The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-03-06

| tribute to the Bible that it has for GEN.
turtles exhausted the fullest resources
| of scholarship in it's Interpretation
and still today the profoundest minds
are wrestling with it. Nevertheless
| so wonderful is this book that 1T at
| fords palatable and nutritious mental
food for the simplest and most untu-
tored Christian who takes to 1t the
same inquiring mind that was possess
ed by the Ethiopian eunuch.
A Wayside Meeting.
Whoever is running Gods errandS
is sure of delightful surprises by the
way. Philip was a sent man, a mes
senger who employed life in going
where the Lord babe him. So follow
ing the strange command to leave the
thriving new work in Samaria, he
went south toward GAIA on what he,
together with the brethren might well
have considered wild goose chase.
We never can know what glad sur
priSeS await us around the next cor
ner. The unexpectedness of life is
one of Gods greatest gifts to man.
On commonplace day we set out for
the market or for the workshop, and
before we get there meet our destiny.
Who can forget the rare day when,
with startling uneXpectednesS, love en-
tered his life? Or that other day
when, as by rending of veil, ones
whole existence took on a new and
larger significance?
Philip never suspected what await
ed him in the desert highway, but he
encountered an experience which God
had been making ready for him, and
which meant everything to the Ethio-
plan and much to Philip and much TO
the world. The Christian Church
would not willingly relinquish the his
tory Of this small Bible class by the
roadside class smaller than that of
the most disc outraged teacher today;
and no more fraught with consequen-
ces to those concerned than many an
other small class has been.
The Milestone in the Forum.
In the center of ancient Romes
Forum was a golden milestone. Thith-
err all roads led. One might start from
any point in the empire and travel d1-
rectly in this spot, which was cons1d-
cred the center of the known world.
So in Scripture all roads lead to
Christ. Philip started at the Old Tes-
lament passage which troubled the
and straightway led him to
Jesus. who was the fulfillment of the
prophets vision.
This is Christianity'S unique mes
sage. This is the heart of the pres
ent lesson, as is the heart of the Cos
pei. The presence of personal, hui
man, divine Christ differentiates Chris |
tianity from all other teachings in life. |
The wise teacher and the wise preach |
er is he who stresses, not the philoSo-
ply or theology or history of Chris |
tianity, but Jesus himself. The great |
content of the Gospel is Christ, with |
put whom the most brilliant preaching |
becomes empty and pointless.
Baptizing the Nations.
The Ethiopian, convinced of the |
ruth of Deacon Philips words, went
LII the way into discipleship, and was
into membership in the COM
1any of ChFist's friends. He was the
irst of long train of people of other
lot cd Invo -a1x 70
Jesus Christ. Today the average of
hese accessions in non-Christian lands
8 more than four hundred every
wenty-four hours. The Gospel is do
ng for them all that it ever did for
he white man.
The Ethiopian eunuch, the Chinese
oolie, the Japanese warrior, the In
Ian pundit, all find that Christ is as
much to them as he ever was to Philip
II any other of the long train of disci-
lies. And Christendom's best contri-
'ution to the solution of present world
'roblems is what Philip gave to Can
aces prime minister-the good news
f a personal Christ, who forgives sins
nd transforms lives.