/in 
 
The Glory of the Ministry 
 
Other Books by 
 PROF. A. T. ROBERTSON 
 
 Critical Notes to Broadus's Harmony of 
 the Gospels. 
 
 Life and Letters of John A. Broadus. 
 
 Teaching of Jesus Concerning God the 
 Father. 
 
 Keywords in the Teaching of Jesus. 
 
 Syllabus for New Testament Study. 
 
 Students' Chronological New Testament. 
 
 Epochs in the Life of Jesus. 
 
 Epochs in the Life of Paul. 
 
 Jonn the Loyal. Studies in the Minis- 
 try of the Baptist. 
 
 A Short Grammar of the Greek New 
 Testament. 
 
 A Commentary on the Gospel Accord- 
 ing to Matthew. 
 
The Glory of the Ministry 
 
 Paul's Exultation in 
 Preaching 
 
 By 
 A. T. ROBERTSON, M. A., D. D. 
 
 Professor of New Testament Interpretation 
 
 in The Southern Baptist Theological 
 
 Seminary, Louisville, Ky. 
 
 NOV 20 1990 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 London and Edinburgh 
 
Copyright, 191 1, by 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
 Chicago: 123 North Wabash Ave. 
 Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. 
 London: 21 Paternoster Square 
 Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street 
 
To 
 
 The Rev. James Stalker, M. A,, D. D, 
 
 Professor in the United Free 
 
 Church College, Aberdeen, 
 
 Preacher, Teacher, 
 
 Inspirer of Preachers 
 
Preface 
 
 IT is now a good many years since the beauty of 
 Paul's apologetic for preaching in 2 Corinthians 
 ii. i2-vi. 10 made its first appeal to me. As 
 with much that has entered my life, it was the close 
 study of the Greek text with a class in Greek exegesis 
 that first gripped my heart with this noble pane- 
 gyric on the ministry of the servants of Jesus Christ. 
 It is not mere rhapsody on Paul's part, but a mag- 
 nificent exposition of the preacher's task from every 
 point of view. I have made it my duty and joy to 
 present this lofty spiritual interpretation of the min- 
 ster's work to succeeding classes of theological 
 students. Last November in South Carolina I made 
 an address on " The Glory of the Ministry " as pre- 
 sented by Paul in this passage. It brought cheer 
 and hope to the hearts of some of the toilers for 
 Christ to the extent that a number of them privately 
 asked me to write a little book on the subject. I 
 have not been able to get away from this appeal. 
 My life is constantly with ministers. I know much 
 of the struggles, ambitions, hopes, joys, and disap- 
 pointments of preachers of the Gospel, both young 
 
 7 
 
8 PREFACE 
 
 and old. The lines have not fallen in pleasant places 
 for all of them. They are subject to much misun- 
 derstanding. Modern and pubUc opinion is distinctly- 
 critical, if not at times harsh, towards the minister. 
 It is not always easy in an unsympathetic atmosphere 
 to preserve the right spirit and to see things as they 
 really are. I have written this book out of love for 
 preachers of the Gospel of Jesus. Some one may find 
 tonic and ozone, as he comes close to the heart of 
 his mission and Hfe, in Paul's bracing words. Some, 
 for whom the ministry no longer has the old charm, 
 may recover their first love. Some, who have been 
 disposed to speak unkindly of ministers as a class, 
 may be led to revise their judgment. Some young 
 men, who look out on the wonderful modern world, 
 may catch a glimpse of the light in the face of Jesus, 
 as did Paul on the road to Damascus, and yield to 
 the appeal in that Face for a world lost in sin, a 
 world that calls for interpreters of Jesus. I pray 
 that the Spirit of Christ may go with this little book 
 and take it where it is needed. The volume is 
 not a mere exposition of Paul's own glorying 
 in the ministry, though that is the heart of it. 
 Paul's grand conception is related to modern 
 ideas of the ministry by sufficient use of the great 
 writers of our time on the preacher's problems. 
 These are shown to share Paul's enthusiasm. The 
 
PREFACE 9 
 
 flame of the Lord that burned in Paul's breast blazes 
 yet. Many of the noblest spirits of our time an- 
 swer the call of Christ with joy and gladness of heart. 
 The substance of this book was delivered in ad- 
 dresses before the Tabernacle Bible Conference 
 (Atlanta, Ga., March, 191 1), but the book has been 
 written independently of that occasion. 
 
 A. T. Robertson. 
 
 Louisville^ Ky, 
 
Contents 
 I 
 
 The Disheartened Preacher's Joy— 
 
 The New Standpoint . 13 
 
 II 
 
 The Glory that Faded — 
 
 The Modern Problem . 51 
 
 III 
 
 The Light in the Face of Jesus— 
 
 The Attraction of Christ . 83 
 
 IV 
 
 With Open Face — 
 
 The Preacher's Privilege . 113 
 
 V 
 
 This Treasure in Earthen Vessels — 
 
 The Human Limitations . 141 
 
 VI 
 
 The Weight of Glory— . 
 
 The Invisible Consolation 10 1 
 
 VII 
 
 Well Pleasing Unto Him — 
 
 The Preacher's Master 
 
 Passion . • • ^79 
 
 VIII 
 
 In Glory and Dishonour — 
 
 Taking Life as It Is . 207 
 
 II 
 
I 
 
 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 —THE NEW STANDPOINT 
 
 (2 Cor, a. i2-iii. 6) 
 
 « I had no relief for my spirit . . . 
 But thanks be unto God, who always 
 leadeth us in triumph in Christ." 
 
 —5 Cor. a. 13 f* 
 
THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY— 
 THE NEW STANDPOINT 
 
 I. The Ground of Paul's Discouragement 
 
 IT was chiefly the situation in Corinth, a church 
 that Paul had founded.* He loved this church 
 very greatly. It seemed to have the greatest 
 opportunity for usefulness and power of any of the 
 European churches. It was in a new atmosphere of 
 wealth and progress. The city had been restored 
 by Julius Caesar after being in ruins for a hundred 
 years since Mummius destroyed it. It was more 
 open to the Gospel than Athens where a fondness 
 for philosophical speculation made it hard to win a 
 foothold.'^ Corinth had been more fertile ground. 
 Indeed, Paul had succeeded only too well there, for 
 the Jews soon grew jealous of his power.^ Two 
 years * Paul had lived and laboured in this great and 
 wicked metropolis. It had not been in vain. He 
 had seen the ruler of the Jewish synagogue, Crispus, 
 become a Christian.^ He had received from Gallio, 
 
 * Acts xviii. I-20. 'Acts xvii. 16-34. ^ Acts xviii. 5-17. 
 *Acts xviii. II, 18. 6 Acts xviii. yf. 
 
 15 
 
l6 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 the new proconsul, the first official permission to 
 preach the Gospel in the Roman Empire that gave 
 Christianity a new standing in the Province of 
 Achaia.' Paul loved the church in Corinth with his 
 whole heart. " For though ye have ten thousand 
 tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers ; for 
 in Christ Jesus I begat you through the Gospel."^ 
 But a series of mishaps had come to the work 
 in Corinth. One disaster had followed another till 
 Paul feared the very worst. Few sadder experiences 
 come to the preacher than to see the work of his 
 heart crumble away after he has left it. Almost all 
 of the modern preacher's difficulties confronted Paul 
 in the work at Corinth. He could not shake off 
 *' that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all 
 the churches." ^ The pressure^ was like a nightmare 
 that weighed upon him unceasingly. The anxiety '^ 
 ate into his soul like corroding rust. Paul knew 
 how to preach: " In nothing be anxious." ^ But it 
 is easier to preach than to practice. No church 
 pressed upon Paul's heart quite so heavily as did 
 
 » Ramsay, "St. Paul the Traveller," pp. 257 f.; Robertson, " Epochs 
 in the Life of Paul," pp. 165 f.; Acts xviii. 12-17. 
 
 2 I Cor. iv. 15. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. xi. 28 ^ iT:i<JTaai<s fiot ij kad^ i][iipav^ i) [xipijiva 
 Tzaatbv rwv ikkX-qniibv, 
 
 * iizi-ffzaaiq standing upon. ^ fxipi/iva. 
 
 • Phil. iv. 6 /jLTjdkv fisptfivare. Present imperative with fx-/j 
 implies that they were anxious. "Quit being anxious." 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 1 7 
 
 that in Corinth. It was a richly endowed church 
 with great spiritual gifts and possibilities.* But 
 these very endowments of grace had become the oc- 
 casion of envy and faction. The divisions showed 
 themselves even at the Lord's Supper in unseemly 
 scramble and selfishness.^ They would not even 
 wait for one another. There was schism in the body 
 of Christ and the members were hostile towards one 
 another.^ The very services in church were scenes 
 of disorder and confusion.^ They took sides for 
 Paul and against Paul, for ApoUos and against Apol- 
 los, for Cephas and against Cephas.^ It was so bad 
 that Apollos would not stay nor would he return to 
 Corinth, though Paul urged him.^ Some praised the 
 oratory of Apollos, others probably thought him too 
 " flowery." Some thought that Paul's speech was of 
 no account,^ while others stoutly defended Paul as the 
 founder of the Church and the gifted Apostle of the 
 Gentiles. The household of Chloe^ in particular re- 
 ported to Paul in Ephesus the sad situation. Peter 
 had probably not been to Corinth, but there had 
 been a momentary breach between Paul and Peter at 
 Antioch over the question of social affiliation with 
 
 1 I Cor. i. 4-9, 12-14. 3 I Cor. xi, 18 ff., 33. 
 
 3 I Cor. xii. 25. 4 I Cor. xiv. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. i. 10-13; i"' 21 ff. ; iv. 6ff. 
 
 ^ Acts xviii. 27-xix. I ; i Cor. xvi. 12. 
 
 '2 Cor. X. 10. 81 Cor. iv. II. 
 
1 8 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 the Gentile Christians/ and the Judaizers had been 
 swift to make the most of it and had claimed Peter 
 as on their side in the controversy with Paul. As a 
 matter of fact Peter was really with Paul and he had 
 shown merely momentary weakness when the Juda- 
 izers, under the unwarranted use of the name of James, 
 refused to recognize the Gentiles as Christians unless 
 they became Jews also. These Judaizers had been 
 silenced for the moment at the Jerusalem confer- 
 ence,^ but had reopened the controversy on a more 
 extensive scale than before. They had come to 
 Corinth and had used the name of Peter in support 
 of their campaign against Paul. There was also a 
 partisan use of the name of Christ by one faction in 
 the Church. Doctrinal issues thus became mixed 
 with intense personahties and jealousies. Few 
 modern churches have had a more deplorable schism 
 than was a reality in Corinth. Besides, gross im- 
 morality was winked at by the majority.^ The feel- 
 ing was so intense that the members would go to law 
 against one another before heathen judges.'* There 
 were abuses concerning marriage.^ There was a 
 breach between the enlightened and the unenlight- 
 ened elements of the Church on the subject of meats 
 offered to idols.^ The liberal and the reactionary 
 
 1 Acts XV. 1-35; Gal. ii. « Acts xv. 1-30; Gal. ii. i-io. 
 
 ' I Cor. V. 4 I Cor. vi. i-ii. ^ i Cor. vii. « i Cor. viii.-x. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 19 
 
 parties were at daggers' points with each other. 
 Some of them had gone so far in doctrinal error as 
 to deny the resurrection.^ The collection for the 
 poor saints in Jerusalem, which Paul had pushed 
 with energy elsewhere, had sadly fallen behind in 
 Corinth,^ and no wonder, with all the strife and con- 
 fusion rampant there. It was enough to break any 
 preacher's heart. Paul rose to the occasion grandly. 
 He wrote them a letter which is lost to us.^ Then 
 he sent Timothy, his beloved son in the gospel, to 
 see what he could do.^ Timothy, though warmly 
 commended to the Church,^ seems not to have been 
 very successful in his mission. It is possible that 
 Timothy was mistreated in Corinth because Paul 
 himself was expected.^ Paul had indeed intended to 
 go to Corinth, but had meanwhile sent Timothy. 
 He hoped to come soon, but did not wish to come 
 with a rod.^ He did later speak of a " third time," ^ 
 but this is probably intention, not fact. Indeed the 
 situation was so bad that Paul did not wish to go to 
 Corinth. He must needs come with sorrow in that 
 case.^ He remained away on purpose and allowed 
 
 * I Cor. XV. 8 I Cor. xvi. I f.; 2 Cor. viii. and ix. 
 
 3 I Cor. V. 9, II. 4 I Cor. iv. 17. ^ I Cor. xvi. 10. 
 
 6Cf. Findlay, "Paul" in Hastings's B. D.; Robertson, "Epochs 
 in the Life of Paul," p. 191. 
 
 ' I Cor. iv. 17-21. 82 Cor. xii. 14; xiii. I. 
 
 9 2 Cor. i. 15, 23; ii. i ; xii. 21. 
 
20 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 himself to be charged with fickleness * and cowardice ^ 
 rather than come while his indignation was at such 
 heat. Meanwhile, the Church sent a special deputa- 
 tion (Stephanus, Fortunatus, Achaicus)^ to Paul. 
 Paul wrote the powerful Epistle called First Corin- 
 thians in which he poured out his heart to them. After 
 the return of Timothy Paul sent Titus, who seemed 
 to be made of sterner stuff than Timothy. It is pos- 
 sible that Paul sent another letter with Titus, de- 
 manding an apology for the treatment of Timothy. 
 If so, that letter is lost to us.^ The plan was for 
 Titus to come back via Macedonia and meet Paul at 
 Troas.^ Paul was to leave Ephesus about Pentecost 
 for Corinth through Macedonia.^ At Troas he 
 would thus meet Titus and learn how things went in 
 Corinth. 
 
 But our best laid plans " aft gang agley." Paul 
 seems to have had a well-nigh fatal sickness in 
 Ephesus soon after writing First Corinthians. " We 
 ourselves have had the sentence of death within 
 ourselves."^ Death came so close to Paul that he 
 seemed to get the " answer " ^ in speech. The peril 
 
 » 2 Cor. i. 15-20. 2 2 Cor. x. 8-1 1. ^ 1 Cor. xvi. 17. 
 
 * Some scholars hold that 2 Corinthians x.-xiii. is this lost letter 
 which has been put in the wrong place in 2 Corinthians. I do not 
 accept that view. See Robertson, " Epochs in the Life of Paul," 
 p. 196. 
 
 6 2 Cor. ii. I2f.; vii. 5-7. ^ i Cor. xvi. 5-8. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. i. 9. 8 The '« sentence." 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 21 
 
 was so great that it is still a vivid reality to Paul as 
 he writes.' So he seemed to be dying.^ Thus it 
 was out of his experience that Paul could write so 
 sympathetically about death.' In his great physical 
 weakness the daily duties of life were a burden to 
 him, not to mention the serious situation in Corinth. 
 His weakened nerves would make the troubles seem 
 magnified a hundredfold. 
 
 But this was not all. While Paul was in this over- 
 wrought state a riot occurred in Ephesus. Deme- 
 trius had organized the silversmiths into a mob 
 against Paul. The whole city was soon in an uproar 
 in the theatre.^ Paul, probably because of his sick- 
 ness, was not found, though his companions in travel, 
 Gaius and Aristarchus, were seized. Paul could with 
 difficulty be restrained from rushing into the theatre. 
 The Asiarchs helped the disciples restrain Paul.^ So 
 Paul's hfe was saved, but it was not prudent for him 
 to remain in Ephesus. He left in rather short order 
 for Macedonia.^ Paul was somewhat like the preacher 
 who has resigned without a call to another field. His 
 departure from Ephesus was sudden and uncere- 
 monious, but he had the world before him. He was 
 used to moving on when he was no longer welcome. 
 Will he be more welcome in Corinth ? 
 
 * Historical present perfect. 2 2 Cor, vi. 9. ^ 2 Cor, iv. and v. 
 < Acts xix. 23-28. 5 Acts xix. 29-31. «Acts xx. I. 
 
22 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 2. PauVs Restless Spirit at Troas 
 He was apparently alone at Troas, for Timothy 
 and Erastus had already been sent on to Macedonia.* 
 It was not yet time for Titus to arrive at Troas. It 
 was at Troas that Paul had met Luke and had re- 
 ceived the call to go to Macedonia.^ Then it had 
 not been possible for Paul to do much work in Troas. 
 Now in God's providence he is here again. Perhaps 
 the hand of God is in it. He had come " for the 
 gospel of Christ." ^ Paul had evidently looked for- 
 ward to this opportunity to be a blessing to Troas. 
 Besides, " a door was opened unto me in the Lord." ^ 
 It was not a mere general situation, but apparently 
 Paul means to say that direct appeals came to him to 
 speak a word for Jesus. But it was of no use. " I 
 had no rehef for my spirit, because I found not Titus 
 my brother." ^ It is a vivid reality to Paul now, as 
 he writes, " I have not had any release for my 
 spirit." The tension had become acute. It had 
 gone on so long that it was chronic. He could not 
 throw it off. In truth, he was incapacitated for work 
 of any kind. He needed Luke, who was probably 
 in Philippi, to take hold of him and bring him back 
 to health. Many a preacher has found himself caught 
 in the coil of circumstances, as was Paul, when he 
 
 1 Acts xix. 29-41. 2 Acts xvi, 8-10. ^2 Cor. ii. 12. 
 
 *2Cor. ii. 12. 62 Cor. ii. 13. Historical present perfect 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 23 
 
 cannot respond to the calls for service that come to 
 him, cannot enter the doors that open to him. This 
 is a dangerous hour for the preacher. His heart is 
 in danger of rebellion. Then when the door is 
 closed, the door that opened to large fields of useful- 
 ness, resentment may harden the heart. There was 
 no happiness for Paul in Troas. He had lost his 
 zest for work and idleness was despair. He was 
 more miserable alone than otherwise. He knew that 
 it was not yet time for Titus to come, for Paul had 
 come on ahead of time. But, none the less, his 
 spirit chafed at the limitations of his plight. Every- 
 thing seemed to have gone wrong. There was no 
 joy any more for Paul's restless spirit. One of the 
 charges made against some ministers to-day is just 
 this restlessness of spirit here shown by Paul. One 
 is seized with a feverish desire to go elsewhere, to get 
 a call to a more hopeful field, to resign this field, to 
 move on to pastures new. There comes a sense of 
 drudgery in the tasks of every-day life. The gold is 
 at the end of the rainbow, and here is only steady, 
 plodding toil in a rather humdrum ministry. The 
 temptation may even come to give up the ministry 
 and enter some other calling. At such a time one is 
 oversensitive and imagines all kinds of slights and 
 insults. The real difficulties and problems of the 
 ministry are magnified out of all proportion to the 
 
24 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 facts. In such a case a minister is in jeopardy. He 
 is in danger of becoming bitter towards the world, 
 jealous of other ministers, disgusted with his own 
 task. Thus he will lose his compass and drift out to 
 sea. 
 
 In The Standard (Chicago) for January 7, 191 1, 
 there is printed the following letter : 
 
 "My Dear Jim: I am through. Yesterday I 
 handed in my resignation, to take effect at once, and 
 
 this morning I began work for the Land 
 
 Company. I shall not return to the pastorate. I 
 think I can see into your heart as you read these 
 words and behold not a little disappointment, if not 
 disgust. I don't blame you at all, for I am some- 
 what disgusted with myself. Do you recall the days 
 in the seminary when we talked of the future and 
 painted pictures of what we were to do for the king- 
 dom of God ? We saw the boundless need for un- 
 selfish Christian service and longed to be out among 
 men doing our part towards the world's redemption. 
 I shall never forget that last talk on the night before 
 our graduation. You were to go to the foreign field 
 
 and I to the First Church, of . We had brave 
 
 dreams of usefulness, and you have realized them. 
 As I look back across twenty-five years I can see some 
 lives that I have helped, and some things which I 
 have been permitted to do that are worth while ; but, 
 sitting here to-night, I am more than half convinced 
 that God never intended me to be a minister. If He 
 did, I am not big enough and brave enough to pay 
 the price. Even if it leads you to write me down a 
 coward, I'm going to tell you why I've quit. 
 
 "■ To be perfectly honest with you, money has had 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 25 
 
 much to do with my decision. I think you will not 
 charge me with being mercenary in those days when 
 you knew me well, and I am not conscious of caring 
 any more for money now than I did then. I have 
 never desired to be rich ; I do not now desire to be. 
 I have not gone into business with any expectation 
 of making a fortune, but I do want to have some- 
 thing for the years when I can no longer work, and 
 for my family, if I should be taken from them. I do 
 want to be able to meet my bills as they fall due. A 
 month ago in our ministers' meeting an old minister, 
 shabby almost to raggedness, arose and told us that 
 he and his wife were on the verge of starvation. He 
 had no money, his credit was exhausted, they had no 
 food, no coal, and were about to be put upon the 
 street because they could not pay the rent. We 
 raised some thirty dollars among us and gave it to 
 him, and I suppose he will go to the home for aged 
 ministers ; but it scared me. I saw myself in him. 
 What reason have I to expect that I shall not be 
 where he is twenty years from now ? 
 
 " Frugality ? Well, I have not been thriftless. 
 Wife and I have tried hard to lay by a little each 
 year. We did get $500 saved up, and then Edna 
 was taken with tuberculosis and it all went, and much 
 more, before God took her home. I had ^1,000 per 
 
 year from the church at B . They paid it 
 
 promptly, and possibly some men would have been 
 able to save something out of it each year. We tried 
 our best, and failed. Once the church thought of in- 
 creasing the pastor's salary, but Deacon Edmunds 
 argued that the minister should trust God ; said that 
 when he began hfe he only had an income of ^200 
 for the first year ; spoke of the joys of Christian 
 sacrifice ; pointed to the Saviour of the world and 
 His self-abnegation, and the salary was not increased. 
 I may say that the deacon is supposed to be worth 
 
26 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 not less than ^200,000. Then I was called to this 
 field at ;^i,200 per year. I have been here seven 
 years, and there has never been a month since the 
 beginning when my salary has been paid promptly. 
 At times the church has owed me ^600 and ^700. 
 I have borrowed and paid interest, have ' stood off ' 
 my creditors until I was ashamed to go upon the 
 street, have scrimped and twisted and wiggled until 
 my soul was raw. I've had enough. 
 
 •• Other things have contributed to my decision. 
 In these years I have found not a few earnest, un- 
 selfish, consecrated Christians. I do not believe that 
 I am specially morbid or unfair in my estimate. So 
 far as I know my own heart, I am not bitter. But 
 through all these years a conviction has been grow- 
 ing within me that the average church-member cares 
 precious little about the kingdom of God and its ad- 
 vancement, or the welfare of his fellow men. ,. He is 
 a Christian in order that he may save his soul from 
 hell, and for no other reason. He does as little as he 
 can, lives as indifferently as he dares. If he thought 
 he could gain heaven without even lifting his finger 
 for others, he would jump at the chance. Never 
 have I known more than a small minority of any 
 church which I have served to be really interested in 
 and unselfishly devoted to God's work. It took my 
 whole time to pull and push and urge and persuade 
 the reluctant members of my church to undertake a 
 little something for their fellow men. They took a 
 covenant to be faithful in attendance upon the serv- 
 ices of the church, and not one out of ten ever 
 thought of attending prayer-meeting. A large per- 
 centage seldom attended church in the morning, and 
 a pitifully small number in the evening. It did not 
 seem to mean anything to them that they had dedi- 
 cated themselves to the service of Christ. 
 
 " I am tired; tired of being the only one iathe 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 27 
 
 church from whom real sacrifice is expected; tired 
 of straining and tugging to get Christian people to 
 Hve Hke Christians ; tired of planning work for my 
 people and then being compelled to do it myself or 
 see it left undone ; tired of dodging my creditors 
 when I would not need to if I had what is due me; 
 tired of the affrighting vision of a penniless old age. 
 I am not leaving Christ. I love Him. I shall still 
 try to serve Him. 
 
 " Judge me leniently, old man, for I cannot bear 
 to lose your friendship. 
 
 " Yours as of old, 
 
 '* William." 
 
 The editor vouches for the genuineness of this let- 
 ter. It is probably an actual experience, an extreme 
 instance of a broken-hearted preacher of to-day. 
 
 But a most notable instance of struggle and tri- 
 umph is revealed in the " Early Letters of Marcus 
 Dods." In his Diary for March 8, i860, p. 382, we 
 read this confession of his experience as a '• proba- 
 tioner " : " No day passes without strong tempta- 
 tion to give up this work — this temptation appeals 
 to me on the ground that I am not fitted for pastoral 
 work ; writing sermons is often the hardest labour to 
 me, visiting is terrible. I often stand before a door 
 unable to ring or knock — sometimes I have gone 
 away without entering. A lowness of spirit that it 
 costs me a great deal to throw off is the consequence 
 of this, and a real doubt whether it would not be 
 better for myself and all whom it may concern that 
 
28 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 I should at once look for some work that I could 
 overtake. However, the one thing that has kept me 
 going hitherto is this, that when I am in the best of 
 spirit these disinclinations to work go from me, and 
 I fear I have hitherto had so little comfort in the 
 work only because my habitual state is unspiritual." 
 He was, in fact, a probationer for six years, a really 
 terrible experience for a young minister. But Mar- 
 cus Dods came to be the principal of New College 
 and one of the chief Biblical scholars and preachers 
 of the world. 
 
 But it may be noticed that deep down as Paul had 
 gone, it did not occur to him to quit the ministry. 
 He was entitled to pay which he did not receive 
 from the Church at Corinth.* He proved his right 
 to receive a man's pay for his work, but he would 
 not receive it from a church hke that at Corinth 
 which taunted him for not taking pay like a regular 
 apostle.^ He had seen days in Corinth when he 
 " was in want," but he had kept his manhood and 
 independence and " was not a burden on any man." 
 He had even " robbed other churches, taking wages 
 of them that I might minister unto you." He had 
 made tents with Aquila and Priscilla so as to get a 
 living while he preached in Corinth.^ But he would 
 have none of the money of the narrow element in 
 
 » I Cor. ix. 6-18, » 2 Cor. xi. 5-12. • Acts xviii. 3f. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 29 
 
 Corinth.* On the other hand, some of the Church in 
 Corinth accused Paul of sending Titus to raise the 
 collection for himself.^ Paul, they said, was the 
 chief "poor saint" for whom the collection was de- 
 signed. His motives were impugned from every 
 standpoint. He was called a worldly man ^ and an 
 interloper* also. But, while all this we know, Paul 
 did not give up the ministry. He was disheart- 
 ened, too discouraged to work at Troas, but it was 
 due to the very intensity of his interest in the cause 
 of Christ, not to his indifference nor selfishness. If 
 he could not stay at Troas, he could go on elsewhere. 
 
 3. The Gloomy Journey to Macedonia 
 It was with a heavy heart that Paul turned away 
 from the open door in Troas to push on into the un- 
 certain future. " But taking leave of them I Avent 
 forth into Macedonia." ^ There were, then, disciples 
 at Troas. It was probably a journey alone. He 
 could take ship at Troas for Neapolis and then go 
 on to Philippi. At Philippi was Luke in all likeli- 
 hood. It is possible, even probable, that Titus was 
 the brother of Luke.^ But Paul's mind doubtless 
 conjured up all the evil contingencies at Corinth. 
 
 1 2 Cor. xi. 10. 2 2 Cor. xii. 16 ff. 
 
 3 2 Cor. X. 3. 4 2 Cor. x. 14 f. 
 
 5 2 Cor. ii. 13, He made an orderly and courteous departure. 
 62 Cor. viii. 16, 18; xii, 18. Titus is not mentioned in Acts. 
 Cf. Souter. «' Luke," in Hastings's D. C. G. 
 
30 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 The ship went all too slowly for him. " For even 
 when we were come into Macedonia our flesh had 
 no relief, but we were afflicted on every side ; with- 
 out were fightings, within were fears." * Much as 
 Paul longed to see Titus, he yet dreaded to hear his 
 report. Suppose the Church has refused to recede 
 from its position ? The matters at Corinth had nar- 
 rowed down to a Pauline and an anti-Pauline con- 
 test. His whole position and influence as an apostle 
 were involved. How had they taken the rather 
 sharp 2 letter which he had felt compelled to write ? 
 He went on to Philippi with the clouds of doubt 
 about his head and premonition in his heart. This 
 time he speaks of his flesh ^ as having no rest on 
 the way. He had found that unrest of spirit brought 
 unrest to the flesh in sleepless nights, and miserable 
 days. He knew what insomnia^ was. He has had 
 this restlessness of mind and body all the way.*^ In 
 truth the voyage was one of affliction in everything.^ 
 He had reached the stage when nothing agreed with 
 him. All the world seemed awry and he could not 
 set it right. He was out of tune with everything. 
 What he means by " fightings without," ^ we do not 
 
 > 2 Cor. vii. 5. « 2 Cor. vii. 8. * 2 Cor. vii. 5. 
 
 * 2 Cor. vi. 5 ; cf. 2 Cor. xi. 27. 
 
 8 2 Cor. vii. 5. Present perfect tense. 
 
 « Note the anacoluthon due to Paul's passion. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. vii. 5. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 31 
 
 know. The words suggest actual conflicts of some 
 sort. He had fights with " wild beasts at Ephesus," * 
 probably referring to his enemies. Perhaps on board 
 the ship Paul encountered some old or new enemies 
 (Jews, Gentiles, or Judaizers), for he had many kinds 
 of foes.2 The " fears within " were the ever present 
 apprehensions. These were his worst foes, those of 
 the mind. It is, in truth, a mournful picture that the 
 great apostle has drawn of himself at this crisis in 
 his Hfe. We see Paul here in his hour of weakness. 
 It is not a just picture of himself which we get, but 
 it is a true portrayal of his outlook on the world at 
 this juncture. There is thus a bond of sympathy 
 between this greatest of all the ministers of Jesus and 
 the humblest one to-day who may be thrown down 
 by the world spirit. If Paul is able to look on the 
 bright side of the preacher's life, he knows what the 
 dark side is. There is plenty of cloud in his life to 
 set off the light. Indeed, when Paul is driven to 
 boast of his work in comparison with that of the 
 Judaizers at Corinth it is the catalogue of his 
 trials which he counts.^ He has his " prisons," his 
 "stripes," his "shipwreck," his "perils" of various 
 kinds, his " watchings often," his " hunger and 
 thirst." " If I must needs glory, I will glory of the 
 things that concern my weakness." But just now 
 
 1 1 Cor. XV. 32. 2 2 Cor. xi. 26. ^ 2 Cor. xi. 23-33. 
 
32 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 Paul cannot glory even in his weakness. He cannot 
 glory in anything. He is a broken man, broken in 
 spirit and in body. Who can help Paul now?' 
 This is not the time for Paul to take stock of his 
 ministry. 
 
 4. The Rebound of Heart at Philippi 
 Without a word of explanation Paul leaps out of 
 the Slough of Despond and springs like a bird to the 
 heights of joy.^ He soars aloft like an eagle with 
 proud scorn of the valley beneath him. " But thanks 
 be unto God who always leadeth us in triumph in 
 Christ." ^ A high-strung nature like that of Paul is 
 capable of such extremes of emotion. Laughter and 
 tears lie close to each other. Joy lives next door to 
 sorrow, ay, in the same house and heart. Many a 
 preacher can bear glad testimony to the psycho- 
 logical correctness of Paul's description of his sudden 
 transition from night to day. We are accustomed to 
 sudden, even violent, digressions ^ in Paul's writings, 
 and the matter, in the light of his relations with 
 
 > 2 Cor. xi. 29, 
 
 2 Bachmann, Der Zweiie Brief des Pauliis an die Korinther. 
 S. 124, says : " Aus der Tiefe in die Hohe." 
 
 3 2 Cor. ii. 14. 
 
 4 '« Instead of giving details of the information which Titus brought 
 to him in Macedonia (vii. 6), he bursts out into a characteristic 
 doxology, which leads him into a long digression, the main topic of 
 the epistle not coming into view again until vi. II." Bernard, 
 " Expositor's Greek Testament," in loco. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 33 
 
 Corinth, would be sufficiently clear from the knowl- 
 edge that Titus met Paul in Philippi with better news 
 from Corinth than he had anticipated. At once the 
 clouds had lifted and the sky was clear again. But, 
 at this point in the Epistle, Paul is completely carried 
 away with joy at the coming of Titus, too entirely 
 swept off into rhapsody to make any explanation of 
 his emotions. He does make the explanation later 
 in the Epistle ' after he has come back to earth. It 
 is just this rhapsody with which this book is con- 
 cerned, but, before proceeding with that, it will be well 
 to notice Paul's explanation of his state of exalta- 
 tion. " Nevertheless He that comforteth the lowly, 
 even God, comforted us by the coming of Titus." ^ 
 The word " comfort " ^ is a common one, particularly 
 in this Epistle. It combines the notions of exhorta- 
 tion and consolation. Paul was glad to see Titus, 
 for he dearly loved this son in the gospel, his " true 
 child after a common faith," ^ but he was even more 
 rejoiced at the news which he bore : " And not by 
 his coming only, but also by the comfort wherewith 
 he was comforted in you, while he told us your long- 
 ing, your mourning, your zeal for me ; so that I re- 
 joiced yet more." ^ The " longing " ^ was to see Paul 
 
 * 2 Cor. vii. 5-16. ^ 2 Cor. vii. 6. ^ Call to one's side. 
 
 4 Titus i. 4. 5 2 Cor. vii. 7. 
 
 ® Eager longing in the Greek. Cf. Phil. i. 8. 
 
34 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 and it was music to his ears to hear a message like 
 that from Corinth after all that had passed. Possibly 
 Paul made Titus tell it over again ^ with all the de- 
 tails, the names, what they said, etc. It was a charm- 
 ing story to recount, as many a true pastor knows, 
 especially after troubles have come. The " mourn- 
 ing " 2 was due to the rebuke sent by Titus. As a 
 result of the rebuke and the sorrow had come 
 " zeal " ^ for Paul and the cause that Paul stood for. 
 Paul had known that the sharp tone of the Epistle 
 would wound many of them. It had cost him bitter 
 tears ^ to write it. The pang of those sharp words 
 that had to be spoken was part of Paul's misery. 
 / Indeed, he had regretted ^ that he had written it, 
 after it was gone and it was too late. But Paul's 
 sorrow is turned into joy. " I now rejoice, not that 
 ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry 
 unto repentance." ^ The sorrow was of a godly ^ 
 sort since it bore fruit in a change of mind and life. 
 Hence Paul had really done them no harm. So Paul 
 was comforted and it did his soul good to see " the 
 joy of Titus,^ because his spirit hath been refreshed 
 
 1 Present participle, possibly repetition. 
 2Cf. Matt. ii. 1 8. 
 
 3 The same word has a bad sense in 2 Cor. xii. 20. 
 
 4 2 Cor. ii. 4. He wrote with " tightness of heart." 
 6 2 Cor. vii. 8. 
 
 6 2 Cor, vii. 9. Note the difference between " sorrow " and " re- 
 pentance." 
 
 ' According to God's standard. 8 2 Cor. vii. 13. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 35 
 
 by you all." The word for " refreshed " * is the one 
 used by Jesus in His gracious invitation to the weary 
 and the heavy-laden : " I will give you rest." ^ 
 Paul joys in the joy of Titus, the happiness of an old 
 preacher in a young preacher who has accomplished 
 a most difficult and dehcate task. Paul had not in- 
 deed wholly given the cause up when he sent Titus 
 and had gloried in some of them to him. He is glad 
 now that his words are more than justified.^ So 
 then Titus is in a tender mood towards the Corinthians 
 and Paul's own " heart is enlarged " towards them. 
 Indeed, " our mouth is open unto you, O Cor- 
 inthians." ^ "I rejoice that in everything I am of 
 good courage concerning you." ^ Heart and hope 
 have come back to Paul about Corinth and so about 
 all things. The word for " courage " is the same 
 one used by Luke of Paul when the brethren from 
 Rome, having heard of Paul's arrival, came to meet 
 the party " as far as The Market of Appius and The 
 Three Taverns ; whom when Paul saw, he thanked 
 God, and took courage." ^ Few things are sweeter 
 in life than human fellowship. The preacher's life 
 is peculiarly rich in the love of the brethren. This 
 is a large part of his reward. He comes close to the 
 inner hfe of a man and rare Christian love knits heart 
 
 1 Rest again. 2 Matt, ii, 28. ^2 Cor. vii, 14 f. 
 
 * 2 Cor. vii. II. 5 2 Cor. vii. 13. ^ Acts xxviii. 15. 
 
36 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 to heart. For the moment Paul forgets that there 
 is a stubborn minority left in the Church at Corinth 
 who have resisted every appeal for conciliation. It 
 was only the majority * that had come over to Paul 
 and his view of things. But it was evidently such 
 a strong majority that the Church is saved from 
 schism and the obstinate faction can be handled. 
 Paul will come to pay his respects to this minority 
 led by his malignant enemies, the Judaizers, in the 
 latter part of the Epistle.'* It is this double aspect 
 of the report of Titus that explains the twofold char- 
 acter of the Epistle. But we are not here concerned 
 with Paul's treatment of this pugnacious element 
 save to express the hope that they came over to his 
 side before he came to Corinth. If they did not, 
 they must have left, for Paul is master of the situa- 
 tion in Acts XX. 2 f. Before leaving the discussion 
 of Paul's situation in Philippi, it is interesting to note 
 that Paul was happy once before when here, even 
 though in prison.^ The Epistle to the Philippians, 
 which he will write from Rome some years hence, is 
 full of joy and commands to rejoice, though Paul at 
 that time will again be a prisoner. But he is now no 
 longer a prisoner in spirit. He is free as a bird as 
 he shakes off the depression which had chained his 
 spirit to the earth. We owe this matchless discus- 
 es Cor. ii. 5 f. 22 Cor. x-xiii. 'Acts xvi. 25. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 37 
 
 sion * of the Christian ministry to the very dejection 
 of heart in Paul. The rebound was as high as the 
 depression had been. The reaction was equal to 
 the action. This digression, as already noted,^ is 
 really quite distinct from the rest of the Epistle. It 
 is, for all intents and purposes, a separate treatise on 
 the glory of the Christian ministry. The brightness 
 of this glory shines all the more brilliantly against 
 the black cloud of doubt and disaster which im- 
 mediately precedes this outburst of joy. The 
 troubles in Paul's ministry were real, not merely 
 imaginary. He was a manly man, if ever there was 
 one. His difficulties are real still after he meets 
 Titus, though greatly lessened. He has a new Hght 
 on the problems at Corinth. That light flashes back 
 over his life and forth into the future. He has a 
 new sense of the relative values of things. Now he 
 is in the right mood to estimate his own ministerial 
 life and that of others. It is a great mistake for any 
 preacher to reach a final conclusion in his moments 
 of despondency. One can see better in the light 
 than in the dark. The light will come if one press 
 on towards it. The young man who is struggling 
 with the sense of duty that calls him to be a preacher 
 of the Gospel will be wise if he gives himself a 
 chance to get this high view of the ministry as set 
 * 2 Cor. ii. i2-vi. 10. * See beginning of this section. 
 
