The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1916-03-24
INTERNATIONAL
NNDMSQN0L.
LESSON
Qy =. o. SELLERS. Acting Director q
Sunday School Course Of tho Moody
Bible Institute. Chicago.)
Copyright. 1915. Western Newspaper Union.J
FSS0N
LESSON FOR MARCH rs
RE:viEW-ThE GREAT MULTI
TUOE.

RE:viEW-THE GREAT MULTI.
TUDE.
READING LESsON-Revelation 1911.
GOLDEN TEXT-They shall hunger no
more, neither thirst any more: neither
shall the sun strike upon them. nor any
heat: for the lamb that Is in the midst
of the throne shall be their shepherd.
and shall guide them unto fountains OF
waters of lie; and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes.-Rev. 7:16. II.
/. General Information - Omitting
lessons 4, Z and IL. all of the past
quarters work has to do with the
early, the apostolic church, covering
a period Of time from A. d. so to per-
haps A. d. 81, six or seven years. The
chief events are the resurrection Of
Jesus. the coming of the Holy Spirit.
the change in the apostles, particular
ly Peter, the conversion and baptism
OF 5000 believers. fellowship and won
ders worked among these believers, the
beginning of persecution. the selection
of seven deacons. Stephens testimony
and death, the dispersion of the Chris
tians, the work of Philip, great growth
in the early church.
Historically these lessons have to
do with the things that Jesus began
and continued to do after his resur-
rection through the power Of the Holy
Spirit. 1t is, therefore, a story of the
power Of the risen Christ. The prin-
cipal characters are of two classes. Cd
The leading workers. OF these are:t
Peter and John, apostles; the 120 dis
ciples, Barnabas, the seven deacons.
particularly Stephen and Philip; the
Ethiopian eunuch and Gamaliel, who
gave some friendly assistance. CD
h chief enemies: Those who falsely
accused the apostles. the rulers of he
Jews and the temple, Ananias and
Sapphire, Saul and Simon Magnus.
1t is not difficult to paint a word pic
u Of the events of the past quar-
ter. This may be done by assigning
to separate pupils such questions as
Where, when and why did the event
of this lesson occur? To another pu-
pill assign the TASK Of telling what he
thinks the scene looked like, and to
still another to name the chief per-
sons mentioned in each lesson. Let
these assignments omit lessons 4. z
and II, which do not chronologically
fit into the work Of this quarter. The
remaining pupils should be primed to
supply any omitted facts and to cor
rect any mistakes.
I. The Coming Of Power. Lesson 1!
The ascension of Jesus is one that
shows us the risen Christ as the giver
Of the Holy Spirit and he is the All
Powerful One who has carried for
ward the things Jesus began to do"
Lesson 2. This is very much the same
except that it suggests the man side
of this transaction. AS b early dis
ciples obeyed, they received. In like
manner he Spirit is given today to
those that ask hind" Lesson 3 shows
we proclaim the fact Of the risen
Christ. Exalted at the Fathers right
hand. he has received from the Father
the promise of the Holy Spirit. and
pouring him forth upon the church we
behold a powerful result.
II. The Use Of Power. Lesson 5
(omitting No. ~ has to do with the
daily walk and work of those who had
SO recently received this newly be-
slowed power. Through his servants.
Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, heals
and makes strong the lame man at
the temple gate-a cas- Of applied
Christianity" the power of practical
social service. As a result of this
service Peter and John Uesson g. had
opportunity to give their testimony to
the rulers, the result Of which con-
founded the enemies who thought they
had conquered Christ at C~alvary-the
use of power in testimony. The fur
ther evidence of how this new power
was using men Is that given in lesson
8, the Christian Brotherhood at Jeru-
salem. Into their midst Satan sought
to introduce deception through Ana
MAS and his wife, but the Holy Spirit
was guarding and frustrated his de-
signs in order that the work Of the
church might be more efficiently car
ried on and hat its connection with
power through prayer and the minis
try of the Word" might continue un-
hindered. We e in lesson 9 how the
Spirit solves the question.
III. The Test Of Power. Stephen
Qesson 10) was n Of those who had
been separated for the care of the
temporal affairs Of the early church.
yet his testimony and martyrdom cas-
lily makes hin more famous than most
of the apostles and forever exalts the
layman in the Christian church.
One other Qesson 12) of those seven
deacons, Philip, was also SO signally
used and blessed that his name and
deeds are almost as familiar to US az
is the work of Stephen.
In the first case this newly bestowed
power filed the witness with a calm
ness and courage that will always re-
main an inspiration, while in the g
ond illustration Philip so gave himself
to the direction and leadership of the
Spirit as to 60 where he was SENT.
and when to human judgment his
presence was essential to the carrying
on Of a great revival, he obeyed the
ley command and left the multitude
to deal with a single individual. Chris
kf--SA-