Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1916-03-15
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson Xll.-First Quarter, For
March Is, 1916.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.
Text of the Lesson, Acts viii, All.
Memory Verses, 5, 6-GoIden Text,
Acts viii, 80, |. documentary Pre-
pared by Few. D. M. Stearns.

Acts viii, 3d. |. documentary Pre-
pared by Flew. D. M. Stearns.
The persecution of the saints, which
began with the murder of stephen, con-
tinued under Saul as leader or at
least very active prosecutor, for he
is said to have entered every house
prison. The persecution was so great
that it is said that all the believers.
except the apostles. were scattered
abroad through Judea and Samaria,
but they went everywhere preaching
the word. and thus God made the
wrath of man to praise Him (yerses
IA; Ps. lxxvi. 1o,. Philip. the second
of the seven Spirit filed men who were
chosen to serve tables. now comes to
the front as a preacher and is the
prominent worker in the rest of this
chapter First we see him preaching
Christ in Nthe city of Samaria and
working miracles. the people giving
heed with one accord so that there was
great joy in that city, many men and
women believing the words of Philip
concerning Jesus Christ and the king
dom of God and confessing the same
by baptism oversees So, 12).
There was a man In Samaria who
had been bewitching and deceiving the
people by sorcery. drawing people to
himself as a great man. but when he
saw greater works wrought by Philip
he naturally became interested and
professed himself believer and was
baptized. But Peter and John, having
come from Jerusalem to help in the
good work, found him out when he
offered them money If they would give
him the power of the Holy Spirit
verses $3.50. The gifts Of God can
not be bought. nor does true mes
senger Of Christ ever seek any honor
or glory for himself, for the Lord Je-
sus never sought His own will nor
His own glory and told the people that
they could not believe unless they
sought honor from God only John v,
so, A; vi. 3S; viii. 50l. The holy Spirit
never honors any mere man. but
through men honors Jesus Christ.
We must cease from men and see no
man save Jesus only Qsa II. %: Mark
tx, s.. When Peter and John had help
ed the believers In Samaria they also
preached the word Of the Lord in many
Samaritan villages as they journeyed
back to Jerusalem "a to II and 25,.
The Lord Jesus had said before His
ascension that when they received the
power Of the Holy Spirit they would
be His witnesses not only in Jerusalem
and Samaria. but unto the uttermost
part Of the earth (Acts /. s.. The first
part was being fulfilled. but some Of
the ends of the earth have not heard
yet after nearly 1900 years. How
great is His patience! In the power
of God. manifest In the words and
works of the apostles and evangelists.
we have seen something of the inter
est Of heaven in the work of giving
the good news to men. We have also
seen the ministry Of angels In taking
Peter and John out OF prison and send
ing them to preach In the temple
Philip is busy in the midst Of this
great work in Samaria. a messenger
from heaven is sent to him to tell him
to leave it all and go away down to
the desert road from Jerusalem to
GAIA. but seemingly without giving
any reason as to why he should do
this.
Did ever busy preacher Of the Cos
pei receive such a strange command?
There did not seem to be any reason
or common sense in it. but rather an
interference with great soul saving
work. Might not Philip seem justified
in saying, as Nehemiah once did. Il am
doing great work. SO that l cannot
come DOWN." (Neh. vi. 3D. It was an
evil spirit who was seeking Nehemiah.
but 1t was the risen Christ who sent His
angel to Philip because he saw a man Of
Ethiopia returning from Jerusalem with
out having heard the gospel, although
the apostles were at Jerusalem. | see
two or OF three important things here
the necessity Of trying the spirits to
see whether they are of God q John
iv, 1-3). the necessity of always max
ing plain the way Of life in Christ lest
some hungry seeking soul may go
away without knowing how to be saw
ed and the necessity Of prompt obedi-
ence when God speaks. no matter how
unreasonable it may seem to US.
We are glad to read that Philip arose
and went verse 81. II he had any
committee to consult he would prob
ably have been hindered; but. like
Samuel he was man Of God and
had an ear for God and willing heart.
1t is certainly most interesting to see
this traveller this treasurer Of the
queen Of Ethiopia. reading the book
Of Isaiah as he journeyed and to be
Just at the place which told of suf-
fering Messiah, which we call lisa. lii.
z, 8. when a stranger approached the
chariot. and. hearing the words being
read flor he was evidently reading or