The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1916-02-25
INTERNATIONAL.
NNDMSQUM
LESSON
(BF e. o. SELLERS, Acting Director o1
1nstitute.)
Copyright. 1915. Western Newspaper uniou-9
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY q


LESSON FOR FEBRUARY II
THE SEVEN HELPERS.
LESSON TExT-Acts 6
TEXT-Bear ye one another's
burdens. and So fulfill the law of Christi
Gal. Sc.
1t would be q PURGE of great bless.
ing If 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.
b time of this lesson is about A. D.
80, though Ramsey places it at 80, SO;
and the place, the city of Jerusalem.
!. The Occasion, w. 1-2. For a time
the preaching of the Gospel Of Jesus
continued in Jerusalem, but soon 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
d who spoke Hebrew (Aramaic),
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 im%perfection,
~selfshness, suspicion and jealousy in
that early church. We do not know
what grounds there may have been
for complaint, but no sooner did the
occasion arise than the apostles set
about 20 remedy the difficulty.
II. The Method, w. 3, 4. It does not
appear that God gave the church q
u and dried program according to
which 1t must. act. Certainly the
church had no precedent to follow,
and step by step God was developing
1t. This lesson gives us a suggestion
OF hos steps: % As the occasion
demanded, ca The Apostles refused
10 diminish their praying and preach
Ing. literally 1t was mot pleasing to
God for the Apostles to serve tables"
Such work must be done, certainly.
but 1t was not to be done by these
God-appointed and selected leaders,
duty was clearly stated. The
minister's business is " praying and
mln1ster1ng the word. These things
should fully engage his attention, and
IN then he is Ito continue steadfast-
ly." The minister cannot manifestIv
know more about books than the
schoolteacher; more about politics
than the Politician; more about med.
1cine than the doctor; more about
psychology than the college profes.
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.
ly. (3) The church, not the apos.
ties, must needs select these new of.
hcials. 90 The qualifications OF
these men, who were thus to care
for these temporal affairs, were (a) |
men of good report not those bear
doubtful regulations, nor chosen
because they were rich or shrewd in
business. (b) full Of the spirit" It |
demands the Spirit-flled man to look
after financial affairs as certainly as
It does to teach or preach the word.
(c) full of wisdom" Men of COM
mon sense, a quality often sadly lack
Ing among spiritually-minded men.
Men meeting such qualifications will
men of the spirit of power, of
|ove, and of a sound mind" (literally
sound sense). (I Tim. I'D.
III. The Method of Choosing, w. S, 6,
~ The people did the choosing. The
early church seems to have been re-
narkably democratic. (2) The choice
vas made after, and not before, pray.
er had been offered. This is a sug-
sestion and a warning for presentday
practice OF choosing church officials.
- 1t was a legal selection, not the
rejection OF a minority. and it was
by the laying on of the
lands of the apostles. This last was to
'1gnify h amounting Of the Holy Spir-
t and the separation unto their par.
ocular task Of these men. It is sig
lificant that every man chosen bore
Greek name, and suggests that Jew.
sh church desired to avoid n charge
Il favoritism. The spirit Of fairness.
4 love and of concession, and the
haracter Of the men chosen. caused
word of God to increase exeeed.
". The Result, w. z, 8. First of all
pom the people. ~ The word I'm.
reased." (2) The number of disciples
greatly" and 60 Some of
he priests OF the Jews were .'obedi.
mt TO the faith" Secondly. the re-
ult In the lives Of the thus chosen
Spirit-anointed men gave evidence
I the GOOD hand of God. They were
full of grace (Eph. 4:9. Acts 1915:
hey were full Of power" (1:8). The
rst two Of them soon became great
mighty preachers as we'll. In
eed as far as We can read they even
utstripped the apostles themselves
real achievement for God. Ste
hen. OF course, stands out pre-emi.
emily. His character is suggested In
eight. He was Gay full Of faith
b. full OF the Holy Spirit" (c) full
{ grace" (R- W, (d) FULL Of power"
low sad it Is that 50 frequently our
hurches fail to make a wise and
choice OF it's leaders. and are
ontent with few. or perhaps none, be-
lg added to its membership. One
den0minaff0n ronorfs a fhcuoord