38 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 forth by Paul in his moment of ecstasy. The highest 
 is the truest as well as the best. The temptation is 
 easy to settle the question of being a preacher on 
 the dead-level of business, expediency, and con- 
 venience. I do not believe that many young men 
 will be led into the ministry by mathematical com- 
 putations on the cost of living and the salary nor on 
 the relations of modern thought to the Bible. No 
 real " Sky-pilot " is ever found with that calculating 
 spirit. It is the spiritual view of the eternal values 
 as seen by Paul in this prophetic passage that will 
 win and hold the noblest type of man to the service 
 of Christ. Nothing else will really get its grip on 
 him. Get into close grip with Christ, if He is tugging 
 at your heart to put you into the ministry. If Christ 
 puts you in, you will stay in and you will not be 
 sorry, but count it your chief glory to have been 
 counted worthy of that high dignity.' It is probably 
 true that the ministry to-day does not stand as high 
 relatively in the eyes of men as it once did. This 
 may be due partly to the presence of some unworthy 
 men in the ministry. There v^^as a J^das among the 
 apostles. There have always been unworthy men 
 in every calling. But it hurts more tn ^he ministry 
 than anywhere else. But, after all, P&u\ does not 
 here speak of the appeal that the ministry makes to 
 *3Tim. i. 12. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 39 
 
 the world. He gives God's view of the ministry. 
 If one has that, nothing else really matters. " Let a 
 man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, and 
 stewards of the mysteries of God. . . . But with 
 me it is a very small thing that I should be judged 
 of you, or of man's judgment . . . He that 
 judgeth me is the Lord." ^ So Paul is going to sing 
 a paean of praise for the ministry. Hear what he 
 has to say of the appeal that this noblest of earth's 
 vocations makes to him. What is it in the ministry 
 that gripped and held a man so gifted as Paul ? 
 
 5. The New Interpretation of Paul's Ministry 
 He has a new standpoint. The sun often shines 
 on the mountain when it is dark in the valley. 
 Paul is here sheer above the clouds. He can see far 
 and near, up and down, in the clear empyrean. The 
 obstacles that seemed so large in his path have now 
 disappeared wholly from view or have assumed their 
 true proportion in this fresh world-view. Let us 
 stand upon the mountain with Paul and catch his view 
 of the worth and dignity of service to Christ. Paul 
 begins with the interpretation of his own ministry in 
 view of the new light and outlook, but he soon 
 widens his horizon to include the ministry as a 
 calling and he treats it in its fundamental and 
 1 1 Cor. iv. 1-4. 
 
40 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 eternal relations in a way to cheer every preacher's 
 heart. 
 
 (a) Triumph After All. But God's triumph, not 
 Paul's. Paul is Christ's captive in God's triumphal 
 march through the ages. God " always leadeth us 
 in triumph in Christ." ' There is no doubt as to the 
 meaning of this bold image. It does not mean 
 " causeth us to triumph " as the King James' Version 
 has it. No instance of this sense of the word has 
 been found, and in Col. ii. 15 Paul uses it of Jesus 
 " triumphing over them in it," His victory on the 
 cross over the principalities and powers.^ " He is 
 the captive who is led in the Conqueror's train, and in 
 whom men see the trophy of the Conqueror's power." ^ 
 It is the splendid image of a Roman triumphal pro- 
 cession, and, though Paul had not seen one, he had 
 yet heard of its glories.^ Distinguished captives were 
 sometimes kept at Rome for years in order to grace 
 the conqueror's procession when it took place. Thus 
 JuHus Caesar held Vercingetorix, the famous chief in 
 Gaul who came near plucking victory out of Caesar's 
 hands, a prisoner in Rome for six years until his 
 great triumph. Then he had him slain. So Claudius ^ 
 
 1 2 Cor. ii. 14. 
 
 2 For the examples in Greek literature see Bachmann, 2 Kor., 
 S. 129. 
 
 3 Denney, " Expositor's Bible," 2 Corinthians, p. 87. 
 
 4 Bernard, " Expositor's Greek Testament," in loco, 
 » Denney, p. 88. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 4I 
 
 triumphed over Caractacus. Paul may have had this 
 very occasion in mind. But Paul's case is not quite 
 parallel to that of Vercingetorix or Caractacus. 
 ** When God wins a victory over man, and leads His 
 captive in triumph, the captive too has an interest in 
 what happens ; it is the beginning of all triumphs, in 
 any true sense, for him." ' Even in Paul's tribula- 
 tions and disappointments God has been victorious. 
 It is easier to see the hand of God after we have 
 passed through a crisis. Prof. David Smith, D. D., 
 in a New Year's article in The British Weekly ^ pic- 
 tures a captain looking one morning at the terrible 
 crags on each side of the narrow pass through which 
 the ship had passed in the storm at night into the 
 harbour. " Did we — did we pass through in the dark- 
 ness ? " he falteringly asked. God was using Paul for 
 His glory in it all. Indeed, he dares say " always " 
 now. What seemed to be defeat he now knows is 
 victory. The good news brought by Titus has thrown 
 an electric flashlight across the stormy billows and 
 has revealed God — 
 
 " Standeth God within the shadows 
 Keeping watch above His own." 
 
 The sense of the nearness of God in his own life and 
 
 ministry is the overmastering conviction of Paul. He 
 
 1 Denney, p. 88. *Dec. 29, 1910. 
 
42 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 probably means to include Timothy ' and Titus ^ in 
 the " us." Indeed, he seems to have a vision of the 
 whole long line of willing captives of God through 
 the ages, past and present, who have been instruments 
 in pushing on the work of the kingdom.^ If Paul is 
 able to find joy in the midst of his misfortunes, he has 
 pointed the way for every preacher of Christ. The 
 secret lies in looking at one's life from God's stand- 
 point. But this is only possible " in Christ." " Christ 
 is the element in which that constant triumph of God 
 takes place." ^ F. W. Robertson is right: " The de- 
 feat of the true-hearted is victory." ^ It is the joy of 
 full surrender to Christ that Paul here feels. He has 
 cut loose from the entanglement of things of sense 
 and has swung back to the old joy in Jesus. 
 
 {b) The Incense Bearer. Plutarch ^ says that at 
 the Roman triumph the temples were" full of fumiga- 
 tions." ^ " Incense was burned before the victor's 
 chariot."^ The transition is a very natural one, 
 therefore, for Paul. He now thinks of himself, and 
 all ministers of Christ, as incense bearers in God's 
 march of victory. He ** maketh manifest through us 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. i. I. 2 2 Cor. ii. 13 ; vii. 5 fF. 
 
 8 Meyer, 2 Corinthians, in loco. * Ibid. 
 
 6" Life and Letters and Addresses," p. 618. 
 ''Aemil. Paul., C. 32. 
 
 ' " Incense smoked on every altar as the victor passed through the 
 streets of Rome." Denney, in loco. 
 8 Gould, American Comm., in loco. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 43 
 
 the savour of His knowledge in every place." The 
 " savour " and the " knowledge " are in opposition.* 
 The knowledge of God in Christ is thus diffused like 
 sweet perfume along the triumphal way of God. But 
 the wonder of it is that the fragrance is spread 
 " through us." This is due to no merit in the min- 
 ister, but to the fact that he is near to God because he 
 is in the procession so rich in the grace of God. But 
 there is a sense of humble gratitude on Paul's part 
 as he contemplates the great honour thus placed 
 upon him and other preachers of the Gospel, that of 
 spreading the knowledge of God along the way. 
 Preaching ^ is the thing most immediately in Paul's 
 mind, but he quickly turns the image round. ** For 
 we are a sweet savour of Christ unto God." ^ He 
 doubtless means that the incense bearer is so filled 
 with the perfume that he himself is perfume. The 
 preacher is so filled with Christ^ that he exhales 
 Christ. The figure is common in the Old Testa- 
 ment.^ The life of the true minister of Christ is 
 thus redolent with that *• odour of sanctity " which 
 refreshes the heart. But " the lowliest life which God 
 is really leading in triumph will speak infallibly and 
 persuasively for Him." ^ This is true of every follower 
 
 * Genitive of apposition. 
 
 * " In every place," also ; at Corinth as at Ephesus. 
 
 '2 Cor. ii. 15. •* Meyer, in loco. 
 
 •* Cf. Lev. i. 9, 13, etc. ® Denney, in loco. 
 
44 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 of Jesus who bears witness to Christ in his hfe. It is 
 usually true that men are responsive to the pervasive 
 influence of holy living and clear testimony to Jesus. 
 But it is not always true. The scribes and Pharisees 
 found fault with John and with Jesus. Paul found 
 it impossible to please all men, though he laboured 
 to be " all things to all men, that I may by all means 
 save some." ^ It had recently seemed to Paul that 
 he was misunderstood on every hand. He now 
 knows better. He still has plenty of enemies who 
 are only too glad to turn any slip on his part to his 
 hurt. Paul is careful "to cut off occasion from them 
 that desire an occasion." ^ As I write these words, I 
 am concerned about the complete misapprehension 
 of the conduct of one of the noblest of ministers. 
 One brother writes me that it is enough to make one 
 lose faith in the ministry! This very brother who so 
 writes is largely responsible for the conduct of the 
 minister whom he so severely criticizes. But Paul 
 has one supreme consolation that is open to us all. 
 It is found in the words " unto God." It is a joy to 
 God, whatever men think, when a life manifests 
 Christ. That life is redolent to God of Christ. 
 
 (c) The Peril of Preaching. The joy is mixed 
 with sadness, for all are not saved. God is, however, 
 glorified " in them that are saved, and in them that 
 
 * I Cor. ix, 22. 2 2 Cor. xi. 12. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 45 
 
 perish ; to the one a savour from death unto death ; 
 to the other a savour of Hfe unto Hfe." ' Paul knew 
 by sad experience the hardening effect of preaching 
 that was resisted. Among those who were perishing ^ 
 right before his eyes Paul and his ministry seemed 
 like a " savour from death unto death." ^ The idiom 
 is a bit obscure, but is like " from faith to faith." ^ 
 This odour arises from death and causes death.^ The 
 rabbis " called the Law an aroma vitcE to the good, 
 but an aroma mortis to the evil." ^ The figure was 
 thus one familiar to Paul in his old life. It is a sad 
 thought to every faithful minister to know that men 
 who hear his message will be hardened in sin by it 
 because they reject it. But that is the inevitable 
 penalty of human freedom. On the other hand, 
 there is a bright side to the picture, for " in them that 
 are saved " Paul is " a savour from hfe unto life." ^ 
 There is progress out of life into more life. There 
 is no joy comparable to that of witnessing the 
 conversion of souls under one's own ministry. This 
 was the joy of Jesus « and it is possible for us to have 
 it. A ministry in which souls are not saved misses 
 the chief joy of service. It is small wonder that, in 
 view of the solemn responsibility of such a ministry, 
 
 1 2 Cor ii 15 f. - Present participle in the Greek. 
 
 8 Here not " sweet odour." ^ Rom. i. 17 ; cf. 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
 6 Meyer, in loco. ^ Bernard, in loco. 
 
 ' Present participle in the Greek. « John iv. 32. 
 
46 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 Paul asks : " And who is sufficient for these things ? " 
 The Greek order is even more emphatic : "And for 
 these things who is sufficient ? " He has sketched 
 in the bold contrast of hfe and death " these things." 
 The word " sufficient " means " fit " or " quahfied." 
 Many a preacher has felt his utter inadequacy to meet 
 such a situation. He has arrived, but he is not ready 
 for his task. The stoutest heart may well sink be- 
 fore the work of the modern minister. It is diffi- 
 cult enough in the nature of the case, but people 
 make all sorts of unreasonable demands of preachers. 
 One can become a sort of packhorse for the com- 
 munity's burdens and difficulties. The question of 
 Paul seems rhetorical and to call for the answer that 
 no one is sufficient for such a life as this fraught with 
 such awful consequences for weal or woe.^ But Paul 
 often surprises us by the bold turn of his thought. 
 
 (d) Paul's Courage in Pre aching. He dares to 
 say that he is " sufficient for these things " ! " For 
 we are not as the many, corrupting the Word of 
 God." He probably has in mind the Judaizers who 
 did corrupt the Word of God. By " the many " Paul 
 does not mean that the majority were like the 
 Judaizers. They were many, as a matter of fact, but 
 the majority held with Paul. Paul is not now under 
 the juniper tree. He does not feel that he alone is 
 
 * Bernard, in loco. 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 47 
 
 loyal to Christ. He is not bringing an indictment 
 against the ministers of Christ as a class. He is ex- 
 posing the hypocrites who had crept into the min- 
 istry, as they still do, alas ! The word for " corrupt- 
 ing " is used either for a retailer or a huckster. It 
 comes to mean " adulterate," for the temptation was 
 often yielded to then as now, to put the best apples 
 on top of the barrel, the best strawberries on top of 
 the basket. The Judaizers made a plausible plea 
 and show. Paul, in contrast, grounds his confidence 
 on two reasons. One is his sincerity. His berries 
 are as good at the bottom as at the top. He is not 
 afraid to face men with the gospel message, for it is 
 sound to the core. He is not afraid that something 
 will be found out to make him ashamed. He 
 preaches a whole gospel with no mental reservations 
 and a pure gospel with no flaws. In one of the 
 visions of Ezekiel (viii. 7-13) there is a vivid picture 
 of the betrayal of God by His ministers. Ezekiel 
 saw a hole in the wall and he went through and 
 found a door. He went in and he found " every form 
 of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the 
 idols of the house of Israel portrayed upon the wall 
 round about. And there stood before them seventy 
 men of the elders of the house of Israel." Then 
 Jehovah said unto Ezekiel : " Son of man, hast thou 
 seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the 
 
48 THE DISHEARTENED PREACHER'S JOY 
 
 dark, every man in his chambers of imagery? for 
 they say, Jehovah seeth us not ; Jehovah hath for- 
 saken the land." Alas, and alas ! The other reason 
 of Paul is that he bears God's commission. He did 
 not appoint himself to this task. In fact, he vi^as 
 seized in spite of himself and turned round when he 
 was doing his utmost against Christ. *' As of God, 
 in the sight of God, speak we in Christ." He multi- 
 plies words and turns the idea over like a diamond. 
 He looks at it from various sides. God is the source 
 of his authority. He speaks with the eye of God on 
 him. He speaks in the sphere of Christ. He never 
 goes beyond Christ. He has not yet exhausted the 
 riches of Christ. It is just " the unsearchable riches 
 of Christ " that forever challenge him. « He can never 
 tell that news often enough. He, less than the least 
 of the saints, is not worthy to bear that story to the 
 Gentiles. He is not sufficient of himself to face any 
 one with this message, nor is any one sufficient in 
 himself. *' But our sufficiency is from God ; who 
 also made us sufficient as ministers of a new cove- 
 nant; not of the letter, but of the spirit." God 
 brought Paul and the rest into the ministry and 
 equipped them for the service. " Such confidence 
 have we through Christ to Godward." It is not self- 
 complacency, but trust in God that fills Paul with 
 holy courage to face a hostile and unbelieving world 
 
THE NEW STANDPOINT 49 
 
 with the story of redemption in Christ Jesus. The 
 Corinthians ought not to misunderstand him. He 
 is not praising himself. He needs no letter of in- 
 troduction to them as ApoUos had, for instance, 
 when he went to see them, or as the Judaizers may 
 have claimed to have. His work in Corinth is an 
 open letter to be read of all men. A letter of intro- 
 duction is after all a very cold and lifeless thing. It 
 implies that one is a stranger. But the Corinthians, 
 with all their shortcomings, are written in Paul's 
 very heart. The pastor who reads this bears witness 
 to the truth of Paul's words as he calls up the faces 
 of friends tried and true in this church or in that 
 who have been bound to him with hooks of steel 
 " in Christ." 
 
II 
 
 THE GLORY THAT FADED— THE 
 
 MODERN PROBLEM 
 
 {2 Cor. ill. 6-16) 
 
 ** Moses, who put a veil upon his face." 
 
 — 2 Cor. in. ij. 
 
II 
 
 THE GLORY THAT FADED— THE MODERN 
 PROBLEM 
 
 PAUL is reminded of the ministry of Moses as 
 representative of the Old Covenant, probably 
 because of the activity of the Judaizers in 
 Corinth who claimed to be the exponents of 
 Mosaism. It is thus an indirect polemic against the 
 Jewish propagandists.' But it is more than mere alle- 
 gorizing,^ a method that Paul knew how to use on oc- 
 casion.^ But, in the present instance, Paul keeps close 
 to the historical situation in Exodus xxiv.-xxxiv. and 
 draws a wonderful parallel in the Judaism of his day. 
 The whole system of Judaism is set in the boldest 
 contrast to the ideal ministry of the New Covenant. 
 This passage is worthy of the closest study by the 
 preacher of to-day whose vision of the spiritual min- 
 istry is beclouded by sacerdotalism and cere- 
 monialism. It is pathetic to think that, in spite of 
 Paul's bold and unanswerable exposure of the weak- 
 ness of a mere sacerdotal ecclesiasticism, to-day in 
 the Greek and Roman Churches are to be found just 
 
 1 Meyer, in loco, foot-note. 2 Bernard, in loco, 
 
 3 I Cor. X, 2 ; Gal. iv. 25. 
 
 53 
 
54 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 the Jewish conception of the ministry which Paul 
 is condemning. It is undoubtedly true also that the 
 wide-spread influence of these two great Churches has 
 in large measure shaped popular opinion of the min- 
 ister as priest and cleric rather than as prophet, herald, 
 servant, teacher, pastor. The downfall, the inevitable 
 downfall, of this Jewish conception has brought un- 
 told harm to the ministry per se. It is not easy for 
 people to distinguish. The pinnacle upon which 
 Paul places the preacher is not one of officialism in 
 any sense. He is the man of high spiritual preroga- 
 tive and privilege, not the man of ecclesiastical 
 station. He is the man who looks in the face of 
 God and comes to talk with the people as prophet, 
 not as priest nor ecclesiastic. The problem before 
 Paul is intensely modern in many of its phases. The 
 ministry to-day has lost its glory for many people. 
 There was once a halo about the calling of the min- 
 ister which to some is now lost. It was once the 
 dearest hope in every Scottish home, as in many 
 others all over the world, that the boy would become 
 a minister of Jesus Christ. Ian Maclaren has told 
 with tender pathos how the cold blast of modern 
 criticism has smitten this fair flower of faith in 
 Bonnie Scotland.* Numerous modern novels seek 
 to justify the modern denial of Jesus in its appeal to 
 
 1 « Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush." 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 55 
 
 the youth of to-day/ Paul graphically seizes upon 
 the picture of Moses on Mount Sinai and uses it 
 with powerful effect. 
 
 I. A Real Glory 
 Paul does not at all mean to deny the fact of the 
 glory that belonged to Moses. The coming of the 
 law was with glory ^ Indeed, the ministry of the 
 Old Covenant was glory .^ " The glory of Jehovah 
 abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it 
 six days ; and the seventh day He called unto Moses 
 out of the midst of the cloud." ^ These forty days 
 and forty nights of communion with God left a mark 
 of external radiance on the face of Moses. The 
 divine glory was on the face of Moses. It is told 
 with wonderful simplicity and power. "And it 
 came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount 
 Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' 
 hand, when he came down from the mount, that 
 Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone by 
 reason of his speaking with Him."^ The charm Hes 
 in the unconsciousness of Moses. The "God of 
 glory "« had appeared unto Abraham as He did to 
 Stephen whose face shone like that of an angeF as 
 he began to speak. It has sometimes happened that 
 
 . Cf. " Robert Elsmere." » 2 Cor. iii. 7- ' ^ Cor. iii. 9- 
 
 c Acts vii. 2 ; Gen. xii. I. ' Acts vi. 15 J vii. i f. 
 
56 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 the modern minister comes to the pulpit from the 
 throne of grace with the glory of God on his face. 
 He is himself all unconscious of his heavenly radi- 
 ance as he breaks the bread of life to the people. 
 But they know it and thank God for the testimony 
 in their hearts. " And when Aaron and all the chil- 
 dren of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face 
 shone ; and they were afraid to come nigh him." * 
 They felt a solemn awe in his presence. They felt 
 in truth the other Presence, the Presence of God in 
 manifest power and glory. The rabbis had a fiction 
 that this glory was from the hght of creation,^ but 
 that is mere trifling. It was the ineffable glory in 
 which Jehovah dwells that filled the countenance of 
 Moses. It is the highest crown of the minister that 
 he is called so often into the closest fellowship with 
 the Eternal God. There is, of course, no special 
 ministerial approach to the Throne of God, but his 
 very work of itself draws him to communion with 
 God. A preacher may not live up to his rich privi- 
 lege, but it is there for him. There is no way to put 
 on this radiant glory, no way but the " Practice of 
 the Presence of God." Moses had actually been 
 with God. He had to call Aaron and the rest to 
 his side and they gradually drew nigh and listened 
 
 ^ Ex. xxxiv. 30. 
 
 » Meyer, in loco ; Eisenmenger, Entdeckt. Judenth., I., S. 369 f. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 57 
 
 to his message from God.^ It is a moment of un- 
 speakable responsibility when a man's soul is ablaze 
 with the Word of God and his audience are - in 
 tune with the infinite." Then the deepest mark is 
 made upon the soul. There are mountain peaks in 
 the experience of most men when the tongue is 
 touched by the coal from the altar of God.- Then 
 one is able to -cry" with power.^ It is at such 
 supreme moments that souls are born into the king- 
 dom, that men are called into the ministry. John 
 A. Broadus had expected to be a physician and was 
 studying towards that end, but he heard A. M. 
 Poindexter preach one day on the - Parable of the 
 Talents," and he could never get away from that 
 sermon. It sent him into the ministry.^ It may be 
 questioned if Dr. Poindexter ever performed a more 
 useful service in his life than the preaching of this 
 sermon. There is still glory and power in the min- 
 istry under God. One way to enlist more men in 
 the work of the ministry is to pray for more labourers 
 as Jesus commanded.^ Another way is to live close 
 to God and preach with the power and demonstra- 
 tion of the Spirit. Paul gathered many young min- 
 isters about him, like Timothy and Titus, who were 
 a joy to his heart. But the man wins more men to 
 
 1 Ex xxxiv M f ' Isa. vi. 6 ff. ^ Isa. xl. 6. 
 
 4 Robertson, " Life and Letters of John A. Broadus," p. 52 f- 
 6 Matt. ix. 38 ; Luke x. 2. 
 
58 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 the ministry who is unconscious of any special halo 
 on his own head. He sees only the face of Jesus his 
 Lord. Syria was once " the Cradle of the Prophets." * 
 That is no longer the case, but it is an honour to a 
 church or a land to be a " hot-bed for preachers." 
 
 2. A Hidden Glory 
 " And when Moses had done speaking with them 
 he put a veil on his face." ^ Paul interprets it thus : 
 " so that the children of Israel could not look stead- 
 fastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his 
 face." ^ They felt as if they were looking right at the 
 sun and they could not stand the brilliant light. In- 
 deed, the sun will put out the eyes of those who dare 
 to gaze directly at his light for long. We resort to 
 smoked glasses or take advantage of an eclipse to 
 look steadfastly in the face of the sun. So Moses 
 took the veil off only when he went in to speak with 
 the Lord and put it on when he came out to speak 
 with the people.^ There was a great gulf between 
 the people and Moses. " Judaism had the one law- 
 giver who beheld God while the people tarried below. 
 Christianity leads us all to the mount of vision, and 
 lets the lowliest pass through the fences, and go up 
 where the blazing glory is seen. Moses veiled the 
 
 * The Inter collegian f Jan., 1911, p. 86. 2 Ex. xxxiv. 33. 
 
 ' 2 Cor, iii. 7. 4 Ex. xxxiv. 34 f. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 59 
 
 face that shone with the irradiation of Deity. We 
 with unveiled face are to shine among men." * Mac- 
 laren^ is right also in saying that Paul's habit of 
 " going off at a word," as illustrated in this passage 
 about Moses and the veil, is not a mark of confusion, 
 but '* of the fervid richness of the apostle's mind, 
 which acquires force by motion, and, like a chariot- 
 wheel, catches fire as it revolves." So, he continues, 
 in this scene on the mount, " we have a picture of the 
 Old Dispensation — a partial revelation, gleaming 
 through a veil, flashing through symbols, expressed 
 here in a rite, there in a type, there again in an ob- 
 scure prophecy, but never or scarcely ever fronting 
 the world with an unveiled face and the light of God 
 shining clear from it. Christianity is, and Christian 
 teachers ought to be, the opposite of all this. It has, 
 and they are to have, no esoteric doctrines, no hints 
 where plain speech is possible, no reserve, no use of 
 symbols and ceremonies to overlay truth, but an in- 
 telligible revelation in words and deeds, to men's 
 understandings. It and they are plentifully to de- 
 clare the thing as it is." Paul means to cast no 
 reproach upon Moses or the Old Covenant by this 
 contrast. The people simply could not stand the 
 fullness of light which Moses had. Even if it was 
 
 * Maclaren, " Expositions of Holy Scripture," 2 Corinthians, in loco, 
 ^Ibid. 
 
60 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 merely the skin of his face that shone with external 
 glory, it was too bright for their eyes since they did 
 not enjoy the inner light of Christianity. The 
 charge is sometimes made to-day against the min- 
 istry that it is the profession of obscurantists. Either 
 modern ministers are dishonest in not being true to 
 what they know and pander to the ignorance of the 
 people or they have closed their minds to all light 
 and progress. Both of these charges are freely made 
 in some quarters and occasionally some colour is 
 given to it by a minister whose defection is made a 
 newspaper sensation. Notoriety always comes to 
 the preacher who betrays his Lord or his gospel. 
 As a result some young men are made to beheve 
 that the ministry is an unworthy calling for a free 
 man who does not wish to wear shackles. Hear Lord 
 Morley, for instance, in his famous essay on Compro- 
 mise : " These cases only show the essential and 
 profound immorality of the priestly profession, which 
 makes a man's living depend on his abstaining from 
 using his mind, or concealing the conclusions to 
 which the use of his mind has brought him. The 
 time will come when society will look back on the 
 doctrine that they that serve the altar shall live by 
 the altar as a doctrine of barbarism and degradation." 
 Lord Morley is an outspoken free-thinker and ag- 
 nostic, and his indictment of the ministry can thus 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 6l 
 
 be discounted. But the matter is taken very seri- 
 ously by Rev. Canon Danks/ of the Church of Eng- 
 land, who calls them "words of very serious import to 
 men who have entered or who wish to enter the min- 
 istry." He says : " They express the thought which, 
 more than any other cause, deters able candidates 
 for ordination. Nor has their force been lessened 
 by the lapse of time, for the gap between the critics 
 and the popular theology is wider now than thirty- 
 five years ago. . . . There is a greater gulf be- 
 tween the theological student and the untaught 
 believer or unbeliever than ever before." It is evi- 
 dent that such a situation exists in many quarters 
 and the wide-spread decrease in the number of stu- 
 dents for the ministry, once so serious and now 
 happily disappearing, may be partly due to this 
 cause. Dr. Danks has probably somewhat exag- 
 gerated its influence, but it is a real problem. He 
 replies in behalf of the Church of England : " Were 
 Hooker and Butler emissaries of intellectual dark- 
 ness, slaves themselves and enslaving others ? Were 
 Thirlwall, Lightfoot, Westcott, Creighton, Robert- 
 son of Brighton, Maurice, Kingsley, Stanley, Jowett 
 — were all these obscurantists, stunting the mental 
 growth of their time ? On the contrary, they were 
 
 1 Article, " The Clergy, Conscience, and Free Inquiry," The 
 Hibbert Journal^ Jan., 191 1. 
 
62 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 among the most alert, profound, and free intelli- 
 gences of their time, teaching and emancipating 
 their own and succeeding generations. Nor is there, 
 so far as I know, any reason to suppose that they were 
 in the least conscious of thinking in fetters, or acting 
 a part." This is a pertinent reply. Indeed, the fault 
 found to-day with many men in the ministry is not 
 that they are " hidebound reactionaries," but that 
 they are entirely too advanced and radical. But 
 their very presence and work constitute an answer 
 to Lord IMorley's charge. Moses was at first uncon- 
 scious of the glory on his face, but the conduct of 
 the people made him aware of the radiance. It was 
 not acting a part to hide his face with the veil. He 
 delivered his message with covered face. It is no 
 deception for the minister to-day to keep his inmost 
 self to himself. He does not claim omniscience. If 
 new light is coming, more may come. Modesty is 
 becoming to the herald of the Cross. He is not 
 called upon to parade his doubts nor all the hidden 
 ecstasies of his life with God. He must be wiUing to 
 wait and learn like other men. One should preach 
 his beliefs, not his doubts. But, when a real breach 
 has come between him and Christ, he is not called 
 upon to act the hypocrite and to go on mumbling 
 phrases and words that have no meaning to him. 
 The door is still open for him to go out of the minis- 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 63 
 
 try of Christ when there is no freedom within it. 
 He must be his own judge when to keep still on less 
 important matters and when to speak his mind on 
 vital issues. But there is never reason for whimper- 
 ings on the limitations of the ministry ; never, unless 
 one is in the grip of a priestly hierarchy. Then, 
 much of what Lord Morley says is true. There is 
 to-day a movement in the Roman Catholic Church 
 called " Modernism." It has aroused the wrath of 
 Pope Pius X to such an extent that he has turned 
 the whole power of the Vatican to its destruction.' 
 The outcome no one can tell, but " what we can fore- 
 see is this, that it will be one of the most momentous 
 crises recorded in history." ^ it is chiefly because 
 Romanism has sought to put clamps upon the 
 human spirit, as the later Judaism of Paul's day did, 
 that this crisis has come. Protestantism stands out 
 against medieval Romanism as Paul's interpretation 
 of a free Christianity rises above the fettered Judaism 
 of his time which he once proclaimed and sought to 
 force upon the Christians themselves. A group of 
 Roman CathoHc priests in Italy have addressed a 
 
 1 He has issued a Syllabus, two Encyclicals (1907, 1909), and 
 in September, 19 10, used the Motu propria to compel every pro- 
 fessor, every new confessor, priest, and canon to take the oath of 
 orthodoxy. 
 
 2 Prof, Giovanni Luzzi, D. D., Florence, in the January, 191 1, 
 Hibbert Journal, article, " The Roman Catholic Church in Italy at 
 the Present Hour." 
 
64 1HE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 letter to Pius X entitled " What zue zvaiit," * in which 
 they say : " Our society has now for many years 
 held entirely aloof from the Church, which it con- 
 siders as an ancient and inexorable foe. . . . 
 The Church is considered an obstacle to the happi- 
 ness of nations ; the priest is insulted in public as a 
 common, ignorant parasite; the Gospel and Chris- 
 tianity are regarded as expressions of a decayed 
 civilization, because they are entirely insufficient to 
 answer to the ideals of freedom, justice, and science 
 which are shaking the masses." This portrayal does 
 not come from Lord Morley, but is the despairing 
 cry of Roman Catholic priests about Romanism. 
 The trouble is just here that men do not always dis- 
 tinguish between priest and preacher. Paul is not 
 in his noble panegyric on the ministry calling men 
 to the decayed Judaism nor to the corrupt and cor- 
 rupting Romanism of the future, but to the glorious 
 Gospel of the Son of God which is not bound.^ 
 Men could bind Paul, but not the gospel of the 
 kingdom. He was bound in the spirit with allegiance 
 to Christ, but had no fear of man.^ Jesus had said 
 that the truth would make men free. It was God's 
 purpose to give the world a message which would be 
 
 1 Quel che vogliano. Quoted by Professor Luzzi in the Hibbert 
 Journal article. 
 » 2 Tim. ii. 9. » Acts xx. 23. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 65 
 
 delivered boldly and openly without any veil upon 
 the face. " Having therefore such a hope, we use 
 great boldness of speech, and are not as Moses, who 
 put a veil upon his face." ^ The word " boldness " 
 means ** telling it all." ^ Paul glories in his freedom 
 as a minister of Christ. God has come in Christ and 
 the Light has been tempered to the eye of man. 
 
 3. A Temporary Glory 
 Paul expressly calls attention to the transient 
 aspect of the glory on the face of Moses as a symbol 
 of the passing glory of the Mosaic ministry and so 
 of Judaism — " Moses, who put a veil upon his face, 
 that the children of Israel should not look steadfastly 
 on the end of that which was passing away."^ So in 
 verse seven he says : '* Which glory was passing 
 away." Meyer ^ takes Paul's language to mean that 
 Moses practiced " dissembling " with the people since 
 he did not wish the people to see the glory on his 
 face die away, else they would lose respect for him 
 and his work. However, he does not think that 
 Paul regarded this act as immoral on the part of 
 Moses. Paul is not in verse thirteen denying what 
 he said in verse seven about the hght being too bril- 
 
 I2 Cor. iii. 12. 
 
 'Cf. John vii. 13 where it is translated " openly." 
 
 ® 2 Cor. iii. 13. * /« loco^ 
 
66 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 liant for the people to look upon.* The language in 
 verse thirteen undoubtedly presents a purpose to 
 prevent the people of Israel from seeing the de- 
 parture of the glory on the countenance of Moses.^ 
 Some have even supposed that Christ is meant by 
 " the end of that which was passing away." ^ But 
 that is quite beside the mark. There is no direct 
 statement in Exodus concerning this second point 
 made by Paul, though the transient nature of the 
 glory on the face of Moses is plain in the context. 
 It is clear in the consciousness of Moses since he 
 kept^ putting the veil on and off. But one is going 
 far beyond Paul's remarks on the story in Exodus to 
 accuse Moses of dissembling. He probably first put 
 the veil on because the brightness he found " was so 
 resplendent as to dazzle the beholders."^ Then he 
 realized that, when he did speak to the people with- 
 out the veil, the people would note that the glory 
 was no longer on his countenance. How long he 
 kept up that plan is not made plain, but the day came, 
 probably soon, when he had to speak without the 
 
 1 Bernard, in loco, notes that in Ex. xxxiv. 33 " till " in the 
 Authorized Version has been changed to " when " in the Revised 
 Version. But, even so, that does not affect the two points made by 
 Paul. 
 
 2 " That " is design, not result. 
 
 8 Cf. Rom. X. 4. * 2 Cor. iii, 13. 
 
 5 Denny, 2 Corinthians, in loco. For a discussion of the interpre- 
 tation of the Targums, the Septuagint, and Philo, see Bachmann, 
 Der Zweite Brief des Faulus an die Korinther, S. 156 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 67 
 
 veil. What Moses avoided was the people seeing 
 the glory slowly vanish away each time. There is a 
 real parallel here in the experience of every minister 
 when he has spoken with power concerning the 
 things of God. In the pulpit he has seemed like one 
 inspired. When he steps down among the people, 
 there is need of caution lest a violent nervous re- 
 action may dissipate at once the real spiritual im- 
 pression produced. A story is told about a famous 
 preacher to the effect that, when he was in the pulpit, 
 the church wished he would never leave it ; but, 
 when he was out of it, they wished that he would 
 never enter it. The only way to have permanent 
 glory is to continue beholding the glory of the Lord. 
 If we cease looking at Him, we cease to reflect His 
 glory. Moses may not have thought at all (almost 
 certainly did not) of his conduct being a type of the 
 temporary nature of his ministry, nor was he think- 
 ing of the difference between what he was and what 
 he had to teach.' A preacher is often tempted to 
 hide his own person and weaknesses out of sight in 
 order to concentrate attention on what he is saying. 
 To a certain extent this is justifiable, but people will 
 not allow a clear divorce between preaching and 
 practice on the part of the minister. " Moses had a 
 momentary gleam, a transient brightness ; we have a 
 
 ^ Cf. Meyer, in loco. 
 
68 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 perpetual light. Moses' face shone, but the lustre 
 was but skin deep. But the light that we have is 
 inward, and works transformation into its own like- 
 ness." * There is a finality in the revelation of the 
 Gospel which is not true of Judaism. " The true 
 greatness of God is revealed, and with it His true 
 glory, once for all, in the Gospel." ^ Paul exults in 
 this surpassing difference : ** For if that which passeth 
 away was with glory, much more that which re- 
 maineth is in glory." ^ Paul boldly champions the 
 permanence of the glory and service in Christ. The 
 New Testament ministry will continue because there 
 is no higher word for the redemption of man than 
 the Gospel of Christ. Jesus is the fullness of God's 
 message to man. We shall continue to get new light 
 on that message, but shall never get beyond it.^ The 
 demand for ministers of the Gospel to-day is just the 
 same as it was in the first century. Nor has preach- 
 ing lost its power over the hearts of men. That is a 
 cry that comes in each generation. Human life 
 takes on new phases. The printing press brings the 
 newspaper, the magazine, and the novel. The tele- 
 phone, the automobile, the electric car revolution- 
 ize the habits of men. But no printed page can per- 
 
 ^ Maclaren, « Expositions of Holy Scripture," in loco. 
 ' Denney, in loco. 3 2 Cor. iii. II. 
 
