I
International Sunday School Lesson for Sunday, July 19
CHRISTIANS SHARING WITH OTHERS
Printed Verse3 ? Acts 4:32-35; Acts 6:1-4; 2 Cor. 9:1-7
GOLDEN TEXT : He Himself Said, It Is More Blessed To
Give Than To Receive.
The Lett on
Arid the multitude of them that
believed were of one heast and soul;
and not one of them said that
aught of the things which he pos
sessed was his own ; but they had all
things in common. And with great
uower gave the apostles their wit
of the resurrection of the Lord
Oesus; and great grace was upon
them all. For neither was there
among them any that lacked; for as
many as were possessors of lands or
houses sold them, and brought the
prices of the things that were sold,
and laid them at the apostles' feet;
and distribution was made unto each,
according as, any one had need.. Now
in these days, when the number of
the disciples was multiplying, there
arose a murmuring of the Gerbian
Jews against the Hebrews, because
their widows were neglected in the
daily ministration. And the twelve
called the multitude of the diciples
unto them, and said," It is not fit
that Wc should forsake the word of
God, and serve tables. Aook ye out
therefore, brethern, from among you
seven men of good report, full of the
Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may
appoint over this business. But we
will continue steadfastly in prayer,
and in the ministry of the word"....
(Now it is Paul writing) For as
touching the ministering to the
saints, it is superfluous for me to
write to you;- for I know your readi
ness, of which I glory on your be
half to them of Macedonia, that
Achai hath been prepared for a year
past; and your zeal hath stirred up
very many of them. But I have sent
the brethern, that our glorying on
your behalf may not be made void in
this respect; that, even as I said, ye
may bf prepared; lest by any means,
if there come with me any of Mace-,
donia, and lind you unprepared, we
(that we say not, ye) should be put
to shame in this confidence. I thought
it necessary therefore to entreat' the
brethern, that they would go before
unto you, and make up beforehand
your aforepromised bounty, that the
same might be ready as a matter of
bounty, and not of extortion. But
this I say, He that soweth sparingly
shall reap also sparingly; and he
that soweth bountifully shall reap
also bountifully. Let each man do ac
cording as he hath purposed in his
heart; not grudgingly, or of. necessi
ty: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Comment h on the Lesson |
This lesson is extremely difficult
to understand unless we re-enact the
scenes upon which last Sunday's les
son was based, which leads into to-'
day's lesson. We must also read and
study all those intervening portions
of of the Fourth. Fifth and Sixth
chapters of The Acts not printed in
the lesson. We recall that Peter and
John had been before the council, as
described in last Sunday's lesson, and ;
the council feared to punish these
preachers. Peter was reporting their !
experiences to the rest of the com
pany of Christ, and them turned to
prayer, asking the Lord trt take ,
note of the threatenings of the enemy '
and to grant unto the disciples a '
boldness to speak His word. Peter
then asked the Lord to stretch forth
His hand to heal, that signs and,
Wonders might be done in His name. '
At the conclusion of the prayer, the ,
place where they stood was shaken, I
and they all wert filled with the Holy
Ghost, and they spoke the word of j
the Lord with boldness.
Here it is that our lesson now {
? pens, with the statement that all |
the people were of one heart and i
one soul, that is. all the people in ,
t he great assemblage, for they had
just been filled with the Holy Spir- 1
it. and they gave evidence to the fact
of the resurrection, for they were i
filled with power and grace. There
were no salaries attached to the;
work being done by the apostles, nor |
was there any organized, regulated [
manner of raising money for defray- j
ing expenses. So these people, all fill- j
ed with the Holy Spirit, were also !
possessors of houses, lands and mon- !
ey, for it is said here that there was |
none among them lacking. So they ,
disclaimed -absolute ownership of;
their possessions, and laid it all at!
the feet of the disciples, to be used
as it was needed. While there is an
instance recorded of one man selling
all of his possessions, it is not so
with others. It was the tender of
their possessions to be used for the
work of Christ that is conveyed here.
As much as was necessary to carry |
on the work was taken. Continuing j
the study on through the Fifth chap- '
t?r of the Acts, which is omitted
7irom the printed verses, there is
found the case of Ananias, who sold
his possessions, he and his wife,
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and proceeded to the olac#. . where the
disciples were, tendering an amount
which Ananias said was all that he
received for his property. He lied
about it, as they had held back a
portion of the sale money. Upon be
ing exposed by the disciples in his
effort to lie to the Lord and to man,
Aiumias fell dead in his tracks. A
short time afterwards his wife came
in, and, not knowing about her hus
band's tragic end, told the story that
she and Ananias had concocted. Then
she was informed that her husband
had told the same lie, and was now
dead, and the men who had buried
his body were then entering the
door. She fell dead, and was buried.
