Here, too, we must confine ourselves to one point in that most glorious event, and that is the form in which that august witness, the eternal Spirit, descended.
Let the reader turn to the second chapter of the Acts. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them _cloven tongues_, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with _other tongues_, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, _out of every nation under heaven_. Now, when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak _in his own language_. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we _every man in our own tongue wherein we were born_? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak _in our tongues_, the wonderful works of God."
Here then we mark one special fact--a fact of deepest interest--three times referred to in the foregoing quotation. It is this, the Holy Ghost came down to speak to every man "in his own dialect"--not the dialect in which he was _educated_ merely, but "_in which he was born_"--the very dialect in which his mother first whispered into his infant ears, the sweet and tender accents of a mother's love. Such was the medium, such the vehicle which the divine Messenger adopted for the blessed purpose of making known to man that God was for us. He did not speak to the Hebrew in Greek, or to the Greek in Latin. He spoke to each one in the language which he understood, in the plain vernacular--the mother tongue. If there was any peculiarity in that mother tongue, any idiom, any provincialism in the dialect of each, the blessed Spirit would make use of it for the purpose of reaching the heart with the sweet story of grace.
Contrast with this the giving of the law from Mount Sinai. There Jehovah confined Himself absolutely to one language. If persons had been gathered there "from every nation under heaven," they would not have understood a single syllable. The law--the ten words--the record of _man's duty_ to God and to his neighbor was sedulously wrapped up in one tongue. But when "_the wonderful works of God_" were to be published--when the blessed story of love was to be told out--when the heart of God towards poor guilty sinners was to be revealed, was one language enough? No! "Every nation under heaven" must hear, and hear, too, in their own mother tongue.
Reader, is not this a telling fact? It will perhaps be said that those who heard Peter and the rest on the day of Pentecost, were Jews. Well, that in no wise robs our fact of its charm, its sweetness, and its power. Our fact is that when the eternal Spirit descended from heaven, to tell of the resurrection of Christ, to tell of accomplished redemption--to publish the glad tidings of salvation--to preach repentance and remission of sins--He did not confine Himself to one language, but spoke in every dialect under heaven!
And why? Because He desired to make man understand what He had to say to him--He desired to reach his heart with the sweet tidings of redeeming love--the soul-stirring message of full remission of sins. When the law was to be given--when Jehovah had to speak to man about his duty--when He had to address him in such terms as, "Thou shalt do this, and thou shalt not do that," He confined Himself to one solitary language. But when He would unfold the precious secret of His love--when He would prove to man that He was for him, He, blessed forever be His name, took care to speak in every language under heaven, so that every man might hear, in his own dialect wherein he was born, the wonderful works of God.[2]
[2] The reader will note with interest a fact alluded to elsewhere, that in Genesis xi. divers tongues were given as a judgment upon man's pride. In Acts ii. divers tongues were given in grace to meet man's need. And in Revelation vii. the various tongues are all found united in one song of praise to God and to the Lamb. Such are some of the wonderful works of God. May we praise Him with all our ransomed powers! May our hearts adore Him!