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Elehenth in a series of sermons on" The Acts
of the Apostles. ”
E left Paul and Silas just emerging from
the Philippian prison, after being re
leased, they tarried a little while to com
fort and strengthen those new converts,
then continued their tour. They visited
a few unimportant places, finally reach
ing Thessolonica, wiiere one of the large
synagogues was located. According to
Paul’s custom, he went to the syna-
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gogue and began to expound the Scriptures to the
Jews, teaching concerning Christ the King. That is
the one testimony of his ministry. As the result
of this preaching in the synagogue in Thessolonica,
the Jews there became jealous of this new religion—
they did not like to hear about the kingship of
Jesus. They had their idea as to how Christ, their
King, their Messiah should come; He was to come in
heavenly splendor and set up a kingdom on the
earth, and so, of course, they regarded this lowly
born man, this Nazarene, as an impostor. They be
came so aroused that they planned to stop him;
they set to work to arrest him. They learned, as
they thought, that he was being entertained in the
home of Jason. The house of Jason perhaps was head
quarters for the Christians who were in Thessolonica.
So they made a raid on Jason’s house and they
found that he was not there, as is charasteristic of all
mobs, they must seize somebody, so they arrested
Jason and the other men found dwelling in his house,
and carried them before the rulers and there they
were compelled to give bond, and then turned loose.
Fearing further violence, they spirited Paul by night
to the city of Berea. They received different treat
ment in Berea. The Apostle met with many there
who had studied God’s word and were prepared
for the message; and many of all classes believed.
However, this peaceful season was not to last long.
The Jews over in Thessalonica heard how the gos
pel was being received, and not being content with
hounding Paul out of their own city, they came from
Thessolonica to stir up the people in Berea. In an
underhanded way they succeeded, they aroused the
people in Be:ea to such an extent that Paul tied
from Berea over into Athens. However, this time
he left behind Silas and Timothy. It seems that they
were not so bent on doing violence to any of the rest
of them; they were simply after the Apostle Paul,
who was regarded as the head. While in Athens,
this great Grecian capital, waiting for the coming
of his co-laborers, Silas and Timothy, it is said
that “He beheld the city so given to idolatry that his
spirit was stiried within him. Paul had heard of
Athens; he knew all about the idolatry of Athens so
far as a man could know about a thing from a dis
tance, for he was a well read man and was thoroughly
conversant and acquainted with the literature and
religion of the country, and yet Paul’s spirit up until
this time had never been stirred wiithin him about
the conditions in Athens. It was after he had been
privileged to wait in the city of Athens, when he
had time to visit around and look in upon the life
of the people, that his spirit was so stirred by reason
of their idolatry. He began to preach to them and
preached again his usual sermon about Jesus Christ,
and wound up with special stress upon the resur
rection of Jesus. This teaching, to those Athenians,
was a very despicable doctrine. However, these
people were always eager for some new thing, so
they listened, and some were convinced and be
lieved.
From Athens Paul goes over to Corinth. Here
he remained for a year and six months. He came
in contact with Aquilla and Priscilla. This man,
Aquilla, and Priscilla, hs wife, were refugees from
the city of Rome; they had been run out under the
decree of Claudius to the effect that all the Jews
should leave Rome. They had come to the city of
Corinth and were believers when he met them.
It was perhaps because of their occupation that they
were brought together first. Paul was a tent maker
and that was Aquilla’s occupation and it does not
take men of the same occupation long to get to-
RECEIVING THE STIEIT
Thd Golden Age for November 17, 1910.
7 abernacle Sermon by Heb. Len G. wrought on, D . D.
Stenographically reported for The Golden Age.— Copyright applied for.
gether. Too, they had fellowship from the fact that
they were brethren in the Lord. And So Aquilla and
Priscilla and Paul had great and intimate fellowship.
And so wonderful was the blessing of God upon the
ministry of Paul in the city of Corinth that he re
mained there a year and six months preaching and
teaching and building up the work.
After a year and a half Paul goes to Ephesus, car
rying Aquilla and Priscilla with him. He leaves after
a short time, leaving Acquilla and Priscilla behind
him, and goes around through the country visiting
smaller towns and cities, and finally returning to
Jerusalem to keep a feast. Aquilla and Priscilla
remained in Ephesus, and you remember how a cer
tain man came there, Appollas by name, a great
man, a man of wonderful gifts, a religious man, a
devoted man; however he had been taught under
the ministry of John and had believed according to
the teaching of John, and was preaching the Gos
pel as interpreted by John. Acquilla and Priscilla
heard him and were impressed with his wonderful
oratorical gifts and his wonderful depths of religious
feeling and Acquilla and Priscilla being
better taught than he, took him aside af
ter hearing one of his messages and
proceeded to instruct him more thorough
ly in the gospel. They proceeded to add to his
knowledge, his theological knowledge that which
they had learned themselves in contact with the
Apostle. The result of this instruction was that Apol
las became a wonderful preacher of Jesus. Christ
and His religion, he was wonderfully convincing. He
knew the Scriptures and had little trouble showing
the J ws that Jesus was the fulfilment of prophecy.
