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of great Importance for it marks the transition from the witness to the Jews (Chs. 2-7) to the witness to the great Gentile world (Chs. 13-28). The points in this transition are: the taking of the Go s pe l to the Samaritans by Philip (Ch. 8); the conversion and early witness of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles (Ch. 9); the first apostolic witness to the Gentiles by Peter (Ch. 10) ; and a scattering of the witnesses as far north as 'Antioch in Syria (Ch. 11) . In connection with the opposition to the witnesses, it should be noted that in Ch. 12 it is recorded that this is carried out by civil authority, where as before it was instigated by the re ligious leaders of the Jews. Each chapter in this section should be given careful study. Space will not permit our going into much detail in connection with the great missionary journeys of Paul. The student is urged to give these itineraries careful study, tracing them on the Bible maps, making a list of all the places visited, and writing down what occurred at each place. A careful study should be made of the first church council (15:1-35) for on that occasion was settled the great issue of the condition upon which the Gentiles are saved, namely, by grace through faith apart from the works of the law and the Judaistic cere monies. Paul’s second j ou r n e y is of the greatest moment to us Occidentals, be cause the Gospel was thereby taken from Asia to what is now known as Europe, and thus it r e a ched the ancestors of practically all the readers of this article (16:6-12). If Paul had proceeded eastward, as he had p l an ne d to do (16:7), we of the western world today might be sitting in heathen darkness. A very careful study of the account of Paul’s arrest at Jerusalem (21:18- 40) and the events which followed should be made. Note the different groups and individuals before whom Paul appeared: in Ch. 22, before the mob; in Ch. 23, before the Jewish council; in Ch. 24, before Governor Felix; in Ch. 25, be f o r e Governor Festus; in Ch. 26, before King Agrippa. The student should note the occasion and the outcome of each of these ap pearances. Chs. 27 and 28 give the very in teresting account of Paul’s journey to and witness-bearing at Rome. After this chapter study, the student is urged to make a careful study of each reference to the Holy Spirit in Acts. This should result in the stu dent’s seeing something of the vast significance of the Spirit’s work in this dispensation. This should lead to his yielding to the indwelling Spirit of God, and to his becoming a faithful and profitable witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.
SIXTY WONDERFUL YEARS (Continued from Page 329) He stared in surprise. “My mother was the best Christian that ever lived!” he declared. “Well, isn’t that grand? We know where she is, then. She is ‘with Christ, which is far better’ . . . Son, are you a Christian?” His answer was a sob. “No, I’m not.” “If that dear mother of yours were here on this train, where I am, what do you think she would say to you?” “She’d urge me to accept Christ. She asked me often.” “Will you let me take her place, and say for her the words she would say if she were here?” He bowed his head. “I can tell you, Son, that when you get home, and you look for the last time on the earthly form of your loved one, you’ll need a Frienc’. to stand by you—you’ll need Him desperately. I know, because I’ve been through just what you’re facing now. Will you re ceive the Lord Jesus Christ?” He lifted his head and spoke con fidently: “Yes, Sir, I will.” I gave him some portions from the Word of God and we prayed together. In a short time we reached the station from which he was to leave, and I bade him farewell on the platform. Three years ago, I was in an elevator in a hotel and a friend whom I had not seen for some time greeted me en thusiastically. “Hello there, Philpott!” he shouted. At the sound of those words, some thing happened to the elevator oper ator. I thought he would go into a panic. It appeared that he could hard ly wait to get to the top floor. When he had stopped the elevator, he grab bed my hand. “Philpott. . . Philpott!” he repeated. “Do you remember a boy you talked to on a train, whose mother had just died?” “Yes,” I $aid, “I remember.” “I’m that boy. You led me to Christ. I wSl always think of you as being among the best friends I have on earth.” Again and again, through sixty years and more, I have seen that this is the way God works: He takes His child through some great darkness, some confusing difficulty, some deep suffering—and all the while He is dealing in love and tenderness, show ing not only to that individual, but also to others through him that all things do “work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” From my own experience, I can affirm that in the crisis hours when things looked the worst, God was working most for His glory and my good.
Dr. Hubbard At this point, the student is urged to read through the entire Book of Acts at one sitting, following the above outline. It will be helpful for future study if every reference to the Holy Spirit (by whatever name He is designated) is underscored when one is- doing- this reading. Having read through Acts to get the broad scope of its contents, the student should then proceed to a more detailed study of each section. The following “high lights” may be found helpful in making this study. Ch. 1: The d i s'c i p 1e s in prayer, awaiting the advent of the Holy Spirit, without whose presence and power no effective witness could be borne. Ch. 2: The witness on the day of Pentecost. Get carefully in mind the events recorded here, and observe that as the outcome of this first witness about three thousand s ou l s were saved. Ch. 3: The witness on Solomon’s porch, occasioned by the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful gate. Ch. 4: The first witness before the council, or Jewish Sanhedrin. Note the results. Ch. 5: The sad story of Ananias and Sapphira; the second witness before the council; the severe beating of the witnesses. This did not dampen the zeal of the apostles, for “they departed from the presence of the council, re joicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame . . . And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” Ch. 6: The s e l e c t i o n of seven “deacons” to look after the needs of the widows of the church. One of the seven was Stephen,, whose witness is recorded in the second half of Ch. 6 and concluded in Ch. 7. It will be noted that the treatment of the wit nesses by the opposers became more severe. They were threatened, beaten and then killed. Ch. 7: The faithful witness is stoned to death. The next main section (Chs. 8-12) is
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