But the moment of endowment had now arrived, and all was ready for the fulfilment of the promise, and the bestowment of this clothing of power. Pentecost as a fact is now before us, and it came between the Passover and Tabernacles.
It is well to observe that, as a Jewish feast, the feast of weeks, first it was dependent on the Passover, so that we may say, if there were no Passover there could be no Pentecost; further, it was supposed to mark the giving of the law, and It was beside the dedication of all the fruit of the land. (See Lev. 23.) But when we study it in all the deep and blessed connections in which it comes to us as the day of Pentecost “fully come,” as in Acts 2, how precious it is in all its surroundings and settings. Let us dwell for a little on the great face itself. Let us see what it means.
When the Lord Jesus was pleased to “become of a woman,” a great fact was present to faith wherever it was; Jesus on earth was Emmanuel, God with us; how blessed the precious memories with all their fragrance of His life of twofold witness on earth, how solemn that “His life was taken from the earth”; men crucified Him, but God raised and exalted Him. Then in the risen Lord we find the testimony of God for us. But this is not all, He who died and rose again has ascended into the heavens, is exalted at the right hand of God, and having received, as the exalted Man, the promise of the Holy Ghost for others, He in the “fully come” day shed Him forth, so that we have now in Jesus exalted and glorified, and the mission and pouring forth of the Holy Ghost by Him from heaven—the great witness to the immense and wonderful fact of God in us.
Oh, how little the reality of this fact has laid hold upon the church of God, and even where there is more or less clearness as to the truth of it, alas! how little the living power of His presence in us is known or enjoyed.
Permit me to draw your attention for a little to certain surroundings of the great fact itself. First, let us note that the filling of the material structure with the divine glory was not though striking themselves, are as nothing to what is set before us in Pentecost, for now the bodies of those who have been cleansed from their sins in the blood of Christ, are the dwelling-place of His Spirit.
Further, observe the blessed contrast with 1 Kings 8:22And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. (1 Kings 8:2); there the divine Presence drove away the priests, so that they could not stand to minister in the presence of the glory; but now God in His infinite grace makes us His habitation!
Again, observe how that in Pentecost we have Babel reversed. (See Gen. 11.) There man had been scattered and his language confounded, there was, as has been said, no brotherhood as it were left in the earth, and all as a result of man having exalted himself, a bold and daring attempt, affecting divine rights; but now we find all the mournful consequences of this reversed, the second Man out of heaven came and humbled Himself, and being highly exalted, and a name above every name given Him, He had baptized with the Holy Ghost.
I would call your attention to the form the descending Spirit here takes, namely, “cloven tongues like as of fire” in the cloven tongues we have the symbol of diverse languages and far-reaching testimony, and in fire, grace founded on righteousness. There can be no doubt that the great point here was power for testimony; it was in the might of this heavenly power that the knowledge of Christianity was to be diffused even to the utmost parts of the earth; if concentration was the principle of Judaism, diffusion was that of Christianity.
Lastly, let us note the different form which the blessed Spirit took in descending upon our adorable Lord and Master; we read in Luke 3:2222And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (Luke 3:22): “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him.” How blessed to see in this the Father’s seal of His own beloved One, the fitting type of all that the Lord Jesus was in His own precious Person the dove, the bird of heaven, the bird of love and sorrow, was the suited form and shape for the blessed Spirit to take in descending on Him. (See also Psa. 68:1313Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. (Psalm 68:13).) And as we follow His lowly, lonely path of devoted service to His Father through this world, we see how in it all He was as under this heavenly dove, the meek and lowly and tender One, passing through all the scenes of human misery and sorrow, the willing servant of every need, soothing every broken heart, wiping away every tear, lifting up every fallen one, yet marked by meek retirement in it all, He did not strive or cry, neither was His voice heard in the streets. Oh that our hearts, as we better know Him now in glory, may more appreciate the precious testimony shown us in Him whom God the Father thus sealed.
Condensed Notes of an Address, No. 3.