7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

8

And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much. And she said, Yea, for so much.

9 But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? behold the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door and they shall carry thee out.

ΙΟ And she fell down immediately at his feet and gave up the ghost and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband.

II And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things.

GOLDEN TEXT

Lying lips are an abomination to Jehovah; but they that deal truly are his delight.Prov. 12:22.

This lesson should be called "The Denial of Deception." When the Spirit of Truth begins to flow in the consciousness, a great cleansing goes on. In Greek mythology this is one of the works of Hercules -turning the river through the Augean stables. This great river of Truth makes a clean sweep of the accumulated refuse of generations. Man in his mortal thinking has filled his mind with error after error until the consciousness has not been able to be cognizant of them all at once, and they have settled back into that stored-up memory realm called subconsciousness. When the light of Absolute Truth begins to shine, all these dark corners are illuminated and their filth exposed.

Man is free to give up his mind to the rule of the Holy Spirit or retain it in whole or in part. We are never forced to be good nor truthful nor holy. We can live on the animal plane or the spiritual as we may choose. When, however, we have chosen the spiritual, and agreed to give ourselves wholly to the Higher Life, we must not hold back any of our possessions. These possessions are not necessarily lands and money, as represented in this lesson, but all that we count valuable in mind, body, and affairs. The true church of Christ is a great school of spiritual

discipline, and whoever enters this school must give up the world and all his earthly desires.

There is a lurking belief in the mind that we can join this great school of spiritual development and at the same time retain our hold upon worldly things in a measure. This belief is Ananias-deception. Deception in the mind is a very subtle mortal error and causes the would-be disciple much misery. The best way to handle it is to uncover your whole inner consciousness to the Spirit, and ask to be thoroughly purified and cleansed. It is a very bitter pill to take sometimes, this admission of lying and deception in the mentality. But do not be squeamish; you will find that there are others in your alley who are similarly affected. This liar and deceiver has two sides in your mind. Outwardly, or in the conscious thought, it is Ananias; in the subconscious thought it appears as Sapphira. Both of these must die before your church or spiritual thoughts will increase in numbers and power. The best and quickest way to dissolve these liars is to boldly face them up and accuse them of holding back part of the price.

Do not try to excuse yourself in matters that have to do with God. You cannot hide anything from the all-knowing Spirit, and the quicker you confess, put the breath out of the deceiving thought and bury it out of sight, the better it will be for you and your spiritual development.

LESSON 7.

FEBRUARY 14.

THE APOSTLES IMPRISONED-Acts 5:17-42.

Print Acts 5:17-32.

17 But the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy,

18 And laid hands on the apostles, and put them in public ward.

19 But an angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them out, and said,

20 Go ye, and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this Life.

21 And when they heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison-house to have them brought.

22

But the officers that came found them not in the prison; and they returned, and told,

23 Saying, The prison house we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing at the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.

24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were much perplexed concerning them whereunto this would grow.

25 And there came one and told them, Behold the men whom ye put in prison are in the temple standing and teaching the people.

26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them, but without violence; for they feared the people lest they should be stoned.

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them,

28 Saying, We straitly charged you not to teach in this name: and behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

29 But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.

30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree.

31 Him did God exalt with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. 32 And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

GOLDEN TEXT

Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.- Matt. 5:10.

Many conflicts take place in the mind between the old and the new lines of thought. The new encroaches upon the old, and occupies its field as teacher and leader. There is reaction again and again, and we sometimes think it would be best to crush out entirely these revolutionary truths which are making such powerful headway in the consciousness. Some people are too cautious to become real Christians. They dare not let go the teachings of their forefathers. for fear they may be led into some heresy, and lose their chance of getting into heaven.

But if we give it a chance to express itself we will find, even among our most conservative Pharisee thoughts, a leader who advocates common sense and reason. This is Gamaliel, the doctor of the law," who advocates that Truth be tested by its fruits.

Prejudice and bigotry often blind us to the real merit. There is in everyone that spirit of fairness which will give every idea a chance to prove itself. "If this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it." This is the conclusion of every well-balanced mind and we should listen to every doctrine with this good judgment to the front.

But it does not follow that we endorse a doctrine when we are tolerant of it. Listen to the testimony and weigh it as a good judge. If you cannot accept it do not condemn it, but put it on its merits and let it work out its own salvation.

This lesson is especially applicable to the present status of the Revised Christianity of these times. There are those who are doing things in the name of Spirit that the conservative thoughts in the majority of us cannot endorse. We cannot see this Truth used as a source of money getting and call it good, yet we should not condemn those who are so using it. Let them stand or fall by the law, If their work be of God, it will stand; if it be of men, or personality, it will fall.

He who is master of the inner is not mastered by the outer. Even those adverse conditions, under which men are sinking every day, become the servants and helpmeets of him who wooes wisdom, and follows her commands. To him nothing is "adverse," everything is conducive. Every condition is the wise man's opportunity. The Light of Reason.

KANSAS CITY MID-WEEK MEETINGS

Wednesday Meeting December 16, 1908.

LED BY MRS. WRONG

Opening song, "Christ Within."

Silent Meditation: "The all-powerful mind of Jesus Christ in me dissolves and dissipates every adverse thought."

Mrs. Wrong said, in part: Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all things shall be added unto you. We who have tried this promise know it to be true. We also know that there is no limit to man's posibilities. We are taught by Spirit of spiritual things.

Each word of. truth that we realize is putting in the leaven which in time will leaven the whole. We must look within and not without to find this kingdom of heaven. I have always been earnest in my desire to be a Christian, but it seems I did not know how. I did not understand the Bible, and there was no pleasure for me in reading it. Sermons seemed to give me no light, and I was groping in the wilderness; but I praise God that his promise," He that seeketh findeth," has been fulfilled to me, and that all promises are fulfilled to me as fast as I am ready to use them; but I must prepare myself before I get all the benefits that await me. I must live the life that Jesus taught and lived; I must walk in the straight and narrow path, and that means to watch and pray. We are all children in this great school of life; for except we become as little children we cannot enter into this kingdom, and the only true teacher we can have is the Christ within, loving, tender and true. He is constantly with us, nearer than hands or

feet, or even our very breath.

Then let us not be idle one moment; but busy continually getting rid of the old thoughts of materiality, the false teachings and beliefs, and make room for the real and the true. We should be very careful