Since of last day of lectures here in Iloilo had to end at 3pm, we got started early. Instead of taking any breaks in the sessions we had one lecture follow another continuously with only one break long enough only to eat lunch. I was able to get in four lessons with two additional lessons given by John and one by Jack. Fortunately, I finished the last lesson just before my voice gave out.Jack started the morning session with leading several songs. Jonathan followed with a lesson on “The Organization of the Church.” He abbreviated it from the full form, but still covered the main points very well. I followed with the third and final lesson on “The Work of the Holy Spirit” covering the Spirit’s work in the salvation of the sinner.
From that lesson, I immediately went into one on “The Rule & Reign of Christ” from Psalm 110. The lesson showed the beginning of Christ reign as King over His kingdom as having taken place at His ascension and that He now rules as King and also Priest while on the throne. We also noted the end of that reign to be when Christ returns at the resurrection. The lesson was added to the lecture series because of the prevalence of Premillennialism among those in attendance. John gave the final lesson of the morning on “The Worship of the NT Church.”The afternoon session started with my sermon on “Why We Do Not Burn Incense in Worship Today.” As noted before, this is a back door approach to dealing with instrumental music in
worship today. The lesson had the same effect as in Bacolod with nodding heads and “amens” until the very end when they understood the application. Jack followed with a lesson on “Bible Baptisms” to show a distinction between the baptism commanded by Christ and other baptisms of the Bible. I gave the last lesson on “Who Is a Christian?” examining the contexts where the term “Christian” is used to identify what characteristics identified one as a Christian.After the last lecture, Jack Jaco made some comments inviting the obedience of those who saw the need to be baptized in the name of Christ for the remission of
sins. No one responded visibly at that time, but John and Jack will follow up in the future with several. Several came to me afterwards and said they were getting very close. Two have invited John and Jack to hold meetings for their denominational group. We hope and pray good things of these efforts. It works best when these lectures open the door and local men follow-up to impress the lessons more fully.Thank you again for your prayers and support. I must go quickly as the flight to Manila is about to be called. I will try to send this before leaving. May the Lord bless you as you do His will.
Brotherly, Harry O.
