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 BV 4010 .B413 1885 
 Beck, J. T. 
 
 Pastoral theology of the New 
 Testament 
 
BECK'S PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 In crown 8vo, price 4s., 
 
 OUTLINES OF BIBLICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 
 
 ^ransIattU from tfjc Cljirtf enlarrjcH anti corrcctcti 
 German StJition. 
 
 ' We quite endorse Bishop Ellicott's statement that, for many readers, 
 Beck's will be found to be the most handy manual on the subject.' — Church 
 Bells. 
 
PASTOEAL THEOLOGY 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 J. T.^ECK, D.D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, TUBINGEN. 
 
 ^canslateD from tbc (3crman 
 
 BY 
 
 Rev. JAMES A. M'CLYMONT, B.D., Aberdeen; 
 
 AND 
 
 Rev. THOMAS NICOL, B.D., Edinburgh. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREEL 
 
 1885. 
 
PBINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB, 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. 
 
 LONDON, 
 DUBLIN, 
 NEW YORK, 
 
 HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. 
 GEORGE HERBERT. 
 SCRIBNER AND WELFORD. 
 
<^g^^pp^ 
 
 >, 
 
 «^gical Scrt\}^ 
 
 TRANSLATORS' PREFACE. 
 
 The Lectures which are here translated were edited 
 by Dr. Bernhard Eiggenbach, and published in 1880, 
 within two years after the lamented author's death. 
 They were delivered by Dr. Beck as Ordinary Professor 
 of Theology in the University of Tübingen, in two 
 separate courses, and were gradually brought to their 
 present form during a professoriate of more than thirty 
 years. They are the fruit of a lifetime devoted with 
 rare ability and piety to the study of Holy Scripture, 
 and to its scientific and practical exposition. His 
 earlier labours in the ministry, both in town and 
 country, gave him personal experience of the care of 
 souls, and his Christliche Beden — to which reference is 
 often made in the following pages — delivered from the 
 pulpit of Tübingen, and published in six volumes, bear 
 ample witness to the power and insight with which he 
 could apply the truths of Scripture to the life and the 
 thought of his time. It was with him a fundamental 
 principle — to adopt his own language — that " it is Scrip- 
 ture, in union with nature and life, faithfully appro- 
 
vi Translators Preface. 
 
 priated on all its sides, and realized in a man's own 
 experience, which makes the theologian and preacher, 
 the teacher and pastor, capable of striking out a course 
 for eternal truth amid the rocks and currents of 
 opinion in his time, in every sphere both small and 
 great, and fashioning men of God, characters meet for 
 the kingdom of heaven." It was his consistent applica- 
 tion of this principle that contributed so largely to his 
 popularity, and won so many students from the influence 
 of Baur. 
 
 The translators, who were students at Tübingen when 
 one of the courses of Lectures was delivered, have found 
 it a labour of love, albeit a labour of no small difficulty, 
 to present to English-speaking students and readers this 
 valuable work of one of the most eminent theologians 
 of our time. 
 
 May 1885. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 PAOE 
 
 I. The importance of Holy Scripture as bearing on Pastoral 
 
 Theology, ......... 1 
 
 II. Aids to Pastoral Theology — their value and standard, . 9 
 
 III. Aids enumerated — 
 
 (a) Literature on Pastoral Theology properly so called, 10 
 
 (b) Biographies, ........ 15 
 
 (c) Directories of public worship, 17 
 
 (d) Intercourse with men in general, .... 21 
 {e) Intercourse with brethren in the ministry, . . 23 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 1. Fundamental idea of the life and work of the Pastor accord- 
 ing to ScrijJture, 25 
 
 (a) The three functions of the -rpio-ßunpo; : i-riTsco-riTv 
 
 (or •roifjLtx.'miv), oi'^dffxitv, and ^laxotniv, ... 25 
 {b) Christ as the pattern of a good shepherd, John x., . 27 
 
VIU 
 
 Contents. 
 
 (c) The true life-relation to Christ which it is the funda- 
 mental work of the pastoral office to establish, 
 2 Pet. i. 3 ff. ; John xvii. 8, 
 
 2. Features of the pastoral life of the apostles, with special 
 
 reference to government, doctrme, and service, 
 
 (a) Government, 1 Pet. v. 1 ff., 
 (&) Doctrine, Tit. ii. 7 f., 
 (c) Service, Acts xx. 18 ff. 
 
 («) TapocKuXiiv, 
 iß) l?^iyx^iv, . 
 
 3. Subjective 7'equirements for the discharge of the office, 
 
 (a) Inward personal fitness, .... 
 {h) Special qualifications, 1 Tim. iii. 1-7, 
 
 29 
 
 32 
 
 33 
 
 44 
 48 
 64 
 65 
 
 84 
 
 .84 
 89 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 1. The entrance on the pastoral office, 103 
 
 (1) The personal and spiritual groundwork, Matt. iv. 1 ff., 103 
 
 (2) The right foundation to be laid in others, Matt. iv. 17, 116 
 
 Rides for gathering a company of believers, Matt. iv. 18-23, 
 
 (1) The character of souls to be principally kept in view 
 
 and sought out as likely subjects for the kingdom 
 of heaven (John i. 45-51), ..... 
 
 (2) Where these souls, fit to receive the kingdom of 
 
 heaven, are most readily to be found, 
 
 (3) The manner of going to work for the winning of 
 
 souls, ........ 
 
 (a) In an open and artless manner — naturally, 
 {b) By the use of short and distinct words. 
 
 122 
 
 122 
 
 125 
 
 128 
 129 
 129 
 
Contents, ix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 (4) The extension of the Lord's activity, . , . 130 
 
 (a) Tipixyiiv, . . . . . . . .130 
 
 (b) ^ihoLffxiiv, KYifua-ffiiv, and öcpifriuiiv, , . . 130 
 
 (c) The spirit in which to labour, Matt. ix. 36-38, 135 
 
 3. Spirit and contents of the popular sermon, Matt, v.-vil, . 141 
 
 General view of the Sermon on the Mount, . . . 142 
 
 (1) The blessedness of the kingdom of heaven. Matt. v. 
 
 3-16, 1-13 
 
 (a) The qualities that fit a man for the kingdom of 
 
 heaven, Matt. v. 3-6, 144 
 
 {b) The character of citizens of the kingdom of 
 
 heaven in relation to the world. Matt. v. 7-12, 149 
 (c) The position to which the Christian is called, 
 
 Matt. V. 13-16, 152 
 
 (2) The righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 
 
 V. 17-vii. 14, 159 
 
 (3) The wisdom of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. vii. 
 
 15-27, 162 
 
 (4) The basis of the preaching of the kingdom of heaven 
 
 the written word of God, Matt. v. 17-19, . . 171 
 
 4. The position which the teacher of Christian truth has to 
 
 take up towards recognised institutions and societies. 
 Matt. viii. 2-13, 173 
 
 (1) How we are to meet the demands of faith in dealing 
 
 with particular cases. Matt. viii. , . , . .174 
 
 (2) Free testimony to the truth, 176 
 
 5. Thß necessity for sifting, and the method of doing so, 
 
 Matt. viii. 18-34, 177 
 
 (1) Where there is a rash desire to follow Christ, 
 
 19,20, 179 
 
 (2) "V\1iere there is backwardness and indolence, 21, 22, 182 
 
 (3) Where there is timorous weakness, 23-27, . . 186 
 
 (4) Where there is collision with worldly interests, 
 
 28-34, 188 
 
Contents. 
 
 6. Salvation rvorking amidst narroio • minded prejudices, 
 
 Matt, ix., 190 
 
 (1) How the forgiveness of sins is administered and 
 
 justified, Matt. ix. 1-8, 190 
 
 (2) Saving intercourse with sinners, and its justification, 
 
 9-13, 195 
 
 (3) Intercourse in the spirit of freedom with well-mean- 
 
 ing but prejudiced souls, 14-17, . . . .199 
 
 7. Wisdom and truth vindicated, Matt. xi. xn., . . . 207 
 
 (1) In relation to able coadjutors who have not yet fullj'" 
 
 attained to the spirit of the gospel. Matt. xi. 1-6, . 207 
 
 (2) In relation to a frivolous, careless, and self-confident 
 
 people. Matt. xi. 7 ff., 212 
 
 (3) In relation to malignant opponents, xii., . . 221 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 Introductory remarks (characteristics of the book of Acts, 
 
 and literature worthy of notice), .... 229 
 
 of the 
 
 1. The apostles' calling, Acts i. 3-8, 
 
 2. The immediate inward, 2'>Teparatlon for the reception 
 
 Spirit, Acts i. 12 ff., 
 
 (1) Family fellowship, . 
 
 (2) Prayer, .... 
 
 (3) Seclusion and retirement, 
 
 (4) The use of Scripture, 
 
 5, The first testimony before the world. Acts ii. 14 ff., 
 
 (1) The outward situation and special position of the 
 
 235 
 
 235 
 235 
 
 236 
 
 238 
 240 
 
 244 
 
Contents. xi 
 
 PAOK 
 
 audience, and the corresponding character of the 
 
 testimony (historical point of view), . . , 244 
 
 (a) The audience, 244 
 
 (ft) The sermon in its subject, plan, and course of 
 
 development, . . . . . . .245 
 
 (2) The inward situation and special frame of mind 
 
 of the audience, and the corresponding character 
 
 of the testimony (psychological point of view), . 248 
 
 (a) The audience, 248 
 
 {h) Form and contents of the discourse with refer- 
 ence to misconstruction and strong impressions, 249 
 
 (3) General homileticnl principles derivable from the 
 
 discourse, 264 
 
 (a) The principal law, 264 
 
 (h) Law relating to matter, . . . .264 
 
 (c) Law relating to form, 265 
 
 4. The organization of Christian churrhes, Acts ii. 40-47 ; 
 
 vi. 1-7, .... .... 267 
 
 (1) The fundamental conditions, . A. 40, 41, . . 267 
 
 (2) The means of development, Acts ii. 42, . . . 280 
 
 (a) ^i}a,^yi Tuv aToffroXuv, ... . . . 280 
 
 (b) h xoivuMia., . . . . . . .284 
 
 (c) *i xXuffi; rou aprov, ...... 290 
 
 (d) The relation of these three factors to one another 
 
 and to Church-life, 293 
 
 (e) al •Tpotnv;i^ai, ....... 296 
 
 (/) Summing up, 299 
 
 (3) The appointment of Church servants, Acts vi. 1-7, . 301 
 
 (a) General character of the apostles' procedure, . 302 
 
 (&) The chief laws which may be derived from it, . 303 
 
 (c) The determining principle, .... 306 
 
 (d) The requisites for a treatment of outward atfairs 
 
 in accordance with the Spirit, . . . 309 
 
 (e) The procedure in appointing to office, . . 311 
 (/) How far this scriptural example can and must 
 
 be the rule for us, . . . . . . 313 
 
xii Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 5. The testimony to Jems Christ in conflict loith the power of 
 
 the State ChurcJi, Acts iii. 11 ff., iv. 1-33, v. 12-42, . 316 
 
 (1) The testimony occasioning the conflict, . . . 316 
 
 (rt) in its outward development, .... 316 
 (h) according to its spirit and purport, . . .319 
 
 (2) The conflict with the power of the State Church, . 322 
 
 (a) The situation, 322 
 
 (b) Behaviour of the apostles, .... 324 
 
 (c) The ecclesiastical court upon the scene, . . 325 
 {d) The justification of the accused, . . . 326 
 (e) The effect of the speech for the defence, . . 328 
 (/) The apostles' attitude to the official judgment, 332 
 (g) The subsequent effect upon the Church, . . 335 
 (h) Conclusion, 340 
 
 Index of Passages eeferred to, 343 
 
v^^vv of Prin 
 >- JUL 2 1885 
 
 lexical Sc5\^ 
 
 PASTORAL TEACHING OF THE NEW 
 TESTAMENT. 
 
 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 I. THE IMPORTANCE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE IN ITS BEARING 
 ON PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 
 
 My object in these lectures is not only to furnish you 
 with definite rules and directions for the discharge of 
 pastoral duty, but more especially to show you how you 
 ought yourselves to study and use the Scriptures, in 
 the service of which you are called one day to labour, 
 in the interests of your calling and from its point of 
 view. This is the more important because otherwise 
 theological study moves in the sphere of the abstract, 
 training neither the spiritual nor the mental powers for 
 the life-work of the ministry — that is, for a real and 
 not merely a formal discharge of it. Owing to this 
 defect in their traininsj we find that ministers in the 
 discharge of their professional duty get into habits of 
 work which very often do not go beyond a mechanical 
 routine ; alongside of a lifeless theology there arises a 
 mechanical performance, determined by no principles — - 
 
2 ' Introduction. 
 
 an unnatural dualism which weighs heavily enough on 
 all earnest ministers, and makes many the sport of the 
 changing phenomena of the day and the shifting currents 
 of the age. In Holy Scripture, however, we find the 
 remedy for all the one-sided and sectional tendencies 
 into which the operation of human agencies breaks up 
 theology as an organic whole, both in theory and 
 practice. 
 
 As we do not find in Scripture an abstract system of 
 faith and morals, as little do we find in it a practical code 
 of rules or a course of practice without rules ; it gives 
 for our instruction precej^ts and examples in living and 
 concrete unity ; that is to say, it gives us, on the one 
 hand, express directions how the office of teacher or 
 the ministry of God's word and the care of souls is 
 to be discharged ; on the other hand, statements as to 
 how this was done in the most varied relationships of 
 human life by those in whom dwelt the Divine Spirit. 
 We have thus in Scripture a directory for pastoral ivork 
 and a collection of examples combined. It not only 
 gives us very suggestive and clearly-defined rules from 
 the mouth of the most gifted and approved V ourers 
 in the field of Christian instruction, but it also intro- 
 duces us directly into their sphere of labour, bringing 
 before us in the midst of their operations those who 
 were the originators and founders of the work which is 
 assigned to ourselves, those who were its ablest promoters 
 and most intimately acquainted with its spirit and aim. 
 Often, indeed, are we introduced into the secret work- 
 shop of their spirits, where were forged those mighty 
 
Holy Scripture and Pastoral Theology. 3 
 
 levers by which they overturned whole systems of error 
 and sin ; we are introduced into the spiritual birthplace 
 of their magnificent conceptions and enterprises, which 
 overtopped the collective wisdom of centuries in spirit- 
 power and energy, into the silent world of their souls' 
 emotions, into their inward conflicts and troubles and 
 joys, and are permitted to catch a glimpse of their weak- 
 ness and their strength, as well as of their chequered 
 fortunes, of their struggles and victories, their sufferings 
 and successes. But universal and world-wide as the 
 importance and influence of their whole personality and 
 activity has been, yet are they not too great to guide 
 us even in the most ordinary relationships of life ; for 
 all that is told us regarding them is presented in its 
 smallest beginnings and most unpretending stages of 
 development, in the everyday situations and minute 
 occurrences of personal and domestic life, referring to 
 men's conduct and pursuits alike in town and country. 
 
