Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-01-11
Prepared by H. C. Lenington.l
THE LESSON TEXT.


(Acts Billy
1 And when the day Of Pentecost ~.
fully come, they were all with one accs-%
in one place.
z And suddenly there came sound frcna
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. ana
1t filled all the house where they were sit
ting.
tongues like as of fire. and 1t sat upon each
of them
l. And they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, and began to speak with otneE
tongues, as the Spirit gave them uttefanee-
s. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem
Jews, devout men. out OF every nat1oi< ~
der heaven
S 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.
Z. And they were all amazed and mar
veled, saying one to another. Behold. ara
not all these which speak Galileans?
s. And how hear we every man In ouE
| own tongue, wherein we were born?
3. Parthians, and Modes, and ElamitsSs
and the jewellers in Mesopotamia, and in
Iudea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and
Asia.
and in the parts of Libya about CyTene,
and strangers of Rome, Jews and pros
elytess
Il. Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them
speak in our tongues the wonderful works
GOLDEN TExT-The premise is un-
10 you and to your chitdren.-Acta
2:39.
MITES AND COMMENTS.
The lesson should include not only
the text as printed above, but also on
through the Both verse. Read also Joel
2:21-32. This takes in part of Peters
wonderful sermon. The text in the
Acts may be summed up under the fol-
lowing heads:
| The Gift Of tho
Effect on city's multitudes. VS.. 5-12.
Prophecy fulfilled, VS.. '421. u
Jesus the Christ. vs. 22-S6.
The Gift of the Spirit.-Pentecost
was the fiftieth day after the Passover
| and one of the three great feasts OF
the Jews. It has been remarked that
a Jewish tradition made Pentecost
the anniversary of the giving of the
law from Mount Sinai. It may well
have been that upon the anniversary
of the revelation that marked the be-
ginning of the Old Testament dispen-
sation, the gift of the Holy Spirit
should mark the beginning of a, new
dispensation. No longer is it the old
Mosaic law, but the love of Christ, that
constraineth US.
1t is to be noted that the descent of
the Spirit was made manifest in three
significant symbols. In the Bible the
Spirit is ikened to three things with
out which life would be impossible on
earth: air Cor wind), fire and water.
The first two of these are mentioned
in our text. The Spirit is like the wind
because it is invisible and powerful,
yet gentle and delicate. 1t is the
breath of life of all things living. It is
like fire in that it is purifying and gives
comfort and light. Fire worship is one
of the religions of the east, being con-
sidered the source of all life. Water
is not mentioned in the passage, but
the gift of the Spirit is further sym
bolized in the power ''to speak with
other tongues representing the chief
method of spreading the truths of the
Gospel and its universally. All. peo-
pies are to hear it, all peoples, of what
ever nationality, of whatever age, of
whatever experiences, can understand
it, each in their own tengue:e
Effect on the City's Multitudes.-
Such great power became imme diately
manifest not only among the few, but
among the many. Strangers in JeFu-
salem from far-away nations were
surprised to hear themselves addressed
! in their own language. The Jews, not
understanding any but their own Ian
guage and seeing the CONJUNCTION
caused among the foreigners as well
as their own people, accused the apos-
ties of being drunk with wine.
Peters Sermon. = The charge. of
drunkenness was out of all keeping
with the facts of the case. DrunlSen-
ness stood then as it stands now for
RIGHTEOUSNESS. The descent of the
Holy Spirit meant directly the oppo-
site; for it came not upon the self-in-
dulgent, but upon those who submit
, ted themselves to the Divine law of
love. The Bible speaks of men pos
sessed of demons; maniacs they
were, defying all law, human or Di-
vine So we have come now to speak
, of those upon whom the Spirit of
Christ has come s possessed" Of the
Holy Spirit. Demoniacs and Chris
, tians (using both terms in their strict
and derivative as opposed to their ac-
quired meanings) are at the very OPP
posite, spiritual extremes. Peter be-
! came the spokesman of the followers
of Jesus and explained to the multi
tude that had gathered how the phe-
) nomenon was the fulfilling of the
| prophecies all the Jews had long ac-
| cepteS as messages from God, and that
it was another proof of the Messiah
ship of the Jesus they had crueifed.
The prophecy quoted by Peter was
that of Joel, and the quota ton in
Guided Joel 2:25-32. The literal full
fllment of this prophecy Peter pointed
out. Joel's words of promise and COM
fort should be read and -reread by
Christian people. for we see in these
days even as Peter saw on Pentecost
their wonderful aptness. Gear not,
D land; he glad and rejoice; for the
Lord vii, 10 great things"