5. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

6. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

7. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

8. And there was great joy in that city.

14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

II. PHILIP THE HOME MISSIONARY, vs. 5-13. About two years before this great persecution, the church at Jerusalem had so grown that it was necessary to relieve the apostles of some of its business details, so they might give their time and strength wholly to the preaching and teaching for which they were most peculiarly fitted. Accordingly the church elected seven of their best men to undertake this business end of the church (Acts 6:1-7). Two of these men became more than business managers; they became great religious forces. They were Stephen the martyr, and Philip the Deacon and Evangelist. (It was not Philip the Apostle.)

When the Great Persecution came upon the disciples at Jerusalem, Philip was one who, leaving that city, preached the Gospel wherever he went. Through dangers and opposition and toil, Philip went forward to Samaria. He leaped over the barriers that separated the Jews from the Samaritans, as Jesus had done some years before (John 4), and preached Jesus the Messiah, the Living Saviour, and redemption from sin, so earnestly and with such power that the Samaritans became disciples. In proof of the truth of his teaching the Lord gave him such power that he wrought many miracles, which illustrated the loving kindness, helpfulness, and power of Christ and his gospel. It met their needs in a land where there were almost no trained doctors, no hospitals, and where very little could be done for the sick.

Maclaren well points out that "the language of Luke is singularly discriminating as to the effects of the two weapons. The miracles rouse attention, making the Samaritans give heed' to messenger and message. They caused great joy, as demoniacs, palsied, and lame were healed and given back to their beloved. But it was the preaching that led the Samaritans to believe.' Miracle is the great bell before the sermon,' but the good tidings is what evokes the faith that saves.”

"There was joy, great joy in that city,

A joy unheard of before,

A joy without sadness, or pity,

A joy with all joy in its store.

"Full many years of grief and tears,
That city in the past had known;
But now there comes a sweet relief

Her sorrows and her griefs have flown.

"For Philip, a fugitive preacher,

To this city, Samaría, comes down.
He tells them of Christ, the great Teacher,
The crucified king of renown.

"From his lips they list to the story,
From sin salvation is found,

The cross is the symbol of glory
And blessing for all doth abound."
Rev. E. Stuart Best, D.D.

The result was that those many Samaritans who were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, the Living Son of God, were baptized, as the outward condition of admission to the Church.

III. PETER AND JOHN VISIT THE MISSION FIELD, vs. 14-25. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had believed and been baptized as members of the Christian Church, they sent Peter and John, the foremost of the Twelve, as a delegation to Samaria. The object of this delegation seems to be to obtain a true report of these strange doings there. Were these true conversions? Should the Samaritan converts be received and welcomed in spite of the barriers between them and Jews? Besides this Peter and John could give wise counsel to the new converts, and further instruction in the teachings of Jesus, and confer some spiritual gifts. It resembled in some respects the delegations of the officers of our Missionary Boards to the mission fields, to see themselves how the work is progressing, to encourage and advise the missionaries as to certain aspects of their work, and to report as eye witnesses to the Christians at home who are giving the money to send the Gospel to these lands. In other respects it resembled the visit of an old and tried missionary to some of the mission stations at a distance from his own, where young,

15. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

16. (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

17. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money.

19. Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

20. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

less experienced missionaries have been working, in order to give them the benefit of his experience, and the comfort of his encouragement and fellowship.

Peter and John prayed for the Samaritans that they might receive the Holy Spirit. That was the test and proof whether they were to be Christians equally with the Jews. They laid their hands on the new converts, and they received the Holy Spirit, as did the Jews on the day of Pentecost. That was the answer.

The Delegates testified to the result of Philip's work, and preached the word of the Lord in Samaria and in many villages of the Samaritans on their way back to the church at Jerusalem.

IV. SIMON THE SORCERER, vs. 9-13, 18-25. Going back to the time before Philip went to Samaria, Luke tells us of a certain man called Simon. Little is known of him. The number of legends which a century or two later clustered around this Simon shows that he made a deep impression at the time. Sorcery: the Greek word is from magos, whence our word "magic." At first the word denoted the acts of wise men who interpreted dreams. Hence, it came to denote any enchanter or wizard, and in a bad sense, a juggler or quack. Simon doubtless exercised the same arts as the modern fortune-teller, with perhaps a knowledge of chemistry and the powers of hypnotism, mesmerism, sleight-of-hand, and ventriloquism. Many of these effects are very wonderful, and inexplicable to all but the initiated, so it is not strange that Simon bewitched the people, so that they all gave heed to him, believing his claim that he was some great one. The Samaritans, like the rest of the Jews, seem to have been expecting a Messiah, not only a political but a religious deliverer, "and one in whom the promise of Deut. 18: 15 would be fulfilled." So that the soil was prepared for any one who could give presumptive evidence that he was the Expected One.

