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difficulties in the New Testament than that which presents itself to us in the gift of tongues. Into the questions thus raised we cannot now enter. But this is plain, that it was a state of high excitement or spiritual exaltation, during which men gave utterance in mysterious strains to the praises of God; and, furthermore, this was not a form in which the influences of the Spirit manifested themselves in all alike. We do not hear, for example, that anything of the kind showed itself in Apollos. It may have been connected somehow with the temperament or education of the believer. diversities of operation" of necessity. "Are all prophets? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues?" asks Paul of the Corinthians. And the answer is manifestly "no." All we can say is the Spirit did work in these twelve disciples in this particular way, they spake with tongues."

"There are

(2) And they prophesied." This was the same exaltation turned in the direction of men; out of the fulness of their hearts they spoke to God in praise, and out of the same fulness they spoke to men in inspired exhortation. They who a short time before were mere children, liable to be tossed with every wind of doctrine, having no deep knowledge of Christ, or any spark of enthusiasm, were now kindled and greatened into psalmists and prophets, that, standing upon the Mount of Contemplation, in the midst of the assembly and Church of the first-born, rolled out choral hallelujahs to Him whom they saw enthroned King of kings and Lord of lords; and reproduced, with fire-anointed lips, the old strains which had sounded forth in the majestic eloquence of Isaiah, or flashed out in the magnificent visions of Ezekiel's impassioned soul. Such were the results which attested the Spirit's power and witnessed the missionary's wisdom. By thinking of and seeking out disciples, not only had He saved these twelve men from possible heresy and apostasy and gathered them into the Catholic Church, but what a nucleus he had obtained for the congregation which he was anxious to form! Twelve men

baptised in the Holy Ghost and in fire! What a gain to the kingdom of God upon earth! In the former case I see a struggling band out in a boat amid the waves, bending laboriously to their oars, and toiling heavily through the breaking surf. But now the form of the Son of God has come to them walking upon the billows, and a favouring breeze has sprung up and wafted them to the shore whither they would go, and there they stand equipped and ready to receive and give skilled attention to those whom the Apostolic Messenger of the Cross shall bring to them from among the diseased myriads of sin-smitten humanity.

III. Let us make application of this narrative to ourselves, especially taking up the pointed and pertinent question, "Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?

It is a question suggestive of most exalted privilege. Christians may receive the Holy Ghost. Now, brethren, don't let us lose sight of

All

the significance of language. The Holy Ghost is God, God in His sanctifying, comforting, stimulating, and inspiring energies. Christians may-all men who are believers, may and ought to look for this unspeakable gift. And not only so, but you may know that you have received the Holy Ghost. How, indeed, can it be otherwise? Can God in His sanctifying, comforting, inspiring energies, be your possession, and can you be ignorant or unconscious of it? It may be that we have never thought seriously of or realised this matter before; but here it is, as plain as words can put it; if you have believed, then you may, you ought to be looking for the Holy Ghost. Oh what an

overwhelming truth!

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2. And so it becomes a question suggestive of searching selfexamination, or, it may be, solemn rebuke. Did you receive the Holy Ghost, or did you not? If not, why not? If you have, what has become of the gift? What have you done with it? You know a day will come when the Master will call for an account. will say to you, "I delivered unto you five talents, what has become of them?" How will you feel when the question is, “I bestowed on you the Holy Ghost, what has become of that?" Great results should grow out of this bestowment: where are those results ? Speaking with tongues in the technical sense has probably passed away: but is the praise of God which it represented your sweet and perpetual employ? Prophesying in the technical sense may have become a thing of the past: but is the witnessing for Jesus which it signified embodied in your life? Having been baptised in the Holy Ghost, is that fire of godly repentance and zealous love and consecrated devotion which is its proper accompaniment burning within your heart? Having been touched with a live coal from off the altar, is the expression of your nature become this, "Here am I, send me ! Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.”

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3. It is an enlightening question. Ghost when ye believed?