 Scripture presents us, then, with a general view, in 
 the simplest and most modest setting, of the pattern for 
 the grandest and most comprehensive operations. The 
 teacher in the humblest sphere of labour finds there his 
 model, suited to what is least, yet rising up to what is 
 greatest and highest ; and, indeed, there cannot be in our 
 time any ecclesiastical office so exalted as not to be 
 surpassed by those scriptural exemplars, both as regards 
 their position in the history of the world and in the 
 history of God's kingdom. Yet even in the grandest 
 tasks and movements these models set us the example 
 of fidelity in little things, they direct us to the use of 
 
4 Introduction. 
 
 the simplest means of operation, and, in particular, they 
 recommend the work of personal religion as the first 
 and last business for the highest as well as for the 
 lowest (compare 1 Cor. ix. 25-27; 1 Tim. iv. 12 ff.). 
 We have thus in Scripture a means of fitting men for 
 the office of the ministry which ought to be used both 
 by beginners and veterans, by the lowest and the highest, 
 as an inexhaustible mine which they should work with 
 the earnestness of a miner who digs for gold. 
 
 But instead of this what do we find ? We have only 
 to take a look at the literature on the subject, in which 
 thoughts and maxims, projects and institutions, either of 
 men's own devising or received by tradition, are set 
 forth with great amplitude and pretension, while atten- 
 tion is bestowed but slightly and superficially upon the 
 contents of Scripture as if it was only fit to patch up 
 the holes in the ancient or modern holy coat. In order 
 to obtain a firm scriptural foundation, we must not be 
 content with the hasty and superficial mode of treat- 
 ment now prevalent, whereby the reading of whole 
 books of the Bible is hurried over (and notably in the 
 universities) as if the highest and deepest truths and 
 relations in life could be gathered, described, and classi- 
 fied like so many stones. Things are so often spoken 
 of as mastered which are only received by the memory, 
 the logical faculty, the imagination, and so forth ; and 
 this notion of learning is extended without hesitation 
 even to the Scriptures, although they require for the 
 understanding of their life -truths, thoroughly moral and 
 religious as they are, an absolute surrender of the 
 
Holy Scriphirc and Fastoral Thcologij. 5 
 
 inmost being, and expressly demand moral earnestness 
 in a man's life and conduct. The habit of much 
 reading is certainly very much encouraged by the 
 bombastic stuff offered in the literary market, especially 
 the so-called practical part of it, where you have to 
 hurry through whole strings of sentences to get hold of 
 a very few thoughts, — thoughts which in many cases 
 do not even require a racking of the brain, much less a 
 subjugation of the mind and will. And this habit of 
 much reading — the plague of our time — holds itself 
 entitled to use the same despatch even in dealing with 
 the books of Scripture. In these books, however, there 
 is a prevailing conciseness in the sentences, and a 
 pregnancy in the words, by which the marrow of the 
 thought is impressed upon every individual part, and a 
 sharp arrow of conviction is aimed at the very heart of 
 the reader. Through this habit of much and hasty 
 reading, carried on for years, there is lost the taste, dispo- 
 sition, and understanding which are needed to appreciate 
 and make use of such a representation of the truth ; 
 there is lost the capacity for persevering in the study 
 of the individual words with composure and quiet 
 thoughtfulness, for comparing them with one another, 
 bringing out their force, and working them out in their 
 own spirit. Now, so long as learned theology, with its 
 abstract conceptions, is alienated from the living thought 
 of Scripture as well as from the wants of the inner 
 and outer life, it is doubly necessary to devote special 
 time to the reading of Holy Scripture for one's life as 
 well as for one's ministry ; and if the old adage, " non 
 
6 Introduction. 
 
 scholse sed vitce discimus," is constantly forgotten in its 
 special bearing on theology, or is apprehended only in 
 an external and mechanical sense, this is an evil for 
 which the professor in his chair may seldom have to 
 suffer, but for which the student must suffer all the 
 more when he is called to leave the barrack and parade 
 life of college for the conflict of real life. 
 
 As early as the last century this new life-spirit, 
 which had been reawakened within the pale of the 
 evangelical Church, chiefly by Spener, had also begun 
 to break through the scholastic incrustation at the uni- 
 versities ; it had given rise to new impulses, and had led 
 to new attempts, even in the lecture halls, to cultivate 
 the science of life from a theological point of view. 
 Notably through the exertions of Francke, Buddeus, 
 Eambach, Paul Anton, and others, special hours 
 (lectures) had been instituted, in which books of Holy 
 Scripture were, according to the technical expression of 
 the day, read in a " porismatical " fashion ; that is to say, 
 in such a manner that out of the text truths were 
 deduced, not only for edification generally, but specially 
 also with a view to preparation for the gospel ministry.^ 
 To this practice we owe some valuable writings, 
 especially by Eambach and Paul Anton, on the New 
 Testament writings, which even now, if one is not 
 deterred by their hard and forbidding husk, and their 
 often painful prolixity, yield a rich kernel of scriptural 
 
 ^ How much these men were governed in this by the old adage, ** non 
 multa sed multum," is evident from the fact that Eambach and Anton, 
 for example, devoted three hours a week for two years to the Acts of the 
 Apostles. 
 
Holy Scrii^ture and Fastoral Theology. 7 
 
 life-wisdom as well as deeper exegetical views, than are 
 to be found in the exegesis of the schools. 
 
 The pastoral teaching and pastoral life of Holy 
 Scripture is thus the field in which we are to reap a 
 harvest which not only contains within it the form of 
 growth, but also the fructifying impulse, and which on 
 a congenial soil brings forth another growth of spirit 
 and life like itself. Out of Scripture is formed the 
 living foundation without which all study and duty in 
 the line of pastoral theology remain unfruitful. This 
 foundation is a genuine Christian character. He who 
 enters the ministry without this, either falls into 
 hypocrisy, or he is like a reed shaken by the wind, — 
 he falls a victim to human delusion produced by a 
 mechanical discharge of spiritual duty or a formal 
 service of religion, or he falls a prey to the excitements 
 of a forced pursuit of spirituality, or to the prudence of 
 the children of this world, and becomes their plaything 
 or even their laughing-stock. His rules for pastoral 
 duty neither put him in the saddle nor keep him in it. 
 But this is not the worst ; in the sight of the Chief 
 Shepherd, who walks among His Churches with eyes of 
 fire, he is an hireling to whom are addressed the words, 
 " Man, how camest thou in hither, not having on a 
 wedding garment ? " (Matt. xxii. 12), and who shall have 
 his portion assigned to him with the hypocrites (Matt, 
 xxiv. 51). But even to possess a Christian character 
 is not all, it makes a man a Christian but not a Christian 
 pastor and fellow-worker with God. For this (Matt, 
 xiii. 52) a man requires to be learned in the Scriptures, 
 
8 Introduction, 
 
 to possess a mind which has drawn its nourishment 
 from the Scriptures, which is familiar with the course 
 of divine revelation and education for the kingdom of 
 heaven, which is in possession of the wisdom of a 
 householder who, for the management of his domestic 
 affairs, has not only a working capital to begin with, 
 but also the ability to increase and utilize it, so that 
 he can " bring forth out of his treasure things old and 
 new " to meet the current necessities. For this purpose, 
 however, neither a theoretical acquaintance with theology 
 nor the possession of a Christian character is of itself 
 sufficient ; there is needed a special pastoral training, 
 such as Christ conferred on His disciples and the apostles 
 upon their helpers in the work of the Lord. In 
 Scripture we find the seed-corn of this pastoral training, 
 the examples to be followed, its principles and outlines, 
 and these described in no dead, formal way. Scripture, 
 when one gives himself up to it in a spirit of devotion 
 to the truth and with self-renunciation, ever proves a 
 quickening spring, which awakens in every man his 
 special gift, and by its sound teaching promotes a sound 
 practical development of the gift. It tends specially to 
 the production of that sound understanding, that discreet 
 and sensible character, denoted l)y the term a(i>(f)po(Tvv7], 
 which is so particularly needful for the clergyman in 
 order that he may apply what he has learned to the 
 manifold relations of life from the highest point of view, 
 viz. that of the kingdom of heaven ; and in order that, 
 through the lessons of the present life, he may be con- 
 tinually learning for another life — a life of glory — in 
 
Aids to Pastoral Thcologij — their Vahie and Standard. 9 
 
 eternity. A mind which draws its nourishment from 
 Scripture has the senses exercised to discern between 
 the true or real and the apparent, between the good and 
 the bad, even in their varying degrees and disguises ; it 
 developes the gift of trying the spirits ; it developes 
 the purity of heart, the simplicity that is complete in 
 Christ, and the faithfulness of a steward, in combination 
 with that wisdom which does not in its innocence 
 receive the spurious and impure when it presents itself 
 in fair - seeming guise, but overcomes it by the in- 
 herent might of divine truth. All these are essential 
 qualities, which are not given by mere instruction and 
 drill, nor yet gained from mere experience ; they 
 form rather the condition necessary for the use of all 
 the other aids to a right discharge of pastoral duty in 
 the right spirit and after the right method. So our 
 position is, that Scripture is the source of true pastoral 
 theology, and indeed in the right sense the only source, 
 because Scripture alone contains its original powers, 
 laws, and examples. 
 
 II. AIDS TO PASTORAL THEOLOGY THEIR VALUE AXD 
 
 THEIR STANDARD. 
 
 But besides Scripture, there are yet other aids to 
 training in pastoral theology which may be of value 
 for any one who know^s how to test and sift them 
 by comparison with the original itself. Scripture in 
 the course of centuries, like an unfading, fruitful tree, 
 has strewed the whole Church with seeds and fruits. 
 
1 Introduction. 
 
 even in matters relating to pastoral theology ; out of 
 it have grown directions for the exercise of the pastoral 
 office, and examples of it, of various degrees of value. To 
 this category belong not only works that treat specially 
 of pastoral theology, but also writings which furnish 
 experiences and sketches from pastoral life, as well as 
 directories of public worship and pastoral addresses. 
 
 Under certain conditions we may also employ as an 
 aid to training in pastoral theology. Church fellowship 
 as well as fellowship with brother-clergymen. But all 
 this does not imply that there are other sources besides 
 the Scriptures to supply us with precept and practice 
 in pastoral theology. So far from this, it is only when 
 it is continually drawing its inspiration from Scripture, 
 and trying itself and everything else by reference to 
 Scripture, that it can understand its true bearings, that 
 it can judge of the bad and the good, the sound and 
 the unsound, in the domain of literature, of Church life, 
 and of human society generally, or distinguish between 
 perishing human thoughts or institutions and eternal 
 divine thoughts. Everything, however brilliant, how- 
 ever it may impose upon us through the dignity of age 
 or the freshness of novelty, is to be tested at the one 
 fountainhead, to which may be traced what is best and 
 most enduring even in the domain of pastoral theology. 
 
 III. AIDS ENUMERATED. 
 
 (a) Out of the literature of pastoral theology itself we 
 select some writings which are of more or less value 
 
Aids enumerated — Literature of Fastoral Theology. 1 1 
 
 for practical purposes. From Christian antiquity we 
 have only general rules, suggestions, exhortations re- 
 garding a conscientious discharge of the ministry, and 
 a worthy manner of life. We find these scattered, for 
 example, through the letters of Cyprian^ of which the 
 fourth and the fifth in particular treat of the election 
 and mode of life of the priests ; and also in the letters 
 of Jerome, particularly in that addressed to Nepotianus.- 
 In the work of Ambrose, Be Oßciis, there is a special 
 section, "De Officiis Ministrorum," which, however, con- 
 tains a mixture of truth and error, and does not enter 
 upon the special features of the office. More important, 
 on account of the depth of the thoughts, is Augustine's 
 De Cateehizandis Rudihus} and his work. De Doctrina 
 Christiana} where the last two books treat of the modus 
 inveniendi quce intelligenda sunt, and the modus prof erendi 
 qiioe intellecta sunt. Chrysostom's De Sacerdotio brings 
 out in an impressive manner the sacredness and import- 
 ance of the office (chiefly in Books 4 and 5), but it 
 requires scriptural sifting, especially on account of 
 the hierarchical elements contained in it, which were by 
 this time gathering force in the Church. St. Bernard's 
 Consider ationes, addressed to Pope Eugene, are very rich 
 in the application of Scripture to practical questions. 
 The work of Ellendorf, Saint Bernard and the Hierarchy 
 of his Time, gives extracts from it. A collection of old 
 pastoral experiences was given by John Mich. Sailer in 
 his Christian Letters from all Centuries (six small 
 volumes). 
 
 ^ Translated by Shaw and Salmond. T. & T. Clark, 1877. 
 
1 2 Introduction, 
 
 The Eeformers devoted special attention to the pastoral 
 office, and a rich treasure is to be found in Luther's 
 writings. What had previously existed as scattered 
 fragments was first published in a collected form by 
 Porta in his Pastorale LutJieri, 1582, reprinted in 
 Nördlingen in 1842. The same subject is more con- 
 cisely and systematically, but only too briefly, handled 
 by Gessert in his The Gospel Ministry, as viewed 
 hj Luther, Bremen 1826. A work of great amplitude 
 and learning, which derives special value from the 
 annotations and additions by Francke, is Hartman's 
 Pastorale Evangelicum, 1678. Francke himself, in his 
 Monita Pastor alia, 1712, and in his Collegium Pastorale, 
 1743, like Spener before him in his Pia Desideria, and 
 in many of his Reflections, cleared and enriched with 
 Christian wisdom the domain of pastoral theology. 
 Translated from English into German by Plieninger, 
 1837, is a work by Eichard Baxter, The Reformed 
 Pastor. This work is full of fire and energy, and as 
 revised by Brown it ought to be more useful than in its 
 original somewhat unsystematic form. It is indeed 
 chiefly hortatory, going, however, into the particulars, 
 and insisting everywhere upon the one decisive con- 
 sideration. On the other hand, the zeal is overdone, 
 and the book is apt to betray the reader into 
 exaggerations and extravagances, which are the more 
 dangerous because they rest upon a spiritual founda- 
 tion, and aim at a spiritual result. It is deficient 
 in insight into the laws of the divine economy, and 
 there is about its method much that is forced, and not 
 
Literature of Pastoral Thcolorjy. 13 
 
 scripturally nor practically tenable. As specially 
 worthy of notice we have still to mention Gottfried 
 Arnold's Tlie Clergyman as a Gosjoel Teacher, 1723. 
 The book treats with great earnestness of the spiritual 
 side of the clerical calling, and of the personal train- 
 ins for it. Arnold, however, re^ijards the office of 
 teacher too exclusively in its high spiritual aspect, 
 and, with all his opposition to ecclesiastical tradition, 
 he often loses the pure Bible truth in patristic 
 mysticism. 
 
