Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-01-02
for the Aot1e Girele.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON II, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 10.

Text OF the Lesson, Acts ii, 1-1S-Mem-
ory Verses, a. Golden Text, Acts
II, a. Commentary ty the Rev. ID. M.
Stearns.
/. "And when tho day Of Pentecost was
fully come, theyswere 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, rs on other occasions, found
1t difficult to wait quietly without doing
something. The word "pentecost" is only
found elsewhere In Acts 1x, 16; Cor XVI,
s; but "pentekosta" Is the Greek for
"ffty," and the law said that 80 days after
the day after passover Sabbath Israel was
to offer new meat offering unto the Lord
(Lev. x3iii, 16) This meat offering. typic-
oil of the gathering of the thousands to
Christ ut Pentecost, was baked with leav-
en-, suggestive of the evil still In the be-
lever which is met only by the sacrifice
2. "And suddenly there came q sound
from heaven, as of rushing mighty wind,
and it 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 fullllment of the promise How He
would come-I mean the promised Com
forter-or whcn they had not been told,
and whether any of them thought Of the
Levitical fifticth day or not we are not
told. They were to pray, to wait and to
expect with unwavering faith in their alb
sent Lord
g. "And there appeared unto them clo-
ven tongues like as of fire, and 1t sat upon
each Of them" John had said, He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with
fire. (Luke iii, 16), and here was n fulfill
ment. On Christ the Spirit came as dove
luke iii, 22), for in Him was no sin nor
dross needing purifying fire. We do not
read that He came again rs fire nor did
they again need to wait, butas they prayed
or spoke the Spirit filled them (Acts iv, 81;
<, 44-46). The Spirit having come, there is
no need to wait for Him us at Pentecost,
but if we really desire to DO filled with
the Spirit for Gods glory, He will quickly
do 1t. Yet wo may need to wait to DO made
ready.
4. "And they were all flied 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. xi), where there was but one Ian
gusge 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 duo to them, nor Is 1t
through ono 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 ", 81; X 46).
g. "And there were dwelling ut 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 fftieth 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 tn-Iespsof Na2arnt it;in tESS ~
to ali nutions Tho joyful tidinSs (EzeK.
xxxyi, S4-2S; Isa xvii, 6; Ps. xvii, /,
g., 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" Tho
revised version says, "When this sound
was heard" In some way it was soon
made known throughout the city, and the
people camc together The disciples had
no difficulty in getting congregation, as
Il ft n1v
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.
z, s. "And they were all amazed and
marveled, saying one to another, Behold,
are not all these which speak Galile;inss
And how hear we every man in our own
tongue, wherein we were born?" The TWO
men ut the ascension addressed them as
aye men of G;.lilec" Il, 1I. They were
country people, not citizens Of Jerusalem,
the holy city. They wero not from any of
the schools or the centers 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 we'll might the people say, I'VE
never saw it on this fashion" The One
who Is perfect in knowledge (Job xxxvl,
A. had entered into them, and being fa.
miliar with all languages lie spoke
through them any language with equal
ease. Something like this He does some
times even now.
Oil. "We do hear them speak in our
tongues the wonderful works of God"
IT txtyira Al
tionalitics listening to humble Galileans
speaking with ease all their various Ian
guages Well may We say, "Who teachcth
like Him2" (Job xxxvi, 22.) This self
same Shirt still lives, and He lives IN every
believer, dividing to every man screrally
as He will Il Cor. xii, 1D. But who Gun
tell what we might even today have from
God to lay out for God if He saw that we
werc whole hearted for Him and had no
ambition but to make His name glorious?
12. "And they were all amazed and
| wero In doubt, saying one to another,
What meaneth this9' Tho men of Athens
said to Paul: "Thou bringcst certain
| strange things to our ears We would
know therefore, what these things mean"
| (Acts xvii, 2O) This they said because he
nrcachcd unto them Jesus and tho resur-
rection, and in our next lesson we shall
find Peter explaining this strange occur
rouco by preaching Jesus and the rcsurrec-
tion Some of them knew that u very long
time ago, about l,4oO cears or more, their
| Cod had done some wonderful things
through Moses-evcn unheard of things
and that some of their ancestors had even
heard the very voice of God speaking out
| q .ho Gro op Mount Sinni but that was