These evidences of the dark doom to
befall all who were false to their
work for the Lord caused great fear
to be felt among the people.
The apostles performed great won
ders in the narte of their God, heal
ing many sick and afflicted, which
were brought from the cities all
about, and hauled in from the coun
tryside. So great was this work that
the high priest arose again, and all
of his kind, and were most indignant.
Once again the authorities sought to
stop the work of Jesus Christ, and j
the apostles were imprisoned. The (
angel of the Lord came back and took ;
them out of prison, and much con- ;
sternation prevailed next morning
when the' authorities learned that the
apostles were not only out of the
prison, but were at that very moment
in the temple, preaching Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Once again the
authorities had the apostles brought ;
before them, and another effort at in- j
timidation was made, but oid Peter 1
just stood up there and told the old
priest that the apostles were preach- (
ing the word, and furthermore, that ?
they intended to keep on at it. "But (
you have this community all torn i
up," the priest said. That made no |
difference to these apostles, and they i
boldly declared their intention to ?
keep on preaching.* The authorities
would have stopped them by force,
even by assassination, but a lawyer
by the name of Gamaliel, a Pharisee
at that, advised against such proeed- i
ure, advising the high priest that if |
the work of the apostles was the work j
of men, it would soon die out of its
own accord, as many other move
ments of pien had died out; but that
if it were the work of God, then
nothing these authorities could do
about it would stop it.
This leads us up to the second por
tion of the lesson, the verses found
in the opening of the Sixth chapter
of The Acts. Here we are told that
the number of disciples had greatly
increased. Of course it had. Such
preaching, such courage, such faith,
such performances, as had been man
ifested and demonstrated by the
apostles could end in nothing less
than great increase. Much mumbl
ing and grumbling, kicking and
knocking had arisen aniong the
Greek Jews, that is, the Jews who
spoke the Greek language. This
group was fussing because, they
charged, the apostles were not giving
as much food to the widows of the
Greek Jews as was being given to^ the
Palestine Jews. Don't you see? Even
back there in the very beginning of
the church there was one group
grumbling because the preacher was
believed to be partial to another
group. How well we can understand
that jealousy^ that harping criticism,
because we have so much of it today
that we are thoroughly familiar with
it. The apostles could not be handi
capped by such bickerings, however,
s<> the first official board was brought
into experience. The/ apostles called
upon the people to elect seven dea
cons, ,men of good report and high
standing, having the confidence of all
the people, and to this board would
be delegated the work of waiting up
on the people, giving to each accord
ing to necessity. The seven were
elected, and a description of the work
would make a most interesting les
son in itself. Their faithful work
lent dignity and effectiveness to the
cause of Christ, and was the fore
runner of all the work being done in
the church today by the various of-,
ficials, from the janitor to choir
leader, or from the Sunday School
teacher to the chairman of the of
ficial board.
The rest of the lesson is taken
from one of Paul's, letters to the Cor
inthians, which is 'so plainly stated
that no comment is necessary. He
had been collecting gifts from the
Gentile Christian ; f,or the relief of
the poor and sick in Jerusalem. Paul
had proudly told of the ready spirit
prompting these gifts, and- so tells
his friends of these things, urging,
them to be ready at all times with
their bounty when the Lord and the
Lord's people had need of their pos
sessions. After all, Paul says, one
makes his own bed upon which that
one must lie. If one sows sparingly,
then one must reap a scanty crop; if
one sows abundantly, one is most cer
tain of reaping an abundant crop.
Let each one, he says, do that which
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[is in his own heart, not grudgingly,
: npt because he thinks it is necessary,
'but do whatever he can do with
! cheerfulness. The reason, Paul says.,
is that God loves a cheerful giver,
not a grouchy giver, not a giver who
gives for the purpose of showing off
before the neighbors, but simple giv
. ing of means and service for cheer
iful joy that it brings to the one who
gives in this manner.
j This entire lesson is a study of
I giving, giving of our means and our
; service, time and talent. You have
your own opinion of these things, and
each one of us, even as Paul ? said,
must stand in our own harvest fleld.
