The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-01-10
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Sunday School Lesson
for Januury ~, 1902.
BY REV. FRANKLIN B. DWIGHT.
The Promise Fulfilled.
Acts II: LA.


And now the great Day of Pente-
cost has come. The promise of the
assembled Saviour is to be fulfilled /
The zone hundred and twenty" dis
ciples spoken of in Chap. [: 10 and |
perhaps some others were assembled |
in one room which may have been, as
has been suggestedd, sson one of the |
avenues to the temple, thronged at |
this time by early worshippers Sud
denly a wonderful occurrence takes |
place. There is great sound, like
the whirr and rush of mighty wind. |
1t was not wind. 1t was the coming |
in great power of the almighty Spirit
Of God. Do not think of the Holy
Spirit as coming to man for the first
time on this day of Pentecost. He
had ever been in Gods world 1t
was He who enlightened Moses and
the elders of Israel Mum. xi:17) 1t
was He who was with Joshua Mum.
XVI :l8) 1t was He who came upon
David from the day that He was an
nointed by Samuel q Sam. i:13). 1t
was He who inspired the holy men OF
old who spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost. But just as the theo-
| phanies, or appearances of Christ the
Word before the advent at Bethlehem
were anticipations of His coming in
human form, so these Old Testament
CLEANS of the Holy Spirits light were
but the first rays of the full orbed
glory which was to break upon the
world when an appearance like
tongues of fame should be seen on
the heads of these early Christians
and they should speak in many
tongues, even 'tas the Spirit gave
them utterance. IVA. It is evident
that they were lifted up into state
of spiritual ecstasy and rapture. We
cannot explain how it all came about
! We can only read the record and
accept the fact. Here, as always. the
Scripture narrative does not explain
the HOW of the miracle. It is the
operation of Gods will, and He who
made the world and all things that
are therein can and does control all
the forces of the universe whether of
matter or of spirit. When we remem-
Der this truth, miracles aid our faith,
even as they aided the faith Of the
early church.
We may learn precious lessons from
the manner of this great dislay Of the
Spirits presence and power. Jesus
compared the Spirit to the wind,
which "bloweth where it listeth. I"
| John iii 81, as if He had said, "It
is altogether beyond the knowledge
and power of man." And when He
had risen from the grave on that first
Easter Sunday we are told. that at
one of His appearances to His dis
ciples' He breathed on them and said,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The
original meaning of the Greek word
we translate spirit is breath or wind,
and our English word is the same,
being from the Latin, spirog breathe,
a very common root, found in such
words as respiration, and many others.
As our breath is our very life, without
(which we must certainly die. so the
Esprit or Divine outbreathing of God,
is His life impaired to His children.
Without this they are dead in sin.
With this power from on high they
rise into newness of life. And even
as the Spirit regenerates the sinner, SO
He also fills the believer with power
and wisdom, taking of the things of
Christ and showing them unto him.
And we may see a lesson in the
tongues flame Fire purifies and
consumes. Fire gives light and sheat.
The Spirit always enlightens the
Church. and the Church that is not
possessed of the Spirit is walking in
darkness. The Spirit warns the
hearts of Christians to new zeal and
earnestness, and if they have not the
Spirit they are formal and cold. The
Spirit purifies tie believers affection
and consumes the dross of worldli-
mess, that the pure gold of a Christ
like life may shine out in all its
beauty.
Thus we see the infinite Importance
of this great outpouring of the Spirit
of God. He has been truly in the
church ever since that great day and
our prayer should be that we may
have our eyes opened to perceive His
presence and our hearts made willing
to do his His will.
The gift of tongues which came
upon the disciples at Pentecost was
not a supernatural endowment to
preach the Gospel in languages which
the preacher had never learned. On
the contrary. Paul, who spoke with
tongues more than ALL did not under
stand the dialect of Lycaonia. This
| power was not an instrument for mis-
sionary work. (See DIR. S. Schaff
| in International Commentary. Men
then as now we're compelled to study
new languages, if they would pro-
claim the gospel in new lands. And
yet this miracle at Pentecost, beside
being a supernatural gift whereby
the first believers could utter their
rapturous joy in manner which
compelled unusual attention was also
a prophecy of that day which the
church is now permitted to see. when
the Gospel is preached in nearly all
lands and when hundreds of Languages
and dialects are made the means of
telling the wonderful works of
God. " (v.11.)
And this brings us to the great
practical teaching of our lesson.
What was it that these visitors in
Jerusalem, these "devout men from
every nation heard that day? 1t
was the wonderful works of God. f"
And that is just what we should see
that men hear from us today. We
should tell how great things the Lord
hath done for us. We should delight
to bear witness to the wondrous power
of His redeeming mercy and His sane
tifying grace, and we shall always
find that now as then if told Alright,
| it will produce 'amazement" in our
hearers. Men can not hear the old
story of Jesus and His love without
an impression of wonder being pro
duoed in their minds. 1t was so then
and it will be SO now. The one es-
sential is that he who tells the story
should be as thoroughly convinced Of
it's fr,Ith and aS firm w MIDDAY tha ~,