May 31
Mornings With JesusHow hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? - Acts 2:8.
THE audience on this occasion was composed of “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, and Cretes, and Arabians;” but, however diversified, they all heard the Apostles speak in their own tongues the wonderful works of God.
In noticing, therefore, this extraordinary fact, we observe, First, That it could be nothing less than a real miracle. Two things are essential to a miracle. First, There must be something that can be seen, and touched, and handled. These are called signs, and it would be wonderful if signs could not be seen. This, by the way, shows the absurdity of the doctrine of transubstantiation. Its advocates say it is a miracle. Why, then, let it be seen. We are all capable of seeing and knowing bread and wine; the priest mumbles certain words over it, and he says it is changed. Why, then, let it be seen-let it be tasted, let it be touched, let it be examined. It was so with all the miracles of Moses. It was so with the miracles of our Lord. The deaf heard, the blind saw, the dumb spake, the lepers were cleansed, the dead were raised up; and so it was here. These men professed to speak in all these various languages; well, and here were many men who heard them speak in these languages, and were well capable of judging.
Secondly, A miracle must be above all known second causes. God only could have done this. God only could have stored the minds of these men with such a multitude of arbitrary signs, and have given them power and ability to utter such a variety of distinct sounds. It is well known to be very difficult for any man to speak a foreign language-to bring his knowledge of it into application, so as to be intelligible. And yet we find these men speaking these languages off-hand, and rendering themselves perfectly intelligible to all that heard them. It could therefore be nothing in them.