The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-01-07
the TONGUE OF FIRE
Jan. 10, 'O9-(Acts 2:1-2D,.


waiting. waiting. 1t Is the
second Lords day after the Ascen-
sion. the 10th day of the gathering,
the Day Of Pentecost. and the third
hour Of the daytime o'clock In the.
morning.
Suddenly there comes sound
from heaven as of rushing mighty
wind" There is no wind. no gale.
no disturbance of the atmosphere.
but Sound" without shape. or
movement to account for II, as II a
mighty wind were rushing, not along
the ground, but straight from on
high. awful as hurricane, mysteri-
Gus, supernatural.
Fire Crowned Witnesses.
Then as the astonished company
looks up they see visible evidence OF
the phenomenon. John sees Peters
head crowned with a tongue of fire:
Peter sees James crowned with fire;
Nathaniel sees Mary crowned with
fire; and round and round the celcs-
tial flame. burning, flashing, glowing.
like that which centuries before,
Moses beheld at the Burning Bush.
sits upon each of them, crowning
but not consuming, the supernatural.
outward evidence, and sign Of tho
Spirits presence. the Gro lcntial and
emblem of their future work.
Hitherto they had been guided
and controlled by q living Person
Heueeforth they are to be directed
by an indwellng Spirit who shall
equip and empower them to stand
before kings. to confound syna-
gogues. to silence councils, 10 still
mobs. to confront the learned, to IL
lumine the senselocs, ana to inlamc
the cold, to the uttormost parts OF
the earth
Christianity's symbol.
The symbol Of christianity IS n
Tongue; the only instrument of the
grandest war ever wage1 is Il
Tongue; bat the tongue is tongue
of fire, human organ, but a super
human power. The multitudes Of
original believers were not mere sub
ecribers to a creed, or adherents of a
=
burning agents in the great move
ment for the universal diffusion OF
Gods message.
The tongue of fire-this Is the
method of world evangeliza ton Not
tongues alone. but tongues Of fire.
Those disciples could talk before.
but their words were powerless.
Thnra &c aui1nnna hot l.
mony ever effected anybody for good
up to this time, but when Peter used
the tongue of fire on that same day
Of Pentecost, 1000 people surrender
cd to It's power and accepted the new
religion.
Fiery Tongued Heroes.
And christianity has spread over
the world In just this fashion. No
less than 22 men are named in the
Acts Of the Apostles who were wit
nesses," and flaming evangelists OF
the truth. 1t has always been so.
from the itinerant workers OF the
first generation down to our own
times. What a list of fiery tongued
heroes of the cross the world has
known, During the Middle Ages
Waldensian evangelists kept the fires
of the gospel story burning among
the mountains of Italy. When the
Reformation broke out. 1t was like
the literal breaking out of fire all
over Europe. Luther. Calvin. Twin
gil and Knox were fire kinders in
the cold and the darkness. John
Wickliff, in England, five centuries
ago. trained men and sent them
through the villages of England to
preach Bible truth to the people.
Oliver Cromwell John Milton, John
Bunyan, glorious old Puritans, with
all their imperfections. were repre-
sentatives of the tongue of fire.
John Wesley kindled a blaze that
has spread like a prairie conhagra-
tion in the Methodist Church. George
Whitefield had a marvellous tongue
of fire. And time would fail to men
ton Nettleton, and Edwards, and
Finney and Baker and Knapp and
Peter Cartwright and Moody and
many others, who through their use
or the tongue of fire, have melted
hard hearts, and burned down ma
tional barriers, and conquered op-
position, and thawed out hyperbo-
rean regions and raised spiritual
temperatures, until waste places
have been transformed into gar.
dens, and the wilderness has re,
ioiced and blossomed as the rose.
Gift for All Men.
Bear in mind this gift of tongues
is not for special and particular per,
sons. In the original bestowment
we are distinctly told that 1t ''sat
upon each of them" They were al
waiting they were all expecting
and they were all equipped. Not al
equally eloquent, but all equipped
Not all called to public service, bu
all equipped. Not all equally con
spicuous, but all equipped. Not al
sent abroad as travelling evangelists