 Amongst the best works of the 18 th century that 
 treat of pastoral theology in a systematic form we 
 may rank the treatise of John Peter Miller, which 
 contains a complete guide for a wise and conscientious 
 discharge of the gospel ministry, Leipsic 1774. An 
 opposition to orthodoxy maintained in the spirit of 
 Spener, coupled with wisdom, prudence, and knowledge 
 of men, are the leading features of the book, and 
 although in its manner of expression it follows closely 
 the prevailing language of its time, nevertheless it 
 contains a substantial kernel of Christian thought. 
 Herder in his writings — GocCs Preaeher, 1765 ; Twelve 
 Provincial Letters to Preachers, 1774 ; and Letters on the 
 Study of Theology, 1780 — vigorously contends against a 
 dead system of morals, a shallow orthodoxy, and a 
 utilitarian conception of the ministerial office, and repre- 
 sents with fire and spirit the prophetic, apostolic 
 character of the office along with a living Christianity, 
 albeit he does not know how to grasp the latter in its 
 own fundamental doctrines. The Provincial Letters 
 
14 Introduction. 
 
 especially are rich in grand delineations of the true 
 pastoral character, characterized by great mental power, 
 and abound in forcible refutation of the superficial 
 opinions of the age. Among the more recent systematic 
 treatises on pastoral theology, the work of the Catholic 
 Bishop Joh. Mich. Sailer is specially to be commended. 
 Lectures on Pastoral Theology, in three volumes, published 
 several times since 1788. Sailer knows how to weave 
 the central ideas of Christianity at every point into 
 the relationships, even the Catholic relationships, of 
 real life, and how to deduce from them the most 
 detailed applications in a prudent and practical spirit, 
 and in a manner in many respects original. His 
 ecclesiastical leanings come out particularly in the 
 third part. Harms' Pastoral Theology is possessed of 
 much living force, being in many respects spirited and 
 seasoned with practical illustrations ; but instead of 
 sober scriptural truth and well-grounded judgment, we 
 often get only the fancies of genius, and much of the 
 book is too highly coloured by his own subjectivity. 
 It is therefore to be used with caution, just because, 
 owing to its Christian character as a whole, even 
 assertions, suggestions, examples, and the like, which 
 cannot stand the test of objective Christian truth, 
 are dangerously fascinating. Kübel, in his Outline of 
 Pastoral Theology, 1870 and 187 2, gives us a synoptical 
 view of the subject, which, taken as a whole, follows 
 the substance and meaning of Scripture. 
 
 There are two productions which, without belonging 
 to systematic pastoral theology, are remarkable among 
 
Biographies. 1 5 
 
 ancient and modern works for the way in which they 
 go directly into the experiences and duties incident to 
 the work of the ministry. The one is Spener's 
 Theological Reflections, drawn up in a very useful form, 
 in a modern but only too short Compendium, by 
 Hennecke, Halle 1838 ; the other, Philip David Burk's 
 Collections for Pastoral Theology, in two volumes, 1771- 
 73, re-edited in an abbreviated form by V. F. Oehler, 
 1867. Both works, apart from the bias in favour of 
 traditional views and forms which here and there 
 cleaves to them, are distinguished by sober fidelity 
 to Scripture, practical wisdom, and sound examination 
 and judgment of the often difficult cases in real life 
 with which they deal. A collection of pithy expressions 
 from Bengel's Gnomon is given by Werner in Bengel's 
 Treasury for the Discharge of the Clerical Office, taken from 
 the Papers of Pastor Flattich, 1860. In conformity 
 with the method set forth by me here and elsewhere, 
 Wächter works out the subject in the Zeitschrift für 
 Lutherische Theologie und Kirche, 1859, pp. 645-683, 
 " Principles of Church Superintendence, after the 
 Example of Jesus." 
 
 (5) Amongst liographies are to be noted Spener's and 
 Valentin Andreas' Lives by Hossbach, Bengel's Life and 
 Labours by Burk, and the same by Wächter, particularly 
 rich in quotations from Bengel's own utterances. In 
 Sailer's biographical sketches of Heggelin, Winkelhofer, 
 Fenneberg, the Cathohc colouring is to be got rid of. 
 Martin Boos, by Gossner, is rich in Christian experience, 
 but not to the full extent of Scripture. But biographies 
 
1 6 Introduction. 
 
 generally (particularly so a collection of them entitled 
 Pastoral Theology Exemplified, byBurk, 1838) have always 
 their questionable matter, and require therefore to be used 
 very judiciously and with strict discrimination, even in 
 detail. Usually biographies neglect far too much the 
 duty of sifting everything on biblical principles, that is 
 to say, by the example of Christ and His apostles, and 
 by the original conception of the ministry ; hero-worship 
 is quite too much in the ascendant, or at all events 
 there is a tendency to picture men as saints ; they force 
 up their hero to such an elevation that he no longer 
 appears a real man. How different is it, on the other hand, 
 with the simple narratives of the Gospels and the Acts 
 of the Apostles, with the glimpses which are permitted 
 us into the life and heart of the prophets ! In them, as 
 Eoos says in his preface to the Footsteps of the Faith of 
 Abraham, we are preserved from hypocrisy and over- 
 strained earnestness. We learn from them how the 
 image of Christ is beautifully impressed upon the soul 
 amid the commonest duties and sufferings of human 
 life, .and what a striking manifestation of it can be 
 given in the works that come to a man's hand day by 
 day in a way unsought by him. Further, in ordinary 
 biographies the person described is mostly set before us 
 in his official dress, and in consequence of this we get 
 accustomed to an unnatural official gravity, — strictly 
 taken, a hypocritical gravity,— as if the black gown, 
 which was not even possessed originally by the servants 
 of Christ, had grown to be a part of the man. Again, 
 how greatly does this gravity, pertaining to office 
 
Directories of Public Worship. 17 
 
 or position, stand in contrast with the simple, earnest, 
 human nature of Christ and the apostles, who were 
 only distinguished hy the force of their spirit and 
 character, and not by assuming airs of clerical 
 superiority ! Moreover, one is easily misled even by 
 the better class of biographies into an outward familiarity 
 with, and an imitation of, what apart from the inward 
 and essential condition is a wretched sham, or has its 
 value in other men only from some peculiarity of their 
 natural or regenerate state, and is only to be justified, 
 or even so much as excused, by special circumstances 
 of time and place. 
 
 (c) Among the aids to pastoral theology there still fall 
 to be considered directories of public worship. These 
 differ according to time and country ; that which is 
 specially authorized in the country in which a man 
 discharges his office, he must have a more accurate 
 knowledge of, must likewise test by the Scriptures, 
 in order to keep what is good in it ; and anything 
 else he must quietly modify for himself, so that it 
 may be suited to his own sphere of labour. This 
 requires wisdom, in order, on the one hand, not to cause 
 strife, on the other, not to become a slave of men, not 
 to be servile. This wisdom is not got from rules, but, 
 like other good things, is to be found in Scripture, that 
 is to say, it belongs to the personal character which is 
 formed by the study of Scripture and by prayer. 
 The more modern directories of public worship suffer 
 more or less from that spirit of formalism, ethical 
 superficiality, and pious mannerism which characterize 
 
1 8 Tiitfocludion, 
 
 generally the theology of our day ; in older specimens 
 there are often glorious treasures, combining a know- 
 ledge of Scripture and practical wisdom, particularly 
 so the Book of Common Order of the old com- 
 munion of the Bohemian Brethren, and generally those 
 of the Eeformation period. We have also" a pastoral 
 theology constructed out of the principal German direc- 
 tories by Spörl, 1764. The evangelical principle which 
 all such books should keep in view — but, alas 1 have 
 not kept in view — was powerfully and wisely expressed 
 by Luther in his day, in his preface to the Wittenberg 
 Directory, 1526. (Compare the book by Gessert, above 
 mentioned, and also an abridgment of Luther's writings by 
 Zimmermann and Lomler, Liturgy/, vol. Hi. "p-p. 456-461: 
 " Above all things," he says, " I would very heartily, and 
 for God's sake, entreat as many as see this Book of 
 Order for Divine Service, or would follow it, that 
 they make of it no compulsory ordinance, nor entangle 
 or bind any man's conscience with it ; but that in 
 accordance with Christian liberty they use their good 
 pleasure as to how, where, when, and how long their 
 circumstances may suit and require it. I therefore 
 would not ask those who have already a good book of 
 order of their own, or by God's grace can make a 
 better, to abandon theirs, and make way for ours.") 
 The general principle which should guide our procedure 
 in Church matters is this. On the one hand, there is 
 an order to be observed which must not be allowed to 
 interfere with the common liberty of men, such as the 
 New Testament respects and desires to be respected, 
 
Directories of PuUic Worship. 1 9l 
 
 still less with the special Christian liberty which the 
 New Testament implants and desires to be implanted. 
 On the other hand, there is ^freedom to be maintained, 
 which must not be allowed to run into disorder before 
 CJod, nor tend to loosen the foundations of morality and 
 piety. As an example how even Christian men of an 
 earlier time examined and freely criticized the condition 
 of the Church, we may take Spener in his Pia Besideria, 
 and Bengel in his Biography by Burk, pp. 170-174 
 (comp, also the sketch of Bengel's Life by Wächter, 
 pp. 191, 364, etc., although the editor has been too 
 minute in his criticism). 
 
 One overruling consideration which is to be well 
 borne in mind in anything that relates to arrangements 
 and improvements in the outward constitution of the 
 Church, and particularly when it concerns an enlarge- 
 ment of the privileges of congregations, is this, thatj 
 improvements, as also new organizations generally, must 
 originate from within, if they are not to be merely 
 means of promoting hypocrisy, and so of leading to 
 moral deterioration ; in other words, if the reform is to 
 l)e one in accordance with the spirit of the kingdom of 
 God, which is inward life. Otherwise, even the best of 
 schemes will not be carried on in the right spirit and 
 from right motives ; they are liable to be abused, and 
 become a weapon of the Evil one. So long as the great 
 majority of our congregations consist of men, some of 
 whom are rude, carnal men, others of whom, under the 
 name of culture, are miscultured, some indifferent, some 
 unbelieving, some superstitious ; so long as even the 
 
20 Introduction. 
 
 minority themselves can merely judge in matters of the 
 mind and the conscience, and are not able to discrimi- 
 nate in questions relating to Christian truth and error, 
 Christian good and evil, Christian bondage and liberty ; 
 so long as pernicious errors and lusts prevail in doctrine 
 and life, it is the most glaring contradiction to think of 
 setting up a Christian constitution, in other words, of 
 building before you have the ground and the materials 
 for building. It is quite as much of an incongruity 
 as it would be to transfer our political constitution to 
 Turkey. But this incongruity is precisely what our 
 age overlooks, owing partly to its zeal for restoration, 
 partly to its passion for reform. Especially is this 
 observable in the desire of so many clergymen to effect 
 an outward reform before they have reformed themselves, 
 and especially reformed their preaching in accordance with 
 the Scriptures. Spener teaches differently when in his 
 Reflections, p. 296, he mentions three things as the most 
 necessary : — " 1 . That we — that is to say, the clergy — 
 should begin with ourselves, and should strive to 
 attain such a position that we shall be able to guide our 
 hearers by our own example, that we shall speak under 
 the influence of the Holy Ghost, and not of human 
 wisdom. On this we must bestow much labour. 2. 
 That as regards our congregations, we sliould in all 
 our sermons carefully attend to these two things : on 
 the one hand make them understand that a lip-faith 
 (a so-called confession) is not enough, that true faith is 
 a thing which makes new men, on the other hand 
 call attention to the great blessings of Christianity (' if 
 
Intercourse loith Men. 21 
 
 in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all 
 men most miserable '), showing how all riches and all 
 honour are nothing compared with blessedness in 
 Christ. Where these two things are constantly insisted 
 on, the former will have the effect of taking away 
 self-confidence from the hearts of those who do not 
 wilfully harden themselves, the latter will lead them to 
 strive after eternal blessings. 3. The third means would 
 Ije the private admonition, on the one hand, of those 
 who^are exceptionally wicked ; on the other hand, also 
 of those whom the Father is drawing." The latter are 
 to be helped upwards and onwards that they may attain 
 to the truth. Compare with 1 and 2 above mentioned 
 as directions for a true Christian reform, Hasenkamp on 
 the Removed of Hinclretnces to Christian Integrity, edited 
 l)y Lavater, second edition, 1770; republished in a 
 new form in Tübingen by Osiander, 1866, p. 19 ff. 
 
 {(l) Amongst the aids to pastoral theology there is 
 still to be considered intercourse with men in general, 
 and with ministerial brethren in particular. As regards 
 general social intercourse, there are two fruitful texts to 
 be borne in mind — 1 Cor. x. 23 : " All things are lawful, 
 but all things are not expedient, . . . and all things 
 edify not;" and Eom. xiv. 1, 15, 20, which latter 
 passage brings out prominently the regard which is 
 due to the weak in the faith : " Such receive ye, yet 
 not to doubtful disputation. If because of meat 
 (that is, the enjoyment that is open to thee) thy 
 brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer in love." 
 On these principles the clergyman must limit his 
 
22 Introduction. 
 
 freedom in his outward life, and must not say to him- 
 self : If this man and that man are at liberty to do so 
 and so, I am also at liberty to do it, there is certainly 
 nothing wrong in it. Enough, if it has a baneful effect 
 upon others, even if it has not always such an effect on 
 the minister himself, or if it wounds them and perplexes 
 their consciences, care being taken, however, not to con- 
 found capricious humours and pretensions with such 
 conscientious scruples. An apprehension of the moral 
 injury which they may do to others must lead us to 
 sacrifice our own rights and enjoyments. Especially 
 does this apply to clergymen, who ought to be examples 
 in self-denial as in other things. With reference to 
 special worldly associations, a passage from Spener's 
 Be flections, ^. 135, is again to the point: "An honest 
 Christian may, through the grace of God, even in the 
 fellowship of others who are children of the world, so 
 maintain his position and so order his conversation as to 
 be able to keep himself free from sinful contamination ; 
 but in order to this there is needed — 1. An undoubted 
 call thereto, and he who in his soul is assured of such 
 a call may take his stand upon it (without becoming 
 over-confident). 2. It requires persons of strong character, 
 who in the midst of the world can withstand all the 
 temptations that meet them in it, and so carry on the 
 conflict as to come off victorious." We must, however, 
 add that even persons of strong character are not always 
 strong ; they have their weak moments and their weak 
 sides, specially in certain relations and amid certain 
 surroundings that are peculiarly perilous to their nature ; 
 
Intercourse with Brethren. 23 
 
 so to them also we may apply the words : " Be not high- 
 minded," self-confident, and presumptuous, " but fear ; " 
 therefore also Spener adds further: 3. " Even those strong 
 men who must constantly in their calling maintain an 
 outward intercourse with worldly circles and with worldly 
 persons, are in a position that is not without danger." 
 
 There is, however, one special kind of intercourse 
 which is of the greatest value as a means of gaining a 
 knowledge of human wants, which yields the strongest 
 incentives to earnestness and zeal in the discharge of 
 duty, the deepest experiences of the burden of sin and 
 the power of divine grace, the sharpest discernment 
 between appearance and reality, the best practice in 
 faith, hope, love : I mean intercourse with the unfor- 
 tunate, with the suffering, the poor, the sick, and so 
 forth, who were always the nearest to the Lord Him- 
 self. But let this intercourse be carried on in a sober 
 spirit, not as if one were pursuing it as a profession, — 
 and without obtrusiveness. 
 
