8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

All right, Acts chapter 8, verse 1. Now, that did a line in there. You might want to draw a line in Acts 7, ‘cause Acts chapter 7 is a major break in the Bible. That’s a major break. In that break there, God is through trying to win over the Jews in Jerusalem.

Acts chapter 8, verse 1: “And Saul was consenting unto his death.” That is, going along with it, agreeing with it.

“And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Which is a strange thing, because the apostles were originally told, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel.” They don’t go. And Cornelius Stam’s “ingenious” explanation of this is that the apostles suddenly realized the commission had been changed, and they were to stay at Jerusalem instead of going — which is a rather stupid guess. Matthew chapter 28 said, “Go and baptize all nations.” Mark chapter 16 said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” And Cornelius Stam couldn’t figure out why they stayed when they were told to go. So he gets this crazy crackpot idea that suddenly they found out something nobody else found out about, and suddenly knew that the commission stopped there, and Paul was going to get saved and carry it on someplace else — which is just nonsense. You can’t get that out of the Bible.

Now, all you can say is that in staying there, they were just faithful, and they were told to be witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judaea and in Samaria, and they’re not ready to go to Samaria yet. They’re still in Judaea.

And when they’re ready for Samaria, they go. For example, look at verse 14. There the apostles are going to Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and they get ready for the uttermost parts of the earth.

As a matter of fact, the next time you pick up Peter, he’s going beyond Samaria. Turn to Acts 10. In Acts chapter 10, he’s over in Caesarea. So they’re still obeying the commission as given to them. They haven’t noted any big change. There hasn’t been any big change. There isn’t going to be any big change.

All right, Acts chapter 8. Cornelius Stam just made a mistake in wrongly dividing the word of truth. He says, “Well, the apostles realize that their job is to stay at Jerusalem and preach the gospel to the circumcision, the Jew, while Paul realizes his commission is to preach the gospel to the uncircumcision, the Gentile — and that won’t work at all, because they’re not two different gospels.

The followers of Cornelius Stam have trouble with genitives. And a genitive is “of.” For example, Paul said, “If you’ve heard of the dispensation of the grace of God given to me,” see? Now, they’re trying to make that thing — the dispensation of the grace of God — they’re trying to make that “grace of God” the subject of dispensation. “God gave me the dispensation that belonged to the grace of God.” That’s the grace of God’s dispensation.

That isn’t what the genitive is. The dispensation of the grace of God that God gave them was, the grace of God was the object that God dispensed to him.

Now, people get confused on that. Like a Jehovah Witness gets confused in Jesus Christ is the beginning of the creation of God. Did you ever have a JW throw that one at you. And try to make God the object — see, “the creation of God” — when that time God was the subject.

And Stamites have a terrible time with that thing. They say, “Well, the gospel of the circumcision”, see, was — that’s making it the subject — was one gospel, and the gospel of the uncircumcision — making it the subject — was the other.

Man, do you realize that, if those were two different gospels, everybody that would preach the gospel of circumcision was cursed? Galatians chapter 1 verse 8 says if Paul preached any other gospel, let him be accursed. The gospel of the circumcision — the circumcision is the object. That’s the gospel preached to the Jews. The gospel to the uncircumcision is the gospel preached to the Gentiles — the object of the word “gospel.” The “gospel” — it’s the same gospel either time, see?

Now, those Stamites, they go cuckoo, and their brain goes rattling on, and they get nuts.

Over there in Pascagoula, I wish you could have heard Brother Neal preaching. He was on the way to some place with a Bullingerite, and a Bullingerite, when he mentioned how tall he was — I know he was a private pupil of Bill Sharpe over in Alberta, and it developed his manner of holding the glasses and wiping his lips — and that fellow told Neal over there, he said, “Why, we know that the Body began with Paul, because not even Paul was sure when the Body started, because he said in 2 Corinthians 12, ‘whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell’” — what a flip-flab, flop, blam thing, man! What a thing, brother! I wouldn’t know a Campbellite who would pull a dumb trick like that. But that’s just typical, see, how you get all screwed up.

Now, in this passage here, they’re going right on the way the Lord told them to go, and what Cornelius Stam forgot was that Peter preached in Babylon. You remember 1 Peter chapter 5? “The church that is at Babylon salutes you.” He didn’t stay at Jerusalem with the circumcision. He’s going all over the place, like the Lord told him to go.

All right, Acts chapter 8, verse 2: “And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock.” That is, tore ‘em up, made a massacre of them. “He made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling...” we say “hauling.” “And haling men and women committed them to prison.” Throwing people in jail.

That isn’t all. He’s torturing people to make them blaspheme. And that doesn’t occur right here, but it comes across later in the Book of Acts. And notice, when Paul gives his testimony and tells what he’s done. He’s a rascal.

Acts 26:10. Paul was a Torquemada and Wallenstein all in one. He’s not an air-conditioned theologian. Acts 26:10: “Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death,...” he was a murderer! “...I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme.” Boy, he put the pressure on them till they cursed Christ.

