Jan. 7.-The Ascending Lord.—Acts i. 1-14.

Exposition.

Ver. 1.-The former treatise here referred to is undoubtedly the Gospel of St. Luke, which is addressed to the same person (Luke i. 3). This in itself might be considered sufficient proof that St. Luke is the author of the Acts of the Apostles. But an additional proof is found in the following verses (2-4), which so plainly refer to the closing chapter of St. Luke's gospel (Luke xxiv. 44-49). Other arguments, which are of importance in establishing the same point, scarcely come within the scope of a Sunday School lesson; but one may be mentioned which has great weight, viz., there are no less than fifty Greek words found in both books which are found nowhere else in the New Testament.

Ver. 2.-For the commandments here referred to, see the last chapter of the four Gospels. These commandments are said to have been given "through the Holy Ghost. We are taught that in His public ministry Jesus spoke and acted (Luke iv. I; John iii. 34). But when we remember that after His resurrection He breathed on His disciples, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John xx. 22), it seems as though something further were intended here. By that significant act He made His disciples participants of the gift of the Spirit with which He was endowed in a degree they had not been before, and as an earnest of the future descent of the Holy Ghost upon them. Thus, "through the Holy Ghost," His last commandments were better understood by His disciples, and produced a deeper impression upon them than any of His previous words.

Ver. 3.-That Jesus "showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs," we have seen in a former lesson; and though no further comment is needed here, it will be well to recall some of those proofs in the class. "Speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"This implies, it is obvious, much unrecorded teaching. What is recorded points (1) to the true interpretation of the prophecies of the Messiah (Luke xxiv. 27, 44, 45); (2) to the extension of the mission of the disciples to the whole Gentile world, and their admission to the kingdom by baptism (Matthew xxviii. 19); (3) to the promises of supernatural powers and Divine protection (Mark xvi. 15-18); (4) to that of His own perpetual presence with His Church (Matt. xxviii. 20)."

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Ver. 4. This is a direct reference to Luke xxiv. 49. "The promise of the Father" was the gift of the Holy Ghost after Jesus should be taken from them, and was especially given in the farewell discourse addressed to them by Jesus the night before His crucifixion (John xiv. 16, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 7-11). They were to tarry in Jerusalem until this promise was fulfilled; because without it they would not be fitted for the accomplishment of their great mission to the world.

Ver. 5. Thus far the historian has been recapitulating what he said in the last chapter of his Gospel; but now he proceeds to tell us some things which he had not mentioned there. Jesus on that occasion had, in addition to repeating His own promises, referred them back to the baptism of John, reminding them that, though John had baptized with water, he had declared that He who should come after him should baptize with the Holy Ghost (Matt. iii. 11; John i. 33); and this promise Jesus now declares should be fulfilled "not many days hence.'

Ver. 6.—It is somewhat surprising to find the Apostles here returning to a subject which was prominently in their minds before the crucifixion. One would have thought the answers and instructions they had previously received, taken in connection with the events that had occurred, would have been sufficient to have fully enlightened them as to the true nature of their Master's kingdom; but here we find them again thinking of a restored kingdom for Israel, instead of a spiritual kingdom to embrace all mankind.

Ver. 7.-The alteration of the concluding words of this verse in the Revised Version is noteworthy-" set within His own authority." In the Authorised Version, two different Greek words in verses 7, 8, are both translated by the English word power, which is somewhat misleading. The answer of Jesus to their question is in keeping with His previous words (Matt. xxiv. 36; Luke xvii. 20, 21).

Ver. 8.-Here we have a repetition of the promise that they should receive power after the descent of the Holy Ghost, by which we are to understand every essential qualification for their great work. Thus endowed, they were to become witnesses to Him "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." "We have here the true key to the plan of the Acts, which records the progress of the Gospel. First, in Jerusalem and in all Judea—this in chap. ii. to chap. viii. 4. Secondly, in Samaria-this in chap. viii. 5 to ver. 25. Thirdly, unto the uttermost part of the earth-of this we have a beautiful anticipation in chap. viii. 26 to the end, and the preparations for it in chap. ix. to chap. xii.; while the execution of it is recorded in chap. xiii. to the end of the book."