 (e) Finally, as regards intercourse vjith brethren in 
 the ministry, here also must general love, lo\'e for all, be 
 united with the special love which w^e feel for such 
 as are in closest sympathy with us in spirit and in 
 faith. The elder Burk says : " It has always been a 
 great advantage to me that I have never desired to act 
 otherwise than in a fair and open way towards any of 
 my brethren, even though not generally regarded as 
 awakened and converted men. In consequence of this, 
 my brethren have all the sooner gained a thorough 
 brotherly confidence in my humble self." Never, how- 
 
24 I/itroduction. 
 
 ever, must the interests of truth and of ministerial duty be 
 in any degree sacrificed to our professional attachments. 
 " Amicus Socrates, amicior Plato, amicissima Veritas." 
 And as regards a more intimate fellowship with one or 
 more of our brethren, everything depends on the spirit 
 by which they are animated individually or collectively, 
 whether the spirit of simple truth, of love and self- 
 discipline, or of the fear of man and hypocritical com- 
 pliance, of assumption and love of power, of vanity, 
 and such like. When these are the motives, the rule 
 should be, " from such withdraw thyself." But above 
 all, it is important that a man should never forget his 
 own soul in his converse with others. One cannot be 
 to others what he is not to himself. Neither can one 
 receive from others, or gain through their efforts, the 
 good and the true, if they do not possess it themselves, 
 or if the receiver himself does not know how properly 
 to test and sift it. A man may preach to others, may 
 hold the best of intercourse with them, and may him- 
 self become a castaway even in the best company 
 (Luke xiii. 24-26). Above all in the ministerial office, 
 in which one so easily falls into the habit of giving out 
 more than one takes in, and so gets into the position 
 of a debtor, let us take care to have oil in our vessels, 
 o'ood seed in the soil of our own hearts : in other words, 
 time for quiet reflection, for personal edification through 
 the word of God and by prayer. This must have 
 precedence of all intercourse with others. For further 
 discussion, compare my Gedanken aus und nach der 
 Schrift, p. 256 ff. (second edition). 
 
PART FIRST 
 
 THE SCRIPTURAL CONCEPTION OF THE PASTORAL 
 OFFICE. 
 
 1. The fundamental idea of the life and icork of the 
 pasto7% according to Scrijotnre. 
 
 (a) There were chiefly three functions which devolved 
 upon those who were at the head of Christian Churches 
 (collectively styled Trpeaßvrepoi) — which functions are 
 at the present day combined more or less directly in 
 the ministerial office. The first function is that of 
 direction and superintendence of the doctrine, life, and 
 constitution of the Church, iiriaKOTrelv, Trot/jLalveiv, Acts 
 XX. 28, cf. ver. 17 ; hence the presbyters specially 
 entrusted therewith were called iTrio-Koirot, or Trot/zeVe?, 
 Tit. i. 5, 7 ; Eph. iv. 11. The second function is that 
 of teaching, BtSdaKeLv, the persons charged therewith 
 being in a special sense ScSdcrKaXoc, Eph. iv. 11. The 
 right to teach, however, was not confined to the pres- 
 byters or official persons, but depended generally on 
 "X^dpia/ia TTj^ BiSaaKoXla^ ; and in virtue of this '^dpio-fia 
 the work of teaching belonged also to ordinary members 
 
26 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 of the Church, 1 Cor. xiv. 26. This, however, did 
 not preclude the possibility of an official obligation to 
 teach (not a monopoly) being laid upon individual 
 members of the Church who were qualified to teach ; 
 and so those called to this duty became the hthdaKokoi 
 of the Church. Especially did it behove the bishops 
 or iroLfieve^ of the congregation to have at the same 
 time the gift of teaching, 1 Tim. iii. 2 ; Tit. i. 9. The 
 combination of superintendence, of the eTna/coTretu, with 
 the teaching function was not only not to be forbidden, 
 but rather to be held in special honour (1 Tim. v. 17). 
 There is thus involved in the complete idea of TroLfjLrjv 
 or of the pastoral office, that there be united in it the 
 direction of the Church and the function of teaching, 
 that the clergyman be at the same time preacher and 
 Church - governor (and indeed at the head of the 
 Church - governors). The third function consisted in 
 BiaKoveiv, in caring for the outward wants of the 
 Church, especially for the wants of the poor, the 
 widows, the sick, and the strangers. At first, as 
 Acts vi. shows, this function of the BiuKovetv was like- 
 wise united with the office of teacher and superinten- 
 dent ; but later, inasmuch as the ministry of the word, 
 or the teaching function, suffered prejudice thereby, the 
 hiaKovelv was separated from it and handed over to 
 special persons, viz. the deacons and deaconesses. We 
 have in this an indication as to what ministers also 
 have to give i^ip in the first instance, if the burden 
 of work is too great for them, namely, such services 
 as relate to matters of an outward kind ; we have 
 
The Pastors Life and Work. 27 
 
 an indication, also, how the ministry of the word 
 takes precedence of- everything else, even of the care 
 of the poor. Assuredly, however, this relief must not 
 be got in such a way as to leave the necessary outward 
 service uncared for, the clergyman simply neglecting 
 it, or giving it up without troubling himself about it, 
 but by such an arrangement as will still leave him 
 responsible for the efficient administration of this out- 
 ward service by means of other capable persons. Accord - 
 ing to the foregoing, then, we can sum irj? the fundamental 
 idea of the ministry of the Church at the 2)resent day in 
 the conception of the scriptural iroLfirjv. Shepherd 
 brings out the idea of pre-eminence above the rest of 
 the Church, the dignity of the position, but at the 
 same time it brings out also its aspect of duty, the 
 obligation which he owes to the Church, and his respon- 
 sibility to the Lord of the Church; moreover, both 
 aspects, that of dignity and that of duty, are seen united 
 in the shepherd by the tenderest bond, the bond of love 
 or of mutual attachment. The shepherd's dignity is 
 not one of lordly command, but of benevolent guidance ; 
 the shepherd's duty is not one of servile herding and 
 hireling labour, but of cherishing and tending, 
 
 (b) In John x., Christ sets Himself before us as the 
 pattern of the shepherd in the performance of his duties, 
 and even there we already find indications of the functions 
 mentioned above as belonging to the office of the ministry. 
 In ver. 3 : ttoi/jltjv Kokel koL ra Trpößara Trj<; cfxovij^i 
 avTov cLKovec, there comes before us the call, the appeal, 
 and that in such a way (comp. vers. 4 and 27), that 
 
2 8 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 recognition and following are the result of this appeal. 
 All this points to the ministry of the word, and to 
 such a fulfilment of it as leads to a knowledge of 
 Jesus Christ and a following after Him — a devotion to 
 Him as the one Chief Shepherd who (ver. 11 f., 15, 
 28) gives up His '^vx''h His personal, earthly life for the 
 sheep, and imparts to them eternal life, His life of the 
 spirit. The true Church-shepherd or pastor must thus 
 himself be under the direction and care of the one Chief 
 Shepherd, must himself know and follow after Jesus 
 Christ in order to render the service of a shepherd to 
 his congregation, in order really to bring home to their 
 souls the voice of Jesus, the word and call of Jesus, so 
 that they may know Him and follow Him. In harmony 
 with this are many other passages of the New Testa- 
 ment, which represent these two things — knowledge of 
 Jesus Christ and following after Him, or obedience to 
 Him — as essential elements not only of the Christian 
 life, but also of the discharge of the ministerial office ; 
 thus, with reference to knowledge, 2 Cor. iv. 6 (we 
 servants of the New Testament dispensation are en- 
 lightened by God 7r/)09 (jicoTLo-jnov t?}? <yv(oo-€(o^), 1 Cor. 
 i. 5 (where X0709 is conjoined with yv(baL<i), Col. i. 28 
 with iii. 10 (KarayyiWo/iev SLSdaK0VTe<; eh eTrlyvcoaiv)', 
 and with reference to obedience, Eom. i. 5 : eh viraKorjv 
 7r/ö-T€ü)9, vi. 17; 1 Thess. i. 5. Further, in John x. 
 :3 ff'. along with KoKelv there is brought before us the 
 i^dyeiv to, irpaßara koI efJurpoaOev avrcöv iropeveadai. 
 These essential features point to that leading of the fiock, 
 collectively and individually, which under the emblem 
 
The Pastors Life and WorJc. 29 
 
 of the shepherd is to be associated in thought witli ;i 
 watchful, careful oversight of all (ver. o : ra cSia irpo^ara 
 KoXel Kar ouofia ; ver. 1 4 : yLyvaxTKoy ra ifid ; ver. 2 7 : 
 yiyvoiaKO) avTci), and at the same time includes his own 
 going before them {efiirpoaOev avicov iropeverai, ver. 4), 
 that is to say, his example. Hence Acts xx. 2 8 : irpoaixere 
 eavTol^ Kal irdvri, tw iroLjj.vlw. Finally, in the words 
 already quoted, vers. 10 f. and 28 ("the Good Shepherd 
 giveth His life for His sheep, and giveth to them eternal 
 life, that they may have abundance"), there is involved 
 the general idea of htaKovla in the special and unique 
 perfection in which Christ alone could realize i^. (Com- 
 pare Matt. XX. 28 ; John xiii. 13-17 ; Luke xxii. 26.) 
 
 Thus also, in John x., when we sum up the essential 
 features, there comes out as the fundamental idea of 
 the pastoral office or discharge of duty by tlie Troifirjv, 
 in the first place, a call addressed to men through such 
 an application of the word as shall be the means of 
 producing a knowledge and a following of Christ, then 
 a leading or guiding, which, however, is found in union 
 with serving (hLaKovelv) with self-sacrifice ; which, conse- 
 quently, has nothing lordly about it, and which, in 
 conjunction with the word, is designed to lead to that 
 life which Christ supplies. 
 
 (c) It thus follows that the fundamental work of tlie - 
 ministry in the scriptural sense is, by teaching, by lead- 
 ing or going before, and by serving, to establish in men, 
 and among men, a living union with Christ ; and the 
 distinctive elements of this living union are : a know- 
 ledge of Christ, a following or obeying of Him and life 
 
30 The Scriptitml Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 in Him, a satisfaction of all wants, that is, abundance 
 in Christ. In this way the element of knowledge forms 
 the root of the whole true life-relation to Christ ; John 
 xvii. 3 and 8 ; 1 Tim. ii. 4. 
 
 Tliis is particularly evident in 2 Pet. i. 3 ff. The 
 divine power is there represented as the principle which 
 communicates tcl irpo^ ^(orjv icai evaeßeiav. The con- 
 ception of Jo)?? and evaeßeca is concisely rendered by 
 Bengel in his Gnomon : " ea quae pertinent ad vitam 
 ex Deo et Studium in Deum." Our great object, there- 
 fore, is the reception of divine life - power for the 
 development of a life absolutely dependent on God 
 only ; and this reception is spiritually effected through 
 knowledge, the distinctive knowledge of Him who 
 lias called us. This refers to God in Christ as He is 
 presented in the word. In close connection with this 
 there follows the unfolding of the evaeßeca, the life 
 absolutely dependent on God, this being described vers. 
 5 to 8 as a morally-developed fruit. In virtue of that 
 which is received through the knowledge of Christ, in 
 virtue of the dynamical relation in which that knowledge 
 places us towards Him (in virtue of the powers which 
 we derive from the divine power through that knowledge), 
 moral earnestness may and ouglit to be demanded ; 
 " Give all diligence to develop the whole train of virtues." 
 Thus here again also, there rests iqwn knowledge as the 
 foundation, the practical following of Christ, or tlie moral 
 imitation of Him. This reacts in turn (according to 
 ver. 8) upon our knowledge of Christ, so that by this 
 means it is prevented from ever settling down into a 
 
Tlie Pastors Life and Work. 31 
 
 knowledge that is unfruitful and dead ; and ver. 1 1 
 represents as the consequence of this process our more 
 and more abundant entrance into the union that is 
 fraught with life eternal. Thus from the knowledge of 
 Jesus Christ men obtain divine life-power, and out of this 
 there ought to be, and there may be, developed also (ver. 
 5-8) the moral imitation of Christ ; in and with this 
 imitation of Christ, again, there is developed (ver. 11) 
 the spiritual enjoyment of the kingdom, — life and satis- 
 faction in Christ, — the Scopea i7rovpapto<;, Svvä/jL6t<; fieX' 
 XovTOf; alo)vo<s, Heb. vi. 4. Since, theU; knowledge forms 
 tlie root out of which grows the whole of a right living 
 relation to Christ, and the whole development of the 
 Christian life, it follows that the teaching of the vjorcl 
 on which the knowledge of Christ is based, and by, 
 which it is built up, forms the chief business of the 
 2Kistoml office. In John xvii. 8 the importance of the 
 teaching of the word is declared by the Lord Himself : 
 OTL TO, prj/jLara a BeSwKa^; fjuoi SeBojKa avroh fcal avrol 
 ekaßov Kai eyvwaav aXr)6(ü<;, on nrapa gov e^rfK-Oov 
 fcal iirlarevaav, ore av fie aireareCKa^. It was by 
 means of teaching that the Lord trained His immediate 
 disciples to be the first agents of the word and work 
 given Him by the Father, and so in ver. 20 He in 
 turn connects with their teaching of the word the faith 
 of all those to whom He promises the enjoyment of 
 divine life which proceeds from Him. 
 
 The pastoral office has thus for its chief work teacli- 
 ing, or a preaching which is the means of imparting a 
 certain knowledge, the knowledge of Jesus Christ, bring- 
 
3 2 The ScrijJtural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 ing with it divine powers and fruits, and producing a 
 relation to God in Christ and to His eternal kingdom, 
 which manifests itself in a life of obedience and blessed- 
 ness. If preaching is to accomplish this object, it must 
 give the words which Christ gave to His disciples as God's 
 word ; God's word must be taught in the sense in which 
 it was taught by Jesus Christ and His apostles ; that is, 
 it must, be taught in exact accordance with Scripture. 
 For this reason it is not every sermon that is God's 
 word. Very vague ideas prevail on this point. This 
 subject is minutely discussed by Burk, Collections for 
 Fastoral Theology, the older edition, pp. 748—752 
 (edition by Oehler, p. 459); and by Sailer in his 
 concise Admonitions to Young Preachers, p. 11: "A 
 Christian preacher will, like a steward in the house of 
 God, allow no one to lay any other foundation in the 
 Church of God than that which is the true foundation, 
 apart from which there is no salvation. A Christian 
 sower will scatter divine seed according to the teaching 
 and the example of Jesus and His apostles. He who 
 teaches God's word, will teach regarding God and Jesus 
 and the Holy Ghost what Christ Himself teaches : 
 regarding man, his fall and restoration, his destiny, and 
 so forth, he will likewise teach what Jesus taught. Let 
 him who would teach God's word teach what was 
 taught by Christ's apostles in Christ's spirit." 
 
 In order to determine more exactly the fundamental 
 idea of the pastoral office as found in Scripture, we add — 
 
 2. Features of the pastoral life of the apostles, ivith 
 sjKcial reference to doctrine, government, and service. 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Superintendence. 33 
 
 First of all, for a right apprehension of the sujKrin- 
 tenclent's position and his work as a leader, we find 1 Pet. 
 V. 1-3 eminently instructive. From this passage we 
 see clearly that the offixial distinctions among those 
 engaged in the service of Christian Churches, distinc- 
 tions arising out of the afore-mentioned classification 
 into apostles, bishops (or overseers), teachers, deacons, 
 representing as they do various grades of service, by 
 no means do away with the element common to 
 them all. 
 
