The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-03-17

| is receiving the full thought and time
of wise and noble woman. We must
not forget that it is only the casion-
al student that makes a school ia
nous, ard the one man who lifts a
town above commandments
From our vantage point, centuries
removed. we can see that Philip was
taking the short cut to Africa for the
Message to which his life had been
given. DIR. +. \. PeICubet. the au-
thor of the famous commentary on
the Sunday School Lesson, planned to
90 to India as missionary, and SO
prepared himself. lie seemed to be
thwa i'll that desire; yet TODAY his
! lessons are used in mission fields al
over the earth. myself wanted to be
a preacher; now, in an unexpected
fashion, 1 have been led to minister
! through the printed page to a weekly
congregation numbering millions. Let
US not think that Gods strange provi
dences ceased with the days of Philip
in the Apostolic. Church
From Better to Best.
This Ethiopian eunuch, treasurer of
Queen Candace, was n man of high
position, and rode in state on his slow
journey toward Egypt and his own
country beyond. AS he Travelled he
read aloud to himself. Let us notice
the character of literature he took
with him on his journey, and COM
=
adays seems most popular with trav-
elers. By some strange quirk in their
thinking, people feel that travel liter
ature should be the flimsiest obtain
able. This man, who was perhaps a
''Proselyte Of the Gate" was reading
those moving words from the fifty
third chaI ter of Isaiah:
He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as lamb before his shearer is dumb,
So he openeth not his mouth:
In his humiliation his Judgment was
taken away:
His generation who shall declare?
For his life is taken from the EARTH
Frankly, the man did not under
stand what he was reading. There
are some persons who declare they
would not read what they cannot I'M
derstand. All the best books, how
ever. are above the level of the OBJ.
vlous. The Bible is beyond most of
us. The church has been for CEN
turtles discovering new treasures of
truth between these old covers.
When lovers of the book study it
together they are likeliest TO under
stand it better. Ones experience adds
to the others knowledge. So the
eunuch was led from the better to the
best; from the Old Testament to the
New; from the suffering Messiah of
the prophecy to the Crucified Christ
of history.
nat WAS al IOlblt CLASS
held that day in the wilderness; yet
no more so than a thousand other
mems Bible classes may be as they
consider this very lesson. When sin
cere men study big problems with
open minds, there is hope for the
times. A few days ago, when visiting
in rural North Carolina, the farmers
son who came into my room to make
the fire, greeted me with a question,
not concerning some triviality of
metropolitan life or usage, but about
the old perpleXity as to the fate of
the heather. He had been bordering
big things in his quiet life; and L have
more respect for him than for the
Understanding dude at Forty-sec-
ond and Broadway. who could retail
the latest scandal of New York's so
cial or theatrical life.
Conviction and Action.
So this layman, who was a mission
airy to one man, began with the
passa &c that the eunuch was reading,
and c-~lained to him it's relation to
Jesus. We can start anywhere in the
Bible and get straight to Christ. "All
roads lead to Rome" 1t is a poor
study of the book which does not lead
us back to the books Hero. We may
see His image in every part of the
Bible. Because Philip had a personal
experience of Jesus, he could recog-
nize Him wherever he found Him in
lIl6 Olu bOOk. experience
understanding; that is why the Bible
is clearer to many an unlettered saint
than it is to the unbelieving man of
science.
The eunuch was the sort of convert
to rejoice any preachers heart No
quibbling or procrastination for him.
He saw the truth. Why not act upon
it at once? He was willing to give
the outward sign of his inner convic-
ton. He believed and confessed and
wanted to be baptized. Right on the
spot the sacrament OF baptism was
administered. Nobody is much of
disciple who is not willing to make an
open sign of his confession. This bap-
tized believer, with the dusky skin
went on his way with a joyful heart.
singing songs across the desert and
bearing to the court of Ethiopia a
richer treasure than anything that
the Queens strong boxes held
Power From the Pledge
Terse Comments on the Uniform
Prayer Meeting Topic of the Young
Peoples Societies = Christian En-
deavOr, etc, for March 10: Get
ting Power From Our Pledge
Ps. 25:1-14.
Our great pledge requires great
strength in the keeping. For any 9TH
er than one to whom is promised the
constant presence and power of an
omnipotent Saviour to make such a
VOW would be SacrilegiouS and fool
ishness. But, trusting in the Lord
Jesus Christ for strength" we can