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DA I LY D E V O T I O N A L
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STUDI ES IN THE NEW TE S TAMENT FOR INDIVIDUAL MEDITATION AND FAMILY WORSHIP
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By R. A. TORREY
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the Messiah, fulfilling this prophecy made so many hundred years before. One can begin at almost any Scripture o f the Old Testament, as well as o f the New, and preach Jesus, for Jesus is the central sub ject of all Scripture. But the 53rd chapter o f Isaiah is so full o f Jesus that it makes it especially easy to' begin from it and preach Jesus. Philip was a model preacher as well as a model worker; his subject was the only subject o f all truly Christian preaching, “Jesus,” and his method was the best method, exposition o f Scripture. How unlike Philip are many o f our modern preachers; they preach everything under the sun, but Jesus. Saturday, December 2 . Acts 8 : 36 - 40 . The Treasurer o f Queen Candaqe promptly accepted the truth, and accepted the Saviour Whom Philip preached to him. Having accepted Jesus, he wishes as soon as possible to make an open confession of the Saviour whom he has accepted. Philip must have told him o f the Lord’s command that those who accepted Jesus should con fess Him in baptism. It is evident that Philip considered baptism a matter o f prime importance. I f the eunuch had been like many modern “seekers after truth,” he would have thought, o f a score o f things that would “hinder” his being baptized. But he was;' not merely in pretense, but in deed and in truth, an inquirer, so as soon as he knew the truth he threw all diffi culties to the winds and obeyed it. Many a modern man may well learn from this old time inquirer.' Philip was as prompt to yield to his request to be baptized as he was to make it. He did not hesitate, but did the thing, that needed to be done. . He did not think it necessary to put the candi date on probation for a few months and
Friday, December i. Acts 8 : 34 , 35-
The Eunuch’s question was an important one. It is always well to know of whom any passage in the Word o f God speaks, but there is no passage in the whole book where this question is more vital than it is here. If Isaiah 53 refers to the Messiah, then beyond a doubt jesus o f Nazareth was the predicted Messiah. And the chapter does refer to the Messiah. Infidels, and rationalists, and destructive critics o f all types have labored hard to show that it does not refer to the Messiah and to Jesus; they have tried to invent some other inter pretation, that would have at least the appearance of reasonableness, but their labors have all proved futile; their attempts .to invent some other interpretation have resulted in utter and ludicrous failure. The most plausible theory advanced by -those who would deny that it refers to the Mes siah and to Jesus, is that the sufferer of the chapter is “ suffering Israel.” But this theory goes tb pieces on the rock that the sufferer o f the- chapter is represented as suffering for the sins o f others than him self (Isa. 53:4, 5, 8 , 9, 11, 12), and the others than himself for whose sins he is suffering are spoken o f as “my people,” i.e., Israel (v. 8 ). As the sufferer is suffering for the sins o f others than himself, and the others than himself for whose sins he is suffering are Israel, it is evident that the sufferer cannot be Israel. There has bqen no one in all the history of the world to whom Isaiah could have referred but Jesus, and the prophecy fits Him and His history exactly, and the prophecy and its fulfilment taken together prove two things to a demonstration, first, that the author o f this prophecy was inspired of God, and second, that Jesus o f Nazareth was indeed
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