105
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
March, 1941
Points and Problems 1. In the first part of this lesson (Acts 4:32-35), there is set forth a very beautiful picture of “The Early Church Meeting Human Needs,” both physical and spiAtual. The gospel was being preached with power. There was har mony in the membership of the new church. The people shared their mate rial possessions with each other, as the need arose. Now in contemplating this beautiful picture, we should not forget the immediate background or cause which brought about this very ideal situation. It will be found in verse 31, unfortunately omitted from the printed lesson. Facing a great crisis, the church had gone to is knees in very definite prayer. “And when they had prayed,” things began to happen. This was the secret of progress. When the church of today learns to pray, as the early church prayed, we shall begin to see some of the results they enjoyed. 2. “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost” (v. 31). Here is the proof that what is called the infilling of the Spirit can take place more than once in the life of the believer. These same men had been filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Evidently new fill ings are needed from time to time to enable the church to meet with new problems and situations. It is possible also to lose the fullness of the Spirit. Perhaps the threatenings from the Jew ish rulers (Acts 4:18-21) did intimidate the apostles and cause them to lose courage for a moment. At any rate, evidently feeling’ that a greater degree of boldness was needed, they went to their own company and called a special prayer meeting. It is also worthy of note that there is no record of their praying; for the infilling of the Spirit, but they did pray for “boldness.” And we read that “when they had prayed, . . . they were all filled with the Holy "Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” Thus we may learn again that the infilling of the Spirit is always a means to some definite end, generally connected with Christian tes timony. 3. “ And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multi plied. . . . greatly’' (Acts 6:7). Some times, as we examine the success of the early church, we are inclined to marvel at its progress in a time when every human condition was against it. Well, of course, such progress was the result of many factors. But there is one factor revealed in verses 1 to 6 which is often overlooked. A very seri ous situation had arisen in the church. The early church was faced with an acute social problem, provision for the physical needs of a large class of needy believers. And this problem was ab sorbing much of the apostles’ time and energy, leaving them little time for spiritual matters, such 'as prayer and
—the Power; the Man of God—the Med ium; and the Glory of God—the Motive. II. A l l T h in g s C o n t r o l l e d (6:1-7) As the number of disciples grew and began to include some of the Hellenistic Jews, it became apparent that adjust ments would have to be made in the method of taking care of the poorer members of the company of believers. The old nature, remaining in each one, began to assert itself, resulting in par tiality in the distribution of the com mon store (v. 1). The new nature, im parted at regeneration (2 Gor. 5:17), does not take the place of human na ture and make one a perfect individual on earth. The saved one is a “new creature” in a blessed and literal sense, but he must be yielding constantly to the indwelling Holy Spirit if his new nature is to develop and to hold the ascendency in his life. Human nature remains unchanged to this day. The same difficulty which was encountered in our lesson today has appeared and has disrupted each of the many at tempts, made from time to time, to adopt the practice of the early disciples in having all things common. The twelve, chosen by .the Lord for special purpose and position among the disciples, were led (And who shall say they were not led by the Holy Spirit?) to arrange for the proper care of the poor by' the appointment of seven men to control the distribution of the needed provision (vs. 2-4). These seven men were to be “of honest [or good] report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom” (v. 3). That is, they were to be above reproach as to reputation, possessed of supernatural knowledge, and controlled by wisdom in the use of their know ledge. The apostles themselves wisely re fused to be moved from their occupa tion with the Word of God and prayer. Would God that the church today could see the futility of expecting any one man to effectively give himself to the ministry of the Word and prayer, and at the same time to efficiently “serve tables” ! The decision of the apostles pleased the whole company, and they proceeded to act upon the advice given. This de cision resulted in choosing the seven men who were solemnly set aside and ordained by prayer and the laying on of hands for their particular work. It would be a grand thing if all deacons today were chosen because of having good reputations, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and possessing the wisdom which only the Spirit can impart. With the early disciples thus organ ized, and the cause of inside friction re moved, the Word of God increased, the number of the disciples was multiplied, and even a great company of the priests “were obedient to the faith” (v. 7).
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