irnmorta victory of the Kingdom Oh
righteousness which his Master Jesus
= ~ pafi6nHa ana
confidence were impaired by his vision
of the sure downfall of wickedness ana
the enduring reign of Justice ana Goa:
Today needs that same comfort, and
concerning the same region. where the
Christians have been suffering even
more than in the days OF John. Cynical
and impenitent old world Statecratt
has made a league with the murder
Gus Turkish Empire. to retain Turkey
in Constantinople, and as a sovereign
power over Christian peoples. The
neighborhood sof the Seven Churches
of>Asia resourtds to the clash of arms.
and Moslem and Christian are once
more in conflict. because the Christian
powers OF Europe think more OF their
own imperial ACKNOWLEDGEMENT than Of
the principles of Righteousness to
which they subscribed during the war.
Truly, we need such assurance as that
Of the Seer of Patmos OF hearten us
today to remain SteadfaSt TO tns ldealS
for which our young men died IN bat
tie. Rome visualized anti-Christis n
life and oppression IN Johns day:
Turkey fills the same role today.
John. Versus Sir Oliver.
In another respect this study of the
Book of the Revelations Is opportLne.
A wave of interest in spiritisn is
sweeping the world. Manufacturers
of ouija boards are getting rich.
Avaricious and INSCRIPTIONS mediums
are reapinS a golden harvest Pub
fishers of books upon spiritism arc
making hay, for they cannot expect
such sunshine to continue long. Sir
Oliver Lodge is drawing great audi
ences to hear his modicum of evidence
and his surprisingly large store of
credulity drawn on. into a series of
lectures. Conan Doyle has set aside
Sherlock Holmes in favor OF spooks of
a machine-made sort.