The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-01-15
PLEASANT FIELDS
OF HOLY WRIT
Save for my daily range
Amongt the pleasant fields
of Holly Writ,
Imignt despair. -Tennyson.
international Sunday SChoollessOn

international Sunday SChool-leSson
First Quarter: Lesson Ill: Acts II, %
"a: 29-4l: January, Is, 1915.
Peters Sermon At Pentecost.
Pentecost is described as the ring
ing of the great bell of the universe.
In answer to it's imperious summons
a most remarkable audience gather
ed. 1t represented vast territory
from Asia Minor to the Libyan Des-
ert, from Mesopotamia to Rome. A
many-tongued audience. To the &C.
static improvisation in all the dia-
lects of that motley throng to which
the apostles yielded themselves, the
calm, orderly, logical discourse Of
Peter is in sharp contrast. He spoke
in Greek, the then almost universal
language. Well might Chrysostom
call him "the mouth of the apostles"
such was his eloquence. After put
ting aside, without resentment, the
derisive explanation of the scene
which prejudice suggested, he pro-
ceeded, with the skill of practiced
orator, to find common ground
with his auditory, as Paul did when
he quoted heather" classics. He
said, in substance: eve all believe
in Joel-that he is a prophet sent Of
God. Now, Joel expressly afirms
that in the latter days there shall be
an effusion of the Spirit, with signs
and wonders attendant, chief among
which shall be some species of sa-
cred rhapsody. Do not the scenes
which you witness closely conform to
those which Joel described by in
spiration? Do not the sound, the
fire, and the tongues fulfill Joel's
prophecy? Then, too, David is the
bright star of our national history
our royal hymnist. Now, David says
in a certain Psalm: My flesh shall
rest in hope. My soul will not be
left in Hades. I'll not see corrup-
ton. I'll find the way to life.' Da-
vid's flesh has seen corruption. Yon-
der is his tomb. There lie his ashes.
So David could not have been
speaking of himself. There is an
other grave. 1t is yonder in the gar
den, near to Calvary. Its seal is
broken; its stone rolled away; it is
empty. The body laid there saw no
corruption. The resurrection of Je-
sus, of which we are witnesses, is the
literal fulfillment of David's prophe-
cy. And David himself said, 1.-THE
Lord (the Father) said unto my
Lord (the SOM Sit Thou on My right
hand till make Thine enemies the
footstool of Thy feet Now David
had not assembled, but the Messiah
certainly has. God hath made both
Lord and Christ" OF the five hun
dred and thirty-one words in this
sermon, two hundred and eighteen
are used in quotations from the He
brew Scriptures, so opposite as to-
carry conviction to the majority. This
masterpiece of sacred oratory, this
first gospel sermon, produced sur
prising transformation in the audi
tors. They began by calling the
apostles drunkards; they ended by
calling them brothers. They talked
haughtily of being Abraham's seed;
but their pharisaical phrases quickly
gave place to the publican's, God be
merciful to me sinner!" The love-
ly and fascinating picture Of the
Apostolic Church, which the closing
paragraph of this chapter contains,
could never have been painted but
for the thorough work done in the
hearts of these hearers. They were
awakened, convicted, pentient, be-
lieving, converted, baptized. A splen-
did foundation. No wonder they con-
tinued steadfast in the teaching of
the apostles, and in preferring their
| company to that of any other, and In
the ordinances of the church, and in
the special seasons of prayer. Their
converts were fused into an unset
fish brotherhood. Altruism domi-
mated. The rich and the poor met
together. The strong bore the in
frmaties of the weak. Each in hon
or preferred the other. Such a
church would naturally be vocal
| with praise. It would command re-
spect. It would draw members like
magnet.
The Teachers Lantern.
On the river bank we 1nstinctively
question about it's source. The mind
| delights in origins. The book of
! Genesis of any order of thought or
action is absorbingly interesting. We
instinctively ask, whence comes it?
What was it like in the beginning?"
1t is matter of large philosophic
Importance, for no true estimate of
human history, past, current or fu-
ture, can be made without the recog-
milton of the church as an important,
if not a prime factor. It is not a Gu
rious or speculative question. By
comparing the church of today with
the church OF the apostles, we shall
know whether the church had adj
vanced or retrograded; whether 1t
has preserved its original spirit and
purpose or not. The second chapter
of the Acts of Apostles is the book
of Genesis of the Christian church.
1t is a faithful, speaking photograph
| Of the church at its origin. The
characteristics of these apostolic
converts were that they continued
steadfastly ID In the apostles doc
trine, viz, their oral teaching. They
went to church. (2) In the apos-
ties fellowship. Communion OF
saints was not so much a matter Of
| creed as of practice. co In the