Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-04-02

Il IeltT anu Nol h'IIiiS u ~.
Golden Text In every nation he tina
| feareth God and worketh righteousness
is accepted of lIim."-tcts 10: 80.
Caesarea was Il city on the Mediter-
rancan coast about seventy miles north
west of Jerusalem. 1t contained a Roman
garrison. The Romans, having captured
and subjugated the Jews, placed garri-
sons among them to keep them in subjuga-
ton. The garrison stationed at Cacsarra
was called the Italian band. probably be-
cause they were enlisted in Italy. The
comma nding officer or centurion was
named Cornelius. He was a saved man
at the time of our lesson. Some have
tried to make out that he was not con
verified when Peter came to him, but the
words of our Golden Text, which are the
utterancr of Peter as he began to speak
10 Cornelius: "ln every nation he that
! feareth God and workcth righteousness IS
accepted of him. shows that Peter re-
| garded Cornelius as a saved man. for the
first verses Of the lesson show that he
feared God.' Any church in the land
would take such Il man into their member
ship and be glad to get him. Would that
all orr church members were lik" tornr-
Illus when Peter came To him-juSt, fear
ing God. praying AWAY, and giving nlcii
aims.
Verse "a. "No reSpectrr Of prrson>.'
1t means that God cares no more for one
person that another as far as the out
ward circumstances of wealth. position.
education. and natural goodness are on
cerned. He loves all no matter what
their condition.. All have Sinn"d and
come short Of the glory of God. Coz is
after man to do him good. He accepts
the man who fears Him and works right
eouSness. no matter: of what creed or re-
ligion.
81. "Ye Know They knew the scrip
lures and the record of ChristS minis
try. the fame of it had gone out every
where. Philips preaching in Samaria
must have made a great impression on
Cornelius. for Philip had been to Ca"-
sarea. He had some daughters there
who preached the gospel also. after
John prrnchrd.' Christ'S public MINISTRY
did not IN until after John had
ceased preaching. being cast into prison.
IS. God anointcd Jesus Of Nazareth.
Jesus was not baptized with the Holy
Ghost according to this. but III" WAS an
ointrd with the Holy Ghost. Baptism
means cleansing. but II" had no sin TO b"
clcanSrd from. Their" ar" many anolnt-
ings for those who have the baptism.
but only one baptism. w" need frequent
anointings and should seek fresh ano'nt-
ing for every work in to which W" 90.
Went about doing good This Will b"
a characteristic of tIoSr who are an
ointed with the Holy Ghost. Like their
Lord. they 90 about doing good as long
as they keep freshly anointcd. Up
pressed of the DEVIL lie cast out devils
from many who had been possessed by
evil spirits. For God was with Him.
This was the secret of his power as a
preacher. 1t ought to be said OF all ll'S
preachers that God is with them.
30. And we are His witnesses. lhAt
is what every preacher ought to be. lie
ought to be able to witness to all the re-
ligion that he breaches. ., that every
pulpit was turned into a witness box.
There is no arm of the divine work NOR"
potent than testimony. They slew and
hanged on a tree" Notice the differenc"
between this address,. which is to Gen
tiles. and His address to the Jews (sce
chap. 2:34. ia and 4 :1O). In the latter
case he accuses the Jews of having slain
Jesus. Here he only asserts the fact to
these Gentiles.
Al. Not TO ali the people" Jesus did
rot reveal Himself to anyone but His
friends after His resurrection. He did
not work miracles to satisfy curiosity as
some might have done in His place.
II. And to testify Testimony is a
part of the gospel minister's message. 1t
is a lost art in some places and pulpits
to-day. No man is fit to preach or teach
until he can testify to the truth which
he utters.
-. "All the prophets Witness The
ancient as well as the modern church are
all to be witnesses. The Importance of
testimony can hardly be over-estlmated.
1t is also our business to testify that He
will save men from their sins because
He has saved us.
A. 1.-The Holy Ghost fell on ALL They
were all ready. Their hearts were open
TO receive the truth. Whenever a soul
gets ready the Holy Spirit will come in.
Although God has greatly blessed the al
far service and we believe in it, yet it is
not necessary to wait to get to an altar.
For when the heart is all ready He will
come in.
~. "Can any man forbid water!'
They had never had the privilege of water
baptism offered them before. Here the
Holy Spirit fell before the water was ap-
piled. teaching us that we do not need to
to think that we cannot be saved unless
ba ptized with water.