Newspaper Page Text
January 6, 1909. THE PRESBYTERIA]
Sunday School
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Acts 2:32-42.
January 17, 1909.
LESSON COMMENTS.
Verses 22-36.
Peter's Sermon.?II was the day of Pentecost. The mockers
had charged that the speaking with tongues was the work of
drunken men. Peter, filled with the Holv P.hnst rofnto^
charge by reciting the prophecy of Joel and claiming its
fulfillment in this sign of tongues. He then lifts up Jesus
Christ to the multitude.
First of all he presents Jesus as a man approved of God by
miracles and wonders; a man whose life challenged attention.
Peter's sermon is a sample to all ministers and teachers of
the word. Through all the ages Jesus Christ is the central
theme for preacher and teacher. Round about him we see
the truths of redemption hanging in clusters.
V. 23. Here is the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Jesus
Christ did not die the accidental victim of mob violence. His
death was not simply an example of great love sacrificing itself
as a patriot will die for his country, or a mother for her
child, waiting on him, nursing him and loving hiifa unto her
death. He was delivered by God's deliberate and determined
plan. The death of Jesus flhrfat woo oo ~ 1 "
..uu ua uui; a iiuri Ol LrOU S
plan as was his birth. We sometimes stand aghast at an
awful crime, and some will contend that God has nothing to
do with it. It is accidental, men say, or the natural result
of human passion, or it comes to pass through the instigation
of the devil. Well, sure enough, in all crime we see the
passions of men and the wickedness of Satan, but God's hand
is on botn man and devil. This way shalt thou go and none
other. Thus iar shalt thou go and no farther.
The most dreadful crime of the ages was the crucifixion of
Jesus, and it occurred through God's deliberate plan. This
great truth should quiet our minds and steady our gaze as we
read the dark pages of history. As Jesus Christ, our sovereign
head and elde? brother, suffered through God's plan, his
children, members of his body, shall likewise suffer through
God's plan. If, therefore, men are sawn asunder or
v* v* ?A|/vav?l
to wild beasts and devoured, or burned in the fire, it should
comfort them to know that back of it all is God's will, and
God is our Father.
But along with divine sovereignty we see equally set forth
the doctrine of human responsibility. These wicked Jews
were not mere machines. They were rational, intelligent,
responsible agents. They hated Jesus and killed him because
they wanted to kill him. Their wicked behavior wnn thA
expression of their own choice. Granted that God reigned
over them, their wickedness was none the less real and they
were none the less responsible. The doctrine of a divine plan
should fill us with strength. The doctrine of human responsibility
should keep us awake forever. Does one charge God
with being the author of the sin when he planned the crucifixion?
But God is not the author of sin. As the wise engineer
effectually secures the flow of bad waters through one channel
rather than another and is not the author of the badness of
the waters, so God causes the poison of sin to discharge itself
In one act rather than another and is not the author of the
poison.
Next In order after the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter preaches
the resurrection. Only a few in that great crowd had seen
Jesus after he was risen; so Peter brings up David, and from
his language Droves the necessity- nt tho ww.ni.MH..
f V?*v I v?uii\2ViVIVllt uaviu
had spoken ol! his flesh resting in the grave, of his soul going 1
to Hades; and yet he declares that this flesh of his should
rest in hope that his soul should not be left in hell and that
his Holy One should not see corruption. "Thou hast made
known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of Joy
with thy 0011111008006." Peter, full of the Holy Ghost, applied
these words to Jesus, the Son of David. Everybody knew that
David was dead and that his ilesh had seen corruption. Over 1
yonder in a vale was the sepulchre of David. So that, if
David's words were true, they were bound to refer to Jesus
of Nazareth. He was the only descendant of David that ever
claimed to have been dead and risen again. That very Jesus,
. <
N OF THE SOUTH. U
Peter declares, has God raised up, and we apostles and
brethren have seen him.
Peter uses the prophet David to prove the ascension of
Jesus; for David had said, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand till 1 make thine enemies thy footstool."
But David's dust was over yonder in his sepulchre. If David's
words were true, they could refer only to Jesus, the Son of
David. It was then a simple question: Was David true or
false? No Jew could believe that David was false. To the
Jew David stood forth as the true prophet of God. Then Jesus
must not only have risen from the dead, but likewise have
ascended to heaven.
Further still: Jesus Christ exalted to the right hand of God
the Father is the great fountain from whom the Holy Ghost is
poured out on the world. This Jesus, then, risen from the
dead and ascended to the heavens, and being the fulness of
God's promise to the world?this Jesus God hath made Lord
and Christ.
Verses 37-40.
The Multitude Convicted.?The Word of God is quick and
powerful and sharner thon * j? *
a..; mu-sugea sword, and that
Word pierced the heart of the people. The Holy Spirit opened
the eyes cf the multitude to see that Peter's words were true,
and, with a burning sense of sin, they uttered the cry of the
ages. What shall we do? Peter said. Repent. On a similar
occasion Paul said to the jailer, Believe. There is no contradiction
between Peter and Paul. Repentance and faith are
always associated. In repentance one looks away from his sin.
In faith lie looks to Christ. The one of these graces never
appears in a man's experience without the other, and both are
gifts of Cod's grace. Repentance might be called the fruit of
faith, and faith the tree on which repentance grows. But
repentance is the thing that men can see, and therefore Peter
puts it to the front. Besides, faith is implied in the command
to bo baptized; so that Peter's doctrines run thus: Repent,
Believe, Confess, and you shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
The Gospel that Peter preached is the Gospel that comes
down through the ages; for the "promise is unto you and
your children." The promise that God gave to Abraham, with
its conditions and requirements, was ratified to Isaac, and
Peter now declares that the same old promise should hold
good to all covenant parents and their children.
Verses 41, 42.
The Three Thousand?In a moment of time, perhaps, the
light of God streamed into the hearts of these men and they
received the word gladly. Unreservedly thy accepted Jesus
as their King, and the Church of the new dispensation starts
forward upon its long career. From that day to the present
the Church of God has been fulfilling the old command,
"Lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes."
We see tho marks of the true Church in this first ingathering
of Pentecost. One command of God is to grow in kiiowl
eage. Tuese three thousand continued steadfastly in the
apostles' teachings as learners of the doctrine. (Vs. 42.)
And God showed unto them his marvelous grace in protecting
them. He would not allow them to be submerged at the
outset under a storm of persecution. The wind will blow
upon thorn fiercely euough by and by, but at present, while
the tree is rooting, God protects them from the cold north
winds. They grew in favor with the people and fear came
upon every soul. (Vs. 43, 47.)
C. W. Grafton.
Nothing doth so much to establish the mind amidst
the rolling* and turbulency of present things, as a look
above, and a look beyond them, above them to the
good and steady Hand by which they are ruled, and
beyond them to the sweet and beautiful end to which
by that Hand they shall be brought.?R. Leighton.
Very often the best way of fighting temptation is to
cease fighting, fill the mind with Christ and holy
thought, and then trust quietly to the delivering power
:i mis Holy bpirit.?R. J. Campbell.
He that prayeth for another is heard for himself.?
Jewish Proverb.