 * Works like G. B. Foster's " Finality of the Christian Religion 
 are mere passing leaves. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 69 
 
 manently supply the place of the man who has 
 looked into the face of God and now looks into the 
 face of sinful men and presses home with burning 
 words the sense of sin and the redemption in Jesus 
 Christ. The minister who does this has a great 
 hearing to-day and will always be greeted by glad 
 hearts. This is the eternal call for preachers, the 
 heart-hunger^ of sinful men for the knowledge of 
 God in Christ, for the unveihng of their real selves, 
 for the touch of heart upon heart, for the mighty 
 moving of the Spirit of God. The greatest spirits of 
 all time have responded to this call of God and will 
 continue to do so. A Protestant scholasticism,^ a 
 Roman Catholic hierarchy, a Jewish scribism may 
 lose the gift of spiritual insight, of human sympathy, 
 of power to speak for God. But even so God is not 
 bound to this system or to that. He will find men 
 who can hear His voice and see His face.^ 
 
 4. A71 Overshadowed Glory 
 
 The glory on the face of Moses passed away, but 
 
 there was a real glory in the Old Covenant. There 
 
 was and there still is. It is an argument at first from 
 
 the less to the greater. " If the ministration of death 
 
 » Cf. Stalker, « The Preacher and His Models," p, 25 f. 
 
 ' Denney, in loco. 
 
 3 Commenting on the coming of the Rev. J. H. Jowett from 
 Birmingham to New York, The British Weekly, Jan. 26, 1 891, 
 speaks of " The Call for Preachers " and quotes from a saying of 
 
70 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 . . . came with glory, how shall not rather the 
 ministration of the spirit be with glory ? " ' The 
 condition admits the glory of the Old Dispensation 
 and by a rhetorical question argues the greater glory 
 of the New Dispensation. " For if the ministration 
 of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the 
 ministration of righteousness exceed in glory." * Paul 
 admits the glory of the Old, but claims the much 
 richer glory of the New. In itself this is no dis- 
 paragement of the true Judaism. " For if that which 
 passeth away was with glory, much more that which 
 remaineth is in glory." ^ Three times Paul has thus 
 used the argument from the less to the greater. It 
 is a self-evident proposition. But, in truth, there is 
 such an overplus ^ of glory in the New Covenant that 
 the glory of the Old seems to disappear entirely ; the 
 greater glory dims the less. " For verily that which 
 hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious 
 in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpass- 
 eth." ^ In one point at least the old seems to have no 
 glory at all, because of the superabundant glory of 
 the New Covenant.^ " The veiled Moses represents 
 
 Martin Luther in Dr. Kawerau's tribute to Spurgeon : *' In the 
 Church it is not enough that books should be written and read, but 
 it is necessary that there should be speaking and hearing. There- 
 fore Christ wrote nothing, but spoke everything. The apostles 
 wrote little, but spoke a great deal." 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. iii. 7 f . ^ 2 Cor. iii. 9. » 2 Cor. iii. il. 
 
 * 2 Cor. iii. 9. 62 Cor. iii. 10. ^ 2 Cor. iii. 10. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 7 1 
 
 the clouded revelation of old. The vanishing gleam 
 on his face recalls the fading glories of that which was 
 abolished." * " The stars are bright till the moon 
 rises; the moon herself reigns in heaven till her 
 splendour pales before the sun; but when the sun 
 shines in his strength, there is no other glory in the 
 sky. All the glories of the Old Covenant have van- 
 ished for Paul in the light which shines from the 
 Cross and from the Throne of Christ." ^ Paul had 
 already caught the vision of the conquest of Christi- 
 anity and of the vanishing of Judaism by comparison. 
 The Jews still linger in the world as a witness of 
 God's Word till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.^ 
 Israel Zangwill ^ even now laments : *' What threat- 
 ens the existence of the race is the decay of Juda- 
 ism." But with Paul there is no rivalry, so far does 
 Christianity outdistance Judaism. There was no 
 rivalry between John the Baptist and Jesus because 
 John saw clearly that his light was to fade before 
 that of Jesus : " He must increase, but I must de- 
 crease." ^ John was the herald of the dawn as the 
 sun arose. The true Judaism finds its fulfillment in 
 Christ.^ Sometimes a preacher is sorely tested when 
 he sees another minister go far beyond him in use- 
 
 * Maclaren, <' Expositions," in loco. 2 Denney, in loco. 
 ' Luke xxi. 24 ; Rom. xi. 25. 
 
 4 77^-? Jezuish Review^ Jan., 1911, p. 391. 
 
 * John iii. 30. ^ Rom. x. 4. 
 
72 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 fulness and popular favour. His light is dimmed by 
 that of a greater personality. Happy is he if he can 
 rejoice in the greater light, " that he that soweth and 
 he that reapeth may rejoice together." ' An old 
 minister will do well to watch his spirit and to find 
 joy in the young ministers about him. God will 
 keep our going out into activity and our coming in 
 to the inner shrine.^ *' In that inner room of life 
 there sits Regret with her pale face, and Shame with 
 dust on her forehead, and Memory with tears in her 
 eyes. It is a pitiable thing sometimes, this coming 
 in. More than one man has consumed his life in a 
 flame of activity because he could not abide the 
 coming in. But, * The Lord shall keep thy com- 
 ing in ' — that means help for every lonely, impotent, 
 inward hour of life." ^ But Paul stands in the full 
 glory of Christianity with naught to conceal. He is 
 not afraid that people will find out something about 
 the Gospel. ** St. Paul has painted his own portrait 
 at full length, and in every line of it is the portrait of 
 the minister. There is more in his writings which 
 touches the very quick of our life as ministers than 
 in all other writings in existence." ^ Paul speaks out 
 of his heart for the Christian ministry of all ages 
 
 » John iv. 36. « Cf. Psalm cxxi. 8. 
 
 » Percy C. Ainsworth, " The Threshold Grace." 
 * Stalker, « The Preacher and His Models," p. 18. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 73 
 
 when he exalts Christianity above Judaism and all 
 other religions in the world and places the Christian 
 ministry at the summit of life's callings. Nothing 
 can ever overshadow the true glory of the ministry 
 of Jesus Christ. " If the pulpit has an authentic 
 message to deliver about Him whose thought is the 
 ground of all existence, and whose will of love is the 
 explanation of the pain and mystery of life, the more 
 cultivated and eager the mind of man becomes, then 
 the more indispensable will the voice of the pulpit be 
 felt to be; and a real decay of the power of the 
 pulpit can only be due either to preachers themselves, 
 when, losing touch with the mysteries of revelation, 
 they let themselves down to the level of vendors of 
 passing opinion, or to such a shallowing of the 
 general mind as will render it incapable of taking an 
 earnest interest in the profounder problems of exist- 
 ence." 
 
 5. A Defective Glory 
 At its best the Old Covenant had drawbacks of a 
 serious nature in spite of its real glory. It is a min- 
 istry of the " letter " as opposed to ** spirit." God 
 " made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant ; 
 not of the letter, but of the spirit : for the letter 
 killeth, but the spirit giveth life." "^ It is not entirely 
 
 ^ Stalker, " The Preacher and His Models," p. 27. 
 » 2 Cor. iii. 6. 
 
74 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 clear what Paul means by these words. Meyer' 
 takes it to mean " the reaso7t why God hath made 
 them capable of ministering not to the letter, but to 
 the spirit." Certainly the scribes had made the law 
 a matter of letter and form, not of spiritual life and 
 power. But it is probable that Paul is making a 
 more serious charge than the patent misuse of the 
 law current among the rabbis. In Romans vii. 6 he 
 speaks of serving " in newness of the spirit, and not 
 in oldness of the letter," ^ as in Romans ii. 29 he de- 
 scribes the " Jew who is one inwardly ; and circum- 
 cision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the 
 letter." He does not mean a contrast between the 
 letter of the law and the spirit of the law. The con- 
 trast is drawn between the law as letter and the re- 
 deemed spirit in man.^ The spirituaUife is strangled 
 by literalism, but it is not the point aimed at here 
 by Paul.^ The law is meant by " letter " and works 
 death. We are under the curse of the law when we 
 seek to be saved by the law.^ Christ has redeemed 
 us from under the curse of the law,^ having become 
 a curse for us. The Spirit of Christ makes alive our 
 spirits held in the grip of the law which was death. 
 The law, then, kills,^ while the Spirit quickens.^ 
 
 > In loco. ' Cf. Rom. vi. 4. ^ Bernard, in loco. 
 
 4 Denney, in loco. ^ Gal. iii. 10. « Gal. iii. 13. 
 
 ' Cf. Rom. vii. 7-24. » Cf. Rom. vii. 25-viii. 11. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 75 
 
 ** When the apostle has written these two Httle sen- 
 tences — when he has supplied * letter ' and ' spirit * 
 with ' kill ' and * make alive,' in the sense which they 
 bear in the Christian revelation — he has gone as far 
 as the mind of man can go in stating an effective 
 contrast." But Paul turns the idea over a few times. 
 He plainly mentions " the ministration of death, 
 written, ajid engraved on stones " in contrast with 
 ** the ministration of the spirit." ' Paul takes up the 
 word " letter " and applies ^ it to the tables of law 
 brought down by Moses on Mount Sinai. The tra- 
 dition in Philo ^ was that the words were graven on 
 stone, though the narrative in Exodus ^ does not say 
 so. Paul had felt the death-chill of the law in his 
 own life, though the law was good in itself, yet it 
 only brought a keener consciousness of sin.^ The 
 Old Covenant had merely a " ministration of con- 
 demnation " in contrast with " the ministration of 
 righteousness." ^ Paul insists that righteousness is 
 not of the law, but of faith.^ Satan poses as an an- 
 gel of light and puts forward his ministers as " min- 
 isters of righteousness." ^ But the thunders of Sinai 
 brought only the voice of condemnation. It is all 
 " thou shalt " and " thou shalt not." There is a 
 
 * 2 Cor. iii. 7 f . ^2 Cor. lii. 7. ' Vita Mos, iii. 2. 
 
 *Ex. xxxiv. 29. 5 Rom. v. 20 f. ; vii, 7-12. 
 
 *2 Cor. iii. 9. 'Gal. iii. 21. ^2 Cor. xi. 15. 
 
76 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 majesty more transcendent about the New Dispensa- 
 tion/ but the dominant note is grace, not law. The 
 ministers of the New Covenant have hope and cer- 
 tainty. They bear a message of cheer, not of mere 
 condemnation. It is still a terrible thing to fall into 
 the hands of the Hving God after having trodden 
 under foot the Son of God and having done despite 
 unto the Spirit of His grace, more terrible than it 
 was under the Mosaic dispensation.^ But the minis- 
 ter of Christ is not a mere denouncer of evil, though 
 he has to cry aloud and spare not like the prophets 
 of old. He is the herald of the Gospel, the bearer of 
 pardon to sinners who will respond to the grace of 
 God. This is the greatest difference between the 
 ministers of the Old Covenant and those of the New. 
 " How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad 
 tidings of good things ! " ^ Paul knew this to be 
 true in a sense not understood by Isaiah.^ It is sad 
 to see a minister of Christ who is still at Sinai, who 
 is still under the Old Covenant, who is still proclaim- 
 ing the message of death, who has not caught the 
 vision of love and grace and hope in the New Cove- 
 nant. Paul's appeal is for men who will carry the 
 message of the Cross, not of Sinai. Paul sees in 
 Jesus the emancipation of the human spirit from the 
 
 ^ Heb. ii. 1-4 ; xii. 25-29. 2 Heb. x. 26-31. 
 
 8 Rom. X. 15. 4 Isa. lii. 7 ; cf. Nahum i. 15. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 77 
 
 bondage of the law. The chill of mere formalism 
 had frozen the life out of Judaism as it has destroyed 
 the real power of many expressions of Christianity. 
 There is to-day the same peril in sacerdotahsm that 
 Paul feared in Judaism. The emptiness of mere 
 negative rules was abhorrent to his free spirit. He 
 had known by bitter experience the dry-rot of mere 
 religiosity and sanctimoniousness. Professional 
 sanctity was repellent to Paul's nature. He saw in 
 the Christian ministry the exponents of God's love 
 and of personal piety. No greater peril confronts 
 the minister to-day than the one Paul found in the 
 Judaism of his day. The prophet disappeared in the 
 priest. The priest dried up in the scribe. The 
 scribe split hairs over what prophet and priest had 
 meant. Traditional interpretation took the place of 
 vital experience of God. Love of the external killed 
 the inner life and crucified Jesus of Nazareth for His 
 emphasis on the spiritual life and rebuke of the mere 
 ceremonialism of the scribes and Pharisees. Stephen 
 went the way of Jesus when he rebuked the Pharisees 
 for their perversion of real religion and sought to give 
 the spiritual interpretation of the kingdom of God 
 as expounded by Jesus. Paul turned from persecut- 
 ing Pharisee to spiritual interpreter of Jesus and 
 took the place of Stephen in whose death he had re- 
 joiced. Jesus and Stephen fought official Pharisaism 
 
78 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 in the current Judaism. Paul took up the battle 
 with Pharisaism within the Christian fold which was 
 seeking to put the fetters of their perverted Judaism 
 upon the Christianity of Jesus. The one hope of 
 rescue for the soul of man was in jeopardy. Paul's 
 soul was stirred to its depths and he met the issue 
 with all the force of his nature. He is in the thick 
 of the fight with these Judaizing Christians, who 
 were attempting to destroy spiritual Christianity, 
 when he draws the contrast here between Judaism 
 and Christianity. The battle between the bondage 
 of legalism and spiritual Christianity has never 
 ceased. Paul set up his standard in 2 Corinthians, 
 Galatians, Romans. Luther took it up hundreds of 
 years afterwards. The peril is always real. The 
 very difficulties of the struggle challenge great spirits 
 to enter the lists. The evident perversions of Chris- 
 tianity and failure of some ministers to be apostles 
 of freedom in Christ should not repel the best spirits 
 of our time. They should the rather hear the call 
 to fight for the soul of man against all who seek to 
 bind him whether king or priest, state or church, 
 traditionahst or innovationist. The minister will 
 need to keep himself close to God if he is to fight 
 against the mighty forces of reaction and radicalism. 
 Paul had to beat off the Judaizers with their narrow- 
 ness on the one hand and the Gnostics with their 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 79 
 
 false liberality and philosophic looseness on the other. 
 The preacher of Christ to-day needs constant re- 
 newal of his spiritual life to avoid this empty profes- 
 sionalism into which Judaism had sunk. '' Valuable 
 as an initial call may be, it will not do to trade too 
 long on such a memory. A ministry of growing 
 power must be one of growing experience. The soul 
 must be in touch with God and enjoy golden hours 
 of fresh revelation. The truth must come to the 
 minister as the satisfaction of his own needs and the 
 answer to his perplexities." ' Religiosity is not 
 religion. 
 
 6. An Ineffective Glory 
 The saddest thing about the history of the Old 
 Covenant was its failure to work the spiritual renewal 
 of the people. The story of Israel till the Captivity 
 is that of desertion of God. The people kept going 
 after the idols of the nations around them in spite of 
 prophets like Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jere- 
 miah. After the Restoration the Jews stuck to the 
 letter of the law and missed God again. Hear Paul ^ 
 again : '• But their minds were hardened ; for until 
 this very day at the reading of the Old Covenant the 
 same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them 
 
 » Stalker, " The Preacher and His Models," p. 53. 
 *2 Cor. iii. 14 f. 
 
8o THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 that it is done away in Christ. But unto this day, 
 whensoever Moses is read, a veil heth upon the 
 heart." Moses hved to see the bhndness of his peo- 
 ple : " But Jehovah hath not given you a heart to 
 know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this 
 day." * Indeed, at Sinai Moses knew when he cried : 
 " Oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have 
 made them gods of gold."^ But even so Moses 
 loved his people so much that he wished to be blotted 
 out of God's book if God could not forgive them.^ 
 So Paul felt about the Jews : " I could wish that I 
 myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's 
 sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh."* But 
 Paul knew only too well the tragedy^ of Judaism, 
 how Jesus came unto His own and His own received 
 Him not.^ He had himself tried to lift the veil that 
 rested on the heart of the Jews, but had found it very 
 hard to do.^ They had thrust the Gospel from them 
 and compelled Paul to turn to the Gentiles. Paul 
 knew how bitter it was to preach to an unresponsive 
 audience, whose thoughts were hardened ^ like tough 
 gristle or leather. The veil on the face of Moses had 
 its analogue in a veil on the heart of the people. He 
 had to hide the glory on his face from them and they 
 
 * Deut. xxix. 4. *Ex. xxxii. 31. 'Ex. xxxii. 32. 
 
 4 Rom. ix. 3. « Cf. Conder, " The Hebrew Tragedy." 
 
 •John i. II. 'Cf. Acts xiii. 44 ff.; xvii. 5; xviii. 14, etc. 
 s 2 Cor. iii. 14. 
 
THE MODERN PROBLEM 8 1 
 
 became unable to see the glory after the other veil was 
 gone. The message of Moses is written in the Old 
 Covenant * (Testament), but the people have no eyes 
 to see. The eyes of their heart ^ have not been en- 
 lightened that they may know the " riches of the 
 glory of his inheritance in the saints." ** But as to 
 Israel he saith, All the day long did I spread out my 
 hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people."^ 
 Paul found hope in the fact that the Gentiles will 
 hear.^ Good may come in the end to the Jews who 
 remain.* But, meanwhile, the Jews still have the 
 veil on their hearts. Some of them are beginning to 
 see some beauty in Jesus.^ Others ^ resent this Jew- 
 ish liberalism as treason to Moses. The breach be- 
 tween the current Judaism and Christianity still exists. 
 But, that is not all. Some ministers find a wider 
 breach between the currents of modern life and 
 the message of Christ. Some, alas, find that the 
 Gospel of Christ no longer charms their own souls, 
 that they have an unresponsive people whose hearts 
 are dead to the spiritual appeal, who are slaves to 
 mammon and greed and who do not love God nor 
 fear man. The light has gone out and the glory has 
 faded from the hills. God pity that preacher and 
 
 1 Cf. Heb. ix. i6 f. 2 Eph. i. 18. » Rom. x. 21. 
 
 * Acts xxviii, 28. 5 Rom. xi. 
 
 * Cf. Montefiore, " The Religious Teaching of Jesus " (1910). 
 ' Cf. The Jewish Review y October, 19 10. 
 
82 THE GLORY THAT FADED 
 
 turn his face towards Jesus. " But whensoever it 
 [the heart] shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken 
 away." * By " Lord " Paul means the Lord Jesus. 
 Christ can hft the veil of spiritual ignorance and 
 indifference from the heart of Jew and Gentile, 
 preacher and people. No one else can do that. 
 What the world to-day needs is the look at Christ, 
 the look of trust with the heart, the turning from 
 Moses and rabbi, from mammon and self, from pride 
 of philosophy and self-righteousness, to the Light 
 that is in the Face of Christ. There and there alone 
 will be found spiritual rejuvenation. 
 
 1 2 Cor. iii. 1 6. 
 
Ill 
 
 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS- 
 THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 
 
 (2 Cor. iv. 4-6) 
 
 The light of the knowledge of the 
 
 glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 
 Christ." 
 
 — 2 Cor. iv. o. 
 
Ill 
 
 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS-THE 
 ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 
 
 I. The Face of Jesus Christ 
 
 PAUL did not probably know Jesus in the 
 flesh. He once knew Him " after the flesh," ^ 
 but that expression almost certainly means 
 that he once looked upon Christ as men of the 
 world still do. He had once hated and persecuted 
 Jesus. It is sometimes objected that Paul discounted 
 the earthly life of Jesus. " He tells us in several 
 places, more especially in the opening chapters of 
 Galatians, that he does not regard the searching out 
 of historic evidence as of any importance." ^ That is 
 surely reading much into Paul. Hear Professor 
 Gardner again : " Within a generation of the Cruci- 
 fixion we find St. Paul placing the human life of his 
 Master between two periods of celestial exaltation. 
 That was the beginning of Christology." Paul did 
 do that, but so did John's GospeP and Epistles^ and 
 
 2 Percy Gardner, in « Jesus or Christ " {Hibbert Journal Supple^ 
 ment for 1909), p. 48. 
 
 * John i. 1-4 ; cf. " The Face of Jesus," by David Smith. 
 85 
 
86 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 the Synoptic Gospels and Acts.' It is true that 
 Paul cared more about the right interpretation of 
 Jesus and the proper attitude towards Him than he 
 did about the mere historical events of the earthly- 
 life of Jesus. But a careful study of Paul's Epistles 
 and his addresses in Acts will show that he knew 
 all the crucial points of that life. Many of these 
 were matters of public knowledge which Paul would 
 have learned during his leadership of the persecution 
 of the Christians in Jerusalem. After his conversion 
 Paul had fifteen days in Jerusalem with Simon Peter 
 right in the midst of the closing scenes of Christ's 
 life.2 " No one has the right to say that Saul had 
 no knowledge of the historical Jesus. If Luke could 
 learn, so could Paul. Sanday ^ rightly argues that 
 the allusions in Paul's Epistles (cf. i Cor. xi. 23-25 ; 
 XV. 3-8) must be regarded as samples of Paul's 
 knowledge of the details of the life of Jesus. He 
 appeals to the words of Jesus ; he understands the 
 character of Jesus ; he knows what the message and 
 mission of Jesus is." ^ The qualifications of Paul as 
 an interpreter of Jesus challenge us at once in the 
 verses ^ before us. I venture to say that he is the 
 
 1 Cf. Warfield, « The Lord of Glory," for a full development of 
 this argument. 2 Gal. i. 18. 
 
 3 Art. " Paul " in Hastings's D. C. G. 
 * Robertson, " Epochs in the Life of Paul," p. 89. 
 ^ 2 Cor. iv. 4-6. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 87 
 
 supreme interpreter of Jesus Christ, he and John the 
 Apostle. It is true that Paul's spiritual eyes had 
 been blinded before the great light shone around 
 him that day on the road to Damascus.* That light 
 blinded the eyes of his body, but opened the eyes of 
 his soul. " I could not see for the glory of that 
 light." Yes, but he had seen the glory in the face 
 of Jesus. " When his eyes were opened, he saw 
 nothing " ^ but Jesus. That voice and that face fol- 
 lowed him through life. In Damascus the scales 
 fell from his eyes and the Holy Spirit came upon 
 him and he was baptized, but he had already seen 
 Jesus in the way.^ That was his unbroken testimony 
 that he had seen the Lord Jesus on the way to 
 Damascus.^ " I was not disobedient to the heavenly 
 vision."^ That transcendent experience was the 
 crux upon which all of Paul's testimony turned. He 
 never doubted its reality for one moment. Many 
 persons had looked on the face of Jesus while in the 
 flesh who did not understand Him. There was be- 
 yond doubt a wondrous fascination in the face of 
 Jesus that no artist has succeeded in putting upon 
 canvas. The pictures of Christ are either too effemi- 
 nate or too crude.^ No face has ever so haunted and 
 
 1 Acts ix. 3 ; xxii. 6 ; xxvi, 13. ' Acts ix. 8. ^ Acts ix. 17 f. 
 ^ Acts ix. 27 ; I Cor. xv. 8. ^ Acts xxvi. 19. 
 
 6 Cf. Tissot, " The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ " (1900), which 
 is well done as a whole. See also " The Christ Face in Art." 
 
88 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 baffled the greatest artists. This face was really hu- 
 man, but free from the taint of sin and disease. No 
 spectres of the past looked through those eyes. No 
 shadows of forbidden secrets flitted past. Pity, un- 
 utterable compassion, looked out of the depths of 
 purity and unsullied strength. Untarnished truth 
 looked out on a world of lies. The noblest impulses 
 of man met the shock of hate and envy. The clear 
 light of heaven's love gazed longingly at the suffering 
 and the sinning. Those eyes could flash with ter- 
 rific power upon hypocrites who used the livery of 
 heaven to serve the devil in. Before His wrath men 
 slunk away like cowed beasts, guilty and condemned. 
 But the penitent and the contrite saw a new hope 
 as they looked in the face of Jesus. There were 
 some who could never forget the thrill of joy which 
 came to their hearts as they gazed into His face. 
 At moments they could be amazed at the struggling 
 emotions in His countenance. There were three 
 who beheld His majestic glory on the mount. But 
 not all men could see all this in the face of Jesus. 
 The rabbis were angered to desperation as they saw 
 that calm and powerful face. Its very innocence en- 
 raged them. But Paul was a man gifted above his 
 fellows. When once he did see Jesus Christ, he was 
 in a position to see more than many other less gifted 
 spirits. His soul was keyed to the highest tension 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 89 
 
 as he looked into the face of Jesus. In his after 
 study of that face he had the skill of a supreme 
 artist. He never ceased looking. At first Paul had 
 studied the picture of Jesus that he might see the 
 secret of His power. " But, as he looked, there hap- 
 pened a strange thing — the picture crept into his 
 soul. He had sought to find the secret of its power 
 with the view of refuting it. He did find the secret 
 of its power ; but it refuted him. The gaze of anger 
 was transmuted into a gaze of rapture." * Matheson 
 calls Paul " the Illuminated " and it aptly describes 
 the qualifications of Paul for his interpretation of 
 Christ. " Remember, the Christ whom Paul first saw 
 was the Christ in heaven. He never gazed upon the 
 Man of Galilee. His earliest vision was the vision of 
 a Jesus glorified. Not on the road to the Cross did 
 Christ meet him ; He came to him panoplied in 
 heavenly splendour. What his inner eye beheld was 
 the Christ of the future — a Christ of majesty, a Christ 
 of power, a Christ who came clothed in the lightning 
 and wreathed in the conqueror's robe. That was the 
 first Christian image in Paul's soul. Is it wonderful 
 that it should have been the first Christian image in 
 his writings ? " ^ The famous blind preacher has seen 
 into the secret of Paul's soul.^ It is interesting how 
 
 » Matheson, "Representative Men of the New Testament," p. 335. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 343. 
 
 *Cf. also Matheson, " Spiritual Development of St. Paul." 
 
90 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 fond Matheson was of pictures that he carried in his 
 memory from the days before he lost his eyesight. 
 He has seen with the eye of the soul more than 
 many who had the sight of the eye/ Moses had 
 once asked to look upon the glory of God. '• Show 
 me, I pray thee, Thy glory. . . . And He said, 
 thou canst not see My face ; for man shall not see Me 
 and live. And Jehovah said. Behold there is a place 
 by Me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock, and it 
 shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that 
 I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover 
 thee with My hand until I have passed by : and I 
 will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My 
 back ; but My face shall not be seen." ^ This is 
 anthropomorphic, to be sure, but it marks the differ- 
 ence between the Old Covenant and the New. It is 
 poetic imagery when Moses said : " For Thou, Je- 
 hovah, art seen face to face,"^ though a great spir- 
 itual reality. God did manifest Himself in wonderful 
 measure to Moses, but not as Paul saw God in the face 
 of Christ. The Greek word for " face " '' has also the 
 idea of " person " as in 2 Corinthians i. 1 1 ; viii. 24. 
 Paul several times speaks of the face of Christ.*^ It 
 was more than a mere image to Paul, but he longed 
 
 ^ Cf. Matheson, *« Studies of the Portrait of Christ." Two vol- 
 umes. 2 Ex. XXX wi. 18-23. 
 8 Num. xiv. 14. 4 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 « I Cor. xiii. 12; 2 Cor. ii. 10 ; 2 Thess. i. 9. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST QI 
 
 for the time when he would no longer see through a 
 mirror as through a puzzUng and baffling enigma, 
 but would be able to look Jesus Christ in the eye 
 again, " face to face." ' 
 
 2. The Image of God 
 Paul expressly speaks of " Christ, who is the image 
 of God." 2 By this term Paul means much more than 
 moral likeness to God^ Man in his power bears 
 the image and glory of God.^ It is the destiny of 
 believers to bear the image of the Son of God.« But 
 in this passage Paul means a great deal more. He 
 here presents not the idea of mere similarity ,« but the 
 representation and manifestation of God7 It is the 
 divine nature and absolute moral excellence of Jesus 
 that Paul has here in mind as in Colossians i. 15*. 
 " Who is the image of the invisible God, the first- 
 born of all creation." « Paul had evidently come 
 to see that Jesus Christ was worthy to be called 
 God. Indeed, the correct text of Acts xx. 28, in 
 Paul's address to the Ephesian elders, has - Church 
 of God which He purchased with His own blood." 
 So in Romans ix. 5 the most natural punctua- 
 tion has " God blessed forever " in apposition to 
 
 , ^ ... ,^ 22 Cor. iv. 4. 
 
 1 I Cor. xiii, 12. ^, ., ••• 
 
 3 Col. iii. 10; 1 Cor. xv. 49; P^iil- "i- 2^' ... ^ , ^r.. \\\ iS 
 
 4 T Tor xi 7 ^ I^O"^' ^"^' ^9 ; 2 Cor. 11. 18. 
 
 « Or likenesl' ' Cf. Thayer's Lexicon. « Cf. Heb. i. 3. 
 
92 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 ** Christ concerning the flesh, who is over all." 
 Paul clearly taught the preexistent state and glory 
 of Jesus Christ in heaven/ Christ existed in the 
 form of God and on an equality with God in heaven 
 before His birth and humiliation.^ Whatever the 
 *' Kenosis " means or does not mean, Paul is clear 
 as to the essential deity of Christ in heaven. He 
 had the form of God in heaven as He had the form 
 of a servant on earth.^ If He was a real man here. 
 He was true God there. Paul grasped strongly the 
 true deity of Jesus Christ into whose face he looked. 
 It is not the " how," but the fact. Forsyth ^ puts the 
 case of Paul as of all believers to-day when he says : 
 •* If we ask how Eternal Godhead could make the 
 actual condition of human nature His own, we must 
 answer, as I have already said, that we do not know. 
 We cannot follow the steps of the process, or make 
 a psychological sketch." Nor does Paul attempt it, 
 though he is certain of the fact. It is reassuring at 
 any rate to see how a great scientist like Sir Ohver 
 Lodge ^ finds no objection on scientific grounds to the 
 fact " that a Divine Spirit — that the Deity Himself, 
 indeed — went through this process in order to make 
 Himself known to man, and also in order fully to 
 
 » 2 Cor. viii. 9. « Phil. ii. 6. ^ phU. ii. 7. 
 
 • " Person and Place of Jesus Christ," p. 320. 
 8 "Jesus or Christ" {Hibbert Journal Supplement for 1909), 
 p. 119. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 93 
 
 realize the conditions and limitations of the free 
 beings which, through evolution, had gradually been 
 permitted to exist. . . . And this individualized 
 and human aspect of the eternally Divine Spirit we 
 know as Jesus of Nazareth, a man hke ourselves, 
 save that the glory of that lofty Spirit shone through 
 the fleshly covering and preserved it from the load 
 of sin which follows from inadequate knowledge, im- 
 perfect insight, animal ancestry, and alien will." In 
 the face of this sure word from a really great scientist 
 one need not be dismayed by the weak surrender of 
 the deity of Jesus by modern theologians out of 
 dread of " the category of supernaturalism." " One 
 may question whether the first interpreters' specula- 
 tions about Jesus can lay any stronger claim to 
 finality than can their cosmology." * Dr. Case 
 makes merry with the theologians who still believe 
 that " God impinged upon the universe from without, 
 He projected Himself into human history." But 
 Sir Oliver Lodge, unlike Dr. Case, is not afraid of 
 God in the face of Jesus Christ. We may never 
 know how Christ is the image of God. Dr. Sanday 
 has made a bold suggestion. He takes advantage 
 of the new discussions concerning the subconscious 
 self to suggest the possibility that the divine nature 
 
 1 Prof. S. J. Case, of the Divinity School of the University of 
 Chicago, Biblical World, Jan., 191 1, p. 8. 
 
94 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 of Jesus has its locus in this subhminal region of 
 human nature.' He calls this notion " A Tentative 
 Modern Christology." It is most assuredly attractive 
 as over against the Chalcedonian conception of the 
 Two Natures, but it is doubtful if after all it would 
 not be a denial of the actual deity of Christ in spite 
 of Dr. Sanday's express avowal of his own faith in 
 the deity of Jesus Christ.^ But it is more than likely 
 that after all one will be merely playing with phrases 
 which do not square with the actual facts. The 
 consciousness may have no " planes " at all in a 
 material sense and the conscious rational will is more 
 important than the unconscious occasional impulses.^ 
 We shall probably have to continue to confess our 
 ignorance of the ultimate facts concerning the Person 
 of Christ. As a matter of fact, we do not understand 
 either human nature in ourselves or divine nature 
 in God. It is not surprising that we are somewhat 
 helpless in grasping the idea of the combination of 
 the two. Scientists like Lord Kelvin and Sir William 
 Ramsay make no pretensions to expound the ulti- 
 mate qualities of matter. Theologians may well be 
 
 * " Christologies Ancient and Modern," pp. 163 fF. 
 
 ^ Cf. Warfield, Princeton Theological Review^ Jan., 1911, p. 172. 
 For a sympathetic review of Dr. Sanday's idea see The Interpreter 
 for Jan., 191 1 (editorial). 
 
 3 For an able critique of Dr. Sanday's position see " Theology and 
 the Subconscious," by the Right Rev, C. F. D'Arcy, D. D,, in the 
 /libber t Journal for Jan., 191 1. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 95 
 
 equally humble in the higher realm of spirit. But 
 there is no doubt at all as to where Paul placed 
 Jesus. " It is not putting it too strongly to say that 
 He had for Paul the religious value of God. To 
 suppose that Paul could have classified Him, and 
 put Him in a series along with the other great men 
 who have contributed to the spiritual elevation of the 
 race, is to deride his sincerity and his passion." ' It 
 is just this conception of Jesus as God which has 
 won for Him the adoration of men. '* We might 
 suppose that such an idea would grow faint and 
 shadowy, that such an image would fade and melt 
 away amid the rest of time's dreams. But as a 
 matter of practical experience, 
 
 << ' That one face, far from vanish, rather grows, 
 Or decomposes, but to recompose.' 
 
 All generations of believers have proved its strange, 
 unearthly attraction, its enduring permanence, its 
 mighty and miraculous power." ^ 
 
 3. The Glory of God 
 There was " the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 Christ." ^ Others besides Jesus have manifested the 
 
 1 Denney, " Jesus and the Gospel," p. 27. 
 
 2 Sir W. Robertson Nicoll in The British Weekly. 
 • 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 
96 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 glory of God. Paul * has just spoken of the fact that 
 *' the children of Israel could not look steadfastly 
 upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face." 
 This wonderful fact did not render Moses divine. 
 For a careful argument showing the superiority of 
 Jesus over Moses, as the Son is above the servant, 
 see Hebrews iii. i-6. He merely reflected the tran- 
 scendent glory which he had been beholding. At 
 the death of Elijah there came " a chariot of fire, 
 and horses of fire which parted them asunder ; and 
 Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." ^ But 
 Elijah was not divine. The face of Stephen had 
 looked like the face of an angel. He said : " Behold, 
 I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man stand- 
 ing on the right hand of God."^ In his exaltation 
 Jesus is still " the Son of man." That is part of His 
 glory .^ There was a humiliation in the Incarnation 
 of Christ. Paul in a marvellous way pictures the 
 descent of Christ from the throne of God to the death 
 of the Cross.^ It is like coming down the long stair- 
 way. But the descent was just to open up the way 
 to God. Jesus in His humanity was the way to 
 God.^ In His humanity He was able to give help to 
 the seed of Abraham ^ and to make possible free com- 
 munion with God. Jesus is the real Jacob's Ladder 
 
 1 2 Cor. iii. 7. ^2 Kings ii. 11. ^ Acts vi 15 ; vii. 56. 
 
 *C{. Heb. iii. i-io. " Phil. ii. 5-9. 
 
 6 John xiv. 6. "> Heb. ii. 16. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 97 
 
 between heaven and earth .^ Men can thus ascend 
 upon the Son of man to heaven as angels descend 
 upon Him. «' But we behold Him who hath been 
 made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, be- 
 cause of the suffering of death crowned with glory 
 and honour, that by the grace of God He should 
 taste of death for every man." ^ There was a glory in 
 Jesus in the days of His flesh. Peter if he wrote the 
 Second Epistle (which I am glad to know is the view 
 of Bigg^) has a vivid recollection of that wonder- 
 ful night on the Mount of Transfiguration : " But we 
 were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received 
 from God the Father honour and glory, when there 
 was borne such a voice to Him by the Majestic 
 Glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased : and this voice we ourselves heard borne 
 out of heaven, when we were with Him in the holy 
 mount." ^ This transfiguration ^ was a temporary 
 revelation of the glory which Jesus had with the 
 Father before the Incarnation.^ The time came 
 when Jesus longed for a final restoration of that 
 glory by His return to the Father. John adds his 
 testimony to that of Peter : " We beheld His glory, 
 glory as of the only begotten from the Father." ^ 
 This took place after " the Word became flesh and 
 
 1 John i t; I "^ ^^^* "• ^* 
 
 3 " International and Crit. Commentary." ^ 2 Pet i. i6-i8. 
 
 * Mark ix. 2. « John xvii. 5. ' John 1. 14. 
 
