The western sentinel., 1897-04-01
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON /, SECOND QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL 4.

80. "And it came to pass as Peter passed
throughout all quarters, he came down also
TO the saints which dwelt at LYDIA. " The
last we heard of Peter he was with John
preaching the word of the Lord as they re-
turned from Samaria to Jerusalem, having
witnessed the great work of the Lord
through Philip in Samaria (chapter viii,
P5). In Jerusalem the number of disciples
multiplied greatly, and great company of
the priests believed (chapter vi, ~. In all
the land the churches had rest, and We're be
ing built up, and were multiplying, walk
Ing in the fear of the Lord and in the COM
fort of the Holy Ghost (chapter TX, BIZ
Peter seems to be itinerating little and
helping the saints here and there Notice
this name "saints - We are not called to
be saints, but we are called saints (Rom.
!, z, emitting the italics; also 1 Cor. j. p
by virtue of our oneness with Christ.
Every believer is saint.
S3. "And there he found a certain man
named Enas, which had kept his bed eight
years and was sick of the palsy" We
would infer that Knas was one of the
saints to whom Peter came, and finding
him in this helpless condition he had COM
passion upon him. Possibly Enas and
others had been praying that the Lord
would send some one that way through
whom health might come, remembering
Math. xviii, 10. How very suggestive of
the utter helplessness of the sinner is the
condition of this paralytic who had been
eight years in bed
34 "And Peter said unto him, Hnas,
Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. Arise
and make thy bed. And he arose imme-
diately" Peter was greatly used of the
Lord in the healing of the body as well as
of the soul See chapters iii, 6, z; Y, Is, 16.
1t would seem that some were healed even
by the shadow of Peter falling upon them.
85. "And all that dwelt at LYDIA and
Saron saw Him, and turned to the Lord. -
God saw that this showing forth of His
power through Peter would be the means
of many turning to Him. He does not
heal all who are sick, but to this day He
does, both with and without medicine, heal
many who are sick. He knows whether it
is best for us to abide here or be with Him
at home, and whether, abiding here, it is
best for us to be sick or well. The great
thing is to glorify God that people may
turn to Him (Phil. i, 20; John xvii, ~.
So. "Now, there was at Joppa a certain
disciple named Tabitha, which by inter
probation is called Dorcas. This woman
was full of good works and aims deeds
which she did" She was Christian in
deed, one of the kind that is missed when
she goes away. All who truly receive
Christ are saved (John i, 12). Disciples
are those who live upon His word and fol-
low Him fully at any cost (Luke xiv, 26,
2T. Those who are both of these and also
full of good works and kindness to the
poor must come specially near to the heart
of Christ, for He, being full of the Spirit,
went about doing good and healing the op-
pressed.
81. "And it came to pass in those days
that she was sick and died, whom, when
they had washed, they laid her in an upper
chamber Her workdays over, she is
absent from the body and present with the
Lord; she has departed to be with Christ,
which is far better (Phil. i, 21, 23; II Cor.
v, 81; she has truly experienced great
gain. We are not told if her sickness was
long nor If she suffered much, but she has
gone from them, and all they have of her
is the body in which she lived and wrought
among them. No, they have also her good
works and blessed memories of her.
SS "They sent unto him two men, de-
string him that he would not delay to
come to them.'' LYDIA was not far from
'Joppa, and the disciples hearing that Peter
was there, sent thus urgently for him, for
they Ionged to have Dorcas with them once
more. This is the natural longing of the
heart to keep our loved ones with us even
though we know that their departure is
their gain.
80. "All the widows stood by him weep
ing and showing the coats and garments
which Dorcas made while she was with
them. % Fondly remembered by what she
had done they make us think of the words:
"Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth Yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their Ia
bors, and their works do follow Them
Rev. xiv, 49,
40. '.She opened her eyes, and when she
saw Peter she sat up Many miracles of
healing had been wrought through Peter,
but this is his first case of resurrection
from the dead. Alone with the dead body,
he poured out his soul to God, doubtle Ss
pleading the promises of God, the commits
sion in Math. x, 8, the assurance of John
xiv, 12 and withal asking in complete sub
mission to the will of God John xiv, 13,
Il; John v, II. 15). He must have re-
ceived some assurance that his request was
granted, for he turned to the body and said,
t'Tabtha, arise" And she sat up, looking
upon him.
Al. "And he gave her his hand and lift
ed her up, and when he had called the
saints and widows presented her alive. !"
There are three resurrections of the dead
In the Old Testament, three In the life of
Christ, and this is the first of three after
His ascension (Acts xiv, 10, 90; Xxx, 12).
We have no record of any utterances of
those who had been dead and had been
brought back to this world. Paul says it
was not possible for him to utter what he
heard in paradise QI Cor.-xii, 4), doubt
less when he was stoned to death at Ly stra-
42. "And 1t was known throughout all
Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. -
The resurrection of Lazarus led to many
believing on Jesus (John xii, III, and here
is another case in which the Lord saw
that resurrection would be the means of
leading many to Him. 1t does not seem
as If Dorcas would have been sent from
paradise back to earth without her con-
sent. She may have been informed of the
results that would follow, and for the sake
of winning these souls to Christ and for
Christ's sake she doubtless came back
cheerfully for His pleasure. We do not
know of any results from the resurrection
of the many who rose when Christ did
(Math. xvii, SO, $50, but there was
son for their resurrection, and no doub5
the result which God intended. 1 think
they went with Christ to glory, while the
nine previously referred to probably died
again.
43. ssAnd it came to pass that he tarried
many days in Joppa with one Simon, a
tanner" And here we will find him in
our next lesson. Preaching the gospel,
healing the sick, raising the dead or just
tarrying with Simon, he is about his Mas
ter's business and doing as occasion serves
him, knowing that God is with him Il
Sam. Z, y.
A FaIlacy.
ST am called clever man, so am 9
living contradiction of the idea that mer
of education and intelligence do not marry
women similarly endowed - said a success
full author recently. "That clever woman
does not make a good wife is one of the
most ridiculous of fallacies. There is moth
ing in life that a clever woman cannot and
will not do better than stupid one. Edu-
cation develops a woman's power in every
-