The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 41

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The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

——

PubuisHeD BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

Entered at the Post Ofiée at St. Louls, Mo., as second-class matter.

v ol. XXVII :

Pentecost.

“Oh, come, Eternal Spirit
Of truth, diffuse Thou light!
Shine in our soul and banish
All blindness from our sight;
The holy flre pour o’er us,
Touch heart and lip, that we
With faithful, good confession
Acknowledge Christ and Thee.”

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Pentecost.

Pentecost means fiftieth. It is the name of the
festival celebrated by the Church in commemora-
tion of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the
apostles on the fiftieth day after Easter. -On that
day the disciples were assembled in Jerusalem,
waiting for the promised Comforter, when ‘‘sud-
denly there came a sound from heaven, as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto
them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon
each of them. And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance.’’

As this happened at the time of the great Jew-
ish festival there were in Jerusalem many people
from all parts of the then known world. Upon the
. report of what had happened the multitude hurried
to the place and were greatly astonished to hear the
apostles speak to the mixed assembly in different
tongues. Men of Europe, men of Asia, men of
Africa were there, and every one of them heard
the apostles speak to him in his own language the
wonderful works of God. Some, indeed, mock-
ingly said, ‘‘These men are full of new wine.’’? But
the apostle Peter told them that this miracle was

St. Louis, 2 Mo., J Tu AELREy 1905.

No. 6.

the fulfillment of that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel: ‘‘And it shall come to pass in the
last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit
upon all flesh.’’ Peter then spoke to the multitude
about Jesus, the Son of God, whom the Jews had
crucified and put to death, but whom God had
raised up, and who now sitteth at the right hand
of God and had on this day sent down the Holy
Spirit. The truth pierced the hearts of many, so
that they cried out, ‘‘Men and brethren, what shall
we do?’? They were told to repent and to be bap-
tized for the remission of sins. About three thou-
sand souls were converted on that first day of Pen-
tecost.

Thus the foundation of the Church of the New
Testament was laid by the power of the Holy Spirit
in the Gospel and in the Sacrament of Baptism.
From Jerusalem the apostles went forth as preach-
ers of the Gospel among the different nations of the
earth. Having been called to lay the foundation of
the Church of Christ, they received miraculous gifts
by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of
Pentecost. They before knew no language but their
own; now, however, they were suddenly enabled to
speak the languages of different nations. They be-
fore were timid and easily frightened, but now they
had courage and boldness to speak the truth in the
face of all their enemies; they were no longer afraid
of the wisdom and power of this world, but bravely
did their work in the very face of death. They be-
fore often did not understand the sayings of Christ,
but now they understood them all. They received
wisdom from heaven; they were inspired and en-
lightened, so that they could not err whenever they
spoke or wrote as the apostles of Christ.

The Church having been established, such extra-
ordinary gifts of the Spirit are no longer needed.