Now, there’s a character! You can’t classify Paul with people like Barth and Brunner and Tillich and Niebuhr and all that bunch of Campfire Girls. That fellow there — he’s a terror!

They always try to make him a theologian. Well, he may have written some theology, but he wasn’t a theologian, he was a street preacher. And he jailed folks and got thrown in jail.

Acts chapter 8, verse 3: “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”

8:4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

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.

9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

“Therefore they that were scattered abroad.” And the context was men and women.

“Went every where preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria.” Now Samaria is halfway between Ephraim and Judah. That is, it’s north of Jerusalem, and it’s south of Galilee. And it’s the middle land. And, if you know your Bible, you know Samaria is inhabited by a half-Gentile, half-Jewish population, and the woman says, “The Samaritans have no dealings with the Jews.”

Come back to 2 Kings 18, and see where this population came from. Make it 2 Kings 17. Second Kings 17. Now, here Sennacherib comes in and carries them away captive, and then look what it says in 2 Kings 17:24. Now, the reason why you need to know this is because in a minute you’re going to find a third plan of salvation in the Book of Acts.

QUESTION: Dr. Ruckman, before we go by this, I was talking to a Stamite the other day, and he hit me with that verse and said the Great Commission was fulfilled because they went everywhere. But you know that can’t mean everywhere in the world, because the Apostles didn’t cover this whole earth.

ANSWER: It was all covered by Acts 7, he said?

QUESTION: He said verse 4 shows — see where it says there in verse 4, “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” He said the Great Commission in Matthew was fulfilled there, because they went everywhere.

ANSWER: Australia, I guess? Norway and Iceland? Mexico and California?

QUESTION: Doesn’t Paul say, “I preach not where Christ was named, lest I build upon another man’s foundation”?

ANSWER: Yes. So nobody went to Rome.

Well, that’s interesting. I never heard that one before. As you keep putting pressure on a heretic, he has to keep adjusting his position. That’s a brand new one. Now, I’ve read Baker and Stam and O’Hair and Bullinger and Ballinger, but I’ve never heard that one before. That’s a new effort to slip under the wire and get out.

There are a number of things. The first one says, “Preach the gospel to every creature” — which certainly hasn’t been done.

And the next one is, they were told to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and there’s no evidence of any Gentiles getting baptized, except by a Jewish baptism up to Acts chapter 10.

So the question comes, if Matthew 27 and 28 was fulfilled in Acts chapter 8 verse 5, where are all these Gentiles baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost? There’s no record of it. There’s no record till Acts 10.

Now, that isn’t all. Verse 4 doesn’t say they went everywhere preaching the gospel. Mark 16 said “preach the gospel to every creature.” Acts chapter 8 verse 4 said “they went everywhere preaching the word.” Well, they preached the word clear through the Old Testament. Isaiah, Jeremiah and Moses preached the word.

All right, verse 4: “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” An example: “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, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.” So he has the apostolic signs, converted under an Apostle, and he’s preaching to a population that’s half-Jew and half-Gentile.

QUESTION: Weren’t you going to give a reference over in 2 Kings?

ANSWER: Oh yes, excuse me. Second Kings chapter 17, verse 24: “And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria...” see that? “...instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.” Now, that’s a half-breed population put in there.

Verse 30: “And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.”And so Samaria is a half-breed population of Gentile Jews — mixed.

All right, Acts chapter 8, verse 7. I’ll tell you a good verse. They come to mind as you go, you know. Ask him, if it was already preached to everybody in Acts chapter 8, verse 4, ask him what Acts 28 is, where Paul says in Acts chapter 28, verse 28: “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, —” future “— and that they will hear it” — future. Ask him how come it got out to all the Gentiles when it hadn’t got to all the Gentiles in Acts 28?

QUESTION: This guy is from Montgomery; he drives truck for Winn Dixie. And he was sitting under one of those teachers up there that sat under Stam; I don’t know who it is.

ANSWER: I think I got a letter from him. I got a letter day before yesterday from a fellow who said, “There’s a man coming up here named E.C. Moore that said you dismissed him from your school for rightly dividing the word of truth.”

QUESTION: Well, the guy that’s up there supposedly came to this school, and now this truck driver is going to his church.

ANSWER: Well, that’s probably it.

QUESTION: And everytime he comes in, you know, he’s hitting new verses.

ANSWER: I just finished writing him a letter, and said I wouldn’t take those jokers seriously. I said they’re not able to teach a daily Vacation Bible School, so don’t take ‘em serious.

QUESTION: Well, this other guy that’s at work out there, we’ve been talking about some verse, and I forgot which one it was, I meant to write it down, and it was talking about in effect of going to the whole world, and phrases like that. And we’ve, you know, been talking about the whole world. And I wish I had kept it written down.

ANSWER: Turn to Matthew 28 and read me something. I want to find out how long that commission was for. Matthew 28:19 — read it for me out loud.

QUESTION { reading the passage} : “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

ANSWER: Is that the end of the world there in Acts 8? Somebody’s kind of screwed up, aren’t they? The age didn’t end there in Acts chapter 8.

