The Tupelo journal., 1916-02-25
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY Il
THE SEVEN HELPERS.

GOLDEN We one anOther's
burdens. and so fulfill the law Of Christ
Gal. So.
i 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 is not yet fully written.
The time of this lesson is about A. d.
IS, though Ramsey places it at 80, SO;
and the place, the city of Jerusalem.
/. The Occasion, w. IL. For a time
the preaching or the Gospel of Jesus
continued in Jerusalem, but Don the
pressure OF circumstances thrust it
forth as prophesied (1:8). 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-
bic arose over the distribution of funds
among certain of the dependent wild.
ows-the text suggests secret dis
pleasure" There was imperfection,
s~elfishness, suspicion and jealousy in
that early church.
II. 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: ID As the occasion
demanded, (2) The Apostles refused
to diminish their praying and preach
Ing, literally it was mot pleasing" to
God for the Apostles to serve tables"
Such work must be done, certainly,
but it was not to be done by these
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 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 Rge profess
or" No, that is out Of me- 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
should preach that word pre-eminent-
ly. go The church. not the apos-
ties, must needs select these new Of
ficials. (4) The qualifications OF
these men, who were thus to care
for these tempoVel affairs, were ta)
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
demands the Spirit-flled nan to look
after financial affairs as certainly as
it does to teach OF preach the word.
tc) 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 .sthe spirit OF power, OF
love, and of a sound mind Citerally
sound sense). Gil Tim. I'D.
Ill. The Method of Choosing, w. 5, 6.
III The people did the choosing. The
early church seems to have been re-
markedly democratic. GU 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.
t5) 1t was a legal selection, not the
selection of a minority, and it was
confirmed by the laying on OF the
hands of the apostles.
~. The Result, Wv. z, 8. First of all
upon the people. 81 The word sin
c~reased.'(2) The number Of disciples
multiplied greatly, and CD 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 evidence
of the good hand of God. They were
full of grace" (Eph. 40, Acts 1919;
they were full Of power l1:8). The
first two of them soon became great
and mighty preachers as well. 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 is suggested in
verse eight. He was ta) full of faith,
tbl full OF the Holy Spirit. tc) full
OF grace" OR. VI. (d) full OF power.
How sad it is that SO frequently our
churches fail to make a wise and
spirited choice OF its leaders, and are
content with few, Or perhaps none, be-
ing added to its membership.
No man is fit to be. an officer in the
church Of Christ unless he Is filled
with the Holy Spirit, (Acts 1:S, Luke
24:49).
Such a man win always stir up op-
position Of the powers OF evil. even
as did Stephen.
M< 80