Today’s venue was at the second flood of a
small retail store in the provincial capital of Masbate City. We had 63 in
attendance and they showed great interest in the studies. A large number of
young people who had already been baptized brought some of their friends to
hear the gospel. As I understood it, about 12 older people who were not
Christians were also present to hear. One of the men present was a Baptist
preacher.
We began about 9am with a lesson of
“Foundations of Faith.” The study started with giving evidence for the
existence of God, then giving evidence of the Bible as His word, and then
showed that the gospel of Christ reveals the will of God for all people today.
Jonathan followed that with a lesson showing that we are not under the law of
Moses today, but under the gospel of Christ. I then gave a very short summary
lesson from 1 Peter 1:22-25 to show that the gospel taught in the first century
is the gospel which “lives and abides forever” and is able to “purify our souls
through obedience to the truth.”
After lunch, we considered the topic of
“Salvation & Saul” to see at what point Saul was saved from his sins. The
Scripture clearly shows that it was not at the point of faith only on the road
to Damascus, at the point of repentance and prayer, at the point of a personal
appearance of Jesus, or at the point of a miracle being worked. Instead, a
complete look at the chapters in Acts relating Paul’s conversion (Acts 9, 22
and 26) as well as the epistles show it was at the point of baptism that Paul
was saved from his sins by the blood of Christ. Jonathan then finished the
day’s study with a lesson on “Obedience: The Place of Faith, Grace and Works.”
The lesson showed very clearly that all have a part in our salvation.
After that lesson, an
invitation was extended for any who wanted to obey the gospel, but there was no
visible response. We finished the day with a question and answer session. The
Baptist preacher made two attempts at a response, but both turned out as great
opportunities to further clarify the truth regarding the gospel plan of
salvation. One lady asked about the Ten Commandment law and the Sabbath and
Jonathan’s response fully satisfied her. The audience was very expressive of
their thanks for the study and several wanted continued studies. The Baptist
preacher spoke with me afterwards and stated a desire to further study at a
future opportunity for such a gathering. In all, it was a very good day and we
thank God for the opportunity. 
