But we greatly err if we suppose that this gift was limited to the apostles or to preachers. In the account of the first effusion it is explicitly stated that all pres- ent partook of it (Acts ii, 4); namelv, the entire num- ber of the one hundred and twenty disciples, includ- ing men and women (i, 14, 15). The tniiversality of the gift appears in the case of the Samaritans con- verted under Philip's preaching (ch. viii), and likewise in the family of Cornelius (x, 44). The four unmar- ried daughters of Philip, "which did prophesy'' (xxi, 9), were doubtless enabled to do so through this gift. Indeed, none of the prophecies of this endowment, whether in the Old Test, or the New, limit it to a par- ticular class. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, quoted the ])rediction of .Joel as applying to "all flesh," ser- vants and handmaids alike (ii, 17, 18); and .Jesus him- self had already referred .lohn the Baptist's declara- tion of the higher baptism to the same event (i, 5). This gift, then, is the universal privilege of Chris- tians. The "all power" (Matt, xxviii, 18) abides in the aggregate Church and in each individual believer.
2. It is necessary, however, to <listiiiguish between the ordiiuiri/ and the eTtntordinury features of this di- vine gift as exhibited in the apostolic days. There weri! certain peculiarities then jiresent, such as the pow- er to Work miracles, to speak with languages that had not been learned, which history shows have not been permanent in the Church. These special gifts or mi- raculous endowments seem to have been symbolized by the "cloven tongues like as of fire" that sat upon each of the priuiiiive recipients. They were, in the tirst in- stance, directly conferred by (io<t himself — namely, on the day of Pentecost, as was oliviously proper, and, we may say, necessary; but after that event they were in- variably, so far as we know, imparted through the in- sirumentality of the apostles. The only exce|)tioii to this is in the case of Cornelius, where a special lesson was to be taught coucerniiig the admission of Gentiles
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into the Churcli by God himself; and even here an apostle's presence seems to ha*e been requisite. In all other examples recorded the imposition of apostolic hands seems to have been an essential condition to the conferment (see Acts viii, 17, 18; xix, (!; Kom. i, 11). The miraculous power once imparted seems to have been permanent with each individual ; but none except the apostles had the right or ability of communicating the Holy Ghost to another person. Hence after the death of the apostles the power itself became extinct. This was no doubt a principal one of their peculiar func- tions. We commend this fact to the consideration of tliose who claim to be their lineal successors. The or- dinary and exclusively spiritual endowment, wiiich is the jierpetual heritage of the Christian Church and the ]irivilege of all true believers, we understand to be still conferred, as it always was, directly by God in answer to prayer, without any intermediation or human instru- mentality being necessary, though such may be of use by way of preparing the subjects to expect and appre- ciate the sacred gift. In point of fact, the gift of the Spirit, in its ordinary function, is found to attend per- sonal intercourse with individuals of deep Christian ex- perience.
Many questions, curious rather than profitable, are sometimes raised respecting these supernatural endow- ments; but we must here pass them by as a thing of liistory and speculation, and of very little personal in- terest. The manifestations of the Spirit evidently dif- fered widely in individual cases, and were altogether of an arbitrary and abnormal character. The principal in- formation concerning them is contained in 1 Cor. xii-xiv, respecting the proper meaning of which Scripture com- mentators and exegetes are by no means agreed among themselves. See Spiritual Gifts.
One example, however, of the experience of this be- stowment, recorded in Holy Writ, is of so marked and instructive a character that we must note it somewhat at length. It occurs in Acts xix, 1-7. During Paul's third missionary tour he visited E|ihesus, where Apol- los had previously labored. The apostle there found twelve men who had become converts to John's bap- tism, possibly under the preaching of ApoUos, prior to the suiienor enlighteimient of the latter l)y the more spiritual instructions of Aquila and Priscilla. These men had not, therefore, received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, when questioned on the subject, they averred that they "had not so much as heard whether there be any [a] Holy Ghost." P>y this they could not have meant an utter ignorance of such a divine being, nor of his otRce-work upon human hearts; for not only is the Old Test., with which they must have been fa- miliar, full of allusions to tlie Holy Spirit, but .John had expressly taught his disciples to look for tiie long-pre- dicted baptism. We cannot suppose tliat the Hebrew saints had been destitute of that heavenly influence without which no genuine religious fruit can possibly grow in the human heart; for the very heathen owed all their real piety to the unconsciously anticipated vir- tue of the incarnate Redeemer. The same Spirit which brooded over the primeval deep ((ien. i, 2). was the Sjjirit of Christ (.lohn i,3), without which none are his (liom. viii, 9). It was he, as the Jehovah, Logos, who wrought all the wonders of the Mosaic disi)ensation (1 Cor. X, 3). The inspiration, whether personal or ofKcial, of all the Old-Test, characters proceeded, by their own acknowledgment, from this source. The seventy elders (Exod. xxiv, 10) stood on the same spiritual platform with the beloved disciple in Paimos (Rev. iv). Abra- ham, entering into God's covenant, symbolized by the lamp and the smoking furnace ((ien. xv, 17), rejoiced to behold Christ (John viii, M). Jac<pi)"s ladder (Gen. xxviii, 12) was a lively type of Christ (.lolin i. ol), the sole medium of intercourse with heaven. David anil the prophets al)ound with recognitions of the Holy Spir- it's presence and power in religious experience. Most of the above instances seem to indicate, in respect to