Connect with facts; the position and responsibilities of the Church, the promise given, the antecedent state of the world, the need of a Divine power for the mission of grace, the importance of such a miracle for the confirmation of faith and the establishment of Christianity, the uplifting of the agents above natural infirmities, errors, and sins.

I. A GREAT EPOCH in human history. World filled with many things - thoughts, speculations, strivings, powers; capable of much, but the great want the Spirit. Truth, love, life, for a false world - a world at enmity with itself, fall of disorder; a dying world, needing to be renewed and restored.

II. A GREAT GIFT of God to man. "Suddenly bestowed; freely, apart from man's claims and merits; upon all, without respect of persons, for the selection of the few believing Jews, with a view to the abolition of Judaism and of all restrictions; abundantly - all filled," to their own astonishment, with supernatural powers. Spiritual gifts above all other gifts. Even science points to a continuous ascent of man. He is only highest when he is filled with the Spirit of God.

III. A GREAT CHANGE in individuals and in the community. We may anticipate a similar baptism of the Holy Ghost, not with the same external manifestation, but with substantially the same elevation of faith and life. Instances of such a baptism in great preachers and workers, in lowly men and women, in periods of the Church's history. Suddenly the fact may appear, but, like the first Christians, our duty is to be ready for it, waiting, expecting, with one accord, often in one place. Revival of the Church, conversion of the world, should be viewed in their relation to this stupendous change, and what came out of it. Baptism is consecration. The Holy Ghost is not given for signs and wonders, but to endow the Church for its mission to the world. The power of utterance is the great test of Divine endowment, not in the sense of human eloquence, but in the fulfillment of the Spirit's work, to "convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8-10). And so -

IV. A GREAT OPENING HEAVEN. The one fact of Pentecost is the pledge of the future. It is the gate through which we can see endless glory: "angels of God ascending and descending." "All the families of the earth" blessed in the true children of Abraham. We must admit of no compromise in the proclamation of such a message. If Christianity is no more than a moral doctrine, then Pentecost is lost in the background of a primitive antiquity; if it is "life from the dead," then we must ceaselessly repeat the watchword, "This is he that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." We can do nothing without a Divine Christ, a Divine Spirit, the promise of the Father, a new creation. To this opened heaven all are alike invited. The conditions of such a baptism were proclaimed by Jesus himself on the mount, through all his ministry. "Come unto me;" "Ask, and it shall be given unto you;" "Walk in the light, and be children of light." - R.

The succession which is indicated by the words Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is neither nominal nor accidental, it is a philosophicaI progress and culmination.

1. When we go back towards the origin of things, we are dissatisfied with all mere critical terms, and yearn for something for which we cannot hit the exact word. Then is suggested the Biblical word, Father, and with it comes a promise of satisfaction in spite of all its difficulties.

2. But fatherhood is an inclusive term, suggesting the idea of childhood, and childhood is realised most impressively in the sonship of Christ; but sonship such as this, involving visible expression, is beset with peculiar risks. So He withdrew Himself immediately that He had secured for His personality an unquestioned place in history, as there was nothing more to be gained by His visible continuance on earth.

3. But what of the future of His work? Then, according to Christian teaching, was to come manifestation without visibility; instead of bodily presence, there was to be a new experience of life and spirituality. In one word, the holy Man was to be followed by the Holy Ghost. This idea of a philosophical rather than a merely arbitrary succession is strictly consistent with the fact that the whole movement of history, in all that is vital and permanent, is a movement from the outward and visible to the inward and spiritual.

I. The order of CREATION. The succession runs thus: Light, firmament, dry land, seas, the fruit-tree yielding fruit, sun, moon, and stars, the moving creature that hath life, and fowl flying in the open firmament of heaven, cattle, creeping thing, and beast of the earth; if we pause here we shall be dissatisfied, because of a sense of incompleteness; but to crown the whole "God said, Let us make man in our image and in our likeness."

II. The order of HUMAN RECOVERY. Beginning with the Levitical ritual, what could be more objective? The sin-offering, the trespass-offering, the incenses, etc., represent the most sensuous and exhausting system of mediation? Could aught be farther from the point of spirituality? In moving forward to the incarnation, we take an immense step along the line whose final point is spirituality, yet even there we are still distinctly upon the carnal line. The final representative of sensuous worship must Himself be the revealer of spiritual life. Jesus Christ ascended, and henceforth we know not even Him "after the flesh," for the fleshly Christ has Himself placed mankind under the tuition of a spiritual monitor.