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Ver. 9.-It is remarkable that while all the Gospels record the fact of Christ's resurrection, and mention incidents subsequent to that event, Matthew and John do not mention the Ascension at all, and Mark and Luke only in the briefest manner. The fullest account of it is that which we have here; and this, too, is extremely brief and simple. The fact of the ascension is, as it were, taken for granted in the New Testament, as if the fact of the resurrection being proved, the ascension followed as a matter of course. But the language here, though so brief and simple, is unmistakably clear as to the fact. It was not a mere disappearance, which the imaginations of the disciples might afterwards construe into an ascension. had vanished from their sight on previous occasions since His resurrection-but now, "while they beheld, He was taken up," and while they were still steadfastly gazing after Him, He passed out of their sight beyond the clouds. The great purposes of His ascension should be mentioned, though to some extent they will come up again in subsequent lessons. 1. He went to present His sacrifice to the Father on our behalf (Heb. ix. 24; vii. 25-28). 2. Not until He had done this could the promise of the Holy Ghost be fulfilled (John vii. 39; xvi. 7). 3. He ascended that He might receive His kingdom. Thus the ascension, though free from display from an earthly standpoint, was a triumphal reception into heaven as it had been predicted it should be (Psalm xxiv. 7-10). From that time Jesus was exalted and glorified (John xvii. 5; Acts ii. 33; v. 31; Rev. iii. 21).

Verses 10, 11.-The language employed seems to indicate that these were the same Angels who appeared to announce the fact of the resurrection. Their question addressed to the disciples has been understood by some to imply a rebuke; but very unnecessarily so. It is exactly parallel to the former question, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" In both cases the question forms only a preface to an announcement. In the former case, the angels had to announce to the disciples that the Master whom they thought they had lost by death, was restored to them by His resurrection; and now they have to announce his final disappearance from their sight, until the time of which He had spoken to them, when He shall come again in like manner. In a spiritual sense, we should imitate the Apostles in gazing steadfastly up into heaven after our ascended Lord. It may be doubted whether His people generally sufficiently realise the importance of His risen and exalted life there on our behalf. Nor do we sufficiently familiarise our minds with the thought of His coming again.

Ver. 12.-This verse clearly shows us the locality of the ascension. The disciples had returned from that meeting with their Master in Galilee mentioned in the Gospels, and their last interviews with Him, like the first after His resurrection, took place in Jerusalem and its vicinity.

Verses 13, 14.-The upper room was probably the same of which we have before read. Here the Apostles and other Disciples, to the number of about one hundred and twenty (ver. 15), "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." They thus in the best possible manner carried out their Master's injunction to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high.

Jan. 14. The Descending Spirit.-Acrs ii. 1-21.

I.-Waiting for the Promise.

We left the disciples collected in the upper room in Jerusalem, engaged with one accord in prayer and supplication. And now we find them "all with one accord in one place." But we must not lose sight of the fact that ten days had elapsed. As their Master had told them that they should receive the Holy Ghost not many days after His ascension, but had not made known to them the exact time, it is probable that they had remained together during the whole time, waiting in earnest expectation for the fulfilment of the promise. The latter part of the previous chapter shows us that part of the time was spent in consultation respecting the duties about to devolve on them; but most of it was no doubt spent in prayer. They did not think it needless to pray because they had such definite promises, that the Holy Ghost should be given them, to rely upon; but they remembered the more general teaching of their Master, that the Holy Spirit should be given to them that ask Him (Luke xi. 13), and the many encouragements to earnest prayer which His teachings had contained. They remembered, also, that He Himself had prayed, and was still praying the Father to bestow this special gift upon them (John xiv. 16). We should learn from this that there is no blessing promised to us in such a way as to make its bestowal independent of our prayers. For every blessing, temporal and spiritual, and especially for the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, we are to ask that we may have.

