The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-04-26

ishment. he proved to them that thell
risen Lord was no longer merely Il
man. but that he had experienced a
change in his resurrection, 80 that uow
he was a spirit being aud could 20 aud
come like the wind disappearing IN n
body of flesh when his purposes SO de.
manded., He gave proof of this by
vanishing out of their sight. dlssolving
the body of flesh and bones and the
clothing as easily as he had created
them and by the same Divine power
The Penteeostal Blessing.
The glori6ed, resurrected Jesus re-
malned with the infant Church for
forty days. watching over their inter.
ests On four or five occasions he ap-
peared to them again in different forms
and for the further inculcation of the
great lesson that he was risen and
changed. hencefortb spirit being.
Then he ascended up on high to ap.
pear in the presence of God on behalf
Of his faithful ones first. as later on
he will appear in the interest of the
world. The Fathers recognition of
the merit Of his sacrifice, applied ION
our behalf" was manifested by the
importation Of the holy Spirit on Pente-
cost day. Tradltionally this same won.
derful upper room" witnessed that
outpouring of Divine blessing and
favor, which came only upon conse.
Grated believers and has come upon
thn ,Ia N nd
from that day unto ths--begetting
them individually by the holy Spirit
to the divine nature with its promises
of glory, honor and Immortality to the
faithful, in association, with the Lord
Jesus in his Millennial Kingdom.
That blessing was partial fulfil
ment of the Lords word through the
Prophet Joel, namely of that portion
which says, "ln those days will pour
out of my Spirit upon my servants
and upon my landmarks" (Joel II. 2S,
We are glad. dear friends. hat what
occurred at that first Pentecost and
what has continued all through this
Gospel Age, Of Pentecostal blessing
upon each individual member of the
Body of Christ. is merely foretaste
race. AS St. James declares Ii. lS, the
Church Is merely "a kind of first-fruits
unto God of his creatures" True, the
first-fruits In this case is the very
choicest-our Lord. the glorious Head
and High Priest. and his sanity fol-
Iny ha
the Royal Priesthood. But q great
blessing is yet to come. for there shall
come still greater outpouring of
Gods Spirit as mentioned In the same
prophecy in the words, AFTER those
days, saith the Lord, will pour out
my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons
and your daughters shall seek for me,
and your young men shall see actually
what your ancients dreamed Of"
This will have its fulfilment during
the Millennial Age. not that the world
in general will be begotten of the
holy Spirit to spirit nature like unto
the angels and like unto Christ, as in
our case, but the Lord has promised
to take away the stony heart and to
give heart of flesh to all the willing
and obedient of mankind during that
Millennial Day. In such, right spirit
cnt to the gracious arrangements of
Messiahs universal Empire and that
right spirit in man. that right disposi-
ton, wiz be the holy Spirit--God's
Spirit or disposition. 1t was given to
man originally when he was created
perfect, upright, in the image and
likeness of God. 1t was lost by sin
and displaced by spirit of selfshness
and sometimes by spirit of devilish-
ness. 1t will be the great work of that
thousand years of Messiah's Kingdom
to lift mankind out of sin and selfish
ness and death and to restore the will
ing and obedient to all that was lost
In Adam and redeemed by the merit
of the sacrifice at Calvary. With the
close of the Mlllennial Kingdom, God
shows us that all who will not have
attained to the possession of his holy
Spirit will be destroyed In the Second
Death. Then there shall be no more
5lSulI5, uOI CISl uOI uy llS' uO tuOie
sin, no more sorrow, for all the former
things of sin and death shall have
passed away. 1t will be Christ on the
throne who will make all things new.
Supper In the Upper Room.
In closing we ask that in connection
with what we have just said respect
ing this Upper Room and the bless
ings here conferred. you do not for
get the special privilege which some
twenty or thirty of us enjoyed in this
same room on Friday evening last.
We remind you afresh that that even
ing, after six o'clock. corresponded to
the night in which our Lord with his
disciples first celebrated the memorial
of his own death with the loaf and
with the cup, truditionally in this same
Upper Room" incidentally we remark
that the early Christian Church used
this same Jewish reckoning in the an
nual celebration of our Lords death