Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-07-14
THE FIRST CHURCH.
LESSON III, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY II.

ID. NJ. Stearns.
81. Now when they heard this they |
were pricked in their heart, and said unto |
Peter and the rest of the apostles Men
and brethren what shall we doW When |
the people accused the Spirit-flled apostles
with being drunken, Peter arose, and from
Joel ii, 1880; Ps. xvi, Sill; II Sam. vii, IL, 49,
and other Scriptures, preached unto them
Jesus and the resurrection in such power
that the results were as described in this
lesson Jesus had said that the Spirit would
reprove or convince of sin, righteousness
and judgment (John xvi, SID, and al
ready on the first day Of His coming be-
hold how nightly He works gal. ii, s..
But observe that He wrought conviction
by the word spoken by the prophets, and
as Jesus crucified and risen was therein
presented to the people.
49, Then Peter said unto them, Repent
and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
sins, and We shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost" They had thought Jesus to
be II dcCeiver and impostor; Peter proved
that by the miracles and wonders which
God did by Him and by raising Him from
the dead God had testified that He was in
deed Israel's Lord and Christ of whom all
the prophets had spoken. The one thing
therefore for the people now to do was to
change their minds about Jesus of Naza-
reth accept Him as their Messiah, confess
the same by baptism and thus be forgiven
and receive the Spirit that they too might
become witnesses unto Him.
80. For the promise is unto you, and to
your children and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall
call" Peter again referred to the promise
in Jocl ii, rs. which he had already quoted
(verse ~, and probably to such promises
as Isa. Xiv, 3, Il will pour my Spirit upon
thy seed and my blessing upon thine off
spring" See also lisa. ], 81. That 1t is tho
pleasure Of God to bless and save whole
households is evident from the stories of
Noah, Abram, Lot and Rahab Gen. vii, /;
xviii, 10; xix, l.; Joshua ii, ls), and also
from such instances as that in Acts xvi, "a.
40 "And with many other words did He
testify and eXhort. saying, Save yourselves
from this untoward generation" Not in
His own words, but in the words of the
Holy Spirit He must have continued to
speak unto them, for being filled with the
Spirit the Spirit would speak through Him
according to Math. X, 20 We can easily
| imagine him using such cncouraScmcnts
as lisa. j, Is; Xiii, %; ", 8, 4; Eek. XXXvi,
90, and many others.
Al. Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized, and the same day
| there were added unto them about three
thousand souls" 1t is not enough to hear or
! know about Jesus; we must hear and then
believe or receive his word ii. e., Himself
John V, q; vi, ca. Believing means re-
ceiving John i, l2), and if we do not re-
ceive Him we cannot be said to believe
Him. 1t is having or not having Him that
decides whether rive have life or not Il John
V, l2) There is nothing saving either in
baptism or the communion, but being
saved by receiving Him then we confess
our death, burial and resurrection with
| Him by the rite Of baptism, and rejoice in
| the communion to show forth His death
| Till He come"
~. And they continued steadfastly in
the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and
in breaking of bread and in prayers"
These were the outward evidences of the
sincerity of their faith in Christ. Through
the apostles they were further instructed
and thus built up and established, and
continuing in prayer, and commcmorating
from time to time His death, they rejoiCed
in Jesus as their Saviour and King, and
daily expected His return to restore to
Israel the kingdom Gii 2U.
AZ. And lear came upon every soul ana
many wonders ana signs were zone ny the
apostles As II IS written III MARK XVI
20 lhey went lorth ana preacheu every,
where the Loru working win tneih AM,
confirming the word with signs iolloWlhE'
The signs are mentioned III MARX XVI l'-Io
and 90 not KNOW Why such signs snoulu
not be seen to TINS day Tor II Is nowhere
sad that these signs shouIu continue uii'li
certain Tune ana thcn cease w want
more whole hearted IoyhIty 10 ohIlaG "hu
utter Abandonment TO RIM, thaC 80 ne 10y
HIS same spirit may sun WORK III lis 10 LIS
glory.
Al. And all that believed were to8e'heF
and had all things common" 1hey Were
now children OF one Father, brothers ana
sisters in one great household OF 1ath
they had Il whole heart Tor HIM VINO hau
given Himself for Them so having received
the Holy Spirit they counted nothing
their own any more, but rejoiced IN minis
tering to all of their substance as each had
need. See chapter ~, ~ "a.