It is somewhat strange that no reference is made in the early registers of the Festival of John. The Venerable Bede is said to be the first writer in whose works it is mentioned; and the probability is that its first observance was merely local; in the thirteenth century, however, it became universal, and ever since has been celebrated, year after year, on the twenty-seventh day of December, with services of a high and holy character.
I. The man.—His form will stand out more distinctly if we but glance at some leading circumstances in his history. He was young, perhaps in his teens, when he entered into public life; and was a Galilæan, son of Zebedee and Salome, and junior brother of James the Great, with whom he pursued the vocation of a fisherman. Like all young men of true and powerful temperament, he was capable of vehement anger, which would occasionally burst forth (Luk_9:51-56). Hence he was surnamed ‘a Son of Thunder.’ When the hour of danger came he never turned his back in the day of battle. Such was John: lowly, yet noble; calm, yet passionate; gentle, yet brave; simple, yet real; in the main, a man to be greatly admired and safely followed.
II. The disciple.—He is now generally spoken of as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved;’ and this appellation he gave himself on the evening of the betrayal; for neither did Jesus nor the other disciples use it. But it was a true and proper title nevertheless: Jesus loved him unutterably. His heart went out specially to him; and John’s heart was won completely by the heart of Jesus. So closely were they bound together that John companioned with Jesus wherever He went, and when He sat down John ‘leaned upon His Breast.’ Thus John was absorbed with his Lord, and thus he rested in the calm assurance of His Divine favour. This was John’s heaven on earth.
III. The apostle.—After the Ascension of Christ, John associated intimately with Peter, and this brotherly fellowship continued until they returned to Jerusalem from an evangelising tour in Samaria. From this time John seems to have taken little part in any outward movement; but he finally quitted the Holy City and transferred his home to Ephesus. After residing here for a while, he was banished to Patmos—a dreary islet in the Ægean Sea; yet albeit a wretched place, he was favoured here with the glorious visions so eloquently described in the Apocalypse. What he did in his exile, and how long he remained in it, we know not; but toward the end of the first Christian century he returned to his adopted city. He was now an old man—the last survivor of those who had been with Jesus. He calls his converts in Ephesus ‘my little children’; and thence, as a centre, he exercised all the holy influence he possessed. His Gospel and Epistles—‘the last and richest treasures of sacred literature’—show the ripeness of his experience and the depth of his wisdom. At the age of one hundred and twenty he prepared his soul for the New Jerusalem, and died peacefully at Ephesus, surrounded by his ‘children.’
Act_1:8
(R.V.)
DIVINE ENDUEMENT
‘Ye shall receive power, when the holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses.’
Act_1:8 (R.V.)
God the Holy Ghost alone is the Source of power. Why do I believe that this power is a real thing, a real gift?
I. It is clearly promised by God.—God, Who never fails His people, has promised power: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.’ When Jesus Christ went away He said, ‘It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.’ What was He to do when He came? ‘Tarry ye in Jerusalem till ye be clothed with power from on high.’ ‘When the Holy Ghost is come upon you ye shall receive power.’ Could the Word of God be more clearly pledged to anything than to this, that the Holy Ghost shall give us power? I look to see whether this promise was fulfilled in the first disciples, and I see a body of men, not only Apostles, but all the early disciples—men and women just like ourselves—I find them tarrying in Jerusalem, gathered together, weak, irresolute, timid, and perplexed. I hear the sound of rushing, mighty wind; I see tongues of fire come down upon that body. What has happened? They have received the spirit of power; these timid, irresolute fishermen and peasants are turned into the world’s Apostles—quite bold, always knowing the next thing to do, they faced the world. These humble people, unknown, unnamed, go out a little body, full of the Holy Ghost, and they convert the world. This is my first point, without which all else is nothing, that this thing which we are promised from heaven, this power of the Holy Ghost, is a real thing, as real as the wind, though we cannot see it, a real spiritual gift.
II. And that brings me to ask, Do you want it?—And the answer to that depends upon the answer to another question. What is the object of your life? What are you aiming at in life? The whole object for which the Holy Ghost was to come upon us was that we should be witnesses to Jesus Christ throughout the world. When we look to-day round the world it is a comforting thing (is it not?) to see how Jesus Christ is winning the world every day. Thousands more every day are being converted to Jesus Christ. ‘See how we prevail nothing. Behold the world has gone after Him.’ But how has it been done? That is the wonderful thing. Not by great preachers, not by people whose names are known to the world, but by thousands and tens of thousands of witnesses, who, in every part of the world, of every colour and of every race, bear witness to Jesus Christ. If we are not aiming at being witnesses, we do not want spiritual power. If we are aiming at other things, riches and pleasures, there are plenty of things that will do for our needs; but if everyone of us—and not the least you young boys and girls who are starting in life—make this our aim, to be a faithful witness to the death, then we want power. ‘O God, give me power!’ will be our cry.
III. And so we come to our last question. How are we to receive this power?—And of course we turn—we are right to turn—to that early Church, that band of early disciples, to see how they received their power.
(a) They waited for it. ‘Tarry in Jerusalem, till ye be clothed with power from on high.’ They did not force the hand of God; they did not get impatient. They waited upon God. When I find people giving up their prayers because they do not feel anything; when I find them disheartened and depressed, because they say that when they were confirmed they were full of warm aspirations, but that they are now so dry and cold, I know they have missed the first lesson. They are to wait—to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. It is certain to come, whether they feel it or not; it does not depend upon feeling at all.
(b) Then while you tarry, pray. Pray with all your soul; not merely wish vaguely for a little more spiritual power—that is not the way to get it; but pray with all your mind and soul and being if it is to come at all, for it is the most precious thing in the world. It is violence which takes the Kingdom of Heaven by force; pray, then, with all your soul. Pray in faith, and pray together.
(c) Use the channels of the power. That is what the first disciples did. They were all baptized, every one of them. ‘Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.’ But they were not only baptized, they were confirmed. ‘The chiefs of the Church were sent down’—you will find all this in your Bible—‘then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost, for as yet He was fallen upon none of them.’ So they bowed their heads for the falling of the Holy Ghost in Confirmation. Have all of you here been confirmed? If not, why not? Put yourselves in the way of the power, as the first disciples did. But they were not content even with that. ‘They abode in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers.’ Keep with the Church—certainly every Sunday. Those first disciples put themselves in the way of power by the breaking of the bread and the prayers.