All right, go back to Acts chapter 8, verse 6: “And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.” If it ended in Acts chapter 8 verse 4, that’s kind of funny. Here are the signs to Israel going right on after the end of the age.

“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 was great joy in that city. But...” Now, don’t you know that happened? Have you ever noticed reading your Book of Acts, everytime there’s a revival, something shows up that just puts the damper on it. Sometimes when you’re reading along through the Bible in the Book of Acts, just mark all the places where, “And they were not able to resist the Spirit by which he spoke,” you know — big revival — “and they hired men to kill him.”

“And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man.” And then Paul spoke to Sergius Paulus the deputy, “But Simon Barjesus stood there.” “And the next day all the Gentiles came together to hear the word of God. But the Jews, moved with envy, set on them —”

That’s how it’s going to be, now. When you get a blessing, they’re going to come, and the devilment right with it. When you get up on the mountain, there are going to be the vultures up there waiting for you.

All right, Acts chapter 8, verse 9: “But there was a certain man, called Simon.” The Bible says one sinner destroys much good.

“Which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one.” So he goes down in history, he’s called Simon Mangus, which simply means “magi,” “megacycle,” “megus,” “megalis,” “big one,” “great one.”

“To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.” He’s probably a hypnotist and an astrologer and necromancer all together.

“But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God.” What is your Bullingerite going to say about that? It was fulfilled back in verse 4. That kingdom of God that Philip’s preaching, that’s not the New Testament Pauline revelation, that’s the kingdom of God that Christ revealed to him in Luke chapter 1, it hasn’t near got out.

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” Then baptism goes beyond the end of the age, right? If the age ended in Acts chapter 8 verse 4, water baptism goes right on, so there’s no problem.

Boy, if a fellow can’t get himself in a mess with that Book, I’m telling you, boy! I mean, all that ducking and fading and messing around.

“Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.” The Lord’s dealing with Israel; the signs are accompanying the ministry.

QUESTION: Did he get saved there?

ANSWER: Yeah, that’s the question, isn’t it? The question is, is he saved or is he not? Well, Mark 16:16 said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.”

Let’s see if he was.

8:14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

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.

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.

Verse 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.” Now here we’ve got trouble.

“Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost.” Now there’s somebody who has believed on Christ without receiving the Holy Ghost. “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” See how they get in such a mess? Now, over there in Acts chapter 2, you couldn’t get the Holy Ghost unless you were baptized in water. Now, here’s a bunch of folks who got baptized in water and still didn’t get the Holy Ghost!

Boy, I mean, if you want to teach salvation with the Book of Acts, you’ve got a problem — because it’s progressive.

Now, why has the Lord done this? The Lord has done this because these are half-breeds, and they’re not full-blooded Jews, and the Lord’s a racist. And Christ said, “Salvation is of the Jews” — not the Samaritans. Now, He’s going to show those Samaritans that Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Not Ephraim, or “upon this mountain.”

“Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)” There’s your Jewish baptism in Acts 2 still going on — “after the end of the age,” verse 4, hardy har har har!

Sixteen: “In the name of the Lord Jesus.” Then it said, verse 15, they “prayed for them, that they might receive,” but even the prayer didn’t get answered till Peter and John came down.

Then, 17: “Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.” So you have, in the Holiness churches, people coming down and kneeling at the altar, and somebody coming down there and putting their hands on them. I’ve been kneeling down there in the Holiness church, man, five people kneeling beside me, hands all over me, you know, saying, “Hubba hubba, habba habba, hooba hooba, gaba gaba,” you know. When I got saved, I wanted all the Lord had for me, brother! If there was any such thing as tongues, I was out to get ‘em, man. I’d try.

But, you know, it’s very hard if you’re an artist. Because if you’re an artist, you’re critical, you know. And you can’t be an artist unless you are critical; you’ve got to destroy your own work before you can improve it. And so you always the sense of standing off and looking at yourself, and cutting yourself to pieces. And it’s awful hard to get into the spirit of that thing. I mean, when you’re kneeling there, and “hubba hubba hubba,” you’re thinking, “Why, you blank fool, what in the world are you doing, ‘hubba hubba hubba’?” you know. You stand back and look at that thing, and you say, “What a crazy, fouled up mess! I’m gettin’ out of here!” and you get up and leave.

And they say you don’t have faith. That ain’t the problem. The problem is you’ve got too much sense.

QUESTION: What is that Jewish baptism? In the name of Jesus?

ANSWER: In the name of Jesus. It’s in the name of Jesus because Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

QUESTION: Is there anyplace in the Book of Acts where somebody is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost?

ANSWER: Yeah, but it’s reduced to the formula in Acts — we’ll get to it in awhile, Acts chapter 10 — which just says “the Lord.” Because the name of the Father is the Lord, and the name of the Son is the Lord, and the name of the Holy Ghost is the Lord.

QUESTION: Don’t Pentecostals teach that, you get baptized and all, and you get saved then, but you don’t always receive the Holy Spirit when you get saved?

