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50 THE CONVENTION TEACHER Lights on the Lesson By Rev. Bernard Byrd, D. D. LIGHT NO 1-(Romana) Since no special thing had to occur to make one a member of the fold of the idolaters who worshipped the Roman gods, the prospective Christians who had lived under the influences of Rome looked lightly upon Christianity. It therefore became necessary for Paul to explain that it was necessary to accept the head of Christianity before one could live by its principles. LIGHT NO.2-"Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed means that one will have no reason for being ashamed of following a movement which was somewhat new (in the minds of the people) even though the vast majority of the citizenry followed after idolatry. LIGHT No.3-"How shall they hear without a preacher?" does not refer only to the licentiate or the ordained minister: the word "Preacher" includes every person who will tell of the Saviour and his provisions. LIGHT No.4-- (Eph.) Paul defends his act of preaching to the Gentiles by presenting himself as one selected by the Father to present Jesus to the masses which were not Jews. His statement, "Less than the least of all" may be considered in two ways: first it reveals that the Spirit of God makes men humble; secondly it might be considered as self-directed satire becausee the Jews considered all Gentiles as filthy, heathernistic, and unfit for social conduct. Editorial Reflections By Rev. S. A. Pleasants, D. D. The Church the Body of Christ must so conduct itself that the world may get the Word of God and be saved. Christ left the church in the world for this purpose. The church must bring the world into the Kingdom of God by preaching and teaching the Word as dictated by the Holy Spirit. The church has done its full duty when it proclaims the Gospel by the life it lives, and the work it does. Living of course, out what Christ puts in. The world of sinful men must accept this Gospel given out by the church to be saved from the sin of unbelief, which is the sin that damns. When the church does its full duty, and the world of men believe what it has given out from the Holy Spirit, then the change that God wants in our world will be. Such a change will God make to the end our world will come back into its pleasantness as before the fall of man. The Gospel must be believed in the heart before one can be saved. When the Gospel is believed in the heart, the heart is created by the Holy Spirit, into the Spirit and life of Christ, found in the Word of God; this great change makes man deny himself and give himself wholly to God: when God becomes the owner of man by this process; He makes man one in His family like Jesus, and loves him as he loves Jesus. This great change makes Jew and Gentile one in God's family. God in Christ is Lord of all, and is rich unto all who call upon him. God saves every one who in deep repentance, will accept the faith He gives, and wholly rely upon Him for salvation. Whosoever calls, being deeply convicted, as is stated here shall be saved. Salvation is of God and not man; hence it is Eternal. The church and the preacher, the key man in the church are beautiful that gift to the world the Good News. The unsearchable riches of Christ are given to His church, to give to the world of men. He is the Grace that appeared to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Grace has always been in existence, even with God, before the worlds were. It is this Grace that saves through faith, the greatest Gift that God gave to a world of sinful men. God makes known His Wisdom to His church. He wants the church to know all He has for it. He wants it to do, is separate, consecrate and let Him carry on the full ministry of His Son, in and through it, that all men in this world may enjoy the fulness of Him, in whom the whole of creation and the God-Head dwell. [[end page]] [[start page]] THE CONVENTION TEACHER 51 Lesson X. March 7, 1948 THE PERSONAL WITNESS OF THE CHRISTIAN SENIOR TOPIC: YE ARE WITNESSES Acts 8:26-39. [[line]] AUTHORIZED VERSION 26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, arise, and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a unit of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water: what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, if thou believe is that with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. [[line]] REVISED VERSION 26 But an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying, Arise, and go toward the south under the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship; 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 and the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: His generation, who shall declare? For his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other? 35 in Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this scripture, each done to him Jesus. 36 And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch said, Behold, [[italics]]here[[/italics]] is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing. [[line]] MOTTO TEXT – Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. John 20:21. [[line]] LESSON SETTING Time: A. D. 34 Place: Gaza. LESSON OUTLINE 1. Philip the Messenger. (VV. 26-30.) II. Philip the Interpreter. (VV. 31-35.) III. Philip the Baptizer. (VV. 36-39.) DAILY HOME READING March 1 – March 7. M. Sharing Our Experience. I John 1:1-4. T. Stephen's Testimony. Acts 7:52-58. W. "Put off the Old Nature." Colossians 3:1-11. T. "Put on Love." Colossians 3:12-17. F. Jesus and a Foreigner. Matthew 15:21-28. S. From Distant Lands. Matthew 2:1-11. S. Paul's Testimony. Acts 26:19-23.
