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April 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
counsel of God and let the Holy Spirit take care of it. We have heard of a min ister who so preached that a man came to him after the sermon and said, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a heathen.” Peter promptly answered the inquirers, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (v. 38). The heart broken for sin, and from sin, is the first step toward salvation. It is too easy to get into the church in these days. It will not be so easy for some church members to get into heaven. Baptism was also required. There must be not only an inner acceptance of Christ but an outward confession and acceptance in baptism. Where Christ is - truly received, the gift of the Spirit will also be received (v. 38), for this is declared to be for all who have received the remission of their sins. Peter does not say that all will speak in unknown tongues as a sign that they have been born of the Spirit. The per manent fact for the Church is that “the Spirit beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16). The Christian man will be himself — but enlarged, ennobled, developed. What ever his natural powers were, the Spirit will magnify and use them as he surren ders to Christ, and the Spirit will develop other faculties which he did not know he possessed. ^o— P ith and P oint On the first Pentecost the law was writ ten on tables of stone, On the last Pente cost it was written by the Spirit on the living tables of hearts. The tongue is the principal instrument of the grandest work in the w o r 1d. Tongues of fire suggest man’s voice coupled with God’s power and truth Pentecostal power was plainly a spir itual qualification for bearing intelligent witness, not a mere spiritual ecstasy for personal enjoyment. He who knows nothing of the impulses to tell others of Christ’s redeeming love shows that he knows not the meaning of Pentecost. The reason some desire not the fulness of the Spirit for witnessing is their fear of the “mockers” (v. 13). The Spirit-filled life does not make fa natical but joyful and practical Christian workers. The fulness of the Spirit is fundamen tal to a blessed, fruitful life, and is the most conclusive answer to the critics. Little moral essays and chats on cur rent events will cause no one to ask, “What must I do to be saved?” -. When for the first time the Gospel branched forth to the Gentiles, what events occurred, bordering upon those of the Jewish Pentecost? (Acts 10:46). Was it customary for God to use mira culous signs in attesting a new era as being of His appointment? (1 Cor. 1:22; Acts 2:22; Heb. 2:2-4). Was speaking in unknown tongues to be a permanent sign for all believers? (1 Cor. 13:8; 14:9, 12, 19, 23, 24, 28, 33). — o — S uggestive Q uestions
Is repentance still to be preached? (Lk. 24:47). How may one know that he has the Holy Spirit? (Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 5:22, 23). Did Jesus, in His preaching days, have any such results as Peter had following his sermon? (Jn. 13:12). How does the number who were slain after the law of Moses was given (Ex. 32:28) compare with the number saved after the Pentecostal inauguration of the heavenly kingdom? (Acts 2:41). — o— G olden T ext I llustration Golden Text: “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Hdly Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Dyer well says: “There is no going to the Fair Haven of Glory without sailing through the narrow strait of Repentance.” Not only does it mean a heart moved with emotion because of sin’s burden, but a heart ready to part with sin. How can any man be saved if he has not reached that point? John Fulton, a saloon keeper of New York, became so burdened for his sins in the middle of the night, having heard a strange voice warning him of his doom, that he promised the Lord, if his life should be spared, that he would serve Christ all his days. The next morning Satan was on hand to taunt him and get him to reconsider his decision. So real, however, had been his repentance that he answered the devil by closing up his fash ionable saloon and hotel, and poured into the gutters his :large stock of liquors, rather than sell the stuff to do mischief elsewhere. For many years John Fulton has preached Christ and won hundreds. It is real repentance of this kind that we need to see in the Church today. vM'i. . WUfc. I M M Selected from “Peter, the Apostle,” B y W illiam M. T aylor Author of a series of “Bible Biographies” (Doran) TN reviewing Peter’s discourse, one can not but be struck with the marvelous progress made by Peter in Christian knowledge in the brief space of fifty days.
ify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto, you.” And in the dis course of Peter upon this occasion, we have a beautiful instance of the manner in which that blessed agent commonly proceeds in the enlightenment of men. You observe that, under his inspiration, Peter is led to the Old Testament Scrip tures, and that he. sees in the sections to which he refers' more than he ever saw before. These passages, so far as Peter was concerned, had been always there, but now he understands them in a new light; and in the same way the Spirit leads him to a correct interpretation of the facts in the Saviour’s history which had occurred before his own eyes. Now, so it always is. The Spirit guides into the truth, not by putting new things into the Word, but by bringing out more fully those which are already there; and in proportion as we grow in the intel ligent apprehension of the revelations thus made to us, we shall increase in Christian courage and steadfastness. Thus, while the effusion of the Holy Spirit suf ficiently explains the transformation which we see in Peter here, that transfor mation itself requires some such super natural cause to account for it; and so the history is perfectly consistent and en tirely credible when we take it as a whole; while, if we follow the example of some rationalistic interpreters, and en deavor to abstract from it everything that is miraculous, it will entirely vanish un der our hands, and leave the early exist ence of the Church an unsolved and in soluble enigma. But leaving the mere interpretation of the chapter, let us see what light it throws on that subject which is occupying so much the thoughts and prayers of God’s people among us at this hour. We have here the history of the first Christian re vival. Let us trace it through, and mark at once its origin and its characteristics. It was ushered in by prayer. There is nothing said, indeed, in the opening verses of this chapter, of united supplication. But in the preceding context we read, that after the ascension the disciples, to the number of one hundred and twenty, met in the upper room, and continued in prayer and supplication; and it is reason able to suppose that when they came to gether on the day of Pentecost, they had the same exercise in view. Now, what did they pray for? We are not told in so many words, but, as the latest injunction given them by Jesus had reference to the prom ise of the Holy Spirit, we conclude that they prayed for Him. It might seem, in deed, that just because He had been prom ised, they, did not need to pray for Him. But they did not need to reason after that fashion. When a father promises a gift to his child, he gets many a reminder, and night after night, as he returns from business, he is met with the eager inquiry, “Papa, have you brought it yet?” So, like true children of God, these first disciples waited and prayed, asking evermore that they might receive the Holy Ghost ac cording to His Word. And herein they rebuke us dreadfully, for in our petitions do we not far too largely neglect the Holy Ghost? We do not deny His personality or .repudiate His agency, but we ignore Him, and we pray that men may be con verted, and that Christians may be edified, forgetting to go behind these effects to Him through whom alone they can be
What a difference between h is utter ances now and those which he made be fore th e Master’s death! How is all this to be explain ed? Much of it is to be t r a c e d, of course, to the influ ence of t h o s e in
structions in the things pertaining to His kingdom which were given by our Lord to His apostles at intervals during the forty days which elapsed between His resurrection and ascension into heaven. But more of it was due to the enlighten ing agency of the Holy Spirit, by whom he had just been filled. The Lord prom ised that the Comforter would bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever he had said unto them; that he should teach them all things; that he should guide them into all truth, adding to all the rest these precious words, “He shall glor
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