LECTURE

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 78, 29 October 1872, Page 2

LECTURE

Tjik following lecture was delivered at. Cambridge by the Rev Mr Stewart, on tlie 2-lth Ooiobcr, in connection with the Young Men's Society : — THE GHI2AT TEACH Kβ. Once, some eighteen centuries ago, tbo laborious duties of a great Jewish festival were just concluded. The day had just closed on which the subject of our lecture had acted a most singular part in driving out tiio.se who sought to make merchandise in the Templo, declaring as He did so "My Father's house is a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves." The thick clouds of night bedim the horizon —the nightly vigils alone enlighten the universal darkness. Everyone eagerly seeks his home, but one of the Chief Kabbis seeks Christ. The sacred penman stays not to tell us how this great master found Jesus, nor even where lie found him, nor does he tell us all that passed between this master in Israel and the Great Teacher. Short though it be, it gives an insight into his heart as we hear him say "We know Thou art a Teacher come from God, for no mnn could do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him." Thus he sets Christ as high as the highest of men, in every sense above all predecessors, meeker and mightier than Moses, more faithful than Abraham, greater than David, even though he slew his tens of thousands, and kindled in the half-dead hearts of men a spirit of enthusiasm with his heavenly melodies. And wo know , the well-known words " JJehold a greater than Soloman is here." For even Solomon with all bin Grocl-given wisdom could only see the awful and the infinite, but knew of no way of escape from it, ho possessed no chart, could read no compass that could guide him safely through the thick darkness which ever seemed to surround him, hence hia well-known and oft-repeated expression " Vanity of vanities, saiib. the preacher, all is vanity." Where then can we iind one with whom we may compare "The Groat Teacher?" Though it wore .'possible for us to form in our mind an ideal of one who would possess the meekness of Moses, the strength of Samson, the faithfulness of Abraham, with the wisdom of Solomon, still after all we would be in comparative ignorance of what this great teacher is, for at the beat we can I only say we have seen part of his ways. All arc human, but the Roman soldier who heard Christ, declared "Never man spake like this man." 1 deem nothing more common in the study of this subject than to forget altogether the most important fact, viz., that the men of His time were astonished aa much at what He taught as at what He did. They could see the darkness of blindness cleared away by a touch of His finger. They could see the deaf ear made to hear the sweet music of His life-giving words, the dumb tongue taught to sing his praise, and the dead raised again to life. Yet in all this their amazement was no greater, if as great, as when they clustered around Him on the mountain-side, the seashore, or the wilderness, and heard Him speak the words of life, which fell on their dead dark souls and drew them as with a heavenly spell to His feet. Surely then there must be something in His teaching which marked Him from the firet as come from Gk>d. j Let us now direct our thoughts to this great teacher, and (I.) His manner and (II.) His matter. Under both of these heads no one can fail to see that He shines most conspicuously as something which transcends all transitory thoughts of greatness and makes him, par excellence," The Great Teacher." (I.) First, then, a3 to His manner. The ren of the evangeli;t narrates at least one criticism, when he tells of one who said "He spake as one having authority, and not as the scribe." Such a remark would have us believe that when He spake, He must have done so with an air of majesty, making every word to fall in the right place, although, no doubt, in this He would vary. At one time His words would fall on them like a thunderbolt hurled from the hands of Him who sits on heaven's highest, throne, while at another time they would come quietly, slowly, but surely, like the rays of the rising sun, surrounding and absorbing them in the full brightness of His love and mercy. So that however little we may know of other great men, we know far less of Him who was and is the greatest of all. How little is known of Christ's I forerunner, John the Baptist. We may apply to j him in a higher and holier sense what was said of j Shakespeare, "He appeared at midnight and knocked at the hearts of men, but e'er the morning came he was gone, and we can see only the marks of bis footsteps and hear only the echo of his footfall." Yet comparatively we know more of John tian of Jesus. He lived far from the haunts of men ; clothed himse f with camels' hair; his loins were girt with a leathern girdle, and his food was locusts and wild honey. This is just saying He became an ascetic, which at that time was highly revered by all as the most holy life, and the mo3t pleasing to G-od; so that, what Hβ said would come home with power, and fall into the hearts of his hearers like seed of iruth which no philosophy nor theophilo3ophic- doctrines would ever be able to uproot. Such strayed thoughts to the student of ancient history and philosophy,, form in: ' his hand a key to open the mystery in the life of John the Baptist.. In the case of Solomon, we knowmore than we know of Christ. His home was that j of a king.; he lived, if not in perfect happinese, at least