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"Did ye receive the Holy Faith is the condition of acceptance. The Holy Ghost is God's gift, and is to be had for the taking. Christ's words are, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. This spake he of the Holy Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive." But faith includes two things, namely, knowledge and expectation. Revelation is the gate of heaven, through which God comes down to mankind. Under the Old Testament, the revelation was only partial, and the inheritance therefore limited. Now the revelation has become full-orbed, and the inheritance is proportionately enlarged. But then the knowledge which is the reception of this revelation must be more than a mere acceptance of words. Now it is a question with me whether the Holy Spirit is in reality known amongst us with as vivid a recognition even as Christ is known. We talk of the "Third Person in the sacred Trinity," but to how many is this more than a verbal formula? Let me ask this question reverently, Are not Christians

prone to think too exclusively of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, of God as offering sacrifice and atonement upon the cross, and mediating deliverance from hell and pardon of transgression, and has not the Holy Spirit that is, God in sanctification become the "Third Person" in a sadly inferior and dishonouring sense? And by a natural law, because this knowledge has been dwarfed and the faith which it embodies consequently feeble, has not the blessed Spirit been limited and hampered in His operations upon our natures? Oh! for this neglect, let us humble ourselves to-day; and as the recognition of this other Paraclete, this Vicar of the Lord Jesus, dawns and brightens upon us, let there be great expectation.

In one of the last meetings which our Lord held with His disciples, when He was here on earth, He laid upon them this solemn injunction, that, tarrying in Jerusalem, "they should wait for the promise of the Father, that is, the baptism of the Holy Spirit." Brethren, do not miss the meaning of that "wait for." I beg to remind you that whilst God goes frequently and infinitely beyond the bare words of the covenant, yet the law is that His gift shall follow upon and correspond to our expectations. "Whatsoever things ye desire when ye pray, believe ye shall receive them, and ye shall have them." That is the promise; God gives you just what you are prepared to accept; and so it was when the disciples were, in obedience to His word, sitting and waiting and looking out, that the heavens broke, and mitred with Pentecostal flame, they spake with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. "O Zion, get thee up into a high mountain. Ascend speedily into thy watch-tower, for it is when thou art standing tip-toe upon the high mountain, and with shaded eyes gazing into the distant heavens, that thou shalt catch the first gleams of His chariot and be baptised in the radiance of His presence. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice, together shall they sing."

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Brethren, brethren, the Spirit has been knocking at the door, but, failing to expect His coming, we have not heard the sound.

CURLY'S CHESTNUTS.

FOR THE YOUNG.

CURLY came racing in one day, his hair tossed about, and his cheeks very red with the October wind.

"Mamma, oh, mamma! all ve boys have been nutting but me. I never wented a single time!" "There always has to be a first time for doing everything," said his mother.

"Ven I fink I better begin right

off," said Curly. "Don't you know uncle Tom has a rule-never to put off fings to-morrow, but do 'em to-day?"

Mamma smiled at this application of a maxim Curly was not always ready to heed.

"Charley Foster is going, and all ve boys-all ve good boys, I mean; so can't I?" begged Curly.

So mamma gave her boy a small for his little squirrels ?" said Curly, basket, and provided a pair of old with wondering eyes. "Ven I gloves, that the chestnut burrs might shan't steal 'em away from him. not wound the tender, dimpled fin- Vat would be mean, Rex." gers, and then she entrusted him to "If you don't take them, the the care of big Rex Rainford, and other boys will," said Rex. Nothe procession of "good boys" body leaves a squirrel-heap; they're started off for the grove. only too glad to find one."

Rex was always kind to the little ones, and they all liked him.

Charley Foster was much inclined to laugh at Curly, because he knew so little about the joys of a nutting excursion, but his playmate stopped him by saying:

"Wasn't there some time when you hadn't been, Charley? and how did you like it to be teased yourself?

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"Ven vey shan't," said Curly, scraping the leaves together over the squirrel's hoard, and calmly sitting down on the little heap. "Don't you tell any one, Rex, and I'll hide thern all safe."

