Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 114, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1913 — PENTECOST NOT GREAT JUBILEE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PENTECOST NOT GREAT JUBILEE

Still Greater Blessings Are Coming, Says Pastor Russell. What the Day of Pentecost Signified. It Was but a Foretaste of a Greater One to Come —Why It Came When It Did—Why the Greater Blessing Will Come and When There Signs That It is Near?—Times of Refreshing—Times of Restitution—-“I Will Pour Out My Spirit Upon Ail Flesh."

Boston, Mass., May 11.— Pastor Russell gave two addresses here Under the auspices of the International Bible Students Association. We report one of these, from the text: “Upon the servants and upon the handmaids In those days will I pour out My Splr-

it After this I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh.”—Joel 2.28, 29. The Pastor called attention to the fact that he had transposed the parts of this text, to make their true meaning more apparent. He declared that the Prophet unquestionably taught two outpourings of the Holy Spirit, only one of which had yet come—that upon God’s faithful servants and handmaidens. The second is to be upon all flesh. Prior tb Pentecost, the Pastor said, no one except Jesus had received spir-it-begetting—the Holy Spirit of sonship. God had held all humanity at a distance from Himself, declaring that He could not accept them as sons until their sins had been atoned for. This condition of alienation from God had continued for than four thousand year§ before Jesus came. Adam was called a son of God, but after him none was so styled until Jesus. After Jesus had received the Holy Spirit at baptism. He spoke of Himself as the Son of God. Of His disciples we read, “The Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:39.) Before leaving them, Jesus admonished them to tarry at Jerusalem until endued with power from on High. When Pentecost Was Fully Come.

For ten days the disciples .tarried, praying in the upper room, and waiting for the promised demonstration of Divine acceptance. This would indicate that Jesus had appeared in the presence of God, and that the Father had accepted Jesus' sacrifice as a satisfaction for their sins, and by the begetting of the Holy Spirit recognized them as sons. The sonshlp to which Jesus and the Church have been begotten during this Gospel Age is to the Divine nature, as St. Peter explains.—2 Peter 1:4.

The Pentecostal blessing, therefore, was a double attestation. It proved that Jesus as the great Redeemer had accomplished the work which the Father gave Him to do. It also proved that those who had received the Spirit were accepted as sons of God. original sin having been cancelled through the merit of Christ’s sacrifice. And although the miraculous manifestations of God’s favor have not been repeated during this Age. yet we know that all of the same class are sharers, participants in the same blessing—the same acceptance of the Father. “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant Mercy hath begotten us again.”—l Peter 1:3.

Our faith has its sure footing in that original PenteA>stal manifestation. Because the Church is one Body, although composed of many members, no repetition of Pentecost has been necessary. As soon as we by consecration come ihto the one Body, we are sharers in al) blessings belonging to that Body, the start of which came on the memorable Pentecost Day. On this basis, the gathering of the Church has progressed for nearly nineteen hundred years. Soon, we believe, it will be completed. The last member having proved faithful and passed beyond the veil, the Body thenceforth will be complete in glory—united to the Head. The Greater Jubilee. To the Church, Pentecost represents liberation from the thralldom of sin and death, as well as introduction into the family of God. Thus it signifies the beginning of all the blessings which the people of God have known. These are expressed in various spiritual terms as the fruits of the Spirit, fellowship with God and our Lord. The Pastor explained that those wonderful blessings are not complete. The resurrection change from imperfections in the flesh to perfection on the spirit plane will be the consummation of the Church's hopes. Although near, this has not yet been attained.

God punwsely deferred the secondary outpouring of His Holy Spirit—that upon the world—“all flesh,*' until the establishment of His Kingdom. That will great Jubilee. In Israel’s experiences. every fiftieth year was a Jubilee. Every Israelite was set free from bondage and from debts of every .kind. and had a fresh start God thus pictured how during Messiah’s glorious reign as Mediator of the New Covenant, God will, on account of Jesus* sacrifice, cancel the sins of the whole world, and grant a release from all weaknesses, and assistance back to the fulness of Divine favor. What a Jubilee that will be!

PASTOR. RUSSELL