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THE KING’S BUSINESS
us from the responsibility o f prayer, but to be an encouragement and foundation for our prayers. Thè women were there as well as the men (ch. 1:14). The day of Pentecost, the day o f “ first fruits” (which symbolized) the gathering o f the Church (Luke 23:15-21), came at last. Not until that day could the Holy Spirit be given; that had been' arranged centuries before in the eternal counsels o f God, and set forth in the types o f the Old Testament. But now that the Day o f Pentecost “was- being ful filled” (Sée R. V.“ Marg), the time set by God had come, and on that day the promise is to be fulfilled. In our own time, now that Pentecost has been fulfilled, no one needs to waif for the baptism in the' Spirit ten days. There is. no record o f any such waiting since Pentecost was fulfilled (cf. ch. 4:31; 8:15-17; 9:17-22; 10:44; 19:1-6). The baptism in the Spirit is every believer’s birthright today, through the crucified, risen, and ascended Christ (v. 33), and is to be claimed by repentance and the open confession o f Christ (vs, 38, 39),, and the moment we fulfill the conditions, the bless- mg.-will be ours. Men doubtless do have to “wait” today, but when they do, the dif ficulty is with themselves and not with God. It Is because they have not met the conditions upon the fulfillment o f which God promises the gift. Seemingly, the dis ciples expected the promise to be fulfilled on that very day, as “they were all together in one place.” It was at or before nine in the morning (v. 15). They were not only together as regards location, they were together in heart (cf. 1:13, 14; 2:46; 4:24, 32 ; 5:12). This unity doubtless had much to do with the bestowal o f the gift, and the absence o f this unity has much-to do with the failure o f many churches today to receive it. v. 2. "And suddenly there came from (rather, out of) heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." At the last the blessing came ,suddenly (cf. ch. 16:25, 26; Mai. 3 :1 ; Luke 2:13) , there was not a moment’s warning. In the midst of
the quiet as they sat there, there was the roar as o f a hurricane. In the Greek great emphasis is laid upon the fact that this sound came “ out of heaven.” It is wind “out o f heaven” that we need today. W e have too much wind in Our churches o f another sort. The sound o f this wind from heaven “filled all the house.” In descrip tions o f this scene the disciples are usually representèd as kneeling in prayer, but the Holy Spirit tells us distinctly that they Were not kneeling, but were “sitting.” The Lord had commanded them to “ sit down.” (-This is the literal translation of the Greek word translated “tarry ye” in Luke 24:29). In other words, the disciplés were doing literally and exactly what the Lord had bid den them to do. W e are told elsewhere that the Holy Ghost is given “to them that obey Him” (ch. 5:32). The -wind from heaven came not only with a mighty noise, but with abundant fulness; it “filled all the house where they were sitting.” v. 3. “And there • appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them." There was not only wind, but there was fire, and so we have here a fulfillment o f Matthew 3:11 where it is said that the. Lord Jesus should baptize “ in the holy wind and in 'fire* (cf. Isa. 4 :4 ; Jer. 23:29). In both the wind and fire we have symbols o f the work o f the Holy Sprit, the wind quick ening and life-giving, the fire searching and cleansing, and energizing and imparting power. The fire was in the form o f tongues to indicate thatth e new power was to emphasize itself in a tongue o f fire granted to them (cf. v. 4). The tongues “parted asunder” or “ portioned themselves out” to “ each one of them.” It is oftentimes said that the baptism with the Spirit, is for the church, the body as a whole, but here we are clearly taught that it is for each indi vidual in the church. Peter alone is made prominent in the story, that follows, but each one o f them received a tongue o f fire. Some >qf, them used their tongues in per sonal work, but they needed a tongue o f fire for that as much as if they had used it
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