5 hoe ae Tee, 5 mao Pcs fai: See ow 5 Nee ee : ato 5S, ay wale oz See pee fee = , ) *y ane i ee ae Phe ate Shan egy a “i: a sacle Mars ye on PCy a oe ow ¥ THE TONGUE OF FIRE OR, THE TRUE POWER OF CHRISTIANITY BY vs WILLIAM ARTHUR, A.M. AUTHOR OF “THK SUCCESSFUL MERCHANT”? “ITALY IN TRANSITION” ‘THE POPE, THE KINGS, AND THE PEOPLE” ETC. , - WITH A NEW PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR AND AN INTRODUCTION BY Toe Rey. Wittiam M. Taytor, D.D. NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1893 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by » HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. TO THE REV. BISHOP SIMPSON AND THE REV. DR. McCOSH TWO DIVINES WHO WELL ILLUSTRATE THE LABORS AND THE STUDIES OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY IN AMERICA TWO FRIENDS WHOM I LOVE AND HONOR THE NEW AMERICAN EDITION IS Medicated Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https //archive.org/details/tongueoffireortrOOarth 2 PREFACE (To the American Edition) Tue American publishers request from me some introduction or supplement to a new edition of this volume—an edition called for, in part, by the fact that the work has been placed on the list of studies of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. This request reaches me in the city of New York, where, nearly five-and-twenty years ago, under the hospitable roof of Mr. W. E. Dodge, Senior, I employed in correcting the sheets sent to me from England a good portion of the silent days passed during convalescence from an attack of fever. It is to that attack, and to my journey of 1855 in the United States, that allusion is made in the Preface to the Original Edition, when it is said that “ the work has been interrupted by travel and sickness, and at one time seemed likely to be cut short by death.” For five weeks, at Urbana, in Ohio, I had lain ill in the home of the late Dr. Mosgrove, who, having been called to the bedside of a perfect stranger, with a view sim- vi PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION ply to professional aid, had insisted on removing that stranger in order to tend him under his own roof. During the five weeks, he, with his excellent wife, and his son, Dr. James Mosgrove, lavished upon the patient such care as might have been bestowed on a son of the house. When the fever was already coming on I had, at Sandusky, before the Conference of North Ohio, preached on the theme of the book, and thus were its thoughts and images the last that followed me from the active world into the silence of the sick- room. Naturally, while in that room, my mind often turned to the partly written volume, of which, while the earliest pages were in type, other portions were in manuscript, and yet others still lying undisclosed in the hidden yet conscious springs of thought. Often, when revolving what I seemed to have to say, did it appear to me as if the Disposer of life and death would spare me to say it; and I have been told by my companion on that tour, Dr. Robinson Scott, who for some twenty _ days or so watched by my bedside, that I said to him, ‘‘ The Master has yet work for me to do.” Before the volume had been long issued, illness — in another form drove me away from England. While wandering in Egypt, Arabia Petreea, and Palestine, with slender hope of again preaching or speaking in public, more than once, as if sent to cheer me, came intimations that here and there PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION Vii my gracious Master was deigning to employ the book as His instrument of doing some good to my fellow-servants. Subsequently, on various jour- neys in the United Kingdom or on the continent of Europe, persons have greeted me, declaring that they felt constrained to acknowledge that the reading of the “Tongue of Fire” had been to them a means of blessing. These testimonies sometimes reached me in places where I should least have expected them, and occasionally came from persons whom I should have supposed little likely to read any book of mine. In the course of my present journey on this continent I have not been in any part of the United States or Canada without being made glad by similar testimonies. To these it might, perhaps, sometimes appear that I listened coldly, just because the things said were of a na- ture to compel me to hide my feelings behind a veil of silence in order that I might inwardly thank God. More precious, perhaps, than testimonies addressed to me personally have been those which came from mission fields that I had never visited, or from distant portions of Africa or Australasia which I cannot hope ever to see. Touching as such testimonies have been when proceeding from a soldier, a sailor, or a busy man of commerce, they have been more touching when proceeding from a minister who thought that either in his preparatory studies or in the course of his labors Vill PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION the “Tongue of Fire’’ had helped him to serve with more success, and yet more touching still when proceeding from a missionary whose toils 1t had helped to cheer or stimulate. But, above all, when some fruitful winners of souls, alluding to revivals of religion witnessed in their own spheres of labor, have declared their belief that the influ- ence of this work had more or less contributed to the blessed result, my cup has run over. Iam not able, with accuracy, to state what is the number of languages into which the volume has been translated; but I believe that the Welsh, Kafir, Italian, and French are not the only ones. If the work hag been in any degree useful in the past, no reason can exist why it should not be equally or even more so.in the future. ‘The Lord, who has graciously granted to it His blessing, will not now withdraw that blessing. Its theme is one of interest as enduring as are the relations of the spirit of man to the spirit of God. May this new edition go forth with a fresh mandate of useful- ness from Him who worketh all good. May every one who shall peruse these pages rise from them refreshed for his task in the Church; and may he, endued with new power, seek and behold triumphs of our Redeemer’s kingdom such as will cause him to rejoice with exceeding great joy. NEw YORK, June 18th, 1880. INTRODUCTION JOHN THE Baptist, the greatest of the prophets, gathered together the scattered rays of Old Testa- ment prediction into these two sayings, which will be forever associated with his name, “ Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!” and “ He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” The first is the Gospel of atonement; the second is the Gospel of regenera- tion; and both together give a comprehensive summary of all that Jesus brings to men. The one describes what Christ has done for us, in giv- ing Himself a sacrifice for human guilt; the other depicts what He does iv us, in the renovation and energization of human character. The