98 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 dwelt among us " (tabernacled with us). Whether 
 John is referring only to the Transfiguration of Jesus 
 we do not know. He seems to include others in 
 this witness. There were other times when there 
 was a strange glory in the look of Jesus. As Jesus 
 went up to Jerusalem the last time, full of thoughts 
 of His death (as at the Transfiguration), we read : 
 " And Jesus was going before them : and they were 
 amazed ; and they that followed were afraid." * But 
 it was true of the whole life of Jesus that " He mani- 
 fested His glory " ^ by His miracles. By the grave 
 of Lazarus Jesus said to Martha : *' Said I not unto 
 thee that, if thou believedst, thou shouldst see the 
 glory of God ? " ^ It was true of Jesus, as it was not 
 true of Moses, that He was and is the glory of God, 
 " No man hath seen God at any time ; the only be- 
 gotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, 
 He hath declared Him." ^ The best manuscripts 
 here read " God only begotten." In His humanity 
 Jesus has revealed the Father. The one who really 
 sees Jesus has seen the Father.^ Jesus is God's Word 
 about Himself to men. He has made the full and 
 final interpretation ^ of God to men. " He is the 
 only window which opens out and gives the vision 
 of that far-off land. I, for my part, believe that, if I 
 
 1 Mark x. 32. 2 John ii. 11. ^ John xi. 40. 
 
 * John i. 18. 6 John xiv. 8 flf. e John i. 18. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 99 
 
 might use such a metaphor, He is the Columbus of 
 the New World." ' This is Paul's conception of the 
 glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. «' Christ 
 on the throne was, if one may say so, a more im- 
 mediate certainty to Paul, than Jesus on the banks 
 of the lake, or even Jesus on the cross." ^ 
 
 4. Christ Jesus as Lord 
 This is the way Paul preached.^ The words are 
 carefully chosen. It is possible that Paul may have 
 heard thus early of the incipient Gnosticism which 
 later appeared in the Lycus Valley in Asia and 
 which is combated in Colossians^ and Ephesians. 
 But that is hardly probable, though Paul had recently 
 come from Ephesus. These Gnostics were of two 
 types in their attitude towards the Person of Christ. 
 The Docetic Gnostics denied the actual humanity of 
 Christ. He merely seemed to be a man. The 
 Cerinthian Gnostics made a sharp distinction between 
 the man Jesus and the Christ (an cBon or emanation 
 of God which came upon Jesus at His baptism and 
 left Him before His death on the Cross). The lan- 
 guage of Paul here at any rate contravenes both of 
 these theories, especially the Cerinthian. He identi- 
 
 iMaclaren, "Expositions of Holy Scripture," 2 Corinthians, 
 
 ^' ^Denney, 2 Corinthians, p. 154. . . „ ^ .' ^ Cor. iv. 5. 
 
 * So Lightfoot. Hort, " Judaistic Christianity," fails to see any re- 
 ference to Gnosticism. 
 
lOO THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 fies the one personality whom he designates " Christ 
 Jesus " as also " Lord." He was the man Jesus, the 
 Messiah (Christ), the Lord of glory. There has been 
 a curious swinging of the pendulum among certain 
 theologians through the ages concerning the person 
 of Christ. The Ebionites denied the deity of Jesus. 
 The Docetic Gnostics rejected His humanity. 
 Paul recognized both as true of Christ Jesus. He is 
 to Paul the God- man. Is this reality or merely 
 Paul's interpretation? Paul did not originate this 
 interpretation. The other apostles had so under- 
 stood Jesus. Hear Peter on the Day of Pentecost : 
 " Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God 
 hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus 
 whom ye crucified." * If one begin with the earHest 
 known sources of the life of Christ according to 
 modern criticism, either Q (the Logia of Matthew) 
 or Mark's Gospel, he will find Jesus Christ the Lord 
 of glory there.2 The Christ of the Synoptic Gospels, 
 of Paul, of John, of Hebrews, of Peter, of James, of 
 the Apocalypse is one and the same; Jesus Christ 
 the same yesterday and to-day and forever.^ The 
 various writers of the New Testament approach the 
 
 * Acts ii. 36. 
 
 ' Cf. MuUins, " The Modern Issue as to the Person of Christ," 
 Review and Expositor, Jan., 1911, pp. i4fF. 
 
 8 See this argument worked out with great ability and detail by 
 Warfield, " The Lord of Glory " ; Denney, " Jesus and the Gospel " ; 
 Selbie, «' Aspects of Christ." Biblical Theology, accenting the 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST lOI 
 
 Study of Jesus from different angles, but each comes 
 to the same point in fact. It is a lame conclusion to 
 which Schweitzer comes in his " Quest of the Histor- 
 ical Jesus." After long rambles through the mazes 
 of conflicting critical theories he says : *' He comes 
 to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by 
 the lake-side, He came to those men who knew Him 
 not." * None are so blind as those who will not see. 
 Men come to Christ to-day, as of old, with their 
 prejudices and their philosophy and cannot see His 
 glory because of the fog around their own heads. 
 The sun shines brightly for all who can get out of 
 the fog. The very " greatness of Christ "^ makes 
 critical interpretation difficult and in a sense impos- 
 sible. It is hard to look straight at the sun. But 
 the sun shines on regardless of the changing theories 
 about light and the spots in the sun. " The Life of 
 Christ in Recent Research " ^ is an interesting topic, 
 as is " The Place of Christ in Modern Theology." ^ 
 We must use freely and frankly our reason and all 
 light from every source for the interpretation of 
 Jesus Christ. We have nothing to fear. Evolution 
 " has set Christ in a new hght. Confined within 
 
 variations in the New Testament, and criticism of the sources have 
 thus combined greatly to strengthen the argument for the truth of 
 Paul's view of Jesus. 
 
 1 P. 401. 
 
 « Forsyth, " Person and Place of Jesus Christ," pp. 63 ff. 
 
 > Sanday. ■* Fairbairn. 
 
I02 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 human limits, He is the stultification of the calcula- 
 tions of evolutionists, viewed as our moral natures 
 direct us to view Him, He is the goal and crown of 
 the evolutionary process in the history of man." * It 
 is a curious controversy that has arisen around the 
 phrase " Jesus or Christ " and that appears in The 
 Hibbert Journal Supplement? But at any rate one 
 can get here all sides of the problem. The point 
 with Rev. R. Roberts, who started the discussion, is 
 that Jesus as an historical character is one thing, the 
 Christ of tradition quite another. It is assumed that 
 criticism has disposed of the connection between 
 Jesus and Christ. Criticism has done nothing of the 
 kind. Some critics deny the historicity of Jesus 
 altogether. In Germany there is a controversy over 
 the historical reality of Jesus.^ Other critics admit 
 the reality of Jesus, and make Christ a matter of 
 faith. Others reject the Christ entirely and see only 
 a good man named Jesus who is our example to- 
 day. Others admit the existence of Jesus, and, like 
 Nietzsche, rail at Him as the curse of the race by 
 reason of the limitations on self-indulgence which He 
 has imposed on the " super-man." But most of the 
 ablest critics in the world still joyfully see in Jesus 
 
 1 G. A. Johnston Ross, " Religionist and Scientist " in " Religion 
 and the Modern W^orld," p, 14. s For 1909. 
 
 3Cf. Biblische Zeitschrift, 1910, S. 415-17, for bibliography of 
 this discussion; also American Journal of Theology, Jan., 191 1. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 103 
 
 Christ what Paul saw, the man Christ Jesus as the 
 Lord of glory. Son of God and Son of Man. 
 " Therefore, not * away from Paul and back to Jesus,' 
 but rather as one ' of his recent apologists puts it, 
 * Back through Paul to Jesus and to God.' " ^ To 
 Paul Jesus was and is Lord of life, the very power 
 of God at work among men.^ When Ecce Homo 
 first appeared many feared to look at this bold and 
 brilliant picture of the earthly hfe of Jesus. But 
 now we can come back from the fuller study of 
 "the days of His flesh" to a richer knowledge 
 of His heavenly glory. We see no conflict be- 
 tween the " Christ of History and Experience." ^ 
 But one must have the experience before he 
 is really qualified to study the history. The 
 alternative " Jesus or Christ " exists only for those 
 who have never learned by experience "what is 
 the riches of the glory of this mystery among the 
 Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of 
 glory." ^ To Paul Christ is the mystery of God,« 
 " for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the God- 
 head bodily." 7 
 
 1 A. Meyer, Jesus oder Paulus, S. 104, 
 
 « George Milligan, " Paulinism and the Religion of Jesus " in 
 « Religion and the Modern World," p. 253. 
 
 8 Col. i. 15-17; cf. Selbie, « Aspects of Christ," p. 88. 
 
 * Forrest. ^ Col. i. 27. « Col. ii. 2. 
 
 ■J Col. ii. 9. « The Christ of To-day " (G. Campbell Morgan) is 
 the Christ of Paul. 
 
I04 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 5. The Gospel of the Glory of Christ 
 This is Paul's Christology : " The hght of the Gos- 
 pel of the glory of Christ." * He speaks twice in 
 Romans ^ of " My Gospel." He means by that 
 phrase his interpretation of Christ, " the Gospel of 
 Christ." ^ Paul had a definite message about Jesus 
 to preach to men. It is seen in its fullest expression 
 in the Epistle to the Romans, but it is found with 
 more or less fullness in all his writings. There is 
 little excuse for any man, minister or not, to take the 
 time and attention of others, if he has not made up 
 his mind about Jesus Christ. No message of doubt 
 or negation will benefit the soul sick with sin and 
 battling with temptation. Paul felt that he had the 
 right to speak just because of his actual knowledge 
 of Jesus Christ who had revealed Himself in him.^ 
 He knew the Gospel of Christ.^ Paul felt that a high 
 and holy trust was given to him. He told Timothy 
 of " the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God which 
 was committed to my trust." ^ " To catch but a 
 passing vision of the glory of God is to burn forever 
 afterwards with a zeal to make it known." ^ No one 
 could deceive him with a different message. He has 
 only irony for those who put up with " another 
 
 * 2 Cor. iv. 4 ; cf. iv. 6. ' Rom. ii. 16 ; xvi, 25. 
 
 "Rom, XV. 19. 4 Gal. i. 16, » Gal. i. 6-10. 
 
 « 2 Tim. i. II ; cf. Gal. ii. 7. 
 ' Greenough, " The Mind of Christ in St. Paul," p. 14. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST I05 
 
 Jesus," " a different spirit," " a different Gospel." ' It 
 fs only about the most tremendous things in life that 
 Paul has such a strong word. He is the exponent of 
 freedom for the Gentile Christians from the bondage 
 of Judaism. *' For freedom did Christ set us free." ^ 
 But liberty is not license. To give up Christ is to 
 give up liberty and have either the slavery of license 
 or the bondage of the letter. Paul is here an ex- 
 ample for the modern minister in the firm grasp of 
 the essential truth in Christ with the utmost liberality 
 in all other matters. The preacher to-day has to sail 
 between the Scylla of traditionalism and the Charyb- 
 dis of radicalism. But Paul kept his eye on Christ. 
 There is no better interpreter of Jesus Christ than 
 Paul.^ He grew in his apprehension of Christ,^ as 
 can be seen by reading his Epistles in probable 
 chronological order.^ But he never got away from 
 his early conception of Jesus as the Redeemer and 
 of salvation by grace through faith.^ There is a dis- 
 tinct " mental growth " ^ perceptible in Paul as he 
 
 1 2 Cor. xi. 4. 3 Gal. v. i. 
 
 3 See DuBose, " The Gospel According to St. Paul " ; Bruce, 
 " St. Paul's Conception of Christianity " ; Somerville, " St. Paul's 
 Conception of Christ " ; Stevens, " Pauline Theology " ; Dykes, 
 «' The Gospel According to St. Paul " ; Anonymous, " The Fifth 
 Gospel, The Pauline Interpretation." 
 
 ^ See Matheson, " Spiritual Development of St. Paul "; Sabatier, 
 «' The Apostle Paul." 
 
 5 Robertson, " Students' Chronological New Testament." 
 
 fi Acts xiii, 38 f. 
 
 ' Fairbairn, " Studies in Religion and Theology," p. 535. 
 
Io6 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 grapples with the greatest questions ever brought 
 before the human mind. He became the greatest 
 intellectual expounder of Christ in all history. He 
 is that to-day. He had " the light of the Gospel of 
 the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." * He 
 was able " to give the light of the knowledge of the 
 glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."^ The 
 " light " ^ was an illumination of Paul's own inner 
 man. It filled the whole horizon of his Hfe. 
 
 6. W/io Shined in Our Hearts 
 With Paul this was the beginning of everything 
 when God shone in his heart. He has in the words, 
 *' Light shall shine out of darkness," ^ a reference to 
 Genesis i. 3.^ " It is the proclamation of a second Fiat 
 Lux in the hearts of men." ^ Jesus was the Light of 
 the world in the cosmic creative sense in the begin- 
 ning.7 " The life was the light of men. And the 
 light shineth in the darkness ; and the darkness over- 
 came it not." ^ The darkness could not put out the 
 Light in the terrific conflict that ensued. But men 
 became so used to the darkness that they could not 
 see when the light came. " I am come a light into 
 the world ; " ^ " I am the light of the world." '" " And 
 
 1 2 Cor. iv. 4. 2 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 
 ' The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. 
 * 2 Cor. iv. 6. 5 cf, Ps. xcii. 4, « Bernard, in loco. 
 
 "> Cf. John i. 3 f. ; Col. i. 16 f. 8 John i. 4 f. ; cf. John xii. 35. 
 
 9 John xii. 46. w John viii. 12. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 107 
 
 this is the judgment, that the hght is come into the 
 world, and men loved the darkness rather than the 
 light, for their works were evil." ^ " Look therefore 
 whether the light that is in thee be not darkness." ^ 
 Isaiah had foreseen the glory of Christ and that, 
 when He came, men's eyes would be blinded so that 
 they could not see the light.^ Paul has lived to see 
 the sad fulfillment of this prophecy, ** The god of 
 this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, 
 that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, 
 who is the image of God, should not dawn upon 
 them." * It was like daybreak ^ in any heart when 
 God let the Light in the face of Jesus shine in. The 
 word of prophecy was well in its place. It was like 
 " a lamp shining in a dark place." ^ It is a squalid,^ 
 dirty, dark place. In a dungeon a lamp is a blessing 
 of untold comfort. But the lamp was of special use 
 only ** until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in 
 your hearts." ^ The " light-bringing " star has arisen 
 in our hearts. It is daybreak in our souls. We no 
 longer need the lamp. God " shined in our hearts." ^ 
 This is the fundamental fact with Paul, as with all 
 disciples of Jesus. " In that face which flashed upon 
 
 > John iii. 19. 2 Luke xii. 35. 
 
 ' John xii. 40 f. ; Isa. vi. lO. * 2 Cor. iv. 4. 
 
 « Cf. Rev. xxi. 21. 8 2 Peter i. 19. 
 
 ' Here only in the New Testament. 
 
 8 Day-star here only in the New Testament. 
 
 ' Cf. Lietzmann, Handbuch zum JV. 7",, 2 Kor., S. 182. 
 
I08 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 him by Damascus twenty years before, he had seen, 
 and always saw, all that man could see of the in- 
 visible God. It represented for him, and all to whom 
 he preached, the Sovereignty and the Redeeming 
 Love of God, as completely as man could understand 
 them." ' He could not indeed see for the glory of 
 that light which made the noonday sun dim by com- 
 parison.2 But henceforth he could see naught else 
 but the glory in the face of Jesus. This to him was 
 the sheet-anchor of his faith, hope, theology, life. 
 '* I know Him whom I have believed." ^ Others 
 might or might not know Jesus Christ. That did 
 not affect Paul in the least. He is now crucified 
 with Christ. " And it is no longer I that live, but 
 Christ liveth in me." ^ The key-word of Paul's life 
 is " in Christ." Into this mystic phrase Paul pours 
 all the content of his life and thought about Christ.*^ 
 Paul grounds his apologetic in his own experience. 
 That is scientific and modern as well, in perfect 
 harmony with the evolutionary principle. It is no 
 longer possible to ridicule Christian experience as 
 something abnormal and distorted. William James * 
 did a great service to the world in showing the scien- 
 
 * Denney, 2 Corinthians, p. 153. ' Acts xxii, 11 ; xxvi. 13. 
 
 3 2 Tim. i. 12. •iGal, ii. 20. 
 
 6 Cf. Campbell, " Paul the Mystic " ; Deissmann, " Die Neutesta 
 menlliclie Forme) in Christo." 
 
 «* " Varieties in Religious Experience." 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST 109 
 
 tific aspect of religious experience. With Paul it 
 was an illumination ^ which shed hght into the secret 
 places of his heart and Hfe. Christ is the true light 
 who gives all the real light that any man has.^ 
 Those who had once for alP been enlightened could 
 never forget that experience and were ready to en- 
 dure much conflict.* Jesus had brought to light Hfe 
 and immortality through the Gospel for all those who 
 had the eyes of their hearts enlightened.^ The image 
 is a favourite one in the New Testament. John pic- 
 tures heaven as needing no sun nor moon, " for the 
 glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is 
 the Lamb." ^ The dynamic of the Cross is central 
 in Paul's mind.^ He does not mean that his own 
 case is peculiar in this respect. The rather, he 
 argues that, if God could save him through Christ, 
 no one need despair.^ It is just because Jesus can 
 save the worst of men that the preacher has the 
 heart and hope to go on with his work. The self- 
 conscious religionist often rejects Christ when the 
 vilest sinners joyfully repent and put the " righteous " 
 to shame.^ " The adequacy of the Christian redemp- 
 
 J Cf. Eph. i. 18. 2 John i. 9. ^ Heb. vi. 4. 
 
 * Heb. vi. 32. 
 
 5 2 Tim. i. 10 ; Eph. i. 18. ^ Rev. xxi. 23; xxii. 5. 
 
 ' Cf. Clow, " The Cross and Christian Experience." 
 8 Cf. 2 Tim. i. 14-16. 
 
 ^ Luke V. 30 f. Cf. Begbie, " Twice-born Men," and " Souls in 
 Action." 
 
no THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 tion lies in its power to meet this primal need by re- 
 moving the misery and guilt of sin." * 
 
 7. For Jesus' Sake 
 " For we preach not ourselves." ^ That is the 
 poorest theme ever taken by a preacher, himself. It 
 is bad homiletics as well as bad religion when a 
 preacher is full of himself, for he is sure to reveal it 
 in numberless ways. Paul is ironical towards the 
 Judaizers in Corinth who " commend themselves ; 
 but they themselves, measuring themselves by them- 
 selves, and comparing themselves with themselves, 
 are without understanding." ^ They are the standard 
 and are always right. They always come up to the 
 standard, viz., themselves. Paul here evidently has 
 them in mind. They do preach themselves. It is 
 probably true that most ecclesiastical schisms have 
 had their origin in personal jealousies and bickerings. 
 And yet while " Christ Jesus as Lord " is the theme 
 of Paul's preaching, he does in one sense preach 
 himself — " and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' 
 sake."^ He was the slave of Christ and the slave ^ 
 of his brethren. It was much for this proud-spirited 
 man so to describe himself. But this is the spirit of 
 
 » " Final Christianity," by D. MacFadyen, in " Mansfield College 
 Essays," p, 211. 
 » 2 Cor. iv. 5. 3 2 Cor. x. 12. *2 Cor. iv. 5. ^ Bond-slave. 
 
THE ATTRACTION OF CHRIST III 
 
 Jesus, service to others.' It was for this purpose that 
 the hght had come into his own heart " to give the 
 Ught of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face 
 of Jesus Christ." ^ He had faced Christ and must re- 
 flect the glory of that Face to others in darkness. He 
 was to pass on the light. Paul knew " The Passion for 
 Souls" 3 "for Jesus' Sake." Matheson describes 
 the Twelve Apostles of Jesus as " His league of 
 pity."* That is a fit characterization of ministers 
 of Christ. The hunger of the heart is for Christ. 
 Men know it after they have found Him. The need 
 of the preacher is just this. He has his vision of the 
 Face of Christ. He must turn the man without the 
 vision to Christ. The Greeks came to Philip with a 
 pathetic inquiry : " Sir, we would see Jesus." « 
 Strange to say PhiHp did not introduce them to 
 Jesus. He went instead to Andrew. Together they 
 could not unravel the problem and brought it to 
 Jesus. It touched the heart of Christ in the centre. 
 The Cross came before His mind at once. Thus 
 alone would Gentiles be able to come to Him, for 
 thus would the middle wall of partition between Jew 
 and Gentile and both and God be broken down.^ 
 The modern minister stands beside the matchless 
 portrait of Jesus Christ and hears the same cry from the 
 
 1 Matt. XX. 28. « 2 Cor. iv. 6. 3 j. H. Jowett. 
 
 4 « Studies of the Portrait of Christ," Vol. II, p. 83. . 
 
 5Johnxii.2i. 6Eph.ii. 
 
112 THE LIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 masses : " Sir, we would see Jesus." It is not enough 
 just to be willing " to speak a gude word for Jesus 
 Christ," though that is much. One must be able to 
 interpret that Picture to modern men. But first he 
 must himself really see the Face of Christ, else his 
 talk is sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Paul 
 has soared high. " No one ever soared so high on 
 borrowed wings." * 
 
 1 Denney, ** Jesus and the Gospel," p. 3S. 
 
IV 
 
 WITH OPEN FACE— THE PREACHER'S 
 PRIVILEGE 
 
 {2 Cor. Hi. ly-iv. ^) 
 
 " We all, with unveiled face, beholding 
 as in a glass the glory of the Lord," 
 
 — 2 Cor. Hi. 18. 
 
IV 
 
 WITH OPEN FACE—THE PREACHER'S 
 PRIVILEGE 
 
 THE " open face " is really the " unveiled 
 face." * It is in sharp contrast with Moses 
 who put a veil over his face. By " we all '' 
 Paul means all Christians, though the argument is 
 specifically applied to ministers of the Gospel: 
 " Therefore seeing we have this ministry." ^ It is 
 the privilege of all believers ; it is preeminently true 
 of the preacher, not because of office or rank, but 
 because of necessity he is constantly brought face to 
 face with God in Christ. The minister has his 
 " Holy of Holies " with Christ. 
 
 I. Where the Spirit of the Lord Is 
 One naturally thinks of a church by the use of 
 this phrase. ^ Some churches are narrow and reac- 
 tionary, tied to mere tradition. But Paul seems here 
 to have in mind the minister himself. The man into 
 whose heart the Spirit of the Lord has come has 
 freedom from fear that the glory will die away as 
 
 1 There is thus a direct reference to iii. 7, 13. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. iv. I. • 2 Cor. iii. 17. 
 
 "5 
 
Il6 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 with Moses. He is emancipated from anxiety that 
 the people will not give him a proper degree of 
 honour. He is not concerned about the amount 
 of recognition which is accorded him at public func- 
 tions. He has liberty, as Christ's freeman, from the 
 bondage of the letter (condemnation, death). His 
 is a ministry of the Spirit because the Spirit of the 
 Lord has command of his heart and life. The Spirit- 
 filled minister is empty of fear. There is no veil 
 upon his face. Hence he has uninterrupted fellow- 
 ship with Jesus and with the people. He is able to 
 see " the light of the knowledge of the glory of God 
 in the face of Jesus Christ " as well as to " give " it 
 to others. Dr. Sanday * is patient with the Ritschlian 
 type of " reduced Christianity " since it is that much 
 positive gain over mere negation. Ritschlianism is 
 proudly independent of historical facts and professes 
 content with giving Jesus the " worth " of God as a 
 practical matter. He very probably was not God in 
 any metaphysical ontological sense according to this 
 view, but one may find comfort in treating Him so. 
 That is at bottom a make-believe doctrine and un- 
 worthy of the great issue involved.^ The concession 
 of Dr. Sanday about the subliminal self as the locus 
 of the divine nature of Jesus is already urged as 
 
 * " Christologies, Ancient and Modern." 
 9 Cf. Orr. «' Ritschlianism." 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE II7 
 
 making Dr. Sanday more of a Ritschlian than he 
 thinks/ since it does not demand the Virgin Birth. 
 But Paul does not here mean the Hcense of a half- 
 hearted Christianity. That is after all the bondage 
 of doubt and fear. It is love that makes us really 
 free to do right. " Love makes the choice easy. 
 Love makes the face of duty beautiful. Love makes 
 it sweet to keep up with Christ. Love makes the 
 service of goodness freedom." ^ This hberty in serv- 
 ice is to Paul the distinguishing feature of Christi- 
 anity.^ He has no notion of giving it up " because 
 of the false brethren privily brought in, who came in 
 privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ 
 Jesus, that they may bring us into bondage." ^ There 
 are always on hand some men who feel called to slip 
 a noose on the neck of God's freemen, but Paul 
 would wear no man's yoke but that of Christ. " If 
 therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be 
 free indeed." ^ Jesus put it also thus : " Ye shall 
 know the truth and the truth shall make you free." ^ 
 The only real emancipation is in the truth, and Jesus 
 is the truth. Paul is no blind obscurantist. He 
 glories in his freedom from the fetters of Pharisaism. 
 In Christ he faces the whole world and all fact and 
 
 1 Shailer Matthews, American Journal of Theology, Jan., 1910, 
 p. 136. 
 
 2 Greenough, "The Mind of Christ in St. Paul," p. 216. 
 
 8 Ibid.t p. 39. * Gal. ii. 4. ^ John viii. 36. « John viii. 32. 
 
Il8 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 truth with open eye and eager heart. No one has 
 anything Hke the Hberty of the man whose mind is 
 opened by the Spirit of Christ. Some Christians, 
 some ministers, are in truth mere traditionahsts, ob- 
 scurantists afraid of the Hght. But that is not what 
 should be nor what is meant to be by the Spirit of 
 Christ. There are reactionaries in medicine, science, 
 law, business, every calling of life. Certainly the 
 man who refuses to face all the facts of the spiritual 
 life in Christ is not free. Such freedom is only possi- 
 ble where the Spirit of the Lord is. " The Lord is the 
 Spirit " hardly means simple identification of Jesus 
 and the Spirit. The thought is not so simple as 
 that. It is rather Christ manifesting Himself through 
 His Spirit who is the great teacher and interpreter 
 of Christ to men. The minister who is Christ's slave 
 is the real freeman, free to look God and man full in 
 the face with open heart and upright purpose. The 
 Christian minister is to expound principles, not mere 
 rules. There is the utmost frankness in his attitude 
 and life. The veil has been taken away from his 
 face. The people are not afraid to come close to 
 him as they were with Moses.^ The Christian minis- 
 try is thus 3 a " spiritual " ministry, a " Hfe-giving " 
 ministry, a " bold " ministry. " Ours should be a 
 
 > 2 Cor. iii. i6. ' Ex. xxxiv. 30. 
 
 3 F. W. Robertson, « Life and Letters," etc., p. 624 f. 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE II9 
 
 ministry whose words are not compacted of baldness, 
 but boldness ; whose very life is outspokenness, and 
 free fearlessness ; a ministry which has no conceal- 
 ment, no reserve ; which scorns to take a via media 
 because it is safe in the eyes of the world ; which 
 shrinks from the weakness of mere cautiousness, but 
 which exults even in failure, if the truth has been 
 spoken, with a joyful confidence. For a man who 
 sees into the heart of things speaks out not timidly, 
 nor superstitiously, but with a brow unveiled, and 
 with a speech as free as his spirit : * The truth has 
 made him free.' " ' Paul is so free from narrowness 
 and jealousy that he rejoices when Christ is preached 
 even though the motive may be envy of Paul (Phil. 
 i. 17 f.) or mere pretense. 
 
 2. Transformation 
 This freedom of the Christian is no mere theory 
 with Paul. He can proudly appeal to the experience 
 of all real disciples, preachers and all, in contrast to 
 the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation. " We all, 
 with unveiled face, are transformed into the same 
 image." ^ There is doubt whether here Paul means 
 
 1 F. W. Robertson, « Life and Letters," etc., p. 675. Cf. Words- 
 worth ; 
 
 " While with an eye made quiet by the power 
 Of harmony and the deep power of joy 
 We see into the life of things." 
 a 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
 
I20 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 " beholding in a mirror " or " reflecting as a mirror." ^ 
 The analogy of i Corinthians xiii. 12: "For now 
 we see in a mirror, darkly ; but then face to face " 
 argues for " beholding." ^ It is true that we shall not 
 look Christ fully in the face till we meet Him in glory 
 when we shall see Him as He is.^ But even Moses 
 had no veil on his face as he beheld the glory of 
 God and it can hardly be a mere indirect look at 
 Christ that Paul has in mind. He expressly men- 
 tions *' the face of Jesus Christ." It is doubtless 
 true, however, that this word is to be thus translated 
 here, since Paul in this context has both ideas in 
 mind. All believers have free access to the Face of 
 Jesus Christ, the Glory and Image of God. It is no 
 mere contemplation of the moral beauty of Jesus of 
 Nazareth that fills the vision of Paul. No mere his- 
 torical study of the facts in the earthly life of Jesus 
 will suffice to work this transformation in the heart 
 and life. The transformation is wrought by the 
 Spirit of God in the heart that, free from the veil, is 
 in actual touch with Christ the Lord of glory.^ 
 There is contemplation of the glory of Christ, trans- 
 formation into the glory of Christ, final assimilation 
 
 * Only here in the New Testament. 
 
 2 So in Philo, Le,s^. All. iii. 33, a comment on Ex. xxxiii. 18. 
 The active means to mirror or reflect, while the middle voice, as 
 here, means to behold in a mirror, Cf. Bernard, in loco; Meyer, in 
 loco ; Bachmann, in loco^ for discussion of the details. 
 
 * I John iii. 2. ■» Denney, 2 Corinthians, p. 140 f. 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE 121 
 
 into the glory of Christ.* The word for " transfor- 
 mation " ^ is a remarkable one. It is the word used of 
 the glory of Christ at the Transfiguration. It is 
 then a transfiguration which we are undergoing. It 
 is the present tense and the act is represented as a 
 process. The new life in Christ begins with a look 
 as the heart turns to Him. It grows by looking also, 
 steadily bathing in the glory of the Sun of righteous- 
 ness. " In spiritual sight, the soul which beholds is 
 a mirror." ^ What seems like an impossibility van- 
 ishes when we consider that it is the glory of God in 
 Christ that Paul has in mind and that the seeing 
 takes place by the eye of faith, the eye of the soul.^ 
 It is true that, as contrasted with the final vision of 
 Christ, we now see through a mirror darkly. " But 
 nothing intervenes between my Lord and me, when 
 I love and trust." ^ The reahty of this spiritual per- 
 ception of Christ is witnessed by millions of believers 
 in all the ages since Paul wrote these words. To 
 many Jesus Christ is the most real person in the 
 universe. " The whole tendency of modern thought 
 is to emphasize the importance of personality. Per- 
 sonality is the predominant factor in history and in 
 
 * Maclaren, " Expositions of Holy Scripture, " in loco. 
 
 'Cf. Matt. xvii. 2. 
 
 ' Maclaren, " Expositions of Holy Scripture, " in loco. 
 
 4 Ibid. 
 
 ^Ibid, 
 
122 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 life."^ Jesus had definitely laid hold on ^ Paul. 
 Henceforth to " gain Christ," to " know Him," to 
 learn " the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
 Jesus my Lord," all this was the " one thing " which 
 consumed his soul, the single goal of his Hfe-am- 
 bition.3 A minister, to whom this experience of 
 Christ is unknown, cannot be considered qualified 
 to tell men about Jesus. He must himself be trans- 
 figured by the Spirit of Christ, have the Spirit of 
 Christ in him,^ if he hopes to see others transfigured 
 by his hfe and words. This spiritual appropriation 
 is the first result of contact with Christ. This is to 
 " eat " ^ Christ, to " see " the Face of Christ, to " be- 
 hold " His glory, to become like Him, even as Moses 
 had the glory of God upon him. There is no magic 
 about it. There is mysticism, indeed, for religion is 
 mysticism. It is the vital touch of the human spirit 
 by the Spirit of Christ. Thus the vision of Christ 
 comes to the soul. Thus the vision is continued. 
 The Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles, the Apocalypse, 
 the work of Christ in the hearts of men, the work of 
 Christ in our own hearts — these are all mirrors to 
 help us see the glory of Christ.*' 
 3. Reflection 
 As we have already seen, there is no doubt that 
 
 « Richard Brook, The Interpreter, Jan., 1911, art, " The Living 
 Christ and the Christian Life." « Phil. iii. 12. 3 Phil. iii. 8-14. 
 < Rom. viii. 9. e John vi. 57. e cf. Bachraann, in loco. 
 
THE preacher's PRIVILEGE 1 23 
 
 this context calls for " reflecting as a mirror the 
 glory of the Lord " as an implied idea however Paul 
 meant the precise word here employed. Stanley^ 
 holds that " Christians having, hke Moses, received 
 in their lives the reflected glory of the divine 
 presence, as Moses received it on his countenance, 
 are unlike Moses in that they have no fear, such as 
 his, of its vanishing away, but are confident of its 
 continuing to shine in them with increasing lustre." 
 The Christian puts on no veil for he has nothing to 
 conceal. His life is an open book to the world. He 
 does not, indeed, claim that his life is perfect, but 
 that there is at least a reflection, however dim, of the 
 real spirit and power of Christ, his Lord. " There 
 is no reflection of the light without a previous re- 
 ception of the light. In bodily sight, the eye is a 
 mirror, and there is no sight without an image of the 
 thing perceived being formed in the perceiving eye." ^ 
 Chrysostom compares the influence of the light of 
 Christ on us to polished silver lying in the sunshine 
 and sending back the rays which strike it.^ He says, 
 " We not only look upon the glory of God, but also 
 catch thence a kind of radiance." ^ But, at any rate, 
 reflection is an inevitable result of transformation.® 
 
 1 2 Corinthians, in loco. 
 
 ' Maclaren, " Expositions of Holy Scripture," in loco. 
 
 ' Denney, 2 Corinthians, in loco. * Horn. VII on 2 C<K» 
 
 *Denney, in loco. 
 
124 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 If we behold the glory of the Lord, we are trans- 
 formed into the image of what we behold. If we 
 are transformed, we reflect that image. There is no 
 veil to prevent the glory from being seen, if only the 
 glory is there to be seen. It is a severe test to which 
 the Apostle John calls us when he says : " He that 
 saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk 
 even as He walked." ' But it is the test to which we 
 have to submit. In particular, ministers of the Gos- 
 pel cannot refuse to be held up to the light which 
 they hold forth to others. The world does not de- 
 mand absolute perfection of us. It does require sin- 
 cerity and steady going on in spite of frequent 
 stumblings. " Even if a man be overtaken in a fault, 
 ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in a spirit 
 of meekness ; looking to thyself lest thou also be 
 tempted." 2 Jesus singled out Peter for a special 
 message^ after His resurrection and a special ap- 
 pearance. Paul was glad in the end to rejoice in the 
 recovery of usefulness by John Mark who had once 
 deserted the work.^ It was part of Paul's call " to 
 open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to 
 hght." ^ '• It is a critical moment in the history of 
 the soul when the eyes are opened. Everything de- 
 pends on whether the next step is taken. Men's 
 
 » I John ii. 6. « Gal. vi. i. 3 Mark xvi. 7. 
 
 4 Acts XV. 38 ; 2 Tim. iv. 1 1. 6 Acts xxvi. 18. 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE 125 
 
 eyes are often opened, and yet they do not turn from 
 darkness to light. Who among us has not seen, as 
 in a flash of light, the error of his ways, and has 
 loathed himself, and had the self-abasing cry on his 
 lips, and yet has turned to darkness again and 
 plunged even more recklessly into evil? It is pos- 
 sible for a man to know the misery of wrong-doing, 
 and to describe it with such a horror of it as to rouse 
 others to forsake it, and yet because he loves dark- 
 ness better than light to continue to do the deeds of 
 evil." * There is much to humble any man who 
 stands in the white light of Christ's presence. And 
 then to know that men will see Christ or not accord- 
 ing as He is reflected in our own conduct ! But here 
 is just the appeal to the best and highest in us. Peter 
 and John were both with Jesus at His trial ; John in 
 the court room, Peter with the rabble denying Him 
 with oaths and curses. But both afterwards showed 
 courage and were recognized as having been with 
 Christ.^ John had the courage of consistency, Peter 
 that of recovery. It has not been easy for Christ to 
 impart to men His passion for humanity,^ but He 
 has done it and His kingdom goes on with the 
 momentum of His Spirit. One thing is certain. It 
 does only harm to affect likeness to Christ which we 
 
 1 Clow, " The Cross in Christian Experience," pp. 259 f. 
 
 2 Acts iv, 13, 20. 
 
 3 Carver, " Missions and Modern Thought," p. 283. 
 
126 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 do not possess. Hypocrisy is the sin which called 
 forth the most terrible words uttered by Jesus.' The 
 only way to reflect the glory of God in Christ is to 
 be hke Him. There is no need of a veil so long as 
 we continue to behold the face of Christ. If we 
 lose sight of His face and glory, no veil can hide 
 our failure from men. " Ye are the light of the 
 world," says Jesus. " Even so let your light shine 
 before men." 
 
 4. Perseverance 
 " We faint not," ^ says Paul. He still has before him 
 " the cry of human insufficiency " ^ uttered in Corin- 
 thians ii. 16. He is still answering it in a triumphant 
 tone. The Greek manuscripts vary here in the word 
 for "faint." The best attested word* occurs also in 
 verse sixteen and in Galatians vi. 9 : " And let us not 
 be weary in well-doing : for in due season we shall 
 reap^ if we faint not." There are difficulties enough 
 in a ministry with all this transcendent glory to test 
 the stoutest heart. When Paul is a prisoner in Rome 
 he actually has to cheer the Christians who have 
 grown discouraged by reason of his troubles: 
 " Wherefore I ask that you faint not at my tribula- 
 tions for you." 5 Paul reminds Timothy that God 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 2 2 Cor. iv. I. 
 ' Greenough, « The Mind of Christ in St. Paul," p. 293. 
 
 * Cf. our " giving in " to evil. 6 Eph, jij, i^. 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE 1 27 
 
 had given us a spirit of power, not of cowardly fear.* 
 He did this when he was an old preacher in prison 
 and facing certain death while Timothy was young 
 and at work. Timothy was the one who needed to 
 be exhorted to endure hardship as a good soldier 
 of Christ." ^ Etymologically the word for " faint " 
 could mean to " abandon one's self to badness," but 
 no examples of just this sense occur. But it is used for 
 cowardly surrender. Often the dead pull of things is 
 hard to overcome. It is easy just to give up and 
 quit. Just to stick to one's task and go on is the 
 hard thing when the first flush of the romance is 
 over. John Mark "went not to the work "^ when 
 he faced at Perga the perils of rivers and perils of 
 robbers that confronted Paul and Barnabas. John 
 Mark went home to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas 
 conquered a kingdom for Christ. Courage in the 
 ministry comes from the clear vision of Christ and 
 the world's need of Him. "Therefore seeing we 
 have this ministry," * says Paul ; this ministry of 
 spiritual freedom and power. It is the muck-raker 
 who does not see the angels. Elisha's servant grew 
 afraid at Dothan when he saw the host with horses 
 and chariots : '* Alas, my master ! how shall we do ? 
 And he answered, Fear not : for they that are with 
 
 1 2 Tim. i. 7. * 2 Tim. ii. 1-13. ^ Acts xv. 36. 
 
