The Dolores star. [volume] (Dolores, Montezuma County, Colo.) 1901-current, 1916-02-25
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY ~
THE SEVEN hELPERa.

LESSON TExT-Acts &
GOLDEN TEXT-Bear We one another'a
burdens. and SO fuinlI the law Of Christ
1t would be . source OF great bless
Ing II every teacher and scholar would
read through the book OF Acts several
times during the year. Such reading
will give vision, Inspiration and Q
more comprehensive idea OF the con.
tinuation OF what Jesus began" and
which record II not yet fully written.
The time Of this lesson In about A. d.
IS. though Ramsey places It at 30. Is:
and the place, the city of Jerusalem.
!. The Occasion, w. 10. For time
the preaching OF the Gospel Of Jesus
continued In Jerusalem. but soon the
pressure OF circumstances thrust II
forth rs prophesied u:8. There
were two groups OF men In the early
church: those who had been born In
Judea who spoke Hebrew lAramaic),
and those born In foreign cities and
who spoke the Greek language. Trou.
BILE arose over the distribution OF funds
among certain of the dependent wild.
ows-the text suggests secret dis.
pleasure There was imperfection,
selfishness. suspicion and jealousy in
that early church.
u. The Method, w. 3, 4. It does not
appear that God gave the church .
cut and dried program according to
which 1t must act. Certainly the
church had no precedent to follow.
and step by step God was developing
1t. This lesson gives US a suggestion
Of those steps: ~ As the occasion
demanded, (0 The Apostles refused
to diminish their praying and preach
ing. literally 1t was mot pleasing" to
God for the Apostles to serve tables"
Such work must be done. certainly,
but II was not to be done by these
God-appointed and selected leaders.
their duty was clearly stated. The
ministers business 10 praying and
ministering the word. These things
should fully engage his attention. and
in them he IL TO continue steadfast-
ly.' The minister cannot manifestly
/ know more about books than the
schoolteacher; more about politics
than the politician; more about med.
icine than the doctor; more about
psychology than the college profess
sor." No. that Is out of the question,
though he should be intelligent in
these lines. But he should be pro-
| eminent in prayer and in the minis
try OF the word. and furthermore he
should preach that word pre-eminent-
ly. (0 The church. not the apos.
ties. must needs select these new Of.
ficials. a. The qualifications OF
these men, who were thus to care
for these temporal affairs, were (a)
men OF good report" not those bear
ing doubtful regulations, nor chosen
because they ware rich or shrewd in
business. (b) full OF the spirit" It
demands the Spirtt-tilled man to look
after financial affairs as certainly a.
1t does to teach or preach the word.
I (c) full of wisdom" Men OF com.
mon sense, q quality often sadly lack.
, ing among spiritually minded men.
Men meeting such qualifications will
be men Of the spirit OF power, of
love, and Of q sound mind" Literally
sound sense). I'll Tim. I'D.
| ~. The Method Of Choosing, w. 5, 9.
~ The people did the choosing. The
early church seems to have been re.
markably democratic. ~ The choice
was made after. ard not before, pray.
er had been offered. This is a sug.
gestion and a warning for present-day
practice Of choosing church officials.
(3) 1t was a legal selection, not the
selection Of q minority. and 1t was
confirmed by the laying on OF the
hands Of the apostles.
~. The Result, w. 7, 9. First Of all
upon the people. % The word I'm.
creased."(2) The number of disciples
multiplied greatly" and (3) Some OF
the priests OF the Jews were ''obedi.
ent to the faith Secondly, the re-.
suit in the lives Of the thus chosen
and Spirit-anointed men gave evidences
of the good hand Of God. They were
full Of grace (Eph. 40, Acts is: 15) ;
they were full Of power" u:s). The
first two Of them soon became great
and mighty preachers as we'll. In.
deed as far as we can read they even
outstripped the apostles themselves
in real achievement for God. Ste
phen, Of course, stands out pre-emi
nently. His character IL suggested In
verse eight. He was (a) full OF faith, :
tb) full Of the Holy Spirit" (c) full
Of grace (R. W. (d) full Of power
How sad it is that 30 frequently oul
churches fail to make . wise and
spirit-led choice OF its leaders, and ars
content with few. or perhaps none. be
ing added to its membership.
No man is fit to be an ofiicer In the
church Of Christ unless he Is filled
with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8, Luke
24:49).
Such man will always stir up op
| position OF the powers Of evil, ever
as did Stephen