first was completed, “once for all,’ upon the cross; the other is repeated by Him in the case of every new convert whom He creates unto good works, “ which God hath before ordained that he should walk in them.” Naturally, therefore, we might suppose © that the second would have the greatest promi- nence, and the highest appreciation in the present x INTRODUCTION day. But, though we are living under the dis- pensation of the Spirit, it is remarkable that the work of the Holy Ghost has not received anything like the attention which it demands and deserves. Few sermons are preached upon it—few treatises are written upon it—it does not enter as it ought to do into the thoughts and prayers of the people of God; and in this, perhaps, more than in most other things, we may find the explanation of the comparative feebleness and inefficiency of modern piety. Whatever, therefore, tends to turn the eyes of the members of the Church of Christ to the great Pentecostal Gift, which has never been re- voked, and which is still as available for us as it was for those on whom it was first bestowed, must be fraught with blessing both to believers generally and to the world at large. And as sometimes the design of a painter may be better seen from his first outline than from his finished work, so we may perhaps obtain a simpler view of the nature of the Spirit’s work from the words of the Baptist than from the fuller revelations of the Evangelists and Apostles. “He shall bangs you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”” ‘The two expressions refer to one and the same thing. Some, indeed, with Neander, would affirm that the Holy Ghost is, so to say, the element for the baptism of believers, and that the fire is that for the baptism of unbelievers; as if INTRODUCTION xi the Baptist had said, “ When the Messiah cometh, he will baptize all men; those who receive Him, he will baptize with the Holy Ghost, and those who reject Him he will baptize with fire.” But, though that view receives apparent confirmation from the words, ‘‘ Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his Wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,” there is one insu- perable objection to it in the fact that John’s language fairly implies that all those who were to be baptized were to be baptized both with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He explains the one blessing by the two clauses—the one literal, and the other figurative. As in His conversation with Nicodemus the Lord says, “ Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” so John describes the one experience by the two expressions. The figure is added to give definiteness to our conception of the reality; and thus, like the pictures in the stereo- scope, the two expressions are blended into one finely relieved and beautifully distinct represen- tation of that which they set before us; to wit, that the gift of the Holy Ghost is a baptism, and that it is a baptism with fire. It isa baptism, and so marks our initiation into the kingdom of God; for whatever other ideas may be associated with baptism, there is no doubt that, Xil INTRODUCTION as practised by John, it marked the beginning of a4 new course. So regeneration is needed for entrance into the new life. The great law is, “Ye must be born again.” Oh that must! How it levels all human pride! How it cuts at the root of all mere externalism, and lays open the depray- ity that is working like leaven in every heart! And yet how comforting it is also, for “must” implies“ may.” If I must be born again, I may be born again; and He who uttered the awful and humiliating sentence is ready to bestow upon me the Holy Ghost, so that the great work shall be accomplished in me. It isa baptism, and so marks our consecration to the Lord. Under the ancient law, the things which were specially set apart to the service of Jehovah were washed with water, and, in like manner, the Christian who has received the Holy Ghost regards himself as not his own but God’s. Where that Spirit dwells, He marks everything with the name of Jehovah. Where He abides, selfishness dares not enter. Where He is enshrined in the heart, the conscience responds with eager sensitiveness to Paul’s appeal: “ What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” INTRODUCTION Xili But it is a baptism “with fire,” and that im- plies, in the first place, that it purifies the soul. It might seem, indeed, that the figure of water is enough to bring out before us this cleansing efficacy of the Holy Ghost. But there are two characteristics of His work which can properly be symbolized only by fire. The first is its searching- ness. Fire finds out everything that is inflammable, and consumes it forthwith; so the Holy Spirit burns everything that isimpure. Nothing escapes His ordeal. Whatever of “wood, hay, or stub- ble” there may be in the character or heart is not merely charred, but destroyed by His flame. He spares no darling lust. He misses no treasured secret. He passes by no hidden pride. In the proportion in which He is in the soul, sin is burnt out of it. Furthermore, the continuousness of His work is suggested to us by the element of fire. One washes, and forthwith he is clean; but the operation of fire is not momentary but constant, and so the work of the Holy Spirit goes on while life in the believer lasts. He burns while He blesses; nay, He burns in order to bless; and so it is a solemn thing to receive this heavenly gift. And, to mention no more, it is a baptism with fire, and so marks the communication of energy to the soul. “Ye shall be endued with power from on High;” and again, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you;” XiV INTRODUCTION thus did the Lord Himself translate to His disciples the language of the Baptist. And we cannot wonder that fire is taken for a symbol of power. Who that has looked upon a terrible conflagration as it marches on its devouring way, but has felt overwhelmed by the presence of an agent so much mightier than himself? So when, on the Day of Penticost, “ cloven tongues like as of fire’ sat upon each of the disciples, the meaning was that, by the burning earnestness and fiery force of their speech, they should be the means of carrying for- ward the work of God in the world in the face of fiercest opposition. Their words would be “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power;” not the power of miracles, for that was only a temporary possession in the Church; not the power of stately rhetoric or scholastic logic, for their speech never was “with enticing words of man’s wisdom;” not the power that is wielded by those who have im- perial authority at their command, for “ the princes of this world” have been among the most im- placable enemies of the Gospel of Christ; no, but “power from on high,” the power of characters moulded by the Holy Spirit after the likeness of Christ; the power of hearts in closest union to the Holy