We will now look how the Spirit enabled these poor, unlearned men to speak words “ like as of fire.” The rushing, mighty sound from heaven had been noised abroad in Jerusalem, and had gathered great multitudes together—devout men, Jews out of every nation. That great multitude was composed chiefly of two companies, much as it is now.
One company was composed of Pharisees, or those who were seeking to attain to righteousness by works of law; the other were rationalists, or infidels. But both had rejected Jesus, and the whole world had joined together to kill the Prince of Life, the Holy One of God. And thus the action of the Spirit of God was no longer limited to the dove as it rested on Jesus whilst here below. The days were now at hand when these words of Jesus should be fulfilled, “I am come to send fire on the earth: and what will I, if it be already kindled?” (Luke 12:49-5349I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? 50But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! 51Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. (Luke 12:49‑53),) Yes, to the Jews, days were at hand when judgments, like a figure of their last days of tribulation, should fall upon them.
Peter stood up and spake as if with a tongue of fire, quoting the words of Joel, the prophet, “ And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood and fire, and vapor of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.” All this is yet in connection with infinite grace: “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
But hear the fearful charge against the men of Israel as to their treatment of Jesus. “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and, by wicked hands, have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up,” &c. Yes, “this Jesus” (whom they had cruelly murdered) “hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 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.” Thus the descent of the Spirit was the proof of two things: man’s wickedness and God’s righteousness. Man’s wickedness in rejecting and murdering the only righteous One, in whom was no fault: God’s righteousness in receiving Him to glory. “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Oh, how the Spirit used these words of fire in pricking the conscience of thousands. What a cry arose: “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift or the Holy Ghost.” Yes, the very murderers of the Christ of God, the Savior Lord, were called upon, in the mighty power of the Spirit, to repent and become the very disciples in baptism of the Jesus they had rejected and slain. What a change of mind! What judgment of themselves and their mad and wicked conduct; and what a burst of God’s forgiving love. “For the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Mark, this was no “do penance as a merit of salvation,” that Peter preached as with a tongue of fire. “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized.” And read the wonderful effect of this preaching so as by fire. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”... “And the Lord added to the assembly daily, such as should be saved.” Yes, the words of the apostles were the words of God. “And our God is a consuming fire.”
In chapter 3:13, we hear Peter again speak piercing words of judgment. “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.” And then how he shows them that the prophets had foretold it should be thus. “That Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,” &c.
Hear again the cloven tongue as of fire in chapter 4. “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Yes, if you read through the Acts, you will find, “With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all,” They had no need for gorgeous services and sacerdotal robes; for music, and paintings; for services of song; for stringed bands; religious concerts, and Sunday theatricals—all these sadly become heathenized Christendom of idolatry, or rationalism. But let us return.
“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 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,” There is a beautiful figure of this in Psalm 133 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”
A new company was formed on that clay when Jesus, received up to glory, shed forth the Holy Ghost, and brethren dwelt together in unity! As we have seen, when He was anointed by the Holy Ghost as Man on earth, come to do the will of God, He was alone: the Spirit abode on Him alone, as a dove; but now the Spirit was given Him to shed on the new company. Just as the precious ointment upon the head of Aaron ran down upon the beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments: so our Aaron, our Great High Priest, has passed into the heavens. Thus, all believers, baptized into His body, are a heavenly company. lie in the heavens received the promise of the Father, the Holy Ghost, and shed this, like the anointing oil on the head, and it descends, covering every member of His body—the assembly.
On the banks of the Jordan, the Father could only say of one, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” But now the new company of believers are brought into favor in Him in the heavenlies. And the same precious ointment flows down from Christ, the Head, and covers all Our dear brother in the East tells us that the dew of Hermon is very peculiar. It is not like dew, or mist, or fog; but if you happened to pass through it, as he has done, you would find it most reviving and strengthening, as it falls on the mountains of Zion. And is there anything like the anointing of the Holy Ghost? How reviving, refreshing, and strengthening! The intellect of man cannot in this particular imitate it. All that is in imitation withers the soul. Have you received the Holy Ghost? Then you belong to this unity of the Spirit, and are responsible to endeavor to keep it.
Now if your sins are forgiven, and you have received the Holy Ghost, then what company do you belong to? Do you say, “I belong to a company of Christians that began about fifty years ago, or a hundred, or three hundred years ago?” That will not do, a sect may have begun at these dates. But a sect is not the new company of Acts 2 The date of this new company would be about 1856 years ago. Very blessedly did that company dwell together in unity, persecuted and hated by the Jews. We read: “And being let go, they went to their own company.” (Acts 4:2323And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. (Acts 4:23).) This was the company on whom the Holy Ghost was shed. “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul... And with great power gave the apostles, witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.” Those were the days of the dew of Hermon.
As to their bodies these persons were all on earth. And though as yet they may not have understood it, yet they were a heavenly company one with the Savior Jesus raised from the dead, received up to heaven, Lord and Christ, All this comes out more fully in the inspired writings of Paul. But this is the date of that, entirely new company, the assembly of God. It has no other date, no other beginning. And all true believers ever since, who have received the same Spirit, belong to this same heavenly body.
It may easily be distinguished from all the earthly bodies that man has made. No doubt it has been the special aim of Satan to disfigure, by earthly imitations, this wondrous heavenly reality. And men have ever been found ready to spoil what is put into their hands. It has been so from the beginning. It might be well to ask yourself, Is that with which I am identified as a Christian earthly or heavenly? A very serious question. If it be of heaven, it will have no earthly show. Of this, the new company, set up of God, was absolutely destitute; so much so, that the men of the earth regarded Christians as having no religion at all, but as being atheists. The world, as it always will, called them a sect, and they were everywhere spoken against.
Well, time is short: it matters little for the world’s scorn. This new company that began at Pentecost, is about to be caught up to meet the Lord, this same Jesus. I do not ask, Do you, or I, belong to any of the companies formed since: but do we belong to that new company formed that day when Jesus received the Holy Ghost to shed forth on man? Then let us remember the same Holy Ghost who, as cloven tongues like as of fire sat on them, is still with us. May the Lord grant that there may be more of that same truth preached with tongues as of fire. May we have more faith in the continual presence and mighty power of the Holy Ghost.