The Yale expositor., 1909-01-08
DESCENT OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT
Sunday School Lesson for Jan. 10, 1909
Specially Arranged for This Paper
Memory

verses, "a.
GOLDEN TEXT will pray the Fa-
Their, and he shall give you another Com
forter, that he may abide with you for
ever; even the Spirit of Truth."-John
E:16. II.
TIME.-May 27 or 2S. A. ID. &c. on a |
Saturday or Sunday morning. The day |
of Pentecost. so days after the Passover |
at which Christ was crucified. The mod |
ern Whtsunday.
CONNECTION.-Ten days after the last
lesson, the Ascension, were spent in |
prayer and waiting.
PLACE.-Jerusalem., Perhaps the Oft
mentioned upper room perhaps one of
the rooms in the temple courts.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
Three outward manifestations of the
Holy Spirits presence.-V. 2. And
suddenly" AS they were praying. So
the lightning breaks forth suddenly
from the cloud but the electricity that
silently for hours. a. The sound
from heaven" dts source) "as of a
rushing mighty wind" More clearly |
in the revisions, "as of the rushing OF
a mighty wind" 1t does not say that
there was any wind, but only sound
as of a wind. No "whirlwind shook
the building" THE audible sign fill
ing the room announced the power
represented by it as doing the same"
Prof Hovey. 1T (the sound) filled
all the house." and was heard beyond
itgwalls by the multitudes ". g..
CD V. 3. The manifestation to the
ear was followed. by its manifestation
to the eye. "Cloven tongues, not
each tongue cleft into two parts.
forked, but "the fire was in the form
of tongues which distributed them
selves over the company, a tongue
settling upon the head of each one"
-Rackam. Like as of fire" 1t was
not real fire, as an organ of destruc-
ton, but with the appearance and
brightness OF fire, like that of the
burning bush which Moses saw.
(3) The third manifestation was
through the gift of tongues.
The Significance of the Symbols of
the Spirit-the Symbol of the Wind
The Greek word, as the Hebrew word,
for spirit" is the same as thai for
wind" which is natural metaphor
to represent the spirit. Jesus himself
so uses 1t in John 8: 8.
l. 1t is an invisible power of which
no one knows whence it cometh or
whittier 1t goeth." But you cannot
tell the causes, which are beyond our
reach. Even to-day, when we have
daily reports from the weather bureau,
no one knows where and when storm
will arise. We see the storm and its
direction, and can tell with great
probability to what place it is going
and when 1t will get there. But for
beginning and end we know not
whence it cometh nor whittier 1t goeth.
2. But we recognize it by its eff
fects, in sound, in music, in force, in
life.
3. II is essential to life.
4. II is all-pervasive.
5. 1t is very powerful. The air is so
powerful that even free dynamite smit-
ing against it on one side brushes the
rocks on the other. The other day the
air from an explosion of dynamite
swept away nearly whole village.
6. Yet it is very gentle and delicate,
breathing around the rose, and gently
touching the little child.
The Symbol of the Flame and Light.
Il. 1t is mysterious in nature, in
effably glorious, everywhere present,
swift winged, undefiled, and unde-
flable.
2. 1t represents the healing power
of the Holy Spirit, changing night into
day.
3. 1t expresses this purifying power.
Il is a disease destroyer, a refiner of
gold.
4. II symbolized the comfort,
warmth, cheer. fresh life, Joy, peace,
which the Holy Spirit imparts.
s. Fire is the symbol of intense en-
ergy and zeal. The Holy Spirit fills
the soul With glowing enthusiasms and
uncomfortable energy and zeal.
6. Light convinces the world OF dust,
of dirt, of thousand evil things un-
known in the darkness. For examples,
ray Of light in a dusty room, and
Tyndall's ray through the glass tube,
showing seed germs that no other
process could make known. So the
Spirit convinces of sin, of the evils in
the heart.
The truth Of this lesson applies to
boys and girls as well as to adults. 1t
IS said of the boy Jesus that "the
grace of God" was upon him, while
he "waxed strong, advanced in wis
dom and stature. and in favor with
God and man." John the Baptist also
was filled with the Holy Spirit even
from his birth.
Children need the Holy Spirit to
help them to be good, and enable them
to be disciples Of Jesus.
The gift OF tongues was an indorse-
ment of the command to disciple all
nations, an inspiration to obey It, and
pointer to the means. THE human
tongue, illuminated and sancitifed by
fire from the inner sanctuary, was
about to be the instrument of the gos-
pers advancement"