The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1916-02-19

The lesson for Sunday covers the
account of the Jerusalem Christians
having all things in common, the spe-
cial account of the liberallty of a d.
sciple called Barnabas, and the sin
of deception of Ananias and his wife
Sapphire. Under these three heads
the lesson will be discussed.
Communism is not taught here. The
act of having all things in common, OF
at least some of them having all things
in common, was the result of their
wonderful interest in each other
growing out of their new found faith
i'm Jesusf their common Savior. They
were not commanded to place their
possessions in the common treasury
However the masses of these believers
were moved to the highest spirit OF
brotherly love, and their action, in
that they knew no class distinction
and were now trying to bear oen an
others burdens, is to be commended
Enthusiasm and compassion are to be
accompanied by good judgment
Therefore, out of the true Christian
spirit, there has grown the construc-
tive associated charity work of our
day.
Barnabas' liberal gift is mentioned
here as an individual case to show
how they came to have a public fund
1t was not the loose change" char
ity but planned gift which resulted
in the sale of real estate, that a gift
to the charity fund might be made
We are always willing that the man
whom we think has more than we
have should give of his means to help
those poorer, but how about our own
gifts? We are not to be bothered so
much by what the other fellow does
or does not give, but rather by the
question, Are we giving of our
means TO the eXten of our ability to
help the other fellow who Is in need?
His need is not always Cl0hing and
food, but sometimes it is a need which
only the Christian missionary can sup
ply. If we, as Christians, loved our
fellow men, we would deny ourselves
some thing to bring to the unsaved the
Bread of Life
Deception and Its Punishment.
Ananias and his wife Sapphire, pre-
tended to give the full price of a piece
of land which they had sold, but in
truth they We're keeping back a part
of it. The sin was in the deception.
They were free to give a part of the
price or none of it, Just as they chose,
But they wanted the name OF being
liberal without making the full gift,
This deception was detected by Peter
who, acting under the Holy Spirit,
pronounced this as not a deception
against man only, but against God,
The doom of immediate death which
visited them was intended to direct
the attention of both those within, the
church fellowship and those without,
to the holiness and dignity and sane,
tity of the Christian church.
Every case of deception need not be
treated as this one was to teach us
the lesson of the awfulness of this
sin. People today may be thinking
they are without guilt in their attempt
to deceive their Christian brethren as
to their religious conduct, but they
are deceiying themselves. In every
community there are those who pro-
tend, as Ananias did, to be giving
more to the church more than they
are. There arethose who year after
year make pledges to support some
good cause or make subscription to
the church expense fund who never
seem to ever get any of these pledges
paid. The experience of Ananias ought
to be a warning to all in every age
Doubtless the intention to pay is good
at the time of the pledge making, but
the unwillingness to part with the
money permits the pledge to go I'M
paid, So Ananias and his wife may
have intended to give It all when they
sold the land, but the temptation to
keep the money, led them into their
awful sin and TO their doom. The dis
honest man who refuses to pay his
debts, and the stingy man who refuses
to give what is proper to those in
need, will both find out some day that
they have been SHINING against them
selves as well as against society. And
every sin will bring its just recon-
pense OF reward