ANSWER: Right. And then another bunch of them teach you receive the Holy Spirit, but then you don’t get the Holy Ghost till later. And then you got one bunch that says you get saved, you get saved without having the Holy Ghost, but when you get the Holy Ghost, you speak in tongues, and that’s the initial evidence of the baptism. Therefore, they’ve got two operations. You receive Christ to get the Spirit, and then you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost by speaking in tongues.

QUESTION: What’s this here? Here they believed, and were baptized, they got the Holy Spirit and were baptized?

ANSWER: No, they believed and were baptized and then had hands laid on them — and then got the Holy Spirit — without talking in tongues.

Boy, you talk about a mess, man! That is a mess.

QUESTION: I heard on the radio, another speaker was saying, when you get saved, you get the Spirit, but you don’t get the full measure, the fullness. That’s when you receive the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues, you get the fullness of it.

ANSWER: Yeah, that’s right, yes. So I talk in tongues, and I’m full of the Spirit — and you aren’t! Na ne na ne na nya! Na ne na ne na nya! That’s all that stuff is! Just a bunch of carnal, carnal mess.

All right, now, why don’t they talk in tongues here? Because they don’t have to convince these Jews they have the Holy Ghost. These Jews know perfectly well, if our bunch comes down from Jerusalem and lays hands on them, that’ll do the job. See?

Now, they have to talk in tongues in Acts chapter 10, because in Acts chapter 10 those Jews say, “What? Do you mean to tell me a Gentile can get the Holy Ghost without water baptism?” Acts 2. “Do you mean to tell me a Gentile can get the Holy Ghost without laying on hands?” Acts 8. “We don’t believe it!”

The Lord says, “OK. Listen to this.” Habba habba hastala shanti, untie a bowtie, mmmammmammmaammmaabone!

And then they believe it, see?

Now, those things are placed, brother. You don’t have to have talking in tongues in Acts chapter 8, because the Jews from Jerusalem know that they’ve got the authority. Where they get shook is in Acts 10 — that’s where they get shook.

All right, Acts 8 verse 19. No, Acts 8:18: “And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.” Now, it doesn’t say whether Simon himself had hands laid on him or not. But I suppose he did. I mean, he supposedly believed and was baptized, verse 13. So, I suppose they laid hands on him in verse 17 — in which case he would be saved.

However, if they didn’t lay hands on him, he didn’t have the Holy Spirit, and he wouldn’t be saved, at least not in the New Testament.

And look what follows: “But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee.” Now, because he said “perish,” if you went to Bob Jones or Tennessee Temple, they’d tell you the fellow was lost. Because they’d run it to John 3:16, and say, “Whoever believeth in him should not perish,” and they interpret “perish” eternally — although it doesn’t say that.

“Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter.” So they mean, “Neither part nor lot in the Holy Ghost” — although that isn’t what it says.

“For thy heart is not right in the sight of God.” Now, that’s one of the most damnable doctrines ever used in the Bible is that one right there. Trying to prove, if your heart isn’t right with God, you’re not saved. Now, if Simon the sorcerer is lost, then the characteristic of a lost man is his heart is not right with God.

But, who’s trying to kid who, man? Many times our hearts have not been right with God — after we’re saved. You can’t say, because a man isn’t right with God, that means he’s lost. Why, man, if you had a dollar for every time that you loved something more than the Lord, you’d be rich, wouldn’t you? Well, the Bible says, “Love God with all your heart.” Your heart’s never right, unless you love God with all your heart.

So, he goes on there and says, “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness.” And they take that “repent” to be, “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” — a pre-crucifixion passage.

“And pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” So, almost anyplace you go, they’ll teach that he’s a lost man. And, I guess, for devotional purposes, you might teach was. If you’re going to teach doctrine, I don’t know what you could do with it. I do not know what you could do with it. Doctrinally, there are Christians who have bad thoughts whose heart is not right, and they don’t have part or lot in the giving of the Holy Ghost, and they need to repent of their wickedness, and they are in the gall of bitterness, and they are in the bond of iniquity. I mean, a lot of them are. So, I don’t know doctrinally how you could handle it.

“Then answered Simon.” Now, put a “y” on that and you have “simony.” And “simony” is the name of a sin in the Dark Ages which had to do with the purchasing of church offices by money, and it’s named after Simon. The bishop’s buying him a good church, and the priest putting the in-laws in, called “simony.”

“Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.” And it implies they did, and it implies that none of them did.

“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.” Notice the gospel they are preaching is not the gospel as you know it from 1 Corinthians 15. They are preaching the good news that a kingdom is coming, they are preaching the good news that God has sent a Saviour who is Messiah and Lord and Christ. That’s the gospel they know.

“And preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.” So if the Great Commission of Matthew 27 verse 19 and 18 ended back in chapter 8 verse 4, you’ve got another one just like it going right on.

8:26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

All right, then he goes down and says, “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.” Now, did you ever stop to think about that thing? There’s a great revival going on. “Much joy” — look at verse 8. And everybody getting saved and getting baptized. And everybody having a great time.

And, right in the middle of that thing, the Lord puts His hand on an evangelist and says, “Quit.”

“What for?”

“I want to have you go down to the desert.”

“What for?”