The delay of ten days before the fulfilment of the promise must-have been a trial to their faith, and was no doubt intended as a test. As the Ascension Day was that answering to our Thursday, and the promise said, "not many days," remembering that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, and had choson that day for many of His appearances to them, they would be almost sure to fix their hopes on the approaching first day of the week, and we can easily imagine with what intense expectancy they prayed and waited during the hours of that day. But they were doomed to disappointment; and not only so, but had to bear a similar disappointment day after day for the next week, and it was not until the morning of the Feast of Pentecost, the second first day of the week after their Master had been taken from them, that the promise was fulfilled. And still "they were all of one accord in one place." What a noble example of persevering prayer, and of patient faith.

II. The Fulfilment.

1. Symbolical signs. The rushing mighty wind, and the cloven tongues of fire, were the outward and visible signs of the inward and spiritual gift now imparted to the Apostles. The gift was to be an endowment by the Holy Ghost of " power from on high," and both these symbols were strikingly suggestive of power. But, in addition, they are both Old Testament symbols of the Holy Spirit. It is suggested by a high authority, that the influence felt by the disciples was a 'supernatural inbreathing," which must have recalled their Master's act when He breathed on them, and said, "receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John xx. 22). "Now, once more, they felt that light, yet awful breathing, which wrought every nerve to ecstasy; and it filled the whole house,' as if in token of the wide range over which the new spiritual power was to extend its working, even unto the whole church, which is the house of God (1 Tim. iii. 15), and to the uttermost parts of the earth... What the disciples saw would, perhaps, be best described in modern phrase as a shower of fiery tongues, coming they knew not whence, lighting for a moment on each head, and then vanishing."

2. The gift itself. It was that "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." That Divine Spirit, of whose gracious influences on their minds and hearts they had previously been sufficiently conscious to lead them to desire and pray for the fulness of it, now, for the first time, filled their entire being-" pervading the inner depths of personality, stimulating every faculty and feeling to a new intensity of life." By this influence they felt carried out of themselves, "thinking thoughts and speaking words which were not their own, and which they could hardly even control. They had passed into a state which was one of rapturous ecstasy and joy. We must not think of the gift as confined to the Apostles. The context shows that the writer speaks of all who were assembled, not excepting the women as sharers in it." This is, no doubt, a true description of their experience, and we must think of a similar transformation in all cases in which we meet with the expression, "filled with the Holy Ghost." It was in this sense and measure, and not in regard to His ordinary influences, that the Holy Ghost was not previously given, "because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John vii. 39). And while there were special signs and gifts, which were not intended to continue, it is evident that the essential gift-the plenary influence of the Holy Spirit-was intended to be a permanent possession of the church (ver. 39). The Holy Ghost was thus given for all the purposes for which He had been promised to the disciples in their Master's discourse the night previous to His Crucifixion; He was to bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever Jesus had said unto them, and to guide them into all truth (John xiv. 26; xvi. 13); and through them to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John xvi. 8-11).

III.-The Gift of Tongues.

It was necessary, that in addition to the miraculous signs given to the disciples themselves, of which we have spoken, there should be some manifestation of Divine power in them which would at once arrest the attention of those to whom they had to declare the truth, and accredit them as Divine messengers. Nothing could have been more strikingly appropriate for this purpose than the gift imparted to them of intuitively speaking in languages other than their own. Jerusalem was at the Feast of Pentecost usually filled with strangers from distant parts, and we find that such was the case on this occasion (verses 5, 9-11); the places mentioned, from which these strangers had come, give a bird's-eye view of the Roman Empire, which was almost co-extensive with the then known world. The men who had come from the distant places of Europe, Asia, and Africa, were either naturalised Jews, or Jewish proselytes, and spoke the languages of the countries from which they had come. It is easy to understand, therefore, the commotion which was soon raised in the streets of Jerusalem when these one hundred and twenty disciples went out, and, dispersing among the crowds, began relating their wonderful experience of the Divine power that had come upon them, in the native languages of the persons whom they were addressing. There have been conflicting opinions as to the real nature of this miraculous gift, but the matter seems very plain and simple if we only keep to the narrative before us. It was a power of speaking in any language that might be needed in order to declare "the wonderful works of God to any of the strangers they met. When we remember the difficulties of learning a foreign language, we shall be the more impressed with the marvellous manifestation of Divine power in this gift. As it was evident that the speakers were all Galileans, the astonishment caused by this phenomenon soon spread, until a great multitude, eagerly discussing the matter, was gathered together. In the midst of this multitude the Apostles stood together in some conspicuous place, and Peter proceeded to give the explanation of all that had occurred in that remarkable sermon which we shall have to consider in our next lesson.