Ghost, yea, the power of the Holy Ghost Himself working in them, and through them, and with them. Thus we account for the triumphs achieved by the apostles, who were, for the most INTRODUCTION ; XV part, “unlearned and ignorant men.” Thus we explain the wondrous things which are told regarding the results produced by the sermons of the Reformers. Thus we find an adequate cause for the effects that followed the discourses of Whitefield and Wesley at a later date. We read them now, and they seem in no way remarkable to us. We cannot understand how they wrought such results; and, indeed, it ¢s unaccountable, unless we concede that the men themselves were “filled with the Holy Ghost,” and so robed with that power from on high whereof the ascending Saviour spoke. And if we are to have similar success in these days, we must seek for it through the same instrumentality. To help forward such a consummation is the design of the treatise which we now introduce to the reader. The “Tongue of Fire” has taken its place among modern Christian classics, and it ought to be in the hands of every minister of the Gospel, and every one engaged in any department of evangelistic work. It is distinguished by sim- plicity, directness, fervor, and unction; and is itself an illustration of the principles on which it insists. Our own copy of it came into our hands many years ago as the gift of a Christian layman, who presented it to all the students of Divinity in the Scottish seminaries of the time, and its perusal stirred our heart to its depths, and gave Xvl INTRODUCTION an impulse to our soul which has not spent itself even now. Weare delighted to learn that it is to be studied in the Chautauqua course; and if the members of theological seminaries of higher grade and of loftier pretensions throughout the land could ‘be induced to pore and pray over its pages, the results would be speedily apparent in revived churches, and in a wider diffusion among us of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. WILLIAM M. TAYLOR. New York, May 17th, 1880. PREFACE — THE following pages are the fruit of meditations entered upon with the desire to lessen the distance painfully felt to exist between my own life and ministry and those of the primitive Christians. This fact may, in some measure, account for the plan of the work. Many topics which would have been fully discussed in a treatise on the work of the Holy Spirit, or on the character and usages of the primitive Christians, are passed by, or very slightly touched: while some others have greater prominence than would have been given to them in such a work. As to the mode of conceiving of events and characteristics, nothing has been adopted without deliberation. In several cases I should have felt interest in discussing other modes of conceiving them; but this would have diverted me from the direct practical aim with which I set out. The work has been interrupted by travel and sickness; and, at one time, seemed likely to be cut short by death. Spared to complete it, though feeling how far it falls short even of my own ideal, I humbly trust that it may not be useless. KENSINGTON, April 24th, 1856. 2 ~ CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Page THE PROMISE OF A BAPTISM OF FIRE. I.—The Word of John the Baptist, . : Beary L II.—The Life of the Only-begotten Son of Godieeas3 CHAPTER II. THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT. I.—The Hour After the Return from Olivet, . 12 II.—Ten Days of Waiting, : y oct CHAPTER III. THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE. I.—Pentecost—Fifty Days After the Passover, dl II.—The Sound from Heaven and the Celestial Fire, Oe a: IlI.—Christianity—A Tone UD of mrou ey! CHAPTER IV. SPIRITUAL EFFECTS OF THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. I.—“ Filled with the Holy Ghost,” . 41 II.—The Human Spirit Restored to its @rcinsl and Highest Fellowship, cr vo ae. CONTENTS Page IlI.—The Nature of Man Quickened by an In- partation of the Divine Nature, . FET IV.—Examples of God’s Moral “Workman.- shin, 72 ee. ; : ; : oasis! CHAPTER V. MIRACULOUS EFFECTS OF THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. I.—The Most Amazing of all Miracles, - ays II.—The Word of God to all Nations, . reas III, —All Disciples Set upon Spiritual Services, 78 CHAPTER VI. MINISTERIAL EFFECTS OF THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. I.—The Gift of Prophecy—Preaching, . Eo Il.—Christianity and Her Tongue of Fire, . 96 CHAPTER VII. EFFECTS ON THE WORLD OF THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. I.—The Spirit Fulfilling His Great Office, . 105 Il.—The Creator of Nature Alone Able to Re- store Fallen Man, . , . 110 TIl.—Three Thousand Sinners Converted into Saints, seil5 IV.—Renewing of eal Ves in tae Image of God, : : : si bbe V.—The Case of the Conver of Pentecost, . 122 VI.—The Application of Christianity to Social Evils, . : ; : 128 VII.—Prayer and Breeghiies . 182 VIII.—Fellowship and Brotherhood, . : . 136 —— oe er ee ee — ee CONTENTS xxi CHAPTER VIII. Page PERMANENT BENEFITS RESULTING TO THE CHURCH. I.—The Presence and Operation of the Spirit, 149 II.—Communion of God with Man, ; 156 IfI.—The Truth in Demonstration of the Spirit, 165 IV.—Progress of Divine Life and Grace among Men,” . 2 169 V.—Comforts and Deerlenee of Belicvers . 176 VI.—The True Ministers of Christ, . \ 197 VII.—Ministers Robed “with Power from on Highs ‘ 226 VIII.—The Converting TnAence of the Holy Spirit, . ‘ : 268 IX.—Al-Substantial Gifts EA bidet é ; , 292 CHAPTER IX. PRACTICAL LESSONS. J.—The Source of Power, ‘ : . 294 II.—The Way to Obtain Power, . 298 III.—The Scale on which our Eeepectation: of Success should be Framed, : 318 IV.—The Conversion of the Whole World ae sible, : ‘ . 304 V.—Let us Up and Be Danes : : . 344 , ¥ Nt beat Pikes ae THE TONGUE OF FIRE a CHAPTER I. THE PROMISE OF A BAPTISM OF FIRE. I.—The Word of John the Baptist. WHEN John the Baptist was going round J udea, shaking the hearts of the people with a call to repent, they said, “ Surely this must be the Messiah for whom we have waited so long.” “No,” said the strong-spoken man, “I am not the Christ:’* “but One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’’ + This last expression might have conveyed some idea of material burning to any people but Jews; but in their minds it would awaken other thoughts. It would recall the scene when their Father Abra- ham asked Him who promised that he should * John i. 20. + Luke iii. 16. 70 THE TONGUE OF FIRE inherit the land wherein he was a stranger, “Lord, whereby shall I &now that I shall inherit it?” The answer came thus: he was standing under the open sky at night, watching by cloven sacrifices, when “ behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces” of the victims.