 * 2 Cor. iv. I. He applies here all the argument about the su- 
 periority of the ministry of the New Covenant to that of the Old. 
 
128 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 us are more than they that be with them. And 
 EHsha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his 
 eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the 
 eyes of the young man ; and he saw : and, behold, 
 the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire 
 round about Elisha." * Oh, for the vision of the 
 power of Christ in the midst of the battle. Paul had 
 this vision, " even as we obtained mercy." ^ He 
 never ceases to rejoice in that.^ The true leader 
 sounds the bugle note of victory if the lines begin to 
 waver. There is no retreat for Paul, but the onward 
 march. The ground of Paul's cheer is not in the 
 marks of appreciation which he received from men. 
 It springs from the fresh gaze into the face of Jesus. 
 Look at Jesus and you will go on with your task. 
 " And let us not be weary in well-doing : for in due 
 season we shall reap, if we faint not." 
 
 In Chapter I occurs a letter from a minister who 
 gave up the ministry. Here is a reply in the same 
 journal : 
 
 " Dear William : I have not a doubt that all 
 your causes of discouragement are real, and hard to 
 bear ; but I am sorry you are leaving the pastorate. 
 You have been a long time on your present field. 
 Can you not try another one ? New people, and 
 different conditions, will doubtless cheer you and give 
 you a fresh grip. 
 
 » 2 Kings vii. 15-17. *2 Cor. iv. I. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. vii. 25 ; i Tim. i. 13, 16. 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE 129 
 
 " Of course, if you have become convinced that 
 God never called you to the ministry, that is an end 
 of the matter, and ought to be. But if it is a matter 
 of disappointment, suffering, and fear of the future, 
 you must remember that Christian ministers to-day 
 are the successors of the prophets. The prophet is 
 the man of larger vision than the people, the man 
 who seeks to redeem the people to his own higher 
 standards, the man who pleads with God for the peo- 
 ple and asks that He be patient with their dullness 
 and forgive their sins. The minister who stands in 
 this relation to the people must ever bear in his heart 
 something of disappointment and suffering. 
 
 " No Christian minister can be free from the re- 
 demptive principle, that the chastisement of the 
 people's peace is upon him, and with his stripes they 
 are healed. In different centuries this principle finds 
 expression in different forms. Of the ancient proph- 
 ets, the Lord said, ' Which of them did your fathers 
 not stone ? ' Of the modern prophets it might with 
 equal pertinency be inquired, ' To which of them do 
 your churches pay salaries regularly, and in sufficient 
 amount ? ' I confess, William, that for myself, I pre- 
 fer the latter alternative. 
 
 '* But what is more, the minister of Christ must 
 not forget the experiences of his Lord, and must be 
 ready, when necessary, to undergo like experiences. 
 At Capernaum on one occasion, all but the twelve 
 left the Saviour, and to these He said, ' Will ye also 
 go away ? ' That is. He was left with a * few faith- 
 ful ones.' But these few became the salt of the earth, 
 just as before them the * remnant ' was the salt of 
 Israel. The words, ' The servant is not above his 
 master,' had scarcely fallen from the lips of Christ 
 ere He was crucified, and crucified by religious people. 
 For myself, William, I would rather endure any 
 modern crucifixion than the crucifixion that was 
 
130 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 meted out to my Master. I would rather endure 
 any hardships which are incident to the modern min- 
 istry, than to have gone to prison and to death with 
 Paul and the long list of martyrs that stretches through 
 the centuries. The life of the prophet is much the same 
 in every age. The servant is not above his Master. 
 So far, at least, the redemption of the world has been 
 achieved through self-sacrificing and suffering. 
 
 " The real questions which confront the Christian 
 minister of to-day are: (i) The question of his own 
 call to the ministry ; (2) the question of his faith in 
 God's redemptive processes, and (3) the question of 
 his courage to endure those processes as he finds 
 them expressed in modern life. 
 
 " Our age is in danger of making redemptive suffer- 
 ing a theory which found sufficient expression 2,000 
 years ago in Jesus Christ. Paul teaches that Christians 
 — and it must be preeminently true of Christian minis- 
 ters — are to fill up the measure of Christ's suffering. 
 The redemptive suffering that starts people on the 
 way to Christ is suffering that comes upon us to-day, 
 and is brought upon us by present conditions, and 
 which we endure for Christ's sake. 
 
 " Do not think that I am unsympathetic with your 
 discouragement, old friend, but you know that you 
 are only one of many ministers at this time who are 
 leaving the ministry for secular work, though all may 
 not be as frank as you in stating the reasons. I am 
 only expressing to you what has occurred to me many 
 times before, viz., the conviction that a more heroic 
 note needs to be struck for the Christian ministry 
 to-day, a note which rings true to the spirit of the 
 prophets, the Christ, and the apostles." 
 
 5. Renunciation 
 " But we have renounced the hidden things of 
 shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE 13I 
 
 word of God deceitfully." ^ This is a very remark- 
 able passage and strikes deep into the minister's 
 heart and life. Paul evidently has before him the 
 bitter Judaizers at Corinth who had been full of 
 schemes and plots against Paul and the work of 
 Christ. Paul had bidden " the hidden things " of 
 shame be gone. He had declined^ every suggestion 
 and impulse that would not bear the Hght. " The 
 hidden things of shame " ^ are all those things which 
 one's sense of honour does not allow to come to the 
 light. He does not specify further. If you lift a 
 rock in the spring-time, the bugs flee from the light. 
 The preacher's heart is not to be the receptacle 
 of private vengeance, ecclesiastical plots, impure 
 thoughts of any kind. " Renounce the devil and all 
 his works " * is a good interpretation of Paul's idea. 
 One who looks constantly into the face of Christ will 
 not wish to revel in the hidden things of shame. A 
 preacher can overdo the " slumming " business and 
 make it a satisfaction of morbid curiosity instead of 
 real desire to help the erring. Paul mentions two 
 particulars of the hidden things of shame. One is 
 "walking in craftiness." The word for craftiness^ 
 means being willing to resort to any practice to carry 
 one's point. The end does not justify the means 
 
 » 2 Cor, iv. 2. ^ Renounced. 
 
 3Cf. I Cor. iv. 5, the hidden things of darkness. 
 
 * The Prayer-Book. ^ Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 3. 
 
132 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 with Paul nor with Christ. The minister does his 
 best work in the open. He opens his own heart to 
 God and to the people. That is his strength. He 
 is stronger without the veil. The other particular is 
 " handling the word of God deceitfully." * Both of 
 these things the Judaizers did. They had made a 
 misuse and a misapplication of the Word of God. 
 The devil could quote Scripture. He is never hap- 
 pier than when he can get preachers to do his work.^ 
 " And no marvel ; for even Satan fashioneth himself 
 into an angel of light." The wreckers who wave 
 false lights on the coast to lure unsuspecting ships 
 to ruin are no worse than men who wilfully twist the 
 Word of God to their own selfish schemes and pur- 
 poses. Paul had spoken of this matter once before.' 
 The Word of God calls for honesty of interpretation 
 and exposition. Intellectual honesty is a first essen- 
 tial in a true preacher. The prophet of Christ is no 
 mere juggler of words. He is dealing with the most 
 serious and sacred things in life and must speak with 
 frankness of mind and heart. *' Observe St. Paul's 
 argument : We do not tamper with the Word of 
 God. It is not concealed or darkened by us ; for our 
 very work is to spread light, to throw sunshine on 
 every side, and in every way fearlessly to declare the 
 truth, to dread no consequences ; for no real minister 
 1 Cf. I Pet. iii. lo. « 2 Cor. xi. 15. » 2 Cor. ii. 17. 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE I33 
 
 of Christ can be afraid of illumination." ^ The man 
 who looks in the face of Christ looks up and not 
 down. He looks all men in the eye. 
 
 6. Manifestation of the Truth 
 " But by the manifestation of the truth commend- 
 ing ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight 
 of God."^ This is Paul's pohcy as a minister of 
 Christ, perfect candour, in contrast to the conduct of 
 the Judaizers. They had accused him of all sorts of 
 tricks, none of which were true. This was his letter 
 of commendation,^ viz., the full truth. He com- 
 mended himself by telling the truth. The word for 
 truth ^ means unconcealed. The lid is removed that 
 all may see. The word " manifestation " ^ goes well 
 with truth. " We spake all things to you in truth." ^ 
 The preacher's province is that of truth. He has no 
 call to any other realm. Pilate was ignorant of the 
 kingdom of truth of which Jesus is King and did not 
 see that such an abstract ideality interfered at all 
 with the rule of Caesar. But the interpreter of Jesus, 
 who is the truth, while hospitable to all truth both 
 speculative and concrete, is not directly concerned 
 with the pursuit of absolute theoretical truth. Scien- 
 
 * F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," etc., p. 628. 
 
 '2 Cor. iv. 2. ^Cf. 2 Cor. iii. i. 
 
 <Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 10, the truth of Christ. 
 
 « Cf. I Cor. xii. 7. « 2 Cor. vii. 14. 
 
134 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 tific research per se and as an end in itself is not the 
 function of the preacher. Certainly philosophy as 
 usually taught does not cross the path of the preacher. 
 The minister is a pragmatist in fact, whatever he is 
 in theory. The truth which the preacher is to mani- 
 fest is the realm of spiritual reality and practical 
 ethics, not speculative ontology and cosmology. 
 The preacher grips the conscience of men. He 
 misses the mark when he appeals merely to intel- 
 lectual curiosity, aesthetic interest, or the pleasures 
 of the imagination or emotions. The conscience 
 and the will must be confronted ' with Christ. " The 
 appeal to conscience can never be omitted with 
 safety, and any presentation of Christianity which 
 is neglectful of the verdict of conscience on the doc- 
 trines taught is at once un-apostolic and un-Christ- 
 like."^ It is only by placing his plea on this highest 
 plane that the minister has authority. Clothed with 
 truth he has the right to storm the citadel of every 
 man's heart. It is this that makes the real preacher 
 the master of men. Men are so busy with things 
 that they neglect themselves — their best selves — and 
 God. The truth comes as a rude shock. " It is the 
 evil heart which hides the truth. Light shines on 
 all — that is, all who are in a natural human state, all 
 who can feel, all who have not deadened the spiritual 
 
 * Pros. « Bernard, in loco. 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE I35 
 
 sense. . . . The evidence of the sun is its Hght 
 and not the shadow on the dial. So Christ is divine 
 to those who are of the truth." * If one sees Christ 
 clearly, he has redemptive truth. It is well also if 
 he can add speculative truth about the world, but 
 that is distinctly secondary. The old war between 
 philosophy and religion is disappearing. Professor 
 James, of Harvard, has won for religion the right of 
 fair treatment from philosophy as a fact in itself 
 worthy of study. It is by no means certain that 
 philosophy will ever understand religion.^ We need 
 not seek to define more closely Paul's use of " truth " 
 and " conscience." He is no slave of words nor 
 does he set forth a developed and consistent formula 
 of psychological terms. He makes his appeal to the 
 moral judgment of man and does it in the fullness of 
 truth.3 
 
 7. A Veiled Gospel 
 ** And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in 
 them that perish : in whom the God of this world 
 hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the 
 light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the 
 image of God, should not dawn upon them." ^ Paul 
 
 1 F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," etc., p. 628, 
 
 2 " Religion and Philosophy," by T. M. Watt, in " Mansfield Col- 
 lege Essays," p. 334. 
 
 ' Cf. " Hebrew Psychology in Relation to Pauline Anthropology," 
 by H. W, Robinson, in *« Mansfield College Essays," p. 267 fif. 
 
 * 2 Cor. iv. 3 f. 
 
136 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 had manifested the truth, had declared his Gospel of 
 the glory of Christ. There was no excuse for those 
 who heard if they did not understand. There is no 
 veil over the face of Christ. There is no veil over 
 the face of Paul and the other ministers of the New 
 Covenant. There is no veil over the Gospel as 
 preached by Paul. But it is a sad fact that there is a 
 veil over the hearts of many who hear as there was 
 a veil over the hearts of the Jews who read Moses 
 and could not see the Messiah in Jesus.' It is a sad 
 situation with which Paul is confronted. In Romans 
 ix.-xi. he will soon be explaining how God is still 
 true to His Word though the great mass of the Jews 
 have rejected the Gospel of Christ. The spiritual 
 Israel he interprets as the real Israel of promise and 
 this Israel included both Gentiles and Jews. The 
 children of faith are the heirs of the promise. Every 
 minister of the Gospel meets a Hke situation in his 
 work. " The Gospel remains a secret, an impotent 
 ineffective secret, to many who hear it again and 
 again. Paul faces the difficulty without flinching, 
 though the answer is appalling." ^ It is sometimes 
 true, beyond doubt, that the minister has not done 
 his full duty. He has not understood the problem 
 
 * The condition in 2 Cor. iv. 3 is of the first class (determined as 
 fulfilled) and assumes the statement as a fact. Cf. Robertson, 
 " Short Grammar of the Greek New Testament," p. l6l. 
 
 ' Denney, 2 Corinthians, p. 148. 
 
THE PREACHER'S PRIVILEGE 137 
 
 in this particular field or he has not delivered the 
 message with sufficient clearness, ability or earnest- 
 ness. Every preacher has his moments of sorrow 
 over such shortcomings. But that is not the point 
 made here by Paul. He does not claim perfection 
 for himself. What he says is that many have wil- 
 fully shut their eyes to the light in the face of Jesus. 
 They have let " the god of this world " blind their 
 minds so that they cannot understand. He is 
 using language like that of the rabbis who called 
 " Sammael " the " second god." He was the evil 
 spirit who was considered the special foe of Israel.' 
 Jesus called Satan " the prince of this world." ^ Paul 
 alluded to some who made a god of their belly .^ 
 This warning is peculiarly pertinent just now when 
 mammon has such a hold on the hearts of men as is 
 seen in the mad race for money at the cost of prin- 
 ciple, virtue of men and women, law and order, love 
 of man and God. The Pharisees were lovers of 
 money .^ Paul found money to be a root of all kinds 
 of evil.^ But there is much more than money which 
 is here involved. The spirit of worldliness opposes 
 religion, resents the effort to check desires of the 
 flesh, opposes real Christianity though willing to com- 
 promise with the forms of public worship if no effort 
 
 1 Wetstein, in loco. Cf. Bernard, in loco. 
 
 2 John xii, 31. 'Phil. iii. 19. 
 * Luke xvi. 14. ^ I Tim. vi. 10. 
 
138 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 is made to make people really spiritual and good, is 
 rightly called by Paul " the god of this age." The 
 time-spirit {Zeitgeist) has amazing success in putting 
 out the eyes of the modern Samsons and making 
 them grind the treadmill of material things to the 
 neglect and death of the spiritual aspirations and 
 life. Hear Denney : * " What sleepy conscience, 
 what moral mediocrity, itself purblind, only dimly 
 conscious of the height of the Christian calling, and 
 vexed by no aspirations towards it, has any right to 
 say that it is too much to call Satan ' the god of this 
 world ' ? " As already explained, it is possible that 
 '• in them that perish : in whom " may be taken as 
 " by the perishing things by which." ^ At any rate 
 it is by flaunting before the eyes of the unbelieving 
 the perishing toys of earth that the god of this world 
 blinds the hearts of men to the glory of Christ and 
 the worth of the spiritual hfe. " Men who find their 
 all in the world — how can they, fevered by its busi- 
 ness, excited by its pleasures, petrified by its maxims, 
 see God in His purity, or comprehend the calm 
 radiance of eternity ? " ^ Jesus ^ and PauP both saw 
 in the hardness of men's hearts the fulfillment of 
 Isaiah's prophecy. 
 
 1 2 Corinthians, p. 156. 
 
 * The gender may be neuter in the Greek. 
 
 ' F. W, Robertson, " Life and Letters," etc., p. 629, 
 
 < John xii. 37-41. 6 Acts xxviii. 25-28. 
 
THE preacher's PRIVILEGE I39 
 
 8. From Glory to Glory 
 The Apostle Paul was a firm believer in progress. 
 By this phrase * he aptly sets forth the spiritual de- 
 velopment of all those who keep in constant touch 
 with the glory of Christ. The joy of his life was the 
 hope of making more progress. He had a holy dis- 
 content with what he had already done and an eager 
 impetuosity to push on " towards the goal unto the 
 prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." ^ 
 The more Paul saw of Jesus the more dissatisfied he 
 became with himself. The progress that Paul is here 
 thinking of is not increased reputation, power, influ- 
 ence. Those are mere accidents, though I am glad 
 to quote this sentence from Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman: 
 '• Never was there such a day as this for the preacher." 
 Paul is contemplating a richer personality, one more 
 like Jesus, one more completely surrendered to the 
 Spirit, one that more effectively reflects the glory of 
 God to men. It is in sooth a good thing when a 
 minister's development is manifest to all.^ That is a 
 ground of rejoicing. The saints of God dehght in a 
 minister who knows how to handle the Word of God 
 rightly, who is meet for the Master's use, prepared 
 unto every good work.^ But Paul does not mean for 
 the preacher himself to be marking notches in his 
 
 ^2 Cor. iii. 18. « Phil. iii. 14. « i Tim. iv. 15. 
 
 * 2 Tim. ii. 15, 21. 
 
140 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 progress. The man who has made most spiritual 
 development may be least conscious of it. Certainly 
 there can be no posing for effect nor attitudinizing 
 on the part of the man who has entered most into 
 the heart of Jesus, who has gazed longest at the glory 
 of Christ, who has been most completely transfigured 
 into the likeness of Christ. That man will see more 
 clearly the sins in his heart in the clear white light 
 of the Cross. There are higher heights of glory 
 ahead and the Face of Christ beckons on. Some 
 day " we shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him 
 even as He is." ' 
 
 1 1 John iii. 2. 
 
THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 —THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS 
 
 {2 Cor. iv. 7-1 s) 
 
 " But we have this treasure in earthen 
 vessels, that the exceeding greatness 
 of the power may be of God, and not 
 from ourselves." 
 
 —2 Cor. iv. 7. 
 
THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS— 
 THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS 
 
 I. The Weaknesses of Preachers 
 
 IT is not clear whether the sudden contrast be- 
 tween the precious " hght of the knowledge of 
 the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ " 
 and the feeble and imperfect medium through which 
 this " Gospel of the glory of Christ " is conveyed to 
 men is suggested to Paul by the inherent facts in the 
 case or also by taunts of his enemies about his own 
 personal weaknesses/ Later in the Epistle Paul 
 does reveal knowledge of the sneers made against 
 him and his work in Corinth. " For his letters, 
 they say, are weighty and strong; but his bodily 
 presence is weak, and his speech is of no account." * 
 This was a personal stab at the defects of his bodily 
 presence, otherwise unknown to us, for the traditions 
 about his being a hunchback and having weak eyes 
 have no support in Paul's Epistles unless weak eyes 
 are suggested by Galatians iv. 15 : " Ye would have 
 plucked out your eyes and given them to me." But 
 he did once, if not always, have " a temptation to 
 
 * See Meyer, in loco, and Bachmann, in loco. 2 2 Cor. x. 10. 
 
 143 
 
144 THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 you in my flesh " ' which the Galatians had not de- 
 spised. In spite of this they had received him " as 
 an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus " would have 
 been welcomed. Evidently Paul was conscious of 
 bodily imperfections and limitations. He had no 
 disposition to pose as a martyr because of his de- 
 fects. He mentions his " weakness " ^ because his 
 enemies had flung it in his face, so to speak. He 
 had his "thorn in the flesh," whatever it was (a 
 blessed ignorance to all ministers who have thus 
 a delicate bond of union with Paul), and had 
 learned how to bear his burden, even to ** take 
 pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, 
 in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake; 
 for when I am weak, then am I strong." ^ To his 
 prayer for the removal of the thorn, he had this 
 answer : " My grace is sufficient for thee : for My 
 power is made perfect in weakness." That hard 
 lesson Paul, like the rest of us, had to learn by long 
 experience. Some of the enemies of Paul criticized 
 his preaching. " His speech is of no account." 
 This probably means that he will be afraid to say in 
 speech what he writes in letters rather than deprecia- 
 tion of his style of utterance. Paul made no claim 
 to great oratory * and knew that he did not please 
 
 * Gal. iv. 14. 2 2 Cor. xi. 30. s 2 Cor. xii. 10. 
 
 * I Cor. ii. 2. 
 
THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS I45 
 
 all men. " I was with you in weakness, and in fear, 
 and in much trembling. And my speech and my 
 preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom." * 
 It was a constant wonder ^ to Paul that Jesus could 
 have found any good in him as a minister of the 
 Gospel, one who had been " a blasphemer, and a 
 persecutor, and injurious." He still felt himself to 
 be the chief of sinners. There may have been an 
 undertone of acknowledgment of the taunts of his 
 enemies in this comparison. The preacher is surely 
 placed in an embarrassing position when he becomes 
 the target of personal criticism from people who are 
 themselves anything but perfect. He is not able to 
 stand up and speak for himself, if he has the spirit 
 of humility and knows how frail after all he is. There 
 is exquisite suffering in many a minister's heart as a 
 result of cutting, heartless criticisms of his person, his 
 speech, and his hfe. One must not be oversensitive, 
 least of all pretend to be perfect or above criticism. 
 The note that Paul strikes here is the chord of 
 sympathy. "There is less of polemical argument, 
 and more of the natural outpouring of his own feel- 
 ings in this section, than in most other parts of the 
 Epistle/'^ "We have this treasure in earthen ves- 
 sels." ^ It is, beyond all doubt, a matter of surprise 
 
 1 I Cor. ii. 3. » I Tim. i. I2ff. 'Stanley, in loco. 
 
 4 Cf. 2 Tim. ii. 20. 
 
146 THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 that God should entrust this matchless treasure to 
 feeble instruments whom the axe and the lion can 
 destroy/ " The disproportion between his [man's] 
 own nature and powers, and the high calling to which 
 he has been called, flashes across his mind." ^ The 
 vessel of clay ^ is very fragile and is easily broken and 
 destroyed. Yet to-day the ostraka, broken pieces of 
 pottery picked up in the sands of Egypt, are bearing 
 eloquent testimony to the life of the people in Paul's 
 own time.* The Persian kings kept their gold and 
 silver in earthenware jars.® There is a rabbinical 
 story of Rabbi Joshua who was taunted by the 
 emperor's daughter on his mean appearance. He 
 pointed to the earthen jars which contained her 
 father's wines. She then placed the wine in silver 
 vessels when it turned sour, whereon the rabbi 
 ventured to remind her that the humblest vessels 
 sometimes contained the highest wisdom.^ The use 
 of " earthen vessel " as a figure for man's littleness as 
 compared with God's greatness is frequent.^ He is 
 like the potter's clay. There are, to be sure, differ- 
 ences in men.^ They do not all have precisely the 
 same frailties and limitations, but they all have them. 
 
 1 F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," etc., p. 629. 
 * Denney, i?i loco. ' Ostrakinos. 
 
 *Cf. Deissmann, "Light from the Ancient East.'* 
 ' Herodotus, Vol. Ill, p. 96. « Cf. Stanley, h: loco, and Wetstein. 
 ■> Cf. Job X. 9; Isa. XXX. 14; Jer. xix. ii ; 2 Esdras iv. ii ; Rom, 
 ix. 20 ff.; 2 Tim. ii. 20. « 2 Tim. ii. 20. 
 
THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS. 147 
 
 The church that is looking for perfection at a thou- 
 sand dollars a year or at ten thousand will look in 
 vain. It is a fearful mistake to expect or demand an 
 impossible standard in the preacher. There can only 
 result dissatisfaction. Ministers are men and so long 
 as other men are not perfect, there is no hope of 
 perfection in the ministry. If God could not use 
 poor instruments and feeble voices, He would make 
 no music. Socrates disdained the title of teacher 
 and called himself a fellow-inquirer.* There is, of 
 course, small consolation in noting the defects of 
 other men, but in this view it is necessary to get the 
 true perspective. Abraham was guilty of duplicity, 
 and yet he became the man of faith and the friend 
 of God. Moses had his halting speech and quick 
 temper, yet he was the man chosen to make a nation 
 and to commune with God. David was guilty of 
 adultery and murder, but he repented and became a 
 man after God's own heart and the sweet singer of 
 Israel for all time. Elijah ran from Jezebel and sat 
 under the juniper tree, but he had stood on Carmel 
 and defied Ahab and all the prophets of Baal and he 
 heard the still small voice of God at Horeb. Isaiah, 
 in the presence of the heavenly vision of God's holi- 
 ness, said : ^ '* Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because 
 
 1 Adam, " Religious Teachers of Greece," p. 339, 
 2Isa. vi. 5. Cf. Stalker, "The Preacher and His Models," 
 pp. 46 ff. 
 
148 THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst 
 of a people of unclean lips ; for mine eyes have seen 
 the King Jehovah of Hosts." Nevertheless, he 
 ventured to say, after one of the seraphim touched 
 his lips with a coal from the altar and cleansed his 
 lips : " Here am I ; send me." And Peter, who, 
 though the leader and spokesman of the Twelve 
 Apostles, had denied his Lord with oaths and 
 curses, was restored by the compassion of Jesus and 
 was able to speak under the power of the Holy 
 Spirit with tremendous effect on the Day of Pentecost. 
 It is needless to go on. There was John the Apostle, 
 who expected to be praised by Jesus for refusing to 
 allow a man not of their company to cast out 
 demons in the name of Jesus, who with James 
 wanted to call down fire from heaven to burn up a 
 Samaritan village, who with James, also, wanted the 
 chief places in the kingdom of Jesus — John became 
 the Beloved Disciple, the apostle of love, the eagle 
 who soared to great heights, who pierced the deepest 
 into the mystery of Christ the Son of God. 
 
 2. The Exceeding Greatness of the Power of God 
 There is no doubt of the fact of the human limita- 
 tions of ministers of Christ. Some even make com- 
 plete shipwreck like Judas whom the devil captured 
 completely. Satan tempted all the other apostles, as 
 
THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS I49 
 
 he did Christ Himself. The servant is not above 
 his Lord. Every preacher is from the very nature 
 of the case a target of the devil. Satan wanted to 
 sift all the apostles like wheat and Jesus made special 
 prayer for Peter.' People sometimes forget that 
 preachers are subject to temptation and innocently 
 throw temptations across their path. To speak 
 plainly, preachers may fall victims to silly women, to 
 love of money, and to love of praise. " But thou, 
 O man of God, flee these things." ^ The very fact 
 that God can do so much with such frail men as 
 ministers of necessity are is proof of the greatness of 
 God's power. Indeed, Paul boldly interprets this to 
 be God's purpose.^ This was the reason God had 
 refused to remove the thorn in the flesh of Paul. He 
 was in danger of being exalted overmuch by reason 
 of the visions given him. But now he had this per- 
 petual reminder of his human weakness, " that the 
 power of Christ may rest upon me." ^ The word ® 
 of Paul means " shooting beyond the mark," beyond 
 all measurement. There is no limit to the power of 
 God. There is thus no limit to the work of the 
 preacher, though an earthen vessel People are often 
 
 * Luke xxii. 31 f. 
 
 2 I Tim. vi. II. The false prophets in the Old Testament present 
 a terrible picture. " The prophets prophesy falsely, and my people 
 love to have it so," Jeremiah laments. Cf especially Jer. xxiii. 9-40; 
 Ezek. xiii. See Stalker, " The Preacher and His Models," Lecture V. 
 
 »2 Cor. iv. 7. *2 Cor. xii. 5, 7 ft. ^ Cf. iv. 17. 
 
I50 THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 astonished at the results of a given ministry. The 
 preaching is not eloquent, is not learned, is not al- 
 ways attractive. Men have been puzzled to analyze 
 the power of D. L. Moody. God is the only ex- 
 planation. Moody had really great powers, but gave 
 himself wholly to God and God filled him with His 
 own power. Paul had already explained to the 
 Corinthians that God worked thus, " that your faith 
 should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the 
 power of God." ^ The increase came from God. 
 Preachers do differ, but each receives his gift from 
 God and a gift is not an occasion for pride or selfish 
 bickering, but of humble gratitude. " For who 
 makest thee to differ ? and what hast thou that thou 
 didst not receive? "^ Spurgeon, Maclaren, New- 
 man, Liddon, Parker, Beecher, Brooks, Broadus, 
 Moody, — each had his own gift from God. These 
 were the mighty in the generation just gone, " not 
 many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not 
 many noble." " God chose the foolish things of the 
 world, that He might put to shame them that are 
 wise ; and God chose the weak things of the world, 
 that He might put to shame the things that are 
 strong ; and the base things of the world, and the 
 
 * I Cor. ii. 5. 
 
 3 I Cor. iv. 7. I shall never forget a masterly address delivered 
 to the students of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary many 
 years ago by Archibald G. Brown from this text. 
 
THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS 151 
 
 things that are despised, did God choose, yea and 
 the things that are not, that He might bring to 
 naught the things that are: that no flesh should 
 glory before God." * This is the perennial lesson of 
 the preacher, that of God's power. Look at the 
 stripHng in all his awkward timidity, but full of a 
 deep earnestness to answer the call of God for serv- 
 ice. See him years afterwards as he moves the 
 multitude to repentance. That is the power of God, 
 the exceeding greatness of His power. " No one 
 who saw this, and looked at a preacher like Paul, 
 could dream that the explanation lay in him. Not 
 in an ugly little Jew, without presence, without elo- 
 quence, without the means to bribe or to compel, 
 could the source of such courage, the cause of such 
 transformations, be found ; it must be sought, not in 
 him, but in God."^ Hear Denney^ again: *' One 
 would sometimes think, from the tone of current 
 hterature, that no person with gifts above contempt 
 is any longer identified with the Gospel. Clever 
 men, we are told, do not become preachers now, 
 still less do they go to church. . . . There al- 
 ways have been men in the world so clever that God 
 could make no use of them ; they could never do 
 His work, because they were so lost in admiration of 
 their own. But God's work never depended on 
 
 * I Cor. i. 26-29. * Denney, in loco. P. 160. 
 
152 THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 them, and it does not depend on them now." That 
 is well said and to the point. But it needs to be 
 added that those " clever " men do not always know 
 greatness of intellect, not to say character, when 
 they see it. A tenth-rate novel with its cheap jibes 
 at the ministry may pass as "literature" with the 
 unthinking and it will be forgotten to-morrow. It 
 is easy to set up a man of straw and caricature the 
 preacher. Manhood is the first essential in the min- 
 ister. " Our first minister was a man, but he was not 
 a minister ; our second was a minister, but he was 
 not a man ; and the one we have at present is neither 
 a man nor a minister." ^ The preacher must have 
 "the blood-streak of experience." ^ This Paul had. 
 He had sympathy, heart, and was the " Man of 
 Tears." ^ But he was also a man of transcendent in- 
 tellectual gifts. It is taking nothing from the power 
 of God to note that this chosen vessel to bear the 
 Gospel to the Gentiles was just the most gifted man 
 of his time in all the real elements of human great- 
 ness. " Every now and then, his thought bursts up 
 through the argument like a flaming geyser and falls 
 in showers of sparks," and, like Shakespeare, he will 
 " pause and, spreading his wings, go soaring and 
 
 * Stalker, " The Preacher and His Models," p. 165. The experi- 
 ence of a Scotch Highlander. " People do not now respect the 
 cloth, unless they find a man inside it." 
 
 a Ibid., p. 166. 3 Adolph Monod, " The Tears of Paul." 
 
THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS 153 
 
 singing like a lark sheer up into the blue." * It does 
 not lie in the mouth of any modern man to ridicule 
 the intellectual prowess of Paul. The ministry of 
 Christ makes its appeal to the men of the noblest 
 gifts, but God is not dependent on any set of men. 
 The student life of our time will miss the supreme 
 opportunity for usefulness if it passes by the claims 
 of the ministry of Christ. But it must not be forgot- 
 ten that Jesus chose His apostles from the unschooled 
 fishermen and artisans of Galilee save Judas the 
 Judean. He passed by the rabbinical theological 
 seminaries where religious impulse had died and 
 thought had crystallized. He will pass by the schools 
 to-day if the teachers and students close their minds 
 and hearts to Him. Jesus seeks the open mind and 
 the warm heart. He knocks at the door of the heart 
 of every university and seminary man in the world. 
 The answer is more important to the student than it 
 is to Christ. Jesus will go to the highways and find 
 others to heed His call, but the student will not find 
 another Christ to serve. At best it is only an 
 earthen vessel that any one can offer, wholly un- 
 worthy of the priceless jewel which Jesus offers to 
 place therein. Who can ask for a higher service 
 than to tell of the Light in the Face of Jesus 
 Christ ? 
 
 1 Stalker, "The Preacher and His Models," p. 158. 
 
154 THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 3. TJie Guidi?ig Hand 
 The secret of success in the ministry is very 
 simple. It is real connection with God, vital union 
 with Christ. This is just the most difficult thing to 
 maintain in fullness of hfe. The strains of life pull 
 us away. Dust gathers about our heads and in our 
 eyes. Clouds gather and the sun does not shine 
 upon us. God seems to sHp away from us and we 
 are left with our weakness and the criticism of the 
 people. It is not human weakness that is a source 
 of strength. It is only when the power of God 
 charges the empty vessel that it becomes a dynamo. 
 Paul changes the figure from that of an earthen ves- 
 sel to a soldier, with an anacoluthon so common in 
 this Epistle : " Pressed on every side, yet not strait- 
 ened." ' He was " hard pressed, but not driven into 
 straits." ^ He was not yet hemmed in, not put into 
 a corner. He could still go on with his work.^ God 
 had always come to his rescue. The old negro's 
 philosophy comes in here : " It mout be wuss." 
 Paul carries on the contrast between human weak- 
 ness and God's power : " perplexed, yet not unto 
 despair." ^ He had lost his way,^ he was bewildered 
 like a man going in a circle, he was " put to it, yet 
 
 * 2 Cor. iv. 8 ; cf. Rom. ii. 9 ; viii. 35. 
 
 ' Meyer, in loco. » Cf, 2 Cor. xii. lO. 
 
 * 2 Cor. iv. 8. 6 Cf. Gal. iv. 20. 
 
THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS I55 
 
 not utterly put out." * How these phrases parallel 
 the experience of every minister of Jesus. We come 
 to our wit's end and find God there. Man's ex- 
 tremity is God's opportunity. We are "pursued, 
 yet not forsaken." ^ He was hunted Uke a wild ani- 
 mal, yet not abandoned to the pursuing foe. How 
 often, when persecuted, Paul had to flee for his life ! 
 We were " pursued in our flight, but not left behind 
 as a prey to our pursuers." ^ Once more : ♦' smitten 
 down, yet not destroyed."^ The image may be of 
 one smitten down with a dart or arrow or of one 
 overtaken in flight and thrown to the ground. He 
 had himself been stoned and left for dead. But he 
 did not perish, not yet. When trouble has done its 
 worst, he has been able to rise from the ground and 
 go on proclaiming Christ. The hand of God in his 
 life Paul here joyfully acknowledges. This is the 
 sustaining power in life. This he has always had. 
 
 4. The Lesson of Suffering 
 This is the climax of the series of contrasts. Paul 
 is not merely resigned to suffering and persecution. 
 Others, not Christians, have come to that state with 
 more or less success. Paul has come to rejoice in 
 his sufferings as fiUing up that which is lacking of 
 
 *Denney, in loco. *Cf. Gal. i. 13. 
 
 * Stanley, in loco. * Kataballo. 
 
156 THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 the afflictions of Christ.' He is dying daily .^ He 
 is killed all the day long.^ This continual exposure 
 to the peril of death is Hke the experience of Jesus. 
 So then Paul " is always bearing about in the body 
 the dying of Jesus." ^ He has no complaint to make 
 on this score. It is part of the business of the fol- 
 lower of Jesus, the soldier of the Cross : *' For we 
 who hve are always delivered unto death for Jesus' 
 sake." ^ The soldier does not flinch when the bul- 
 lets whizz by his head nor when they strike his 
 heart. Besides, Paul knows that " the sufferings 
 which come upon him daily in his work for Jesus 
 are gradually killing him ; the pains, the perils, the 
 spiritual pressure, the excitement of danger and the 
 excitement of dehverance, are wearing out his 
 strength, and soon he must die." ^ He, like Jesus, 
 was facing a certain death, hastened by the very 
 work in which he was engaged. But his hand was 
 to the plough and he would not turn back. " It is 
 as if he had said, * we are living corpses. We bear 
 with us wherever we go the burden of the dead 
 body.' " ' But there is a purpose in it all. Thus it is 
 that the life of Christ is reproduced in us, " that the 
 life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body." ^ 
 Jesus had said that the man who lost his life would 
 
 » Col. i. 24. 9 1 Cor. XV. 31. 3 Rom. viii. 36. 
 
 *2 Cor. iv. 10. 62 Cor. iv. Ii. 
 
 « Denney, in loco. "^ Stanley, in loco. ^ 2 Cor. iv. 10. 
 
THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS 157 
 
 find it.' " Christ, then, is the mystic symbol of 
 Christian life ; His death and resurrection are re- 
 peated in His people. . . . Pain was sacred, 
 since Christ had also suffered. Life became grand 
 when viewed as a repetition of the life of Christ." ^ 
 Besides, " death worketh in us, but life in you." ^ 
 There is divine energy ^ in death itself and the slow 
 dying before Paul was working out for the good of 
 the saints who were benefited by his ministry. Paul 
 does not look on suffering as an accident, but as a 
 matter of divine appointment that thus the fullness 
 of the life of Christ may be presented to men.^ Cal- 
 vin ^ calls this saying of Paul in verse twelve ironical. 
 That is true of i Corinthians iv. 8, but hardly here. 
 It is part of the equipment of every preacher that he 
 enter the valley of the shadow of death. Only thus 
 is he qualified to bind up broken hearts, to give a 
 sympathetic heart to those who need that more than 
 mere words. The Messiah was to be a man of sor- 
 rows and acquainted with grief. Brilliant as was 
 Paul's intellect, it is probable that his heart was 
 greater than his head.^ " Who is weak and I am not 
 weak ? Who is caused to stumble and I burn not ? " ^ 
 
 1 Matt, X. 39. 
 
 9 F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," etc., p. 631. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. iv. 12. •* Energeital. ^ Denney, in loco. 
 
 * In loco. Ironice dictum. 
 
 ' Stalker, " The Preacher and His Models," p. 159. 
 
 8 2 Cor. xi. 29. 
 
158 THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 " Our mouth is open unto you, O Corinthians, our 
 heart is enlarged. . . . Open your hearts to us." ^ 
 
 5. The Power of Conviction 
 ** I believed, and therefore did I speak ; we also 
 believe, and therefore also we speak." ^ Paul has ap- 
 plied the words of the Psalmist^ to his own case. 
 The spirit of faith is essential to the preacher. Dis- 
 trust of God cuts the nerve of faith and renders the 
 preacher powerless. It is just this trust in Christ 
 which is the channel through which flows the power 
 of God into the earthen vessel. Without trust there 
 is no conviction. No positive note is struck by the 
 minister who does not love and trust Christ. It is 
 useless for him to chatter away about the beauty of 
 duty and the aesthetics of social service when the 
 fire of love for Christ does not burn in his own heart. 
 " We also believe, and therefore we also speak." ^ If 
 one does not believe, let him at least be silent and 
 not attempt to expound his doubts. People care 
 nothing for them and are not profited by them. 
 When the doubter comes back to Christ, then he has 
 a message for men.^ " The minister of Christ speaks 
 in faith ; that is, in a firm conviction of divine power 
 arising from the Resurrection — faith in the deliver- 
 
 * 2 Cor. vii. 2, II. 22 Cor, iv. 13. 
 
 3 Psa. cxvi. 10, but LXX cxv. i, •» 2 Cor. iv. 13. 
 
 ' Cf. George Romanes, «« Thoughts on Religion." 
 
THE HUMAN LIMITATIONS I59 
 
 ing or redeeming power of God. Observe the differ- 
 ence between this and theological knowledge. It is 
 not a minister's wisdom, but his co7iviction, which 
 imparts itself to others. Nothing gives life but life. 
 Real flame alone kindles other flame." ' Men with 
 that will speak and will be heard also. *' For we 
 cannot but speak the things which we saw and 
 heard." ^ So Paul felt : " For woe is unto me, if I 
 preach not the Gospel." ^ The necessity was laid 
 upon him which drove him forward in the service 
 of Christ. A man with profound conviction will not 
 so much be hunting for something to say as be eager 
 for an opportunity to say what fills his mind and 
 heart. Paul has a contempt for mere intellectualism 
 divorced from experience.^ The preacher should be 
 constantly engaged in " Great Reading," the reading 
 of great books, and not be frightened by the bug- 
 bear of simplicity into making his sermons thin and 
 watery.^ But no amount of reading nor intellectual 
 brilliance will take the place of thorough conviction 
 and sincerity. 
 
 6. Thanksgiving 
 " For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, 
 being multiplied through the many, may cause the 
 
 1 F. W. Robertson, « Life and Letters," p. 629. 
 
 3 Acts iv. 20. ' I Cor. IX. 16 
 
 4 Stalker, "The Preacher and His Models," p. 253. 
 & Ibid., pp. 252 f. 
 
l3o THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 
 
 thanksgiving to abound unto the glory of God." ^ 
 Paul expects that God will present ^ him and his 
 converts together at the court of heaven before 
 Christ Jesus. That will be a joyful scene. Paul will 
 be grateful for what God has wrought through him 
 in them. They will thank God for Paul. It is pos- 
 sible to be thankful for the ministry with all these 
 shortcomings.^ Certainly the grace of God merits 
 thanksgiving. That grace is in most cases conveyed 
 in these earthen vessels. Suppose we had no 
 preachers of the Gospel. Thought along that line 
 will surely afford abundant ground for thankfulness 
 for the ministers, taking them as they are. It might 
 be far worse. Let us then praise God for His grace 
 and for His ministers of grace. We must make our 
 thanksgiving articulate, not taciturn,^ that it may 
 *' abound unto the glory of God," may overflow^ and 
 bless others. The minister bathes his heart and life 
 in the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in 
 the face of Jesus Christ. As he reflects that glory 
 upon others, he adds to the praise of the glory of 
 God among men. " A minister is no true minister 
 who does not see wonder in the child in the cradle 
 and in the peasant in the field." *^ Yes, and who 
 does not win the love of peasant and child. 
 
 1 2 Cor. iv. 15. * Parasthei. 
 
 * Cf. I Cor. iii. 22 ; Phil. i. 19. < Denney, in loco. 
 
 ' Perisseuo. « Stalker, " The Preacher and His Models," p. 283. 
 
VI 
 
 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY— THE INVISI 
 BLE CONSOLATION 
 
 {2 Cor. tv, 16-V. 8) 
 
 " While we look not at the things which 
 are seen, but at the things which are 
 not seen." 
 
 — 2 Cor. iv. 18, 
 
VI 
 
 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY—THE INVISIBLE 
 CONSOLATION 
 
 " 'V "W" TE faint not," Paul repeats from verse 
 %/%/ one. He faces all the facts of life and 
 sees no ground for despair. Paul is not 
 yet an old man, though probably the marks of care 
 and toil and exposure were upon his face. He was 
 discouraged before Titus came, but that was not his 
 normal mood. He caught a fresh glimpse of the 
 Face of Christ and his soul has been singing like the 
 wood robin. He has taken stock of his ministry in 
 comparison with that of the Old Covenant. He 
 has looked afresh at his own shortcomings. He has 
 looked death in the face, but he is not dismayed. 
 Once more Paul is brought face to face with the 
 eternal verities of life. He does not shrink from the 
 look and all that it means. He ventures to interpret 
 the most sacred realities of the preacher's heart. 
 What weighs most in the scales of life, in the minis- 
 ter's life ? 
 
 I . The Growth of the Inward Man 
 " Though our outward man is decaying, yet our 
 inward man is renewed day by day." * There is no 
 
 * 2 Cor. iv. 1 6. 
 
 163 
 
l64 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY 
 
 rebellion in Paul's heart as he faces old age and death. 
 One of the most beautiful spectacles in all the world 
 is that of an old minister with a young heart, who 
 has learned how to grow old gracefully and be a 
 benediction to all about him. Paul is constantly 
 surrounded by a band of young preachers who fill 
 his heart with joy as he sees them enter the thick of 
 the fight with him. These young ministers are 
 '• willing to follow him through fire and water." * 
 There is no " dead-line " for Paul. The older a min- 
 ister becomes the richer he is in spiritual knowledge 
 and power. Alexander Maclaren at eighty years of 
 age was a greater personality than at fifty ,^ A man's 
 intellectual and spiritual decay comes when he ceases 
 to study, to work, to exercise, to grow. It is a min- 
 ister's duty not to be prodigal of his physical strength, 
 to use his physical force with wisdom and power for 
 God, but a minister can be too particular with him- 
 self for any use in the world. It is better to wear 
 out than to rust out, though there is no special call 
 for one to hurry up the process of decay. But 
 " Paul could not mistake, and did not hide from 
 himself, the effect which his apostolic work had 
 upon him. He saw it was kiiUng him. He was 
 old long before his time. He was a sorely broken 
 
 » Stalker, "The Preacher and His Models," p. i6i. 
 2 Some churches are guilty of a crime in closing the door of use- 
 fulness in the face of the greatest men because old. 
 
THE INVISIBLE CONSOLATION 165 
 
 man at an age when many are in the fullness of 
 their strength. The earthen vessel was visibly 
 crumbUng." * The exposures and hardships thrust 
 upon Paul by his enemies had left their mark^ 
 in many ways. The end of this gradual dissolution 
 is bound to be death sooner or later.^ Decay ^ has 
 become visible in " the outward man." ^ Paul has 
 not spoken of " the outward man " elsewhere, though- 
 he uses " the old man " ^ in the sense of the lower 
 fleshly nature. Here he means the material nature, 
 the physical abode of the spirit, the body. The 
 minister has his physical trials as have others. The 
 missionaries in all ages give a vivid picture of Paul's 
 case, as, for instance, Adoniram Judson at Oung- 
 Pen-La. But the consolation is real and glorious. 
 Paul is " sustained by a glorious hope." ^ The m- 
 ward man is renewed day by day.« " The more the 
 marble wastes, the more the statue grows." ^ It is 
 true of all men that the outward man decays. 
 " Time tires the stoutest runner, crumbles the com- 
 pactest wall." ^^ But it is not, alas, true of all that 
 there is a daily refreshment of " the inner man." 
 This expression he uses twice elsewhere." It is a 
 
 1 Denney, in loco. « Gal. vi. 17. » Stanley, in loco. 
 
 * Diaphtheiretai. 
 
 ' The condition here assumes the reality of the decay. 
 
 6 Cf Eph. iv. 22 ; Col. iii. 9. '' Bernard, in loco, e 2 Cor. iv. lb. 
 
 »Line attributed to Michael Angelo. Cf. Stanley, mjoco. 
 
 »o Denney, in loco. " ^Ro"^- v". 2 } Eph. lu. 16. 
 
I66 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY 
 
 most expressive figure for the spiritual and moral 
 nature. He uses " the new man " ' in contrast with 
 " the old man " as a description of the new life in 
 Christ after regeneration. One who is in Christ is a 
 new creature (creation).^ One puts off the old man 
 and puts on the new man like a new garment.^ He 
 does not here mean the new birth by " renewed " as 
 he does by another word in Ephesians iv. 23/ nor is 
 he exactly contemplating the progressive restoration 
 of the image of God by the work of sanctification as 
 in Colossians iii. 10.® Here Paul is thinking of " the 
 daily supply of spiritual power for apostoHc service."* 
 He is as one whose youth is renewed like the eagle. 
 Each morning brings fresh supply of grace like 
 manna from heaven. He is ready for the new day 
 by reason of the new and never-failing store of 
 spiritual energy which is communicated to him. 
 " When I am weak, then am I strong " ^ with a 
 strength not his own. With Paul it is the triumph 
 of the moral and spiritual forces over the material 
 decay. He is strengthened with might by the Spirit 
 in the inner man.^ The minister who thus lives in 
 vital contact with God is never old. He can laugh 
 at disease, decay, and death. " The Lord stood by 
 
 » Cf, Col. iii. 10. 2 cf, 2 Cor. iii. 17. 
 
 3 Eph. iv. 24 ; Col. iii. 10. < Cf. also Tit. iii. 5. 
 
 ^ Cf. Rom. xii. 2. ^ Denney, in loco. 
 
 T 2 Cor. xii. 10. 8 Eph. iii. 16. 
 
THE INVISIBLE CONSOLATION 167 
 
 me, and strengthened me," * Paul will say at the 
 end as he looks death squarely in the face. Yea, 
 says Paul, " I can do all things in Him that strength- 
 eneth me." ^ This is the mighty preacher, he who 
 puts the chief accent on the development of spiritual 
 muscle and fibre for the work of Christ. | 
 
 2. The Work of Affliction 
 " For our light affliction, which is for the moment, 
 worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal 
 weight of glory." 3 With these wonderful words 
 Paul soars above all notion of controversy ^ with the 
 Judaizers and wings his way to a height on the 
 mountain far above cloud and storm. On this glory- 
 crowned summit Paul stands serene and balances the 
 affliction of his earthly ministry with the glory which 
 is his. He is Hke one rapt in vision and probably 
 dictates this sentence " fast and with beating heart." ^ 
 He is interpreting his life and ministry in the hght 
 of the Cross and the light of the Risen and Glorious 
 Christ.^ Every word is here weighed against an- 
 other. The affliction^ is matched with the glory.^ 
 He does not so much minimize the affliction as mag- 
 nify the glory. It matters little, the toil and stress 
 by the way, now that the end is in sight. Standpoint 
 
 *2Tim. iv. 17. 2 Phil, iy, 1^. 3 2 Cor. iv. 17. 
 
 < Denney, in loco. ^Dgnney, in loco. « Cf. Rev. v. 5 f. 
 
 ' Cf. Rom. viii. 17. * Cf. Rom. viii. 18. 
 
1 68 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY 
 
 determines much for us all. Paul is here looking at 
 earth with heaven's eyes. If the telescope is turned 
 round, the effect is very astonishing. What trifles 
 our troubles will seem then ! We can use Paul's 
 eyes if we have difficulty in catching this view of 
 life's values. The words " light " * and " weight " ^ 
 stand over against each other. It is really " the light- 
 ness of the affliction."^ He seems to hold the afflic- 
 tion in one hand and the glory in the other. The 
 word for affliction suggests a heavy weight and glory 
 seems intangible hke a cloud, but things are not al- 
 ways what they seem. Jesus had said that His bur- 
 den was light.^ The glory seems to Paul actually 
 like a heavy burden, so great and gracious it all is. 
 The word for *' weight " is the one used of those who 
 bore the heat and burden of the day.^ Once more, 
 Paul drowns " for the moment " ^ in " eternal." ^ 
 The notion is probably " present " in opposition 
 with " future." ^ It will seem short from the point 
 of view of eternity, but the affliction is confined to 
 the " now-time," while the glory is perpetual with 
 the unending future. There is no way to challenge 
 
 » Cf. Matt. xi. 30. 2 Burden. Cf. Gal. vi. 2. 
 
 8 Classic idiom, article and neuter adjective like a substantive. 
 
 * Matt. xi. 30. 
 
 ^ Matt. XX. 12. The Hebrew word (Gen. xviii. 20; Job vi. 3) 
 means both to be heavy and to be glorious. 
 
 • Here only in the New Testament. 
 
 ' Aionion. 8 Meyer, Bernard. 
 
THE INVISIBLE CONSOLATION 169 
 
 the noble sentiment here expressed, if one holds to 
 a belief in immortality. Paul does not mean that 
 there is no glory in the ministry here. Far from it. 
 But even if it were all tribulation, the glory to come 
 would more than make amends. Thus one sees that 
 the most of the minister's reward lies in the future, 
 in the beyond, in the glory to be given by Jesus. 
 That is the consolation of the true preacher. He 
 does not enter the ministry to make money, to get 
 honour, power, fame. Paul himself had turned his 
 back on all the allurements of life when he surren- 
 dered to Christ on the way to Damascus. He is not 
 in the least complaining now. He does not admit 
 that the preacher should not have adequate remuner- 
 ation. He often argued that he should.* But no 
 salary could offer pay enough for the work of the 
 ministry if that were all. Men to-day receive salaries 
 of a hundred thousand dollars a year who are not 
 comparable in character and worth as men for the 
 real welfare of the world with ministers who do not 
 receive a twentieth of that sum. A '* trust " presi- 
 dent gets all his pay in money. The minister re- 
 ceives most of his in glory, and most of that in the 
 next world. But just this difference is all the differ- 
 ence between the material man and the spiritual man. 
 The minister is entitled to a decent competency and 
 1 Cf. I Cor. ix. 
 
lyo THE WEIGHT OF GLORY 
 
 a church should be ashamed to stint the man who 
 breaks to them the bread of life. But no amount of 
 money could pay Paul for all that he had undergone. 
 He did it " for Christ's sake," and Christ had not for- 
 gotten him. ** The law of our humanity is Hfe out 
 of decay ; the type and exemplification of which is 
 the Cross of Christ. And this is the soother of afflic- 
 tion — this one steadfast thought — the glory which is 
 being worked out thereby." ^ This is Paul's philos- 
 ophy of trouble. It works out"^ the glory for us. 
 " Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, 
 it abideth alone ; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. 
 He that loveth his life loseth it ; and he that hateth 
 his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 
 If any man serve Me, let him follow Me ; and where 
 I am, there shall also My servant be ; if any man 
 serve Me, him will the Father honour." ^ Affliction 
 has glory as its fruit only when borne in the spirit of 
 the Cross of Jesus. Trouble drives many to despair, 
 to shame, to sensual excess and stupor, to death. 
 " But go and tell him of the law in Christ ; tell him 
 that He has borne the Cross ; and there is the pe- 
 culiar Christian feeling of comfort, with all its tender- 
 ness, humanity, zxvA personality y ^ But Paul has not 
 seen the whole of this mountain of glory — to change 
 
 » F. W. Robertson, «« Life and Letters," p. 633. 
 
 ' Katergazetai. 3 John xii. 24-26. 
 
 * F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," p. 633. 
 
THE INVISIBLE CONSOLATION 17I 
 
 his figure. The working goes on " more and more 
 exceedingly." * He Hterally piles Ossa on Pelion in 
 an effort to describe the vastness of the glory which 
 is in store for him and every toiler for Christ. He 
 loves to pile adverbs on top of adverbs like one big 
 boulder on top of another in a riot of power.^ There 
 is the failure of language to compass the greatness of 
 his conception. But the eye of faith can supply the 
 rest.^ Paul has expounded this interpretation of life 
 elsewhere also with much power.^ 
 
 3. The Vision of the Unseen 
 " While we look not at the things which are seen, 
 but at the things which are not seen : for the things 
 which are seen are temporal ; but the things which 
 are not seen are eternal."^ Paul is looking^ into the 
 distance like a watchman peering far ahead. It is 
 the calm triumphant contemplation of a conqueror. 
 «* We can well believe that the pressure was relaxed, 
 and that the pen moved more steadily and slowly 
 over the contemplative words that follow."^ It is 
 more than a glimpse or a momentary rhapsody of 
 spiritual exaltation that Paul here means. It is the 
 whole world-outlook^ that is under consideration. 
 
 > From excess to excess. 2 cf_ Eph_ jii, 20. ^ cf. i Cor. ii. 9 f. 
 4 Cf. Rom. viii. 26-39 ; Eph, iii. 14-21. 6 2 Cor. iv. 18. 
 
 « Cf. Phil. iii. 14. ' Denney, in loco. ^ Welt-anschauung. 
 
172 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY 
 
 No other standpoint will move the preacher to un- 
 dergo the sacrifices to which he is called. Moses, 
 whose glory Paul has been considering, chose rather to 
 " share ill-treatment with the people of God, than to 
 enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; accounting 
 the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treas- 
 ures of Egypt ; for he looked unto the recompense 
 of reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing 
 the wrath of the king : for he endured as seeing Him 
 who is invisible." * These words seem written about 
 Paul. Moses, the greatest man in the Jewish Dis- 
 pensation, as the Jews counted greatness, was great 
 just because, when God appeared to him at the Burn- 
 ing Bush, he recognized the Invisible God, and placed 
 the Unseen above the seen. So he stood in the 
 sands of Egypt and cast his lot with the people of 
 God in their poverty and weakness and led them out 
 and on through the wilderness towards the Land of 
 Promise. And Paul too followed the gleam. Come 
 what may, he is content. " Yea, and if I am offered 
 upon the sacrifice of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with 
 you all." 2 «' I will most gladly spend and be spent 
 for your souls." ^ It is not merely the power to see 
 what is in the distance that is in Paul's mind, though 
 that is true. The preacher should be able to look at 
 life in its whole, not in a fragment or section. It is 
 
 » Heb. xi. 25-27. 2 Phil, ii, 17. ^2 Cor. xii. 15. 
 
THE INVISIBLE CONSOLATION 1 73 
 
 part, a large part, of the minister's work to help peo- 
 ple to see things as they are, to brush away the cob- 
 webs and the dust of business strife ; to call men back 
 to a just view of life. But there is more here than 
 the future reward of eternal glory. Much that is un- 
 seen is invisible, from the nature of the case, in any 
 material sense.^ The soul is invisible, duty is in- 
 visible, principle is invisible, love is invisible. The 
 greatest and best things are not seen nor handled. 
 They are the things of the spirit. " Finally, brethren, 
 whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are 
 honourable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever 
 things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatso- 
 ever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, 
 and if there be any praise, think on these things." ^ 
 It is just because it is so hard for the average man to 
 catch and keep this spiritual interpretation of life 
 that the call is so great to-day for men of vision in 
 the ministry. There is little use for any other sort. 
 The seer is the man who tells what he has seen. The 
 prophetic vision is essential to-day if ministers wish 
 to grip and hold the consciences of men. The 
 things that are seen ^ are temporary.* Out of the 
 conflict of the nineteenth century the spiritual in- 
 terpretation of the universe is triumphant. " In the 
 
 » F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," p. 633. 
 
 » Phil. iv. 8. > Cf. Rom. i. 20. ■* Cf. Heb. xi. 25. 
 
174 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY 
 
 beginning God." We come back to that. We start 
 with God. The universe which we see with our eyes 
 is merely the expression of God's will which we do 
 not see with our eyes. As a matter of fact the in- 
 visible things are clearly seen with the mind's eye if 
 the eye is open.* Paul is gazing at the eternal. He 
 sees beyond the things of sense. He is a practical 
 idealist. He is not, to be sure, using metaphysical 
 terms in a fine-spun distinction between nomnena and 
 phenofne7ia. He goes deeper than philosophical 
 terms. His eye is on God and Christ. All else sinks 
 out of sight, " looking unto Jesus the author and 
 perfecter of our faith." ^ " Distrust of the super- 
 natural, insistence on the present and the practical, 
 and the pride of a self-styled common sense, have 
 done much to rob Christianity of this vast horizon, 
 to blind it to this heavenly vision." ^ It is all very 
 well to decry too much " other-worldHness " on the 
 part of impractical visionaries, but most men need 
 this heavenly vision. We need our feet on the earth, 
 but we should see the heavens opened. We are not 
 going to make earth an Eden without the vision of 
 Eden. All social reform should be linked on to the 
 spiritual impulse, else it too will be transitory and 
 pass away. When all other men clamour so much 
 about time, the preacher may be allowed to call men 
 
 » Rom. i. 20. » Heb. xii. 2. » Denney, in loco. 
 
THE INVISIBLE CONSOLATION 175 
 
 to the contemplation of eternity and to a life here 
 and now in view of eternity. 
 
 4. The Earthly Tabernacle 
 *' For we know that if the earthly house of our 
 tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from 
 God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens."^ These words bring Paul face to face 
 with death as the outcome of his struggles. True, 
 Jesus may come before death overtakes him. That 
 is his sincere desire. He really groans ^ with a pas- 
 sionate longing 3 to be clothed upon^ with the habi- 
 tation ^ from heaven which will be his at the Second 
 Coming of Christ without death, if he lives till then. 
 This is the probable meaning of this mixture of 
 metaphors which was natural to Paul since the tent 
 cloth used by him in making tents was also used for 
 garments.^ As a matter of fact no single metaphor 
 could express all that Paul wishes to say.^ The new 
 body at the Second Coming will come upon« the 
 old without the decay of death. He is not anxious 
 to drop the old, but to have the new.^ Herodotus ^» 
 tells of a Corinthian queen who, after death, appeared 
 to her husband and asked him to burn dresses for 
 
 1 2 Cor. V. I. '2 Cor. v. 2, 4. ' Cf 2 Cor. ix. 14. 
 
 4Cf.Johnxxi.7. ,S^-J^^I^' /. 
 
 6 Stanley, in loco. Cf. Psa. xciv. 2. ' Bernard, xn loco. 
 
 ^ Ependusasthai. , , » 2 Lor. v. 4. 
 
 10 Herodotus, V. 92. Cf. Stanley, in loco. 
 
176 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY 
 
 her so that she may have clothing for her disem- 
 bodied spirit. Paul has no such crude idea as that. 
 *' Knowledge and ignorance, doubt and certitude, are 
 remarkably blended in these words. The apostle 
 knows what many men are not certain of; the 
 apostle doubts as to what all men now are certain 
 of." ' He is not certain ^ that he will die, for Jesus 
 may come first. He is certain that, if death comes 
 first, he has already the title to a heavenly body far 
 more glorious than the earthly one. With measured 
 words he balances the tent^ which contains his spirit 
 here on earth with the house * which will be his in 
 heaven. His business as a tent-maker makes the 
 metaphor very pertinent to Paul. The wanderings 
 of the Israelites in the wilderness when they dwelt 
 in tents on their way to the Promised Land also oc- 
 cur to one naturally. The tent is struck^ at the 
 breaking up of camp or by wind or storm. The tent 
 is therefore temporary while the house is stable and 
 eternal. The tent is on earth,^ while the house from 
 God is in heaven. The tent is tangible while the 
 house is not made with hands as Paul made the tents 
 of cloth. At every point death brings a blessing in 
 
 * Maclaren, " Expositions of Holy Scripture," in loco. 
 ' Third class condition. Cf. Robertson, «« Short Grammar of the 
 Greek New Testament," p. 163. 
 
 3 Skenos, not skene. * Oikia. 
 
 « Torn down. Cf. Gal. ii. 18. « Cf. Phil. ii. 10. 
 
THE INVISIBLE CONSOLATION 1 77 
 
 comparison with the earthly tabernacle of the Spirit. 
 The note of confidence rings in Paul's words, " We 
 know ^ that we have." ^ Let death do its worst and 
 Paul is more than conqueror through Him that loves 
 him.2 There is perhaps an echo in Paul's memory of 
 the wonderful lyric of the spiritual body in i Corin- 
 thians XV. 42-49. Paul does not despise the wonder- 
 ful organism which he here calls a tent, but he justly 
 understands that it is only the temporary abode of 
 the eternal spirit which is to live with Christ in 
 heaven. 
 
 5. At Home With the Lord 
 " We are of good courage, I say, and are willing 
 rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home 
 with the Lord." ^ Paul has a heavenly homesick- 
 ness.^ He feels in a sense absent^ from the Lord. 
 He is away from home and, gracious as are the won- 
 derful glimpses of the Face of Christ which he has 
 here, they will be far surpassed by the constant pres- 
 ence with Jesus in heaven. He is thinking of what 
 it will be to be at home ^ with the Lord, to sit at the 
 feet of Jesus and look Him in the face^ to his heart's 
 content, that wondrous face which looked at him on 
 
 1 Clear conviction. 2 Present tense. ^ Rom. viii. 37. 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. V. 8. 5 Bernard, in loco. 
 
 6 Ekdeineo. The Greek word occurs only in this passage in the 
 New Testament. 
 
 ' Endemeo. ^ Pros. 
 
178 THE WEIGHT OF GLORY 
 
 the Damascus road. Then what is mortal will be 
 swallowed up of life.* He has even here and now 
 the earnest^ of the Spirit as a precious foretaste of 
 what is in store for him. God wrought the joy of 
 the present and God will bring the full fruition in 
 His own good time. He has the conception of 
 heaven that Jesus gives in John xiv. 1-3, that of 
 home. There is no richer word than that. It is 
 therefore with good courage^ that Paul looks upon 
 death as a friend rather than as a foe. It is not a 
 cold river with Charon to row him over the dark 
 waters. It is rather the portal to heaven, and Jesus 
 stands at the door with outstretched hand to welcome 
 the absent one home. He will many a time sigh for 
 home and rest, to depart '* and be with Christ. But, 
 meanwhile, he is ready for work. He has no notion 
 of folding his hands and doing nothing.^ The 
 " weight of glory " is an inspiration at the end of a 
 full day's work, not an air-castle to take the place of 
 duty here and now. Paul's other-worldliness took 
 the form of making him more aggressive against all 
 sin and wrong in this world. 
 
 » 2 Cor. V. 4. « Cf. 2 Cor. i. 22. ^ 2 Cor. v. 6, 8. 
 
 * Cf. Phil. i. 23. s Cf. Phil. i. 24^26. 
 
VII 
 
 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM— THE 
 PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 
 
 {2 Cor. V. p-2i) 
 
 ** Wherefore we make it our aim, whether 
 at home or absent, to be well pleasing 
 unto Him." 
 
 — 2 Cor. V. g. 
 
VII 
 
 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM— THE 
 PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 
 
 I. Paul's Ambition 
 «"m" "V" TTE are ambitious to be well pleasing unto 
 \/\/ Him." ' Come life, come death, Paul's 
 ambition was one and the same. Am- 
 bition is a word in ill-repute. It comes from the Latin 
 umbo, both. The Roman politicians, eager to get 
 office, could get on both sides of a proposition, to 
 curry favour with the people. They would face both 
 ways at once. It was applied to a man who would 
 go any lengths to carry his selfish ends. But there 
 is a good side to the word, bad as the origin of the 
 Enghsh word is. The Greek ^ word has a much 
 nobler origin. It means to be fond of honour. One 
 is actuated by a love of honour to strive for noble 
 ends. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to be ambi- 
 tious to be quiet.^ He is himself ambitious to 
 preach the Gospel where other men have not been 
 so as not to build upon another man's foundation.^ 
 With Paul it is a matter of honour ^ to please Christ. 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. V. 9. ^ Philo-th7ieomai. 3 i Thess. iv. ii. 
 
 4 Rom, XV. 20. 6 Meyer, in loco. 
 
 i8z 
 
l82 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 Surely this is a perfectly legitimate ambition.* Since 
 he surrendered to Christ that has been the master 
 motive of his Hfe, to be well pleasing to Him. This 
 deep undertone comes to the surface often in his 
 Epistles.^ He is hke the musician who cares naught 
 for the applause of the audience if he can catch the 
 eye of approval from the master who taught him. 
 He is under orders and his constant aim is to please 
 his great taskmaster. «• He that judgeth me is the 
 Lord." ^ Paul brought " every thought into captivity 
 to the obedience of Christ." ^ He stands entranced 
 by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.^ There is 
 no comfort in Paul for the nerveless, spineless minis- 
 ter who is afraid of his shadow, who runs at a whis- 
 per, who lacks virility, who speaks peace when there 
 is no peace, who is satisfied with things as they are, 
 who watches for the praise of the groundlings, who 
 trims his sail to every wind that blows, who caters 
 to popular taste, however maudlin and sensational. 
 The minister without ambition will accomplish noth- 
 ing for God or man, only let his ambition not be the 
 feverish restlessness to get another man's place and 
 an unwillingness to do a full man's work where he is. 
 Here is a true word : ^ "He will make but a poor 
 
 > " HcBc una ambitio legitima,'' Bengel. 
 
 >Rom. xii. i f.; xiv. i8; Eph. v. lo ; Phil. iv. l8; Col. iii. lo; 
 Tit. ii. 9. 
 
 3 I Cor. iv. 4. 4 2 Cor. x. 5. 62 Cor. x. I. 
 
 • Stalker, «« The Preacher and His Models," p. 207. 
 
THE preacher's MASTER PASSION 1 83 
 
 minister who would not be an earnest worker for God 
 and man, even if he were not a minister." There are 
 few preachers who do not have a sporadic ambition 
 to please Christ. The trouble is to hold one's self to 
 this high ideal year in and year out. So many com- 
 pHcations will arise, so many interruptions to one's 
 work, so rapidly the time slips by. The sermon 
 does not get the work that it ought to have. The 
 visits are not made that are clamouring for attention. 
 The work does not get on. A fresh look at the Un- 
 wearied Christ will spur one on to the best and the 
 highest. The child comes to the father for approval 
 of his toy. The minister will one day meet Christ 
 who will inspect his work. Praise is sweet, but the 
 praise from Christ will be sweetest of all, if He says : 
 " Well done, good and faithful servant ; enter thou 
 into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 2. The Judgment- Seat of Christ 
 " For we must all be made manifest before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ." * This solemn outlook is 
 not confined to preachers. Paul has been using the 
 literary plural freely, but here he is careful to include 
 " all." 2 The point to press is that ministers are in 
 no wise exempt. The Bema ^ was a lofty seat at the 
 
 1 2 Cor. V. 10. 2 ^^ both living and dead. 
 
 * Cf. Stanley, in loco. 
 
l84 WELL PLEASING UNTO HLM 
 
 end of the Basilica on a high platform. The judge 
 could thus be seen towering above the crowd. The 
 more common figure for the judgment is a throne.* 
 But this is a most impressive picture.^ Jesus had 
 claimed ^ to be the Judge and Paul understands that 
 fact clearly. Part of the penalty for sin is the con- 
 firmation in sin. Each one receives * the things done 
 in the body. In this sense God's punishments are 
 not arbitrary, but are the inevitable development of 
 the man's real self.^ ** Whatsoever a man soweth, 
 that shall he also reap." ^ " And he that is filthy, let 
 him be made filthy still." ' The key- word in Paul's 
 word in 2 Corinthians v. lo is " made manifest." ^ 
 We must be made manifest, like an open book, right 
 in the presence^ of Christ. The white hght of eternal 
 truth will beat down upon us and our works. Paul 
 describes ^^ the pitiful phght of those religious teach- 
 ers who will themselves be saved so as by fire, but 
 the whole fabric of their life-work and teaching will 
 be burned up like wood, hay, or stubble. There is 
 no reward to the preacher who builds with that sort 
 of material. The ordeal of fire is before the work of 
 
 1 Cf. Matt. XXV. 31 ; Rev. xx, ii. ' Cf. Rom. xiv. 10. 
 
 ' Matt. XXV. 31 ft". ; xxvi. 64. * Gets back in full. 
 
 » Cf. F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," p. 639. 
 8 Gal. vi. 7. 
 
 ' Rev. xxii. 11, «< In this world we have not seen the last of any- 
 thing." Denney, in loco. 
 
 ^YiQTo. phancros. ^ Etnprosthen, >o I Cor. iii. 12-15. 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 185 
 
 every preacher and Christian. Indeed, so solemn is 
 Paul's sense of responsibility as a preacher of the 
 Gospel that he buffeted ' his body " lest by any means, 
 after I have preached to others, I myself should be 
 rejected." ^ He took no chances with his own soul. 
 *' Ministers of the Gospel have become Papists, infi- 
 dels, freethinkers, and plotted the destruction of what 
 they once professed to prize. We may be apostles, 
 and yet, like Judas, turn out to be sons of perdition. 
 Woe unto us if this be the case." ^ John Owen 
 pungently said : *« No man preaches his sermon well 
 to others if he doth not first preach it to his own 
 heart." With preachers as with all men " the pathos 
 of life is the disproportion betwen the promise and 
 the reality." ^ There is truth in what Forsyth^ says : 
 " The deadliest Pharisaism is not hypocrisy ; it is the 
 unconscious Pharisaism of unreahty." The result of 
 this tremendous responsibility is not to dissuade a 
 man from entering the ministry, but to incite him to 
 his noblest endeavour for Christ's sake. To shirk 
 the call of duty is to incur the penalty of cowardice, 
 which is loss of self-respect and the lashing of con- 
 science. At any rate we must all stand beside ^ the 
 
 1 Cf. Luke xviii. 5. ^ i Cor. ix. 27. 
 
 3 Spurgeon, " Lectures to Students," Second Series, p. 43. 
 
 4 Hoyt, " The Preacher," p. 24. 
 
 6 " Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind," p. 175. 
 * Cf. Rom. xiv. 10. 
 
1 86 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 judgment-seat of God in the end of the day. " And 
 there is no creature that is not manifest in His sight : 
 but all things are naked and laid open before the 
 eyes of Him with whom we have to do." ' The goal 
 before us all is to please Jesus who is our chief 
 Helper and Friend in His work. Epicurus wrote to 
 his friend : " I tell this not to the world but to thee ; 
 for we are a great enough theatre one to the other." 
 On this Dr. David Smith ^ comments: "And the 
 Presence of Jesus is our Theatre. The King is in the 
 audience, and His eye is upon us. He is observing 
 how we comport ourselves upon the stage, and before 
 His Face we dare not play an ignoble part. His 
 commendation is enough." 
 
 3. Persuading Men 
 " We persuade men." ^ Paul probably means, " we 
 try to persuade men." ^ He is successful with some, 
 but not with all. At Athens some mocked.^ At 
 Rome Paul spent a whole day persuading the Jews 
 concerning Jesus. Some believed, and some disbe- 
 lieved.^ One incentive before Paul at this moment is 
 the fear of the Lord. With the judgment-seat of 
 Christ in mind he seeks to be faithful to the men of 
 his generation. He is sure that God understands 
 
 * Heb, iv. 13. '"The Face of Jesus," p. 46. 
 
 3 2 Cor. V. II. *Conative present. ^ Acts xvii. 32. 
 
 ^ Acts xxviii. 23 f. 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 187 
 
 him and he hopes that the consciences » of the Corin- 
 thians approve the sincerity and faithfulness of his 
 ministry. Paul's knowledge of the terror of the Lord 
 made him zealous to persuade men. He was no 
 rhetorical thunderer about the horrors of hell who 
 went home with zest unimpaired.^ "We must re- 
 gain our sense of soul greatness, and our sense of its 
 eternal price." ^ In the " Memoirs of Dr. Chalmers " ^ 
 there is an extract from his diary which is a revela- 
 tion of his great spirit in his attitude towards the 
 work of the ministry. " Prayed for knowledge, for 
 the understanding and impression and remembrance 
 of God's Word; for growth in grace, for personal 
 holiness, for that sanctification which the redeemed 
 undergo. Thought of the sins that most easily beset 
 me ; confessed them, and prayed for correction and 
 deliverance. They are — anxiety about worldly mat- 
 ters, when any suspicion or uncertainty attaches to 
 them ; a disposition to brood over provocations ; im- 
 patience at the irksome peculiarities of others; an 
 industriousness from a mere principle of animal ac- 
 tivity, without the glory of God and the service of 
 mankind lying at the bottom of it ; and above all, a 
 taste and an appetite for human applause. My con- 
 
 »2Cor. V. II. 
 