 This common element is designated by irpeaßvrepoL 
 (D'DpT) and avfiTTpeo-ßvTepQf;. This designation is applied 
 to those who were set over churches, not only because 
 they were usually chosen from the older men (1 Tim. 
 V. 17, comp. ver. 1), but also because it is the dignity 
 of age in comparison with youth, neither more nor less, 
 that ought to be ascribed to the office in question. This 
 common, brotherly element comes out also in Scripture 
 in connection with ministerial intercourse ; in 1 Cor. 
 iii. 5, 8, Paul and Apollos are both alike BidKovoc, 
 Geov o-vvepyol, and in Col. iv. 7, Paul ranks himself 
 with Tychicus under the common title avvSov\o<; iv 
 Kvpio). Similarly, in Rom. xvi. 3, he represents Prisca 
 and Aquila as his auvepyol; while John also, in his 
 Second and Third Epistles, designates himself as 
 7rp€aßvT€po<;. 
 
 Xow, as irpea-ßvTepo'; signifies the office of president 
 in a particular church, the above passages would indi- 
 cate that the Apostles Peter and John, at the time of 
 
 the composition of their letters, had their residence at 
 
 c 
 
34 Tlie Scripturcd Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 a particular church, and naturally found themselves 
 part of the ruling body in that church. This collegiate 
 relationship does not consist in social equality (4(jalit6), 
 hut in the earnest discharge of duty and work in 
 common {avvhovKo^, avv6py6<;), as well as in the cre/x- 
 v6rr]<;, which is inherent in the idea of age lying 
 at the root of the term irpeaßvrepo^;. The higher 
 rank of the apostle, as an apostle, is gently indicated 
 in our passage, 1 Pet. v. 1 , when it is added : koX 
 /jidpTV<; loiv rov Xptarov TraOrj/jbdrcov ; comp. Luke xxiv. 
 48 : v/jLeU Be eare /jLdpTvpe<; tovtcov, and Acts i. 21 f., 
 ii. 32, X. 39, where it is the fact of his having been 
 an eye-witness that Peter insists upon as the character- 
 istic of an apostle. Now why does the apostle mention 
 Christ's sufferings in particular as a primary considera- 
 tion ? Just because it is in the example of the suffer- 
 insf, servinoj Lord that there is found the antidote to 
 all ambition and official self-importance, and so the 
 ' passage before us is in full accordance with the funda- 
 mental principle laid down by our Lord in the appoint- 
 ment of His disciples and the Seventy (Matt. xx. 25-28, 
 xxiii. 8-12). There is no spiritual superiority (rabbi), no 
 authority resulting from age and affection (father), no 
 authority of leadership (Kadrjyrjrijf;, denoting the rank of 
 liead and president), to be a ground for special rank and 
 prerogatives amongst Christ's servants. On the contrary, 
 as all are alike dependent on the one Lord, Teacher, 
 and Father, there is based upon this fact their common 
 obligation to the laws of the one Lord ; — and this is what 
 tiives the humblest and weakest, even when confronted 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Superintendence. 35 
 
 ^vitll those in a higher position, a right to oppose all 
 departures from the teaching contained in the words of 
 the Lord, which constitute the only rule for our guid- 
 ance. So even in 1 Pet. v. 2 (notwithstanding the, 
 recognition of equality) the exhortation to fulfilment 
 of official duty is not omitted. The combination of 
 iroifxavare and eTrcaKOTrovi^re^ is not tautological ; ttoc- 
 fidvaTc is more precisely defined, and received point 
 from iiriGKO'TTovvTe^i ; so feed, that you may at the same 
 time exercise a careful oversight. The supply of what 
 is good, of wholesome nourishment, the feeding of the 
 flock, must be combined with care and vigilance to 
 guard against what is injurious, with discrimination to 
 separate between good and bad, true and false. This 
 exhortation to exercise oversight is needful for all, amid 
 so much that would lull to sleep, where there is so 
 much to dazzle the eye, and lead one, for example, to 
 mistake the appearance of good in a church for the 
 good itself. The church is still more strongly com- 
 mended to their hearts' affection by the designation to 
 ev v/jLLv TO) irolfjLVLov, for iv v/jllv means something more 
 than " among you, with you," the word eV expressing 
 the close, inner relationship, and not merely the out- 
 ward association, — in other words, " the flock which is 
 committed to your trust." Ver. 1 brings out in like 
 manner the inner relation of the presbyters to the 
 church. Upon this close spiritual relationship rests the 
 warning, " not of constraint and unwillingly." That is 
 to say, let the service be performed not merely as a 
 matter of outward necessity, because one's circum- 
 
36 The Scriptural ConcqHion of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 stances, one's profession requires it, because one's public 
 responsibility does not admit of its neglect; but let it 
 be done eKovaUc^, with the resolution of a free will 
 acting from within outwards. But let not the inner 
 motive to the service and the guiding principle in its 
 discharge be a greed of gain, firj alcr'^poKepSm (" for 
 filthy lucre ") ; under which term is included not merely 
 the love of money, or the inordinate desire to increase 
 one's income, but also the passion for acquiring honour, 
 influence, promotion, leading to the invasion of the 
 whole office by a time-serving and self-seeking spirit. 
 On the contrary, let your service be rendered irpoOvfxw^, 
 with an inward alacrity, with a passionate love for 
 the office, for the Lord who calls us into it, and for 
 the Church which is to be guided to salvation and 
 life. 
 
 Up to this point (1 Pet. v. 1 and 2) the duties of 
 the ministry are described ; but how is the dignity of 
 the minister as the superintendent of the church repre- 
 sented ? Ver. 3 tells us how : not with the airs of a 
 lord : //-r/ &)? KaTaKvpL6vovT€<;. This is a oiota bene, in 
 the first instance, against the love of the clergy to be 
 ranked among the aristocracy, among the upper classes 
 and official dignitaries, the desire to play the part of 
 spiritual magistrate and censor — an ambition whose 
 incompatibility with the ministerial office is evident 
 even to the laity, and which has brought a curse in its 
 train throughout the whole course of Church history 
 both in its wider and narrower aspects. Its ultimate 
 result, moreover, is always the reverse of what a man 
 
Pastoral Fand ions of the Apostles — Superintendence. 37 
 
 desires to attain ; instead of esteem, he meets with 
 depreciation amounting even to contempt, and ill-will 
 to boot. The clergyman gives up his footing on the 
 solid ground, and floats in the air when he dissociates 
 liimself from the mass of the people ; when they would 
 liave made Christ a king, He fled. In this connection 
 Jotham's parable is to the point (Judg. ix. 8), where 
 the trees are represented as going forth to choose a 
 king from their midst. Olive, fig, and vine say : " Shall 
 I leave my sap and precious fruit and hold sway over 
 the trees ? " Thereupon the bramble accepts with joy. 
 The clergyman should certainly not court the favour of 
 the populace, but still less should he court the favour 
 of the great, and make himself, or allow himself to be 
 made, a wheel in the political machine, ^irj 6i^ Kara- 
 Kvptevovre^ ; neither should he wish to be a village or 
 city magnate, who keeps up a grand establishment and 
 cuts a great figure. However, there is yet another 
 aspect to consider. An unprincipled, ambitious, touchy 
 generation, which will have such preaching as shall 
 please its itching ears, is very apt to resent as domina- 
 tion and coercion the opposition it encounters from the 
 force of moral earnestness. In such a case one must be 
 able to bear even this. Our Lord Himself was assailed 
 with the reproach that He was possessed by the devil of 
 pride ; the exercise of might, or rather of force, through 
 tlie word and spirit of Him who is Lord of all, is not 
 domination if one be not actuated by a self-seeking 
 spirit, and do not transgress the bounds whicli the word 
 of God sets, guarding specially against the exercise of 
 
38 The Scrijyhnrd Coiicrption of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 compulsion on any man's faith (2 Cor. i. 24). The 
 Eoman Catholics, in dealing with this passage, would 
 fain use it to confirm the authority which they claim 
 over the laity, by interpreting /caraKvpieuetv in the sense 
 of an abuse of power, as if it were : abuse not your 
 authority. Calvin also takes the words in the same 
 sense. That this is a false view can be made out even 
 on grammatical grounds ; in Matt. xx. 2 5 the same 
 expression KaTaKvpieveiv is found as an equivalent for the 
 simple KvpieveLv in the parallel passage Luke xxii. 25. 
 What a bold use was made of the passage before us in 
 the face of the highest ecclesiastical power, in the so- 
 called dark ages, may be seen from a letter of Bernard 
 of Clairvaux to Pope Eugene, in which he says, with 
 reference to our passage : " Non tibi dare Petrus potuit, 
 quod non habuit ; quod habuit, hoc dedit : solicitudinem 
 supra ecclesiam ; numquid dominatum ? audi ipsum ! 
 non dominantes, inquit, cleris " {Epist. 237). But if 
 the authority which belongs to the position of the 
 superintendent in relation to the church, or that of 
 Church government on a large scale and in general, does 
 not at all lie in a despotic exercise of power, in a tone 
 of domination, in official title and worldly rank, wherein, 
 then, does the official dignity and authority of a clergyman 
 or of a Church Court consist ? It is of a purely spiritual 
 nature ; it rests upon the example which is set 1 Pet. 
 V. 3 : "Be ensamples," that is, to a Christian Church in 
 Christian disposition and conduct (this is the true 
 pre-eminence, precedence, leadership, rule) ; then will 
 the others of their own accord look up to you as their 
 
Pcdoral Fand ions of the Apostles — Svpcrintcndcncc. 39 
 
 superiors, then will accrue the true authority, authority 
 of a spiritual and moral nature. 
 
 This aspect of the subject is also brought prominently 
 before us by Paul in several places ; for example, Phil, 
 iii. 17 along with ver. 8 ff. Here there is set before 
 us, as an example for our imitation, the striving for 
 the highest, even the heavenly prize, with a renuncia- 
 tion of outward advantages, — heavenly dispositions and 
 heavenly conduct being the only things of real value.^ 
 Another passage is 1 Cor. xi. 1, as the sequel of 
 the tenth chapter. Here the example descends to 
 conduct in daily intercourse with the various class of 
 men. A mode of conduct is set before us, which, 
 along with a tender consideration for man's con- 
 sciences on account of their different religious stand- 
 points, combines at the same time the exertion of an 
 influence which prepares the way for true salvation, so 
 that men are guided out of their religious prejudices 
 into the truth which makes them free ; comp. x. 32 f.^ 
 
 • But this heavenly mind cannot be buckled on like an official robe. 
 No ! it requires a putting on of Jesus Christ, as Scripture calls it ; 
 there must be prepared within a man that with which he would clothe 
 himself outwardly before men, otherwise it is a piece of hypocrisy and 
 play-acting. This disposition is a fruit, and it is to the production of 
 this fruit that the clergyman in particular must regulate his culture, by 
 disengaging himself from earthly bonds and striving heavenwards ; 
 not merely saying to himself, I will stand up before the people and give 
 a representation of the heavenly. It is from conduct like this that men 
 acquire their sanctimonious faces. 
 
 2 1 Cor. ix. 20. The apostle when amongst the Jews conforms to 
 their law, so far as it is divine, but he does not give in to their preju- 
 dices, as is so often done by our Jewish missionaries. Only think of one 
 wishing to convert us in this way ! Should we readily give ear to him ? 
 Hence the expression in the reports of Jewish missionaries, How stiff- 
 
40 Tlie Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 Another passage is 2 Thess. iii. 7-9, which treats of 
 the apostle's example with regard to labour for daily 
 bread/ 
 
 If one is called to be, or wishes to be, the head of a 
 congregation while still quite a young man, he is under 
 a double obligation to win for himself the right authority, 
 by taking pains to set an example in his own person, 
 1 Tim. iv. 12. The apostle wishes to show what 
 Timothy has to do on his part, that is, in his own 
 person, in order that he may not be slighted on account 
 of his youth, and that he may not be without authority 
 in his official position. Paul's advice is. So approve 
 thyself that no man shall be able to make thy youth a 
 pretext, or find occasion therein, for despising thee. For 
 most of the disrespect shown to our profession and to 
 ourselves we are ourselves to blame ; and it makes 
 things no better for one to bewail in public prints, 
 or even in sermons, the contempt shown for the clerical 
 profession ; neither does it mend matters for one who 
 desires and aims at an artificial strengthening of his 
 outward authority, to assume a pretentious demeanour 
 which would exact honour and esteem from others as 
 its lawful due. For the clerical profession — the pro- 
 necked they are ! Set yourselves to save them, to help them upwards ; 
 hut in doing so, you must not give ollence to their consciences, but 
 rather conciliate them, so that they may be compelled to give you their 
 approval. 
 
 1 We are now certainly far removed from this, and even among the 
 l)eople, if a clergyman now wished to engage in manual toil, like Paul, 
 we should hear it said : "What does your reverence mean?" Still 
 the true rule would always be,— Be examples even with regard to work 
 and sustenance ; and if people wonder, say to them, Where did you get 
 your Saviour— out of the workshop or out of the cloister ? 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Superintendence. 4 1 
 
 fession of those who are labourers in God's name, there 
 is only one kind of honour ; if it seek any otlier honour, 
 it only makes itself contemptible. The thing to be 
 valued is honour before God, — that men feel constrained 
 to extend to us their feeling of reverence for the divine, 
 not as the result of persuasion, but for conscience' sake, 
 — that their conscience hold us in respect. This is the 
 proper foundation for clerical honour. We must there- 
 fore show forth in our character that which is good, that 
 which is Christian, that which vindicates itself to the 
 conscience as divine law, as having divine authority. 
 This, then, is what is meant by having glory in the 
 Lord, by having powder from God. Without this one 
 is apt to have recourse to all kinds of artificial means, 
 in order that he may not be despised, that he may 
 bring himself to honour, that he may gain authority ; 
 — but all fail to provide a real substitute. The means 
 for acquiring authority, more especially among Christians, 
 is summed up by the apostle, 1 Tim. iv. 12, in these 
 words : " Be thou an example of the believers." We 
 must not impair the strength of this thought by taking 
 the expression as a dative, as if it were for the believers. 
 The meaning rather is, Eealize in thyself the ideal of the 
 believers, be the model, the tvtto^, of a believer, so that 
 they may lose sight of thy youth in the exemplariness 
 of thy personal character, shining as a light before them. 
 Let this be done " in word and in manner of life." 
 These two are closely related, and ought to form a 
 harmony. The word should become life ; the life should 
 shape itself according to tlie word, and in tlie w^ord find 
 
