The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 48

given u Divine endowment for the mission of the aposUcs and of the Church. 2. He ie the fulfilment of the assurance that Christ would "come again," to abide ever with his Church. 3. He is Bl"Ttt by the Son. 4. He is the gift of the Father. 5. He is sent by the Father and tlie Son. Allusion may be made to the disputes and sepam- t1on of the Eastern and Western Churches on the subject of the "proce~sion of tho Holy Ghost;" and the importance of accepting the "many-sidedness" of Divine revelation should be urged, even if intellectually we find ourselves unable to fit the vnried aspects into a sa_tisfaotory harmony. Our Lord would glorify the ]lather to our thought, by assunng us that the unspeakably precious gift of the Holy Ghost is his gift to us, the abiding sign and pled"e of his "so great love,'' and the fulfilment of his own "promise" to us. This point :e take for enlargement and enforcement. I. BY WHOM WAS THE PROKIBE IIADE? 1. By God, but by God conceived as the " Father; " so we may find in it signs of the fatherly wisdom, tender consideration, ~nd gracious adaptation to onr need. Impress how tl>e preciousness of the Spirit to us 1s enhanced by this assurance-he is onr ~ather's gift. His " Great-heart guide" for his pilgrim sons. 2. By God, but through Christ, who conveys to us our Father's promise. See the special occasions (John xiv. 16, 17, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 7-15, etc.). Show how the messenger, through whom the Father's promise is made, enhances the value of the promise. An element of tender feeling and sympathy is added to it. II. WHAT DOES THE PROMISE CONCERN? Set out its first form, the coming of the Holy Ghost, under sensible figures, as a Divine ordination and endowment of the apostles and early Church for their mission. This ordination may be compared with that of Christ after his baptism, and the figures under which the Spirit came in the two cases should be compared. For Christ, a symbolic dove; for apostles, symbolic wind and fire. Set out its permanent form-the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the believer, as his seal, earnest, and assurance of the culture of the spiritual life ; and the abiding of the Holy Ghost in the Ohurch, as its inspiration to the fulfilment of its mission. III. WHY WAS SUCH A PBOHISE MADE? L Because of the dependency of the disciples on Divine aid. Then and now disciples are not "sufficient of themselves;" "without Christ we can do nothing." 2. Because in carrying out the Divine purpose of redemption the bodily presence of Christ had to be removed, and so a sense of loneliness and helplessness would oppress the disciples. 3. Because God is ever want- ing to help us on from carnal and bodily to spiritual conceptions of himself and his work., both in us and by us. Conclude by showing how the promitie gains character by being called the Father's. It is evidently a promise made to sons. Then practically and forcibly impress that our Father will only keep his promise if we keep the spirit and temper, the openness and obedience, of loving and trusting sonsMp.-R. T. Vers. 6, 7.-Carnal, conceptions of Ohl'ist'a kingdom. With these our Lorcl bad to do battle all through his ministry. These so filled the minds of his disciples that they were unable to receive aright much of his spiritual teachings. Many of our Lord's sayings can be explained as being designed to correct this mistake, remove this preju- dice, and adequately assure his disciples and us of the spiritual nature of the kingdom he came to set up. Though not in precisely the same. way, yet quite as truly, the visibility and outward circumstance of Christ's Church may, in our clay, occupy our thought rather than its spiritual character and work, and therefore our Lord's cautions to his apostles may be applicable to us. The dream of an" outward and visible" king- dom has not yet altogether faded, and given place to the sober reality of the existing "inward and spiritual" one. Christ is a King, but he is King of truth-seekers; he is "Lord of lambs the lowly, King of saints the holy." Show what the carnal concep- tions were that the apostles cherished: the breaking off of the Homan yoke; the restoration of Israelite independence; the resumption of the Davidio kingdom under the Messiah. Show- L WHENCE THEBE coNCEPl'IONB SPRANG. Distinguish between the tone of prophecy and Messianic allusion before and after the" Captivity." Tendency of national circum- 1tanoes to set prominently the promise of a Deliverer and King, aud to set aside the fignrc of Messiah as a crushed Bufferer. Then show the influence exerted by the Jr[eulanic conception of Daniel, and yet that the Jews did not take it in its entirety, OH, I, 1-26,] THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 43