Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-02-08
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson in the international Series zoz
February 8, 19O2-The sin Of
Lying.
THE LESSON TEXT.
(Acts 5:1e11.l


with Sapphire his wife, sold a possession.
z And kept back part of the price, MS
wife also being privy to it, and brought
certain part, and laid it at the apostles
feet.
8. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath SaS
tan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost, and to keep back part OF the price
Of the land?
4. While it remained, was 1t not thine
own? and after it was sold, was 1t not IN
thine own power? why hast thou conceived
this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied
unto men, but unto God.
8 And Ananias, hearing Saese words fell
down, and gave up the ghost: and great
fear came on all them that heard these
things.
6. And the young men arose, wound him
up, and carried him out, and buried him.
z. And it was about the space of three
hours after, when his wife, not knowing
what was done, came in.
g. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me
whether ye sold the land for so much? And
she said, Yea, for so much.
.. Then Peter said unto her, How is it
that ye have agreed together to tempt the
Spirit of the LORD? behold, the feet of them
which have buried thy husband are at the
door, and shall carry thee out.
10. Then she fell down straightway at his
feet and yielded up the ghost: and the
young men came in and found her dead.
and, carrying her forth, buried her by her
husband.
IL. And great fear came upon all the
church, and upon as many as heard these
GOLDEN TExT.-wherefore putin.
away lying, speak every man truth
with his aeighbOr.-Eph. 4:25.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Shining Against the Holy Spirit
In this lesson we are made acquaint-
| ed with a new power given to the
apostles through the Holy Spirit
the power of detecting falsehood.
But that, however, is not the chief
point for US to consider. Anan1as
and Sapphire were exposed that we
might see the responsiveness of hy-
pocrisy and the fact that insin-
certify in any religious profession is
a lie, not to men merely, but to God.
Sometimes it imposes upon men, but
it never does upon Him, and from
Him, in His own time, is sure to
meet with the fearful punishment
which is it's just and fitting due.
Brotherhood of the Church-The
community of the church here de-
scribed is evidently not a matter of
exact form. The things which each
man possessed were held by each, but
no one boosted of his ownership or
let it interfere with the relief of any
| need of his brethren. The presence
of this spirit among the disciples is
| clearly connected in the account with
the power that the apostles had in
preaching. The sale of property was
voluntary go, and, less universal
than the exact words of verse "a
would imply. It was very common,
however, and its practice impover-
ished the church so that Paul had
constantly to be gathering funds for
the Christians at Jerusalem. By a
very natural arrangement, the apos-
ties were treasurers of the common
fund, the use being similar to that
which they themselves practiced
when travelling about Palestine with
Jesus. We do not see on the surface
why Barnabas' gift brought him so
much favorable notice. The gift may
have been unusually large, or his So
cial position among the Jews may
have been such as to call attention
to him. That is hardly likely, how
ever, and it is more probable that
there was something especially at
tractive about the way in which he
made the Offering. The word :sexhor-
tation" in the Interpretation of
Barnabas' name is from the same
root as ''Comforter," the title Jesus
gave to the Holy Spirit. We have
changed the meaning of the word
elaboration" which originally
meant encouragement
Judgment Upon Ananias and Sap
phira.-These people wanted the
credit of generosity without making
the necessary sacrifice. The enthusi-
astic comments of the disciples upon
the act. of those who brought in such
gifts made them desire to be COM
mended thus. It seems strange that
they did not come together. Perhaps
Sapphire hoped by an entrance at
just the right moment to prolong the
enthusiasm. Ananias told his lie
without speaking a word. The worst
lies can be put in circulation in this
way. Peters charge that Ananias
lied to the Holy Ghost is recogni-
ton of the presence of the Spirit in
the church and among the apostles.
The rebuke Peter gave Ananias is
sharp and singing, showing the use
lessness of his deception as well as
its outrageous wickedness. The
death of Ananias was probably not
a mere result of the terrible surprise
of Peters rebuke, but a direct judg-
ment of God. Even if it were
natural event, it indicates that Ana
Mas sin was one especially danger
Gus to the church. The sin, it should
be remembered, is that of trying to
seem better than he really was. Com
mon as the sin is, it is blasphemous
toward God and dangerous to the life
and usefulness of the church. The
circumstances connected with the
death of SApphira leave no room for
doubt that her fate was the result of
Coos displeasure and not of mere
natural causes, whatever part such
causes NAV have had in the result.
MATTERS OF FACT.