I feel the need of works of this kind, and I shall begin them again.1
(3) It is Jesus Christ Himself, and not His teaching or His work apart from His Person. His work, indeed, can be appreci- ated only in the light of His Person ; His death is at best heroic self-devotion (if it be so much as that) unless His Person is superhuman. If Jesus is only man, or if His Person is left out of view, there is no more reason for reliance on His death than on the death of Socrates. His Sacraments are only picturesque unrealities, unless He who warranted their power lives and is mighty; apart from His Person, they have no more spiritual validity than an armorial bearing or a rosette. And His teaching cannot be represented as a " foundation " of Christian life, which may be substituted for His Person, and enable us to dispense with it, for the simple reason that the persistent drift of that teaching is directly and indirectly to centre thought, love, adora- tion upon Himself ; as though in Him, as distinct from what He said and did, mankind was to find its true and lasting strength and peace.
Tf This is the secret of Christ's power over men. He does not come to discuss with them some empty conundrum, some wretched enigma, that challenges only the intellect ; He sets Himself down in the heart, and trains that, brings that into the liberty of His blessed captivity, and out of the heart there comes His kingdom, which can never be moved.2
4. A comprehensive idea of Jesus Christ as the foundation may be found in the very old representation of Him as Prophet, Priest, and King.
(1) Prophet. — A Prophet is not merely one who foretells future events. That is but a small and, in some respects, an inferior part of the prophet's work. The generic idea of a prophet is one who speaks of God, who reveals the thoughts and proclaims the truth of God. And in this regard Jesus Christ is the Prophet of God, who infinitely transcends all others.
(2) Priest. — In former times the priest stood between the sinner and God, and offered sacrifice on account of his sins. The Lord Jesus, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, was fitted
1 Robertson, in Life and Letters of the Rev. F. W. Robertson^ 263. ■ J. Parker.
102 THE TEACHER'S GREAT TEXT
to be the medium to stand between our sinful souls and the righteous God ; and for sacrifice, He offered Himself without spot unto God. And " If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world."
(3) King. — Christ is also our King. As such He claims our love, our loyal obedience, our grateful homage, and our reverent worship. Instead of obeying the maxims and customs of the world, instead of following our own inclinations, and the uncertain and fitful impulses of our own hearts, let us obey Him. Let His will be supreme.
U It is a vain thought to flee from the work that God appoints us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing to our own souls, as if we could choose for ourselves where we shall find the fulness of the Divine Presence, instead of seeking it where alone it is to be found, in loving obedience.1
Close gently, weary eyes, And let the closing day sing sweetly unto thee A song of rest, that so the coming day may be
A glad surprise;
Close, weary eyes.
Eest now, oh wayward heart! Eest in submission comes; then let the swaying trees, Bending, obedient, at each breath of God's light breeze
Show thee thy part ;
Eest, wayward heart.
Peace, sweet peace, struggling soul! "Waves, hills and stars will say, "Seek not to walk by sight. By faith take all thy stumbling steps, through day and night,
In God's control.'*
Peace, struggling soul.
II.
The Building.
1. Our attention is drawn to the materials used in the build- ing rather than to the building itself. The materials are of two kinds — (1) "gold, silver, costly stones," that is, those that will
1 Dinah Morris, in Adam, Bcle.
i CORINTHIANS in. 11-13 103
pass through fire unscathed; and (2) "wood, hay, stubble," — materials which fire will consume. There is, therefore, good teach- ing and bad teaching. Good teaching is the showing forth of Christ Jesus in word and life .
U We are, perhaps, beginning to recognize the need of special training, but hundreds of clergymen can be found who would acknowledge that they never had any kind of education in the two branches of their work — teaching and preaching. A young clergyman recently, in conversation with me, deplored this. "I did not know how to teach, and I have been obliged to try and gain some knowledge of the art by listening to the teachers in the elementary schools." This is the example of a man wise enough to be aware of his deficiencies, and courageous enough to try and repair them. But here is a strange fact. Educated skill is demanded in some callings, and these not the most im- portant; yet in some of the higher or more difficult callings educated skill is not demanded, and is not even deemed to be important. We do not allow our teeth to be pulled out except by a qualified practitioner, but we entrust grave moral responsi- bilities to untrained men. We require some evidence of practical skill from our cab-drivers, but we hand over the direction of vast national interests to men who have never learned even the rudi- ments of political and economic science. It is all very puzzling. It belongs to the noble faith of being able somehow to " muddle through." The wonder is, not that things are done so well con- sidering how much is given into untrained hands, but that things are done at all.1