* “It would recall the fire which Moses saw in the bush, which shone, and awed, and hallowed even the wilderness, but did not consume; the fire which came in the day of Israel’s deliverance, as a light on their way, and continued with them throughout the desert journey; the fire which descended on the Tabernacle in the day when it was reared up, and abode upon it continu- ally ; which shone in the Shekinah; which touched the lips of Isaiah; which flamed in the visions of Ezekiel; and which was yet again promised to Zion, not only in her public, but in her family shrines, when “the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon all her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.” In the promise of a baptism of fire they would at once recognize the approach of new manifesta- tions of the power and presence of God; for that was ever the purport of this appearance in “the days of the right hand of the Most High.” * Gen. xv. 17. THE PROMISE OF A BAPTISM OF FIRE 3 Il.—The Life of the Only-begotten Son of God. Among the multitude who flocked to John came one strange Man, whom he did not altogether know; yet he knew that He was full of grace and wisdom, and in favor with God and man. He felt that himself rather needed to be baptized of one so pure, than to baptize Him; but he waived his feeling, and fulfilled his ministry. As they re- turned from the water-side, the heavens opened: a bodily shape, as of a Dove, came down and rested on the Stranger. At the same time a voice from the excellent glory said, “‘ This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him.” John said, “I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” Therefore, when he saw Him walking, he pointed his own disciples to Him, and said that this was He. They heard the word and pondered. The next day, again, John, seeing Him at a distance, said, “ Behold the Lamb of God!” Now, two of his followers went after the stranger, to seek at His hand the bap- tism which John could not give—the baptism of fire. They were joined by others. For months, for years, they companied with Him. They saw Mis life: a life as of the Only-begotten Son of 4 THE TONGUE OF FIRE God. They heard His words: such words as “never man spake.” They saw His works: signs, and wonders, and great miracles, before all the people. Yet they received not the baptism of fire! He began to speak frequently of His departure from them; but His mode of describing it was strange. He was to leave them, and yet not to forsake them; to go away, and yet to be with them; to go, and yet to come to them. They were to be deprived of Him, their Head, yet orphans they should not be. Another was to come, yet not another; a Comforter from the Father, from Himself; whom, not as in His case, the world could neither know nor see, but whom they should know, though they could not see.* His own presence with them was a privilege which no tongue could worthily tell. Blessed were their eyes for what they saw, and their ears for what they heard. Better still than even this was to be the presence of the Holy Ghost, who would follow — Him as He had followed John. “T tell you the truth,’ He said, when about to utter what was hard to believe: “I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away.” How could it be expedient? Would they not be losers to an extent which no man could reckon? The light of His countenance, the blessing of His words, the purity of His presence, the influence * John xiv. 17. THE PROMISE OF A BAPTISM OF FIRE 5 of His example, all to be removed ; and this expe- dient for them! “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.” Well, but would they not be better with Himself than with the Comforter? No; just the contrary. They would be better with the Comforter. He would lead them into all truth; whereas now they were constantly mis- applying the plain words of Christ. He would bring all things to their remembrance ; whereas how they often forgot in a day or two the most remarkable teaching, or the most amazing mira- cles. He would take the things of Christ, the things of the Father, and reveal them unto them; whereas now they constantly misapprehended His relation to the Father, and that of the Father to Him, misapprehended His person, His mission, and His kingdom. Again, He would convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judg- ment to come; and this not as one teacher limited by a local personality, but as a Spirit diffused abroad throughout the earth. And He would abide with them forever, not for “a little while.” Whatever, therefore, Christ’s personal presence and teaching had been to them, the presence of the Spirit would be more. Having thus preoccupied their minds with the hope of a greater joy than even that of His own countenance, the Master laid down His life. 6 THE TONGUE OF FIRE Stunned, dispersed, and desolate, they felt them- selves orphans indeed. Their Master ignomini- ously executed, and neither the word of John nor His own word fulfilled: no Comforter, no baptism of fire! Soon He reappeared, and, as they were met together for the first time since His death, once more stood in the midst of them. He breathed upon them, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” With that word, doubtless, both peace and power were given; yet it was not the baptism of fire. During forty days He conversed with them on the things pertaining to the king- dom of God; assigning to them the work of pro- claiming and establishing that kingdom to the ends of the earth. One injunction, however, He laid upon them, which seemed to defer the effect of others. They were to go into all the world, yet not at once, or unconditionally. “'Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem till ye be endued with power from on high.” Apparently more ready to interpret “power” as referring to the hopes of their nation than to thé kingdom of grace, they asked, “ Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” * He had gaid nothing of a kingdom for Israel, or in Israel. His speech had been on a higher theme, and of a wider field: namely, “that repen- tance and remission of sins should be preached ia * Acts i. 6. THE PROMISE OF A BAPTISM OF FIRE v4 a His name among all nations, beginning at Jeru- salem. And ye are witnesses of these things.” Such, in various forms, are the words we find Him uttering concerning His kingdom during these forty days. When, therefore, they asked if He would at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel, He shortly turned aside their curiosity. What were the Father’s designs as to Israel nation- ally, what the times when they might again be a kingdom, were points not for them. They had better work, and nearer at hand. “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power,” * “ But,” He continued, passing at once from curious questions about the future of Israel, and unfulfilled proph- ecy, to His own grand kingdom, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” What power? of Princes, or Magis- trates? Nay, quite another power, for an unearthly work: “And ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In these words He traces the circles in which Christian sympathy and activity should ever run —first Jerusalem, their chief city; next Judea, their native land; then Samaria, a neighboring country, inhabited by a race nationally detested by their countrymen; and finally, the “ uttermost * Acts i. 7. 