The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-01-08
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON u, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 10.

stearns.
l. "And when the day of Pentecost was
fully come they were all with one accord
In one place" The waiting days of prayer
between Ascension and Pentecost were
marked by one event, the choosing of Mat
thias which may have been of God or
may have been due to Peters restless
spirit which, as on other occasions, found
1t difficult to wait quietly without doing
something The word "pentecost" is only
found elsewhere in Acts Xxx, 10; Cor. xvi,
8; but "pentekosta' is the Greek for
fifty, and the law said that 90 days after
the day after passover Sabbath Israel was
to offer a new meat Offering unto the Lord
(Lev. xiii, 16). This meat Offering. typic-
al of the gathering of the thousands to
Christ at Pentecost, was baked with leav-
en-, suggestive of the evil still In the be-
lever which Is met only by the sacrifice
Q. "And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,
and 1t filled all the house where they were
sitting" There had been nothing unusual
during those waiting days, but just quiet
continuance in prayer and waiting for
the fulfillment Of the promise. How He
would come--I mean the promised Com
forter-or when, they had not been told,
and whether any of them thought of the
Levitical fiftieth day or not we are not
told. They were to pray, to wait and to
expect with unwavering faith in their alb
sent Lord.
8. and there appeared unto them clo-
ven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon
each of them. John had said, "He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with
fire" duke iii, 16), and here was fulfill
ment. On Christ the Spirit came as dove
duke iii, 22) for in Him was no sin nor
dross needing purifying fire. We do not
read that He came again as fire nor did
they again need to wait, but as they prayed
or spoke the Spirit filled them (Acts iv, 81;
X, 44-46). The Spirit having come, there is
no need to wait for Him as at Pentecost,
but if we really desire TO be filled with
the Spirit for Gods glory, He will quickly
do it. Yet we may need to wait to be made
ready.
L. "And they were all filed with the
Holy Ghost and began to speak with 9th
er tongues as the Spirit gave them utter
ance " What contrast is here to Babel
(Gen. XII, where there was but one Ian
guage and the people were gathered to-
gether against Godl Here they are with
one accord lOr uOu anu irc tllitDlcu III d
moment to speak all languages. There Is
no credit whatever due to them, nor is it
through one particle of skill on their part,
but the Holy Spirit takes possession of
them and speaks through them the words
| of God concerning the works of God (verse
| IL, chapters iv, 81; X, 49,
g. "And there were dwelling at Jerusa-
| lem Jews, devout men, out of every ma
| hon >, Epoy, al tho xynrlH
they had come to worship God according
to their law-to keep the Passover and the
| feast of weeks, or of the fiftieth day. The
time will come again when Jews from all
nations shall be gathered TO their own
| land, the Spirit of the Lord shall be pour
ed upon them, and then with Paul-like
| devotion to Jesus of Nazareth will they tell
to all nations the joyful tidings Geek.
xxxvi, Gags; Isn xvii, 8; Ps. Xvii, /,
2, y.
6. "Now, when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together and were con-
founded, because that every man heard
them speak in his own language" The
| revised version says, "When this sound
was heard" In some way it was soon
made known throughout the city, and the
people came together. The disciples haC
no difficulty in getting congregation as
many have today They did not adver
tise, nor even blow trumpet as the law
! permitted them to do (Num. X, y. This
was wholly the work of God and of His
Holy Spirit
T, S. "And they were all amazed ant
! marveled, saying one to another, Behold
are not all these which speak Galileans
| And how hear we every man In our OWL
tongue. wherein we were born?'' The two
men at the ascension addressed them al
aye men of Galilee" ii, III. They wer'
country people, not citizens of Jerusalem
the holy city. They were not from any o
the schools or the centers of human wis
dom. They were very common people IL
the eyes of the world, and yet they ar
heard speaking all the languages 'unde
heaven. This was truly an unheard o
thing, and well might the people say, wv
never saw it on this fashion" The On
who is perfect In knowledge Dob xxxvi
AZ had entered into them, and being ia
miliar with all languages He spok
through them any language with equn
ease. Something like this He does some
times even now.
| Oil. "We do hear them speak In on
tongues the wonderful works Of God.
Here are at least twice seven different ma
tionalities listening to humble Galilean
speaking with case all their various Ian
euages. Well may we say, who teachetl
like HimP" Job xxxvi, e2.) This sell
same Spirit still lives, and He lives In ever
believer, dividing to every man severall
as He will Il Cor. xii, ~. But who Cal
tell what we might even today have from
God to lay out for God If He saw that w
were whole hearted for Him and had n
ambition but to make His name glorious
10. "And they were all amazed an
were In doubt, saying one to another
What meaneth this2" The men of Athen
said to Paul: "Thou bringest certain
strange things to our ears. We woul'
know, therefore, what these things mean
(Acts xvii, 20). This they said because h
preached unto them Jesus and the resuI
rection, and in our next lesson we shal
find Peter explaining this strange occur
renee by preaching Jesus and the resurreC
ton. Some of them knew that very lon
time ago, about l., 400 years or more, thei
God had done some wonderful thing
through Moses-evcn unheard or things
and that some Of their ancestors had eve
heard the very voice of God speaking on
of the fire on Mount Sinai, but that wa
so very. very long ago, and would neve