After receiving instructions from Acquilla and Pris
cilla, he continued his journey, carrying the gospel
of Jesus Christ to many of the Jews. While he was
in Corinth Paul came back to Ephesus, where he
came in contact with a number of believers of whom
he asked the question, “Did ye receive the Holy
Ghost when ye believed?” Mark you, these men were
every one church members; they had been baptised;
and the Apostle Paul asked this great question around
which our lesson hinges; as the Revised Version
puts it, “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye be
lieved?” they answered, “We never knew there was
a Holy Ghost.” They had been taught concerning
the gospel as interpreted by John, and had received
John’s baptism, which was a baptism unto repent
ence. It was not as we would say today Christian
baptism; the Holy Ghost had not then been poured
out; they had not been taught concerning the Holy
Ghost; John taught nothing of the Holy Ghost and
they knew nothing of the Holy Ghost though they
were believers; and not being taught concerning
the Holy Ghost they had not received Him because
they could not receive that which they knew nothing
of. The Apostle then instructed them concerning the
Holy Ghost and after that they believed and re
ceived Him.
INDWELLING OF THE SPIRIT.
The continued ministry, first, Thessalonica, then
in Berea, then Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, back to
Ephesus where he meets these twelve believers and
proposes to them the question which we take as the
main topic of our lesson tonight.
My first point is concerning the reception of the
Holy Ghost. May I ask you in the words of the Apos
tle, brethren and sisters, from the youngest to the
oldest, you who are Christians, did you receive the
Holy Ghost when you believed? To that question you
can give an answer,- yes or no. The Apostle Paul
would not have asked a question that could not be
answered. Some people say, “I do not know whether
I did or not.” Yes, you do know whether you did or
not. He would not have asked a question that could
not be answered.
“Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?”
Certainly the vast majority of you never did, and
the reason why, I am bold to say, is because it is
true of you as of these disciples that Paul met at
Ephesus, that at the time of your conversation you
knew nothing about the Holy Ghost. Certainly that
was true with me. 1 was converted when I was
about eleven years old, and I am sure I knew noth
ing about the Holy Ghost. I never heard a sermon
about Him; I never heard a lesson taught, I never
heard one word that I can remember said about the
Holy Ghost except that I used to hear my old
pastor pray sometimes in his morning or evening
orayers at Church for the “unction of the Spirit.”
and I did not know what on earth he meant, so T
know full well that I never received the Holy Ghost
when I believed. I did not know a thing about it.
and I venture to say again that it is true of the vast
majority of you that at the time of your conversion
you knew nothing about the Holy Ghost. May I ask
you another question? If you did not receive the Holy
Ghost when you believed, have you received the
Holy Ghost since you believed? You say, “I do not
know whether I have or not.” I say again, you do
know. You know just as well that as you know that
you believed, if I ask you if you believed in Jesus
Christ and are you saved, you would say, ‘“Yes.”
Why would you say this? You would not say it be
cause of any feeling in your heart; certainly you
would say it because you knew it. I know whether
or not I have received Jesus Christ as my Saviour
and my Lord, and you do too. I know it by faith.
I know I have believed in Jesus and am banking on
Him to save me. I know whether I have received
the Holy Ghost as well as I know whether I have
received Jesus Christ. I know it as a fact of faith.
Now, the Spirit, I say, must be received, if you
are to get His blessing. He lies here, He is every
where. He came on the day of Pentecost and has
never left. He is right here tonight closer to us
than breathing, and yet in many instances, in most
. instances, not recognized. All the fullness of God
in the Holy Ghost is possible for us, but we must re
ceive Him. If I come to your house and you are
sick and need medicine and I stand right by your
bedside and hold in my hand the thing that you
need, I might stand there for eternity and you would
get no better, until you received what I proffered.
God the Spirit is by us all the time, but we are not
receiving His blessing because He is not received. He
must be received just as we receive Jesus as our
Sa\iour.
The normal order is to receive Him, the Holy
Ghost, at the time of conversion. That is brought
out clearly by the question that the Apostle asks
these disciples, “Did you receive the Holy Ghost
when yeu believed?” and so the normal order for us
is the reception of the Spirit at the time of our con
versation. Do you know why it is that we do not
all receive Him at the time of conversion? Not be
cause it is not possible: it is because of the same
thing that was the matter with them; they do not
know, nor do we. I did not know of it until long
alter I had entered the ministry that it was neces
sary for me to receive the Holy Ghost, long after I
had been preaching, four or five years at least, before
I knew that you should receive the Holy Ghost.
And when I came to a knowledge of the fact, I was
not slow in embracing it, and the world today is not
going to be slow in embracing this truth when the
world wakes up to a realization of the truth. The
normal order is the reception of the Spirit at con
version. If the unsaved man was taught to re
ceive Jesus and the Spirit at the same - time the
w nole thing would be done, but he is not. All he can
see then is Jesus, and he is slow to see that. If
" e did not receive the Holy Ghost at the time of
oui conversion he should be received now.
I HE PROCESS.
The question for us is, how is He, the Holy Ghost,
to be received? That is what you want to know.
1 hat is what I want to know. The one thing need
ful in the Church is the Holy Ghost. There isn’t a
doubt about that. Wherever you find a man filled
with the Spirit, you will find a man with a new
touch of power, a new vision of God, a new con
ception of life.
Now, how are we to receive the Holy Ghost? Turn
to John 7:37, 38, 39: “In the last day, that great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If
any man thirst let him come unto me. and drink.
He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said,
out ol his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
But this spake He of the Spirit which they that be
(Continued on Page 14.)
