n no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover." These five things that accompanied the
believers are all supernatural. Of the three promises of Jesus--which
are all that are recorded in the New Testament--only two refer to the
Holy Spirit, and both of these to its _supernatural manifestation_.
If we go back of the Saviour to the Old Testament, we find a distinct
promise of the gift of the Spirit: "And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young
men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the
hand-maids in those days will I pour out my Spirit" (Joel 2:28, 29).
This promise is the one quoted by Peter to explain the manifestations on
the day of Pentecost to the people drawn together by that wonderful
event. From it he delivers by the Spirit a sermon on the claims of our
Lord. He shows that they had taken the Lord by wicked hands and had
crucified and slain him; that God had raised him from the dead and had
exalted him to his right hand; had given him the _promise of the Holy
Spirit_; that what they _saw_ and _heard_ was the fulfillment of Joel's
promise. This promise was not simply to the apostles, for we read in the
preceding chapter that the apostles, and the women and Mary the mother
of Jesus, and his brethren to the number of one hundred and twenty all
continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. "And when the day
of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. And
suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there
appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat
upon _each of them_. And they _were all filled_ with the Holy Spirit,
and began _to speak_ with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance." This shows that the gift of the Spirit came upon all the
followers Jesus left behind him. When the multitude were convicted by
the apostle's discourse, they "said unto Peter and the rest of the
apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said unto them, Repent
ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto
the remission of your sins: and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. _For to you is the promise_, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, even as many as the L
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