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THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
kick about the pastor’s serinoils.— Brooks. v. 3. Full of Holy Ghost. “ Secular men” have absolutely no place in the administration of the affairs of the church which are sacred to the Holy Spirit.— Pierson. Wisdom. Discretion, aptitude for practical business.— J. F. and B. The tact so necessary in the distribution of charity.— Dummelow. Judicious men who could not be imposed upon and would order things for the best and with consideration.— Henry. v. 4. Give ourselves to prayer. Preachers who are great thinkers, must be the greatest of prayers or they will be the greatest of backsliders. Light praying will make light preaching.-— Bounds. Prayer is put before the min istry of the Word. There can be no successful preaching and teaching of the Word unless it is preceded by prayer.— Gaebelein. Have you observed that the girls in your High School who are musical are drawn together. They love to chat about the concerts they hear. They exchange ideas about their own weak , MY points, the hard technic and GERXiS their new pieces. So those who have received Christ will be drawn together by their com mon bond, Christ Jesus, as naturally as bees are drawn to honey. A girl some times asks, “ If I become a Christian must I join the church?” This reveals that Christ is not Lord in that life or she would love to be where Christ is worshipped and preached, and she would love to be among people who love Him. No girl need be ashamed to let her friends know she belongs to Christ. They may not stand with her. They may even ridicule, but deep down in their hearts they will admire her through and through. (Rom. 10:9-10; Matt. 10: 32-33) The first church. When Christ was crucified his disciples deserted Him. They kept behind closed doors and
away from people, thinking themselves Church.” (Acts 1:15) Christ says the Everyone who receives Christ becomes a church is His body and He is its head, feet are parts of our body. (Eph. 1: vital part of His body just as hands and After Christ’s resurrection they again met. God banded this group of one hundred and twenty believers together at Jerusalem and it became “ The disgraced and that they had been fooled. 22-23; 5:23-27) This church as Jerusalem seems to have been most ideal. Ideal Members. (1) They were happy to confess Christ by uniting with the church, (v. 41) By the outward sym bol of baptism they confessed the inward fact that Christ had been put on and* sin had been put off. (2) “ They'con tinued steadfastly in the doctrine,” the Bible. (They then had but the Old Testament.) They did not gad about to hear the new thing in their midst. They were concerned with what God had to say, not with men’s opinions. They were not content to merely study the Bible a few minutes on Sunday. They searched the Scriptures daily with readiness of mind. (Acts 17:11) (3) “ In Prayer.” (v. 41) They talked everything over with God and allowed Him to uncover His will for them. These new born Christians realized spiritual life like all other life must be nourished and fed. (4) “ In breaking of bread.” They were obedient to God’s command. (5) They were generous with their money, (v. 45) They were so big hearted that some even sold their property in order to share with those in need. (6) They were happy Christians. No grumblers over their circumstances or misfortunes. In their work and in their play they praised God. In all their life they let Christ shine forth. They were Christ revealers. (vs. 46-47) As someone said, they were “ show windows” for Jesus Christ. Ideal Church Life. 1. They had won derful answers to prayer and were mar-
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