Mexico Missouri message., 1916-01-06
LESSON FOR JANUARY 9
THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
LESSON TExT-Aetg 2:1-18.


Good teaching demands the use OF
the concrete; objective teaching is
fundamental and essential. The incar-
nation is Gods objective teaching,
God manifest" (a) to reveal him
self, John 14:9; (b) to take away sin,
John S5; (c) to destroy the works
Of the devil, / John 3:8. So likewise
Pentecost is great objective lesson.
This chapter has been divided as fol-
lows: (1) The Coming of Power wv.
1-13), (2) The Empowered Witness
wv. 1896, (3) A Powerful Result wv.
37-47).
!. Power, IA. At the end of our
last lesson the disciples were in
prayer. The Lords promise (1:5) was
conditioned upon obedience. At last
the day" arrived CLev. 23:15-21).
Their hearts were fused and the fun
damental requirement for service, the
baptism Of the spirit, came upon them.
! There has been no need since then to
tarry any time at all to receive a
like blessing. Lack of unity has much
to do with our not receiving the spirit
now and the consequent lack of power.
! Suddenly from out of heaven came a
mighty sound ". q and it is such
wind that the church needs today.
| There were three manifestations at
! this time and one other subsequently
(see 2:44, 4:34, 35; 5:D. ~ Wind.
Let us keep clear the difference be-
tween symbol and spirit. The mani
festation was "as wind" Wind is mys-
terious, universal and mighty, but like
Elijah on the mountain God is not
alone as a mighty tempest. The
sound filed the whole house. Wind
is figurative of judgment (Jer. 22:22,
Hos. 13:15) Of the Spirit John 2:8),
also of heresy (Eph. 4:1S). This last
suggests the vagaries and limitations
suggested or abetted by Satan to keep
us from the truth. (2) Fire. This
symbolizes power, light, heat and puri.
| flying, but the fire was not the spirit
nor do we recall another such mani
festation since (3) Tongues. The fire
took the form of tongues which parted
or portioned themselves out to "each
one of them" though Peter is alone
subsequently more prominent.
Every manifestation of the spirit is
always that of some new power for
Christ Il Cor. 14;2-19).
II. Perplexlty, w. 5-13. The ques-
ton may arise, had the spirit been
seen before? and the answer is "yes"
Matt. 3:16, Jno. 1922. What then
was new? The answer to this is the
f.F
Of power was the gathering of the peo-
pie ". g. The disciples at once testi-
fed to each Of the sixteen classes men
toned GID of the mighty works of
God" Not of the gift, but the giver,
a different sort of testimony than that
given by many who today profess to
have the gift of tongues The second
result was an amazed people, "per-
plexed," for them as now the world
cannot understand the spirit-filled
man, These spirit-filled men forget
self and were lost in their testimony
". III.
1t is of interest to note that they did
not even say much If anything about
the spirit himself. Their testimony,
for which many later gave their lives,
was regarding Gods mighty work of
the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead wv. "a. S2).
The spirit-flIed man is sure to en-
phasize this mighty work and the evil
dence of the spirit in a mans life is
his loyalty to a crucified, risen and
ascended Lord.
A third result was that people mis-
understood and charged drunkenness,
fact seized upon later by Paul to
teach US the truth (Eph. 5:1S). The
only sure cure for intemperance, or
any other evil, is an milling of the
holy spirit. The final and complete
fulfllment of the prophecy wv. 1921,
Joel 1928, 29) Of which Pentecost was
partial fulfllment will be in the day
Of the Lord" But then, as now, all
1S, Rom. 1913. Some mocked,"
even as today ridicule or parody are
the eriemyiB choicest weapons. Pente-
cost is an event well attested, that
marked the ushering In OF a new dis
pensation, that was misunderstood, but
one that can be verified by experience.
Pentecost was revelation, a mani
festation OF new spiritual kingdom,
distinctly Christian, that exposes sin
and exalts the son.
Pentecost is a prophecy of real
Christian unity, Of q spiritual admins
tratlon, of Christ's intercession and an
evidence OF an abiding presence.
When we are spirit-fllled the Lord
Jesus Christ win occupy the whole
horizon Of our experience. our testi-
mony and win control our service, The
spirit-hlIed servant can exelaim "The
Lord tJesus) is my shepherd" he is
Lord he is my shepherds he is not
has been or win be, but he ID my shep-
herd.
The gift OF the spirit must not be
confused with the spirits 'gifts" Il
Cor, 12) whereby we are enabled to do
the work he directs IN order to glorify