 2 F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," p. 640. 
 
 3 Forsyth, " Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind," p. 1 74. 
 * Vol. I, p. 288. 
 
1 88 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 science smote me on the subject of pulpit exhibitions. 
 I pray that God may make usefulness the grand prin- 
 ciple of my appearances there. Read the promises 
 annexed to faithful ministers, and prayed for zeal, 
 diligence, and ability in the discharge of my minis- 
 terial office. Prayed for the people, individually for 
 some, and generally for all descriptions of them. 
 Prayed for friends individually, and relations. Read 
 the promises relative to the progress of the Gospel 
 and conversion of the Jews. Prayed for those ob- 
 jects." It is with this spirit that one is able to be all 
 things to all men ^ if by all means he may save some. 
 The aim of one's ministry is the conversion of men 
 and the training of their souls. The evangelistic and 
 teaching ministry need to be combined. There is a 
 tendency to-day to underrate the sermon. " The 
 sermon is the chmax of public worship. It summons 
 to the throne of God a larger number of faculties than 
 any other act of worship. It calls upon everything 
 within to bless God's holy name."^ The sermon 
 needs to be magnified, not discounted. But one 
 must remember also that one's " own tone, temper, 
 and spirit in preaching " ^ have a deal to do with the 
 conversion of sinners. The problem of every minis- 
 ter is how to make both his preaching and Hfe effect- 
 
 1 I Cor. ix. 22. 
 
 'Jefferson, "The Building of the Church," p. 281. 
 
 •Spurgeon, " Lectures to Students," Second Series, p. 277. 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 1 89 
 
 ive in winning men to Christ. The Gospel remains 
 the same in its essential content, but men of every 
 age have fresh difficulties which have to be met by a 
 new appropriation and application of the Gospel of 
 Christ. It is not enough to know the Bible and 
 other books. The preacher must have a sympathetic 
 knowledge of the men whom he is to persuade.* 
 " Each man begins his destiny where the first babe 
 began, in old sorrows and sadness ; and continues it 
 in old sins and sores." ^ In the work of persuasion 
 the minister will find men who put hindrances in the 
 way of his work.^ It will help little to lose one's 
 temper in such case. 
 
 4. Beside Ourselves 
 ** For whether we are beside ourselves, it is unto 
 God." ^ Some of the friends, possibly members of 
 His own household, had once thought Jesus beside 
 Himself.^ John the Baptist was accused of having a 
 demon ^ because he was ascetic and abstemious in his 
 habits. Jesus was called gluttonous and a wine-bib- 
 ber because He was not ascetic/ The Pharisees ex- 
 plained the works of Jesus as wrought by the devil.^ 
 
 »Cf. Phelps, " Men and Books," p. 3. 
 
 * Armitage, " Preaching," p. 145. 
 3 Parker, " Ad Clerum," p. 207 f. 
 
 * 2 Cor. V. 13. 6 Mark iii. 21. 
 6 Matt. xi. 18, Cf. Robertson, "John the Loyal," p. 199. 
 
 ' Matt. xi. 19. 8 Matt. xii. 24. 
 
I90 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 In a frenzy of rage they say that He is a Samaritan 
 and has a demon.* Paul probably is thinking of his 
 enemies in Corinth who had apologized for him by say- 
 ing that he was not responsible.^ The very visions 
 which Paul had had may have been turned against 
 him as proof of his erratic mentality.^ He admits 
 ironically that he is playing the fool in boasting of 
 himself as they had compelled him to do.^ He may 
 be here alluding to the charge made against him that 
 he was a fool. The very earnestness of Paul con- 
 cerning the cause of Christ in Corinth was used by 
 his enemies as proof as his lack of balance. He 
 could be passionate in speech as is shown by the 
 effect of his address on Festus who exclaims in a 
 loud voice : " Paul, thou art mad ; thy much learning 
 is turning thee mad."^ It is one of the commonest 
 of charges against zealous ministers that they are a 
 little " off." It is one of the keenest weapons of the 
 devil with which to clip the wings of a preacher's 
 power. " The disciple and the Master aHke seemed 
 to those who did not understand them to be in an 
 overstrained, too highly- wrought condition of spirit."^ 
 Paul does not care to deny that he had lost himself 
 in his zeal for God. He had a real enthusiasm,^ God 
 in him. A God-filled man seems crazy to a dead 
 
 1 John viii. 48. 2 Cf. our word « ecstasy." 
 
 8 2 Cor. xii. 1-7. 4 2 Cor. xi. 1-17. * Acts xxvi. 24. 
 
 • Dt-nney, in loco. ' Enthousiastnos. 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION I9I 
 
 man of the world. Life seems derangement to death. 
 Paul could speak with tongues * and that fact may 
 also have been used against him. So far as Paul was 
 concerned, he did not care. It was " to God," for 
 the glory of God, in the cause of God. Better far 
 have a holy abandon for God than too much icy re- 
 serve, " icily regular, splendidly null." Dr. A. C. 
 Dixon says that a graveyard is the most dignified 
 place on earth. A man and a church can have too 
 much dignity to be of any use. Paul is willing to be 
 considered beside himself. The preacher is dis- 
 counted as peculiar if he does not join in all the 
 follies and sins of modern society. He is damned as 
 a worldling if he does. Paul met the counter criti- 
 cism also. Some thought that he was too sober- 
 minded.2 He was too crafty and worldly-wise ; " be- 
 ing crafty I caught you with guile," ^ they charged. 
 He had sent Titus after their money for the poor 
 saints, that is, Paul. If a minister saves a little 
 money for his family, he is sure to be called merce- 
 nary by some. Probably different enemies brought 
 the different accusations. But they do not really be- 
 lieve what they say. They talk with the face, not 
 with the heart.^ It is often the case that men ridicule 
 preachers just because they are public characters, 
 
 ' I Cor, xiv. 14-18. '2 Cor. v. 13. 
 
 3 2 Cor. xii. 16. * 2 Cor. v. 12. 
 
192 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 just to see if they can be provoked into doing or say- 
 ing foolish things or just to provoke their friends to 
 anger. The prophet is often held to be beside him- 
 self. They will burn Savonarola in Florence and 
 coming generations will build his monument. In 
 Oxford the monument stands to Cranmer, Ridley 
 and Latimer. The ashes of Wychff may have gone 
 to the sea in the waters of the Severn, but the Eng- 
 lish people have the Bible in their vernacular. Paul 
 challenges the Corinthians to take either horn of the 
 dilemma. If he was prudent, it was for their sakes ; 
 if he was beside himself, it was for God.' Paul has 
 " a continuous sense of the infinite." ^ It is easy for 
 a preacher to be full of himself or of the current 
 ideas. The sermon will be " after all only a lecture 
 or a leading article." ^ "I went longing to hear 
 about Christ, and it was only Newman from begin- 
 ning to end." ^ If the preacher allows the critical 
 faculty to crucify spiritual passion, all the finesse of 
 overrefinement and exactitude will not atone for the 
 absence of soul and passion. " It is the flash of the 
 spirit and not the words of the lips which is the best 
 thing which a great man has to give. Catch that 
 and you have an imperishable possession. To feel 
 upon one's life the hot breath of a great heart, to 
 
 ^ F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," p. 692. 
 
 ' Beecher, " Yale Lectures on Preaching," Third Series, p. 321. 
 
 8 Moule, " To My Younger Brethren,*' p. 259. •« Ibid. 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 193 
 
 drink into one's being the life of a great soul in one 
 of its great moments, is a privilege which does not 
 come often and which should be valued above rubies 
 and fine gold." ' Spirit is fused with spirit in the 
 holy passion of that fire. 
 
 5. The Grip of Chris fs Love 
 " For the love of Christ constraineth us." ^ They 
 may think him crafty or crazy. It is a small matter 
 to Paul. He has caught a vision of Christ's love for 
 him as shown by His death for us all.^ There is no 
 denying the central place in his theology which Paul 
 here gives to the death of Christ. He died for our 
 sakes and rose again ^ to prove His power to save 
 from sin. We who have been saved by Christ no 
 longer belong to ourselves. We are to Hve unto 
 Christ, That in brief is Paul's conception of his own 
 relation to Jesus. He is the bond-slave of Christ 
 purchased by the blood of Christ. The love of that 
 Christ as thus shown holds Paul captive to the end. 
 The word "constrain"^ is a bold one. It is used 
 of those in the grip^ of various diseases. Peter's 
 mother-in-law was held^ in the power of a fever. 
 The Gadarenes were seized^ with great fear when 
 
 » Jefferson, '« The Building of the Church," p. 292. 
 ' 2 Cor. V. 14, 3 2 Cor. v. 14. < 2 Cor. v. 15. 
 
 6 Literally holds together. e Matt. iv. 24. 
 
 ' Luke iv. 38. s Luke viii. 37. 
 
194 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 they saw what Christ had done to the demoniac. 
 The multitudes press * Jesus together almost to suffo- 
 cation. Jesus felt the pressure ^ in His spirit till His 
 baptism of blood be received. When Stephen told 
 of seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 
 the Sanhedrin held^ their hands over their ears. 
 When Timothy and Silas came to Corinth from 
 Thessalonica Paul held himself ^ continuously to the 
 word of preaching. Paul later felt himself in a strait^ 
 betwixt two whether to stay or depart and be with 
 Christ. These are the chief New Testament ex- 
 amples of this word. The love of Christ holds Paul 
 fast. " O love that will not let me go." In a sense, 
 Paul has no choice, since, as in a vice, he is held fast 
 by the love of Christ.^ It is more than the categor- 
 ical imperative of 4uty. It is the magnet of love 
 that is irresistible, once you have yielded yourself to 
 its power. The mother is the slave of her sick child.' 
 She cannot help herself if she have a mother's heart. 
 But this high pressure together^ creates a mighty 
 propulsion and energy. The constraint is not re- 
 straint. It is impulse.^ The boiler that holds the 
 steam makes possible the onward pressure that drives 
 the engine and pulls the train. The love of Christ 
 
 ' Luke viii. 45. • Luke xii. 50. ^ Acts vii. 57. 
 
 * Acts xviii, 5. 6 Phil. i. 23, 6 Denney, in loco. 
 ' F. W. Robertson, «« Life and Letters," p. 644. 
 
 * Sun. 9 «« l^ygei nos^' Vulgate. 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 195 
 
 presses me hard, harasses ^ me so that I have no rest 
 save in pushing on for Christ. Christ's love lets me 
 have no peace.^ In this word, then, Paul has re- 
 vealed the master-passion of his ministry. He has 
 no desire to get beyond Christ. Jesus is ever with 
 him and ever lures him on to higher heights. With 
 unwearied tread Paul presses on towards the goal. 
 In his darkest hours he hears the footfall of Christ at 
 his side : " Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy 
 peace : for I am with thee, and no man shall set on 
 thee to harm thee." ^ To Paul Christ was all and in 
 all.'* He does not look on Christ as he once did, as 
 the Jews do now, " after the flesh." ^ He has gone 
 far beyond that stage, he is glad to say. The new 
 view of Christ has made a new world for Paul. He 
 looks at everything from a new angle of vision. He 
 has a new motive in life, a new passion, a new out- 
 look. The gold is not at the end of the rainbow for 
 him. He has found the secret of real life. It is 
 Christ. 
 
 6. The New View of Man 
 " Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the 
 flesh." ^ The reason is that Paul himself is anew 
 man ^ in Christ Jesus. " The old things are passed 
 
 1 Ewald. t Chrysostom. 
 
 3 Acts xviii. 9f. Cf. Acts xxiii. 11. 4 Col. iii. 11. 
 
 6 2 Cor. V. 16. 6 2 Cor. v. 16. ' 2 Cor. v. 17. 
 
196 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 away ; behold, they are become new." * The ancient 
 order of prejudice and hate has gone. In its place 
 has come the new love for man of whatever race. In 
 Christ Jesus there is neither Greek nor Jew, circum- 
 cision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian nor Scythian, 
 bond nor free.^ The middle wall of partition between 
 Jew and Gentile was broken down, but it was done 
 only by the Cross of Christ.^ Paul feels himself 
 debtor both to Greek and Barbarian.* It is the 
 crowning glory of Paul's ministry that to him was 
 given the grace of telling the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ to the Gentiles.^ The point to get hold of is 
 that this was a complete revolution in the ancient 
 world. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. 
 Greeks despised the barbarous outsiders. The proud 
 Romans scorned those whom they conquered. 
 There was an impassable social gulf between master 
 and slave. The love of man as man, the notion that 
 " a man's a man for a' that," was foreign to the an- 
 cient world. Christ discovered the worth of the in- 
 dividual man and formed the first real democracy, 
 that of the spirit. Paul made this discovery in 
 Christ. " Democracy was born at Bethlehem — not, 
 as Carlyle declared, at Bunker's Hill. And the spir- 
 itual movement towards democracy is very far indeed 
 
 1 2 Cor. V. 17. « Col. iii. II. » Eph. ii. 14 f. 
 
 * Rom. i. 14. » Eph. iii. 8. 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 197 
 
 from complete." 1 Perpetua and Felicitos, though 
 matron and slave, clasp hands as Christian martyrs. 
 Christianity alone can break down the caste system 
 of India. Even the Christian world is very far from 
 having grasped clearly the significance of what Jesus 
 has done for man. But Paul saw it. He was a new 
 man himself. Paul has new eyes with which to look 
 upon the world, the eyes of Jesus which had looked 
 in pity upon him. He has a new heart of love for 
 men. Jesus has made a new world for Paul. The y 
 passion for souls that spurs the missionary to heroic 
 endeavour to uplift the race is grounded in the love 
 of Christ. The worth of man is recognized in its 
 fullness only in the light of the Cross. The world is 
 in a state of flux. There are always modern prob- 
 lems for the modern man, but this does not mean 
 that Christians must drop the gospel view of man. 
 As a matter of fact what modern Christianity most 
 needs to do is to come up to Christ's view of man 
 and apply it to the actual social problems of to-day 
 in harmony with the love of Christ, but not with the 
 bald literalism of Tolstoi.^ Evolution has thrown 
 new light on our knowledge of man and the world- 
 order, but evolution has not wrought such a revolu- 
 
 1 W. Robertson Nicoll, Bri^is^ Weekly, Jan. 19, 19 il- 
 » Cf. Matthews, " The Church and the Changing Order ; " Ihe 
 Gospel and the Modern Man." 
 
198 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 tion in man's view of man as has Christianity.* As 
 to the revolution in Paul's own mind it is just the 
 contrast between Saul the Pharisee and Paul the 
 Apostle to the Gentiles.^ He does not mean ^ that, 
 as a Christian, he once shared the narrow prejudices 
 of the Jews which he has since outgrown. He grew 
 constantly in his apprehension of Christ's love and so 
 in appreciation of man, but it was all along the new 
 turn made in his Hfe by Jesus. The old Jewish 
 rabbinical views of the Messiah and of Jewish exclu- 
 siveness vanished. A new order has come.^ The 
 death of Christ marked a new epoch in the history 
 iof the human race. " Had he foreseen distinctly that 
 a new era would be dated from that time ; that a new 
 society, philosophy, literature, moral code, would 
 grow up from it over continents of which he knew 
 not the existence ; he could not have more strongly 
 expressed his sense of the greatness of the event than 
 in what is here said." ^ He had himself never ap- 
 parently seen Jesus in the flesh, but he knows Him in 
 the spirit and he understands the moral and spiritual 
 revolution wrought by Jesus. It is the greatest of 
 all time, this new love for man as the offspring of 
 God, this new sense of the brotherhood of the race 
 
 » Cf. Orr, « The Christian View of God and the World as Center- 
 ing in the Incarnation." 
 
 2 Bernard, in loco. 8 B. Jowett, in loco. 
 
 * Cf. Isa. xliii. 18 f.; Heb. viii. 13. » Stanley, in loco. 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 199 
 
 that calls for the best that is in a man to be given 
 freely as an offering for men.' The touch-stone that 
 makes this " new world "^ is Christ. " In Christ "^^ 
 all men meet on a common level and are made new ; 
 creatures. I have just seen the lantern slides of life 
 in Burmah and India given by Dr. Vinton, missionary 
 in Burmah. The most striking thing is the expres- 
 sion on the faces of children and grown men and 
 women after they become Christians. Positively it 
 looks like a miracle, so great is the transformation in 
 the eye and the whole countenance.^ Indeed, it is 
 the constant miracle of God's grace. There is inex- 
 pressible power and appeal in Jesus Christ to find the 
 good that is left in man after the ruin of sin and Hnk 
 on to that and transform the heart and life by the 
 Holy Spirit. The old prophets dimly saw the glory 
 in the Messiah of whom they spoke.^ A painter 
 stood before a masterpiece of a genius and felt the 
 uplift of spirit as he humbly said : " And I too am a 
 painter." The power of Christ is as great to-day as 
 when He looked upon Simon and threw the spell of 
 His spirit upon him.« Instead of being crushed by 
 the sense of our unworthiness as we look at Jesus we 
 are lifted up with the ineffable hope that this is what 
 
 iPhilii. 17. 2 Denney, z« /^r^. ^ En Christo. 
 
 4 Cf. also Begbie's " Twice-Born Men." The British edition of 
 this book is called " Broken Earthenware." . 
 
 M Peter i. II. « John 1.42. 
 
200 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 we ought to be like, what we will try to be like.* 
 We can never get away from Christ. Intellectual 
 unrest will give place to spiritual aspiration.^ 
 
 7. The Ministry of Reconciliation 
 " And gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation 
 . . . having committed unto us the word of recon- 
 ciliation." ^ This is a great word that Paul uses here. 
 Nothing that can ever be said of the ministry lifts it 
 to a higher plane than the service of reconciliation. 
 But we are not to mistake our calling. Ministers are 
 not priests in the sense that we have to propitiate 
 God. It is true that there was estrangement on 
 God's part towards sin. God is represented as 
 angry with sin. He punishes sin. God is bound 
 to punish willful sin against Himself.^ " There is 
 something in God as well as something in man 
 that has to be dealt with before there can be 
 peace. Nay, the something on God's side is so in- 
 comparably more serious in comparison with it that 
 the something on man's side simply passes out of 
 view. It is God's earnest dealing with the obstacle 
 
 1 F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," p. 652. 
 
 » Cf. Selbie, " Aspects of Christ," p. 270. See also <* Religion and 
 the Modern Mind," and " Religion and the Modern World." 
 
 3 2 Cor. V. 18 f. 
 
 * F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," p. 656. " It was Christ's 
 work to reconcile God to man. That is done, and done forever; 
 we cannot add anything to it. That is a priestly power ; and it is 
 at our peril that we claim such a power." 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 20I 
 
 on His own side to peace with man which prevails 
 on man to believe in the seriousness of His love, and 
 to lay aside distrust." ' But God has met His prob- 
 lem in a way satisfactory to Himself. He has found 
 a way by which to remain just and to justify the 
 sinner.2 -phe whole wonderful adjustment ^ is of 
 God's love.^ -All things are of God." ^ We may 
 leave with God, as Paul does, God's side of the matter, 
 except to accent the fact that in Christ we see God 
 reconciling the world to Himself.^ This is the sub- 
 lime spectacle in the life and death of Christ. The 
 Cross is God's overture to man for pardon and peace,^ 
 " not reckoning unto them their trespasses." « We 
 have the picture of God endeavouring ^ to reconcile 
 the world to Himself through Christ. The love of \ 
 God prompts the whole effort. Christ is the Medi-[ '^' 
 ator between God and man.^« It is precisely at this 
 point that the minister of Christ comes in. He must 
 speak the word of reconciliation to those who other- 
 wise will not know of God's love and pardon in 
 Christ or who, if they know, will not heed. It is a 
 work worthy of angels, yea, of the Son of God 
 Himself who Himself was the greatest Preacher of 
 the Gospel. Jesus best interpreted to men His own 
 
 1 Denney, in loco. « Rom. iii. 26. ' ^T^^T\9. 
 
 6 Cf. Meyer and Bachmann. . , 10%^* ^ c 
 
 8 2 Cor. V. 19. ^ Conalive participle. *« i Tim. 11. 5. 
 
202 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 mission and work. The Holy Spirit is promised as 
 the teacher of those who are to set forth the work 
 of Christ to men. *• He shall glorify Me : for He 
 shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you." * 
 No minister can present Christ as the World's Recon- 
 ciler to God without the help of the Holy Spirit 
 whom God is anxious to bestow.^ The minister is 
 the interpreter of Christ to men in order to win men 
 back to God, to make peace in their hearts with God. 
 There is no earthly task so delicate and fraught with 
 such results in time and eternity. The sermon is noth- 
 ing in itself if it does not contribute towards this end. 
 The pastoral visits, the gifts, the machinery of church 
 life go for naught if they do not help on the work of 
 winning men back to God. This is the work of God 
 in Christ in the world. All else is subsidiary to this. 
 We are God's coworkers in this great enterprise.^ " A 
 sermon is the life-blood of a Christian spirit. A 
 preacher dies in the act of preaching. He lays down 
 his life for his brethren. He saves others, himself he 
 cannot save. The pulpit is a Golgotha in which the 
 preacher gives his life for the life of the world." * 
 The message of the preacher is that of his Master : 
 " Be ye reconciled to God." ^ Paul is a preacher of 
 God's peace and an exhorter of peace to men. 
 
 » John xvi. » Luke xi. 13. 3 , Cor. iii. 9. 
 
 * Jefferson, « The Building of the Church," p. 287. « 2 Cor. v. 20. 
 
THE preacher's MASTER PASSION 203 
 
 8. Ambassadors for Christ 
 " We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, 
 as though God were entreating by us." * The word 
 for being an ambassador is one of great dignity .^ It 
 is common among the ancient writers. In Luke xiv. 
 32 Jesus tells of one king who, ** while the other is 
 yet a great way off, sendeth an embassage, and 
 asketh conditions of peace." ^ Paul is fully con- 
 scious of the great commission which he bears 
 from God on behalf of Christ. In a word Paul, as 
 all ministers are, is God's spokesman to men. He 
 comes with authoritative word as the ambassador 
 from the Court of Heaven to plead the cause of 
 Christ with men whom God so loved that He gave 
 His Son to die for them. He has a word for the 
 rebellious Corinthians : " We beseech you on behalf 
 of Christ." ^ It is surely a remarkable proof of God's 
 love that He sends forth ambassadors to beg ^ men to 
 receive His pardon in Christ for their sins. The 
 utter sinfulness of human nature is revealed in the 
 perversity that makes this necessary. An earnest 
 ministry is one thoroughly convinced of the reality 
 of sin. Paul feels his own need of prayer with such 
 a task committed to him. He asks that prayer be 
 made for him " that utterance may be given unto me 
 
 > 2 Cor. V. 20. » Meyer. 3 Cf. also Luke xix. 14. 
 
 4 a Cor. V. 20. 6 Deometha. 
 
204 WELL PLEASING UNTO HLM 
 
 in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness 
 the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambas- 
 sador in chains ; that I may speak boldly, as I ought 
 to speak." * He is still Christ's ambassador though 
 wearing a chain.^ No ambassador in Rome wore a 
 ring with more pride than Paul came to feel towards 
 that chain. The value of the individual preacher 
 is " truth plus personality." ^ It is no wonder that 
 Paul felt acutely the peril in his ow-n personality. 
 The effectiveness of the gospel message inevitably 
 varies with the changing personality of the preacher. 
 " A man's personality is not a fixed and unchanging 
 element. At any moment it is the resultant of what 
 he has received and done." ^ Dr. Hoyt considers 
 Phillips Brooks " the richest personality in the history 
 of the modern pulpit, the strongest teacher of the 
 fact that preaching is truth through personality." 
 But the same point is borne out by a study of other 
 great preachers.^ The best of ministers have their 
 " Fainting Fits " as Spurgeon called them. " Poor 
 human nature cannot bear such strains as heavenly 
 triumphs bring to it; there must come a reaction. 
 Excess of joy as excitement must be paid for by 
 
 1 Eph. vi. 19 f. Literally " in a chain." 
 
 « Phillips Brooks. * Hoyt, "The Preacher," p. 27. 
 
 6 Cf. Broadus, " History of Preaching " ; Ker, " History of 
 Preaching " ; Dargan, " History of Preaching " ; Brastow, " Repre- 
 sentative Modern Preachers " ; Wilkinson, " Modern Masters of 
 Pulpit Discourse." 
 
THE PREACHER'S MASTER PASSION 205 
 
 subsequent depressions. . , . Whirled off our 
 feet by a revival, carried aloft by popularity, exalted 
 by success in soul- winning, we should be as the chaff 
 which the wind driveth away, were it not that the 
 gracious discipline of mercy breaks the ships of our 
 vainglory with a strong east wind, and casts us ship- 
 wrecked, naked and forlorn, upon the Rock of 
 Ages." ' In this respect, as in much else, Paul is a 
 model for the modern minister.^ The courage in 
 Paul is not due to a conviction of his own superior 
 qualifications for his task, but rather to the fullness 
 of the work of Christ. He has a full salvation to 
 offer to men. " Him who knew no sin He made to 
 be sin on our behalf." ^ This is the heart of the 
 atoning death and work of Christ. Paul's clear grip 
 on this great truth gives him solidity and positiveness. 
 God's purpose is that we ourselves may become in 
 Christ the righteousness of God. Thus there shall 
 come to pass real righteousness in our Hves. A re- 
 deemed humanity will become a sanctified humanity 
 in Christ. Paul never gets out of sight of Christ. 
 He is Christ's Ambassador. He must make his re- 
 port to Christ. He is to appear at the judgment- 
 seat of Christ. He longs to be well pleasing to 
 Christ. Meanwhile the love of Christ holds him 
 
 1 Spurgeon, " Lectures to Students," First Series, p. 257 f. 
 
 2 Cf. Wilkinson, " Modern Masters of Pulpit Discourse," p. 523. 
 ' 2 Cor. V. 21. 
 
206 WELL PLEASING UNTO HIM 
 
 steadily to his ministry of reconciliation to bring 
 on the new order in the world, the order of peace 
 towards God, of love, of the reign of God in the 
 hearts of men. Moreover, the world loves the 
 preacher who takes his calling seriously, who is in 
 deadly earnest. This does not mean that the 
 preacher must be out of touch with men. The tre- 
 mendous sense of his high calling rests largely on 
 the worth of men. They are worth saving. They 
 were worth Christ's dying for them. They are worth 
 our living for them. 
 
VIII 
 
 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR— TAKING 
 LIFE AS IT IS 
 
 {2 Cor. vi. i-io) 
 
 " By glory and dishonour, by evil re- 
 port and good report." 
 
 — 2 Cor. vi. 8. 
 
VIII 
 
 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR— TAKING 
 LIFE AS IT IS 
 
 I. Working Together With Him 
 
 AND working together with Him." * Paul 
 is a coworker with God, " for we are 
 God's fellow workers." 2 God is the 
 worker and Paul is the coworker. That is his glory 
 and the secret of success in the ministry. The stars 
 in their courses fight for the man who is partner with 
 God in the world's redemption. Modern science has 
 taught us the wisdom of following the ways of nature. 
 They are God's ways. But God has not revealed all 
 of Himself in nature. His heart is manifested in 
 Christ Jesus. Just as the scientist laboriously delves 
 into the secrets of nature to learn her processes and 
 plans, so the minister of God must learn the plan of 
 God in Christ as unfolded in His Word and in His 
 dealings with men. He must know the ways of the 
 soul and of God's spirit. In the work of rescuing 
 men we can only follow the lead of God in Christ. 
 God is a patient workman.^ " And it takes Him all 
 
 1 2 Cor. vi. I. * I Cor. iii. 9- 
 
 3 Maclaren, " Expositions," in loco. 
 200 
 
2IO IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 His energies, for all a lifetime, to prepare His child 
 for what He wants to make of him." ' Paul is an 
 ambassador, but he is also a builder, a teacher, a 
 worker in the Lord's field. The preacher is first an 
 evangelist, then a teacher.^ But the minister's work 
 is only begun when he has led a soul to Christ. If 
 the first thought here seems to be the power of God 
 with whom the minister works, one must not over- 
 look the other side. Paul is really speaking of him- 
 self as working in connection with God. It is God 
 who gives cheer and success, but the minister must 
 work all the more because God is his Partner in the 
 work of the kingdom. There is no blessing prom- 
 ised to the lazy or careless or self-satisfied preacher. 
 " The higher classes no less resolutely than the lower 
 withhold their spirit of obeisance from any man who 
 is too good for it, too refined, too scholarly, too gen- 
 tlemanly, or too indolent and too weak. The 
 preacher, therefore, who has no power with the com- 
 mon people, has, in fact, no power with anybody. 
 The pulpit which has no standing ground down in 
 the lowlands of society has none anywhere. An ex- 
 clusive ministry is always a weak ministry." ^ Paul 
 is himself a noble example of how a man of the finest 
 sensibilities and culture can adapt his ministry to all 
 
 * Maclaren, '« Expositions," in loco. 
 
 * Denney, in loco. 3 Phelps, " Men and Books," p. 69. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 211 
 
 classes. He is able to be intellectually alert and 
 alive to all the pressing doctrinal issues of a vital 
 Christianity in its grapple vi^ith the theological 
 vagaries and philosophy of the time.* But Paul 
 knows how to be a man of affairs in the work of 
 leadership ^ in the churches without any diminution 
 of spiritual power. He is practical to the last degree 
 in all the details of the collection for the poor saints 
 at Jerusalem.^ He shows consummate generalship 
 in the conference at Jerusalem when he wins a de- 
 cisive victory over the Judaizers.^ There is no taint 
 of obscurantism in Paul and he compromises no 
 truth in his championship of freedom. He is anxious 
 that Timothy may be " a workman that needeth not 
 to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth." ^ 
 Thus he will be approved unto God. It is entirely 
 possible for a man to dull his spiritual sensibilities in 
 the mere details of church finance and church busi- 
 ness and thus lose the richer results of his life-work. 
 " The quiet country minister who trained an Alex- 
 ander Duff into the faith and purpose of a missionary 
 may have done more for the kingdom of God than 
 many a man who has had thousands hanging on his 
 
 * Cf. his conflict with the Judaizers in 2 Corinthians and Galatians 
 and with incipient Gnosticism in Colossians and Ephesians. 
 
 2Cf. Mott, "The Future Leadership of the Church." 
 
 * Cf. 2 Cor. viii. and ix. < Acts xv. ; Gal. ii. 
 5 2 Tim. ii. 15. 
 
212 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 word. We need a spiritual vision of work as well as 
 of the truth." ^ There is cheer in this contemplation 
 for many a devoted minister whose name is not 
 prominent in the press. But he may outrank some 
 of the popular idols when the rewards are distributed. 
 The measure of a minister's work is not the noise 
 made by the rattle of the machinery. The noise 
 often shows that the machinery is out of order and 
 needs oiling. " The Church's worship, which should 
 gather and greaten its soul, is sacrificed to its work. 
 You have bustle all the week and baldness on Sun- 
 day. You have energy everywhere except in the 
 spirit."^ Paul was serene in the conviction of the 
 present power of the Risen Christ.^ There is no 
 offhand patent guarantee for a successful ministry as 
 men count success. What seems to us a highly suc- 
 cessful work may be quite otherwise in God's eye. 
 Joseph Parker discourses brilliantly on " The Guar- 
 antees of a Successful Ministry." ^ He has a sane 
 word in this : " Our work in the ministry will be a 
 failure unless we seek to discharge our obligations in 
 the spirit of Jesus Christ." If that sounds like a 
 pious platitude, we have only to call our own lives 
 to the witness stand to refute it. Certainly the min- 
 
 » Hoyt, " The Preacher," p. 26. 
 
 ' Forsyth, " Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind," p. 171. 
 
 8 Lock, " St. Paul the Master-Builder," p. 69 f. 
 
 4" Ad Clerum," pp. 225-235. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 213 
 
 istry is the last place in the world for a man who has 
 been a failure elsewhere. There is no magic spell 
 about the ministry to bring success to men who will 
 not work with all their souls. "Fear God and 
 work " Ms a good motto for one who is a coworker 
 with God in the highest of earth's callings. 
 
 2. Appeal 
 " We entreat also that ye receive not the grace of 
 God in vain." ^ He is God's ambassador and it is 
 really God's entreaty. *' The entreaties of God " is 
 Maclaren's expressive phrase.^ If God can beseech 
 man, surely God's ambassador should not be too 
 haughty to plead with men. The word^ here is 
 difficult to translate. It has the triple meaning of 
 entreaty, exhortation, and consolation. It is the 
 chief function of the ambassador for Christ.^ It is 
 "as though God were entreating by us." ^ Pan! has 
 given his whole heart to the Corinthians. He has 
 given them the real Gospel of Jesus. He is afraid 
 that they will be tempted away from the simplicity 
 and purity that is towards Christ.^ But he cannot 
 stand idly by and see the work in Corinth come to 
 naught. They have received the grace of God. He 
 begs that they do not render the very grace of God 
 
 1 Broadus, « Sermons and Addresses," p. 347. ' 2 Cor. vi. I. 
 
 8 '« Expositions of Holy Scripture," in loco. * Parakaloumen. 
 B Stanley, in loco. ^ 2 Cor. v. 20. ■> 2 Cor. xi. 3. 
 
214 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 of no avail, " in vain." * Paul does not pause to 
 parley over the abstract question whether those who 
 have the grace of God can make it null and void. 
 He advises the Corinthians not to experiment with 
 their eternal souls. He took no chances with him- 
 self.2 He is in deadly earnest because the time is 
 limited. It is always so with God's work. He heark- 
 ens and helps in the hour of opportunity, the accept- 
 able ^ time. As it was in Isaiah's time * so it is now 
 in the crisis in Corinth. As it was in Paul's day so 
 is it to-day. Crisis is the word forever on the lips of 
 the preacher and it must be so. " For there can be 
 nothing worse, darker, arguing a nature more averse 
 or indifferent to the highest good, than that God 
 should plead, and I should steel my heart and deafen 
 mine ear against His voice. The crown of a man's 
 sin, because it is the disclosure of the secrets of his 
 deepest heart as loving darkness rather than light, is 
 turning away from the divine voice that woos us to 
 love and to God." ^ The " clatter of the streets and 
 the whirr of the spindles " drown the still small voice 
 of God. The sound of the preacher's voice as God's 
 spokesman becomes monotonous, displeasing, com- 
 monplace, even repulsive. Immersed in the cares of 
 this world men come to resent as an impertinence 
 
 ^ To emptiness. ' i Cor. ix. 27. ^C{. 2 Cor. vi. I. 
 
 < Isa. xlix. 8. 5 Maclaren, " Expositions," in loco. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 21 S 
 
 and an interference the effort of the minister of Christ 
 to press home to an issue the claims of God upon 
 the hfe. " The true return for ministerial devoted- 
 ness is a life given to God." ' When the minister's 
 appeal bears the fruit of a redeemed life he has ample 
 reward for rebuff and discouragement. But, if in the 
 end it is only failure, he may at least have the satis- 
 faction of duty done, if so be that is true. The 
 preacher sows beside all waters. He cannot tell 
 which will bear fruit, this or that. " He must first 
 of all believe in human nature. He must have faith 
 in the capacity of the average man. God alone 
 knows the soul and the extent of its undiscovered 
 resources. The preacher who builds his hope on 
 brilliant people only is doomed to disappointment." ^ 
 The force of the minister's character gives great 
 weight to his appeal and is often the decisive factor. 
 A feeble appeal from a feeble man is useless. " In 
 any position, a vacillating man is feeble and unsatis- 
 factory. But a vacillating leader is a positive ca- 
 lamity. The minister of the Gospel is the leader of 
 his congregation, and for him to vacillate, in any 
 great question, is practically to bring the army to a 
 standstill, almost to proclaim the reign of anarchy."^ 
 At any rate the preacher must make the appeal in 
 
 1 F. W. Robertson, " Life and Letters," etc., p. 66l. 
 
 2 Jefferson, "Building of the Church," p. 171. 
 
 3 Blaikie, " The Work of the Ministry," p. 371. 
 
2l6 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 behalf of Christ even if it fall upon deaf ears. One 
 of the saddest phases of modern life is the large 
 number of men in our cities who never go to church, 
 who do not allow themselves to be troubled by the 
 message of Christianity. There is, surely, a differ- 
 ence between Christianity and Churchianity.* Real 
 disciples of Jesus are to be found outside of the 
 churches. But it is still true that the churches are 
 the main agencies for pushing the work of the king- 
 dom of God. 
 
 3. Giving No Occasion of Stumbling 
 ** Giving no occasion of stumbling in anything, 
 that our ministration be not blamed." ^ Paul seems 
 to think that some will actually be glad of an excuse 
 not to listen to the message of the Gospel. They 
 will be glad if the ministers of Christ give them such 
 an excuse by glaring inconsistencies in their lives.^ 
 It is true that Paul's enemies in Corinth did not wait 
 for an occasion. They manufactured numerous un- 
 founded charges against Paul. They actually said 
 that he knew that he was not a genuine apostle else 
 he would have received pay for his services.^ His 
 very independent manhood was misunderstood and 
 turned against him. But, none the less, Paul will 
 
 * Cf. Phelps, " Men and Books," p. 73. « 2 Cor. vi. 3. 
 
 3 Denney, in loco. < 2 Cor. xi. 9 fF. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 21 7 
 
 not change his conduct. He will cut off* occasion 
 from those who are eager for an excuse to injure him 
 and the cause of Christ. The beast is not far be- 
 neath the surface. Wolves jump on and devour the 
 one in the pack who falls in the fight. It is true 
 that men will find excuses anyhow for not accepting 
 Christ as Saviour, but the minister must see to it that 
 they have no real ground of complaint in his life, if 
 it be possible to avoid it. No minister is perfect 
 and, do the best one can, there will be occasion 
 enough for stumbhng^ on the part of those always 
 ready to cavil. Jesus felt very keenly the tragedy 
 of men throwing stumbling-blocks in the way of 
 those groping towards Him : " Woe unto the world 
 because of occasions of stumbling, for it must needs 
 be that the occasions come; but woe to that man 
 through whom the occasion cometh." ^ And Mark ^ 
 has it : " And whosoever shall cause one of these 
 little ones that believe on Me to stumble, it were bet- 
 ter for him if a great millstone were hanged about 
 his neck, and he were cast into the sea." This peril 
 is one common to all Christians, to all in fact, but it 
 applies with peculiar force to ministers of the Gos- 
 pel. The case of Judas Iscariot was in point. Paul 
 will recall a sorrowful list of those who, like 
 
 1 2 Cor. xi. 12. 2 Strike against. * Matt, xviii. 7. 
 