8 THE TONGUE OF FIRE part of the earth.” They were neither to seek distant spheres first, nor to confine themselves always at home; but to carry the Gospel into all the world, as each country could be reached. This was what He had before placed in their view, the filling of all the earth with the news of grace, news that repentance and pardon were open to men by the power of His atonement. We have no hint that He ever spake, during the forty days, of other kingdom, royalty, or reign. Not to rule over cities; not to speculate on the designs of the Father and the destinies of the Jews; but to go into the whole world, and tell every creature the story of Christ, was to be their princely work. To found a kingdom, not over men’s persons, but “within” their souls; a kingdom not of provinces, but of “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,” a kingdom to be spread, not by the arms of a second Joshua, but by the “ witness” of the human voice; a kingdom the power of which would not lie in force or policy, or signs observed in heaven, but in a spiritual power imparted by the Holy Ghost, and operating in superhuman utterance of heavenly truth; this was their em- bassy. For this were they to be endued with power from on high. But when was this power, so long spoken of, to come? Would John’s word ever be fulfilled? The Master has not forgotten it. “John truly baptized with water, but ye shall THE PROMISE OF A BAPTISM OF FIRE 9 be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” At length the promise is brought toa point, and its fulfilment near. Already had He proclaimed Himself King, and marked out the ministers and army, the weapon, the extent, the badge of citizenship, the statute law, the royal glory, and the duration of His kingdom. With His disciples around Him, stand- ing on a mountain top, heaven above and earth below, He thus proclaimed His kingdom: “ All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth:” here was the King. “Go:” here were the minis- ters and army—an embassy of peace. “'Teach:” here the weapon—the Word of God. “All na- tions:” here the extent. “ Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” here the badge of citizenship. “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:” here the statute law. * And, lo, lam with you:” here the royal presence and glory of the kingdom. “ Always, unto the end of the world:” here is duration.* Now again He is rising a hill, conversing with those who had heard this proclamation, as to their part in the establishment of the kingdom. He has clearly promised that, before many days, the long looked- for baptism of fire will come. That implies, that before many days He will depart; for He ever said * Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. 10 THE TONGUE OF FIRE that He must: first ascend. He has answered, or rather rebuked, their curious inquiry as to Israel; has turned their thoughts again to the descent of the Spirit; and is just telling them that, endued with this new power, they shall bear witness to His glory, not only at home, but abroad. “To the uttermost part of the earth” is the last word on His lips*—a startling word for His peasant auditors, accustomed to limit their range of thought within the Holy Land. But He had already said that all power was given to Him “in heaven and in earth.” Did not the faith of some disciple reel under the weight of these words? “In Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and tO THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH!” This word is on His lips; they are steadily watch- ing Him; He lifts His hands, He pronounces His blessing; and in the act,+ lo, His body, which they know “has flesh and bones” like their own, begins to rise! No wing, no hand, no chariot of fire! Upward it moves by its own power; and in that single action commands the homage of earth; for our globe has no law so universal and irrever- sible as that whereby it binds down all ponderous bodies to its surface. Here this law gives way, and thereby the whole mass of the globe yields to the power of Christ. 'The placid movement of that body, up from the surface of earth into the * Acts 1. 8. + Luke xxiy. 50. THE PROMISE OF A BAPTISM OF FIRE et heights of the sky, is an open act of sovereignty over the highest physical law; whereby Christ “manifested forth His glory,” as Lord and Maker of all physical laws. His proclamation of king- ship is thus acknowledged by earth with its high- est homage. Now the heaven adds its homage, stoops in luminous cloud, and robes Him for His enthronement. The everlasting doors lift up their heads. The King of Glory enters in. The First- begotten from the dead, the Prince of the Kings of the earth, sits down with the Father on His throne; and from Him receives the word, “ Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom!” And again, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” Within the veil they worship the Lamb; and down they speed to His followers, and tell them that they need not gaze. As they have seen Him go, so shall. they see Him come, even in the clouds, to judge that world, of which and of its princes He is King. Thus triply is His kinship owned. arth permits Him to rise, heaven bows, the angels add their testimony. All things own Him. Unbelief is now impossible. Doubt van- ishes away. His word shall not pass unfulfilled. The baptism of fire is at hand 3 CHAPTER II. THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT. I.—The Hour after the Return from Olivet. Ir is on Thursday, probably in the evening, that the disciples return to Jerusalem. Their Master is no more at their head—indeed, no more on earth; and as yet His great promise is unfulfilled. But the scene of the ascension is in their eye; the voice of angels in theirear. Jesus is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. The Comforter is coming “not many days hence.” Not with doubting or weeping do they enter the city, but with “ great joy;” the joy of a triumph already sealed, and of hope foreseeing triumphs to come. Most probably that joy carries their first steps to the temple.* Oft had they entered it with Him, but never so triumphantly as now. ‘There they are, not mourning the absence of their Master, but “praising and blessing God.’”’ Thence they go to “an upper room.” We know not in what street, or on what site; but there “abode” a few men whose names were not then great, but whose names * Luke xxiv. 53. 