Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-01-08
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON II, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 10.

Text OF the Lesson, Acts II, 1-13-Mem-
DRY Verses, Ia Golden Text, Acts
II. a Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
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.
s; but "pentekosta" is the Greek for
fifty, y and the law said that so days after
the day after passover Sabbath Israel was
to offer n new meat offering unto the Lord
(Lev. xiii, 16). Th4' meat Offering. typic-
al of the gathering Of the thousands to
| Christ at PentecOst, was bcked with leav-
en-, suggestive of the evi, still in the be-
lever which is met only by the sacrifice.
g. And suddenly there cane "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 a quiet
/
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 fittieth day or not we are not
told. They were TO pray, to wait and to
expect with unwavoring faith in their alb
sent Lord
3. And there appeared unto them clio
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, 49, and here was fulfill
ment On Christ the Spirit came as a dove
duke ill., 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 filed them (Acts iv, 81;
X, 44-i6) 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.
4. "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 a 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 for God and are enabled in
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
II, chapters iv, 81 X, 49,
8. And there were dwelling at Jerusa-
lem jews devout men, out of every ma
ton under heaven" From all the world
they had come to worship God according
to their law-to keep the Passover and the
feast of weeks, or of the 1lftieth 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 Paullike
devotion to Jesus of Nazareth will they tell
to all nations the joyful tidings (Ezek.
xxxvi, 2l-2S; lisa. xvii, 6; Ps. Xvii, /,
2, y.
q. 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 had |
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. Y, D. This !
was whom,' the work Of God and of His /
Holy Spirit.
y 3, And they were all amazed and
marveled, saying one to another, Behold |
are not all these which speak Galileans?
And how hear we every man in our own
tongue, wherein we were born?'' The two
men at the ascension addressed them as
"Ye men of Galilee" ii, IL They were
country people, not citizens of Jerusalem,
the holy city. They were not from any of
the schools or the centcrs OF human wis
dom. They were very common people in
the eyes of the world, and yet they are
heard speaking all the languages under
heaven This was truly an unheard of
thing, and well might the people say, eve
mover saw it on this fashion" The One
who is perfect in knowledge dob xxxvi,
- had entered into them, and being ia.
miliar with all languages He spoke
through them any language with equal
ease Something like this He does some
times even now.
Gil 1--WE do hear them speak in our
tongues the wonderful works of God"
Here are at least twice seven different ma
tionalities listening to humble Galileans
speaking with ease all their various Ian
guages Well may we say, "Who teacheth
like HimY dob xxxvi, 22.) This self
same Spirit still lives, and He lives in every
believer, dividing to every man severally
as He will Il Cor. xii, ~. But who can
tell what we might even today have from
God to lay out for God if He saw that we
We're whole hearted for Him and had no
ambition but to make His name gloriousY
~. And they were all amazed and
were in doubt, saying one TO another,
What meancth this?" The men of Athens
said to Paul: "Thou bringest certain
strange things to our ears. We would
know, therefore, what these things mean"
(Acts xvii, 2O). This they said because he
preached unto them Jesus and the resur-
rection, and in our next lesson we shall
find Peter explaining this strange occur
renee by preaching Jesus and the resurrec-
ton. Some of them knew that very long
time q ahot1t l