If we give sparingly of our means,
, time and talent, we shall most cer
tainly reap sparingly. It is plainly
stated here what the church is ex
pected to do. The chnrch is to be
.maintained; the gospel is to be
spread unto all the peoples of the
world, and the poor and needy must
have the relief that only the church
lean give. Are we living up to these
charges? Are we willing to admit,
,even to God, that our possessions be
ilong to him, insofar as He has need
i of them? Or do we love too well to
'boast that these things are ours?
| Ananias and his wife denied just a
I portion of their possessions to the
Lord, and both died. How many peo
| pie do you know who have been rich,
land big-headed, and proud, and self
i ish, and domineering, and today are
'poverty-stricken, their wealth gone,
their power dead? It is a dangerous
thing to do, this cheating the Lord.
America has been a proud and
somewhat boastful nation, rich be
yond the dreams of king or poten
tate in the days of old. Ananias al
so was rich. He failed to do his
duty, however, and death came to
him, suddenly. If this nation of ours
survives, grows and prospers, it will
be because & is builded firmly upon
the foundation of Christianity. Un
less it is implanted firmly upon that
foundation, it is doomed to die just
as surely as Ananias and his bride
died on that fateful day when they
conspired to cheat the Creator out of
a portion of his creation. A Christian
America is the only kind of an Amer
ica that can endure. We worship
Wall Street, and what it stands for
? its power of money. Wall Street
is in New York. What else have wc
in New York? A few city blocks in
New York contain 800,000 people who
do not speak the English languge.
Each Sunday there are 4,000 halls
in that same New York rented and
___
used for the purpose of speakers
spouting off their tirades against the
government oi the United States.
These fire-brand* are proaching com
munism? not the kind of communism
as 'described in tWLs lesson, where all
the people stood at the feet of tho
apostles and offered their entire pos
sessions fof the church of Christ.
But this communism being preached
in this country today is that of Soviet
Russia, which denies the Christ and
defies the Father. Our church is do
ing but little work for Jesus Christ
among the negroes of the South. But
Soviet Russia is doing a whole lot
of work among them. In the very op
ening verses of today's lesson it is
shown that the men of wealth were
rallying to the church of Christ, of
fering their all to Him, claiming
none of it as their own. Today, in
America, we have leader* who are '
seggregating the wealth of the na- j
tion into the keeping of a very few
people, who call it their own. We
have, in one block, the richest peo- 1
pie in the world, and in the next
| block, just around the comer, the
poorest people in the world. This
condition cannot exiBt. Jesus Christ
did not suffer the agony of the cross ,
and ignomy of another man's grave
in order that less than one hundred )
men might control 95 per cent of the '
wealth in a nation of 122,000,000
souls. If the common cause of Christ, ,
and the spirit and principle of com- ,
munism of Christ's established
church cannot rule our lives, then '
there is that other kind of commun- 1
ism which can lay our proud, boast- '
ful spirit in the dust of humility, ev- '
en as it tore down the house of the '
Czar, and sent his noble offspring 1
from the luxury of royalty's man- '
sions into the kitchens of common
people as maifls and waitresses. c
The church of Christ is facing a *
crisis today. And as the Christian '
church in America stands, so stands i '
America. This nation is no bigger J
than the church makes it. It was'
conceived in Christianity, born from||
the bonds of brave men and women '
who came here that they might serve c
God, and live for Him. But for a|.
long time we have been living in j
adultery with the Devil, and our off- f
spring from this unholy alliance is
now about to throw us out of house c
and home.
Our leaders in America arc spend- H
ing sleepless nights in an effort to c
find a way out of difficulties - facing r
this country. The diplomat* of the j
world are holding daily sessions, last- )
BIG SALES RECORD
MADE BY FIRESTONE
Announcement by the Firestone
Tire and Rubber Company that more
Fimtone Tires were sold during the
months of April, May and June than
in any three-montha period in his
tory strikingly indicates the domin
ant position held by Fifestone in the
tire industry, says Carl McCrary,
the local Firestone dealer,
"The tremendous increase in de
mand for Firestone Tires," points
out the Firestone dealer, " necessi
tates the operation of Firestone fac
tories 24 hours a day, 6 days a week,
to fill the steadily mounting volume
of orders. j
"Mr. Firestone recognizes that this
is the year the public wants greater
values than ever before. This is par
ticularly true of tires, and Mr. Fire
stone is passing on to car owners ail
of the tremendous savings he has
achieved through greater manufactur
ing efficiency, purchase of raw ma- j
terials at the source, and the most !
efficient and economical distributing !
system, by building the biggest,
strongest and safest tires ever made, i
and selling them at the lowest prices '
in history.
