The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-01-08
LESSON FOR JANUARY9
rHE COMING Of THE HOLY sPlRITi
oNTrxT-Anta 2:1,13,

are a temple OF God. and that the spirit
Of God dwelleth In you'll Cor. S:1s z. v.
Good teaching demands tho use OF
the concrete; objective teaching 10
fundamental and essential. The incar.
nation Is God'ss objective teaching,
"God manifest" (a) to reveal him
self, John 1919; OBJ to take away sin,
John S:5; (cl to destroy the works
of the devil, John 3:S. So likewise
Pentecost Is a great objective lesson.
This chapter has been divided as fol.
lows: ~ The Coming of Power wv.
1.13), (2) The Empowered Witness
wv. 1886, (8) A Powerful Result wv.
37.47).
!. Power, "a. 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 (Ley. 23:15.2I).
Their hearts were fused and the fun.
damentaI requirement for service, the
baptism OF the spirit, came upon them.
There has been no need since then to
tarry any time at oil to receive q
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 q
mighty sound ". q and It is such a
wind that the church needs today.
There were three manifestations at
this time and one other subsequently
(see 2:44, 4:34, So: 6:4). ~ Wind.
Let US keep clear the difference be.
tween symbol and spirit. The mani
festation was "as wind" Wind is mys.
FERROUS, universal and mighty, but like
Elijah on the mountain God is not
alone as a mighty tempest. The
sound filled the whole house. Wind
is flgurative of Judgment (Jer. 22:22.
Hos. 1919 Of the Spirit John $3.50,
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 t3) Tongues. The hre
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. 1929.
II. Perplexity, Wv. 5-t3. The ques.
ton may arise, had the spirit been;
seen before? and the answer is yes"
(Matt. 3:16, Jno. 1890. What then
was new? The answer to this is the
program Of power. The first evidence
of power was the gathering of the peo-
. pie ": 81. The disciples at once testi.;
fled to each of the sixteen classes men.
toned GID OF the mighty works of
Cod" Not OF the gift, but the giyer,
a different sort of testimony than that
given by many who today profess to
have the gift of tongues. The second
result was an amnzed people, per
picked" for them as now the world
cannot understand the spirit.hlled
man. These spirlt.flled men forget
self and were lost ii their testimony
7 ". 11).
It is of interest to note that they did
not even say much II 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, 32).
The spirit-filled man is sure to en-.
phasize this mighty work and the evil
dence OF the spirit in mans life Is
his loyalty to crucifed, risen and
assembled Lord.
"A third result was that people mis-.
understood and charged drunkenness,
fact seized upon later by Paul to
teach US the truth (Eph. 6:18). The
only sure cure for intemperance, or
any other evil, is an milling OF the
holy spirit. The final and complete
fulfillment 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
who call upon him shall be saved ".
10, Rom. 1913. Some Knocked"
even as today ridIcule or parody are
the enemy's choicest weapons. Pente-
cost is an event well attested, that
marked the ushering in OF new dis
pensation, that was misunderstood, but
one that can be verified by experience.
Pentecost was q revelation. mani
festation Of q new spiritual kingdom,
distinctly Christian, that exposes sin
and exalts the son.
L Pentecost is prophecy Of real
Christian unity. Of spiritual admins
tration, OF Christ's intercession and an
evidence Of an abiding presence.
When We are spirit.fllled the Lord
Jesus Christ will occupy the whole
horizon Of our experience, our testi.
mony and will control our service. The
spirit.filIsd servant can exclaim THE
Lord (Jeaus) ts my shepherd" he 10
Lord, he is my shepherd; he is, not
has been or will be, but he is my shep-
herd.
The Gift Of the spirit must not be
confused with the spirits gifts" q
Cor 12) whereby We are enabled to do
the work he directs in order to glorify
the son-not the church, nor man, nor
q religious experience, but the Lord
Jesus (Gal. 2:2o, II Tim. 1:7).
-, Woman Slayer Not Indicted.
. NEART,ESTON w. Va, Jan, S-Th8