. In the
hour of darkness all His recognised disciples forsook him and fled; and
when the tragedy on Golgotha was over, it was not Peter, and James, and
John, and Andrew, who rendered Him the last service, but holy, humble
women, and Joseph and Nicodemus, who up till then had not been reckoned
as disciples at all. There are times in the history of the Church when
our Lord seems "_crucified afresh, and put to an open shame_," while
His so-called disciples remain silent and hidden. Superstition and sin
still join hands to put the Christ to death, to bury Him, and seal His
sepulchre. But secret disciples are meanwhile avowing themselves;
coming from the east, and the west, from the north, and from the south,
to fill up the vacant places, to do the needed services, and to rejoice
in a risen and glorified Lord. Better by far the doing of a simple act
of love to the Saviour who died for us--such as Joseph did--than loud
professions of loyalty, or accurate knowledge of creeds. Hear once
more the solemn words of Jesus: "_Not every one that saith unto Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of My Father which is in heaven_."

"And that voice still soundeth on
From the centuries that are gone
To the centuries that shall be!
From all vain pomps and shows, from the pride that overflows,
From all the narrow rules and subtleties of Schools,
And the craft of tongue and pen:
Bewildered in its search, bewildered with the cry:
'Lo here, lo there, the Church!' poor, sad Humanity
Through all the dust and heat turns back with bleeding feet
By the weary road it came
Unto the simple thought by the Great Master taught,
And that remaineth still:
'Not he that repeateth the Name
But he that doeth the Will.'"

PHILIP, THE EVANGELIST

BY REV. GEORGE MILLIGAN, M.A., D.D.

Philip the Evangelist must be carefully distinguished from Philip the
Apostle. And though it is little that we are told regarding him in
Scripture, that little is very significant. He first comes before us
as one of the seven chosen by the early Church at Jerusalem to take
charge of the daily ministration of charity to the poor widows (Acts
vi. I ff.). And when this work is hindered by the outbreak of
persecution following on the death of Stephen, we find him at once
departing to enter on active missionary work elsewhere (Acts viii. 4
ff.)