“I want to have you lead a man to Christ.”

One man! One man! See?

Now, that isn’t the modern approach. The modern approach is, “Let’s run 8,000 this Sunday and 9,000 next Sunday and 10,000 the next Sunday, and the thing gets going, you know, bigger and better every night.”

And the Lord said, “You quit that thing, and go down there; one fellow I want to have you get down there.”

Now, the Lord knows what He’s doing. And I read some statistics one time about a fellow wrote. And I never have forgotten them. I mean, I’ve forgotten the numbers, but I never forgot the illustration he gave. He said if every Christian led two people to Christ every year of his life — two people — and each one of those converts led two people to Christ every year — each one of those converts, two people to Christ — the world would have been converted to Christ before Christopher Columbus found America — the whole world!

You figure that thing out. Start adding that thing up — two into four, and four into eight, and eight into sixteen — and it doubles more than that, because you’re winning two and each of those are winning two. You’re going up there, four, sixteen — and then four times sixteen, four times that, and four times that.

And that figure there, in less than a thousand years, the whole world would be converted.

And the way it runs right now, if all the Christians there are, if each of them were going it, the whole world would be converted in less than a hundred years.

And it goes to show that somebody is not winning people to Christ. Now, I don’t know who it is. But somebody is going ten, fifteen, and twenty years and winning nobody. And it means that out of the Christians in Pensacola — I guess roughly in Pensacola there are probably 10,000 Christians — maybe not quite that many, maybe 8,000, something like that — probably eight or ten thousand saved people in this town. And, of those 10,000 Christians, it must mean that, it must mean that, say 10,000, it must mean that 8,000 have never won a soul to Christ in a lifetime. Eight thousand of them, man! They must not be doing the job!

Now, you get up and go down to lead one. Now, one fellow you lead to Christ, and root and ground and get him to win somebody else, is worth a dozen who just run down and go through the tub and run out the back end of the dressing room. And the thing to do is get the fellow saved, and get him rooted and get him grounded and get him to pass the word on to somebody else.

I know it’s hard. The works and job, yeah, you have to hit or miss, and get ‘em to fly by night and shoot ‘em as you go, but you want to get one and pick him and out find time you can see him and meet him maybe once or twice a week, and keep slipping in stuff, get him literature, get him tracts, root him and ground him. And invite him over for dinner, and sit down and spend the evening with him, and the family, see, and get it in deep.

All right, verse 26: “Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went.” There’s a man that does what God tells him to do.

QUESTION: In 21, did you say he was lost?

ANSWER: Could be. Yeah, he could be, he could be just lost, and just like a Campbellite, repented, confessed, believed and was buptized. That’s right — it could be.

“And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia.” There’s a Hamite. Now here is what they call beautiful order. In Acts chapter 7, or Acts chapter 8 — in Acts chapter 8, a Hamite gets saved. In Acts chapter 9, a Shemite gets saved, and in Acts chapter 10, Japheth gets saved. And they come in that order — Ham, Shem, Japheth. The main Hamite in the New Testament gets saved in Acts 8. And he goes down back to Ethiopia, and Ethiopia was a Christian nation, as such, until three years ago. Ol’ Haile Selassie of Addas Ababa had Ethiopia open to any missionary the whole year around anytime they wanted to come in and go out. And when the Coptic nuns and the Greek Orthodox priests came to Haile Selassie about ten years and said there are a bunch of Baptists down here building local churches and putting people under water, and immersing them in water, what should we do about it? Haile Selassie said, “Go thou, and do likewise!” Now, that fellow was a genuine, born-again Christian. He went to the League of Nations and tried to get help against Mussolini. They just let him go, and Italy came down and overran the place and killed them like flies. Bombing and killed out before World War II. People forget history real quick. Mussolini was a Roman Catholic. The United States backed up the Roman Catholic Church. And Haile Selassie was a saved man.

Now, I don’t know what that Ethiopian eunuch did, but I know this. I know Ethiopia has been open to the gospel ever since there was any gospel going. And just as sure as you and I sit here, it all came from one ol’ black man who went down there and got the queen right. Look at verse 27; he was a man “of great authority under” the queen. He got that thing in the royal family. The Lord said, “I’d rather get it down there than get fifty more of these Samaritans saved.”

QUESTION: Isn’t that where one of our new bibles came from? Ethiopia? Didn’t we hear that in manuscript evidence?

ANSWER: Nnnnnn, I don’t recall one offhand.

QUESTION: Wasn’t there a bible related to that?

ANSWER: No. Syriac. But not Coptic. But all the bibles in Ethiopia used over there forever since before Queen Victoria are King James Bibles.

All right, 27: “An eunuch.” A man who can’t have any children and usually made that way by operation, because he’s in charge of a harem. The king wants to make sure all the sons are his, and not somebody else’s.

“And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace.” There’s the name of a belly dancer! She was a lady who messed up some British fellow over there about fifteen years ago, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it that? Candace Bergen? Wasn’t that? Well, it’s a woman over there, over in England, messed up some of the British royalty about ten years ago. Name was that. I can’t remember everything involved. Wasn’t worth remembering anyway.

