Page:The Power of the Spirit.djvu/23

18 ; but so far was this from being the case that there was an uproar, so great that the people outside came rushing in, and were all 'amazed and quite at a loss'; and some asked what it all meant, and others said that the disciples must be drunk. Then S. Peter got up and made a speech of amazing enthusiasm and audacity: 'Men of Judaea and residents of Jerusalem, let every one of you understand this—attend to what I say: these men are not drunk as you imagine. Why, it is only nine in the morning! No, this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel—"In the last days, saith God, then will I pour out my spirit upon all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. &hellip;" This Jesus &hellip; you got wicked men to nail to the cross and murder; but God raised him by checking the pangs of death. Death could not hold him.'

I think it is true to say that, whenever we trace our ideas of the work of God's Spirit back to the origins, we find the same phenomenon. 'Out of the strong has come forth sweetness': there is abundance of honey now because the lion is dead. 'Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who strengtheneth us all,' says the very ancient Ethiopic Liturgy: 'And his the gentle voice we hear,' says the modern hymn. It is right that the Church to-day should make so