The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1902-01-09
TIE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the International series
fec January n, Ie02-The Promise
Of Power FultIied.
Prepared by II. G. Lsnlngton.l
THE LESSON TENT,

fully come. they were all Win one cord
In one place.
And suddenly there cam sour rom
heaven as OF a rushing m.shty " md
It filed all the house whers Jhey " sit
ting.
; And there appeared VI. them ven
tongues like as OF ire. and a. al ~ ach
of them.
4 And they were all filled with tn Holy
Ghost, and began to speak with othet
tongues. as the Spirit CAV, o. M uti .ance,
And there were dwellEE At Jtl alem
Jews, devOut men. out OF every nation un-
der heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad. the
multitude came together, and w,Tt con-
founded. because that every man heard
them speak in his own language
And they were all amazed and mar
velcd. saying one to aEoih o. r. ~ q, are
not all these which speak '.t..''aIs,
s And how hear We every mau n our
own tongue, wherein we wee borI
=. Farthians, and Medes. and T.. mites,
aud the dwellers in MesOpO'JmiJ I'D in
Judea. and Cappadocid, IN Purtu and
Asia.
Ia PhryGia. and Pamphy..a, III pit
ami In the parts of Libya about ne
and strangers Of Rome. jews aLL pros
! elytes,
II. Cretes ard Arablars " do N,ar hem
speak In our tongues the wonderful works
| OF God.
GOLDEN TENT.-Thc promise II un-
to you and to your chIIdren.-Acu
2:3o.
NOTES AND COMMENTS
The lesson should include not only
the text as printed above, but also on
through the 36th verse. Read also Joel
2:2l-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 the Spirit. VS.. ~
Effect on clty's multitude, vs.. 5-ls
Prophecy fulfilled. VS.. li-2l.
Jesus the Christ. VS. 22-3j.
The Gift of the Spirit.-Peutecos
was the tiftieth day after the Passover
and one of the three great fea>tS OF
the Jews. 1t has been remarkt d that
q Jewish tradition made Pentecost
the anniversary Of the giving of the
law from Mount Sinai. 1t 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
constraneth 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 likened to three things with.
out which life would be impossible on
earth: air (or 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 tAe
breath of life of all things living. 1t l.
like fire in that is purifying and gives
comfort and light. Fire worshipis one
, of the religions of the east, being con-
Z sidered the source of all life. Water
is not mentioned in the passage, but
t the gift of the "pirit 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 universality. All peo.
, pies are to hear it, al peoples, OF what
e ever nationality, Of whatever age, Of
. whatever experiences, can understand
: it, each in their own tongue.
Effect on the City's Multitudes.-
n Such great power became imme dately
manifest not only among the few, but
! among the many. Strangers in Jeru-
salem from faraway nations were
surprised to hear themselves addressed
in their own language. The Jews, not
7 understanding any but their own Ian.
guage and seeing the commotion
y caused among the foreigners as we'll
as their own peOp.e, 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. Drunk en-
ness stood then as it stands now for
licentiousness. The descent OF the
Holy Spirit meant directly the oppo.
site; for it came not upon the se.f-in-
dulgent, but upon those who submit
ted themselves to the Divine law 0t
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 o.
Christ has come as possessed" of the
Holy Spirit. Demoniacs and Chris
tians (using both terms in their strics
and derivatve as opposed to their ae
quired meanings) are at the very op-
posite spiritual extremes. Peter he
came the spokesman Of the followers
of Jesus and explained TO the multi.
tuie that had uIt hprel hDyy thp uLp,