The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1916-01-07
LESSON FOR JANUARY 9
THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
LESSON TEXT-Acts Glib.


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,
l John 3:5; (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 Q:5) was
conditioned upon obedience. At last
the day" arrived (Lev. 23:15.2D.
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; 5:4). % Wind.
Let us keep clear the difference BE-
tween symbol and spirit. The mari
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. Wird
is figurative Of judgment (Jer. 22:22,
Hos. 1915 of the Spirit John 3:S),
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. 14:219).
II. Perplexity, 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
program of power. The first evidence
of power was the gathering Of the peo-
pie ". g.. The disciples at once testi-
fed to each of the sixteen classes men,
toned Old of the mighty works OF
God" Not of the gift, but the giver,
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-flled men forget
self and were lost in their testimony
". ~.
1t 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 splrit-filled man is sure to en-
phasize this mighty work and the evil
dence of the spirit in mans life is
his loyalty to a crucified, risen and
| assembled Lord.
A third result was that people mis-
understood and charged drunkenness,
a 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
fulfillment Of the prophecy wv. 1921,
Joel 2:28, 29) of which Pentecost was
a partial fulfillment will be in the day
of the Lord" But then, as now, all
who call upon him shall be saved ".
49, Rom. 1913. Some mocked,"
even as today ridicule or parody are
the enemys choicest weapons. Pente-
cost is an event we'll 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, mani
festation of a new spiritual kingdom,
distinctly Christian, that exposes sin
and exalts the son.
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-filled the Lord
Jesus Christ will occupy the whole
horizon of our experience, our testi-
mony and will control our service. The |
spirit.filled servant can exclaim "The |
Lord (Jesus) is my shepherd" he is
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" Il |
Cor. 12) whereby we are enabled to do
the work he directs In order to glorify |
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