 * Mark ix. 42. 
 
2l8 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 Hymeneus and Alexander, have made shipwreck 
 concerning the faith.* It is a sad business to dwell 
 upon the careers of those who once stood forth as 
 beacon hghts of truth, whose hght went out in dark- 
 ness and even in disgrace. It cannot be justly ob- 
 jected if the press make a feature in the news columns 
 of those ministers whose hves so fearfully belie their 
 professions and their proclamations. It makes every 
 lover of Christ wince with pain and hang his head in 
 shame. But better far such pubhc exposure of un- 
 faithful preachers than concealment and secret dis- 
 trust eating out the heart of love and confidence. 
 After all the sober sense of the people may be 
 counted on to see the difference and to rejoice all 
 the more in the great body of the faithful soldiers of the 
 Cross who with unostentatious piety go quietly and 
 steadily forward in the work of Christ. Paul is con- 
 scious that he represents the honour of Christ before 
 the world. He is determined that, if possible, no 
 real ground of blame ^ shall attach to his ministry. 
 The word^ means blemish, blot, or disgrace. His 
 desire is to keep his escutcheon clean, to wear an 
 untarnished sword, to stoop to no tricks, to use no 
 double-dealing, to live an open life before God and 
 men. The tongues of the slanderers and tattlers will 
 keep busy, beyond a doubt. He was particularly 
 » I Tim. i. 19 f. « 2 Cor. vi. 3. ' Momos. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 219 
 
 anxious to have clean hands in money matters and to 
 do things honourable not only in the sight of God, 
 but also in the sight of men.^ Paul reveals thus a 
 fine sense of business acumen and integrity. The 
 minister cannot despise all the conventions of society 
 merely because he is confident that God will under- 
 stand his motives. The trouble is that people do not 
 know all that God knows. The minister of Christ 
 has no right to soil his reputation willfully or care- 
 lessly since his influence for Christ depends largely 
 on his reputation. A man with a good character 
 may lose his reputation and to a large extent his 
 usefulness. Paul does not, of course, affirm that a 
 minister who commits a sin can never be useful 
 again. The case of Peter was too obvious a refuta- 
 tion of that idea. But, like other men, a minister 
 who blights his reputation must build it up again. 
 It is harder to rebuild than it is to build. Christ's 
 look of pity on Peter had in it the elements of sym- 
 pathy, compassion, and forgiveness, but Peter's heart 
 was broken and he had to walk in the valley and the 
 shadow and slowly climb out of the Slough of Des- 
 pond. God can and does use the very faults of min- 
 isters for His glory, but there is no special call for us 
 to commit an extra number in order to give the 
 glory of God a fresh sphere of influence. We are 
 
 1 2 Cor. viii. 20 f. 
 
220 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 not to sin in order that grace may abound. One 
 of the keenest regrets of life is the thought that this 
 or that unsaved soul might have been led to Christ 
 but for the faults that he saw in us as men and min- 
 isters of Christ. So thus it behooves us all, as PauP 
 urged, to walk circumspectly. 
 
 Prof. G. A. Johnston Ross has a letter on the min- 
 istry in The Yale News in which he has very severe 
 strictures on the present-day ministry. He is advo- 
 cating the placing of young ministers for some years 
 under the guidance of older ministers when the period 
 of training in school is over. He laments the ab- 
 sence of this custom. " It is due to this more than 
 to any other single fact that the ministry of the non* 
 Episcopal churches is so largely filled with men of 
 immeasurable pompousness and uncontrollable pet- 
 ulance. I honestly believe that it is in these and 
 similar conditions that lies the origin of that some- 
 thing about the clerical character (including intellec- 
 tual insincerity and personal unmanliness) which 
 makes the clerical order so intolerably offensive to 
 laymen." Dr. W. Robertson Nicoll makes a formal 
 and very able protest against this indictment in The 
 British Weekly for April 20, 191 1. I must record my 
 agreement with Dr. Nicoll so far as my own ex- 
 perience goes. There are bad men in every calling, 
 
 » Eph. V. 15. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 221 
 
 but I have seen fewer in the ministry than anywhere 
 else. I have taught some three thousand young 
 ministers and the proportion of unmanly, insincere, 
 ill-mannered, petulant men is very small in that 
 number. 
 
 Prof. Johnston Ross has had a more unfortunate 
 experience. The laymen as a rule greatly love the 
 ministers in my opinion. 
 
 But Dr. Johnston Ross strikes a true note when he 
 says : *• The ministry is unmitigated misery for the 
 man who may be described as constitutionally unde- 
 vout ; who is not what the Hebrews call ' a man of 
 God ' ; his own relations with the ideal taking the 
 form of interior colloquy — in other words, in some 
 real sense he must be a man of prayer." This is 
 finely said. Dr. Johnston Ross concludes his letter 
 on " The Christian Ministry " with the warning 
 ** that no man should enter the ministry who can 
 possibly keep out of it." That depends on what is 
 meant. Certainly no one should enter the ministry 
 without a strong sense of duty impelling him. But 
 men can and do violate their sense of duty, refuse to 
 hear the call of God or to heed when they hear. 
 Jonah is not the only man who has run away from 
 God's call. We do not, indeed, need a superfluity of 
 ministers. If the laymen all did their full duty, fewer 
 ministers would be required. But that is an ideal 
 
222 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 State still far ahead of us. At present the crying de- 
 mand is for more men to man the churches and to 
 push the work in mission fields at home and abroad. 
 We do need the best men by nature, grace and equip- 
 ment ; but we also need more men, if the work is not 
 to stagnate and decay. I quite agree with this word 
 of Dr. Johnston Ross : *' The times in the past when 
 the land was overrun by ecclesiastics have been times 
 of moral laxity and dissension." The fewer of such 
 " ecclesiastics " the world has the better. God speed 
 the exit of all of them. The work of Christ in the 
 world calls for men of prophetic spirit and power, not 
 priestly ecclesiastics who are professional parrots or 
 tyrannical hypocrites. The Roman Catholic clergy 
 of the middle ages is not the standard for the modern 
 minister nor the type to which our world will give 
 heed. 
 
 4. Commending Ourselves as Ministers of God 
 *' But in everything commending ourselves as min- 
 isters of God." ' The merely negative attitude is not 
 enough, though one has a hard time just to keep 
 from doing wrong. That of itself is a tremendous 
 task. Exactly what Paul means is this : We com- 
 mend ourselves as God's servants commend them- 
 selves.2 The minister's letter of commendation to 
 » 2 Cor. vi. 4. 2 Meyer, in loco. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 223 
 
 his flock is his life. That is the one which they will 
 read in preference to the sermon or to the Bible. 
 The minister's life is an open book to his people and 
 to the world. It is vain for him to bid men do as he 
 says, not as he does. What Emerson so pithily said 
 is hterally true. What the preacher is thunders so 
 loud into men's ears that they cannot hear what he 
 says. This appeal to life is inevitable. The preacher 
 must meet life as it is. And Paul is not afraid. 
 These glowing verses ' form a fit climax to Paul's 
 sustained flight in praise of the Christian ministry. 
 He has sought to interpret it according to its ideal 
 and high purpose. He has placed it in bold contrast 
 with the glory of the Mosaic dispensation. He has 
 dared to look into the very Face of Christ. He has 
 probed his own heart to the very bottom. He ex- 
 posed the hearts of the men of his time. He is fully 
 conscious that he has not fulfilled wholly the Ideal 
 of the Christian minister. He makes no such claim 
 for himself. But he is not willing to give up his 
 ministry for any other calling in all the world. He 
 has had his meed of suffering and sorrow, of disap- 
 pointment and trial, of labour and anguish. He is 
 willing to face all the facts of his ministry thus far 
 and can still praise God with a full heart. He in- 
 dulges in this spiritual dissection of his experiences 
 
 * 2 Cor. vi. 4-6. 
 
224 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 35 his closing contribution to the discussion of the 
 ministry. After all it is not a matter of theory or 
 romantic idea with Paul. He had his great experi- 
 ences of the grace of God in Christ. No one can 
 take them away from him. This richness of experi- 
 ence becomes the heritage of every servant of Christ. 
 He can laugh at the doubts of tyros in rehgious 
 matters. Many men with great names are novices 
 in grace. The seasoned soldier of the Cross has been 
 through the war with Christ. By the camp-fire of 
 hallowed experiences they can renew the great hours 
 when the Son of God walked in the fiery furnace 
 with them. These men cannot be shaken by the 
 attacks of all the infidels in the world. No amount 
 of ignorance on the part of other men can make un- 
 true the knowledge of Christ which they carry in 
 their hearts. These triumphant spirits can enter 
 fully into sympathy with Paul as he now reviews his 
 life as a minister of God. There is a rhetorical de- 
 vice in Paul's grouping of his experiences. He 
 divides them according to three words : in^ by^ as? 
 It is not wholly artificial as will be seen. The whole 
 section is an expansion of " in everything." 
 
 (ci) Environmerit and Conduct. Bernard * calls 
 this division outward hardships and inward grace. 
 This sharp contrast between environment and inward 
 
 * En, « Dia. » Hos, « In loco. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 225 
 
 grace is manifest in the life of many another minister 
 of Christ. Paul does not mean to claim any mon- 
 opoly in such experiences as he here recounts. 
 They are the common lot of men who go to the 
 frontier for Christ. Missionaries in all ages can 
 present detailed reproductions of what Paul here 
 gives in no sense of boasting, but rather with humble 
 gratitude for the goodness of God in it all. He is 
 thus a " pattern " or sample preacher as he is a pat- 
 tern sinner. It will be necessary to follow Paul's 
 words rather minutely to catch the richness of feel- 
 ing with which his heart is filled. " The fountains 
 of the great deep are broken up within him as he 
 thinks of what is at issue ; he is in all straits, as he 
 begins, and can speak only in disconnected words, 
 one at a time ; but before he stops he has won his 
 liberty, and pours out his soul without restraint." ' 
 Paul's ministry at Corinth is challenged and hence he 
 opens his heart as he would not otherwise do. But 
 even so he is speaking not merely for himself, but 
 for all ministers of Christ who shall meet a like crisis. 
 His hardships had called for much patience.^ Tribu- 
 lation had wrought patience ^ in Paul. One may ex- 
 press a bit of surprise at this emphasis on patience in 
 an epistle so full of turbulent emotion as is 2 Cor- 
 
 1 Denney, in loco. 
 
 2 Mentioned twice elsewhere in this Epistle, i. 6; xii. 12. 
 
 3 Rom. V. 3. 
 
226 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 inthians. But Paul's notion of patience is not silent 
 acquiescence. The word * means remaining under. 
 With all the vehement passion of a spirited horse 
 Paul remains in the traces and thus shows patience. 
 He has Sturm und Drang, but he holds himself in 
 leash and keeps to his task. Indeed the grace of pa- 
 tience is called for in all this list of outward hardships 
 in verses four and five. The " afflictions," ^ " neces- 
 sities," «♦ distresses " are very general terms descrip- 
 tive of his experiences. And yet they differ. The 
 afflictions crush one hke a heavy weight. The 
 necessities ^ suggest loss of liberty and confinement. 
 Distresses * reveal perplexity as in sickness,*^ loss of 
 friends.^ Hemmed in on every side he learned pa- 
 tiently to endure. Paul is now more particular. 
 The " stripes " ^ he had received above measure,^ a 
 most humiHating experience for a proud spirit Hke 
 Paul. The Jews had beaten him five times with 
 forty stripes save one. That was the limit of the 
 Mosaic law.^ Sometimes death resulted from such 
 scourging.'" Thrice Paul was beaten with rods," the 
 Roman method of scourging. He had his " im- 
 prisonments " '2 also. They were *' more abundant " " 
 
 1 Hypomone. « Cf. Rom. v. if.; 2 Cor. xii. lo. 
 
 'Cf. I Cor. ix. 7. « Cf. Rom. ii. 9; 2 Cor. xii. 10. 
 
 6 2 Cor. i. 6 ; xii. 7. « 2 Tim. iv. 10 ; cf. Bernard, in loco. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. xi. 23. 8 2 Cor. xi. 23. ^ Deut. xxv. 3. 
 
 *" Josephus, Ant., 14, 8, 21. "2 Cor. xi. 25. 
 
 '« Acts xvi. 24, etc. w 2 Cor. xi. 23. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 227 
 
 than the stripes. Up to this stage of Paul's life we 
 are told in Acts of only one imprisonment * so that 
 we must understand that the narrative in Acts is far 
 from complete. The " tumults " ^ were also numer- 
 ous and varied. His " labours " ^ were toils more ex- 
 actly, with weariness and exhaustion of body and mind. 
 They are even more abundant.^ His " watchings " ^ 
 were really " sleeplessnesses " and were *' often." ^ 
 He knew the nightmare of insomnia due to overwork 
 and overanxiety, the nervous racking of mind and 
 body in the slow-moving hours of night when he 
 could find no rest. Paul's words read like the secret 
 diary of many a minister of to-day. He had also 
 " fastings " ^ not of a religious nature or for the sake 
 of his health. Paul knew what it was to be " in 
 hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
 nakedness."^ The pangs of hunger, the pinch of 
 poverty were no strangers to Paul,^ the most gifted 
 of all the ministers of Christ : " Even unto this pres- 
 ent hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, 
 and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place ; 
 and we toil, working with our own hands." This 
 was not as it should have been even in that early 
 
 ^ Rom. xvi. 7. For further stripes see Acts xxii. 24. 
 «Cf. Acts xiii. 50; xiv. 5, 19; xvi. 22; xvii. 5; xviii. 12; 
 xix. 29 ; xxi. 30. 
 
 8 Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 27. 4 2 Cor. xi. 23. 
 
 5 Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 27. 6 2 Cor. xi. 27. 
 
 'Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 27. 8 2 Cor. xi. 27. » i Cor. iv. 11. 
 
228 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 time of Christian origins. Paul commended the 
 Philippians for their frequent thoughtfulness of his 
 bodily needs.^ After the lapse of the centuries the 
 average minister of Jesus faces still the serious prob- 
 lem of actual living expenses. He must possess 
 good business ability to be able to make both ends 
 meet and keep out of debt, dress his family appro- 
 priately, educate his children, and lead his church in 
 liberality. But Paul had no idea of giving up the 
 ministry because of the shortcomings of the churches. 
 He had his call from Jesus Christ. " Not that I 
 speak in respect of v^ant: for I have learned in 
 whatsoever state I am, therein to be content." ^ That 
 is a blessed secret when the preacher learns how to 
 carry a high head with a hungry stomach, an up- 
 right look with an empty pocket, a happy heart with 
 an unpaid salary, joy in God when men are faithless. 
 It was just in the midst of such an untoward environ- 
 ment that Paul found that the graces of the heart 
 grew like orchids on the wild rocks. These outward 
 hardships proved to be the hot-bed for those flowers 
 of the spirit. He is borne aloft and walks on the 
 heights " in the Holy Spirit." This is the key to the 
 list of graces in verses six and seven. Paul had 
 found Jesus true to His word. The Holy Spirit was 
 faithful to him in all these trials. By " pureness " ^ 
 »Phil. iv. i6. 2 Phil. iv. ii. 3Cf. 2 Cor. vii. 11. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 229 
 
 Paul means not only chastity, which is certainly in- 
 cluded, but also purity of intention and thought, 
 sincerity of motive.' By " knowledge " ^ he refers 
 particularly to knowledge of divine things.^ His 
 very experiences gave him a keener perception of 
 spiritual realities. Longsuffering ^ is a grace often 
 attributed to God.^ It is called for in an especial 
 degree by a missionary like Paul.^ Kindness ^ is also 
 a divine attribute.^ The love unfeigned,^ hke the 
 other virtues, is due to the work of the Holy Spirit. 
 Nothing but the new heart and the new view of man 
 could make possible the deathless love for man which 
 animated the heart of Paul. It was genuine and 
 undying. The Word of truth ^° is a description of 
 preaching. It is simple and unadulterated truth." 
 The Gospel deals with the eternal realities. The 
 power of God ^^ is just what Paul considers the Gospel 
 itself to be, " the power of God unto salvation to 
 every one that believeth." ^^ The cross may be a 
 stumbling-block to the Jews, and to the Greeks fool- 
 ishness, but in reahty it is both the power and the 
 wisdom of God. These words of Paul are not mere 
 random remarks. They are golden truths out of his 
 
 > Bernard, in loco. 2 Gnosis. 3 Cf. I Cor. xii. 8. 
 
 ^Cf. I Tim. i. 16. 6 Rom. ii. 4 ; ix. 22, etc. 
 
 8 Bernard, in loco. 1 Cf. Gal. v. 22. 
 
 8 Rom. ii. 4 ; ix. 22, etc. 9 Cf. Rom. xii. 9. 
 
 10 Cf. Eph. i. 13. n Stanley, in loco. Cf. 2 Cor. ii. 17. 
 
 " Cf. 2 Cor. xii. 9. w Rom. i. 16. Cf. i Cor. i. 18. 
 
230 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 very heart. They characterize not merely Paul's 
 vital apprehension of Christ, but express the joy and 
 hope of every preacher of the Cross of Christ. 
 
 (b) Mastery Over Circumstance. " By the armour 
 of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 
 by glory and dishonour, by evil report and good 
 report." * There is progress in this group over the 
 preceding one with " in." Here the use of " by " or 
 " through " 2 suggests aggressive conflict rather than 
 passive endurance of hardships with the spirit of 
 resignation. There is the atmosphere of confidence, 
 the swing of victory in these words. The use of the 
 words " power of God " had already given a tonic to 
 his words. Paul had already ^ elsewhere applied the 
 figure of armour to the life of the Spirit. He had 
 urged the Thessalonians to put on " the breastplate 
 of faith and love ; and for a helmet the hope of sal- 
 vation." He will later, after long personal contact 
 with the Roman soldier to whom he is chained, 
 make a careful study of the Roman armour as illus- 
 trating the Christian conflict.^ Here, however, it is 
 only a passing allusion. He holds in his hands the 
 weapons ^ of righteousness. Primarily, of course, this 
 is the righteousness which is the gift of God, but 
 there is also the other side of the truth, the actual 
 
 » 2 Cor. vi. 7f. • Via. » i Thess. v. 8. 
 
 *Eph. vi. I Iff. eCf. 2Cor. X. 4. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 23 1 
 
 righteousness of an upright Hfe, the result of the 
 grace of God in the Hfe.' The conception is both 
 offensive and defensive. The Christian minister, clad 
 in Christ's righteousness, is ready for the battle. He 
 can swing the sword of truth in his right hand and 
 hold the shield of faith in his left. Nothing but this 
 panoply of God can equip the soldier of Christ for 
 the real war with the powers of evil in the world. 
 No preacher can escape this battle save by compro- 
 mise with his conscience. If he shut his eyes to the 
 grip of the devil on the actual Hfe of his community, 
 the saloon, the gambling den, the brothel and other 
 forces of corruption will let him alone. But, while 
 the watchman sleeps upon the walls of Zion, young 
 men and young women are swept on into the vortex 
 of ruin. The white-slave traffic flourishes, the civic 
 life is debauched, manhood is corrupted, the church 
 becomes a respectable nonentity. If the preacher 
 refuses to fight the actual evil in his community, he 
 in a sense winks at that evil. If he does fight, the 
 forces of evil will fight him. It is often with the 
 preacher as it was with Nehemiah's men in building 
 the walls of Jerusalem : " Every one with one of his 
 hands wrought in the work, and with the other held 
 his weapon." ^ Not every preacher has just this ex- 
 perience. There are idyUic pastures where the shep- 
 iCf. Rom. vi.-viii. 'Neh. iv. 17. 
 
232 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 herd leads his flock in peace and plenty.' But these 
 havens of rest are growing fewer in the modern 
 world. There is a drift away from many churches 
 and the minister has to go out into the highways and 
 hedges and compel them to come in. Those who 
 used to come are now at week-end parties, on auto- 
 mobile rides, playing golf, or deep in the Sunday 
 paper at home. It will not answer just to fuss and 
 fret over the situation. The preacher must make it 
 worth while for busy men and women to come to the 
 worship of the sanctuary. He must be Wordsworth's 
 " Happy Warrior " : 
 
 ** Whose high endeavours are an inward light 
 That makes the path before him always bright : 
 Who, with a natural instinct to discern 
 What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn ; 
 Abides by this resolve, and stops not there. 
 But makes his moral being his prime care ; 
 Who, doomed to go in company with pain. 
 And fear, and bloodshed, miserable train ! 
 Turns his necessity to glorious gain ; 
 In face of these doth exercise a power 
 Which is our human nature's highest dower. 
 ******* 
 But who, if he be called upon to face 
 Some awful moment to which heaven has joined 
 Great issues, good or bad for human kind. 
 Is happy as a lover ; and attired 
 With sudden brightness, Uke a man inspired ; 
 And, through the heart of conflict, keeps the law 
 In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw." 
 
 » Cf. Goldsmith's « Deserted Village." 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 233 
 
 The outcome may be " glory," ' or it may be " dis- 
 honour." 2 He is ready to pass through ^ the fire of 
 criticism (dishonour) which his opponents are con- 
 stantly kindling. It is useless for the preacher to be 
 hyper-sensitive. He is not hkely to suffer long from 
 the woe because all men speak well of him. But 
 often the excessive flattery of friends is even more 
 perilous. But if one has a sense of integrity ^ (armour 
 of righteousness), he can pursue the even tenor of his 
 way. Some in Galatia would have plucked out their 
 eyes for Paul. Others at Corinth thought he was out 
 of his mind. Paul does not mean to say that he does 
 not care. He does care very greatly. It stung his 
 sensitive soul to the very quick. " Being reviled, we 
 bless ; being persecuted, we endure ; being defamed, 
 we entreat ; we are made as the filth of the world, the 
 offscouring of all things even until now." ® He has 
 become " a spectacle to the world, both to angels and 
 men." ^ Each man must bear his own cross. This 
 was a large part of Paul's crucifixion, the false impu- 
 tations ^ of his conduct and motives which he met at 
 every turn, among Jews, heathen, yea, and among the 
 brethren. So he had learned how to take with out- 
 ward complaisance " evil report " and " good report." ^ 
 It was all in a day's journey. It was all a part of the 
 
 1 2 Cor. vi. 8. 2 2 Cor, x. 2. '2 Cor. xii. 14 fF. 
 
 < Denney, in loco. » i Cor. iv. 12 f. « I Cor. iv. 9. 
 
 ' Stanley, in loco. 8 Cf. I Cor. iv. 13. 
 
234 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 game of war with evil in which he was engaged. He 
 was not disposed to complain of the conditions of 
 service to Christ. Some personaHties have more edge 
 than others. Some men have more force and cut 
 deeper into other Hves. Some men cause more re- 
 sistance to the Gospel than others who have the gift 
 of persuasiveness. Christ takes us as we are and uses 
 us with our varied gifts. Those in the ** school of 
 Christ " are " chosen by the Master to hear what He 
 says, to see what He does, to learn what He is " and 
 " are sent forth by the Master with a message, with a 
 program, with a personality." ' Much of human power 
 in the ministry lies in personality. Paul was impossible 
 to the Judaizing reactionaries. He is the inspiration 
 of all lovers of spiritual truth and freedom in Christ. 
 
 (c) Paradoxes in Paul's Ministry. Antithesis 
 runs through it all. Light and shadow interplay. 
 The same cloud has its bright and its dark side. 
 What is here true of Paul is true of every effective 
 preacher of Christ. It was true of Jesus Himself. 
 One can get a double report on almost any public 
 man's Hfe unless the man has been a nonentity. It 
 is true that not all ministers of Christ have so much 
 of tragedy as Paul experienced. The lives of most 
 of us go on in a more commonplace manner.^ But 
 
 » McDowell, " In the School of Christ," the Cole lectures for 1910. 
 ' Denney, in loco. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 235 
 
 there are men of heroic mould in the ministry who 
 meet real crises with courage of heart whose fame is 
 not blazoned abroad. Paul rises to a paean of praise 
 of the ministry. He began this wonderful "digres- 
 sion " * on the Christian ministry with an outburst 
 of thanksgiving to God who always leads us in triumph 
 in Christ.^ He has soared with bold and steady wing 
 till now with an eagle's sweep he swings a bit higher 
 than before. He interprets to us his own secret heart 
 in this last song before he comes down like the sky- 
 lark. " As deceivers and yet true," ^ he says. In the 
 Clementine Homilies Paul is expressly termed " de- 
 ceiver." ^ The Judaizers at Corinth had also applied 
 this opprobious epithet to him. But Jesus Himself 
 was charged with being a deceiver of the people.^ 
 Paul knew that he was true in heart and life, a teacher 
 of truth, and was willing to let time give its final an- 
 swer to the calumnies of his enemies. To-day the 
 Judaizers are remembered chiefly because of their op- 
 position to Paul who is the glory of the Roman world 
 of his day. One needs the blind eye and the deaf 
 ear ^ to much that comes before him. The preacher 
 must have an intellectual culture that will command 
 the respect of cultivated men and women, but it is far 
 
 » Stanley, in loco. ^ 2 Cor. ii. 12 f. 
 
 ^So they had called Jesus " that deceiver " (Matt, xxvii. 63). 
 4 Horn. II. 17, 18. ^ John vii. 12. 
 
 6 Spurgeon, " Lectures to Students," Second Series, pp. 241 flf. 
 
236 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 more important to have intellectual integrity.* He 
 is a moral force primarily rather than an intellectual 
 one. Paul is not here thinking so much about tell- 
 ing the truth in all of its aspects, though that is what 
 one must do. It is being true that is in Paul's mind, 
 a much deeper and more profound idea. At bottom a 
 minister is an incarnation of truth and integrity. That 
 is the reserve power in his character and work. Often 
 the minister has to do his work with a pitifully slender 
 apparatus ^ in the way of books and technical educa- 
 tion. This is not to be endured if it can be remedied. 
 But, if unavoidable, one can at least have a clean and 
 open mind, glad to learn and loyal to all that is true 
 and high. If one's manhood rings true, men will 
 put up with a great deal in the preacher. If he slips 
 a cog here, they will not endure him at all, however 
 great gifts he may have.^ Paul proceeds : " Un- 
 known, and yet well known." ^ They accused Paul 
 of being " obscure," not having right credentials, a 
 nobody in the ministry, not recognized in high ec- 
 clesiastical circles.'' According to this charge he 
 was guilty of the crime of not being famous. No- 
 body cared what Paul thought or said. He could be 
 ignored as one not in the company of the religious 
 
 1 Phelps, *« My Note-Book," p. 90. 
 
 ' Spurgeon, " Lectures to Students," First Series, pp. 282 fF. 
 3 Beecher, " Yale Lectures on Preaching," Third Series, p. 293. 
 * 2 Cor. vi. 9. 6 Cf. 2 Cor. lii. 2 : x. lO. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 237 
 
 aristocrats. So the jibe ran. Paul easily retorts that 
 he is " well known " among the true believers.' If 
 he were as insignificant as his enemies claimed, they 
 took a deal of trouble about him. There is a touch 
 of irony here. What is fame after all ? " As dying, 
 and behold we hve." ^ He seemed always on the 
 point of death, but death kept vanishing into the 
 distance. Doubtless his enemies had heard of his 
 serious illness ^ at Corinth and were congratulating 
 themselves that their troubles would soon be over 
 with the providential death of Paul. But, lo, he 
 comes back from the edge of the grave and is actu- 
 ally on his way to Corinth ! It is amazing how 
 virile some men of delicate constitution are. Paul 
 lived to a fairly good old age and would have prob- 
 ably lived much longer but for his execution by Nero. 
 He here makes merry over the anxiety of his ene- 
 mies about his health. No minister has a right to 
 trifle with his body. It is a holy temple for the in- 
 dwelling of the Holy Spirit. The effectiveness of a 
 minister is often marred or ruined by neglect or 
 abuse of the body. Paul does not make light of the 
 body in this raillery with his enemies. They simply 
 need not count too certainly on his dying right 
 away to oblige them. " As chastened, and not 
 killed."^ His enemies interpreted his troubles to 
 *Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 6. 2 2 Cor. vi. 9. * i Cor. i. 9. * 2 Cor. vi. 9. 
 
238 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 mean that God was afflicting him for his sins. Be it 
 so. He is the last man to deny his need of the 
 chastening rod. At any rate he is not yet killed. 
 He can be thankful for that. Meanwhile he will en- 
 deavour to learn his lesson of chastisement which 
 God may have for him. God can use these very 
 enemies as a wholesome discipUne for Paul. He 
 will try to see that the lesson is not lost. There is 
 banter in this play of words, but a note of utmost 
 earnestness in it all. In these climacteric sentences 
 Paul lets his imagination loose and it plays like 
 hghtning on the clouds. " As sorrowful, yet always 
 rejoicing." * His opponents affect pity for Paul in his 
 overmuch sorrow ! This was only too true, however 
 Httle Paul cared for their mock sympathy. He knew 
 what sorrow was, but he was happy all the time. 
 Laughter and tears he close together in Paul's heart. 
 The sorrow was a real note in his life, but it was in- 
 terwoven with perpetual cheerfulness.^ He had 
 learned how to be anxious in nothing and to have 
 the peace of God as the garrison for his heart.^ So 
 Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed preacher of Antioch 
 and Constantinople, when banishment fell to his lot 
 and out on the hot sands he sank down, could say : 
 " Glory to God for all things." Paul, hke Chrysos- 
 
 » 2 Cor. vi. 10. 2Cf. Rom. v. 3: Phil. iv. 4, 12. 
 
 »Phil. iv. 6f. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 239 
 
 torn, knew what it was to be a popular hero one day 
 and the next to be taboo with the crowd. The 
 preacher who tastes the sweets of popular applause 
 is most likely to find some bitterness in the bottom 
 of the cup before he has finished. " As poor, yet 
 making many rich." * He was taunted by his ene- 
 mies for not receiving pay for his work.^ The word 
 means literally a pauper. He had not entered the 
 ministry to make money. He was entitled to sup- 
 port from the ch irch at Corinth. He had refused to 
 receive pay because he saw that he would be charged 
 with having come after their money. Precisely this 
 situation to-day confronts the missionaries in heathen 
 lands, who must be supported by the home churches 
 to remove this charge against them by the heathen. 
 With Paul the case was much worse. The church 
 at Jerusalem had taken apparently no interest in the 
 missionary enterprise now that the apostles are them- 
 selves scattered over the world. The Judaizing ele- 
 ment there threw every possible obstacle in Paul's 
 path and misconstrued his motives and work to 
 the brethren in Jerusalem.^ The church at An- 
 tioch was a Greek church and heartily approved 
 the missionary campaign of Paul, but, so far as any 
 information is available, gave him no financial aid 
 
 1 2 Cor. vi. 10. ' I Cor. xi. 7 ; Phil. iv. 12. 
 
 » Cf. Acts xxi. 
 
240 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 whatever. The " home " churches thus left Paul alone 
 to do his work unaided. The older and more en- 
 lightened mission fields Hke Philippi did come to his 
 relief at sporadic intervals. But in the main he was 
 left to his own resources to do the most gigantic 
 mission work of the ages in the teeth of the com- 
 bined forces of Greek philosophy, Jewish prejudice, 
 Roman antipathy, natural human depravity, and all 
 the forces of sin and corruption in the greatest 
 empire of the ancient world. He was poor, but he 
 never had to beg. He was hungry, but he never 
 starved. He worked with his own hands at his trade 
 of tent-making and earned his bread. Thus he kept 
 soul and body together so that he could preach the 
 Gospel to a world that did not want to hear it and 
 that was doing its utmost to thwart him in his efforts 
 to evangelize the Roman Empire. A weak man 
 would have quailed long before this. But Paul was 
 a hero, if ever the world saw one. The ministry 
 calls for men of the heroic spirit who can overcome 
 difficulties. " And others had trial of mockings and 
 scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprison- 
 ment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder 
 they were tempted, they were slain with the sword : 
 they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins ; being 
 destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (of whom the world was 
 not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 241 
 
 caves and the holes of the earth." ' This is the spirit 
 of the martyrs and missionaries through all the ages 
 who have carried the cross all over the world. They 
 did it to make many rich with the riches of Christ 
 Jesus. There is no riches like that in Christ. Paul's 
 wealth consisted in the souls won to Christ and 
 enriched in Him.^ These had everything, for they 
 had Christ and God.^ Paul's last paradox about the 
 preacher is the culmination, " as having nothing, and 
 yet possessing all things." ' He had nothing at all 
 that would give him a place in Wall Street to-day. 
 He had no bank account at Alexandria or Rome. 
 He had no grain ships on the Mediterranean. It has 
 been thought by some that Paul's father in Tarsus 
 had some property which Paul may have inherited 
 later. Be that as it may, he certainly has no earthly 
 store at this juncture. He had missed making money, 
 but had won the whole world. He had to the fulF 
 all that was worth having, all that was enduring. 
 He is the richest man in all the world as he writes 
 the last words of this matchless panegyric on the 
 Christian ministry. He counts up his treasures and 
 they outweigh all the sordid wealth of Corinth with 
 its nouveaux riches and crass philosophy and material- 
 
 1 Heb xi ^6-38. ' 1 Cor. i. 5. ' i Cor. iii. 22. 
 
 * 2 Cor. vi. 10. So Jesus in His later ministry had not where to 
 lay His head. 
 5 Katecho. 
 
242 IN GLORY AND DISHONOUR 
 
 istic commercialism. Paul had long ago made his 
 choice. It was over twenty years ago that Jesus met 
 him in the way and halted his steps. He made his 
 decision then and he has not recanted since. He 
 deliberately cast his life into the scale of the moral 
 and spiritual values as against the worldly and the 
 material. He had seen the heavenly vision and heard 
 the call of Jesus to go far hence to the Gentiles. He 
 is still running his race and there is wind in him yet. 
 He has all, for he has Christ. And Christ has all of 
 him. There is the spring of eternal youth in Paul. 
 " I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me." * 
 There is work in Paul yet. He has sung his song 
 about the preacher. He comes down from the moun- 
 tain top with the face of Christ in his heart, down to 
 the work in the valley. But he will put no veil over 
 his face. He will keep on looking at the face of 
 Jesus and telling of the light of the knowledge of the 
 glory of God in the face of Christ to every one who 
 lifts to Him a face sin-stained and shadowed. Some 
 day Paul will look Jesus full in the face again. " For 
 now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to 
 face: now I know in part; but then shall I know 
 fully even as also I was fully known." ^ Even before 
 then he will feel sure of victory : " I have fought the 
 good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept 
 
 > Phil. iv. 13. « 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 
 
TAKING LIFE AS IT IS 243 
 
 the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the 
 crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the right- 
 eous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to 
 me only, but also to all them that have loved His 
 appearing." ^ " And they that be wise shall shine as 
 the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn 
 many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." * 
 
 * 2 Tim. iv. 7 f. • Dan, xii. 3. 
 
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 in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, will ra^k among the 
 most important. The general theme, "llie R»=iiex ^ Influence 
 of Missions upon the Nations," suggests a large, important, 
 and most interesting work. The name of the lecturer is 
 sufficient guarantee of the method of treatment. 
 
 HENRY H. JESS UP 
 
 Fifty -three Years in Syria 
 
 Introduction by James S. Dennis. Two volumes, illustrated, 
 
 8vo, cloth, boxed, net $5.00. 
 
 This autobiographical record of half a century's experi- 
 ence in the mission field of Syria, is rich in color, narra- 
 tive and insight. It is also incidentally a history of the 
 mission work for the period but told with a personal touch 
 and from the innermost standpoint. It is a pioneer's story, 
 and as such never lacks in interest. 
 
 JULIUS RICHTER 
 
 A History of Protestant Missions in the 
 Near East svo, cioth, net $2.50. 
 
 A companion volume to "A History of Missions in 
 India" by this great authority. The progress of the gospel 
 is traced in Asia Minor, Persia, Arabia, Syria and Egypt. 
 Non-sectarian in spirit and thoroughly comprehensive in 
 scope. "It is truly a notable work and can be endorsed 
 in unqualified terms. — John R. Mott. 
 
 WILLIAM EDWARD GARDNER 
 
 Winners of the World During Twenty 
 
 Centuries Adapted for Boys and Girls. 
 A Story and a Study of Missionary Effort from the Time of 
 
 Paul to the Present Day. Cloth, net 6oc; paper, net 30c. 
 
 Brief sketches of great missionaries in chronological 
 order, extending down through Augustine and Boniface 
 the apostles to England and Germany, Xavier in Japan, and 
 Brainerd among the Indians, to Carey, Moffat and Living- 
 stone and Missionaries of our own day. Intensely atimulat- 
 ing and suggestive. 
 
//■ O R K S O F 
 
 W.L.Watklnson,D.D. 
 
 Tin- Fatal Hartt-r 
 
 .md other Seriwons. I'Jiwo, cloth, not, ;?1.00. 
 
 Frugality in the Spiritual Life 
 
 ami other Themes for Meditation. lUino, 
 cU>tl\, net, ^1.00. 
 
 I'hc Supreme Conquest 
 
 and other Sermons Preacheil in America. 
 Vimo,cUuh, net, ^1.00. 
 
 The Duty of Imperial Thinking 
 
 and other Kssays on Themes Worth While. 
 rJmo, cloth, net, 51.00. 
 
 Studies in Christian Character 
 
 New popul.u odition. net. ^Oc, 
 
 Studies in Life and Experience 
 
 New popular editiviu. ucl, -HV. 
 
 Education of the Heart 
 
 New populai- edition, net, oOc. 
 
 The Bane and the Antidote 
 
 and other Sermons. 12mo, cloth, net, f 1.00. 
 
 The Blind Spot 
 
 New popular edition, net, aOc. 
 
 Inspiration in Common Life 
 
 l(>mo, cloth, net, 85c. 
 
V 
 
nceton Thfolooirai c 
 
 'II I III / /I 1 1 II ni ^"""'^'7-Speer Li 
 
 1 1012 01128 6822 
 
 
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