The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1916-02-17
INTERNATIONAL
SUNlXSOOOL
LESSON
By e. o. SELLERS, Acting Director OF
Sunday School Course. Moody Bible
Institute)
Copyright. 1916. Western Newspaper Union.)
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 20
CHRISTIAN BROTHERHOOD.

The Sanhedrin lad tried threaten
ing upon the disciples and this is gen
orally pretty weak business. Blu
their threat meant danger and the dis
ciples were not unduly pulled up ovel
! their delfverance. With all their be
lieving friends they prayed and in re
spouse the Holy Spirit came upon
them in still further measure
(4:23-3D.
!. The Spirir-F filed Believers, 4:32
| 81. The two sections of this lesson
are really one and are designed to
bring out sharply the contrast be.
tween the Holy Spirit-flled church
and an evil spirit-filled man. The
communism of the early church was
(a) Christian communion (see 2:44) i;
and it was (b) for a special occasion;
(c) it was benevolent-each had &C
cording to his needs (4:34, $50; I'd
1t was voluntary (5:4), and (e) it rec
ognized the right to private property
(see ga. 81, He, the Holy Spirit, does
bring that unity, that altruism, those
active social relations and services of
which Pentecostal communism is the
type. Unity and love are seen in gen.
uine Christianity in all ages, but the
forms Of their expression may differ.
The power of the Holy Spirit was
manifested, not merely in love and
unity which it produced, in the broth
erhood thus evidenced, but also in the
testimony given for the Lord Jesus
Christ, with great power gave the
apostles witness to the resurrection
OF the Lord Jesus" There is much
witness to the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ in our day, but not
always with great power" When we
are filled with the Holy Spirit it is of
Jesus. and especially OF his resur-
rect1on. that we will bear witness.
Another result of being filed with the
Holy Spirit was that grace was upon
ALL Grace" means favor We are
not told whether it was Gods favor
or mans favor that was upon them.
1t seems to imply both (see Luke
2:52). No man looked upon his own
interests. but every man on the
things Of others Distribution was
made according as each had need, not
according to his ability, not according
to his notable service. The pre-emi- |
nent illustration Of Christian love in
the brotherhood at Jerusalem was
Barnabas. II we had more of such
today we would have less of union
labor troubles and missionary deficits.
We do well to consider carefully the
six distinguishing features of this
early church: CD A praying church
(4:24-30), ca a Spirit-filled church
(3D, CD a united church 1927, (4)
church (33), (5) a minis
ering church GA, $50. (6) a multiply
ng church (S6, 80.
II. The DeviI-Possessed UnbeIiever,
j, 1-16. Barnabas had received great
praise for what he had done at the i'm
'ulse of the Holy Spirit in his life. It
g an exceedingly fair picture. but the
Gene OF the early church had been
rom foes without, now it faces the
;reater peril of foes within. And when
his great question, regarding the de-
ty and personality of the Holy Spirit,
8 first brought to light, God, through
is church, dealt with it in a stern
1anner. The devil il always present
1g his limitations of everything good
nd holy Ananias and Sapphire were
OF willing to make like sacrifice
hey, too, sold a possession" but
hey secreted part of the price and
rought the rest with the intent to de-
Give the church. The Holy Spirit
uickly informed the church of this
ypocrisy and, Spirit-guided, they
ere not deceived For Ananias to
e in the atmosphere of love and con-
scration engendered by the Holy
pirit made his crime the more unpar-
enable. The same words are used in
his actions as those used
describing the actions of Barnabas
, to certain point. But what a diff
renee we see subsequently. In the
Use of Barnabas his act was a deed
self-forgetting love; in the case of
nanias it was one of calculating hy-
'crisy. We thus see that the early
lurch was not as perfect as some
ould have us imagine it to be.
The second section of this para
aph wv. 12-16) is a record of what
e results of this vindication of the
Oily Spirit were. First the Spirit
me upon the apostles and literally
ernowed upon all those about them.
In the second place those who were
mixing of joining the church for mer.
nary motives were held back from
doing ". 49,.
Ii the Holy Spirit were present in
en- power today there would be fewer
pocrites who would dare to Join
emselves to it.
The deception of Ananias was DELHI
ate ". A.; he had talked it over
tn his wife wv. 2, 81, and he was
grave danger to this early church.
It threatened to choke the very -
lntain of love and unity which had i