The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-03-14

6essoa II the International Series
for March ~, IOO2-The Eth.
opian Converted.
THE LESSON TEXT.
(Acts s.2g-4l)

tActs s:29-40)
- Then the Spirit said unto Philip. Oe
near, and join thyself 10 this chariot.
30. And Philip ran thlther 10 him. and
heard him read the Prophet Esaias. and
said, understandest thou what thou read
est?
81. And ne said. How can !, except some
man should guide me? And he desired
Philip that he would come up and sit with
him.
30. The place OF the Scripture which he
read was this; lie was led as a sheep 10
the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb be-
Tore his shearer. 80 opened he not his
mouth
Ss In his humiliation his judgment was
taken away; and who shall declare his
generation? for his life Is taken from the
earth
"a And the eunuch answered Philip, and
said. ] pray thee. Of whom speakest the
prophet this? OF himself. or OF some other
man?
IS. Then Philip opened his mouth. and
began al the same Scripture. and preached
unto him Jesus.
36. And as they went on their way. they
came unto a certain water; and the Gu
| much said: See, here Is water: what doth
hinder me TO be baptized?
81. And Philip said III thou beievest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answered and said: l believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son OF God
IS. 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.
80 And when they were come 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.
40. But Philip was found at Azotus: and
passing through. he preached In all the
! cities. TIL he came 10 Caesarea.
GOLDEN TExT.-Mith the heart
man beIieveth unto riRhteOusne ss |;
and with the mouth confession IL
made unto saIvatfOn.-Rom. 1910.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Read not only the lesson as given
above, but also the verses just proceed
ing, beginning with the Goth. Read
also Isaiah SO. The time of this les
son was the summer A. ID. 35, SO or 81
and occurred in the nncultivated re-
gion southwest of Jerusalem. The
following is a brief analysis of the
passage to be studied:
Philips directions ..-.........-. Acts S:se-2s
Philips exposition ...............-A Acts : .5r-1
The eunuch baptized .............A Acts s:5t-4Q
Philips Directions.-Th journey
which Philip was hidden to take was
long and lonely and seemed to lead
him away from the place of greatest
usefulness. Yet he prepared at once
to 90. The road to which he was sent
was rough and uninhabited. The
Ethiopian eunuch seems to have been
Jewish proselyte, though that fact
Is not stated. and nothing more is
necessarily implied than that he was
interested in the Jewish religion.
His position was such that he could
travel in comfort, though he does not
appear 10 have had much Of a retinue
with him. The depth Of his religious
interest is shown in his poss ession of n
copy Of the prophecy Of Isaiah, prob
ably the Greek translation. and in his
reading ii as he went on his way. The
chariot did not move 50 swiftly but
that man on foot could easily keep
MP with it. and Philip went on in this
way until invited to enter the chariot
Philip Explaining the Scriptures
The eunuch was reading aloud (no
one ever thought Of reading in any
other way in those times). and the
reading furnished Philip with means
of approach. II is easy to imagine the
difficulty n man must have felt in I'M
Outstanding Isaiah's purpose. who was
unfamiliar with Hebrew traditions
and was reading the words for the
first time. or at most had had small
opportunity for studying them. The
pa ssage he was reading was the IA
milar one in Isaiah 50. which has been
understood by Christians in all ages
as especially referring to Christ. The
eunuch's difficulty was especially with
regard 10 the person Of whom the
prophet was speaking. He had no
doubt that a well-informed jew would
he able to clear away the difficulty.
Philips answer to the question was
probably simple relation Of the main
events Of Jesus life. lie would OF
course follow this narration with
statement Of the reasons for believing
that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies Of
the Old Testament.
The Eunuch Baptized.-Philip's ac-
count of Jesus must have included
some Information as TO the practice
OF MS 1OllOWeTs. slnte tHt pTbposltlbu
for the baptism came from the eunnch
himself There is no way Of knowing
what water was found that suggested
the thought. but Il was pretty surely
some wayside fountain. Notice the
omission in the Revised Version OF
Philips answer to the eunuch's ques-
ton and the Ethiopian's confession.
They are probably additions by some
scribe II does not seem to have been
the practice in the apostles time 70
require anything more than the ex-
preston OF desire for baptism be-
fore administering the rite. Philips
disappearance may have been. proba-
bly was. miraculous. 1t Is not. how
ever. necessary to suppose that he was
transported through the air TO Azotus.
The mea ming Of the statement IL TINT
Azotus was the first place where he
was recognized. From that point he