The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-02-26
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 27
THE SEVEN HELPERS.

1t would be a sourc 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 a
more comprehensive idea of the con-
tinuation of what Jesus began and
which record is not yet fully written.
The time of this lesson is about A. d.
S5, though Ramsey places it at 80, 80;
and the place, the city Of Jerusalem.
|. The Occasion, " IL. For a time
the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus
continued in Jerusalem, but soon the
pressure of circumstances thrust it
forth as prophesied Q:S). There
were two groups Of men in the early
church: those who had been born in
Judea who spoke Hebrew (Aramaic).
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 imperfecticn,
s~eltishness, suspicion and jealousy in
that early church. We do not know
what grounds there may Lave been
for complaint, but no sooner did the
occasion arise than the apostles set
about % remedy the difficulty.
u. The Method, w. 8, a.. 1t does not
appear that God gave the church a
cut and dried program according to
which it must act. Certainly the
church had no precedent to follow,
and step by step God was developing
it.. This lesson gives us a suggestion
of those steps: % AS the occasion
demanded. (2) The Apostles refused
to diminish their praying and preach
ing, literally it was not pleasing" to
God for the Apostles to serve tables"
Such work must be done, certainly,
God-appointed and selected leaders,
their duty was clearly stated. The
minister's business is praying and
ministering the word. These things
should fully engage his attention, and
in them he is ito continue ~steadfast-
ly." The llinister cannot manifestly
know mofe about books than the
SSAOOllSdCuSI, MOI0 dDOuI pOllllCS
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 pre-
eminent in prayer and in the minis
try Of the word, and furthermore he
-I~,,Il ~-A-1I AI-A -r--l
ily. (3) The church, not the apos-
ties, must needs select these new of.
ticials. 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 were rich or shrewd in
business. (b) full of the spirit" 1t
dem1nds the Spirit-flled man to look
after financial affairs as certainly as
it does to teach or preach the word.
(c) full of wisdom" Men of com.
mon sense, a 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 a sound mind" Literally
sound sense). III Tim. 10.
III. The Method of Choosing, w. s., 6
~ The people did the choosing. The
early church seems to have been re
markably democratic. ~ The choice
was made after, and not before, pray
er had been offered. This is a sug
gestion and a warning for present-day
practice of choosing church officials
l(3) 1t was a legal selection, not the
selection of a minority, and it wa:
confirmed by the laying on of the
hands of the apostles. This last was Il
signify the amounting of the Holy Spir
it and the separation unto their par
ticular task of these men. 1t is sig
nificant that every man chosen Dor,
a Greek name, and suggests that Jew
ish church desired to avoid any charg
of favoritism. The spirit of fairness
Of love and of concession, and tn
character of the men chosen, cause
the word Of God to increase exceed
ingly."
~. The Result, w. 7, 8. First of a.
upon the people. % The word 'ir
~creased."(2) The number of disciple
multiplied greatly" and (3) Some @
the priests of the Jews were "obed
ent to the faith" Secondly, the r.
suit in the lives of the thus chose
and Spirit-anointed men gave evidenc
of the Good hand of God. They wer
full of grace" (Eph. 40. Acts 1919
they were full of power" (1:S). Tn
first two of them soon became grea
and mighty preachers as we'll. Ii
deed as far al we can read they eve
outstripped the apostles themselve
in real achievement for God. st,
phen, of course. stands out pre-em
nently. His character Is suggested /
verse eight. He was (a) full of faith,
OBJ full of the Holy Spirit" (c) "fu
of grace" Or. W, (d) full Of power
How sad 1t is that SO frequently OF
churches fail to make a wise an
spirited choice of its leaders, and al
content with few, or perhaps none, b
ing added to its membership. Or
great denomination reports a thousan
churches having no additions by
their confession or letter for the D
Rod Of a whole year. All the VIZ
through the book of the Acts we rea
this same history of an ever gro,
ing church. a church that surmounts