Acts viii. 5 — 8. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hear- ing and seeing the miracles ivhich lie did. 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. And there ivas great joy in that city.
NO sooner was the Gospel preached with success, than Satan stirred up persecution against it ; deter- mined, if possible, to crush and annihilate the infant Church. But what he designed for the destruction of Christianity, God overruled for its speedier propa- gation, and its firmer establishment. The persecution which commenced with the death of Stephen was so bitter, that the new converts were constrained to flee from Jerusalem, in order to escape its violence ; the Apostles alone daring to brave the storm. But the Christians who fled to all the surrounding country, carried the Gospel along with them, and published it in every place : and the very circumstance of their being persecuted on account of it, rendered them more earnest in spreading the knowledge of it, and gave it a deeper interest among the people to whom they spake. Philip, who, like Stephen, was one of the seven deacons, fled with the rest, and went down to Samaria : and there was made a happy instrument of diffusing widely the knowledge of his Lord and Saviour.
From the account given of him in our text, we are led to notice, I. The subject of his discourses —
The " preaching of Christ" is a term commonly used in Scripture for the publishing of the Gospel in all its parts : it is said of the Apostles, that " daily, in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach, and preach Jesus Christ." Respecting Philip's discourses we are more fully informed ; for " he