Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 52

33. What results when this gift is absent?

"Where there is no vision, _the people perish_: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Prov. 29:18. See also Ps. 74:9.

What poor, despised company Of travelers are these, Who walk in yonder narrow way, Along the rugged maze?

Ah! these are of a royal line, All children of a King, Heirs of immortal crowns divine; And lo! for joy they sing.

Why do they, then, appear so mean, And why so much despised?

Because of their rich robes unseen The world is not apprized.

But why keep they that narrow road,- That rugged, th.o.r.n.y maze?

Why, that's the way their Leader trod, They love and keep His ways.

Why do they shun the pleasing path That worldlings love so well?

Because that is the road to death, The open road to h.e.l.l.

What! is there then no other road To Salem's happy ground?

Christ is the only way to G.o.d, No other can be found.

The Outpouring Of The Spirit

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

Peter Preaching On The Day Of Pentecost. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." Acts 2:16.

1. For what did Christ, just before His ascension, tell His disciples to wait?

"And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, _until ye be endued with power from on high_." Luke 24:49.

2. With what did He say they would be baptized?

"Ye shall be baptized _with the Holy Ghost_ not many days hence." Acts 1:5.

NOTE.-John the Baptist had foretold this baptism. He said: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." Matt.

3:11.

3. For what work was this baptism to prepare them?

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and _ye shall be witnesses unto Me_ both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8.

4. What were some of the results of the preaching of the gospel under the outpouring of the Spirit?

"Now when they heard this, _they were p.r.i.c.ked in their heart_, and said ... Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, 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 Holy Ghost....

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: _and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls_." Acts 2:37-41.

"And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; ... _and believers were the more added to the Lord_, mult.i.tudes both of men and women." Acts 5:12-14. "And the word of G.o.d increased; and _the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly_; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith."

Acts 6:7.

5. How did persecution affect the preaching of the gospel?

"And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.... _Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word._" Acts 8:1-4.

NOTE.-"Persecution has only had a tendency to extend and establish the faith which it was designed to destroy.... There is no lesson which men have been so slow to learn as that to oppose and persecute men is the very way to confirm them in their opinions, and to spread their doctrines."-_Dr. Albert Barnes, on Acts 4:4._

6. What words of Peter seem to indicate another outpouring of the Spirit?

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, _when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord_."

Acts 3:19.

7. What event does he speak of as immediately following these times of refreshing?

"_And He shall send Jesus Christ_, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive [Syriac, retain] until the times of rest.i.tution of all things, which G.o.d hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Verses 20, 21.

NOTE.-From this it seems evident that we may look for another outpouring of the Spirit for a final proclamation of the gospel to all the world just before Christ's second advent and the rest.i.tution of all things.

8. What prophecy was fulfilled in the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit in the time of the apostles?

"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said, ... These are not drunken, as ye suppose, ... but _this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel_; And it shall come to pa.s.s in the last days, saith G.o.d, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy." Acts 2:14-18. See Joel 2:28, 29.

9. What expressions in the prophecy of Joel seem to imply a double fulfilment of this outpouring of the Spirit?

"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your G.o.d: for He hath given you the _former rain_ moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the _former rain_, and the _latter rain_ in the first month." Joel 2:23. See also Hosea 6:3.

NOTE.-In Palestine the early rains prepare the soil for the seed sowing, and the latter rains ripen the grain for the harvest. So the early outpouring of the Spirit prepared the world for the extensive sowing of the gospel seed, and the final outpouring will come to ripen the golden grain for the harvest of the earth, which Christ says is "the end of the world." Matt. 13:37-39; Rev. 14:14, 15.

10. For what are we told to pray at this time?

"_Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain_; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one gra.s.s in the field." Zech. 10:1.

NOTE.-Before the apostles received the baptism of the Spirit in the early rain on the day of Pentecost, they all "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." Acts 1:14. During this time they confessed their faults, put away their differences, ceased their selfish ambitions and contentions for place and power, so that when the time for the outpouring came, "they were all _with one accord_ in one place," ready for its reception. To be prepared for the final outpouring of the Spirit, all sin and selfish ambition must again be put away, and a like work of grace wrought upon the hearts of G.o.d's people.