"During the past year Firestone
l\as placed tire buying on an entirely
new basis by making it possible for
:ar owners to see inside tire con- !
struction. Cross sections have been '
'urnished so rubber volume, weight, j
vidth, thickness and plies at tread
:ould be studied.
"In tires, as in their other pur
:hases;'the public wants to see the
'acts before they buy. They recog- 1
lize that the only way to get the
'acts about tires is to examine cross ;
lections and see hoiv they are made,
rhe result of this new plan of tire
rnying has been the establishment by
?"irestone of the greatest sales re- .
:ord in Firostcne history."
ng far into the night, In an effort to '
ind a way out. Stagnation is here,
ind starvation is being experienced i
verywhere on the globe. While all |
he time a book is lying on the book- |
helf in practically every home in the (
ivilized world, containing the simple
?ules as laid down in the immutable 1
aws of God, whichs would, if fol
riwcd, solve these problems. ?
LITTLE TOTS GIVE
CHURCH PROGRAM
One of the most enjoyable prog
rimi given herfe in some time was
that undered Sunday evening at the
Methodist church by students ef the
vacation Bible school; which has Iwn
in progress for the past two weeks at
the church under the supervision of
Mrs. J. F. Winton. As a fitting cli
max to the two weeks of Bible study,
the little folks were given the evening
hour to demonstrate to the congre
gation some of the things taught in
the Bible school.
A pageant by the primary depart
ment depicting scenes in the early
Bible times, and a study of the life
of Christ by the juniors, together
with appropriate songs aad scripture
recitations made the hour one of
keen enjoyment. Many complimentary
remarks were heard of the work done
by Mrs. Winton and her efficient
corps of assistants.
NOTICE AND SUMMONS
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT
State of North Carolina '
County of Transylvania
Aria Radford Fore, Plaintiff
vs
Wiley Fore, Defendant
The defendant above named will
take notice that an action entitled as
above has been commenced in the
Superior Court of Transylvania
County to obtain an absolute divorce
by said plaintiff from said defen
dant; the said defendant will further
take notice that he is required to
answer the complaint filed in this
cause within thirty days from the
completion of service of summons by
publication, or file his demurrer to
said complaint or plaintiff will ap
ply to the court for the relief de
manded in said complaint.
This 11 day of July 1931.
OTTO ALEXANDER
Clerk Superior Court
Ralph Fisher Attorney.
4 t July 16-23-30 Aug 6 pd.
SOMETHING TO SELL?
TRY OCR WANT ADS.
QoHjlft
Q<tciAHJ flppfe /,
//?
fe* itom
Don't Rasp Your Throat
With Harsh
Irritants
"Reach for a
LUCKY instead"
Everyone has on Adam's Apple? Every
man?every woman has one. Touch your
Adam's Apple with your finger. You are actu
ally touching your larynx? this is your voice
rs box ? it contains your vocal chords. When you
p consider your Adam's Apple, you are consid
^ ering your throat? your vocal chords.
"TOASTING" expels certain harsh irri
tants present in all raw tobaccos. These ex
pelled irritants are not present in your LUCKY
STRIKE? the modern cigarette. We sell these
expelled irritants to manufacturers of chem
ical compounds. Everyone knows that sunshine
mellows? that's why the "TOASTING" Process
Includes the use of Ultra Violet Rays. LUCKY
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Cream of the Crop-THIN-"IT'S TOASTEO"?
an extra, secret and exclusive heating process,
v. It is this process that expels these harsh
Irritants. No wonder 20,679 American physi
cians have, stated LUCKIES to be less Irritating.
No wonder LUCKIES are always kind to your
throat. And so We say "Consider your Adam's
Apple." Be careful In your choice of cigarettes.
TUNE IN? The Lucky
Strike Dance Orchestra,
every Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday evening
over N. B. C. networks.
"It's toasted"
Including the use of Ultra Violet Rays
Sunshipe Mellows ? Heat Purifies
Your Throat Protection -against irritation? against cough
? 1931, The An?ric?n Totucco Co.. Uin.