We read of God, and say, Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" If the same command came from a human being, Abraham would have committed a sin in yielding such obedience to man. Now God has provided, in the carrying out of this twofold principle in his Church, the inspired prophet and the uninspired teacher. The inspired prophet is one who comes to us with a message from God, attested so as to be credible to us; in order the more fully to make us feel that it is from God. The inspired prophet is not always permitted to know the meaning of his own message. that they stood as learners at the feet of their own words; for unto them it was revealed, that not unto them, but unto us, did they minister the things that were spoken by them. They, like us, had to search what things and what manner of times they thus spoke of. By not being permitted to understand their own predictions, God taught this important lesson to his Church, that the inspired prophet was not the understanding teacher, but the one who got the message from God to deliver, not in man's words but in God's words, to his people, who were to be instructed. There is a lower degree of that inspiration ever abiding in the Church; that knowledge of the word of God, that does not come alone from human searching, but that is the suggestion of the Divine Spirit bringing light upon God's holy word, which distinguishes individuals in God's Church, and has distinguished such individuals from age to age; to whom God has given a clearer insight into his written word, and enabled them to see what comes to them as they experience it themselves, not by the labour of the human understanding, but by the unexpected inflowing of Divine knowledge, There From Christ fore the apostle says, in the 4th chapter of Ephesians we read, that one of the perpetual gifts of Christ to his Church is the prophet, as well as the pastor and the teacher. The ordinary instruction given us in the Church is that of the teacher, the man who studies the Bible, and under the enlightening grace of the Spirit of God learns the truth of the gospel of God. being taught himself he is able to teach others. fulfilled this office to his Church. We find that he was not only a prophet but a teacher; a man who took the Bible in his hands, and went over it chapter by chapter and verse by verse, explaining it to his hearers, as you will find in the 24th chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, and the 27th verse; where, even after his resurrection, Jesus was still a teacher, explaining the Scriptures to his people "beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." Thus we have Jesus a teacher as well as Jesus a prophet. And so we find St. Paul declaring of his own teaching in the 4th chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and the 2nd verse: "We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." Here was reasoning instruction, that reached the conscience, because it was manifestly true. Now in the parable our Lord speaks of the teacher, not of the prophet; it is the instructed scribe, or rather, as the word more frequently means, the scribe that is a disciple of the kingdom of heaven. Then said he unto them: Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." From our text, therefore, let us consider, I. The immediate application of these words; II. Their application to our own times. 1. Then the immediate application of these words. We have here the scribe, not the priest,-not the prophet, but the scribe, - the man whose office it was to copy and to multiply copies of the Scriptures, and who, being thus engaged upon the copying of the Scriptures, became professionally engaged in explaining the Scriptures. He is the scribe and the disciple of the kingdom of heaven; therefore he was one who was searching the Scriptures, with respect to that coming kingdom which had been predicted in those Scriptures, which it was his office to copy and to explain. He was one who looked forward to that kingdom; and therefore Christ speaks of him as a scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, or one who made himself a disciple of the kingdom of heaven. He was a scribe who had a treasure he brings "forth out of his treasure things new and old." Now what was the treasure of the Jewish scribe? It was not the temple he had no right there by his office. It was not the synagogue: for he was not necessarily a teaching priest. It was his Bible. This was that of which they were the expounders. Therefore his treasure was God's holy word, as we find it declared to be in the 19th Psalm, and the 10th verse: More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold." Here was his treasure; that which was provided for him by the great Head, and Husband, and Teacher of his Church; that treasure which we find thus described in the Song Solomon, in the last verse of the 7th chapter: "At - our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved!" Here, then, is the character of that scribe. He was one who was a disciple of the kingdom of heaven, one who had a treasure the Scriptures; and who brought forth out of that treasure, in his discipleship to the kingdom of heaven, things new and old. It had reference, therefore, in those days, to all the new principles and the old truths which the well-instructed scribes would bring forth to the people of God. Jesus opened the understanding of those scribes, that they might understand the Scriptures. Jesus was the first of those teaching scribes, when, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, he expounded to them out of the Scriptures the things concerning himself. The things that were old were not cast away, because there were new things brought in. The things that were new did not contradict that which was old. The combination of the one with the other gave that perfect development of Divine light which the Christian dispensation brought in. The apostle, a wellinstructed scribe unto the kingdom of heaven, declared that he did not come to teach new principles, but the application of old principles in a new light; that he was declaring none other things than what Moses and the Prophets in the law taught was to come. Our blessed Saviour, by joining things old with things new, reminded his disciples that he did not come to destroy the law or the prophets. By joining things new with things old, he suggested to them, that there was to be an increased knowledge and an increased light; and yet, by these new things, as well as the old things, being found in the scribe's treasury, he reminded them that God had already revealed them, though men had not yet seen them. Now, if we look at the New Testament as an explanation of the Old, we shall find this remarkable fact, that there is not one doctrine in the New Testament that is not in the Old; but it is not seen in the same clearness in the Old as in the New Testament. We shall fail to discover a single doctrine in the New Testament that is not in the Old. God revealed it in the Old Testament, but men did not see it there. Just like the householder bringing out to his guest something new: it was in his house that he found these new things: these things were in the house, but the guest did not see them until the master of the house brought them forth. Though it was new to the guest, it was not new to him. Now what is the leading principle of the Christian religion? Is it not the character and office of Jesus of Nazareth, that in the person of one man -Jesus of Nazarethconcentrated all the revelation that is given in the Old Testament? He is the prophet, he is the priest,--he is the king. These three offices were known in the Old Testament times, but they were not combined in one man. The Jews looked forward to a prophet like unto Moses; but they did not know that that prophet was to die for their sins. The Jews looked for a messiah like unto the son of David: they expected him to reign in glory; but they did not know that that Messiah was first to suffer for sins. The Jews looked for a priest who was to exercise the priestly function in the renewed temple; but they did not know that that Priest was to be the King upon the throne; one who was to be the great High Priest of the everlasting temple, and one who would unite in himself the three offices of prophet, Now we clearly see that these three priest, and king. offices were in the Old Testament, but they did not see |
