Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1909-03-04
Philip and
the Ethiopian

specially Arranged for ThI, Paper

LESSON TExT.-Acts. s:2s.ss. Memory
GOLDEN rExr.-sssrch the Scrip.
lures; for In them ye think ~ have eter-
nal life; and they are they which TESTIFY
OF me.--John b.39.
T1ME.-0ummer OF A. d. u or 81. Soon
after tho last lesson.
PLACE.-where the road from 6a.nafie
10 Gaxa crosses or Joins the road from
Jerusalem to GAIA; In the uncultivAted
region southwest Of Jerusalem. toward
the old Philistine country.
Comment and suggestive Thought.
vs.. 81, 2S. "A man OF Ethiopia" A
general term for the lands south OF
Egypt. But from the name Of Queen
Candace It was probably Meroe,
country which lay Of the right bank OF
the Nile from It's junction with the
Atbara, as far as Khartoum. and
thence to the east Of the blue Nile to
the Abyssinian mountains. "Of great
authority" A man Of power, Of wide
influence, a prince.
v. 20. WAS returning" Guided BY
Providence at exactly the right time.
Read" twas reading). "Esaias."
Greek form Of Isaiah. He was reading
aloud as was the custom; SO that
Philip was able to hear 1t. It was q
pleasant and profitable custom on long
journeys.
Reading Aloud. 1.-THE great Jewish
teachers insisted, In many instances.
upon thor scholars reading aloud"
II speak to the experience, probably.
Of many, when l say that utterance
aloud Is often q very powerful aid to
mental retentiveness." says Joseph
Parker. 1t Is more than this, reading
aloud helps us to understand the
meaning OF the Word. For In order to
read well we must understand every
shade OF the meaning. or we Will mis-
interpret Gods Word. A monotonous,
sing-song, w%oodeny. or artificial read.
ing, such as we often hear. comes
very near to being a crime, for It do.
prives the Word of It's natural mean
ing, and makes the hearers inatten'
tive. or repels them from the Word.
Those who wish to know the truth
take great pains and spare no ex.
pense to obtain 1t.
Young people often say that It IL
hard to become interested In reading
the Scriptures. But II anyone reads
them In order to find out what to do,
and what to believe, he will. Of neces.
sity, find a deep interest In the study,
AZ n finds q map interesting when
ne IL planning a journey, or q chart
when he is crossing the ocean,.
God is no respecter Of persons.
Twice Africans are brought to our no.
tice--here. and when Simon the Cy.
renian helped Jesus to bear his cross.
"As for the nationality Of the ETH.
opian." says Farrar. 1T must be borne
In mind that even Moses himself had
once married an Ethiopian WIFE"
W. a meet God and learn his will
in the desert places OF life, as Moses
saw the burning bush. and Elijah
heard the voice Of God In the lonely
places OF Horeb, and Paul spent three
years in the deserts of Arabia.
1t is good to use every spare oppor.
tunity In studying and m%editating on
the Word of God. What we do with
our spare moments often determines
our characters even more than our
daily labors do.
The books we choose and are IA.
miliar with. like our chosen friends.
mold our characters and guide our
destiny.
v. 20. Then the Spirit said" The
Spirit speaks not only to our feelings,
but to u judgment and conscience.
Whoever Is perfectly willing to obey
the voice Of the Spirit will be guided
Alright. Prejudices, unwillingness to
obey. past training or failure Of train.
ing. In so far as we allow them to ex.
ert an influence. will lead US sstray:
40 iron near the compass on q ship
will defect the guiding magnetic
needle. Join thyself TO this chariot"
An excellent illustration 10 found In
"PIlgrfm's Progress" where Christian
IL wandering around In doubt, and
meeting Evangelist Is dit ,cted to the
right way.
v. IS. Then Philip . began
at tho same Scripture" Which was
fulfilled in Jesus, ~ has been full.
filled In no other. Wand preached
announced the glad tidings Of Jesus.
Philip showed the strange and mar.
valous correspondence between the
many descriptions Of the Messiah IN
the prophets and the thon well.known
life Of Jesus OF Nazareth.
The Progress Of a Soul Into the
Kingdom. Compare with Bunyau's
Pilgrims Progress az far AZ the Pal.
ace Beautiful, whence he was sent
forth clothed In Christian armor.
I. He was deeply In earnest. and