Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-01-18
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson in the international series
for January 10, 19O2-The Early
Christian Church.
Prepared by H. C. Lenington.J
I'LL. I Ilcscz.A1.r E.lIcNEnk

Prepared by H. C. Lenington.J
THE LESSON TEXT
(Acts 2:S743)
81. Now when they heard this, they were
pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter
and to the rest of the apostles. Men and
brsthren, what shall we do?
IS. Then Peter said unto them, Repent
and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission OF
sins, and ye shall receive the gift OF the
Holy Ghost.
SO. For the promise is unto you. and to
your children, and to all that are afar on,
even as many as the Lord our God shan
call.
20. And with many other words did he
testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves
from this uEtoWard generation.
Il. Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized; and the same day
there were added unto them about three
thousand souls.
42. And they continued steadfastly in the
apostles doctrine and fellowship. and in
breaking of bread, and in prayers.
q. And fear came upon every soul; ana
many wonders and signs were done by the
apostles.
A. And all that believed were together
and had all things common;
%. And sold their possessions and goods.
and parted them to all men. as every man
had need.
&c. And they, continuing daily with che
accord in the temple, and breaking bread
from house to house, did eat their meat
with gladness and singleness of heart
Al. Praisfng God. and having favor with
all the people. And the Lord added to the
church daily such as should be saved
GOLDEN TEXT.-The Lord added to
the church daily such should be
Eaved.-Acts 2:47.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The lesson to be studied is Peters
sermon, Acts 2:14-4O, and the results in
the great increase in the number of
main divisions:
(a) Prophecy fulfilled, VS. I4-21
OBJ Jesus the Christ, vs.. 22-36 .
(c) The call to repentance, VS.. 37-40. \
The first two of these we considered
in the lesson of last week. This week
We take up the third, the call to re-
pentance- After recalling that a Mes
siah had been promised and showing
that Jesus was the Messiah, Peter
showed that salvation should thence
forth come only through faith in the
risen Christ. Peter put the truth in
the strongest possible way in which
it could be put. He was speaking to
many who had been present when
PLATE had offered to release Jesus.
They had cried out: "Crucify Him,
give us Barrabas." Most had sympa-
thized with the sentiment whether
present to speak it or not. There
fore'" said Peter, ''let all the house of
Israel know assuredIy, that God hath
made that same Jesus, whom We have
crucifed, both Lord and Christi
"Whom We crucifed." That echoed
in their ears. ''Afen and brethren
they cried, "what shall we do?" Then
Peter pointed out the way. Note the
steps: % repent, (2) be baptized, (3)
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Repentance is not mere sorrow fox
sin. Many man has been sorry for
his sin, but has not then put his back
to it. Repentance is a turning away
from sin toward God.
Be baptized! This for two reasons:
~ because it is in imitation to tie act
of Jesus Christ, whor7 we are to serve,
and (2) because of the remission of
our sins. Christ forgives sins, and it is
in His name that disciples are bap-
tized. Emphasis should be put upon
the word remission" If you have re-
pented and your sins have been for
given, forget them. You will have to
go for forgiveness for other sins, but
do not allow yourself to be burdened
with the old forgiven sin, it has been
RENTED.
Received the Gift of the Holy Ghost
This shows the essential democracy of
the kingdom of Heaven The gift of
the spirit of Christ is not alone for
those who receive it on Pentecost, but
unto you and to your children" It
means the gift of power to resist evil
and to help others to resist.
The result of the sermon was the
conversion of 5000 men and women.
There had been 500 followers before.
In one day it had increased skiold.
This was the beginning OF the church
of Christ. Jesus had been a Jew, the
apostles were Jews, most of the new
converts, if not all, were doubtless
Jews, yet here was now a body of peo-
pie who Continued steadfastly in the
apostles doctrine and fellowship, and
in breaking of bread, and in prayers"
They were still Jews, for they met
daily in the temple, but they were
Christian Jews. Notice the 'tgIadness
and singleness of heart" verse 46. The
Christian life should be full of joy. It
is the complex things of this world
that bring sorrow and perpleXity. The
Christian life is one of singleness of
purpose Therefore is he glad. An
other thing worth noting is that they
had flavor with all the people" Not
all Christians are popular. All of the
apostles suffered from persecution.
Christ Himself, true, pure and holy as
No other man has been, was bounded
to death by His enemies. Yet it re-
mains true that the world admires a
virtuous man. A man will gain moth
ing from the world by skulking behind
his conviction, and Will lose all in the
spiritual realm for his apostacy.
Gods Goodness.
Gods goodness hath been great to
thee; let never day nor night unhal-
lowed pass, but still remember what