January 11

Joel ii. — 28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions;

29. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.

30. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, — blood and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.

32. And it shall come to pass, that whatever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.

Acts ii. — 1. And, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,

As the disruption of human speech came by man's sunderling his spiritual connection with God, it was fitting that the restoration of this spiritual unity should be accompanied with the faculty of utterance in other tongues, — the life of the spiritual breaking through the barriers which the carnal had created. The minds of the disciples being brought into harmony with God, and filled with his Spirit, a new one, a nation seems almost a natural sequence. The grandeur of the miracle was in the coming of the Holy Ghost, — a second incarnation, as it were, of the Godhead; not, as before, in the body of Jesus, but within every believing soul.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Almighty and most merciful Father, who of thy tender love toward us didst send thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to be our advocate and intercessor, hear us for his sake, and grant us the mercies which we need for another day.

Graciously bestow upon us, O heavenly Father! that Holy Spirit which thou hast promised to give to them that ask thee. Remove the scales from our eyes. Take away our ignorance, our hardness and coldness of heart, and our too great love of this present world. Enlighten our understandings; give unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ. May we know thee as our God and Saviour! May we enter more and more into the riches of redeeming love! Grant that, being set free from sin, and made servants to God, we may have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

We thank thee for all thy goodness and thy care. Thou spreadest our table; thou givest us

and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

6. Now, when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

7. And they were all amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?

8. And how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born?

9. Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia.

10. Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes.

11. Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

12. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

The Divine Spirit is master of all forms; and the rushing wind, the tongues of fire, and the "other tongues" of the apostles, were but symbols and attestations of his presence. The whole scene, too, was typical of the future spread of the gospel, and the mastery of the Church over the minds, the thoughts, the speech of men. The great theme of redemption shall yet so possess the mind of the world, that every thought shall be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. The Pentecost of divine love and grace shall counteract the Babel of human pride and greed.

Prayer.

[Nos. 5, 15, 28.

life and breath and all things. O Lord! our souls, and all that is within us, would bless and praise thy holy name. As a family, we bless thee for our home, and for all the comforts and joys of our daily life. [May the children whom thou hast so favored in this house remember thee, their heavenly Father, and love and serve thee!] Be with us this day to guide and keep us.

O most merciful Saviour, our compassionate High Priest! pity all our infirmities; heal our souls' sicknesses; give us the joy of thy salvation, and a hope full of immortality. Strengthen us to live and labor for thee. Give us grace always to act as thy true servants, and to do every thing to thy glory. May each one of us be able to say, "For me to live is Christ; to die is gain." And at length take us to rest with thee above, for thine own name and mercy's sake; and unto thee, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, now and for evermore. Amen.