III. The order of WRITTEN TESTIMONY. From picture and symbol we pass to spiritual meanings; through the noise and fury of war we pass into the quietness and security of moral civilisation; through the porch of miracles and mighty signs and wonders we enter the holy place of truth and love. The quality of John's Gospel requires the very place that has been assigned to it in the New Testament. John seems to say, "You have heard what the Evangelists have had to tell, and have seen the wonderful things of their Master's ministry; now let me explain the deep meaning of the whole." From Malachi to Matthew is but a step; but to get from Malachi to John, you have to cross the universe. Matthew shows the fact; John reveals the truth; Matthew pourtrays on canvas; John puts his word into the heart.

IV. The whole LAW. From the minuteness of microscopic bye-laws men have passed to a spiritual sense of moral distinctions. Every moment of the Jew's time, and every act of his life, was guarded by a regulation. Amidst our spiritual light, such regulations could not be re-established without awakening the keenest resentment. The great tables of bye-laws have been taken down, because the spirit of order and of truth has been given. What is true of law is equally true of all institutionalism.

V. Precisely the same movement takes place in the experience of EVERY PROGRESSIVE LIFE. Every man can test this doctrine for himself — the doctrine, namely, that the growth of manhood is towards spirituality. The child grows towards contempt of its first toys; the youth reviews the narrow satisfactions of his childhood with pity; the middle-aged man smiles, half-sneeringly, as he recalls the conceits of his youth; and the hoary-haired thinker lives already amid the peace and joy of invisible scenes, or if he go back, living in memory rather than in expectation, it is so ideally as to divest his recollections of all that was transient and unlovely. The spiritual world of the wise man increases every day. These suggestions point to the conclusion that the Holy Ghost is the reasonable completion of revelation, and as such His ministry is an impregnable proof of the reasonableness of Christianity. In the person of Jesus Christ truth was outward, visible, and most beautiful; in the person of the Holy Ghost truth is inward, spiritual, all-transfiguring. By the very necessity of the case the bodily Christ could be but a passing figure; but by a gracious mystery He caused Himself to be succeeded by an eternal Presence, "even the Spirit of Truth, which abideth for ever." It is claimed, then, on behalf of Christianity, that there is a Holy Ghost, and to this doctrine is invited not only the homage of the heart but the full assent of the most robust and dispassionate understanding.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

I. They were filled WITH THE SPIRIT.

1. Men may be filled but not with the Spirit (ver. 13). The audience confessed they were full, but with wine, a liquor though full of spirit, yet no spirit. It was false, yet if the Spirit may be taken for a humour, why not a humour for a spirit. Isaiah says (Isaiah 29:9) that men may be drunk but not with wine. A hot humour is taken for this fire and termed, though untruly, a spirit of zeal, and men imbued with it are ever mending churches, states, superiors, and all save themselves.

2. Not every spirit. "There is a spirit in man," i.e. our own spirit, and many there be who follow their own ghost, and not the Holy Ghost; for even that ghost taketh upon it to inspire, and we know its revelations (Matthew 16:17).

3. blot the world's spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12).

4. But the Holy Spirit, i.e. His gifts and graces. And because these be of many points they are all included under these two —(l) Under the wind is represented saving graces; as necessary to our spiritual life as breath is to our natural. This is meant for us personally. Of this Spirit there are nine points (Galatians 5:22).(2) Under the tongues are set forth the grace meant for the benefit of others. Tongues serve to teach and fire to warm; and of this spirit the points are reckoned up in 1 Corinthians 12:7, etc.

II. THEY WERE FILLED with the Spirit.

1. It was not a wind that blew through them, as it does through many of us, but that filled them.

2. Not that they were devoid of the Spirit before. Christ had not breathed upon them (John 20:22) in vain. This shows us that there are diverse measures of the Spirit, some single, some double portions (1 Kings 2:9). As there are degrees in the wind — a breath, a blast, a gale, so there are in the Spirit. It is one thing to receive the Spirit as at Easter and to be filled with Him as at Whitsuntide. Then but a breath; now a mighty wind; then but sprinkled as with a few drops (Ezekiel 20:46), now baptized with that which was plenteously poured out (Joel 2:20).

