Lectures at Ormoc

Since our venue was at the same place we are staying, I was able to sleep in until 6:30am and meet the others for breakfast at 7am. Today’s lectures were only one day in length, from 9am to 5pm, so we could not cover all of the things dealt with in the previous lectures of two days length. Last night, we had agreed to shorten the material on “Authority,” showing that the gospel of Christ relates Christ’s total and final authority, and then focus on the gospel teaching about salvation. So, I got new outlines ready and brought them to be printed this morning before the lectures started.

When we arrived in the function room serving as the venue, we were shocked to see the number present. The crowd was 2 to 3 times the number expected. There were not enough chairs to seat everyone and the number overwhelmed the room. It grew hotter and hotter as the day went on. However, the vast majority were not the denominational preachers invited, but denominational people who had been invited by some of the local brethren. We were immediately told that many were requesting full translation of the lessons one in English, because many could not understand English. We hurriedly talked and decided to change the previous plan to get as much time as possible for the maximum material to be taught.

Since the invitation specified that I would speak first, I taught on “The Need for & Source of Divine Authority.” Fred Ogario did the sentence-for-sentence translation of the lesson. By the end of the lesson, there was general nodding by the crowd in agreement with the points that (a) Christ has all authority today, (b) the gospel reveals the authoritative instruction of Christ, (c) man may not add to or subtract from the instruction found in the gospel, and (d) the provisions of Christ’s gospel will be used to judge all in the last day. The crowd was very attentive.

The second lesson was given by Jonathan Carino. He spoke in the local dialect, Visayan or Cebuano, so there was no need for translation. His lecture was on the different periods of Bible History, the law governing those periods, the duration of each period and who was governed by the law of each period. During Jonathan’s lesson, a group of men to the speaker’s right became obvious because of their agitation at the points being made. As the day wore on, it was obvious that they understood the teaching and did not like it, but they could not answer it from the Scripture. They became increasingly vocal in their antics, but their rudeness worked against them as many in the audience seemed to react against their efforts and listened more closely to the things being taught.

After lunch, I spoke on “Salvation and Saul” and Jonathan gave the sentence-for-sentence translation. The vast bulk of the audience followed carefully along with the points made and began to recognize that the Bible teaching was different from what they have believed and practiced to this point. Most of the crowd was Catholic and Baptists, with several Pentecostals and others as well. We made repeated points showing the difference between the NT teaching on salvation and that done by denominational preachers. The denominational preachers to my right were visibly concerned and appeared very nervous throughout the lesson.

Lordy followed with a sermon on “Identifying the New Testament Church Built by Christ.” Since Lordy speaks Tagolog (the national language), not Visayan (the local dialect), the crowd was asked if they needed translation. All said they could easily understand Tagolog, so that saved some time and allowed more material to be covered. The crowd responded to Lordy’s points showing they not only understood, but accepted the points being made, though the points made were different from what they had previously thought. The denominational preachers on the right went from a nervous talking during Lordy’s lesson to a silence in recognition of the fact they could not successfully argue with his points because the were proven from Scripture.

I talked with Jonathan, briefly pointing out the fact that we had no time for another lesson from me with full translation and then his lesson on “Obedience.” It seemed a more efficient use of time, as far as I could see, for him to give his lesson on “Obedience” and offer an invitation at the end. That would give ample time for him to make the needed points in the vernacular and call upon the listeners to obey. He agreed and again did an excellent job delivering the lesson. There was rapt attention obvious from the audience as they considered the points made. Though four of the denominational preachers on the right (led by the oldest – clearly the leader) continued to show their contempt, two of them start to follow the passages in their Bibles and give consideration to what was being said. One of the men was especially troubled by what he saw was in the Scripture, yet the opposite of what he had believed and was preaching. The older preacher seemed to sense his consternation and tried to talk with the younger man and distract him from John’s lesson. It did not work for long, as the young man again turned his attention to the lesson. Though he did not obey the gospel at the invitation, I think he will have a hard time sleeping tonight and a hard time teaching his doctrinal error when he gets in his pulpit. It is at times like these that I must remind myself that our part is to preach truth, but it is between God and the hearer as to whether obedience will take place. I will keep this man in my prayers and hope to see him again at future lectures in the area, if the Lord wills.

Following John’s lesson, we asked Willie to extend the invitation and another local brother was asked to lead a song of invitation. Three souls came to be baptized for the remission of their sins. Many more told us that they wanted to study and be sure before they made the commitment. A man from a liberal church also talked with us for some time and is considering what he should do. We pray that God will grant them time to be fully persuaded and obey. It is encouraging to me when I see that people want to seriously consider the teaching and be sure before they are baptized.

Thank you again for your support in every way. Without your help, none of these efforts would be possible. May God bless us all to His service.

Brotherly, Harry O.