tiie slightest excuse to those who speak of them with idolatrous veneration, because of their office and near- ness to our Lord. .
He describes them as "eye-witnesses." They told men what they had seen with their own eyes, and heard with their own ears. (1 John i. 1.) — ^He describes them as "ministers of the word." They were servants of the word of the Gospel. They were men who counted it their highest privilege to carry about, as messengers, the tidings of God's love to a sinful world, and to teU the story of the cross.
Well would it have been for the Church and the world, if Christian ministers had never laid claim to higher dignity and honour than the apostles claimed for them- selves. It is a mournful fact, that ordained men have constantly e?:alted themselves and their office to a most unscriptural position. It is a no less mournful fact, that people have constantly helped forward the evil, by a lazy acquiescence in the demands of priest-craft, and by con- tenting themselves with a mere vicarious religion. There have been faults on both sides. Let us remember this, and be on our guard.
In the third place, St. Luke describes Ma otm qualifica- tions for the work of writing a Gospel. He says that he "had perfect understanding of all things from the very first."
It would be mere waste of time to inquire from what source St. Luke obtained the information which he has given us in his Gospel. We have no good reason for supposing that he saw our Lord work miracles, or heard Him teach. To say that he obtained his information