Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1916-01-06
LESSON FOR JANUARY 9
THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Good teaching demands the use oil
fundamental and essential. The incar-
nation is Gods objective teaching.
God manifest" ta) to reveal him.
self, John 1879; (b) to take away sin.
! John 3:5; (c) 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: ~ Tho Coming Of Power Wv.
l-13). t2) The Empowered Witness
wv. 1896. (3) A Powerful Result wv.
S7-41I.
l.. 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 Lev. 23:15.2l).
Their hearts were fused and the fun.
damcntal 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 Il
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 ". - and it is such a
wind that the church needs today.
There were three manifestations at
this time and one other subsequently
tsce 2:44. 4:24. So; SD. % Wind.
Let us keep clear the difference be-
tween symbol and spirit. The mani.
festation was las wind" vino 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 tigurative of judgment (Jer. 1922.
Hos. 1870 of the Spirit (John 3:S),
also Of heresy tEph. 4:lS>. This last
suggests the vagaries and limitations
suggested or abetted by Satan to keep
us from the truth. t2) 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 leach
one of them though Peter Is alone
subsequently more prominent. The
blessing was individual. each one"
1t was also for all" and was a full
fillment of the fathers promise. This
passage emphasizes that the disciples
were in complete possession. all OF
their faculties being given over to the
spirit. Therefore the absurdity of say
ing that the spirit can only have been
received by those who pass through
a given experience or evidence a
given manifestation. lRead | Cor. l4.
Every manifestation of the spirit is
always that of some new power for
Christ IL Cor. 1i:2.1o).
The disciples spake not in their wis.
dom but as given u%tterance, so ought
we.
H.. Perp!exity, w. 5.13. The CUES.
ton may arise. had the spirit been
seer before? and the answer is yes
Matt. 3:16. Jno. 1872. What then
was new" The answer to this is the
program of power. The first evidence
of power was the gathering Of the PEG
pie ". 6N. The disciples at once testi.
fled to each of the sixteen classes men
toned Old 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 ia
have the gift Of tongues. The second
result was an amazed people. per
picked" for them as now the world
cannot understand the spirit-tilled
man. These spirit-filled men forget
self and we're lost in their testimony
". 11).
1t is of interest to note that they did
rot even say much if anything about
the spirit himself. Their testimony
for which many later gave their lives
was regarding Gods mighty work o
the resurrection of Jesus from tho
dead wv. "a, 22N.
The spirit.iillcd man is sure to en-
phasize this mighty work and the ev:
dence of the spirit in a mans life is
his LOYALTY to n Cruciiied. risen ant
assembled Lord.
The work of the spirit is thus tt
testify tJohn 1926. 1910.
A third result was that people mis-
understood and charged drunkenness
a fact seized upon later by Paul IL
teach us the truth (Eph. 5:1S). The
only sure cure for ~intcmperance, o
. any other evil. is an milling Of the
holy spirit. The final and complete
c.IGyI,,t re tkn ,,rppbnrN wv 1I.C1
Joel 2:2S, 29 of which Pentecost wa.
a partial fultillment will be In the "da,
, of the Lord" But then. as now. al
who call upon him shall be saved "
10. Rom. 1913. Some Knocked.
even as today ridicule or parody arr
the cncmy's choicest weapons. Pente
cost is an event well attested, tina
marked the ushering in Of a new dis
pensation, that was misunderstood. bu
one that can be verified by experience
Pcntccost was a revelation. n mani
festation of a new spiritual kingdom
distinctly Christian, that exposes sill
, and cXalts the son.
Pcntecost is n prophecy Of rea
> Christian unity. of a spiritual admins
; tration. of Christ's intcrcession and al
. evidence Of an abiding presence.
When we are spirit.nlled the Lore
; Jesus Christ will occupy the Who'll
) horizon of our experience. our test
3 mony and will control our service, TIL
} spirit.lllcd servant can exclaim "Th
Lord tJesus) is my shepherd" he l
Lord. he is my shepherd; he is. no
has been or will be. but he is my sher
herd.
The gift of the spirit must o b
, confused with the spirits gifts
Cor. 12) whereby we are enabled to d.
the work he directs in order to glorif'
tho snn-nnt the church. nor man. no