42 The Scriptural Conception of the Pabzoral Office. 
 
 its reflection : this will preserve v 3 from hypocrisy.^ 
 We have a symptom of the unnatuialness of the notions 
 and state of things prevalent among us on this subject, 
 in the fact that people fancy they can defend and justify 
 many clergymen who are blamed by their congregations 
 for their inconsistencies, by saying, Follow their teaching 
 not their life, which amounts to this, Be content if you 
 have a tinkling church bell. On this principle clergy- 
 men are put upon a level with the Pharisees, those 
 paragons of hypocrisy, Matt, xxiii. 2-4, and also Luke 
 xi. 52. Men of the world and believers involuntarily 
 compare a man's profession with his practice, and 
 teachers especially may expect a reckoning for their words 
 as well as for their deeds. Paul, in 1 Tim. iv. 12, 
 continues : eV a'^dirrj. Love is a hearty benevolence 
 towards men in disposition, will, and action ; it is a 
 higher thing than the eloquence of angels, but it is dead, 
 and mere hypocrisy, without the truth and the fire of 
 the spirit ; therefore iv Trvev fjuan is by no means out of 
 place along with äydirrj] cf. Eom. xiii. 9—1 1 : roj TrvevixaTu 
 ^eovT6<;. There are many kinds of love in the world : 
 there is a fleshly love, arising in part out of mere 
 blood relationship, and relationship based upon natural 
 temperament and choice, natural good feeling that binds 
 hearts together without any discrimination or influence 
 from the moral faculty, much less from a sanctified 
 Christian spirit ; in part it consists of mere selfish- 
 
 ' Especially let a man take heed when he has succeeded with a sermon. 
 A man may preach a truth which he has not himself realized. The great 
 matter for a preacher is to apply and carry out in practice his own tine 
 sermon. This practical Amen must not be wanting. 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Ajwstles — Sttpcrintenckncc. 43 
 
 ness, desires of various kinds which assume the form of 
 love, and lead a man to be friendly and agreeable, a 
 regard for human wishes and opinions, instead of for 
 God's will, thus acting along with a regard for one's own 
 honour, comfort, and such like, instead of for that which 
 is really good, for tliat which promotes the welfare of 
 souls. Christian love is spiritual love, a love after the 
 mind and method of the divine Holy Spirit, having regard 
 for spiritual good and evil ; and spiritual functions must 
 be discharged under the influence of this spiritual love. 
 Further, such functions bring with them honour and 
 shame, good report and evil report, conflict on the right 
 and on the left, that is, conflict with what is good and 
 Christian in appearance only, as well as with what is 
 manifestly bad and unchristian. In this struggle, show 
 thyself an example in loyalty to the faith (eV iriarei) ; 
 and, on the other hand, amid the pleasures and the 
 allurements which beset one especially in youth, the 
 aim should be inward chastity and outward self-restraint 
 (iv ayvela). 
 
 From all the passages hitherto considered, we conclude 
 that the offlcial authority, dignity, and power of the 
 leadership belonging to the ministry does not lie in a 
 lordly bearing, or in outward power of any kind, but in 
 the spiritual might and capacity of a Christian person- 
 ality, the power of a minister's own personal example, 
 when like a true shepherd he goes before his flock in 
 Christian disposition and conduct. Along with this 
 general requirement, Tit. ii. 7 also calls special attention 
 to the earnestness which is needed in the work of 
 
44 The Scriptural Concejption of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 teaching. First of all, there is a general statement : 
 in all the relationships of life show thyself a pattern of 
 good works. After that, attention is directed more 
 particularly to the hihaaKcCKia. 
 
 (h) Besides leadership there is the tvoi^k of teaching, 
 the second of the functions essential to the pastoral 
 office. We define this more precisely by reference to 
 Tit. ii. 7 f. The aSm0^o/?/a (or acpdopia), which is 
 nearly equivalent to uncorruptness, is not to be 
 taken as referring to the nature of the teaching in 
 itself — that lies in the words that follow \6yov 
 vycrj : the dBLa(f)6opia, like the cre/xi/oT?;? that stands 
 between it and \6jov vyirj, is to be understood of 
 the manner in which the man himself in the dis- 
 charge of his duty as a teacher (eV rfj SiSao-KaXia) 
 has to bear himself in his inner and in his outer life. 
 'A(j)6opLa thus denotes, in the first place, uncorrupt- 
 ness of mind, purity, impartiality, integrity, that the 
 preacher does not allow himself in his teaching to be 
 influenced by any unworthy side considerations, whether 
 from feelings of aversion or of favour. In the next 
 place, from cre/i-i/oTT?? we get the further idea of an 
 earnest and worthy demeanour and conduct outwardly. 
 It is not mere decorum or assumed official dignity, a 
 thing of which a Paul and a Titus never dreamt ; on 
 the contrary, o-e/Az/or?;? (from aeßw) signifies a character 
 which wins esteem, which deserves respect, by which 
 character we are to understand something more than a 
 mere mask or manner, for there is here presupposed 
 purity of mind, and the writer who makes use of the 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — TtacUinrj. 45 
 
 word has a reference to God in all that he says, and 
 would have everything understood and everything done 
 from a regard to Him ; it is therefore moral and religious 
 earnestness even in the matter of outward demeanour : 
 Sancta sancte ! For this, one must fit himself by early 
 acquiring the habit ^ of treating sacred things in a 
 sacred spirit, in his own soul, in order that afterwards, 
 in the discharge of every duty as a teacher, he may 
 outwardly comport himself with the dignity that is due 
 to sacred things. This dignity must not be studied as 
 a part, else it is a piece of acting. Assuredly those 
 rules of art which are laid down for delivery, action, 
 and so on, easily betray one into the playing of a 
 part, that is to say, into a theatrical performance, into 
 v7r6Kpi.ai<; (hypocrisy). He who is concerned with 
 reality and truth, who aims at his own salvation and 
 that of others, will rather offend against the rules of 
 art than injure his own soul and the souls of others. 
 The right rule for clerical o-e/xz^orr;? in teaching or 
 preaching is this : Let your inner life first of all be 
 wrought into the sacred theme of which you treat, so 
 that out of your inward impression of God's truth there 
 may result a corresponding expression in look, voice, 
 gesture, and emotion. In public or church prayer 
 especially there is nothing more injurious than for a 
 man to keep in view the audience hefo^^e whom he speaks, 
 instead of God to whom he speaks. Where the thought 
 
 ^ Do not put off the cultivation of godly earnestness, or else you will 
 run the risk of bringing disgrace upon your office at a later period when 
 you are novices in the ministry. 
 
46 The Scriiotural ConcejJtion of the Pastoral Oßce. 
 
 of the audience dominates prayer, the result is that a 
 declamatory tone is often adopted, from which the 
 hearer knows by the very sound that the speaker wants 
 to operate upon the audience, or would even aim at a 
 tine appearance as a leader of prayer. Prayer is not a 
 sermon, but an address of the heart to God the Omni- 
 scient, the holy Searcher of hearts, of such a character 
 that the audience may and ought to take part in it, but 
 by no means such as to convey the impression of a 
 piece of declamation by the tones of the delivery. 
 True prayer has nothing artificial about it, being free 
 alike from an affectation of inward feeling or fervour, 
 and from the assumption of outward manner or display ; 
 it consists in the genuine and simple feeling of the 
 heart, which comes- out in the expression and delivery, 
 such as is possessed and acquired by the man who 
 really holds spiritual and personal intercourse with 
 God.^ 
 
 As a further definition of BiSaa/caXla, we have next 
 (Tit. ii. 8) Xoyov vyirj a/carayvcoarov. This now refers 
 to the teaching itself, the subject-matter of the teach- 
 ing ; the personal attitude of the preacher in his work 
 having been already defined both as regards his inner 
 and outer life by the words ä(f)6optav, ae/jLvoTrjra. As 
 respects the subject-matter in every kind of Christian 
 teaching, there is required, in the first place, speech 
 
 ' Particularly at funeral services there is often rehearsed unto "the 
 good God," under the guise of prayer, all that the deceased achieved; 
 and after all this, the speaker will declare that he has no wish to praise 
 the deceased who has himself forbidden it, that his desire is to praise 
 God. 
 
Fastoral F auctions of the A'postlcs — Teaching. 47 
 
 which is in itself sound, and which is fitted therefore as a 
 natural consequence to impart sound knowledge. The ex- 
 pression \0709 1/7*7^9 always refers in the pastoral Epistles 
 to speech that is in accordance with the apostolical type of 
 teaching, in so far as it alone is the means of acoTrjpia, 
 the pure means of salvation ; comp. Tit. i. 9 ; 2 Tim. 
 i. 13; 1 Tim. vi. 3. This shows that the word of 
 salvation in the Scriptures, if it is to remain the word 
 uf salvation, must not have its integrity destroyed by 
 additions, or by mutilations such as the diseased head 
 and heart of man is apt spontaneously to give rise to ; 
 else we infuse into our teaching our own impure 
 humours, and thus convey them to the congregation. 
 aKarayvcoo-Tov alongside of vyci]^;, signifying the sound 
 character of the doctrine and its power to impart sound- 
 ness, refers again to the preacher's attitude tow^ards 
 other men ; it implies that the doctrine is to be open 
 to no just censure on the part of men, and is to wound 
 no conscience. In other words, conscience is the court 
 of judgment in which questions of praise or blame, 
 approval or disapproval, in things moral and religious, 
 are to be decided. It is certainly not possible for a 
 teacher of sound doctrine, a preacher of the truth 
 which is calculated to save souls, to spare in man the 
 old Adam with his Eve, to keep from assailing and 
 wounding the old Jew or heathen, the old Pharisee or 
 sophist, — types of character which have all along, even 
 to the present day, been propagating themselves in 
 human nature and the world, and asserting their influ- 
 ence in their legal and formal notions of service, or 
 
48 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 their natural ideas of liberty ; as also in their prejudices 
 and partialities alike in Church and nationality, and in 
 the selfish interests of their hearts and lives. The 
 clergyman in his conduct and teaching must keep con- 
 stantly in view that he represents the truth in such a 
 way as to gain the assent of the conscience, that he is 
 to commend himself to the conscience, and that in so 
 doing he will please God, 2 Cor. iv. 2. His teaching 
 will then be unassailable, aKardyvoxTTOf;, — even although, 
 judged by traditional ideas, assumptions, tendencies, 
 and customs, it may give offence and incur censure. 
 The judgments passed upon the sermon from these 
 latter points of view must neither allure us by their 
 praise nor deter us by their blame. At the same time, 
 we must be specially careful that our presentation of 
 doctrine is not open to any moral reproach ; even the 
 gainsayer, the unbeliever, from the moral point of view, 
 must not have it in his power to bring any well-founded 
 objection against it, rather must he be led to reflection 
 and self-examination, or at least be smitten by the voice 
 of his own conscience, 1 Cor. xiv. 24 f. 
 
 Besides superintendence and teaching, we have still 
 to consider the third element involved in the nature of 
 the pastoral office, viz. : — 
 
 (c) Service. — In Acts xx. 18 fl'., Paul sets before the 
 Ephesian presbyters as a pattern his own discharge of 
 the ministry as they knew it from several years' obser- 
 vation. This he does, not with the circumlocution of 
 an affected humility, telling how it has been granted 
 him with his humble powers to do a blessed work 
 
rasiorcd Functions of the Ajwstlrs — Service. 49 
 
 among this people in the service of the Christian Chiircli; 
 l)ut with the earnestness of a good conscience he says 
 plainly that he has devoted himself to the service of 
 the Lord in all his lowliness, want, and tribulation (ver. 
 19). We see here clearly that the whole office, tvith its 
 teaching ami fjuidiiiff, is fid filled in service ; but this 
 service does not refer to the observance of a canonical 
 r^fjime of duty ^ made by man, or the worship of some 
 abstract and variable general idea like the Church,'^ but 
 its real value lies in the personal service rendered to 
 the personal (unchangeable) Lord, in hovKevetv rat 
 KvpLü), in submissive obedience to His commandments 
 and His directions for the ministry, as He is not merely 
 the sole Lord of the ministry and of the whole Church 
 from high to low, but is also the one source of the Spirit 
 and His gifts. 
 
 A more precise definition of the ministerial character 
 in respect of service is to be found in 1 Cor. iv. 1. 
 According to this passage, the essential thing is that a 
 man be a servant of Christ, a servant of men only in 
 so far as is in accordance with the spirit and character 
 of Christ's service : and so in particular his care for the 
 temporal affairs of the people entrusted to him has 
 always to be exercised with the mind and spirit of a 
 servant of Christ, not a servant of the State, a servant 
 of the Church, a servant of the whole world ; in other 
 words, it must be done without neglecting the ministry 
 
 ' Paul would not have been allowed such a career at the present day 
 without having gone through a college curriculum. 
 
 '^ People use this word Church in a way that really amounts to idolatry. 
 They let the Church take precedence of the Lord. 
 
 D 
 
50 The Scriiotural Concejotion of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 of the word. By reason of his dependent position as 
 a servant, which is essential to the office of the minister, 
 the essential character of those entrusted with the office 
 is not talent, endowment, ability, but faithfulness^ 
 (ver. 2). This has both a subjective and an objective 
 side. It involves, in the first place, the idea that a man 
 preserve his talent carefully, exercise his power con- 
 scientiously, develope and apply it, whether it be for 
 the present small or great. In its objective aspect, 
 fidelity in a steward of God's house requires that he 
 should confine himself to that which the treasure of 
 the Lord's house affords, and that he should dispense 
 this in a pure and unadulterated form, administering it 
 for the honour of the Lord and the service of souls. 
 
 The words that follow (Acts xx. 19): iiera Trdarjf; 
 ra7rcivo(f)poavur)(; ktK., point to the earnestness and the 
 hurden of the service. One must humble oneself to low 
 and obscure relationships. In the service of Christ the 
 gospel is to be preached to poor, plain people, — that 
 gospel which, in its original simplicity, contains within 
 it the divine mysteries, but which, in this very origin- 
 ality is, with its divine mysteries, foolishness and an 
 
 ' When once men are tested by the experience of life, then it is seen 
 that those who attend to the duties of their office with faithful devotion, 
 making their duty to their own souls their first care, advance at the 
 same time in knowledge, so far as knowledge has to do, not merely with 
 a formal apprehension, but with the substance of truth ; while, on the 
 other hand, the gifted men, who take things easy, fall back, and even in 
 the field of science they render no really profitable service. He who has 
 not worked for truth, that is, for essential and eternal truth, gets for his 
 reward the great blank, which Christ also, in the course of His teaching, 
 bestows upon the Pharisees, *' You have your reward." 
 
Pastoral Functions of the A'postles — Service. ol 
 
 offence to every age. The great thing, therefore, is to 
 bring that which is highest, in its voluntary abasement, 
 within men's reach, and, in doing so, not to be put to 
 shame by scorners, to be faithful in that which is little. 
 Further, in such a service there are painful experiences 
 of the hardness and perversity of the human heart, of 
 misunderstandings, of calumnies, and so on, which often 
 make the heart weep, even if the eye weep not {ttoXKmv 
 SaKpiKov) ; there are conflicts without, which excite our 
 own nature with its desires and passions, and thus also 
 bring inward conflicts with them {ireipacrp.ol). It is in 
 weakness that grace develops its power, if we seek it 
 and hold it fast. There are two passages especially 
 tliat bring into prominence the burden of the service, 
 13 Cor. vi. 4-10, and iv. 7-11. Of the reconciliation 
 of such opposite ideas as the apostle here brings together, 
 our own wisdom and the wisdom of this world knows 
 nothing ; there we find conceit or the vain fancies of 
 the idealist. 
 