12 THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT 13 will never more pass away from the memory of mankind. With them abode also a few women, who had loved their Lord; and for the last time “Mary the mother of Jesus” is named as one of the little company. Men and women now began to pray, and they “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,” for the baptism of fire. Did they expect to receive it that very night? This we know not; but we do know that then opened a new era in the intercourse of man with heaven. As they began to pray, how they would find all their conceptions of the Majesty on high changed! It no longer spread before and beyond the soul’s eyesight, as an unvaried infinity of glory incomprehensible. The glory was brighter, the incomprehensibility remained; but the infinity had now received a centre. Evyery beam of the glory converged toward the person of “ God mani- fest in the flesh,” now “received up into heaven:” the glory not dissolving the person in its own tide, the person not dimming the glory by any shade, though appearing through it as the sun’s body through the light. Perhaps, indeed, the change was such to their view as would have struck the eye of an ordinary observer of nature, had one lived in our planet, at the time when the sun was first set in the firmament. The light which be- fore had been a wide and level mystery, now had to his eye a law, a centre, and a spring. ‘The 14 THE TONGUE OF FIRE indistinct view of a material form amid the seem- ingly spiritual glory, gave the feeling that some body akin to our own globe lay at the centre of illumination. This body was not the cause of the light, not even of the same nature, but around the body the “exceeding weight of glory’ seemed to hang. Oh, to feel as felt that heart which first dis- cerned human nature, in the person of Him who had been “so marred,” “set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high!”’ ‘The glory of the Father encompassing a human form, and beaming from a human brow! “If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for My Father is greater than I,” was the word of Jesus. Now that they had seen Him pass within the veil; seen the ushering angels attend His en- trance, and heard the music of their voices; they would not feel as if He had forsaken them, but as they had often felt when the High Priest passed from their view into the holiest, bearing the blood of the atonement, to stand before the PRESENCE. “He is out of sight, but there before the Lord.” The first thought would be one of joy for Him. - Peter! how did thy breast heave when first thou didst behold, by faith clear as sight, that counte- nance which had looked round upon thee from the bar, now looking down upon thee from the high and lofty throne! Mary Magdalene, who wast THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT 15 bent under the seven-fold power of the devil when first that face beamed on thee, who didst fall at His feet when, just arisen from the dead, He first appeared to thee! what was the flow of thy tears, what was the odor of thy joy, when the full truth burst on thy view, that He had “overcome, and — was set down with the Father on His throne!” And thou, John! what felt thy bosom when He on whose bosom thine own head had leaned, ap- peared to thy mind no more with such as thee; but, as “in the beginning, with God?” And thou, too, Mary the blessed, through whose soul the sword had gone! how did thy “soul magnify the Lord!” how did thy “spirit rejoice in God thy Saviour,” when thy meek eye saw the infinite accomplishment of Gabriel’s word, He shall be Great ! Mingling with this first joy for the Master’s exaltation, and presently rising to the surface and overspreading all their emotions, would be the feeling, ““He has entered for us within the veil! He bears our names upon His heart for a memorial before the Lord! He maketh intercession for us!” Tush! which of the twelve is it that starts up as if a spirit had entered him, and, pointing up- ward, says to the brethren: “Let us ask the Father in His NAME! He said to us, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My 16 THE TONGUE OF FIRE mame: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may petoll?2h= The angels had often sung together when the prayer of repenting sinners was heard on high. Now, for the first time, they hear prayers from human lips rising to the Throne authorized and accredited by the NAME of the Only-begotten of the Father. That name has just been set “ above every name;” and as it echoes through the host above, with the solemn joy of a hundred believing voices, “things in heaven” bow. Be man ever so unworthy, “worthy is the Lamb;” and His name covers with justice every request to which it is set by His authority. What must have been that moment for the saints in Paradise, who had seen the Saviour afar off, but never known the joy of praying directly in His name! Father Abraham had “rejoiced to see His day; and he saw it and was glad.” What would be his gladness now, that earth and heaven were rejoicing in His name! David, to whom He was at once Lord and Son— what would be “the things” which in that won- derful moment his tongue would speak “ touching the King?” From the hour that sin entered into the world, the Just One had never given man audience on terms fit only for the innocent. An upright inferior may approach Majesty, not without reverence, but * John xvi. 23, 24. THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT shy without shame or atonement. The admission of a criminal on the same footing would be wrong. Right in our governments is the imperfect reflec- tion of a perfect right. Had the favor of the Almighty crossed the line which divides innocence from guilt, and smiled upon the latter, that smile would have been a scathing flash, wherein all morals would have blackened. Sinful man had not been hopelessly banished from the presence of God; but he had been taught to come displaying a sign of wrath, of death, which is the wages of sin; thus declaring to the universe that he appealed, not to a justice which had never been offended, but to a justice which had been satisfied. The altar had been the Patriarch’s place of prayer. The temple, where was the perpetual offering, had been the centre to which every pray- ing Israelite turned. To approach the Eternal Godhead as if no evil had been done, and no stroke merited, was never yet the privilege of a creature who had done wrong. It was wonderful, yea, mysterious, that such could be allowed to approach at all; but the Lord would ever justify His per- mission, by demanding clear and express reference to that propitiation, which He has set forth to declare His own righteousness, in that marvellous act of lifting the guilty into the mansions of the good. How great the transition from these symbols of 18 THE TONGUE OF FIRE the Atonement to the full view of its reality! During the Forty Days Jesus had opened their understanding, pointed out to them the Scriptures which bore upon His death, and showed its con- nection with remission of sins for mankind. They now looked no more to temple or to altar. They had before them the