Jan. 21.-The Believing People.-ACTS ii. 22-47.

I.-Peter's Sermon.

It was no ordinary task which Peter set before him, when he stood up to explain to this excited crowd what had taken place, and to seek to convince them of the truth respecting Jesus of Nazareth. But inspired by the new influence which had taken possession of his mind and heart, he proved himself fully equal to the occasion, and delivered a discourse of such an overwhelmingly convincing character as to bear down all opposition. We cannot suppose that what is recorded is more than an outline of it; but it is sufficient to show us how admirably adapted it was for his purpose. He first takes up the taunt of the mockers amongst the crowd who had charged them with being drunk (ver. 13), and points out to them the absurdity of such a charge at nine o'clock in the morning. Then he tells them that what had taken place was the fulfilment of one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Old Testament Scriptures, and proceeds to quote it at full length (Joel ii. 28-32). Leaving the application of this prophecy to the events which had taken place, and others with which they would soon become familiar, to speak for itself, he plunges boldly into the heart of his subject: briefly reviews the life which Jesus of Nazareth had lived amongst them; tells them that though they had by wicked hands crucified and slain Him, that had been permitted only "by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God," and that in fulfilment of the same great purposes for which He had been permitted to be slain, God had raised Him from the dead. Then he quotes at length another prophecy (Psalm xvi. 8-11), and proceeds to argue, in the most forcible manner, that David could not have spoken these words of himself, but of the Messiah, and that Jesus, whom God had raised from the dead, of which they-he and his brother Apostles standing around him-were witnesses, could be no other than that Messiah of whom David had spoken. He then goes on to declare that Jesus was exalted as well as risen ; and that " having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost," He had shed forth this mighty influence which had filled Jerusalem with wonder. Reverting to the prophecy again for a moment to show that the exaltation and Lordship necessarily followed from the resurrection, he concludes with the emphatic application, "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."

This discourse strikingly illustrates the change wrought in Peter by the baptism of "power from on high." 1. In the illumination of his mind. His knowledge of the Scriptures, his correct applications of the prophecies relating to Christ, the clearness of his views respecting the true mission of the Messiah, and the purposes for which He was put to death and raised again; the logical sequence of his arguments, and the telling manner in which the whole was brought to bear upon the hearts and consciences of his hearers, are all equally surprising to us. Readiness in speech was a natural gift of his; but we cannot help being reminded of the many instances in his previous history in which he spoke neither wisely nor well. We feel, as we read this discourse, that the impetuous, well-meaning, but often blundering disciple with whom we have been familiar, must have undergone a wondrous mental transformation in order to have become capable of delivering a connected discourse of so high an argumentative character, and expressed in terms of such well-timed wisdom and thrilling cloquence. What was the cause of that transformation? He had had, of course, much further instruction from His risen Master, and the prophecies which he so aptly quoted and applied were no doubt amongst the Scriptures out of which Jesus had expounded to them the things concerning Himself (Luke xxiv. 27, 44). From that day they must have understood the Scriptures better than before, but the power to make a right use of their knowledge was evidently still wanting. It was this they were to tarry for; it had only now been imparted to them; it was the direct gift of the Holy Ghost. The true preaching power is always His gift. In these days of learning and culture, we need especially to remember this. The power to understand, expound, and apply