27: “Queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship.” All right, then, there is a proselyte to Judaism. He’s keeping a Jewish feast at Jerusalem, and coming up there to worship at Jerusalem, knowing that’s the right place to worship. So he’s probably circumcized because he’s a proselyte to Judaism.

He “was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?” And it looks like the chariot’s going along there about, you know, two miles an hour, and Philip’s walking along beside the chariot. And he “heard him read.” The old boy’s reading out loud. He’s got that book open there, and he’s reading and saying, “He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities,” you know, reading that thing.

And, “Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me?” Not “interpret.” Not “interpret.” “Guide.” The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth.

“And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth.” Now! This is the first time in the Book of Acts where the New Testament plan of salvation is given as blood atonement. This is the first time. It wasn’t found anywhere in Acts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7. Here’s the first time where you’re getting substitutionary blood atonement for a sinner. Acts chapter 8.

And when you get right down to it, the first man in the Bible who was ever saved exactly like you’re saved was a nigger. That’s a humiliating thought, isn’t it?

You know why Paul keeps calling himself a “servant of servants,” and a “servant”? Because Ham was a “servant of servants.” And that’s a Christian’s place. A Christian’s place is a bondslave.

So the first man to get saved just like you get saved is a black man. That puts you down in your place.

Now, did you ever stop to think about this? You weren’t saved like Paul was saved. Who of you was knocked off a horse and made blind for three days? You weren’t saved like the dying thief was saved. You didn’t die on the same day you got saved. You werensaved like the Jews at Pentecost. You didn’t get baptized in water in order to get the Holy Ghost. You weren’t saved like the converts in Acts chapter 8. Nobody had to lay hands on you to get the Holy Ghost. You weren’t saved like anybody in the Bible until Acts chapter 8. Nobody! Nobody.

You weren’t saved like blind Bartimaeus; he was before the crucifixion. You weren’t saved like Moses or David; they were before the crucifixion. The first person in the Bible saved just like you’re saved in Acts chapter 8, and I don’t mean Paul, either. I mean, before Paul.

All right, 32: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself,...” Isaiah? “...or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth.” And here’s the first New Testament gospel like Paul preaches it.

“Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” And, boy, in Isaiah 53, let’s turn to it, is blood atonement, death, burial and resurrection for sins. The gospel that’s revealed to Paul by revelation is revealed to Philip by Scripture talking to an African in a desert.

Isaiah 53. Now, all the elements are here. And Cornelius Stam was so anxious to get rid of this dispensationally that he made all of Isaiah 53 Jewish and confined it to the Jewish nation. Isaiah 53, verse 4: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” Verse 5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” There’s Christ bearing your sins. Verse 10: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.” That’s found nowhere in the Book of Acts up till here.

Verse 12, in the middle of the verse: “...because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” There’s Christ dying for your sins according to the Scriptures, and was buried and rose again the third day from the dead according to the Scriptures.

All right, back to Acts chapter 8. Now, they know about His resurrection. They’ve been preaching His resurrection all through Acts. Peter said in Acts chapter 2 He’s risen. Acts chapter 3, He’s risen. They know His resurrection. But, until here, nobody knows that His death was a blood atonement as a payment for sinners. Acts chapter 8, verse 35, he “preached unto him Jesus.”

“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” Baptized after what? After believing in a blood atonement of substitutionary sin-bearer in his place.

“And Philip said.” Don’t you know they’re going to attack the Bible here? So the verse has been taken out of every translation on the market. And the ones that left it in put it in brackets to make you doubt it. Acts 8:37 has been taken out of every translation on the market except the ones that put it in brackets, which show it’s doubtful. And John R. Rice says, “Well, it just doesn’t seem like the rest of the Bible.”

“And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” That doesn’t sound like the rest of the Bible? Paul said, “If thou shalt believe in thine heart.” Paul said, “If you obey from the heart that form of doctrine delivered unto you.”

“If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” Now, look at the comparison between that and Acts 2. In Acts 2, if you want to get the Holy Ghost, you’ve got to get baptized. In Acts 8, if you believe on Jesus Christ as your Saviour with your heart, it’s all right to get baptized. That’s the position we take here. I’m not going to emphasize it or underemphasize it.

“And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Now the confessional statement is in the context of Isaiah 53. It’s not a liberal just talking; he just finished Isaiah 53.

“And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water.” It’s an immersion.

“Both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.”

QUESTION: There’s something over in 2 John where it says that if anyone believes not that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or whatever, isn’t that a direct reference that He is God manifest in the flesh. The Jehovahs will take that thing and tear it up and say, “Well, yeah, He’s the Son of God. There’s nothing wrong with that.” But there’s more into the thing...

ANSWER: Yes. There’s more in the text because the word “Jesus” means “Jehovah saves.” It has to be Jehovah manifest in the flesh.

38: “And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water.” There’s no sprinkling to it.

QUESTION: If this were still like in Acts 2 where you have to be baptized, he would have told him something like, “Well, if you don’t be baptized, you...”