When Philip the Evangelist came upon the scene there was a collision of the two forces. How long the battle lasted we do not know.

Note the difference between the two men and their messages.

Simon did marvellous things which caused wonder but helped no one.

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Philip did greater wonders, which were signs" of God's goodness and love, full

of grace and healing, worthy of God.

Simon made the people marvel at his skill.

Philip brought them forgiveness and salvation, life, joy, peace in God.

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Simon presented himself as some great one.

Philip preached Jesus as the Saviour and Son of God, and kept himself in the background.

Simon sought to gain money and reputation for himself.

Philip sought only the good of others, and met their needs.

Simon's deeds might be deceptive.

Philip's were beyond all possibility of deception.

PHILIP GAINED THE VICTORY OVER SIMON.

The result was that Simon himself believed also, but whether he was a sincere believer is doubtful. If sincere, he was ignorant, and misunderstanding.

For when Peter and John had come to Samaria, and the Holy Spirit had come upon the Samaritan Christians at the laying on of the hands of the Apostles, Simon offered them money, if they would give him the same power (vs. 18, 19), without doubt thinking that they were merely more skilful jugglers than himself, who might be induced for a consideration to sell to him their " tricks of the trade."

21. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

22. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

23. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

24. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

25. And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

But Peter indignantly denounced him, declaring that his heart was not right in the sight of God; that he was still in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. He urged him to pray for forgiveness if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee (vs. 20-23).

Simon Magus.

From an old print.

Simon answered, Pray ye to the Lord for me, but his repentance does not seem so much for the sin, as in view of some dire results that may come upon him through this unseen and unknown force (v. 24).

Commercializing Religion. In the Middle Ages this story, and the name of this man, were used to signify the attempt to purchase the gift of God with money. The buying of office and preferment in the Church was called Simony.

In our day there are those who find in the Church a means for their prospering in worldly ways. There would be no hypocrites in the Church of Christ if there were not something

there which called out the desire of those who were not spiritually inclined. A man who desires position and influence can sometimes obtain them by professing to worship God a little better than the common run of mankind. Sanctity on Sunday is used by ungodly men to screen evildoing on the rest of the days of the week. We see men who are trusted because of their apparently blameless outward life, and their prominence in the Church, giving the lie to their religious pretensions and showing their true character when that course seems to present the best results for them; or at their death, when many secrets are bared.

But this does not mean that the Church is composed of hypocrites and timeservers; nor that those who serve the Church do it for money or power or fame. A rotten apple in the barrel does not mean that all the apples are bad. But a rotten apple will contaminate the others if it is not discovered and removed.

V. THE MAKING OF A FOREIGN MISSIONARY, vs. 26-39. Philip had done his work in Samaria, and now the Lord sent him on another mission. He sent an angel, I whether in some visible form, or by some inward communication, or by vision, is not revealed, and is a matter of small consequence. He was directed to

take the road that led to the south toward Gaza, a city near the Mediterranean, toward Egypt.

At the same time an Ethiopian Jew who had come from the kingdom of Queen Candace, in Africa, not far from the headwaters of the Nile, to worship at Jerusalem, was returning to his

country and to his work as treasurer of the queen. He was taking the road toward Gaza.

The time and the route were so arranged by God's Providence that Philip and the Ethiopian should arrive at the junction of the roads at the same hour. Every life is full of such providences.

While sitting in his chariot the Ethiopian was reading aloud as was the custom, in order to beguile the way. Some idea of the character of the man may be obtained from the fact that he was reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, from Isaiah 53: 7, 8.

Philip ran to meet

Philip and the Eunuch.

him, listened to his reading, and asked him, as he ran beside him, Understandest thou what thou readest ?

How can I, except some man should guide me ? was the reply, coupled with an invitation to Philip to sit with him, so that they could talk.

Philip began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus, the glad tidings of salvation, the strange and marvellous correspondence between Jesus in his life, death, and character, and the picture of the Messiah which the prophets had painted; and all could see that the picture was a portrait of Jesus.

The Treasurer of Candace believed on Jesus, and was baptized by the roadside. Reëntering his chariot, he went on his way rejoicing, to his home and work, THE

FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY.