true sacrifice completed. He had “purged their sins,” and, in the same body wherein He had done so, was standing before the Father. He had given them authority to use His name. With that name their petitions carried the assent of all the rational and moral creation. The eter- nal Father, in holding communion with beings who had done wrong, exposed no sinless being to doubts as to whether right and wrong were equal. He had “ made peace through” Christ’s “ blood,”’ had thus “reconciled all things to Himself ”’—to Himself in the new and mysterious proceeding of government, whereby the doers of wrong were spared the effects of wrong-doing. “ For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Him- . self; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” * So that creatures “in heaven,” all whose joy depended on their never doing wrong, had no murmur to raise, and no * Col. i. 19, 20. THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT 19 temptation to undergo, when they saw creatures “on earth,’’ who had followed ways which would make any world sorrowful, received into the arms of Eternal Mercy. The guilty He reconciled by forgiving their sin and recovering their hearts; and the innocent He reconciled to see offenders exalted, by “setting forth’ so conspicuously that all angels desired to look into it, “a propitiation,” which fully “declared His righteousness,” His strict care of right; which magnified law, magni- fied holiness, magnified obedience, and, in the act of saving the guilty, magnified beyond all previous conception the heinousness of guilt. What sense of the distinction between right and wrong could have been maintained among innocent creatures had they seen transgressors raised to favor and honor without atonement? Oh, the joy of that first hour of praying in the name of Christ! Was not Martha there? As she met the Master on that mournful day when Lazarus lay in the tomb, though despairing, she said, “ But I know that even now whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.” If such was her confidence then, what would be her confidence now —He asking for her, and she asking in His name! How the souls of the disciples following Him above the sky would soar, with a new wing, a new eye, and a new song! What simple and glowing col- lects would they be which were uttered then! 20 THE TONGUE OF FIRE What words of joy and supplication would he pour forth who first bethought him of putting the Lord in remembrance of His own promises! What short and burning petitions would go up from the lips which first quoted, “ Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He shall give it you!” How would he plead who first remembered, “‘ Ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you!”” How would tones of desire and triumph mingle in the first repetition of “ All things whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive!” None of their prayers are recorded. We have ancient col- lects, and beautiful they are; but none of these most ancient are preserved. The Spirit has not seen it good to hand down the strong and tender collects of these ten, or of the following days. Then, surely, it is unlawful to impose good forms of prayer upon all men because ancient saints wrote them. He who will never use a form in public prayer, casts away the wisdom of the past. He who will use only forms, casts away the hope of utterance to be given by the Spirit at present, and even shuts up the future in the stiff hand of the past. What- ever Church forbids a Christian congregation, no matter what may be their fears, troubles, joys, or special and pressing need, ever to send up prayer to God except in words framed by other men in other ages, uses an authority which was never del- THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT 21 egated. ‘To object to all forms is narrowness. ‘To doom a Christian temple to be a place wherein a simple and impromptu cry may never arise to heaven, is superstition. Does any one of the hundred and twenty, even in paradise, up to this moment forget the hour of prayer that Thursday night, after they had re- turned from Olivet? II.—Ten Days of Waiting. The Friday morning dawns. It was on Friday the Lord had died. Would He not send His promised substitute to-day? Oh, how His cross would all day long stand before the eye of every disciple! Now came back all His words about the death “which He should accomplish;” from the night when He told Nicodemus that, as the ser- pent had been lifted up, so must He, up to the night in which He said, “The hour is come ’”’— words dark at the time, but pointed to-day as the steel of arrows. What had been mystery was mys- tery no longer. Now the only mystery was, “ What manner of love!” Was it on that day that John’s fiery heart—the heart which had rebuked the man who followed not them, which wished to burn the inhospitable villagers, and to be, with his brother, head of all—was it then this heart fully embraced the meaning of the agony witnessed by him so close at hand, as compared with the others, and IV) THE TONGUE OF FIRE written upon it forever? Was it then it first saw all the import of the words, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever -believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life?” and that the “son of thunder” was transformed into the child of charity? Never before had the thought of man alternated between two such scenes as those which divided the eye of every soul in that praying company—a cross, a drooping head, hands bleeding, feet bleeding, heaven black, thieves on either side, gibes below; and a preternatural sorrow on the soul of the suf- ferer, which cast over the whole an infinite dread- fulness. On this the eye looks one moment, and weeps. ‘Then a throne, high and lifted up; the glory of the Lord; angels bowing; angels singing; saints with palm, and harp, and voice acclaiming; and in the centre of all might, majesty, and do- minion, the crucified body, living, but with its wounds, “as slain.”” On this the same eye looks, and weeps again. Oh, for the feelings of that day! Yet the Friday wears away, and no “ baptism of fire!’’ The Saturday sets in; its hours are filled ‘up as before, with prayer; but no answer. And now dawns the first day of the week, the day whereon He rose, the first Lord’s day He had passed on His throne of glory. Mow did they THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT 23 spend that day? Surely they would fully expect that the blessing they sought would be delayed no longer. He said, “Not many days:” this was the fourth day; it must come to-day! But the evening steals on, and all their prayers might have risen into a heaven that could not hear. