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Octavius Winslow, 1856 (edited for
today's reader by Larry E. Wilson, 2010)
Bible Verse
"This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing" (Acts 2:32–33).
Devotional
The day of Pentecost cannot be too frequently brought before the mind. If only there were a more simple looking to Christ upon the throne, and a stronger faith in the promise of the outpouring of the Spirit, and in the faithfulness of the Promiser to make it good, that blessed day would find its prototype in many similar seasons enjoyed by the church of God to the end of time.
The effects of the descent of the Spirit on that day upon the apostles themselves are worthy of our especial notice. What a change passed over those holy men of God, thus baptized with the promised Spirit! A new flood of divine light broke in upon their minds. All that Jesus had taught them while yet upon earth recurred to their memory, with all the freshness and glory of a new revelation. The doctrines which he had propounded concerning himself, his work, and his kingdom, floated before their mental eye like a newly-discovered world, full of light and beauty. A newness and a freshness invested the most familiar truths. They saw with new eyes. They heard with new ears. They understood as with recreated minds. The men who failed fully to comprehend even the elementary doctrines and the most obvious truths of the gospel, while Jesus was with them, teaching them in the most simple manner, now saw as with the strength of a prophet's vision, and now glowed as with the ardor of a seraph's love.
How marvelous, too, were the effects upon the assembled multitudes who thronged the temple! Three thousand were convinced of sin, and led to plunge in the "Fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness" (Zech. 13:1).
And how does the apostle explain the glorious wonder? "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing" (Acts 2:32–33).
This is the blessing which the church of God now so greatly needs—even a fresh grasp of her baptism by the Holy Spirit. She needs to be confirmed in the fact, that Jesus is alive and upon the throne, invested with all power, and filled with all blessing. The simple belief of this would stir her heart to desire the filling of the Spirit. And the Spirit largely poured down would more clearly demonstrate to her the transcendent truth in which all her prospects of glory and of happiness are involved, that the Head of the church is triumphant.
Oh, let her but place her hand of faith simply, solely, firmly, on the glorious announcement—Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. He has all grace and love in his heart. He has all authority in his hand. He has all power at his disposal. He has all blessing in his gift. He is waiting to open the windows of heaven, and pour down upon her such a blessing as there shall not be room enough to receive it. He is prepared so deeply to fill her with the Holy Spirit as shall cause her converts greatly to increase, and her enterprises of Christian benevolence mightily to prosper. He is prepared so deeply to fill her with the Holy Spirit as shall heal her divisions, build up her broken walls, and conduct her to certain and triumphant victory over all her enemies.
Let her but plant her faith upon these two grand truths—an exalted Redeemer and a descending Spirit—and a day on which, not three thousand only, but whole nations shall turn to the Lord, and all flesh shall see his glory!
Hail to the Lord's Anointed,
great David's greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He came to break oppression,
to set the captive free,
to take away transgression,
and rule in equity.
He comes with succor speedy
to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy,
and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing,
their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying,
were precious in his sight.
He shall come down like showers
upon the fruitful earth;
and love, joy, hope, like flowers,
spring in his path to birth;
before him on the mountains
shall peace, the herald, go;
and righteousness, in fountains,
from hill to valley flow.
O'er ev'ry foe victorious,
he on his throne shall rest,
from age to age more glorious,
all-blessing and all-blessed;
the tide of time shall never
his covenant remove;
his Name shall stand for ever—
that Name to us is Love.
(James Montgomery, 1821, 1828; st. 1 slightly altered)
Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.
Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.
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