OCR Text |
Show By tfJUlE D. HEWTOH, 0. D.: ' SCRIPTURE: Acta 8:26-39. DEVOTIONAL READING: Psalmi 67. The Personal Witness Lesson for March 7, 1948 DR. ALBERT SCHWEITZER, described de-scribed by Hermann Hagedorn as "Prophet in the Wilderness," is a living example of !- AflAA what Sunday's les-fr0 les-fr0 son is undertaking A portray, namely,. i ypviS where you are. M i Schweitzer, at 72, is Ji pZj4. described by Hage-yVCC Hage-yVCC dorn as one who Wrl "burns like Francis $) of Assist and looks like Josef Stalin." ' ' But to the people of Dr. Newton Equatorial Africa. he looks and acts like our saviour Jesus did. The lesson passage is found in Acts 8:26-39, and is the story of Philip, leaving his very successful evangelistic campaign in Samaria to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit into the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. des-ert. There he found a man in search of God, and through his witness the man was saved. TOE STORY OF JESUS THIS man was not of Philip's race. He was an Ethiopian. But he was a man. And God loves every man of every race and of every condition of life. Jesus never did meet an unimportant person, nor will any true follower of his. Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, even so send I you," John 20:21. This man was reading In the Book of Isaiah, where the prophet was foretelling how Jesus would suffer for the sins of the whole world. He could not understand the wonderful words. And the Spirit directed Philip to go and join himself to the eunuch. Philip ran to the chariot in which the rich man rode, asking, "Under-standest "Under-standest thou what thou readest?" He was quick to give his witness. . That Is the first lesson of the lesson. AND THE MAN LISTENED WHEN we faithfully obey the Holy Spirit, he enables us to effectively witness for Jesus. We cannot be effective witnesses if we rely upon our own wisdom and our own judgment. The boy .in your street who does not know Jesus will listen to your story if you go in the same glad obedience to the command com-mand of the Spirit of God as did Philip. A lad told me this story. He had a neighbor who had never been to Sunday school, and he wanted to enlist this friend. He thought about it seriously. But he was not quite sure of himself. And then he prayed, asking God to direct him. The next day the boy asked him, "What are you doing Sunday morning?" With this opening the lad invited his neighbor to come along with him, and the result was that the little neighbor, of another an-other race, accepted Christ as his Saviour and Is today a regular attendant at church and Sunday school. TO WHOM SHALL WE WITNESS? THE question now emerges, To whom shall we bear this witness? wit-ness? We cannot all go as missionaries, mission-aries, as did Dr. Schweitzer. Most of us must remain at home and carry on the work of our everyday pursuits of life. But every Christian can witness. wit-ness. First, to those immediately about us. In every community in our beloved country are people who do not know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. We can witness to them, not to all of them, but to some of them, perhaps to one of them. And I would remind you that if yon miss that particular person to whom you may be directed di-rected by the Holy Spirit, he or she may never know about the Saviour's love. Second, we can share in the sending send-ing of the missionaries to earth's remotest bounds, through our gifts.. I delight to think that I am in partnership part-nership with many great men and women on foreign fields, through my gifts and through my prayers. Third, we can witness through personal correspondence with people peo-ple in other lands. The present far-reaching media of relief for stricken peoples of the world affords af-fords a wonderful opportunity for tills very witness. Ask your pastor for the name of some person your age in one of the lands to which your church Is sending relief, and write that person a letter, telling of your Joy in serving God. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing. re-joicing. Why? Because Philip had taught him the way of salvation. Ha had been used as an effective witness wit-ness in leading a man of another race to experience the peace that passeth all understanding. And Jesus is saying to us today, "So send I you." (Copytitbt by tbt JaUtattiontl Council ct Religious EducMtioa a btbtlt ot 40 Protestant dtnomiaatJoBS. Rtltssti by WNV FssturssJ |