_THE CHRISTIAN CITY_ ‘And there was great joy in that city.’ Acts 8:8 The city was Samaria, and the great joy was the fruit of the first preaching of the Gospel there. The disciples had been scattered by persecution from Jerusalem, and one of them had come to this city. To it he had told the trut... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE FIRST CONFIRMATION_ ‘Then laid they their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost.’ Acts 8:17 This passage has a particular interest for us, because it is the first instance of what is now known as ‘Confirmation.’ In the earliest days the ‘laying on of hands’ followed baptism immed... [ Continue Reading ]
_PREACHING JESUS_ ‘Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.’ Acts 8:35 At the close of this chapter the picture of the Crucifixion unrolls itself again: it is a miniature of the larger one painted with holy oil in the fifty-third chapter of Isaia... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE JOYS OF LIFE_ ‘And he went on his way rejoicing.’ Acts 8:39 There must have been some very strong reasons why the eunuch should pursue his way down to Ethiopia that day rejoicingly. He was in the ecstasy of the delight of the first discovery of truth—that strange, that delicious sensation! H... [ Continue Reading ]