The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-07
THE MAGICIANS
AND THE MISSIONARY
international Sunday School Lesson for
March 9-"PauI at Ephesus."
Acts 10: 800.

international Sunday School Lesson for
March S-"PauI at Ephesus."
Acts 10: 800.
The devil takes a myriad forms, but
IN every one of them he is still the
devil. Paul met him often in the
gu1se of a sorcerer. and in the present
lesson we have a story of the triumph
of the truth over the black art The
big cities of America are not singular
In harboring a host of charlatanS and
mountebankS, who thrive on the cred
ulity of the ignorant and the idle; for
usually it is not the man whose for
tune is to amount to anything who
cCnSultS fOrtune-tellerS, but the weak
and the silly and the sentimental. AS
long ago as the time of Moses, we
know that these soothsayers and ma
gicianS Piled their trade. In EpheSus
the business throYe, and many men
and women, mostly Jews, followed it.
Evidently the advent of the new .relig-
ion which Paul preached hurt bust
ness, as darkness cannot survive light.
Workineman, Preacher and Miracle
Worker.
The Apostle Paul tarried three
years or upwards in Ephesus, AT
which city the preceding lesson left
him. He started out, as usual, by
speaking in the synagogue, but within
three months the Jews drove him from
there and he had to find another
means Of reaching the public, which
is generally easy for man with
message to do. He preached daily in
the lecture hall of Tyrannus-sOme
sort of public hall-and from this GEN.
ter his work radiated all over Roman
Asia, which, ere long, became the
stronghold of the Christian faith. Paul
himself was a workingman during this
period, supporting himself by his trade
of tent-making. All this while special
miracle working powers were given
him, so that there was healing even
in objects that had merely touched his
flesh.
Bad Sons of Good Fathers.
Demon possession was common In
the times of which we are studying,
and many persons made their living
by selling charms and performing in
carnations. Among the number of
these were the seven sons of Sceva,
Jew of the priestly line. The father
was evidently a man of standing and
responsibility. His sons were his
shame and his sorrow. This is one of
the trials of life most bitter to bear
and most difficult to explain. Why do
the childEeRso fa good men and women
turn out to be wicked? The problem
is as old as the race; it has been one
of the sorrows of parenthood since the
days of the father of Cain.
The Confounding of the Sorcerers.
These seven shrewd young Jews,
ever alert for a business opportunity,
saw the power that there was in the
name of Jesus, and undertook to en-
ploy it as a charm over persons pos
sessed of demons. They were early
representatives of the class of people
by no means yet extinct who use re-
ligion for unworthy ends-the profess
sional and business men who attend
church to further trade, the women
who seek a social foOthold through the
church, and the beggars who are after
the loaves and fishes in more direct
fashion. Many men may be found who
will confess to mixed motives, or to
wholly selfish ones, in joining the fol-
lowers of Jesus. In this instance the
scheme met with disaster. The very
devils themselves repudiated the sor-
Cerers as frauds. The evil is seldom
mistaken in the good. The forces of
darkness know whom they really have
to fear. If man is truly a Christian
he may be sure that he is marked, and
feared, by the devil. Jesus I know,
and Paul 1 know, but who are ye?"
cried the evil spirits, as their victim
leaped upon the pretenders, mastering
and furnishing them so thoroughly
that the incident afforded a sensation
for the entire city. This affair made a
great many hypocrites shake in their
sandals Even some of the disciples,
who apparently had not broken en-
tirely with magic, came forward and
made trembling confession
sceva's Sons Successors.
These same black shams that were
prevalent in the great city of Asia in
PauPs day are by no means unknown
throughout America today. Silly wom-
en- and as silly men are still trying
to read the future in the grounds of
teacup or in a pack of cards, or in
the lines on ones hands. or in
the bumps on ones head. or by means
of ignorant charlatans. who do not
understand the present well enough to
make a living by honest labor, yet pro-
fess to hold converse with the spirit
world. If they do, the fact is a re1lec-
ton on our departed friends, that they
show no better taste in choosing their
company! 1t is rather incOngruous that
one who is supposed to have full
knowledge, having been freed from the
thralls of earth, should reveal himself
and his messages to person with
whom he would not have any dealings
in life, and who is trafficing in these
revelationsi Whatever supernatural
power these fortune tellers may pos
sess comes from an alliance that Is
not with angels of light. Cor the
opinion of Jesus on this point, see
Matt. -: II; Luke IL: 19).
An Expensive Bonfire.
The lesson taught Sceva's sons had
a salutary effect upon all of Ephesus
and the neighboring regions. Among
both Jews and Greeks the greatness
of the name that had such power was
magnified. Delinquent Christians con-
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