The Topeka state journal., 1921-12-23
International
SunddySchoolLeSSon
90 vxrfTTIAxf n ETTIS
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
For December 25 is a Six Months
Review of THE Life of Paul
Eph. 2:4-10.

for two and a half years. is being
written on the heaving bosom of the
Mediterranean, the glorious blue of
which must have satisfied the beauty
1 loving soul of the Apostle Paul as he
| sailed to an fro across it, in storm
| and calm. This is PauPs sea, the sea
! that he Travelled as a missionary, and
! the sea that wrecked his little craft.
Our course is laid toward the city of
FAntioch, whence he started on his
/ journeys, but, altho out of sight of
land at the moment, we are nearer
! Ephesus than Antioch. Most of the
| passengers have been laid low by the
heavy sea; and as 1 think of the tiny
| craft pom which the apostle and his
I companions adventured1 these great
waters I wonder if he also, sensitive
| creature that he was, had to roll up
| his cloak under sheltering side of the
/ ship. and simply endure the voyage.
| 1t is worthy of note how little Paul
| tells us about himself and his travel
! experiences. He had more important
| things to say.
With thronging thoughts of the
author, a real man knowing real life,
! a cosmopolitan man thinking in gen
eral terms. we take up these mighty
words OF his concerning the grace of
| God, addressed to the Christians at
| Ephesus. That is the first point to
perceive. These utterances are not
vague generalities, spoken into space.
| They are personal, and as direct and
! applicable as. the letter a traveller
sends to his family. AS he wrote, Paul
had in mind the Christians at Ephe
sus. the city where he had undergone
temp estuous experiences.
The City of Diana
Even as I have paused here TO look
upon the surging sea-wild white
horses galloping over blue pastures
| did Paul raise his pen occasionally TO
think of Ephesus: its great marble
theater. where for hours the silly mob
yelled their throats sore in praise OF
Diana, as a protest against his preach
ing; its ma gnificent highway leading
down to the quay, with statues and
fountains and fountains and temples
and baths lining it: its huge stadium
on the hillside beyond the theater; its
artificial harbor. shaped like frying
pan, and crowded with traffic from
the Mediterranean. Scenes of its
splendor and of its sensuality may
have crowded his active brain, as he
dwelt upon the surroundings of these
friends who were "called to be saints
in heather, profligate Ephesus!
Let no one say that these passages
from PauTs writing are only for the
Apostolic church, and not for US in
our more difficult times; thank God, |
owing t0/such preaching as Pauls, we
have no conception of the un-Christian
character of the Roman civilization
amid which Paul's converts had to
practice their faith The worst of our
modern cities is righteous as compared
with old Ephesus.
Right here we see the audacity OIL
Christianity. 1t offers the best to the
worst. the highest to the lowest. Deg
radiation does not daunt it. To the
sensualized Roman it gives a lofty
spirituality There is no adapting of
the MESA ge to the taste of the hearer;
the Gospel is not cheapened or wa
tered down. With a sublime disregard
of environment and heredity, Paul
presents to the Ephesians exalted
spiritual truths concerning the nature
of God and of His provisions for man s
redemption. and of the duty of even
q citizen of Ephesus to live a sanity
life This is the answaS to the half
baked intelligence which declares that
one cannot be a Christian in camp or
in business, or in shop or in college
or wherever else the complainer's lot
may be cast. Behold, one could be |
Christian even in Ephesus,
God Dislikes Boosters.
SuuareIy countering the old-new
tendency to regard man as big and |
God as little, Paul declared that ali |
the salvation that had come to his |
Ephesian converts had been because
of the nature of God Men are not |
saved by being good, but because they |
are saved they become good. They |
are saved because God is good. He |
is rich in mercy. 1t is. His character /
that provides redemption. Not our |
deserving. bur His designs, impart life. |
God being the sort of God He is, |
makes it possible for His wandering |
children to come back home, led by |
His Son Jesus. What God is Christ is: |
and Christ shares Himself with His |
friends. by grace are ye saved, thru |
70 nd nf fG
the gift of God; not of works lest any |
man should boast"
Evidently God does not like boast |
ers. We know what Jesus thought Of |
the posing, parading Pharisee. Re |
Hgion that is real always makes one |
humble and fills one with sense OF
undeserving. No true Christian ever |
Dragged of his own Christianity. For |
the closer we get to the perfection Of |
Christ the more hideous do we see !
our merits. but Gods nature, that |
brings us salvationA We glory, if at |
all in His grace. What sang the blind |
hymn writer, whose soul had seeing |
eyes?
Some day when sinks the golden sun,
Beneath the rosy-tinted West
My blessed Lord will say, Well done"
And l shall enter into rest.
And>I shall see Him, face to face.
And tell the story Saved by Grace"
In heaven we are told. the songs Of |
the ransomed are not Of self-exulta- |
ton, but in praise of Him whose grace |
saved them. despite their undeserving /
The Sea a-Sick missionaries.
Whether people are saved or not
does not depend upon their feelings. |
Most religious depression would be |
cured by a change of diet and a little
more fresh air and exercise. This les
son takes US straight back, to the cen
tral truth that. whether We feel like
grace of God.
On this ship are three women mis- |
sionaries. bound for Jerusalem. Today |
they are seasick. They have no zest |
for Jerusalem or for their mission. All !
THE enthusiasm that inspired them to |
leave America. is gone. They have no |
interest in PaurS~M Mediterraneam or |
Johns Patmos. Seasickness has emp !
tied their souls Nevertheless. they