you refrain from leading others in prayer, while on every other topic
you are fluency itself. "_Neglect not the gift that is in thee_,"
whether it came by laying on of hands, or in some other way. Every
true convert should sometimes feel as the prophet Jeremiah felt, when
he said, "_The word of the Lord was within me as a burning fire shut up
in my bones. I was weary with forbearing and could not stay_." The
work assigned too often exclusively to the minister is really the work
of the Church.

Happily, speech is not the only mode in which men can serve God. It is
clear from the Hebrew narrative that Eldad and Medad, like their
brethren at the door of the Tabernacle, did not receive an abiding gift
of prophecy, but a transient sign which seemed adequate to convince the
people that they had been chosen and inspired. Unfortunately, the
Authorised Version gives us a phrase which is the exact opposite of the
meaning of the Hebrew phrase in the twenty-fifth verse, rendering it
thus, "_They prophesied, and did not cease_." The Revised Version sets
this right in the phrase, "_They prophesied, but they did so no more_."
In other words, the singular manifestation of power soon passed away.
It was not a permanent possession.

This is in harmony with the experience of the early Christian Church.
The miraculous power given to the apostles, as evidence of their Divine
commission, was not always at their disposal. The gift of tongues
bestowed on them, and on others, soon ceased; for it was intended to
show the supernatural origin of Christianity until written evidence was
available, and then it was withdrawn. The Holy Spirit still remained
in the Church, and was revealed in a diversity of operations. His
presence was proved by the changed characters of converts more
effectually than by abnormal gifts--and similarly the religious ecstasy