 But while we feel the weight and burden of the 
 service, we must not, on the other hand, overlook the 
 joy of the service, we must not lose sight of the fact 
 that occasions will arise when we shall have good reason 
 to give thanks,^ Phil. i. 3, 5. Such opportunity will 
 chiefly be found in the experiences of the power of 
 Christ's name and the divine word, which faithful 
 service is fitted to afford both in our own hearts and in 
 
 ^ Rieger is right when he says : " He is not a good shepherd who does 
 not either give thanks, or sigh, or do both at once, even as our Lord 
 lound occasion in the discharge of His office sometimes for special joy, 
 sometimes for siirhinjr." 
 
52 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastor cd Office. 
 
 the hearts of others in the most varied situations and 
 relations of life. It is true these are not such everyday 
 experiences, that we can live upon them as it were from 
 hand to mouth, but are hours of special refreshing bestowed 
 for our strengthening by the way, and upon these we must 
 occasionally feast under the burden of our ministry ; cf . 
 Luke ix. 33 with 43 ff. The capacity and opportunity 
 for rejoicing increases, however, when one learns from 
 the Lord that breadth of view which shall enable us to 
 find among all classes of men and among all religious 
 sects the scattered children of God in the sense of John 
 xi. 52. One must learn to seek out the children of 
 truth who are honestly striving after righteousness — 
 to seek them out in a spirit of kindness as candidates 
 for the kingdom of God, as those who are not far from 
 it, and take them by the hand.^ 
 
 ^ There is a iiarrow-heartedne.ss which makes its sympathy depend on 
 Churches, confessions, communions, formalities ; this leads a man to 
 honour, as Christians, as brethren, people who are really nothing of the 
 kind, and to hold aloof from others who, although they know nothing 
 of all that sort of Christianity, belong emphatically to the class of men 
 who are of the truth, and are faithful in the use of the little entrusted 
 to them. What is it, then, that must divide, what that must unite ? 
 Sentiment and conduct. If a man is conscientious and assiduous in his 
 efforts to regulate his conduct by the truth already known to him, he is 
 on the way to the Lord. A merciful Samaritan can take precedence of 
 priests and Levites in the estimation of the Lord — a publican desirous 
 to learn, earnest in his endeavours after self-improvement, may go 
 before the Pharisee with his many prayers, alms, and otierings. Such 
 people are of the number of Christ's sheep ; and even if they know nothing 
 of Christ as yet, they will one day be brought into Christ's fold. Unless 
 a man look at the matter from this point of view, he will be apt to 
 lament the want of Christianity if he see no trace of the Christian form 
 for which he looks. There is no Christian sentiment to be met witli, 
 he will say, I find nothing to accord with my feelings. But there are 
 honest hearts still to be found — only seek for them. 
 
Taüoral Fanctions of the Apodlcs — Service, 53 
 
 We must learn to see in tlie very earliest growtli — 
 if it be genuine — the token of a delightful development, 
 nnd tlierefore rejoice in spirit even over what is out- 
 wardly small, as we catch a glimpse of the whole plan 
 of the divine dispensation — we must learn to thank Him 
 even for babes and among babes.^ (Matt. xi. 25 f.) 
 
 To return to Acts xx. In ver. 20, Paul, still taking 
 service as tlie ]point of view, adverts specially to the 
 work of teaching. In the face of the inward and out- 
 ward temptations (ver. 19) which faithful service in 
 obedience to the Lord brings with it, one is tempted to 
 be careless, or at least accommodating, in his presentation 
 of the truth, to " keep back," i.e. to be silent about any- 
 thing that would cause annoyance and that the hearer 
 would not like. This is the point of view of those who 
 seek themselves, and look after their own interest, 
 although such self-seeking softness and pliability would 
 fain pass itself off for love and humility. But true love 
 and humility, on the contrary, devotes itself to a BovXevetv 
 TO) KvpL(p, it devotes itself to the Lord in service and 
 obedience, because in Him lies all the salvation of men ; 
 and it is in union with the Lord, with His word of 
 truth, with His mind and spirit, not in opposition thereto, 
 that love renders its saving service to souls, seeking 
 and giving what is profitable and useful (crvfjLcpipovTa), 
 and not what is pleasing and delightful. 
 
 In an apostle's mouth the word " useful " refers, of 
 course, to what is useful as viewed from the standpoint 
 
 ' The babes are people who know that they have not yet learnt any- 
 thing that they must learn. 
 
54 The Scriptural Concciüion of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 of the divine word, according to which salvation for 
 men is to be found only in the knowledge of revealed 
 truth, in subjection to the counsel of God (ver. 27). 
 There may be many a thing which one finds it hard 
 to say, but as it is of use, as it belongs to the divine 
 remedies for the diseases of the human soul, the faithful 
 servant must not keep it back. Not to keep back, from 
 fear of man, anything that is useful, anything that is 
 wholesome — and not to substitute therefor in his 
 teaching, from a desire to please men, what is curious, 
 what is popular and conventional, — this, as Eieger 
 remarks, is in all ages a leading characteristic of a 
 faithful steward. 
 
 Directing our attention to the teaching itself, we find 
 it here broken up by the apostle into tivo functions, 
 avayyeXXeiv and StSdcTKecv. The first and general func- 
 tion is that of proclamation, the simple announcement of 
 truth, because something entrusted, a message already in 
 existence, has to be communicated. This message is the 
 gospel with its divine facts and with the declared will 
 of God (ßovXi]), whereby the people know what is good 
 and divine (ra av^K^epovra and Tr]v ßovXrjv Geov, ver. 
 27), and are unable to excuse themselves on the score of 
 ignorance.^ This proclamation is designed for every 
 creature, even for those who do not yet believe ; they 
 
 1 This, again, is almost entirely overlooked, that the public preaching 
 in the name of Christ must be chiefly proclamation. "I must keep to 
 the truth that has been given me. I must give to others what has been 
 given me." With regard to the points which have not yet acquired a 
 living force for us, we should make it our great rule not to take liberties 
 with the truth, but give it in the form in which it has been given us. 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Service. 5 5 
 
 are first of all creatures before they are anything else, 
 and as such they ought to give ear to the Creator as 
 the first authority. They are to know at all events 
 what the will or counsel of God is ; that at least is the 
 simple command of the Lord, which the servant has to 
 hold fast without further reasoning. Then for those 
 who accept the truth thus declared to them, there 
 follows, in the first place, the ScBdaKeLv, instruction. 
 With the proclamation of the truth there is combined 
 a more minute exposition of it for the purpose of intro- 
 ducing the hearer into the spirit and meaning of the 
 words preached, and to give him a knowledge of the 
 truth as a whole, in order that the disciples (that is to 
 say, those who have accepted the preacher's message) 
 may learn to understand and hold fast what they have 
 heard. This work of teaching, consisting of declaration 
 and instruction, is carried on, partly hrniocria, imrthj 
 Kar oiKov^, in public discourse as well as in private, so 
 that everything may receive its due proportion. Scrip- 
 ture will not have restrictions set on teaching such as 
 we have imposed, with our pulpits and our churches ; in 
 Scripture the word follows the common walks of life, 
 and makes its way into the family circle ; it is a strange 
 shyness or reserve that makes people unwilling that the 
 teaching of religion should come from the church into 
 their homes, for it is just there that it becomes familiar 
 to us ; the teacher himself learns this most of all from 
 family life, so that the pulpit tone gives place to the 
 tone of truth and reality both in teaching and life. 
 The more familiar and natural the tone in which the 
 
56 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 highest of all truth is set forth, the nearer it approaches 
 to facts and the more it comes home to us. At the 
 same time the teaching Kar ockov^;, in the case of 
 Christ's servant, is not an arbitrary habit of intruding 
 into families or a creeping into houses (2 Tim. iii. 6), 
 and as little does his public preaching degenerate into 
 popular agitation, street disputation, shouting and bully- 
 ing in the market-places (Matt. xii. 19) — in his public 
 preaching he adheres to what is customary and orderly. 
 A third element which is seen more particularly in 
 the domestic sphere of pastoral labour, but is at the 
 same time also to be found in the work of public 
 preaching, is the htafiapTvpeaOat which is attached to 
 avayyeWecv and Bender /cecv as something very closely 
 bound up with them (hence we find in Acts xx. 21 
 the participle BLafiaprvpo/jLevo^). This is the testifying 
 the personal summons and appeal to men to receive 
 the truth and to abide therein ; to grow, and to watch 
 over their own hearts and lives (cf. Acts ii. 40). In 
 this personal appeal, however, there is presupposed the 
 dvajyeWeiv and the BcBdo-Keiv, or at least the former ; 
 we must not make demands by appeal and exhortation 
 before we have imparted truth by preaching and instruc- 
 tion ; conversely, however, we may also say that when 
 truth is supplied, and where it is supplied, we must 
 also require something in the way of duty. The two 
 poles around which revolve those three functions, 
 preaching, instruction, and testifying, are rj ek Qeov 
 fxerdvoia and 7rLcrTt<; rj et? rov Kvpiov rjfjbwv 'Itjctovv 
 Xpiarov — repentance and faith ; the new direction of 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Ai^ostlcs — Service. 57 
 
 the mind towards God, lecading to Him and into Him 
 and the believing acceptance of the Lord as Mediat(jr. 
 Stier, in his Words of the A'postles (published in ISiJO, 
 Part II. p. 183, new edition, 1861), expresses him- 
 self regarding these two conceptions in a manner as 
 thorough as it is practical, where he says : " Repent- 
 ance and faith comprehend all that is profitable, and 
 must not only be preached and taught, but also testified 
 to ; only when this is done can we say tliat nothing 
 essential is kept back (cf. Acts xvii. 30 f.). He 
 who merely states it off-hand without evePx making it 
 intelligible, or is constantly teaching (in the pulpit or 
 from the chair), without testifying at the same time 
 that it is a matter of life or death that he is setting 
 before his hearers ; he who desires at once to e:>:lwrt 
 and reprove without having taken sufficient care to see 
 that what he is discoursing about is understood ; he 
 who assumes things in his teaching which his hearers 
 have still to be told ; he who continually calls men to 
 repentance without doing anything to lead them to 
 faith, or is always bidding them to believe even thongli 
 they may be still impenitent ; he who is always calling 
 men to God, and leaves out of sight the fact that they 
 can only come to Him through Christ, or is always 
 preaching of Christ without truly showing God or the 
 Father in Christ, and pointing souls through Christ to 
 the Father, — all such teachers miss the right apostolic 
 way, which is here so aptly delineated by Paul in few 
 words." While, then, repentance as fierdvoia contains 
 chiefly the element of self-knmdedgc, so that we no 
 
58 The Scriptural Conceiotion of tlic Pastoral Office. 
 
 longer follow and obey ourselves, but turn our mind 
 towards God, so does the second, viz. faith, contain 
 chiefly the knowledge of God, and devotion unto God 
 as He reveals to us His grace and truth in Christ. 
 Eepentance and faith therefore form the one tiling 
 needful. But it is not enough to arrange this essential 
 truth under forms suitable for the memory and as a 
 mere course of lectures. In accordance with the office 
 of the Spirit and the pattern of love, it must be brought 
 home to the man on many different sides in order to self- 
 knowledge and knowledge of God. By this means we shall 
 equally guard against disgust and a frivolous curiosity. 
 
 According to this view of things, a teacher has 
 especially to put to himself these questions, What is thy 
 main concern personally as a teacher ? Is it what is 
 profitable in this apostolic sense ? Is it to serve the 
 Lord, — not thyself and men, — to serve Him in humility 
 and in patience ? Hast thou thyself already practised 
 that repentance which thou wouldst preach to others ? 
 Art thou standing and art thou growing in the faith ? 
 Wouldst thou, while teaching others, not be thyself a 
 castaway, or make thyself reprobate before God ? What 
 is it that is profitable for thine own congregation, for 
 the particular people assigned to thee ? what is it that 
 is profitable for awakening among them faith and 
 repentance ? How wouldst thou carry on this work 
 with outspokenness and untiring zeal, without respect of 
 persons, without fear of men, and without an excessive 
 desire to please men, yet in a spirit of human kindness, 
 with true love ? 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Aiwstlcs — Service. 59 
 
 If we follow out in Acts xx. the further elements C)f 
 duty, it is ver. 28 ff. especially that still claims our 
 attention. Here the apostle strongly commends to 
 overseers the faithful charge of their church, but this 
 again is based on their taking heed to themselves.^ 
 For this purpose he specially directs their attention 
 (ver. 29 f.) to the corruijtions which were about to 
 invade the Church owing to perverse doctrine, and 
 which should arise even out of their own midst, thus 
 wearing the semblance of Christian forms. Christian 
 words. Christian faith. What is wanted, therefore, in the 
 teaching office is not a mere scholastic performance, — 
 the pure and full communication of saving truth (ver. 27) 
 is not sufficient, there must also be a guarding of the 
 truth, and a guarding of its disciples against error and 
 perversion. It is impossible for the truth to take up a 
 position and maintain it, without opposing that which 
 misrepresents and perverts it, that which caricatures and 
 contradicts it, in other words, without opposing error 
 and falsehood. However much this fact of opposition 
 may burden the pastoral office, yet in the same degree 
 is true love zealous for the preservation of divine truth, 
 and for the preservation of those who belong to a 
 Hierher Power than the self-constituted authorities who 
 are forcing their way into the Church, whose salva- 
 tion or perdition is at stake. Hence the expression of 
 the apostle (2 Cor. xi. 2): "I am jealous over you witli 
 
 1 This is the first thing to be attended to. We must reserve time for it. 
 Anything that interferes with it is a deadly evil. Yet the ToXvvpayiAiffC^r, 
 that is so much in favour leaves room for no hours of quietness. 
 
60 Tlie Scrr^iiiral Conce]ption of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 a godly jealousy." On this passage Eieger makes a 
 remark which, although drawn from the last century or 
 the beginning of the present one, applies quite well to 
 our time. " ISTow-a-days, zeal against intruding falsehood 
 is not considered at all a good thing. People know of 
 only one virtue in a clergyman — the favourite virtue of 
 moderation. Yes, it would be all very well if it did 
 not give rise to lukewarmness, a thing so abominable in 
 the Lord's eyes. Not to be able to bear them that are 
 evil, to expose the false workers and the false Christs, 
 and to find them liars, — these things the Lord reckons 
 praiseworthy, although no man calls them good (see 
 Eev. ii. 1 ff.)." Just because this zeal which distinguishes 
 between true and false, good and bad, even within the 
 Christian community, doing battle with intense earnest- 
 ness against what is false and bad, — ^just because this zeal 
 for truth is in our time overlaid and stifled by all kinds 
 of moderating influences, and so many people are thus 
 made lame and lukewarm, we will view the matter in 
 the spirit of the divine office of teacher as we find it in 
 the Scriptures. 
 
