QUES. 14.-Is King Darius spoken of in Ezra, ch. 6, the same as the one mentioned in Daniel, ch. 6?

ANS.-No; the Darius of Dan. 6:1 is "Darius the Median," mentioned in the last verse of ch. 5, who overthrew king Belshazzar and his Babylonian kingdom.

The Darius of Ezra, ch. 6, was called Darius Hystaspes; he succeeded Cyrus (who proclaimed liberty for the Jews to return to their land), about 40 years after " Darius the Median."

QUES. 15.-In 1 Cor., ch. 12, the apostle says, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant;" and in ch. 14 he says, "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." "Were they gifted so they could speak different languages without study of them, or were these gifts developed? In Acts 19, when Paul laid hands upon those disciples, they spake with tongues and prophesied. Please explain through Help and Food.

ANS.-It is plain from Acts 3 :4, 5, 8-12, that the miraculous gift of tongues was immediately imparted to the disciples by the Spirit of God coming upon them ; so that " the wonderful works of God " and salvation through the crucified and risen Christ were proclaimed to the devout Jews come from all parts of the world in the very tongue of the countries where they were born. God had miraculously broken up man's one language at Babel when they united in pride to "make themselves a name" and a center of power (Gen. 11:4); now He enabled His servants to proclaim at once the good news of a Saviour and salvation for all, in their own tongue. Had men heartily responded, the whole world might have possessed the knowledge of salvation within a year.

Note that the gift of tongues was not given them to call attention to themselves (as some poor, deceived and deceiving people now do, uttering strange noises without meaning) but to declare the wonderful things of God in the languages of their hearers. The Spirit of God forbids speaking in a language not understood by the hearers (1 Cor. 14 :28).

QUES.16.-There is a movement here called "Our Day," devoted to collection for Bed Cross work. The Committee sent a circular to all the churches requesting that a special collection be taken up for this purpose. It was also sent to the assembly here, and I stood against its being recognized by the assembly. I am anxious to have a word on this matter.

ANS.-We have a corporate and an individual place in the world. As individuals we have duties toward our fellow-men-to humanity as a whole. Eph. 4 :6 points to this widest circle of relationship, as I understand :"One God and Father of all, who is over all, and in all." In this relationship we are to "do good to all" (Gal. 6 :10)-to minister to the needs of all. We may do this directly, which is preferable, or indirectly, through the Red Cross, etc. Our Lord Jesus "went about doing good" (Acts 10 :38)- healed the sick, fed the hungry multitude, gave to the poor.

As to the assembly, its testimony as such is to Christ crucified and rejected by the world, but owned of God and glorified. The assembly's offerings are connected with its worship and thanksgivings. It seems incongruous to use these offerings for the Red Cross or similar objects.