"You're a funny little chap," said Rex. "How can you fill up your basket if you sit there?"

have been tooken away from dear little squirrels ? No, sir!"

"Ven I needn't fill it," said Curly, bravely, though with a little sigh. The frost had loosened the burrs" You fink I want to eat nuts vat a little, and they came pattering down when Rex and the other big boys climbed into the trees and whipped the branches. But it was not very easy for small fingers to search out the brown, shining nuts from among the fallen leaves, or hammer them out of their prickly shields.

Curly never had worked so hard in all his short life as he did that afternoon, and his small basket seemed very slow in filling up.

"I never did know nuts were so troublesome, with all vese prickers," he said, suggestively, to Rex, putting his aching fingers in his mouth.

So there Curly sat for the rest of the afternoon. The boys thought he was tired; some of them gave him a few nuts to add to his, occasionally, but nobody found out the squirrel secret.

Presently it was time to go home, and when all the rest had turned away from the trees, Curly got up and, whispering softly, said, "Goodbye, little squirrel. I fink you better hide your nuts more safe anofer time."

Then he ran after the boys. His basket was not very full; still it held a pretty good number for & The kind big boy added a large little boy's first attempt at nuthandful to Curly's little store, say-picking, and Curly thought his ing, "It is pretty hard work; why mother would be quite pleased to don't you sit down and rest? see even so many.

"I will-oh, Rex, look here!" cried Curly, pulling away some leaves and discovering a pint of nuts nicely piled up underneath. "Who put 'em here?"

"Hallo! that's a find, isn't it? Mr. Squirrel hid them, Curly, and meant to carry them off to his nest for this winter's food. You're in luck, for these will half fill your basket."

"Did a dear squirrel hide them

He was saying so to himself when Rex Rainford stopped short, and spoke to a girl who was crying as she held to the arm of a larger boy who was laughing.

"What's the matter, Nora ?"

“Joe Blinker has got my kitty, and says he will throw her in the water," sobbed poor little Nora Malony.

"Come now, stop that, and give the girl her kitten!" said Rex, angrily.

But Joe only laughed the more, and though Rex longed to force him to stop his cruel teasing, Joe was so much older and stronger than he that it was of no use to try.

Curly turned very red as he heard Nora's sobs and the mewing of the kitten, which was crowded into Joe's basket; for he thought of his dear Kitty Clover, and what it would be to have her tormented by a cruel boy.

He doubled up his little fists, but they were so little! And then an excellent thought came into Curly's head, and he said, "Joe, will you give up the kitty, and not hurt it any more, if I will give you my chestnuts?"

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Maybe you 'spected I'd bring you more, but I fought you'd like better to have me take care of God's kitties and squirrels. Next time I'll bring you a bushel and a peck! said dear, generous little Curly.

AIDS TO COMMUNION; OR, SACRAMENTAL

MEDITATIONS.

BY THE REV. W. P. BALFERN.

I. THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN.

"And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."-Luke xxii. 44. How little can we understand of the sufferings of Jesus? Into the sacred sanctuary of His sorrows who dares to enter? Our best attempts to come near to Him leave us standing at a distance, gazing upon Him afar off. The sea of His grief was deep, and we behold Him tossed to and fro as by an unseen hand, but we hear but very little of the fury of the storm. A shallow, superficial nature heaves and roars beneath the slightest breeze of affliction; but the holy nature of Jesus, calm and deep at all times, scarcely utters a moan amid the terrors of the most dreadful storm. Very few and slight are the intimations of His sorrows who was emphatically "the man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." From His own lips we can gather but little to guide us over the dark and dreadful sea, where, for a time, He appeared to drift forsaken, naked, desolate, and alone. The great ocean of His anguish was too deep to utter its voice. great waves heave and roll on beneath the eye in awful majesty and silence. Jesus seldom spoke while all the waves and billows of God's

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