III. IN SIGN THAT THEY WERE FILLED THEY RAN OVER. The fire was kindled in them by this wind, and in sign thereof they spoke with their tongue (Psalm 39:3). The wind would have served them as Christians, but as apostles, i.e. ambassadors, they must have tongues.

1. They were filled and then they began to speak. Some speak, I will not say before they are full, or half full, but while they are little better than empty, if not empty quite.

2. This beginning to speak argues courage. Any man might see that there was a new spirit come into them. Before they were tongue-tied. A damsel did but ask Peter a question, and he faltered. But after this mighty wind blew up the fire, and they were warmed with it, then they were not afraid to testify before magistrates and kings.

(Bp. Andrewes.)

The new era opened at Pentecost was one in which all God's people were to have God abiding in them always, the Guest, Comforter and Friend of every Christian heart. It must be admitted, however, that this Divine ideal has been very inadequately realised. Let us consider some of the results which may be expected to flow from a fuller baptism of the Spirit.

I. SPIRITUAL MINDEDNESS.

1. This does not mean that our thoughts should be perpetually running on the future, that we should ever be debating theological questions, but that we shall have the power to appreciate those great and eternal realities that are about us.

2. This spiritual mindedness will reveal itself —(1) In the estimate we form of our fellow men.(2) In our appreciation of the great spiritual end we ought ever to be seeking in order to do Christian work.(3) In our appreciation of Christian doctrine caring more about the spiritual substance than the particular form or fashion by which the truth may have been expressed. For instance —(a) In all our thought about the death and atonement of Christ, the imagination will not dwell on the physical blood that was shed, or upon the physical agony that was endured, but upon the majesty of God's righteousness, the wonder of God's love, the mystery of that great sacrifice on the Cross, and the awfulness of the sin which made that sacrifice necessary.(b) When we think about the second coming of Christ, our thoughts will not be taken up with the external circumstances of pomp and splendour, but rather with the triumph' of good over evil, and truth over falsehood, which is the consummation to which all devout souls must ever be looking.(c) In thinking about inspiration we shall not trouble ourselves about theories of it, or about the mere letter, but our care will be mostly for the Divine truth itself, which will lift us up in our despondency, and guide us in our perplexity when we come to the sacred page.

II. AN ACCESS OF POWER BY WHICH THE NATURALLY TIMID WILL BE ENABLED TO DO THINGS WHICH WOULD BE OTHERWISE IMPOSSIBLE TO THE STRONGEST; in regard to —

1. Testimony for Christ.

2. Endurance of suffering.

3. Philanthropic work.

III. A CHANGE OF DISPOSITION.

1. The cessation of "jealousies, strifes, and divisions," which Paul includes amongst the "works of the flesh."

2. The prevalence of a spirit of mercy and kindness towards others.(1) To those who in our midst are compelled to live very hard lives.(2) For those multitudes all over the world who are without the knowledge of God as revealed in Christ.

IV. AN ENTHUSIASM OF HOLY FERVOUR IN ALL WORK.

1. In worship.

2. In Church life.

3. In evangelism.

(H. Arnold Thomas, M. A.)

I. THE FULNESS. There was no part of the complex nature of man that was not pervaded by the Spirit.

1. The intellect was illumined to know the truths of the Spirit.

2. The affections were purified and inflamed with desires after heavenly things.

3. The will was strengthened to obey the motions of the Spirit.

II. ITS MANIFESTATION. Those who are so filled give out only the language of the life-giving Spirit. Even when they speak of earthly things it is with a tongue reminding men of the wisdom and simplicity of the children of God. When they do aught in the common business of life, their example recalls the thought of a higher life. All they say or do is to edifying.

(Cornelius a Lapide.)

The difference is not of kind, but of degree. In the one case, the light of heaven has reached the dark chamber, dispelling night, but leaving some obscurity and some deep shadows. In the other, that light has filled the whole chamber, and made every corner bright. This state of the soul — being "filled with the Holy Ghost" — is the normal antecedent of true prophetic or miraculous power, but may exist without it; without it, in individuals who are never endowed with the gift either of prophecy or of miracles; without it, in individuals who have such powers, but in whom they are not in action, as in John the Baptist, before his ministry commenced.

(W. Arthur, M. A.)

