Oxford eagle., 1916-02-24
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDMSNOOL
LESSON
CBy z o. SELLERS. Acting Director Of
Sunday school Course. Moody Bible
Instltutel
tcopyrfght. 1915. Western Newspaper union-I
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY IL
THE SEVEN HELPERS

GOLDEN TENT-Bear ye one anothers
burdens. and 50 fulnll the Law OF Christ
Gal 81
IL would be a source or great bless
ing II every teacher and scholar would
read through the book OF Acts several
times during the year. Such reading
viii 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.
IS. though Ramsey places it at %. 80;
and the place. the city OF Jerusalem
l. The Occasion. w. ~ For a time
the preaching OF the Gospel Of Jesus
continued in Jerusalem. but soon the
pressure OF circumstances thrust IL
forth as pruphesied 1:Sl. There
were two groups OF men IN the early
church. those who mad been born in
Judea who spoke Hebrew lAramaicl, f,
and those born in foreign cities and
WHO spoke the Greek language. Trou-
Die arose over the distribution Of funds
among certain Of the dependent wild.
ows-the text suggests secret dis
pleasure There was imperfection.
selrshness. suspicion and jealousy IN
that early church
u. The Method, w. ,, 4. II does not
appear that God gave the church a
cut and dried program according TO
which IL must act. Certainly the
church had no precedent to follow.
and step by step God was developing
II This lesson gives Us a suggestion
Of those steps: Cd As the occasion
demanded. CD The Apostles refused
70 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.
but it was not TO be done by these
God-appointsd and selected leaders,
their duty was clearly stated The
minister's business is praying and
ministering the word These things
should fully engage ais attention. and
N Ghem he Is to continue steAdfast-
~. The minister cannot nanifestly
know more about books than the
schoolteacher, more about politics
than the politician: more about med
tcine than the doctor; more about
psychology than the college prufes-
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
should preach that word pre-eminent-
~. t3l The church. not the apos-
ties. must needs select these new Of
ncials- ca The qualifications Of
these men. who were thus TO care
for these temporal arairs. we're (al
men OF good report" not those bear
tng doubtful regulations, nor chosen
because they we're rich or shrevd in
business (bl -faII Of the spirit" Il
demands the Spirit-nIled man to look
after financial Affairs as certainly as
IT does to teach or preach the word.
tcl -fuH Of wisdom Men OF com
mon sense, quality often sadly lack
ing among spiritually men.
Men meeting such qualifications will
be men Of the spirit OF power. Of
love, and OF a sound mind" (literaIly
sound sensel. aI Tim I:T).
IT. The Method Of Choosing. w. S, 9.
t1) The people did the choosing. The
+ early church seems to have been re-
markably democratic. (2) The choice
was made after. and not before, pray
er mad been offered This is a sug.
gestion and a warning for present-day
practice OF choosing church officials.
+ go II was q legal selection. not the
selection Of a minority. and il was
confirmed by the laying on OF the
hands OF the apostles.
~. The Result, w. Ia First Of ali
upon the people. O) The word in
creased "(2l The number Of disciples
multiplied greatly and f3l 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 Sptrit-anointed men gave evidence
Of the good hand Of God. They were
ful Of grace" (Eph- 40, Acts I5:I5 :
they were -fun Of power u:s). The
nrst 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 ure-emt
nsntly- His character ia suggested in
verse eight He was (a) full OF faith. :.
tbl full Of the Holy Spirit tc) -tull
OF grace" tR. VI, (d) -fu1 Of power.
How sad it IS that so frequently our
churches fail to make a wise and
spirit-led choice of its leaders. and are
content with few, or perhaps none. be
ing added to its membership.
No man is 1T to be an officer In the
church Of Christ unless he Is fIled
with the Holy Spirit. (Acts lis. Luke
I 24:4el.
such man viii always stir up ou
position OF the powers Of evil. ever
as did Stephen
Those who opposed Stephen were
moral and religious men ". 81. Ere
quently the opposition a Spirit-dIIed
man encounters is not from the i'm
moral, the worldly. or the utterly un
KOclV- buf fhn1o uh1 .*os