February, 1935
ÓO
THE K I NG ' S BUS I NESS
But Philip obeyed the angel. And as he walked along, Philip saw a very important person coming toward him, an Ethiopian, a man belonging to the queen’s court. He was riding in a chariot. Stranger still, this Ethiopian was read ing from an Old Testament. Strangest o f all, he was reading the very part that told about the coming of Jesus to die for us. And it was the rest o f this very story that Philip wanted to tell. Philip was eager to tell the story. He asked God to show him to whom to tell it, and he did as God told him. We are not surprised, then, to read in the Bible that the Ethiopian believed and was baptized. Object Lesson L y in g L a b e ls Objects: Four jars of canned fruit, and a bottle of water. Take from tin cans vari ous labels, and glue them on the jars o f fruit. (Labels can be removed from the tin cans if held over a steaming teakettle.) Label the bottle o f water as it is in the drawing at the right. Lesson : Does any one o f you know a liar? I know that there are at least four liars here this morning, because I brought them. Here is one o f them. Can you read the label on this glass jar? “June Peas,” it says. You do not need to look twice to know that it is a lying label. As a rule, you can easily tell a liar, just as you can tell that this is not a truthful label. Here is another liar. This label reads, “ Sweet Pickles.” You can easily see that the jar has apricots in it. It does not do a person any good to wear a label on the Lesson Text-. Acts 10:34-48. Golden T ext: “ God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that fear- eth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34, 35). Outline and Exposition I. T h e G o spel N eeded b y t h e G e n t il e s . P eter had been surprised that he, a Jew, should be asked to preach to the Gentiles. His thought had been that God would have nothing to do with those whom the Jews called “dogs,” and there fore would not have the gospel preached to them. But when Peter arrived1in Caes area and heard the explanation given by Cornelius, he immediately recognized the hand of God in this dealing and said, “I perceive that God is no respecter o f per sons” (vs. 34, 35). When Peter declared that “in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him,” he did not mean to imply that to fear God and to work righteousness was all that was necessary for salvation. Had this been the case, then there would BLACKBOARD LESSON THE GOSPEL IS FOR, 1 pq A L L
Three Illustrated Booklets The Pathway from Grace to Glory A message from a fellow traveler to such as would make sure of salvation. Lift up Your Eyes on High Contribution of Astronomy to a better under* standing of vital Christianity. Friendship with God— in Childhood, Middle Life and Old Age 2 5 cts. each— prepaid Other Booklets THE POSSIBILITY OF A NEW U FE GOD'S CALL TO AN OVERCOMING LIFE Have proved helpful to many. lOe eaeh DR. HOWARD A . TALBOT 433 N. Broadway Do Pore, WIs. ing willing to divide up. But he missed the point of the story entirely, as most un believers do. Ananias was not struck down for keeping what belonged to him ; he died for the sin o f lying and hypocrisy (Acts 5:3 ,4 ). In Russia this situation is re versed exactly. There you may indulge in almost any kind o f immorality, but you dare not own anything. 4. Teachers should point out to their classes that in Acts 5 :3,4 we have the most direct assertion in the Bible regard ing the deity o f the Holy Spirit. Golden Text Illustration ^A man who was riding in great haste for a doctor, asked a little boy to show him the way. For mischief, the boy pointed to the wrong road. The man missed the doctor, and his son died. At the funeral, the minister said, “ This boy was killed through a lie, which an other boy told with his finger.” He did it for fun ; but what fun was there in it? It resulted in the death o f one whose life might otherwise have been pro longed.— Tools fo r Teachers, by Moodie. Peter’s Friend Helps People A c ts 8:1-8, 26-40 Memory V erse : “And the angel o f the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go” (Acts 8:26). Approach : Jesus’ old enemies, the chief priests and the Pharisees, made so much- trouble for Jesus’ disciples as they preach-
outside which does not tell the truth about the condition of the heart. People often tell a minister that they belong to a church, when they know very well that they do not belong to Christ. We will see what the next label has to say, “ String Beans,” it tells us. But did you ever see string beans that looked like this? No, they are not beans, but peaches. This next jar is labeled “ Corn,” but upon examining it carefully, we see that it is filled with apple butter. No matter what the outside may say, it is the inside that counts. If the heart is not right, it matters not what we may say with our lips, be cause God’s Word reminds us that while “man looketh on the outward appearance, . . . the Lord looketh on the heart.” Labels may not be the only liars hereithis morning. Perhaps some o f you boys and girls have told lies this past week. We should always remember the words of Peter: “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor.” Let us be like the truthful label on this bottle of water. have been no need for Peter’s presence and preaching in Caesarea, because Cor nelius would have been already a saved man. Cornelius certainly did fear God, and he also worked righteousness; but he needed to hear the words which Peter had to give, before he could be saved. He him self said that an angel had appeared unto him telling him to send for Peter “who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved” (Acts 11:14). What Peter meant was that wher ever there is in the heart a desire to be saved, that heart would hear the gospel and in that sense would be accepted with God. II. T h e G o sp e l P r e a c h e d to t h e G e n t il e s (34-43). Peter’s sermon was short, simple, clear, and most important (vs. 36-42). Here, if anywhere, we have the gospel presented for the express purpose of the salvation of a soul. It was in order to preach redemp tion in Christ that Peter was drawn to the house of Cornelius, and it was in order to hear the good news o f salvation that Cornelius waited. Peter began his sermon by recounting what was well known to all, that Jesus o f Nazareth had been sent from God and anointed with the Holy Spirit to do His work. That work, Peter said, was “preaching peace,” “ doing good,” and “healing all that were oppressed of the devil” (vs. 36-38). Re garding Christ’s death, the apostle made clear that Jesus of Nazareth was “Lord of all” (v. 36) ; and as to His humanity, that “ God was with him” (v. 38). Then Peter declared the facts concern-
MARCH 10, 1935 PETER PREACHES TO GENTILES A c ts 10:1 to 11:18; 15:6-11
ed in and about the temple o f Jerusalem, that t h e disciples had to leave Jerusa lem. But they didn’t stop preaching. They went all about the countryside teach ing and explaining the way of life to the people. Perhaps it was a good thing that they had to
leave Jerusalem, because now people „in many places could hear the gospel message. Lesson Story. Our story today is about another of the disciples, Peter’s good friend, Philip, and how Philip told the gospel story to a man from a far-away country. Philip had left Jerusalem, and he was willing to go where God wanted him to go next. I think Philip must have prayed that God would send him to just the per son who needed him and who was ready to listen to him, for an angel brought a message to him. Philip was told to go away down to Gaza, into a desert country. This seemed a strange place to go. Philip want ed to preach. Would there be any people in the desert to whom he could preach?
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