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3 Baptized in Bogo City -- plus more!
This was the last day of the lectures in Bogo City. When yesterday’s lectures concluded, Ron had largely lost his voice. By this morning, he could not speak above a whisper and did not feel well, so he stayed at the hotel to rest in an effort to recover before he leaves tomorrow to preach in New Zealand. So, I ended up giving 4 lessons today and Jonathan Carino presented 2 lessons.
We again drove almost 3 hours to reach Bogo City. When we arrived, I started with a lesson on “Repentance” showing its place in the salvation of the sinner. Jonathan followed with a lesson on “The New Testament Church,” including an introductory section on the seed principle -- that the seed reproduces after its own kind in spiritual things just as in earthly things.
We then had a 20-30 minute question/answer period where another Baptist preacher tried to uphold the “faith only” doctrine. He asked many of the same questions we had answered the previous day as well as in the lessons just completed while he was outside talking. It gave me the opportunity to repeat the same ground already covered and further impress that teaching on the hearers. Since the man was also somewhat belligerent, it also left his views badly represented as he turned off the bulk of the audience, including those who might have agreed with his doctrine. When I pressed him as to whether he could “amen” 1 Peter 3:21 (“baptism now saves us”), he evaded for a while and then finally said, “Amen” to it. Once he realized what he had done, he tried to retract it, but the point had already been made. It is always good to have opponents that help you out!
The afternoon session began with my lesson on “Who Is A Christian?” examining the context of the three passages using the word “Christian” to see the characteristics given. Jonathan followed with a lesson on “Grace, Faith & Obedience” showing how all work together in the salvation of the sinner. I then preached a shortened form of “Confusing the Issue” from Luke 10:25 and following to show that the lawyer questioning Jesus could understand what he needed to does to inherit eternal life, but confused the issue to justify himself. Application was made to the clarity of truth on all points dealing with our salvation and the effort to confuse the issue by those who reject that truth. I then gave a final lesson on “Counting the Cost” before the invitation was extended.
At first, two souls (one man and one woman) came to confess their faith and be baptized into Christ. After their confessions, another young lady with a small child expressed her desire to be baptized for the remission of her sins. So, the three were taken to be baptized. However, the good results did not end there. The Baptist preacher who was so strongly defending the doctrines of “faith only” and “once saved, always saved” made a public statement at the close. He said he was now convinced that we had taught the truth on all of the subjects and he was counting the cost before making the commitment to obey the gospel! He asked me to pray for him that he might have the courage needed to obey. I told him that I will do so and that I trusted he would soon make that decision and be baptized into Christ.
Since we did not leave Bogo until after 5:30pm, we did not get back to my hotel until late. So, I had a sandwich from room service while sending out this report and then I will get ready for the day and a half of lectures that will start tomorrow in Cebu City, the Lord willing. Thank you for keeping this effort in your prayers to God.
The afternoon session began with my lesson on “Who Is A Christian?” examining the context of the three passages using the word “Christian” to see the characteristics given. Jonathan followed with a lesson on “Grace, Faith & Obedience” showing how all work together in the salvation of the sinner. I then preached a shortened form of “Confusing the Issue” from Luke 10:25 and following to show that the lawyer questioning Jesus could understand what he needed to does to inherit eternal life, but confused the issue to justify himself. Application was made to the clarity of truth on all points dealing with our salvation and the effort to confuse the issue by those who reject that truth. I then gave a final lesson on “Counting the Cost” before the invitation was extended.
At first, two souls (one man and one woman) came to confess their faith and be baptized into Christ. After their confessions, another young lady with a small child expressed her desire to be baptized for the remission of her sins. So, the three were taken to be baptized. However, the good results did not end there. The Baptist preacher who was so strongly defending the doctrines of “faith only” and “once saved, always saved” made a public statement at the close. He said he was now convinced that we had taught the truth on all of the subjects and he was counting the cost before making the commitment to obey the gospel! He asked me to pray for him that he might have the courage needed to obey. I told him that I will do so and that I trusted he would soon make that decision and be baptized into Christ.