VI. POINTS OF CONTACT WITH THE MISSIONARY WORK OF TO-DAY. "To know what is going on in the mission fields is a liberal education."- · Pres. Hopkins, at the Haystack Meeting.

The Missionary Work has had a marvellous success in the last few years, beyond anything known since the first century. The missionaries have proved themselves heroes and statesmen. The women have vied with the men in courage, in heroism.

"The sending of missionaries into our Eastern possessions is the maddest, most expensive, most unwarranted project that was ever proposed by a lunatic enthusiast,' was what the British East India Company said at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

"In my judgment Christian missionaries have done more lasting good to the people of India than all other agencies combined,' was what the English LieutenantGovernor of Bengal said at the close of the nineteenth century."- Record of Christian Work.

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Muck-raking the Missionaries.' I read with the utmost interest an article by Dr. Clark with this title, which appears to me to cover correctly the situation in regard to missionaries in the Far East. I happened to be in the party which journeyed around the world on the steamship Cleveland a few years ago, and at the start of the journey had no interest either for or against the missionaries in the Orient; a fact perhaps not to my credit, but still a fact, and one showing that I began that memorable trip with an open mind and without bias.

"From that wonderful trip I returned with a deep feeling that the missionaries

whom I studied in India, China, and Japan are doing a splendid work along their medical and educational lines, and with a feeling nearly as deep that most of their religious work was destined to bear good fruit in a not-far-distant future.

"The contrast between the unselfish and earnest devotion of the average missionary with whom I talked and the entirely selfish purpose of a very large fraction of the white business men whom I studied in Oriental seaports was startling. I do not mean a majority of the white business men there, but a very large percentage, perhaps as large as a quarter, or nearly that. Some such percentage appeared to have a conception that the main reason for existence on the part of the natives was that the natives afforded a superior chance for these merchants to 'get rich quick,' by exploiting the inferior race with commercial goods and Western business methods." Daniel D. Bidwell, in C. E. World.

A Word-picture of a Missionary in Korea; an illustration of the truth just stated. "On into the night his room was the rendezvous for all classes. Men with Mongol thoughts and fetid breath sat cross-kneed about him, shouting all manner of useless questions over and over, proposing that he measure his strength of arm with them, asking for his hat and boots to try on. Frequently, when night came, three or four of these callers would stretch out on the floor of the seven by eight by ten room to sleep, the hottest end of the bake-oven being given to the foreigner as a mark of honor. Every door was closed and no chink of ventilation was allowed you, lest Horangee, the tiger, come and eat you. As the morning dawned, a new crowd came, and all the old salutations and explanations would have to be gone over. Is it any wonder missionaries need a furlough home' occasionally?"

The whole world is waking up. Schools and colleges have been built. Revival meetings for students and professors and leading officials have done a great work. "The Asiatic and African races are undergoing sweeping transformations in their thinking, their relations to the nations of the West, and in their religious conceptions.

"China and Japan have held the balance of power in Eastern Asia, constituting a new and significant relation to the Western nations. Already the Far East is seething with a new national and international life for which she is seeking a substantial religious foundation.

"These conditions demand, while the situation is plastic, the concentration of the unifying forces of Christendom. To-day the great majority of these people are more accessible, and even more eager for Christian instruction than they have ever been before in all the history of modern missions.

"The foreign missionaries, with their prestige, their institutions already established, and with their messages of comfort, hope and regeneration, hold a position unique in history and pregnant with assurances of universal international good order and brotherhood and permanent peace for the world. Foreign missionaries can now render a genuine patriotic and national service, both to the country from which they come and the country in which they serve. Thoughtful people have come to realize what men eminent in statecraft are beginning to affirm, that foreign missionaries have been an effective force for breaking down barriers between East and West. It is clear that foreign missionaries are true soldiers of the better order which is to bind the world together.

"We, therefore, call upon all who love their country, who long and pray for universal brotherhood and for an abiding peace among nations, who hope to see the principles taught by Jesus Christ become the principles underlying all human society and ruling the national life of the world, to regard no effort too exhausting, and no sacrifice too great for the fullest vitalization of all missionary agencies and for the completest possible mobilization of the forces of the Christian Church for the redemption of the world."— The Churchman Afield, in Boston Transcript.

LESSON VI (19). - February 8.

PETER AT LYDDA AND JOPPA. - Acts 9:32-43.

GOLDEN TEXT. The prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.-JAMES 5:15.

Devotional Reading: Psalm 61.

Additional Material for Teachers: Luke 5:17-26; 8: 40–46.