Arizona republican., 1920-02-01
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE SCHOOL LESSON, SUNDAY,
 FEBRUARY 1, 1920
BY REV. w. S. BUCHANAN

of this thy wickedness, and pray the
 Lord. if perhaps the thought of thy 1 heart shall be forgiven thee. 23. For see that thou art in the gall of bitter ness and in the bond of iniquity. 22
 And simon answered and said, Pray ye for me 10 the Lord. that none of the things which ye have spoken come i upon me.
 Introduction
 Since our last lesson the church and tlIe apostles have passed through some trying moments. The apostles were put in prison and the angel of the Lord by
 night opened the prison doors and set
 them free. They were taken before the Jewish court but released for fear of
 the people. Saul had returned to Jeru- salem and was rapidly taking the lead in prosecuting the Christians. It was
 Saul who was responsible for the arrest Of Stephen and his death. After the death of this great man the whole city of Jerusalem set in an uproar and the Christians aside from the apostles were afraid to stay in the city longer and escaped to the other villages and cities of Palestine and even went as far as Rome.
 The Lesson Condensed
 Report reached the apostles at Jeru- salem that Philip had preached the word of God to the Samaritans, and Acii SS OL liltI1 llstt DefleNcu diit been baptized. Could it be possible that the Kingdom of God was to in clude the despised people. The news made so great an impression upon the apostles at Jerusalem that they sent PetHr and John to Samaria to investi- gate the new departure. Peter and John were satisfied that the divine pur- pose was being carried out, and they gave theiE sanction and encoura cement 10 the movement by praying for the people and laying their hands upon them. The divine approval was shown by the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the people,
 What the visible signs of the coming Of the Holy Spirit were we can not know, but Simon the sorcerer beheld them, and coveted what he thought to be in the power of the apostles. He offered to give them money if they would tell him how he, too, could lay his hands on others and bring upon them the Holy Spirit. Mortified at such ignorance of the meaning of the gift of God, and at the wickedness of the thought that it could be bought with money, Peter exclaimed, Thy silver perish with theel Thou hast neither, part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right before God" And then he urged him to repent and pray God that the thought might be forgiven him, for Peter foresaw that his sin would become venomous, would menace the church and that he would be un- able to free himself from it. Simon, however, only thought of the apostles as greater sorcerers than himself, and fearing not his sin but it's punishment, asked them to pray for him that he might escape retribution.
 On their way back to Jerusalem the apostles themselves preached the gos- pc1 in many villages of Samaria. Thus were Samaritans brought into the king | dom of God.-Tarbell.
 The Lesson Exposition
 The joy of beliving, vss. AS. They l therefore that were scattered abroad" 1 naturally, the disciples would go no | farther away from Jerusalem, the l headquarters of their new faith, than | ! sufficient distance to make them feel safe from danger. Went abroad teach ing the word" The teaching was, of | more or less informal, according 10 the ability of the one who wanted to preach.
 ,. And Philip went down to the ,ity of Samaria." Philip was one of the seven men, full of faith and of the Icly Spirit who were chosen to care | or the widows and ophans in the early 'hurch. lActs 6:1-6) "Proclaimed | into them the Christi No doubt Philip Jesus as Lord and Christ very much after the matter that Peter pro- 'laimed the gospel on the Day of Pen + ecoSt.
 6. "The multitudes gave heed with me accord" Recall in this connection ohn's story of the visit of Jesus to this anne region. John 4 1-42) We are not urprised, therefore, to find multitudes low listening to Philip with one ac- ord.'' Show the signs which he did" Philip was not one of the welve apostles, he nevertheless had the 'cwer to accompany the preaching ]; riracles or signs"
 [. From many of those that had un- lean spirits" Demons were driven out i men by the power of the Christ 3; Thom Philip was preaching. The pal jed and the lame were healed, as they I ere in the days of Jesus. Fl
 The Gift of the Holy Spirit, vss. 14.17. 4. When the apostles that were at