ANSWER: Why, sure! He’d say, “Repent and be baptized if you want the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Not a word about it.

“And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip.” Philip got a revelation there. Boy, he saw something there! He saw something that hadn’t been shown yet.

“And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.” Got assurance of salvation.

“But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.” There’s an old boy, don’t you know, he had a messy going there, when he got going through there — preaching there blood atonement.

Now, like I said, that fellow’s saved like you’re saved. Now, let’s look at the elements:

He’d been reading the Bible. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

He’d been involved in some form of worship, which you probably were involved in before you were saved. Probably every one of you, somewhere in your background, have a church someplace or a Sunday school or a Sunday school teacher or a preacher or a tract somewhere, back in there.

All right, then, he heard the word of God from a preacher. And he heard the word of God, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and he believed on Christ as his Saviour and followed Him in baptism and got assurance.

Now, that’s your salvation. And that’s not Paul, and that’s not the dying thief, or anybody else.

QUESTION: Now, is baptism supposed to be a sign of the death, burial, and resurrection — and that’s all? Nothing else?

ANSWER: That’s all it is in this age.

QUESTION: OK, nothing about, uh — well, I heard preached from somebody, Calvin said that the Old Testament sprinklings were from the blood, to wash away your sin, and so it’s only good for...

ANSWER: That won’t do. Simon Peter said it’s a figure.

QUESTION: If it wasn’t necessary for him to be baptized, he wouldn’t have to take him into the water.

ANSWER: No. As a matter of fact, it says, “As they went on their way, they came to a certain water.” If they hadn’t, nothing would have been said about it.

QUESTION: Some guy was trying to tell me that the eunuch wasn’t a black man, because he was giving Scripture after Scripture...

ANSWER: Now what’s this one now?

QUESTION: That the eunuch wasn’t a black man.

ANSWER: He wasn’t a black man? What was he? Red? He’s an Ethiopian.

QUESTION: He used Scripture after Scripture to try to prove that an...

ANSWER: That an Ethiopian is not black?

QUESTION: That he was a Jew, like the Nazarene, or a Nazirite.

ANSWER: Boy, you talk about getting in a mess, man! When you try to fight that word, you’re just going like this. You know what happens after awhile? The Lord takes your mind. You go crazy. You’ll go crazy. The idea of saying an Ethiopian is not black. That’s the word for “Cush” in the Old Testament. Just as black as patent shoe leather, man! An Ethiopian is a genuine nigger, man! I mean, he’s the real thing, brother. He’s pure blood, boy! He’s black! He’s no half-breed.

QUESTION: It seems here that Philip was caught by God, that he wasn’t led or he wasn’t called by God to follow along with this eunuch. And then we were talking about, you know, leading him to Jesus Christ and, you know, trying to follow up and all that stuff. So, what do you do? Do you just try and follow up the ones that will respond to it?

ANSWER: Right. You try to do it, and when you can’t, you hit them on the run. That is, if you cannot follow them up, OK. You’ll have to trust the Lord with it.

QUESTION: So apparently that’s how it worked here?

ANSWER: Yep. Sometimes it works that way. I’ve led them to Christ in the airplane and buses, and never seen them again. I’ve led them to Christ in a car driving down the road at sixty miles an hour, and the guy that accepted was in the car driving in front; and after awhile, he turned off. I led him to Christ through a loudspeaker. You can’t follow that up!

QUESTION: Can you show us on the map where Philip was gone to Caesarea on the way to Gaza, and all the way down to Azotus?

ANSWER: It’s on the coast.

QUESTION: Will it show up on that map?

ANSWER: No, because this map is of the Old Testament, and Azotus and Caesarea are New Testament places. But what he’s done here is, he’s gone down on the way to Gaza — there’s Gaza. And he’s come down here, and when the Ethiopian eunuch goes on down to be at Amarus in Egypt, he goes back up this way to Azotus and up to Caesarea. That’s on the coast here. The reason why it’s so significant is, in about two more chapters Simon Peter goes right up to Caesarea; when he gets up there he finds a Gentile all ready to get saved. And when he gets saved he gets saved by believing on Jesus Christ for the remission of sins — minus water baptism! It’s chapter 10.

QUESTION: What happens to Philip here?

ANSWER: It kind of looks like the Spirit of the Lord picked him up and just whisked him off. It might not be. It might be He just led him and showed him where to go, but it looked like He picked him up bodily.

All right, I guess that’ll be all for tonight in Acts chapter 8. Questions?

QUESTION: In Acts chapter 10, when they spoke in tongues, did they speak in tongues like the Pentecostals nowadays?

ANSWER: No, because those Gentiles in Acts 10 had to speak in Hebrew; otherwise, the Jews couldn’t have understood them. They’re talking Hebrew.

QUESTION: Is there anywhere where anybody talks in an unknown tongue?

ANSWER: No, not in the Book of Acts. There’s nowhere anybody in the Book of Acts talks in a tongue that nobody can decipher. Never happens.

QUESTION: Can you go over the kinds of salvation in Acts again?

