The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-05-23
THE SABBATH SCHOOL.
International Lesson Comments For
May 26.
Subject The Holy Spirit Given, Acts H., l.ll.-
Golden Text. John xvi, l3.- Memory
Verses, I.4..commentary on
the Days Lesson.

i. DAY of Pentecost." The meaning OF
Pentecost is "fiftieth." It occurred Fifty
days after the Passover, and was the sec
ond OF the three yearly feasts held by the
Jews. The resurrection was upon a Sun.
day and Pentecost was the ffteth day
| from the resurrection; therefore IL was
also on Sunday. Fully come" The day
began at the previous sunset and this
would suggest an hour on the fiftieth day.
They knew a great blessing was to come
upon them, but how or when they did not
know. Thts they were hest led TO watch
| and pray, to open their minds to the truth,
to be bound together in love. and to seek
the Lord with. AL their hearts, trusting
| All" Probably the 100 spoken of in
Chap. /: l5.. who were altogether at the
election Of Matthias. "With one accord"
| There was no person unintercstcd. none
unconcerned. none lhkewarm; all were in
earnest, and the Shirt Of God came down
to meet their united faith and prayer "Tu
one place" The upper room. Acts l.: I3.
at the time Of Hadrian's visit to Jerusn-
lem, then for the most part in ruins, there
was still, entire the upper church Of the
apostles in which Cyril of Jerusalem miu-
istered. A. d. 34S II is Gods plan TO
name Heb. 10: 25; Matt. Is: 10, 20). and
those who through negligence, or other
wise, absent themselves from tho company
OF the saints will suffer great snirtual loss.
2. Suddenly" Unexpectedly, in a mo-
rise. "a soundS u" The @'nus suddennessy. IinspeHy
strength and diffusiveness Of the sound
strike with deepest awe the whole COM
pany: and thus complete their preparation
for the heavenly gift. Wind was a famil-
lar emblem Of the Shirt. Eek 81: O.:
John 3; 8; 20: %; But this was not a
rush of actual wind. II was only a sound.
"as of it. at filled all the house" The
sound was heard by all. To an upper room
the Spirit came. a plain unfurnished
room. where there was no ritual. no priest,
no burnt. offerings, no smell of incense.
3. There appeared" After the audi.
hle sign Immediately follows the visible.
"Cloven tongues" The tongues OF fire
parted themselves off like streams from
enc source. or like branches from ono root.
and distributed themselves among them.
This was the baptism Of FIRE which John
had promised Matt. 8: lD; the fire on
earth which the Lord Himself longed to
see kindled. Luke u: 40. The tongues
were the emblem of the languages they
were to speak The cloven tongues point.
ed OFT the diversity of those languages.
whole would be a spiritual gift and be the
means of bringing light and life to the
souls who should hear ;hem preach the
everlasting gospel in those. languages.
The, penetrating power of the word of
God: 2 The old symbol of zeal and en-
thusiasm. g. Leaping. triumphant, trans.
forming energy. 4. The resistless puri-
flying which consumes the errors and burns
up evil. s.. All the comfort, warmth.
cheer, life. Joy. blessing. which the Holy
Spirit could impart. ''1t sat" There
were as many flames as there were persons
and they sat upon them for some time to
show the constant residence of the Holy
Spirit with. them. The Spirit henceforth
was to abide in the church. and hold His
throne fhnra "a hal Ia in,
the Holy of Holes of old, and as the spirit
of life abides in our bodles, the organizing,
controlling, ife-giying power.
4. Were all filed" Not only touched
o., made, aware Of the presence Of the Holy
Ghost, but filed. made full. The whole
nature. was filed with the love and power
of God. The same measure and the same
gifts OF the Spirit were not bestowed on
all alike; nevertheless, each one was filed,
receiving the same measure of the Spirit
the Holy Spirit" r. W The Holy Spirit
was not now for the first time given to
men, for the Old Testament repeatedly
makes mention of His influence on the
minds of the prophets and others lcom-
pare, also, Luke l: 10, Al, CD; but He is
ushering in a new dispensation. At this
time the hearts Of the disciples were puri
fed by faith. Began to speak" The
speech that publishes the glad tidings
should be a tongue of fire. He who speaks
the gospel coldly has not himself felt its
power When the preachers heart is
kindled his words will burn. Enthusiasm
instead of being blemish in Christian
is his normal condition. "Fervcnt in
spirit, serving the Lord" these two have
been Joined together by. the word of God.
and they should never be put asunder, in
the practice of men. The difference be-
tween one man and another is the differ
ence of fire. with other tongues" Their
tongues were new with respect to language
as well as to thoughts. Gave utterancc.p
Furnished them with the matters as well
as the language.
s. Dwelling at Jerusalem" Both rer-
manent residents and pilgrims. who had
come up to the feast are probably includ-
ed, verse 10. At this time there was
scarcely a commercial nation under heav-
en- where the Jews had not been scattered
for the purpose of trade, merchandise, etc,
and from all these nations it is said, there
were persons now present at Jerusalem.
The wide list of countries mentioned in
cludes all the lands to which the Israel
ties had been banishcd. Representatives
from all the twelve tribes listened to
Peters sermon (Acts 2: 1880, carried
back the gospel to their different homes,
and were afterward confirmed in the faith
by the epistle OF James, addressed to the
twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,
or are in the dispersion.
6. "When this sound was heard" (R.
W The sound that came from the upper
room. "Confoundod." Perplexed, failing
to understand what it all meant. Sec v.
IL. Gown languaGe" Or dialect; they
heard even the different dialects. See
" 8.
7. "Galleans." Persons wholly unedu.
Gated and, consequently, ignorant of those
languages which they now speak so llu-
emily.
o. "Parthians." For an explanation OF
the names in this and the following verses
see dictionary.
10. "Proslytes." Heather who had ac-
cented the Jewish religion.
IL. "Wonderful works" Concerning
Jesus; His death, resurrection and ascen-
sion and His power to save men from sin.
Gsrmsny's Odd Trees.
Two remarkable trees in Germany