" suddenly there came a sound, as of a mighty wind, and there appeared parted tongues, as it were of fire, which alighted upon every one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with divers tongues." The manner of His coming is significant of knowledge, zeal, the gift of tongues and the power of miracles, symbolized respectively in the brightness and heat and form of the falling fire, and in the rushing sound of its descent. The Apostles as the preachers of the new dispensation, had especial need of these four gifts. An unlettered preacher is a blind man leading the blind, and both are sure to fall into the pit. A minister, learned, but without zeal or virtue, either abandons his flock like the hireling, or scatters them by the scandal of his life. How necessary in a preacher is the gift of speech you know full well — you on whom we inflict our clumsy harangues. And, lastly, the power of miracles is God's seal on the credentials of His earthly ambassadors. Prior to the foundation of the Christian Church, the Synagogue had been His duly accredited representative, so that it was of the first importance that the authority of the Apostles should be so plainly certified to as to command the respect and submission of both Jews and Gentiles. But the same necessity for miracleworking does not exist to-day, except, perhaps, on the part of those who are continually introducing new forms of belief. To ask the Church to prove her divinity by miracles at this late day is unreasonable, especially in those individuals and nations who have
