it. The former announced remission of sins, through faith, repentance, and obedience; the latter disposes and enables the believer to accept these conditions, and to perform them. The full effect of our Lord's coming was not indeed perfectly understood even by his Apostles, until the Spirit "guided them "into all truth," enriching them with spiritual knowledge, dissipating their doubts and fears, and fortifying them against all temptations to swerve from their arduous undertaking. Heretofore they had been slow of belief, wavering, irresolute, indisposed, through prejudice or misapprehension, to discern the true nature of our Lord's kingdom, or to receive his doctrines in their full extent. Now, their understandings were enlightened, their hearts invigorated. Zeal, fervour, intrepidity, perseverance, marked their whole character and demeanour, and gave indubitable tokens of that divine impression which alone can be conceived to have wrought a change so sudden, yet so permanent; so competent to the supply of every human infirmity, and to the mastery of every unruly will and affection.

Yet what could even these gifts have availed for performing the task assigned to them, had not others been superadded, to

enable them to discharge that last and most important injunction of their heavenly Master, "Go ye, and teach all nations?" How were they to attempt this, of all undertakings the most hopeless, to men destitute as they were of advantages, as to station in life, education, or influence of any kind, that might hold out to them the remotest prospect of success?

For this purpose, the gift of tongues was the first and perhaps the most necessary of all the supernatural powers conferred upon them. The very gift itself bespoke the intention of the Almighty, "that his way "should be known upon earth, his saving “health among all nations'." It expressively taught to the Apostles, that the Spirit was to "lead them into all truth," not for themselves only, but for all mankind. It qualified them to become Apostles in the full acceptation of that term; persons sent, or commissioned, to make disciples among all nations, and to constitute a "holy church "throughout all the world." In this sense, they themselves, with the Prophets before them, are truly called the "foundation" on which we are built; "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone"."

k Matth. xxviii. 19.

1 Psalm lxii. 2. m Ephes. ii. 20.

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Thus endued with power from on high, these holy men went forth, "the Lord work'ing with them, and confirming the word "with signs following "." They spread the knowledge of the Gospel in all directions. Instantaneously they became qualified to open their commission as messengers of the Most High, and to obtain a hearing, at least, of what they were authorized to promulgate. That diversity of languages which originally had been inflicted for the punishment of impiety and presumption, was now by the infinite mercy of God rendered instrumental in bringing back all nations to be "one fold, "under one Shepherd." When the men of Babel, in just judgment upon their daring confederacy against the Almighty, were divided in their language, there immediately ensued confusion and the utter discomfiture of their vain design. With the Apostles, the diversity of tongues gave occasion to an universal diffusion of the truth, and became a bond of union in the faith, however widely scattered its innumerable disciples. That proved a blessing in the one case, which in the other operated as the bitterest of punishments. So effectually can the same miraculous agency, directed by an all-wise and over-ruling Pro

vidence, subserve the purposes either of judgment or of mercy.

Nor is the benefit we ourselves may derive from the contemplation of this stupendous event limited to our admiration of the immediate use of it by the first preachers of Christianity. It teaches us lessons of high importance as to our own faith and practice; such as no distance of time, no disparity of circumstances, can diminish in value.

First, it calls upon us to bless God for the result of this precious gift; since we ourselves, whose forefathers were once among the darkest of the heathen tribes, have thus "been brought out of darkness and error "into the clear light and knowledge of him "and of his Son Jesus Christ." Under the circumstances of the first preachers of the Gospel, no secondary causes can be conceived adequate to such an effect. Their inability to preach it in different languages would in itself have presented an insuperable obstacle to their success. Could we therefore even suppose, (improbable as the supposition appears to be,) that the Apostles might have had influence enough to persuade their fellow-countrymen to accept their ministry and their message; yet what a length of time must necessarily have elapsed, before these

could have been extended beyond even the confines of Judæa! For every thing exceeding that narrow boundary, the want of this miraculous gift, whatever others they might possess, must have operated as an absolute disqualification.

Secondly, the extraordinary effect of this great miracle, in enabling the Apostles to spread abroad the knowledge of the truth, admonishes us how we, under the ordinary guidance of the same Spirit, may hope to carry on that vast design, until “the earth "shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,

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as the waters cover the sea P." The gift of tongues, though evidently miraculous with respect to these its first preachers, is yet attainable in a considerable degree by human labour and perseverance; and since it is now no longer supernaturally imparted, it must be supplied by proficiency in human learning. The fact that the Apostles presumed not to go forth on their widely extended commission until thus transcendently endowed, may teach us that this is a work not rashly to be undertaken by unqualified and illiterate men. In vain will it be pleaded that the Apostles were fishermen, tent-makers, or publicans, persons of no superior mental qualifications,

p Isa. xi. 9.