The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 64

much of w9rds. "Tb,e words of man's wisdom," high-soundin"' sentences, oratoric periods, they scrupulously studied. The spirit of thougM is so s~btlc tha.t it goes off in the attempt to give it grand verbal costume. (2) The t11eor£st. Those who throw into a logical system the ideas they have derived from the gosrl; he who exalts his system of thought .or creed and makes it a standard _of ·trut is a minister of the " letter/' 'l'he grandest system: of theology can no more contain the whole truth than a nutshell can the Atlantic. (3) The ritualist. Men must lave ritualism of some kind. What is logic but the ritualism of thought? art but the ritualism of beauty? rhetoric but the ritualism of ideas? civilization but the ritualism of the thoughts of ages? But those who represent those symbols as supernatural powers and mystic media of saving grace are ministers of the '.'letter" rather than of the " spirit." 2. The spiritual. What is it to be a minister of the" spirit"? He is a man more alive to 'the grace than the gra=ar, to tbe substance than the symbols of revelation. He is a man who has a comprehensive knowledge of those eternal principles that underlie all Scriptures,'and has a living sympathy with those eternal elements. Il. The twofold RESULTS. "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." 1. The result of the technical ministry. It "killeth." (1) The verbalist kills. It was said by Burke "that no man understands less of the majesty of the English constitution than the 'l'iisi prius lawyer, who is always dealing with the technicalities of preced~nce." And truly no man understands less of the gospel than l,e who is constantiy dealing with its verbalities. Words in religion, when taken for realities," kill," kill inquiry, freedom, sensibility, moral manhood. (2) The theorist kills. Ho who preaches his own little creed instead of the gospel of God kills souls. The Jews formulated n theory concerning the Messiah from their Scriptures. In their theory he was to appear in such a form, do such a work, reach such a. destiny. _ He came, but did not answer to their theory, and they rejected him and were damned. Man's theory of the gospel is not the gospel, any more than pneumatical sd_ence is the lifc~breathing atmo- sphere. (3) The ritualist kills. He who exalts ~en the authorized ritualism of the gospel, such· as baptism and the Lord's Supper, to say nothing of the unauthorized rites, kiils souls. The ceremonial Church has ever been a dead Church. 'l'he ministry of the " letter" then " killeth ; " it reduc~d the Jewish people to the valley of dead bones, entombed the souls of Europe for mauy a. long century. 2. The rel;Ult of the spiritual ministry. "Tho spirit giveth life." "It is the spirit thnt quickeneth ; tho flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." "The spirit giveth life "-life to the intellect, conscioilce, sympathies, the whole soul. CoNOLUBION, How little of this soul-life we have in congrega.tions I Creed-life, sect- life, Church-life, we have in abundance; but where is soul-life, the life of holy love, earnest inquiry, independent action, spiritual freedom in relation to all that is Christ- like and Divine? _-_ Vers. 7-11.-Divine revelation more glorious in Ghrist than in Moses. "But if the ministration," etc. At the outset three facts are noteworthy. 1. 'l'he infinitu Father hns made a special revelation -of himself to his human offspring. 2. This special revelation of himself has mainly come through two grca.t general sources- Moses and Christ. 3. The special revelation of himself, as it camo through Christ, far transcends in glory the form it assumed as it came through Moses. 'fhe essence of the revelation is the same, but the forms differ, and tho form it assumes in Chris- tianity are tho most glorious. Thero are two facts hero. • I. That the special revelation as it camo through MosEB WAS GLomous. It wa.s HO glorious that "the children of Israel conld not steadfastly behold the face of Moses.'' Four things impress us with its glory as revealed in Moses. 1. The wonderful display of divinity attending ita manifestation on Mount Sinai. The P.Xpression, " the faco of Moses," refers to _this <Exod. xxxiv. 1). What wondcr,ful things Moses saw and heard durin" the forty days he was on the mount! "'l he Lord rose up and camo from Seir with ten thousand of his saints," etc. 2. The magni.ficence of its religious scenea and celebrations. 'l'he temple, how splendid I the priesthood, bow irnpo_siug I_ the psalD;1ody, how inspiring I "Glorious things nro spoken of thco, 0 thou city ot God." 3, The BtupendO'U,S mira_cles that stand in connection with it, 'l'ho wildcrul'sS  64 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [ea. m. 1-18.