Eyesight is the necessary basis of what is called a painter's or a poet's eye; the sense of hearing, the necessary basis of what is called a musical ear, yet eyesight may exist where there is no poet's or painter's eye, and hearing where there is no musical ear. So may the human soul be "filled with the Holy Ghost," having every faculty illuminated, and every affection purified, without any miraculous gift. On the other hand, the miraculous power does not necessarily imply the spiritual fulness: for Paul puts the supposition of speaking with tongues, prophesying, removing mountains, and yet lacking charity, that love which must be shed abroad in every heart that is full of the Holy Ghost.

(W. Arthur, M. A.)

I. WE ARE APT TO FIX OUR THOUGHTS AND DESIRES ON SUBORDINATE INSTRUMENTALITIES.

1. Good organisation. Many are chiefly anxious to perfect the ecclesiastical apparatus of the Church; but without speaking disparagingly of this, yet perfect machinery is useless without motive power, a Church may be organised to death, and may be only like a stately tomb. The Church's finest triumphs were gained in days when it had no elaborate organisation.

2. Orthodoxy. Many are distressed by the present unsettlement of theological opinion, and regard uniformity of belief as the great desideratum. Correct thinking is much to be desired, and in proportion as any Church departs from fundamental Christian truth it emasculates its moral force. But an orthodox Church may be a scene of mental and spiritual stagnation. It may have a perfect creed and yet be loveless, lifeless, helpless.

3. Intellectual equipment. Of scholarship and disciplined thought it is impossible for a Church to have too much, but a Church that prides itself on its culture may be as cold as an iceberg and exclusive as a coterie. It may virtually say to any candidate who cannot be classed among its "thoughtful," or who does not rise to a certain standard of wealth and social status, what a deacon is reported to have said to an unwelcome applicant, "There is no vacancy in our church just now."

4. Liberty, fearless independence of thought and expression. But liberty may degenerate into license quite as easily as zeal for truth may pass into bigotry, and in its sacred name deadly errors and worthless speculations and conceits may be passed off as current coin of the realm of truth.

II. WHAT WE WANT SUPREMELY IS THE FULNESS OF THE SPIRIT.

1. Organisation, etc., are good things, but there is something more essential. Might not the Master say to-day as He did of old, "Ye are careful about many things, but one thing is needful." With the fulness of the Spirit our organisation will be filled with power, our orthodoxy pulsate with love, our culture have in it no Phariseeism, and our liberty always serve the interests of truth and godliness.

2. "Filled with the Spirit."(1) The Church will be guided into all truth, for a fuller tide of the Spirit means finer spiritual discernment and discrimination, and deeper insight into eternal verities.(2) The Church will be "glorious in holiness," for wherever the Spirit of God dwells He is as the refiner's fire.(3) The peace and harmony of the Church will be insured, for brotherly love will reign supreme, and fidelity to truth will carry no bitterness with it.(4) The Church will be preserved from selfishness, and made missionary and philanthropic.(5) The Church will not descend to carnal and unworthy methods of spreading the kingdom of God. It will cease to bow at the shrine of mammon, disdain the expedients of worldly wisdom, and not measure its success by statistical tables or worldly standards.(6) The Church will have an attractive power. We look too much to the mere accessories of religion — to music and ritual, intellectual brilliance and sensational services, forgetful of the fact that the magnetic spell of the Church is the beauty, intensity, and fulness of its spiritual life. When the fruits of the Spirit abound men will be drawn as bees to the apple blossom, or steel filings to the magnet.(7) The Church will exert a mighty power to perform greater miracles than those of Christ, and in their presence the voice of the caviller will be silenced. Preaching will be "in the demonstration of the Spirit and power," and we shall rejoice in constant accessions.

III. How SHALL WE OBTAIN THIS FULNESS OF THE SPIRIT? There have been seasons when the Spirit has swept in mighty tides, and we are tempted to think that the supply of the Spirit is according to some capricious or arbitrary arrangement. But the supernatural has its laws as well as the natural.

1. Everything that grieves the Spirit must be put away, "all malice and all guile and hypocrisies," etc., and "all unbelief, worldly-mindedness, pride, selfishness"; everything opposed to the simplicity, the charity and purity of Christ, or there will be fatal hindrances.

2. Earnest, importunate prayer — prayer that is not a mere repetition of conventional phrases, that has in it the utmost intensity of desire, that links together the whole communion of the faithful, and knows no cessation till the answer comes. The experience of the disciples before Pentecost, and in Acts 4:31, is a lesson for all ages.