ini peace, cane, and wealth. pulpit wa« a throne ; liin clothinft, 1,)..- royal robes o.f a k'ng ; his audience would seldom, if ever, include the low, the lost , or the outcasts of soeict v, hut more likely kings and queens, prill.rn mid nobles of his own find other lands. All tpis wo cc.n feel was the m d with Solomon ; for o' ' crvvise, when we turn from tin! royal preacher to I lie Grunt, Teue!ie,", how h! illirig and ia i;d arc the scenes of fLirt labours: Now in ibis town -now in that; here, on a moimtain wide -there, in a desert ; liere, iu a fisher's boat,-, t, here, in a fisher's hut; in the market place ; on the sua shore ; in the streets, beside the fever-stricken patient and the outcast leper. Thin, you can easily nee (hut no one f'cnfcure is able to embrace tlie scope of His teaching. Only this, we cannot but feel certain of, that His every utterance must have had a majority unlike all others*. Solomon himself could only speak as the ruler over men ; hut, here stands one who can lay hold of the conscience, iwid look into the most, secret recess of every human heart. The majesty of Solomon may be said to have been naked wisdom ; that of Christ, wisdom clothed with love and mercy; or, us an American theologist Jhih well put it,,--" Solomon was wise, but Christ, was wisdom ; Solomon spake what, was true, but Christ was truth itself." If you read your Bible carefully, you cannot fail to observe this in all Solomon's teachin;'; he ever makes you feel that he in better and wiser than his hearers, and so isolates himself from nil. i'ut Christ, the more he speaks to you, the closer fie draws you to his loving heart, till at last teacher u.rid 1 iiui^hI Ijucomo as one. Surely I ask, such a inaiesty as" His must, have been altogether heavenly?

too high, too pure, too holy, too Godlike to be classed with sin I'ul men's ignorance. How true was the reply lie gave to the rationalists of His day: " Behold a greater than Solomon is here;" and again to His disciple: "f am from above: ye arc from beneath." Again, the hondincss of 1 1 in words no one can fail to nee. Solomon must first search all things under the hhji e'er he can give Ids verdict,, but Christ had no need to search what we arc pleased to call " Laws of nature and hidden mysteries." Tn this, Christ is above, not, only Solomon, but all who are truly wise and ercat since time began. Do we not wee Socrates and plato, who themselves shine almost, like suns amidst the heathen darkness and barbarian miperstition of Greece. I sav, do we not see I,hem iahour'ng to give foi •th their decisions, and when they are uttered, thev never have the ring of certainty that the words of Christ have. I n Christ, we see the physician of the world, the true l ; ght unstained with sin or prejud'ceof unv kind : "The g!or\ of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth," whilst the world's best and wisest could only discover I lie void, the disease, without being able to hope for, far less to supply, the neede I remedy. This leads me to notice the positive j character of' Christ's teaching. The teach in" of Socrates, like that of Salomon, was, for the most par 1 , negative. Socrates spent his whole, life in showing the wise how ignorant they were of the most common things of evcry-day life ; both alike, at their best couhl ord v tell m what, was not. ho that their tcaehin'ronde 1 in n:" f -t've knowledge v h'ii com oared vi'h Chri>.' positive and dogmatic teaching. Thus Solomon says: " We labour and find no rest Christ says, "Come unto me and you shall have rest." Again Solomon savi, "A man cannot tell what, shall be;" Christ says, *' In the world, ve shall have tribulation : in me, ve shall have peace." Solomon could only discover wants, woes, misery, and vanity ; to him there win n o! h : ng new under the sun. The difference is cert'mdv great, when wo turn from these sad wailiivrs to tic soul : n <piring eloquence of our Great Teacher. What a feast, it. nuH. have been to have heard Him. ns lie sat. on the mountain side beneath the blue ennoov of heaven, surrounded by a few ignorant, .but I'iit,hful followers, and a vn-t multitude of men. W mien, and children, proclaiming in their midst. " Blessed are the mourners, for they shall be comforted : blessed are the meek, for thev shall inherit the earth : and blessed are the mire in heart, for thev shall see God." What a thrill of holy jov must have flushed from heart to heart throughout that 'ni./ht v multitude as thev hung on the wo'-ds which fell ll\s lips. The thoughts wlreh Chr«t uttered were thoughts which man at best could onlv eoniecture, but, in Christ' the vail of uucertii'iif y : s removed, and everything >s seen tv. the clearest light, so that in Ilia light, we can see light clearly. (To be con !i nurd.)