Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-02-05
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON vi, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, FEB. 7.

80. "And the multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and of one soul. "
1t was whole hearted surrender to Christ
of all they were and all they had; full
recognition that they were not their own,
but bought with price to be n special
people unto the Lord Il Cor. vi, 49, 90;
Titus H. 14). This was as truly the work
of the Holy Spirit as was the boldness Of
Peter and John before the council, or their
boldness in verse 81. Imagine the 1nan-
cial condition of the churches and mission
airy societies if all Christians would say,
Whatever the Lord wants of me or mine
He is welcome to, for all am and have 4
surely His. ="
49, And with great power gave ths
apostles witness of the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them
all. " The grace was the grace of God, and
the power was the Spirit of God. mot by
might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,
saith the Lord of Hosts Czech. iv, g..
"a, 35. Neither was there any among
them that lacked Distribution was made
to every man according as he had need.
1t is the Lords plan that those who are
His and serve Him should lack no good
thing ops lxxxiv, II; Math. vi, 33; Phil.
Nv, 10; Luke xii, 35).
Make thou His service thy delight;
He'll make thy wants His care
In this casc the supplv came from the
willing contributions of thosew having
property, sold it and brought the proceeds
| to the apostles When the tabernacle was
built, the superabundant supply came
| from tire willing offerings of the people
| (EX. xxxvi, 80; but whether in these
! wavs. or by ravens. or by increase of oil OF
30. a. And loses. having land. sold
it and brought the money and laid it at
the apostles- feet Hero is one example
of the many who did thus. His other
name. Bnrnabas (son of cousolation). was
certainly true of him when he stood by
| Saul at the time the other discinles were
afraid of him Acts tx. 2G. 27).
Chaptcr V. l. 2. "But certain man
named Ananias with Sapphira. his wife,
sold a possession and kent back part of the
pricc. - These were professedlv followers
of Christ and pcrhans really so. but like
so many TODAY they were not whole heart
ed in service. They saw others selling
propertv and giving the proceeds to the
apostles for the general good. and they
seemed to do like the Others. not thinking
that God saw their hearts and their dis.
honesty. They did not act upon the nre.
cent "Whatsoeyer edo. doit heartily as to
the Lord. and not unto men Nor did
they think of the eyes of the Lord behold
ing the evil and the good (Col iii, %;
Prov. XIV, 3D.
g. "But Peter said. Ananias, why hath
satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost?" When any one receives Christ,
the Holy Spirit is given to instruct, guide
and control in all things that life, and
when there is complete submission to the
Spirit there will be a life greatly to the
glory of God, but when the old life-the
flesh the carnal mind-which still remains
in the believer is allowed to have its evil
way-for it is only evil-then the Spirit is
grieved (Eph. iv, 2932).
4. Thou hast not lied unto men, but
| unto God. Here is u proof of the oneness
of the Father and the Spirit; to lie to the
one is to lie to the other. The property
was Ananias' and the proceeds of the prop
erty when sold were his also, and he was
at liberty to give to God all or part or none
without committing sin, but to profess to
give all and yet give only part was "A lie.
We are saved freely through Christ with
out money or price. We arc then to re-
member that we are bought with n price,
the precious blood of Christ, and yield fully
to Him for His service (Rom. xii, y, but
it must be honestly and cheerfully done to
be accepted.
8, 6. And Ananias, hearing these
words fell down and gave up the ghost -
Instant death for Il lie This seems very
severe, but it was evidently, in the sight
of God, il necessary discipline for the be-
LEVERS cannot conclude that this man
and his wife were out and out hypocrites
and lost souls without concluding that all
who today keep back part of the price are
also lost souls. and if that be so what a
host of professors are lost If all such
should be cut off as these two were, there
would not be undertakers enough to see to
the burying
: "And If was about the snace of three
hours nftpr when his wife non KNOWING
what was done came in F." She did MOI
know that she was n widow. she did moi
know tbnt her guilt had heen found ont.
she nrobnhlv came looking for her hus.
hand She came knowing i'm her heart
thnt she was acting n lie ms to the price OF