The Story of the Bible
- Автор: Hurlbut Jesse Lyman
- Год: 1904
- Язык: английский
- Год: Heritage History
- Жанр: Культурология
Электронная книга - «The Story of the Bible». Краткое содержание книги:
But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you if you think to buy the gift of God with money! You do not really belong to Christ, and your heart is not right with God. Turn away from this your sin, and pray God that he will forgive you. For I see that you are yet in your sins, sins that are as bitter as gall; and you are fast bound in evil as with a Chain!"
Simon could not understand this, but he said, "Pray for me to the Lord, that none of these evils that you have named come upon me!"
After this Peter and John preached among many villages of the Samaritans, and then they went back to Jerusalem. Philip’s work in Samaria was now done, and an angel of the Lord spoke to him, saying:
"Rise up, and leave this city; and go toward the south, on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."
This was a road through a desert region, without villages or people; but Philip at once obeyed the word that came from the Lord. He left Samaria and walked southward, until he came to the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. While he was on this desert road he saw a chariot drawing near, and in it was seated o black man reading from a roll. This man had come from the land of Ethiopia, in Africa, far to the south of Egypt. He was a nobleman of very high rank, the treasurer of the queen in that land; and though he was not a Jew, he had taken a journey of more than a thousand miles to Jerusalem, riding in his chariot all the way, that he might worship God in his Temple. He was now going back to his own land, and in his hands was the roll of the prophet Isaiah, from which he was reading aloud while he was riding on his journey.
As the chariot of this black man came in sight, the Spirit of the Lord said to Philip, "Go near, and stand close by the chariot."
And Philip ran toward the chariot, and spoke to the man, and said "Do you understand what you are reading?"
The nobleman answered him, "How can I understand it, unless some one tells me what it means? Can you show me? If you can, come up into the chariot and sit with me."
Then Philip came up and sat down in the chariot. The place where he was reading was the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, with words like these:
"He was led as a sheep to the slaughter,
And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb,
So he openeth not his mouth.
His story who shall tell?
For his life is taken from the earth."
These are the words that the prophet spoke of Jesus many hundreds of years before he came to the earth. Philip began with those words, and told the Ethiopian nobleman all about Christ. And the man believed, and took into his heart the word of the Lord. As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the nobleman said, "See, here is water! Why may I not be baptized?"
And Philip said to him, "If you believe with all your heart, you may be baptized."
And he answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
Then the nobleman gave order for the chariot to stand still; and Philip and the man went down into the water together, and he baptized him as a follower of Christ. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away, so that the nobleman saw him no more; but he went on his way home, happy in the Lord.
Philip went next to a city near the shore, and there he preached; and from that place he went northward through the cities by the Great Sea, preaching in them all, until he came to Caesarea, and at Caesarea he stayed for many years.
The Voice That Spoke to Saul
Acts ix: 1 to 31; Galatians i: 11 to 24.
Saul, The young man who had taken part in the slaying of Stephen, and who had scattered abroad the believers in Christ, was still the bitter enemy of the gospel. He heard that some of those who had fled away from Jerusalem had gone to Damascus, a city outside of the Jewish land, far in the north, and that they were still at work teaching Christ. Saul made up his mind to destroy this new church in Damascus, as he thought he had destroyed the church in Jerusalem. So he went to the high-priest, and said:
"Let me have a letter to the chief of the Jews in Damascus. I have heard that there are some followers of Jesus of Nazareth in that city; and I will go with some men, and will take these people, and bind them, and bring them in chains to Jerusalem."
The high-priest gave to Saul the letters that he asked for, and Saul found a band of men to go with him to Damascus. It was a journey of about ten days, riding on horses or mules. While Saul was on his way to Damascus he had time to think about Christ and his gospel. He saw again in his mind Stephen’s shining face, and heard his words, he thought of the sweet and patient way in which the followers of Jesus had met their sufferings and their wrongs at his hand. Deep in Saul’s heart there arose a feeling which he could not put down, that the gospel of Christ was true, and that it was wicked for him to fight against it. Yet he still went on, firm in his purpose to destroy the Church of Christ.
At last he came near to Damascus. Suddenly, at full noon, a light flashed from heaven, brighter far than the sun. For the time the light blinded Saul’s eyes, and it came so suddenly upon him that like a bolt of lightening it struck him down, and he fell upon the ground. In the midst of the light Saul saw One whom he had never seen before. And a strange voice came to him saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you fighting against me?"
And Saul answered the voice, "Who art thou, Lord?" Then the answer came, "I am Jesus, whom you are trying to destroy!"
SAUL HEARS A STRANGE VOICE
Then trembling with surprise and alarm, Saul said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
And the Lord said to Saul, "Rise up, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."
Those who were with Saul wondered, for they had seen a light, and had heard a sound; but had beheld no face and had heard no words; for the vision of Christ had come to Saul alone. They raised him up from the ground, and found that his eyes had been made blind by the brightness of the light. They led him by the hand into the city, and took him to the house of a man named Judas. There Saul stayed for three days in the deepest suffering of mind and body. He could see nothing, and he neither ate nor drank. But in the darkness he was praying to God and to Christ with all his heart.
In the city of Damascus there was a follower of Christ named Ananias, a good man, held in respect by all who knew him. To this Ananias the Lord spoke, calling him by name, "Ananias."
And Ananias answered, "Here I am, O Lord."
And the Lord said to Ananias, "Rise, and go into the street named Straight, and find the house of Judas; and in that house ask for a man named Saul from Tarsus. This man Saul is praying; and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming into his room and laying his hands on him, to give him his sight."
This command from the Lord was a surprise to Ananias. He answered the Lord, "Lord, I have heard from many people about this man Saul; what great evil he has done to all thy people in Jerusalem; and here he has an order from the high-priest to bind and to carry away all who call upon thy name! Shall I go and visit such a man as he?"
But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go thy way; for I have chosen this man to bear my name before the people of all nations, and kings and the children of Israel. And I will show him how many things he must suffer for my sake."
Then Ananias went, as the Lord had bidden him. He found the house, and he came to Saul. He laid his hands on the head of Saul, and he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who met you in the way as you were coming, has sent me, that you may have your sight, and that the Holy Spirit may come upon you. Now, wait no longer, but rise up , and be baptized, and call upon the name of Jesus, who will wash away your sins.
Then there fell from the eyes of Saul what seemed like scales, and at once his sight came to him. Saul was baptized as one who believed in Christ, and food was given him, and he became strong in body and in soul. Saul had gone forth to bind the disciples of Christ in Damascus; but now he came among them, no more as an enemy, but as a brother. And he went into the synagogues where the Jews worshipped in Damascus, and began to preach Jesus to them, declaring that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. And all that heard him were amazed and they said to each other, "Is not this the same man who in Jerusalem wrought ruin among them who believed in this name? And did he not come to this place, intending to bind the believers in Jesus, and bring them before the chief priests?"