ANSWER: The kinds of salvation? All right, in Acts chapter 2, a man can’t get the Holy Ghost unless he’s baptized in water. And when he’s baptized in water, he does not talk in tongues. All right, in Acts chapter 8, a man, after he’s baptized in water, still doesn’t have the Holy Ghost.

QUESTION: All right, wait a minute, what is that passage with Simon the sorcerer?

ANSWER: Well, that’s what I’m talking about. There a man can believe and be baptized and still not get the Holy Ghost. And you have to have hands laid on, and when you do, you do not talk in tongues. In Acts chapter 8, now, a man is saved by believing without baptism, without laying on of hands, and without tongues. When we get to Acts chapter 10, a man is saved without baptism and without laying on of hands — but does talk in tongues. When we get to Acts 19, the fellow is saved by believing and doesn’t get the Holy Ghost without the laying on of hands, and when he does, he does talk in tongues. So, laying on of hands gets you to talk in tongues in Acts 19, and laying on of hands doesn’t make you talk in tongues in Acts chapter 8. And getting baptized does give you the Holy Ghost in Acts chapter 2 — but doesn’t give you the Holy Ghost in Acts chapter 10. And the talking in tongues in Acts chapter 10 goes after salvation; and the talking in tongues in Acts 2 comes before salvation.

So the Lord gave you about six different ways to get saved. And the best one is in Acts 16; it says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Which shows a man is saved by grace through faith without laying on of hands, without baptism, and without tongues.

And the fellow in Acts 16 is baptized in water after he’s saved — without tongues or without laying on of hands.

Now, you can’t beat that thing with a stick. That water baptism stays right straight through there, no matter what they do, it goes right slap on through right on to the end.

All right, we’ll take a break.

Mr. Pettus, lead us in prayer.

I was talking about liberals trying to get you to feed the world, you know, but not preach to them. Here’s an article on the head of the United Nations food program pledges to help the world starving, and then he spent $26,000 to redecorate his office. See, the U.N. food agricultural organization had his headquarters in where? Rome. It’s a Roman Catholic outfit. And he spent $26,347 of the U.N.’s budget to redecorate his office, and the American taxpayer paid $6,363 to do it. The American taxpayer paid for nearly a fourth of the redecorating. He decided soon afterward his sprawling 44-by-22-foot office headquartered in Rome needs some sprucing up. When the decorators had finished, he Sama’s office boasted a raised architect’s designed walnut desk, concealed lighting, suede-covered walls, and wall-to-wall pastel carpeting. “I was shocked when I saw his office,” said a veteran AFO official who requested anonymity — requested his name not be known. “I would describe it as luxurious for a man who is supposed to lead a fight against poverty.” The United States will pay 25 percent of the AFO’s wopping $167 million budget for the next two years. The U.S. spent $43 million to help other folks eat, and the Roman Catholic Church in Rome will use whatever of that they think is sufficient for their work.

And if the headquarters is in Rome, you know who gets the money? Roman Catholics in South America and Mexico and Spain and Italy. You don’t have to worry about the Africans.

All right, here’s the next thing. “In the gloomy late night hours of Washington, D.C., a lone guard turned down a hallway in the Capitol and was horrified beyond belief at what he saw. Rapidly approaching was a cat. It was growing in size with every step, until it became larger than a tiger. Suddenly the terrified creature sprang at the stunned guard, who covered his eyes with his arms and let out a blood-curdling scream. When he opened his eyes, the cat had vanished, leaving him unmarked. A strange occurrance? Not at all. This bone-chilling creature, known as the demon cat, has reportedly prowled the halls of our nation’s capital for years, reappearing with every change of administration.”

They’re all the same; they’re Cat-aholic.

“He’s the only one of Washington’s ghosts that is known to be hostile and dangerous,” declared John Alexander. He said, “The demon cat is an evil force that deliberately seeks out and stalks its victims, making sure they are alone. Captain Bowers, who has night-supervised the Capitol for the past ten years, said, ‘We have several officers who are genuinely afraid and believe the Capitol is haunted.’ That old building is as frightening at night as any cemetery. The vengeful ghost of Congressman William Talby of Kentucky is there; he was gunned down in 1890 by a reporter during an argument. His blood spattered over the marble, and although the marks were quickly cleaned up, they reappeared a few days later. They have remained there since. The story is that Talby’s ghost still haunts the stairway and trips up reporters. When a woman of New Orleans stayed at the White House, she slept in the famous Rose Room. One night, she answered a knock at the door to be confronted by Lincoln. She said when she saw the chilling apparition, everything went black. When she came to, she was lying on the floor.”

Alexander said, “Eleanor Roosevelt often told how her secretary ran screaming from the Lincoln bedroom, after seeing the late president sitting there, pulling on his boots. And President Truman reported one night he was awakened by loud knocks at the bedroom door. When he opened the door, no one was there — just a strange cold spot that went away as footsteps trailed off down the corridor. Truman was convinced there were ghosts in the White House. He told his daughter Margaret he’d never return to haunt the White House, saying, ‘No man in his right man would come here of his own accord.’”

I thought that was interesting, to find presidents who believed in ghosts, and a cat walking up and down there.