Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-12-23
for the Hutl1e Circle.

fnr the 4at1e Circle.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,.
LESSON 4; FIRST QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 8.
Text of the Lesson. Acts J. LA = Nom
ory Verses, 7-e-Golden Text, Luke xiv.
B1- Commentary by tho Rev. d. n.
stearns.
/. "The former treatise have made, o
Fheophilus, Of all that Jesus began both to
do and teach. ;" This associates the writer
with the author Of the third gospel Luke
il, 1-4l. In that treatise he speaks Of the
ioines and teachings of Jesus as things
most surely believed, Of which people
knew the certainty. This Is record Of
the continuation of the doings and teach
llngs of Jesus through His followers. Dr..
Erdman calls 1t mirror OF the experience
of all true and faithful witnesses till He
icome, It's two themes being the "Great
Redemption" and the Coming King
DOM" Observe that the order Is first doing
| and then teaching and compare Mark Vi,
30; Ez., vii, 10.
3. until the day In which He was tax
en- up" The gospel by Luke reaches to
the ascension, with which also he begins
this treatise "a word used only in verse !,
but the Greek word logos ,is used over
800 times, generally translated WORD"
and In John /, 1; Johni, 1, and Rev. xix,
1s, applied to Christ Himself. AS by the
Holy Spirit He was born, baptized, led,
cast out demons, offered Himself a sacrifice,
rose from the dead, by the same spirit He
gave His parting commands to His apos-
ties
8. "To whom also BE showed Himself
alive after His passion" (or sufferings).
His ten or more different appearances to
the disciples during the 40 days between His
resurrection and ascension were sufficient
to prove to them that the risen Christ was
the very same Jesus whom they had known
and loved and had seen die on Calvary.
They saw the marks of the nails In His
hands and of the spear In His side, and
yet there was change, for His body was
no longer flesh and blood, but flesh and
bones" I" In which He could eat and walk
and talk and have fellowship 1t was an
immortal body, incorruptible, and ours
shall be the same (Phil Iii, 2D.
4. "Commanded them that they should
not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for
the promise Of the Father" Compare
A TNh vix a. 20
26; xvi, 2, 18. Although they had the very
best of teachers and cf teaching for two or
three consecutive years, yet they were not
qualified for service until they had received
In special sense the gift Of the Spirit 1t
Is not the mere knowledge Of the truth
that will suffice, but the truth set on fire
by the Holy Spirit The word Is hkened
to water, but water must boil to make
steam. May the fire cause the water to
boil to make His nnme known (Isa- Xiv, q.
8. "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy
Ghost, not many days hence" John had
said Of Him, He shall baptize you With
the Holy Ghost and with fire. duke lii,
16). In our next lesson we shall see some
what Of the fire, but expect that we will
see more Of the fire In connection with the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Israel
at His second coming. See Zech. xii, 10;
xiii, g. Since He who loved US enough to
die for us is he who baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost what hinders us to be baptizedP
Ask Him.
6. Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore
again the kingdom to Israeli" In all His
teaching the prominent topic was The
Kingdom" as 1t was also during the 40
days before His ascension (versc 81. The
only kingdom mentioned In the Old Testa-
ment as a kingdom to be joyfully expected
was the kingdom promised to David, with
a King upon His throne The angel Ga
briel, John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus,
the twelve and the seventy, all preached 1t;
but by the Jews treatment of Christ 1t
was postponed till He shall como again
(Luke XIX, II, 12). The disciples had not
understood 1t 80, and hence their question
because of their unbelief.
z. "It is not for you to know the times
or the seasons which the Father hath put
in His own power" He did not say that
their thoughts Of the kingdom were wrong
or carnal, or that 1t was to be a spiritual
kingdom in the heart and not kingdom
for Israel, as many say today, for he
knew, and we ought to know. that the one
thing in all Scripture which He had said
that He would do with His whole heart
was to place Israel in their own land to do
them good (Jer. mxii, AZ. He did say
that 1t was not for them to know the time
8. "But ye shall receive the power of
the Holy Ghust coming upon you, and ye
shall be wit.-esses unto Me- (see margin).
According to Luke xiv, 40, he had previ-
ously said, "Tarry ye in the city of Jeru-
salem until ye be endued with power from
on high" The great truth to which they
were to bear witness was that He had risen
from the dead. See verse 90, with chap
ters ii, 80; iii, 15; iy, 88, etc. BY the res
direction from the dead He was with pow
er declared to be the Son Of God
9. "He was taken up, and cloud re.
ceived Him out Of their sight. Doubt
less He had many times assembled to His
Father duri1 ! those 40 days since His first
ascension on the resurrection morning
when on His way to the Father He met
Mary Magdalene John Xxx, ~, but now
he was not to appear again till He shall
come for His church. He must take His
seat at the Fathers right hand that the
Holy Spirit may come to bear witness in
the redeemed that Christ is alive forever
more, having oil power In heaven and
earth
10. behold two men stood by them in
white apparel" In Luke TX, 80, two
men, which were Moses and Elijah, were
seen on the mount Of TRANSPORTATION with
Him. For aught know these may have
been the same two, and they may also be
the two witnesses, yet to come, of Rev. xi,