The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1916-02-04
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY s
soLoNEss OF PETER AND JOIN

LESSON TEXT-Acts 4:1-3l.
GOLDEN EXT-Wat We. stand fast
IN the faith. quit We like men. be strong
The first seven chapters Of the book
Of Acts have been designated as the
Jerusalem period. Chapter l deals
with the ascension of our Lord; chap
ter 2, the baptism Of the Holy Spirit:
chapters 81, the early conflicts In
Jerusalem. In our lesson Of last Sun
day we had the story of Peter and
John dealing with the lame man while
on their way to the temple. Follow
ing this experience they were i'm.
%prisoned, the first Imprisonment men
toned for any of those who accepted
the Gospel. AS the disciples were
dealing with the multitude the rulers
Of the temple came upon them and
were much put out ". p that the dis
ciples should preach the resurrection
Of Jesus from the dead. The signifi-
canoe OF his is better understood
when we remember that the Jewish
ish law composed of seventy-one lead.
ing men OF the nation. C%aiaphas. the
noble high priest by Roman appoint
ment. and Annas, the real high priest
according to Jewish law. were both
there. This body was largely made
up of the ~Sadducees. the sect which
did not believe in the resurrection
from the dead.
I. The imprisonment, w. ~. Pc
ter and John being brought before this
tribunal were fulfilling literally the
prediction Of Jesus (Matt. 1O:1O. The
attempt on the part Of the rulers to
prevent the preaching Of the Gospel
by this method really augmented its
being heard throughout the nation.
Peter had Ger this body Of men on
the night when our Lord was o n
demned. Then he had made a miser-
able failure, but now the situation IL
quite different, for Peter is anointed
Of the Holy Spirit and is entirely lack
ing in the fear which controlled him
on the previous occasion. That he
had given effective testimony is evil
dent from the way the men had pre-
cipitated matters and cast him into
prison for the night.
II. The Trial, w. 5-22. (1) Peters
words Wv. 5-12. Jewish wonder-work-
ers were accustomed to perform mar
wells by the use of some name, SO the
council very naturally asked Peter
and John IN what name" they had
healed this man. The real object OF
their question was their attempt to en-.
trap the disciples and find a basis Of
/ a oo,,cott1r o,>l n0-lo-o-;o D,,A -
that moment the Holy Spirit came
again upon Peter and filled him Matt.
1919, 20; also Luke 1911. IL: Acts
1873. 81. The coming Of the Holy
Spirit is for every emergency OF the
Christian. Peter had been filled with
that Spirit at Pentecost and was again
filled a little later on (chapter 2:31).
Thus we see hat h coming of the
Spirit is not once for all, though PEN
tecost was once for all, but that the
filling is repeated as each new emer.
gency may arise. (a) Peter acknowII
edged the authority of those who were
dealing with him ". 81, but (b) he
gave Jesus credit ". 1O). 1t was Je.
u who had died, he was also risen.
n the risen Christ had effected his
miracle. (c.) Turning upon his ac-
accusers Peter charged them with the
death of Jesus. He ". III is the
foundation of their miracle and their
faith. Peter claimed that In Jesus
alone ". 12) could salvation be found.
and implied (see last clause Of this
verse) that his accusers were lost
men. Peters department in all of
this is wonderfully skillful, gentle and
courteous, yet bold, fearless, frank
and outspoken. We need to remem.
Der this when we recall how blunder.
ingly Peter had conducted his CONVEX.
sation before his enduement by the
Holy Spirit. There was no compro.
missing of the truth and no CLOSING
over their guilt. ca The effect upon
the rulers wv. 1879. (a) The Coun.
Gil had spoken evasively about what
had been done, but Peters thrust in
his reply, If you refer to the good
deeds done to the strengthless Tim.
potent man," confirmed his testimony
by having a living witness ". 14), and
therefore the leaders were speechless.
If Christian workers could have more
of living results to present to the
world (see ". 14) they would silence
the mouth of criticism and the FIRE.
quent objections of Christianity. 1t
is small wonder ". 16) that these
men we're at a los what to do. Their
pet doctrine of no resurrection from
the dead was refuted and contradicted
before their very eyes, and they there
fore ". I'D resorted to the usual
method Of people, who when defeated,
seek to browbeat and intimidate 9TH
ers to prevent their continuing to
give their testimony.
III. The Result Upon tho Disciples,
w. 1922. The book Of Acts is plain
ly the record Of the deft u~tterances of
spiritual men. Peter had closed his
appeal ". 12) with the statement
that the only way we could be saved
must be through this means. The
council were In q dilemma: they
wanted to punish Peter and John, but
could not. for the people were glori.
flying God for what had been done.
Peter and John declared thus fear.
lessly that the teachings of the
schools vas not in accordance with
that, for had not Jesus risen, and had
not this miracle been performed? The
u01- Choc<,e holl~>-. t.