3. There must be avenues for the Spirit's entrance, a large measure of receptivity, sensitiveness to His influence, fidelity to the truth. He requires cheerful response as He calls to duty or sacrifice, and an implicit obedience to His commands. Luther once said that people cried, "Spirit, Spirit, Spirit!" and then struck down all the bridges by which the Spirit might enter. At the moment of his ordination Whitefield says, "I offered up my whole spirit, soul and body, to the service of God's sanctuary," and the result we know. If the sacrifice be upon the altar, the fire from heaven will come down.

(T. G. Tarn.)

A piece of iron is dark and cold; imbued with a certain degree of heat, it becomes almost burning without any change of appearance; imbued with a still greater degree, its very appearance changes to that of solid fire, and it sets fire to whatever it touches. A piece of water without heat is solid and brittle; gently warmed, it flows; further heated, it mounts to the sky. An organ filled with the ordinary degree of air which exists everywhere is dumb; the touch of the player can elicit but a clicking of the keys. Throw in not other air, but an unsteady current of the same air, and sweet, but imperfect and uncertain, notes immediately respond to the player's touch: increase the current to a full supply, and every pipe swells with music. Such is the soul without the Holy Ghost, and such are the changes which pass upon it when it receives the Holy Ghost, and when it is "filled with the Holy Ghost." In the latter state only is it fully imbued with the Divine nature, bearing in all its manifestations some plain resemblance to its God, conveying to all on whom it acts some impression of Him, mounting heavenward in all its movements, and harmoniously pouring forth, from all its faculties, the praises of the Lord.

(W. Arthur, M. A.)

Look at the artist's chisel; the artist cannot carve without it. Yet imagine the chisel, conscious that it was made to carve, and that it is its function, trying to carve alone. It lays itself against the hard marble, but it has neither strength nor skill. Then we can imagine the chisel full of disappointment. "Why cannot I carve?" it cries. Then the artist comes and seizes it. The chisel lays itself into his hand, and is obedient to him. Thought, feeling, imagination, skill, flow down from the deep chambers of the artist's soul to the chisel's edge. The sculptor and the chisel are not two, but one; it is the unit which they make that carves the stone. We are but the chisel to carve God's statues in this world. Unquestionably we must do the work. But the human worker is only the chisel of the great Artist. The artist needs his chisel; but the chisel can do nothing, produce no beauty of itself. The artist must seize it, and the chisel lay itself into his hand and be obedient to him. We must yield ourselves altogether to Christ, and let Him use us. Then His power, His wisdom, His skill, His thought, His love, shall flow through our soul, our brain, our heart, our fingers.

(Bp. Phillips Brooks.)

I. WHEREIN IT CONSISTS.

1. Not in a miraculous gift of languages.

2. Nor in a formal repetition of pious expressions.

3. But in a heart and mouth opened to thankful praise of Divine grace and joyful confession of the Lord.

II. WHENCE IT PROCEEDS.

1. Not from our natural state.

2. Nor from the arts and sciences.

3. But from above, from the Spirit of God, who touches heart and lips with fire from heaven.

III. WHAT PURPOSE IT SERVES. Not to vain self-glorification or worldly delectation, but to the praise of God and to the message of salvation to the world.

(Gerok.)

They spoke —

I. WISELY, as the Spirit of wisdom moved them.

II. POWERFULLY, as the Spirit of power strengthened them.

III. PURELY, as the Spirit of holiness sanctified them.

(Cornelius a Lapide.)

The apostles' speaking on the day of Pentecost to the people in their respective languages, was to us a plain intimation of the mind and will of God, that the sacred records should be preserved by all nations in their own tongue; that the Scriptures should be read, and public worship be performed, in the vulgar language of the nations.

(M. Henry.)

Arabians, David, Elam, Elamites, Israelites, Joel, Parthians, PeterAsia, Cappadocia, Crete, Cyrene, Egypt, Jerusalem, Judea, Libya, Mesopotamia, Pamphylia, Phrygia, Pontus, RomeAbility, Declare, Different, Enabled, Filled, Foreign, Forth, Full, Ghost, Giving, Holy, Languages, Power, Speak, Spirit, Talking, Tongues, Utter, Utterance1. The apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, and speaking various languages,
12. are admired by some, and derided by others;
14. whom Peter disproves;
37. he baptizes a great number who were converted;
41. who afterwards devoutly and charitably converse together;
43. the apostles working many miracles,
46. and God daily increasing his church.

