Connecticut western news., 1876-04-14
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS.
By Rev. Mason Noble, Jr.
FOR APRII. l6TH, 1876.

FOR APRIL 10TH, 1870.
 GOLDEN TEXT.-Of which salvation the ger tly, who propuesied of the grace that should come unto you.-1 Peter, i, TO-
 ACTS II, 12-2s-PETER'S DEFENSE.
 The lessons will be continued unless providence should positively forbid. Thinking they might be neither needed nor desired ,now that we 20 upon the more familiar ground of the New Testament, meant to stop them, as have enough else to do. We gave every one a chance to protest If they wished. but own neither expected nor much deslred that anybody should. So many of you have, however. that the lessons will go on. am very glad to know that so many are interested. It 10 not very inspiring work to preach at a stone wall, hop1ng somebody IS on tue oth- CT side listening, but seeing nobody. On the ground, suppose, that 1t is pleasant CT to see the preacher and know who he IS, the editor wants to pat my name at the head of these articles. He may do about as he chooses after thinking about It a li;- tie. It seems to me that 1t is well enough | as It is the less ous now speak for them selves and If it was known what 'denomi.
 natlon' belong to. those of other 'sectS' might b. less interested.
 LESSON. .-[12l The devout or pious Jews, who had returned to Jerusalem from their foreign homes, were amazed at hearing the | rough fishermen from Galhlee speaking in
 
 | who lived in Galllee had rough, igno-
 rant way of speaking of their own (see
 Mark XIV. 7o) by whicn they were known. l Those who could understand these differ ent langua, ,SeS in which the apostles spoke | of the wonderful works of God' wonder
 ed and asked what this couId mean. llSl But It was not so with all, Some
 could not understand these langua and
 thought and said that the men making
 these strange noises must be drunk. l TAI A great crowd had by this tune gath
 cred, probably about the house wGere these things had taken place. Before them
 the eleven,' Go whom this mar veous gift
 had come, stood, and to them Peter. patu- rally the readiest of the eleven, speaks. The rest ot the lesson is bis speech.
 l15l He first denies the charge. It was not necessary for him to dwell at length
 upon it, because all who could understand
 the language spoken were ready to testify
 that tue words were no, the senseless inb- bering of drunken men. He only reters to
 the law by which all Jews held themselves bound. especially on feast day, neither , to eat nor drink until the hour of the Em0rning sacrifice, the third hour, from 8 10 nclock n the morning, had passed. , l16-2ll He quotes from their own prophet Joel to snow that such scenes as they now saw were to be expected. Joel was lexcept JoDah) the earliest of the prophets who 5 wrote out their prophecles about S00 years before Peter quoted his words. The last days mean here as often ID the Bible, the 3 days when the prophecies are all fulfilled, P the ceremonial law abolished, the king dom of God set up on earth by the Son of = Sod. When Jesus sald It is tinished,' the last days began there is to be no further change in Gods working. Men are to be saved through the Gospel of Christ or not P at all. Many of the wonders spoken of by Joel had been seen, by those to whom r Peter spoke. while Jesus hung upon the D cross: the darkeued sun. the quaklng earth, tEe signs ln the earth and tae B wonders in heaven above.' It may be it U was all fulfilled then. It may be some
 part remains to be fulfilled during these of them; and now all that call tof course i it means in sincerity and with faito) on the - name of the Lord shall be saved.
 f l22,24l And then he most plainly charees ho'ua upon those men their guilt lu crucl- r fylug that Lord. Perhaps, nay, probably, d some in that crowd had been among those very ones who erred 'CrucIfv Him.' Was s it not wonderful thing that right there, = among those very wicked people, the Gos-
 pol should have been preached, aud saliva = ton offered through Him of Whom Pc CT ;, could say, Him YE have taken, aud bv n wicked hands have crucitied and slaIn, Aud though He died for our sins as we'll as l. their's. yet the same blessed offer IS made t26 2sl And then Peter went in to show V these men who had killed Him that He e was certainly the Saviour; there could be DO doubt about that at all. For God had
 l ldtS0u Illm AIOu buO Utdus dS 11o tdu lOuR n ago ttbrouRh David) said he would Un. z less Jesus had been what He claimed tC "A be, the Son of God come to save sinners bv = his death, God would not lave raised Him
 from the dead. And God had raised Hiu
 up. More than fve hundred persons liv- e ing at JeI usalem had seen Hun alive. after ,- Hts crucl6xlon that no one denied.
 Read the second chapter of the book of F. Joel. and the sixteenth Psalm.
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