one sat upon each one of them, and they all became filled with holy spirit and started to speak with different tongues, just as the spirit was granting them to make utterance.” (Acts 2:2-4) They were baptized in the spirit and were there begotten as spiritual sons of God; they were filled with the spirit. It was Jehovah’s energizing force, not a person, that was thus poured out upon them. From then on it would act as an advocate on their behalf and a helper in carrying forward their commission.

VARIETIES OF OPERATIONS

To get the early congregation organized and firmly started in its work many things were necessary, which were made possible by the helper. As Paul explains: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but there is the same spirit; and there are varieties of ministries, and yet there is the same Lord; and there are varieties of operations, and yet it is the same God who performs all the operations in all persons.” (1 Cor. 12:4-6) Special gifts were given to various members of the congregation so that some could teach, others prophesy and others organize, with the apostles and older ones in Jerusalem acting as a co-ordinating governing body of the whole congregation. Through the apostles certain gifts of the spirit could be conferred on others.

The very act of the outpouring of the spirit furnished convincing evidence, to that world, of sin on the part of the Jewish nation in particular against God and his Son and showed them to be a part of Satan’s system of things. It proved the righteousness of the Son, for he had been resurrected; and this active force from on high was through him, showing his acceptance by the Father. Now a judgment was entered against the “prince of this world,” for he had failed in his effort to corrupt the integrity of Christ Jesus, making his own destruction doubly certain.

Pentecost was only the beginning of the fulfilling of Jesus’ words. Beginning with Peter as spokesman, the message concerning sin and righteousness and judgment was preached first in Jerusalem and then abroad. God’s truth on the reason for sin and his provision to cancel its effects were proclaimed along with information about our repentance and taking the course leading to being declared righteous through faith in Christ Jesus. The great issue over universal sovereignty and the coming day of wrath and the execution of Jehovah’s judgment were preached, and this preaching work continues to this very hour, when it has reached its greatest intensity and scope.

At the direction of the helper the good news was carried to the nations so that both Jews and Gentiles could know God and be accepted into the congregation. Cornelius and his family became the first Gentile recipients of God’s mercy. Then the spirit caused Paul and his companions to do missionary work among the people of the nations, while Peter and the other apostles concentrated on the Palestine area and the East.

Through the spirit from on high it was possible for the good news and its proclamation to be boldly defended and legally established. The helper made known Jehovah’s will in matters of doctrine and morals. It caused prophesying to be done regarding matters soon to occur and in the far-distant future.—Acts 4:18-20; 5:32; 10:18, 44; 21:4, 11.

POSITION OF THE ANGELS

Jehovah did not withdraw the angels from the service in behalf of and in connection with his earthly servants with the sending of the helper. They continued to serve and, in many instances, they seem to be directly responsible for the functioning of the spirit on a particular occasion. In the case of the apostles’ being freed from prison, the angel who freed them also instructed them to continue their preaching activity. An angel of God caused Philip to contact and convert the Ethiopian. Cornelius received his instructions on getting in touch with Peter by means of one of the angels. Paul was counseled and comforted by an angel on one occasion. Christ Jesus sent his angel with God’s revelation to John to be recorded as the last book of the Bible.—Acts 5:19, 20; 10:3; 8:26; 27:23, 24; Rev. 1:1.

We are now in the time of the parousía of our Lord. Prophecy clearly shows that he would be accompanied with many angels and that they would perform services with regard to the New World society. They are the reapers of the harvest; they gather out all things that offend in the organization of Jehovah’s servants on earth. The helper is still in operation among Jehovah’s dedicated ones and performs similar services as at Pentecost, though the miraculous gifts ceased with the death of the apostles. In the final fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy Joel (2:28, 29) there was an outpouring of the spirit in 1919, with the founding of the New World society, and again in 1922, which corresponded with the two outpourings A.D. 33 and 36. This has resulted in completing the full membership of the congregation of God and in the final manifestation of the “man of lawlessness [or, sin],” as the angels do their work of gathering out the lawless ones who resist the spirit.—2 Thess. 2:3-8.

Those who have worked with the New World society for ten, twenty or more years have seen convincing evidence of the operation of the holy spirit as a guide and counselor. No man can be given credit for the wonderful flow of truths: the vision of the Kingdom’s establishment, the vindication of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty, our new name, the “great crowd,” etc. Decisions with regard to theocratic organization, the casting away of false religious practices, the operating of Gilead School and the increasing of missionary work are certainly not reached or accomplished by purely human reasoning and logic. The great legal victories that have become so numerous and that have defended and legally established our right to expand true worship are really Jehovah’s victories. He assures us that it is not by might or by power but by his spirit.—Zech. 4:6, AV.

Now, under the guidance of the helper, all of us, the remnant along with the “other sheep,” are preaching the final convincing message of sin and righteousness and judgment. Jehovah will not remove that spirit. (Isa. 59:21, AV) So let it have free rein in you as you continue to receive its benefits. “The undeserved kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the sharing in the holy spirit be with all of you.”—2 Cor. 13:14.

Seminary Education

● In the book Under Orders William L. Sullivan writes: “The seminary was a place for immature minds which were to be kept in immaturity. The Church was mature, and that was enough. We were exactly in the position of infants who had only to repeat the words of an infallible parent. The method served well enough for practical purposes. For, in the leaden quiescence of a parsonage and in the humdrum of parish rites, what was the need of a mind? Indeed, there was latent in our thought the sense that an independent intellect, determined to study religion profoundly and impartially, would encounter peril.”