Evening journal., 1916-01-08
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THE SPIRIT AT PENTECOsT.

dhhudAg ~ aus -sA-Aos
What the Pentecostal Blessing Was
Its Importance to the Church Then
and Now-The Lesson il Taught
How Understood BY Some and Mis-
understood By Others.
Know We not that We are the temple
of God. and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you%--1 Corinthians
3.16.
Pentecost was a notable day in the
Jewish calendar 1t marked the If
tieth day in the harvest-after the
gathering of the first ripe sheaf. Our
Lord in His glorious resurrection
condition was the Antitype of that
sheaf. the First-fruits of God in the
great Plan of Redemption. q Corin-
thians Is: 2O) The first forty days,
as we have seen. were used in giving
occasional lessons to the disciples
getting them properly started. with
proper faith in the resurrection, to
make a good witness and to gather out
the Lords jewels from amongst men.
When Jesus left them at the end
of the forty days, He instructed them
not to begin their ministry at once,
but to wait until endued with power
from on Highly the Holy Spirit.
Accordingly they waited ten days
and then their waiting was rewarded
by the outpouring of His Spirit upon
them in the upper room on the fiftieth
day. Pentecost. During those ten
days they transacted just one item OF
business; but II was without auth
ority from the Lord, and was never
recognized by Him. Il consisted in
casting lots for a successor to Judas
AS they cast lots on only two men, il
followed that one of the two must be
chosen. But the Lord never recog-
nized the matter; and we hear moth.
ing mere Of Matthias, whom they
chose Instead, God brought forth
ST. Paul in due time.
Appeared i'm Gods Presence.
When our Lord ascended, the
Apostle declares, He appeared in the
presence Of God for us"-for His
Church, for all who would comply
with the conditions of discipleship
Hebrews 9:24) He did not appear
for the world. but for us. He loved
the world, He died for the world, anC
He is yet to bless the world: but frs
the Divine Program respecting the
Church must be carried out
The events of that Pentecost were
very valuable to the church at thai
, time. but have been equally valuable
to all Of the Lords member. The
Scriptures represent that all who ar,
received into Gods family receive 6
begetting of the Holy Spirit Thi.
begetting was what PeLtecosl mean
to those waiting in the upper room
From that time onward. they wer'
sons Of God. (Romans S.17) SO it Il
| with us who have come into the Bod.
1 OF Christ since Pentecost We do no
receive special manifestations of di
/ vine power, such as the clover
tongues that came upon the disciples
I Holy Spirit which they received.
The Scriptures represent Jesus an,
His Church under the figure of
great Priest. Jesus was the Heai
of that Priest; the Apostles wer
the first members OF the Body; ant
all the Church OF Christ from thel
till now are members OF the SAM
Body. The Holy Spirit came will
outward manifestation upon Jesus
the Head of the Church. that VI
might know that He was thus accep
ted of the Father Then at Pentecos
the Holy Spirit came with outward
manifestation upon the disciples, tina
they might know that they had beei
received as members of the sam
( Body
But il is not necessary for us 4
have an outward demonstration to
day; for this crtpouriag of Cod
blessing was upon the church as
] whole; and as we come into the churcl
Of Christ by a full consecration of ou
hearts to do Gods Will, and with ful
trust in Jesus work. we receive thu
Spirit and are counted in as member
of that Church body. thou h withou
/ any outward demonstration whatever
From the time when Adam, the frs
human son of God sinned, there hat
been no other human sons of Coz
recognized Until Jesus anne as tn
Son of God. The Jews were mem
bers of the house of servants. as w
/ read: Moses verify was faithf ] il