We were back at the same
meeting place today, but the elevator was working both in the morning and in
the afternoon. The climb from the 11th floor to the top floor and
descending the single staircase in the afternoon was my only experience with
stairs today. I was more grateful for that than you can imagine J. It was also another very mild day in Cebu as the
rain continued all day just as it has since my arrival. Even with a much larger
number present today, the air-conditioners were able to keep up and I remained
very comfortable.
The first lesson this morning
was “The Conversion of Cornelius” from Acts 10-11. With several Pentecostals
attending the studies, I need to deal with the Bible teaching on the baptism in
the Holy Spirit, so I decided to provide a foundation for that study while
noting the need for Cornelius to be saved, even though he was a devout,
prayerful, benevolent, God-fearing man. We emphasized that, however morally
good, (a) all have sinned and need the salvation offered in Christ and (b) that
the salvation offered begins with the teaching of God’s word.
Jonathan was next in
preaching the first of two lessons on the church that Jesus built and how we
are able to identify it. Both lessons were preached in the dialect as that was
the best way to easily get across some of the detail needed for the audience to
grasp the points more clearly. Jonathan’s lesson of the afternoon continued on
the theme of the church.
After Jonathan’s morning
lesson, I took the remainder of the time before the lunch break to begin a
lesson on “Are Miracles and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit Promised to
Believers Today?” We started by seeing the nature and purpose of miracles in
Bible times, especially in N.T. times. We then noted the promise of 1
Corinthians 13 that they would cease and saw how that happened when the
revelation and confirmation of the gospel was fully accomplished. We then
turned our attention to the fact that the direct action of the Holy Spirit
(baptism in the Spirit) is recorded only twice in the N.T. (Acts 2 and Acts
10-11). We saw the limited promise made concerning that baptism as well as the
fact that those two occasions fully completed the promise recorded by Joel,
evidencing that both Jew and Gentile could be saved in Christ. I completed the
last part after the short lunch break noting that Holy Spirit baptism did not
bring the forgiveness of one’s sins or cause one to be saved.
After John’s second lesson, I
gave a very abbreviated version of my lesson on “Salvation & Saul” focusing
on the fact that Saul was not saved by faith only on the road to Damascus.
Instead, we noted Paul’s statement in Romans 6 showing that he was forgiven of his
sins and raised to walk a new life at the point of water baptism in the name of
Jesus Christ. We also looked at other N.T. passages showing that baptism is
essential for salvation.
As noted earlier, there were
a large number on non-Christian visitors. When the invitation was extended,
there were no visible results, but we expect that several “are not far from the
kingdom.” We noted heads of several nodding in agreement with both the teaching
on the church as well as the teaching on the plan of salvation and the issues
regarding the Holy Spirit. The seed was sown and we trust it will bear fruit in
good and honest hearts. Thank all of you who helped make it possible for these
souls to hear the truth of the gospel!
The weather maps show a
series of tropical waves and typhoons lined up to the east of the Philippines.
It appears that we will likely have continuing rain throughout my trip, but
there is no suggestion of a very destruction storm in the works. However, the
continued rain will likely cause continued problems in northern Luzon that was
hit by the massive super-typhoon (Lawin) about 2 weeks ago. I delivered the
funds sent with me to brethren from that area on the first day I was in Manila.
They immediately took it back to help meet some of the urgent needs present. Having
now been in the country for almost a week, I continue hearing of the terrible
destruction and great suffering being endured by many brethren in the area. The
level of need is massive as a large number have insufficient food and little or
no shelter from the continuing rains. If you are able to help, please do so as
the needs are very real and very urgent.
