The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1886-03-25
OUR EVENING SERMON !
'Others mocking said, These men are
full of new wine.'

"Others mocking said, These men are
full of new wine.
The human family are not all moved
alike, not all actuated by the same i'm
pulses. What is the power of the spirit
manifest in ecstatic joy to one, may seem
intolerable nonsense to another. Much
depends upon the standpoint, as well as
manner, of observation. We cannot say
man is deceived, or wilfully wrong, be-
cause he does not meet our ideas of wis
dom or propriety. We are all fallible.
The man who is moved by purely Chris
tian impulse will not attribute unto him.
self all there is of Christian worth, or all
power of Scriptual Interpretation. Who
of us has not seen men act strangely
under pressure of excitement? But let a
man lose control of his action through
frenzied anger, and his judgment seems
to have disappeared. We pronounce his
action foolish in the extreme, and we are
all too ready to charge foolish conduct
upon those who labor under any kind of
excitement, even though the motive be
good rather than bad. We fail to grasp
the idea of how man can act any more
sensible under excitement produced by
religious zeal, than under a frenzy of
anger,
The Apostles were assembled in one
place, on the day of Pentecost, when
there was great sound, as of rushin
mighty wind, filling the house where
they were sitting, and there appeared
unto each a cloven tongue like as of fire,
and it sat upon each of them, and they
began to speak with other tongues as the
Spirit gave them utterance. There were
dwelling at Jerusalem devout men "of
every nation under Heaven" And when
it became noised abroad, the multitude
came, and each heard them speak in his
own language. They were all amazed,
and in doubt, some asking of others the
meaning of all this. Among the answers
given was that of the text. But Peter
stood up and assured them that "these
are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it
is but the third hour of the day.
Let no man be deceived into believing
that this was an excuse for their not
being drunk-that the hour was so early
they had not had time to get drunk.
These men were filled with the Holy
Ghost. There may have been an intoxi-
cation of joyful excitement, but it was
something above, beyond, the emotions
or sensations produced by material stim-
ulants. We knew man some years ago,
who was considered one of the most de-
vout men ever known to the Church. He
was full of religious zeal and fire, and
never hesitated to make himself felt on
all occasions where he could put in a
word for the Master. In giving his Sex
perience" once in class-meeting this good
old brother told of "Satan's rage" after
this manner: Just after I had joined the
Church, and started upon the Christian
journey, I was passing through a piece
of woods, one day, when Satan tempted
me. 1 could feel his presence in the
neighborhood. 1 heard the Devils claws
rattling upon the bark of a hickory tree
near me, as plain as I ever heard any
thing But said Mr.. Devil just stand
back-you can't get me this time" Now
might get from that statement would be
that the old man was drunk, and mistook
the wind for the Devil-and such man
would like to believe that the Devil Is
all wind-but the old man was physically
sober, though we must say that his i'm
agination was greatly quickened by his
religious zeal. The old man was in
wardly praising the Lord, though he be-
lieved that Satan was very near. You
may say she was acting the fool" But it
proved that he was only fool for Christ's
sake. Whether he heard the claws of
the Evil One or not, certain it is that he
was not tempted, and that he lived a life
of righteousness, and we believe went to
the reward of the faithful. Drunk? He
was drunk as the angels get drunk.
We knew a lady who was passing
along the street, on the way home from
Church, when suddenly she began to act
like one suddenly become insane. Parties
seeing that woman on the street, would
have been willing to testify that she was
drunk. Yet she was moved by that
supreme joy of the soul which comes
from a full realization of salvation
through Christ. Again we knew man
who was made suddenly happy by being
filed with the Holy Ghost while at work
upon his farm. He rushed home with
great shout and told the good news to his
family. Who shall say that good man
was drunk? He was overcome by
power that is the firm enemy of the in
fuences of earth that make drunk.
True, we occasionally find in this world
those who, while pretending to be con-
sistent Christians-as viewed from their
of cOnvenience-are only
found sober when it is too early to get
drunk. But these are not they who are
filled with the Holy Ghost. Men may
differ widely as to what is, or is not,
proper conduct in Christian, and many
may laugh to scorn the antics of those
overcome by the excitement which comes
scorner is like the man who seemingly
takes great pride in being classed as an
Infidel. Nothing is further from his
thoughts than real Infidelity. He is con-
stantly trying to convince himself that
there is no God-yet he only convinces
himself more thoroughly that there is a
God. Hence you will always see the pro-
fessed Infidel engaged in a constant war
fare with the Gospel-that is a constant
attempt to attract the attention of Gospel
influences. The professed Infidel, or the
skeptical man will say "why 1 know a
bad man in the Church." Look that man
squarely in the eye and tell him you
know bad man outside of the Church.
In most cases the very men who would
laugh to scorn shouting Christian,
would remain up all night, drunk,
and howl the hours away over the cleo
ton Of Justice of the Peace or Consta-
BILE. The language Of the passage quoted
may be used metaphorically as indicating