Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1892-07-27

retcr and john before the Councii--Acss
s:t-tS--Suiy 81. 1902.

must DC saved Acts ssis
CENTRAL Tsurn.--christ Is the Saviour ana
only Saviour of f.cn.
TfNE-Junc. A. ID. -. The Same afternoon a.
tho last lesson. and The day following
HEt.rs OWN HARD pLAcKs.-t. Captain OF
the tcmp'c;" the head OF the band OF I.c,iic
scn'inels who KEEP, guard over the temple 4
"Eventitic:" II three o'clock when tho
lame man wnS healed II must row have been
as late IS six Il "Annns:" He was the hich
priest elected and acknowledged by the people,
while caiaphas WAS tho legal high priest up
pointed by the Romans. 7. "By what power"
they wished TO accuse them OF magic or sorcery.
which was punishable by death (Ex. =. ISL III
Note the holiness OF Peter, who n short time be-
fore had denied his Master N. ''.rhis IA the
stone" etc. quoted from PsA iis;si A.. "Sal
vauons" from sin TO holiness, 20 Heaven.
"Sone other nasnc:" the name includes all that
there II In Jesus, of power. divinity. humanity.
Must be saved" why can We lie saved only by
Christi CD He only brings Gods forgiveness
ts) The promise - only through Him. 90 He
has the power OF the Spirit by which the hear,
Il changed 90 he - the sum OF all goodness.
To reject Him Is TO reject goodness, and hence
bc unsavcd II THAT thcy had been with
Jesus" they hid seen them with Him. and rec
ognizod the manner and the doctrine and tho
same kind Of good works Ia "wccannot deny
IL" facts are the .nvincihlc argument Tor Chris.
uani,y Its good works prove Its divine origin.
LESSON NOTES.
We have to-day most fascinating
story. The arrest, the Imprisonment
and the subsequent trial OF the apostles.
At their trial the man whom they Ind
healed was brave enough 10 stand with
them. and that was much TO his credit.
The very presence OF this man was a
great embarrassment To the council;
for they could not deny that N great
miracle had been wrought in his case,
since they all knew this man to be the
same rs the one whom they had for
years seen ut the gate of the temple. So
IL put them into tight place To have
him standing before them and bearing
witness 20 the power of Peter. How
ever, they were not willing to meet the
mnttcr squarcly, 80 they took council.
and made up their minds that they
would threaten the apostles and forbid
them 20 do any more such deeds in the
name of Jesus. This they did, and with
what result we will see I'm our next
lesson.
At the very first glance we sec that
in tho persons that come before us some
were for and some against Jesus. Count
up first those who were on the side Of
Jesus There were Potter and John, and
their friend, the quondam lame man.
only ones that were on the side OF the
Master in that council. But there were
many on His side who were outside that
council chamber. For. ns n result Of
that miracle, there were many that had
como TO believe I'm Jesus. In the coun.
ell chamber, however, there were many
more against Him than thcr. were on
his side. In the first place, | see there
familiar face In old Annas This Ia the
same one n lie before whom Jesus him
self appeared on that fatal night. Then
there was another familiar face. that Of
Cainphas, beside whom there was John
and Alexander, and many OF the
relatives of tho high priest. Then
there were the seventy who belonged To
the Sanhcdrim, so that they far out
numbered the adhcrcn-- of the Master
In that room. The truth was In a great
minority. as IL has often been since that
day. Yet this in no way dnuntcd these
plain fishermen, who knew that they
had the truth on their side, and thnt
they had dose nothing worthy OF stripes
or imprisonment. SO they spoke up
boldly when they were asked by what
authority they had done this good deed.
And more than this. They dared preach
the truth 10 that very council that had
condemned their own Master To death,
and who they knew felt anything but
kindly towards them. This was grand.
Now look again at that assembled
throng. Some of them are glad, and
some nre sad. We might naturally ex-
pcct that the men arrested would be
the sad ones, and those who had arrest
al q 10. ~.
as matter OF fact, IL was lust the
other way. The council was sad,
'grievcd' ut the power that these men
had; while they were full Of Joy over
the good that they had been enabled To
do. This was not natural, but IL was
true. For these men had source of
JOY of which that council knew nothing
Theirs was "A spiritual Joy, which laid
fast hold on unseen truths. The men
really 70 he piticd were not the two ar
rested apostles, but the seventy who
had had them arrested.
Ever since that day the world has
been divided into two parts, those who
are on the Lords side, and those who
arc against Him. We may not openly
have taken our stand against Him a.
this council did. but he who Il not Oh
His side is really opposed 90 Him. Now
If you had been ~ that trial, on which
side would you have liked 20 stand: on
that OF Peter and John, or on that Of
Annas and Caiaphas? This Is serious
question, and one that you have in re-
atty already answered For all who
arc not on the side Of Christ have ranged
themselves with those who, like the
high priest and his fathcr-in-law. are
against Him. u may require some
courage on your part % come out and
let your decision be known, but see
what an example ina this respect these
two ignorant fishermen set 90 us In these
later days. al alone they dared %
stand against the power that could pat
them % death, and yet they were IN no
way daunted. Not only 40. but they
were filled with joy. and smiled az the
privilege 81 standing up for their Mas
ter This was a most inspiring *.
ample, and ono which we should make
haste 70 follow.
lh TLE