Acts 2:4

     3040   Holy Spirit, promise of
     3221   Holy Spirit, and prayer
     3251   Holy Spirit, filling with
     3281   Holy Spirit, inspiration
     5841   ecstasy
     6670   grace, and Holy Spirit
     7028   church, life of
     7708   apostles, function
     7907   baptism, practice
     7972   tongues, gift of
     8422   equipping, spiritual

Acts 2:1-4

     3275   Holy Spirit, in the church
     4804   breath
     7361   Feast of Weeks
     8145   renewal, people of God

Acts 2:1-11

     5374   languages
     7755   preaching, importance

Acts 2:1-12

     1444   revelation, NT

Acts 2:1-13

     5345   influence
     7757   preaching, effects
     8817   ridicule, objects of

Acts 2:1-21

     4544   wine
     7241   Jerusalem, significance

Acts 2:1-41

     7505   Jews, the

Acts 2:2-4

     3120   Holy Spirit, descriptions

Acts 2:2-11

     1450   signs, kinds of

Acts 2:3-4

     5193   tongue

November 25 Evening
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall he saved.--ACTS 2:21. Manasseh did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, and he reared up altars for Baal. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.--And …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

July 3 Evening
Things which are despised, hath God chosen.--I COR. 1:28. Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? Jesus, . . . saw two brethren, . . . casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me.--Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 4. "They were all Filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts ii. 4).
"They were all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts ii. 4). Blessed secret of spiritual purity, victory and joy, of physical life and healing, and all power for service. Filled with the Spirit there is no room for self or sin, for fret or care. Filled with the Spirit we repel the elements of disease that are in the air as the red-hot iron repels the water that touches it. Filled with the Spirit we are always ready for service, and Satan turns away when he finds the Holy Ghost enrobing us in His garments …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Pentecost
Text: Acts 2, 1-13. 1 And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Pentecost Monday
Text: Acts 2, 14-28. Only the text, without a sermon, is printed in the edition of 1559 of Luther's works. This and the following epistle text are too long to consider here, as they contain so many beautiful quotations from the Old Testament, which should not be passed over too briefly. Hence their discussion is reserved for their proper place. …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Pentecost Tuesday
Text: Acts 2, 29-36. Only the text, without a sermon, is printed in the edition of 1559 of Luther's works. …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

The Name Above Every Name
'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.'--ACTS ii. 36. It is no part of my purpose at this time to consider the special circumstances under which these words were spoken, nor even to enter upon an exposition of their whole scope. I select them for one reason, the occurrence in them of the three names by which we designate our Saviour--Jesus, Lord, Christ. To us they are very little more than three proper …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

A Fourfold Cord
'And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.' --ACTS ii. 42. The Early Church was not a pattern for us, and the idea of its greatly superior purity is very largely a delusion. But still, though that be true, the occasional glimpses that we get at intervals in the early chapters of this Book of the Acts of the Apostles do present a very instructive and beautiful picture of what a Christian society may be, and therefore of what Christian …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

A Pure Church an Increasing Church
'And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.'--ACTS ii. 47. 'And the Lord added to them day by day those that were being saved.'--(R. V.) You observe that the principal alterations of these words in the Revised Version are two: the one the omission of 'the church,' the other the substitution of 'were being saved' for 'such as should be saved.' The former of these changes has an interest as suggesting that at the early period referred to the name of 'the church' had not yet been …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Abiding Gift and Its Transitory Accompaniments
'And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Fourfold Symbols of the Spirit
'A rushing mighty wind.' ... 'Cloven tongues like as of fire.' ... 'I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh.' --ACTS ii. 2, 3, 17. 'Ye have an unction from the Holy One.'--1 JOHN ii. 20. Wind, fire, water, oil,--these four are constant Scriptural symbols for the Spirit of God. We have them all in these fragments of verses which I have taken for my text now, and which I have isolated from their context for the purpose of bringing out simply these symbolical references. I think that perhaps we …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Peter's First Sermon
'This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, 35. Until I make Thy foes Thy footstool. 36. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Historical and Spiritual Causes of the Death of Christ
"Him, being by the determined will and foreknowledge of God given up, through the hand of lawless men, ye affixed to a cross and slew."--ACTS II. 23. St. Paul places this in the very forefront of that gospel which, as it had been delivered to him, so he in his turn had delivered to the Corinthians, that "Christ died for our sins." Neglecting all, deeper interpretations of this, it is at least clear that in the apostle's mind there was the closest and most intimate connexion between the death of …
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

