Text: Acts 10:44, “The Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word.”
You know that Pentecost, as far as the day is concerned, was a sacred Jewish feast day. It was the feast of the “first fruits,” and was second only in importance to the Feast of the Passover, but to the Christian it is sacred for quite another reason. We commemorate that day because it is the birthday of the Christian Church. There was no church prior to the day of Pentecost. The first reference to the Church is found in Matthew 16:18. Jesus there promised that …
We are told in the Gospel according to John that if a record had been kept of all the miracles Jesus performed when He was on Earth, there would be no end of books giving those records. He tells us there were certain miracles selected, I presume, not only by himself but other Gospel writers, for a special purpose. In his Gospel, John gives us seven miracles, and he tells us why he selected those particular seven. He says: “These are written that you might know that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing you might have life through His …
During the Napoleon wars there met one night on a raft in the middle of a German river the emperors of France and Russia for a conference, the result of which was to change the map of Europe. But centuries before there was a far greater conference. It was between Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, and Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The result of this conference was to change the fate of countless thousands of human souls.
It was no mere accident that the kind of a man that he was, …
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
“The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
“Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
“And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”—James 5:17-18
Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed,and he prayed again. No one can read the Bible with any degree of care without being impressed with the importance of prayer. Especially the kind of prayer that is referred to …
“For the word of God is quick (alive) and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”—Hebrews 4:12
The words of great men are treasures. We read books to find out what they said. We look to the papers and magazines to learn the last utterances of the great leaders of science, politics or religion. How much more important a word of God. Suppose it could be proven that God, who created the …
In the fifteenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel there are three beautiful stories recorded that fell from the lips of our Divine Lord. These stories are of “A Lost Sheep,” “A Lost Coin,” and “A Lost Boy.”
There are certain interesting points of likeness and certain equally interesting points of difference. You will note an increase in the valuation of that which was lost. The sheep was one of a hundred. The coin was one of ten. The boy was one of two.
When the sheep went astray the shepherd left the flock in the fold and went out in the …
A question asked by Christ, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”Matthew 16:26.
Possibly you have observed that a great deal of the teaching of Jesus was by the method of interrogation. He was always asking questions. I find that during the last few days of His life, He asked upwards of fifty different questions of His disciples, such as, “Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?”; “Who do you say that I …
I presume most of you have observed that there has been a very real revival in Spiritism during these last few years. The Great War through which the world has recently passed made this possible. This is especially true in England where there is hardly one home without its empty chair and where hearts long for fellowship with loved ones who have passed within the veil.
In his book, “Raymond,” which he named after his son slain in battle, Sir Oliver Lodge records the words of his wife, which he found written on a sheet of paper:
“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
“And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
“And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and …