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday pass. Their faith does not fail; still in the temple “ praising and blessing God,” or in the upper room in “prayer and supplication,” they continue of one accord. Though He tarry, yet will they wait for Him. This 2s waiting. Some speak of waiting for salvation as if it meant making ourselves at ease, and dismissing both effort and anxiety. Who so waits for any person or any event? When waiting, your mind is set on a certain point; you can give yourself to nothing else. You are looking for- ward, and preparing; every moment of delay in- creases the sensitiveness of your mind as to that one thing. A servant waiting for his master, a young wife waiting for the footstep of her hus- band, a mother waiting for her expected boy, a merchant waiting for his richly-laden ship, a sailor waiting for the sight of land, a monarch waiting for tidings of the battle—all these are cases wherein the mind is set on one object, and cannot easily give attention to another. “To-morrow will be Thursday, a full week from 24 THE TONGUE OF FIRE the Ascension: that will be the day, the term of the promise will not extend further. To-morrow the Comforter will come; to-morrow we shall be baptized with fire, and fitted to do the works our Master did, ‘yea, greater works than these.’?” So they would probably settle it in their mind. The Thursday finds them, as before, “of one accord in one place;’’ no Thomas absent through unbelief, How the scene of that day week would return to their view! How they would over and over again in mind repeat the walk from Jerusalem to Olivet; each recalling what he said to the Master, and what the Master said to him; each thinking he had got such a look as he never got before, and as he should not forget so long as he lived! How they would repeat the last words! “Ye shall re- celve power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” In the repetition new faith would kindle. “ Yes, we shall; let us wait on; we shall ‘be endued with power from on high? @iiihien another would repeat, ‘‘ And ye shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all J udea, and in Sa- maria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.” This was vast language for them, whose thoughts were wont to move only in the sphere of Palestine. Probably they did not so much weigh the import of the terms as look at the main promise. They should be endued with the power of the Holy Ghost—that power which had made Psalmists and THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT 25 Prophets; had rendered the words of Elijah stronger than the decrees of Ahab, the words of Elisha stronger than the armies of Syria, the words of Isaiah as coals from the altar, and the words of Daniel mightier than the spirit of a king and “a thousand of his captains.” Baptized with the same Spirit, they were to proclaim what these foretold, but never saw: the Child born, the Son given, the Prince cut off for sin (but not His own), the Lamb on whom were laid the iniquities of all. All this they had seen fulfilled in the Person of their glorious Lord. All this they had heard explained by His own lips, before and after His death. They were to go and prove to others, as He had proved to them, that “thus it was writ- ten, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Here again they encountered the intimation that their message was for all, and their testimony to be borne to the uttermost parts of the earth. Yet still it seems that not the sphere, but the purport, of their commission now occupied their minds. They were to go, and as He had preached, so would they, far and wide, in cities and villages. In what tones would they tell the people that, as He used to say to those who came to Him, “ Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee,” so would 26 THE TONGUE OF FIRE He now say, from heaven, to all who now lifted an eye to Him! But the days wear on, and no blessing. Is not the delay long? ‘‘ Not many days!” Does the promise hold good? They must have felt disap- pointed as the evening fell, and no sign of an answer to their oft-repeated prayer. Now is the hour of trial. Will their faith fail? Will some begin to forsake the meetings which bring not the baptism they seek? Will some stay at home, or “go a-fishing,” saying that they will wait the Lord’s time, and not be unwarrantably anxious about what, after all, does not depend on them, but on the Lord? Will no one say: “ We have done our duty and must leave results. We can- not command the fulfilment of the promise. We have asked for it, asked sincerely, fervently, re- peatedly: we can do no more?” Or, what is equally probable, will they begin to find out that the cause why they remain unblessed and yet “orphans,” lies in the unfaithfulness of their companions? Happily, the spirit of faith and love abides upon them. John does not turn upon Peter, and say, “It is your fault; for you denied the Master.” Philip does not turn to John, and say, “It is your fault ; for you and James wanted to lord it over us all.” Andrew does not turn to Thomas, and say, “It is your fault; for you would not believe, even when we THE WAITING FOR THE FULFILMENT AM had declared it to you.” The Seventy do not say, “It is the fault of the Twelve; for, after the Lord had lifted them above us all, one of them sold Him, another denied Him, and a third disbe- leved.” ‘The Marys do not say, “It is the fault of the whole company, a cold and unfaithful com- pany, professing to love the Master to His face, but the moment He fell into the hands of His enemies, ye all forsook Him and fled!” Well did they know that they had been slow of heart; been unworthy of such a Teacher; had often grieved Him, made Him ask, “ How long shall I be with you?” John would never forget the rebuke, “ Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” Peter would never forget, the third time, ‘“ Lovest thou: Me?” Philip would never forget, “ Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?” And surely Thomas would never forget, “ Be not faith- less, but believing.” Yet they knew He had not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. His own lips had said, “He that is whole hath no need of a physician, but he that is sick.” Had He not taken to His bosom the very head whose heats of ambition and of vindictiveness He had rebuked? Had He not said to Peter, “Feed My lambs?” Had He not said to Thomas, “ Reach hither thy hand?’’ His promise was not made because they 4 28 THE TONGUE OF FIRE were a Church without spot or wrinkle, but be- cause they were feeble, and, deprived of His own presence, would be orphans indeed, did no other power cover them. He knew every fault with which any of them could charge the others; yet the promise had passed His lips, and the fire would fall even on them, unworthy as they were. Happy for them that none fancied he could fix upon others the cause of their unanswered prayers! The Thursday is gone; eight days! The Friday and the Saturday follow it, marked by the same persistency in union, in praise, in prayer, and by the same absence of encouragement. Ten days gone! the promise, “Not many days,” is all but broken. Peter was always warm and earnest.