The Necessity and Benefits of Religious Society
Eccles. 4:9-12 -- "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe be to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat; but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Among the many reasons assignable for the sad decay of true Christianity, perhaps the neglecting …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

The Great Assize
[i.e., The Last Judgment -- GL] [21] "We shall all stand before the judgement-seat of Christ." Rom. 14:10. 1. How many circumstances concur to raise the awfulness of the present solemnity! -- The general concourse of people of every age, sex, rank, and condition of life, willingly or unwillingly gathered together, not only from the neighboring, but from distant, parts; criminals, speedily to be brought forth and having no way to escape; officers, waiting in their various posts, to execute the orders …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Means of Grace
"Ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them." Mal. 3:7. I. 1. But are there any ordinances now, since life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel? Are there, under the Christian dispensation, any means ordained of God, as the usual channels of his grace? This question could never have been proposed in the apostolical church, unless by one who openly avowed himself to be a Heathen; the whole body of Christians being agreed, that Christ had ordained certain outward means, …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Pricked in their Heart
Peter's discourse was not distinguished by any special rhetorical display: he used not the words of man's wisdom or eloquence. It was not an oration, but it was a heart-moving argument, entreaty, and exhortation. He gave his hearers a simple, well-reasoned, Scriptural discourse, sustained by the facts of experience; and every passage of it pointed to the Lord Jesus. It was in these respects a model of what a sermon ought to be as to its contents. His plea was personally addressed to the people who …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 35: 1889

The Baptism of the Spirit
And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.' (Acts ii. 2, 4.) The Holy Ghost is the active force in all spiritual life. It is, therefore, important that we should realize the close connexion between the experience of Holiness and that 'Promise of the Father' for which the early disciples were to wait. All followers of Jesus should realize, as truly as the disciples did on that historic day, that their day of Pentecost …
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

The Promises of the Christian Home.
"The promise is unto you, and to your children." ACTS II., 39. "Parent who plantedst in the joy of love, Yet hast not gather'd fruit,--save rankling thorns, Or Sodom's bitter apples,--hast thou read Heaven's promise to the seeker? Thou may'st bring Those o'er whose cradle thou didst watch with pride, And lay them at thy Savior's feet, for lo! His shadow falling on the wayward soul, May give it holy health. And when thou kneel'st Low at the pavement of sweet Mercy's gate, Beseeching for thine erring …
Samuel Philips—The Christian Home

False Teachings of the Apostasy.
This is subject enough for volumes. There is scarcely a text in the Bible but what has been perverted by some one confused by the fogs of Babylon. Perhaps you can not find two individuals in the whole of sectism that see "eye to eye" upon the whole truth. To mention all the erroneous teachings of apostates would be almost impossible. However we believe it to be compatible with this work and to the glory of God to mention and refute a few of the false doctrines that have been most effectual in obscuring …
Charles Ebert Orr—The Gospel Day

How Does it Come?
How does the Filling of the Spirit come? "Does it come once for all? or is it always coming, as it were?" was a question addressed to me once by a young candidate for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. There are many asking the same question. We have considered how the Fullness is obtained, but now we proceed to consider, How does the Fullness come? In speaking of the blessing of being filled with the Spirit, the New Testament writers use three tenses in the Greek--the Aorist, the Imperfect, and the …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

Its Effects.
Among the effects and benefits which in this life accompany and flow from being filled with the Holy Ghost, may be mentioned the following:-- 1. Courage. "Oh, I could not do so and so--I have not the courage," is a reply frequently made by Christian people when asked to undertake some piece of service or other for the Master. The first point to be settled is, "Is that the Master's will for me?" If so, lack of courage is a confession to the lack of the "Fullness of the Holy Ghost." The Spirit-filled …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

Every Believer's Birthright.
On every hand a lack of something is being felt and expressed by God's people. Their Christian experience is not what they expected it would be. Instead of expected victory, it is oft-recurring, dreaded defeat; instead of soul satisfaction, it is soul hunger; instead of deep, abiding heart rest, it is disquiet and discontent; instead of advancing, it is losing ground. Is this all Christ meant when He said, "Come unto Me"? Is this life of constant disappointment the normal life of the Bible Christian? …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

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