The true northerner., 1897-01-06
s'HE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON u. FIRST QUARTER. INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 10.

Il. a. Commentary by the Rev. ID. M.
stearns.
I. And when the day Of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord
I'm 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
il difficult TO wait quietly without doing
something. The word "pentecost" il only
found elsewhere in Acts Xxx, 16; Cor. xvi,
8; but 'pentekosta" is the Greek for
''flfty," and the law said that so days after
the day after passover Sabbath Israel was
to offer IA 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 i'm the be
lever which is met only by the sacrifice.
2. "And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filed all the house where they were
sitting" There had been nothing unusual
during those waiting days. but just a 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 walt 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. (Luke Iii, 16) and here was fulfill
ment. On Christ the Spirit came as dove
(Luke 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
OF spoke the Spirit filed them (Acts iy, 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 filed 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. T." What "A contrast is here to Babel
(Gen. xi), 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 a
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, 46).
g. "And there were dwelling at Jerusa-
lem jews dcvout men, out of every ma
n
they had come TO worship God according
to their law-to keep the Passover and the
feast of weeks or of the fifticth 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, 24-2S; Isa. xvii, 6; Ps, xvii, /,
2, -
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 1t 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 a trumpet as the law
permitted them to do Mum. x, y. This
was wholly the work OF God and Of His
Holy Spirit
z, s. And they were all amazed and
maryeled, saying one to another, Behold,
are not all these which speak Galileansl
And how hear we every man in our own
tongue, wherein we were bornf' The two
men at the ascension addressed them as
Eye men of Galilee" Ii, ~. They were
country people, not citizens of Jerusalem,
the holy city. They were not from any OF
the schools or the centers of human wis
dom. They were very common people in
the eyes of the world, aud yet they are
heard speaking all tho languages under
heaven. This was truly an unheard of
thing, and we'll might the people say, eve
never saw it on this fashion. The One
who is perfect in knowledge dob xxxvi
~ had entered into them, and being fa
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 tls wonderful works of God. Z"
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 Himp Dob xxxvi, 22.) This self
same Spirit still lives, and lie 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 IL He saw that we
were whole hearted for Him and had no
ambition but to make His name glorious?
IL. And they were all amazed and
were in doubt, saying one to another,
What meaneth thisS" The men of Athens
said to Paul: "Thou bringest certain
strange things TO our ears. We would
know, therefore, what these things mean"
(Acts xviii 20) 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 ago, about /, 400 years or more, their
God had done some wonderful things
through Moses--even unheard of things
and that some Of their ancestors had even
heard the very voice Of God speaking out
of the fire on Mount Sinai, but that was
so very, very long ago, and would never
a.