 The ivatching over the Church, the einer Koirelv, is 
 expressly inculcated in all the sayings that have yet 
 come before us. This watchfulness we will consider 
 more closely according to some Old Testament passages, 
 particularly Ezek. iii. 17-21. (If thou dost not warn 
 the wicked man that he shall surely die, and the 
 righteous man that he must not sin, I will require his 
 blood at thy hands.) The great principle to be derived 
 from this passage is, that the souls entrusted to the 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Service. C 1 
 
 pastor's care must be warned by the divine word, l»y 
 what that word says about godless and unrighteous 
 conduct, about apostasy and punishment, about conver- 
 sion and life. This part of the divine word in parti- 
 cular, therefore, is not to be passed over, must rather 
 be applied to the various relations and persons con- 
 cerned. He who fails to do this, — he who, for example, 
 takes all the people in church or in a private meetini; 
 to be good Christians, and addresses them as thougli 
 they were already converted men, or members of 
 Christ's body, while there are yet among them the 
 godless, the unconverted, the dead, backsliders, the 
 lukewarm, and the indifferent, — he who does not 
 say this and warn his people of it, is responsible 
 before God for all the souls whom he lulls to sleep, or 
 at least leaves unwarned and unawakened, by his silence 
 regarding the divine severity, and by his illusive pictures 
 of the Christian life. " The blood of every one, saitli 
 the Lord, will I require at thy hands." Such a method 
 is equally false and pernicious, whether it is based on 
 rules of prudence or on rules of love. It is a false love, 
 and it is a false prudence, and the manifest evil resultini,^ 
 from it, which might be itself a proof that it is a false 
 method, makes even the careless responsible for their 
 neglect of the duty of censure. On the other hand, 
 where the divine word is used for warning and correc- 
 tion, but the warning is not taken by the people, they 
 bear their own responsibility, and the teacher has 
 delivered his soul. To say that it is useless, that it has 
 no effect, does not do away with the duty ; in any case, 
 
62 The Scriptural Concefption of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 it cannot fail of its effect with God, — in any case thou 
 hast delivered thy soul (cf. Acts xx. 26 f.). 
 
 We take further the passage in Ezek. xiii. against 
 the false prophets and prophetesses. There are here 
 described teachers, who "prophesy out of their own hearts, 
 who ask their own spirit, and say that the Lord has 
 spoken it;" — teachers, that is to say, who draw the 
 word of God out of their own spirit and heart, who 
 make the Lord to say what is merely a reflection of 
 their own consciousness, whether a Jewish or a Christian 
 consciousness, and is the result of their own state of 
 mind ; whatever they thus conceive, they declare to be 
 the word of God. And how do such teachers conduct 
 themselves ? So far from filling up " the breaches," and 
 making a stand against the evil that is forcing its way 
 among the people, — so far from resisting this invasion, 
 making themselves a hedge, and standing in the battle 
 in the day of the Lord — the battle against deceitful 
 unreality, — they rather preach to the people peace, what 
 is nice and agreeable, mere grace or gospel so called, 
 without the severer elements of correction and sanctifi- 
 cation. They are, according to the expression of 
 the prophet in ver. 4, foxes, which cunningly look 
 to their own interests, and go after the sweet grapes ; 
 they lull souls into a false repose by furnishing 
 them with specious pretexts, palliations, and excuses 
 for that which is against God and contrary to God's 
 law. Thus they confirm their hearers in thoughtless 
 ways, so that they do not repent from the heart, and 
 they promise life to those who adhere to their ordinances 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Scrcice. 03 
 
 and opinions, while, on the other hand, they cause 
 trouble and anxiety to those who hold by God's right 
 and God's word (ver. 22). Teachers of that kind are 
 said to be plasterers that daub with untempered mortar 
 the wall built by the people, by the age. The current 
 views, wishes, pursuits, customs, and the like, form the 
 wall which they daub over with the colours of their own 
 spirit mixed with sacred names and with promises out 
 of God's word. The result is, that they bring about a 
 catastrophe in the social condition of the people which 
 involves their own ruin as well as the destruction of 
 the wall and its fine coat of plaster. " Ye shall know 
 that I am the Lord, and I will say to you. The wall is 
 no more, neither they that daubed it." 
 
 In the foregoing the duty of opposing what is un- 
 godly or godly in a false sense has been stated generally 
 as an essential part of the service to be rendered by 
 teachers. We find this opposition more minutely defined 
 in Tit. i. 9-14. In this passage we are told how tlie 
 peculiar evils arising within the pale of the Church 
 under the special relationships of congregational life are 
 specially to be met. In the previous part of the chapter 
 we find the same general conditions of a right discharge 
 of duty as we met with in the passage already con- 
 sidered. While it is the uniform teaching of Scripture 
 that a man's own spirit and consciousness as a source of 
 doctrine is a deceitful and impure fountain, a source of 
 errors and corruptions, the passage before us further 
 insists on the duty of holding fast reliable or approved 
 doctrine, such as finds its standard in the doctrine 
 
64 The ScriioUiral Conception of the Pastoral Oßce. 
 
 delivered by the apostles, the word X070? being used of 
 the whole sum of Christian doctrine, as is frequently the 
 case in the New Testament. The turn of expression Kara 
 rrjv BiSaxv^ marks the StSa^v as the standard of 
 genuine doctrine, the BiSaxv being the teaching of the 
 Spirit which proceeded from Christ, and which found in 
 the apostolic preaching its permanent type (John xv. 
 26, xvii. 20 ; 2 Thess. ii. 15 ; Heb. ii. 3). It is only 
 this type formed and preserved for us by the power 
 of the Spirit in the apostles that is recognised by the 
 Lord and His apostles as genuine saving doctrine, as 
 SiBao-fcdkla vyiaivovaa, and through it alone are the 
 divine life and heavenly character, the wisdom, love, and 
 peaceful temper brought down from above of which 
 Scripture testifies. The holding fast by this genuine 
 Christian doctrine brings with it, according to Tit. i. 9, 
 a double power, that of TrapaKaXelu and eke^x^iv. 
 
 (a) UapaKoXelv, like hiaixaprvpeaOai, Acts xx., com- 
 prises all forms of address, such as beseeching, exhorta- 
 tion, consolation, conlirmation, admonition, incitement, 
 and so forth. Out of the doctrine delivered by the 
 apostles, out of Holy Scripture, the teacher thus gains 
 by degrees the power to awaken, to comfort, and to 
 streno-then, and he is thus enabled and entitled to speak 
 in God's name ; but all this, which is involved in irapa- 
 KoXelv, is to be done didactically, iv rfj hihaaKoXia 
 rfj vyiaivovo-r], through sound instruction, without resort- 
 inf to means which contradict the objective doctrine of 
 Scripture, and the instruction in accordance therewith, 
 such as rhetorical expedients and the like, for the 
 
Pastoral Fimctions of the Aiwstles — Service. 6 5 
 
 purpose of producing a greater impression and effect. 
 Generally speaking, therefore, the great thing in gospel 
 irapaKoXelv is to apply Christian truth as presented to us in 
 the scriptural model in all its riches with an appeal to men 
 as individuals, and thus to give it a force for those who 
 are willing to accept the word, for those who are willing to 
 let themselves be instructed. The irapaicaXeiv includes 
 the awakening and quickening of pure Christian feeling in 
 the individual souls that have turned to Christianity. 
 
 {ß) But it is also part of the teacher's calUng that 
 he take to task those adversaries of Christian truth who 
 wish to pass themselves off as members of the Church ; 
 in other words, as Christians. eX67%6fcv, again, is to be 
 understood in a Christian sense ; it is neither magisterial 
 correction that is here spoken of, nor a dull, cold, 
 logical refutation of antagonistic views ; what iXeyx^^^ 
 in the gospel sense implies is, that a man know how to 
 bring out the power of truth in the human conscience, 
 not merely in the human understanding, as a light to 
 expose human sin, and by doing so to correct it ; in other 
 words, that a man know how to bring home to those 
 who resist the teaching of the truth, a sense of their 
 sinfulness and their departure from the di\dne word 
 and way.^ Eegarding this import of the word, comp. 
 John iii. 2 and 2 1 (light, the truth as it brings men's 
 evil home to their consciousness) ; Eph. v. 1 1 ; 1 Cor. 
 xiv. 24. By the clear presentation of the truth as it 
 is contained in the divine word, and by the application 
 
 ' It is not reconciliation of knowledge and faith that is needed, but 
 of conscience and faith. 
 
 £ 
 
6 6 The Scri]jtural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 of it for the enlightenment of the human heart and 
 life, unbelievers, too, when they hear the word are 
 reproved, even without being directly assailed, while 
 the secrets, the hidden corners of their inner nature, 
 are laid bare. In this way Christian teaching is to 
 be the means of bringing home to the opponents 
 of Christian truth such a consciousness of their own 
 inward corruption, of -their alienation from God, as to 
 make them realize it in their conscience. This is the 
 offiee of reproof exercised by Christian witnesses for 
 truth — they have to speak home to the conscience 
 with the simple earnestness of conscience. What is 
 needed,, therefore, is not reviling and abuse, any more 
 than cold refutation, or circumlocution and flattery. 
 Tit. i. 10 shows what great need there is for this con- 
 science-correction. This passage affords one among 
 many proofs that the apostles, even in the purest age of 
 Christianity, knew nothing of that ideal standpoint 
 from which people who have been once consecrated 
 through the sacraments are regarded as fortified once 
 for all against what is false and wicked, and as persons 
 to be received and trea,ted as elect, as subjects of grace, 
 as members of Christ, as friends of God, — a view which 
 makes us unwilling to recognise any elements calling 
 for correction, where the majority really form a Chris- 
 tian communion ; so far from this elal yap ttoXXoI 
 kt\. (for Kai before dwiroraKTot there is a prepon- 
 derance of external authorities, ttoWol and awiroraKroi 
 holding the relation of subject to /JLaTaioXoyot and 
 (jypevairaTai, — there are many praters and seducers, and 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Service. 6 7 
 
 those unruly ones. Without kul it would mean that 
 there are many unruly ones, to wit, praters and de- 
 ceivers). /jLaratoXoyia is found also in 1 Tim. i. 6. 
 fiaraLoXoyla in the gospel sense is when a man is 
 without insight, and does not penetrate into the heart 
 and substance of divine truth ; for this truth is the only 
 thing that will ever impart the true life-substance to a 
 man, to transform and ennoble him in the inner man, in 
 the core of his being. There may be much ado about 
 what is unessential and useless (/Ltarai 0X07/0-), even 
 where Christianity is the subject, if a man with all his 
 talk still remains in his own godless egotism and in his 
 alienation from life in God ; if that which is given or 
 received, however beautiful and useful it may otherwise 
 be, gives th^e man no genuine substance of life and 
 character, because it has none to give ; in short, such a 
 communication is without spirit in the Christian sense, 
 positively speaking it is carnal. With this hollow talk, 
 however, there is always combined a spiritual or eccle- 
 siastical glamour to dazzle the intelligence, or the 
 feelings and impulses ((fypevaTraTac). This is produced 
 by the falsification of the spiritual conception of divine 
 truth, by false gnosis or science and rhetoric, by false 
 love and hope, by false righteousness and piety ; that 
 is to say, by false Christianity. Against these various 
 falsifications the various New Testament Epistles are 
 specially directed ; against false yvcü(Tt<; and aocpia in 
 particular, 1 Cor. and Col.; against false representa- 
 tions of love and hope, the Johannine and Petrine 
 Epistles; against false representations of righteousness 
 
6 8 The ScrijJtural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 and piety, besides Eom. and Gal., also the pastoral 
 Epistles, as in 2 Tim. iii. 5, 1 Tim. vi. 5. To this last- 
 named tendency, false righteousness and piety, the 
 apostle here also. Tit. i. 10, directs attention by the 
 additional clause, iiaXiara ol eV irepiro/jbrj^;. By 
 these words are, of course, meant, not the Jews 
 outside the Church, but within it — the Jewish Chris- 
 tians, of whom we find it stated as early as Acts xi. 2 : 
 BceKpivovTO 7r/309 avrov ol eK Treptro/itr)? ; or as we find 
 them more exactly described earlier, Acts x. 45 : ol eK 
 irepLTOfiTj^ TTKTTOi. It Is therefore not the error of the 
 heathen and unbelievers, it is not a purely worldly 
 course of unbelief, but it is that kind of error which 
 gets a footing even on a basis of positive truth, and 
 seeks to establish itself within the Church under the 
 guise of Christian faith (1 Cor. xv. 12). Out of the 
 Jewish element in the Churches there was developed 
 more especially a tendency of thought which was dis- 
 posed to impress on Christianity a legal character, 
 which would have confined it to the external constitu- 
 tion of the Church, received by tradition from the 
 fathers, especially to fixed forms of worship (Col. ii. 16; 
 Gal. iv. 9 ff., V. 1 fF.). Now, if the apostle contends against 
 the legal tendency, against this external system of orders 
 and of forms, notwithstanding the fact that it rested on 
 Old Testament foundations, on ancient divine legislation 
 and authority, if the apostle sets himöelf against it in so 
 far as it claims to be regarded as part of Christianity 
 and the faith, if he refuses it a place among the saving 
 truths of Christianity, and merely tolerates it by way of 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Service. 6 9 
 
 exception, as a weakness of individuals (of. Kom. xiv.), 
 without recognising it as evangelical truth and Chris- 
 tian rule, possessed of a power and authority binding 
 on believers, — how much less can such weight and 
 authority be claimed for the institutions and organiza- 
 tions framed by men, which do not even take the 
 divine legislation for their standard, but are merely 
 ruled by the will of the people, by the power of majori- 
 ties, by reverence for the past, by political privileges, 
 and such like. 
 
 How earnestly this zeal for the externals of the 
 Church was combated by Luther is evident from 
 several of his sermons (Chtcrch-Fostils) ; for example : 
 " To make a necessity of it as though there were no 
 alternative, and to make it binding on the conscience 
 as though it were heretical to do otherwise — this is a 
 thing we will not tolerate even at the risk of life and 
 limb." Indeed, even of the sacrament he says : " To 
 keep it as of necessity and in obedience to outward 
 commandent is to quench faith and gospel — yea, it is 
 damnable." 
 
 In the exposition of the Gospel on Second Sunday 
 after Easter we read : " The Lord gives us the judg- 
 ment by which we are to distinguish the right Church 
 or people of God from that which wrongfully gets the 
 name and reputation of being such. He teaches us 
 that the Church is not and ought not to be a multi- 
 tude of people bound by outward law and order, in 
 the way the Jewish Church was by the law of Moses, 
 and that it does not owe its existence to outward 
 
70 The Scrijptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 human power, neither is ruled nor maintained thereby. 
 So far from this, it is a spiritual assembly that hears 
 this shepherd and believes on him, and is ruled by 
 him through the Holy Spirit, and has nothing else of 
 an outward character to identify it as His Church, save 
 that it possesses His word and His sacraments, that it 
 keeps close to Him when it hears His word, no matter 
 though it should not hold anything or even know any- 
 thing of the outward Jewish system of government or 
 order, and should be scattered hither and thither in the 
 world without any defined outward government, as was 
 the case with Christians in the time of Christ and the 
 apostles, who believed on Christ, and confessed Him 
 without regard and even in opposition to the constitu- 
 tional power of the whole priesthood." Again : " The 
 Jews had this great advantage in their favour, that 
 their system was instituted by God's command through 
 Moses, was confirmed as such by miraculous signs, and 
 was so strictly enforced, that whosoever would not 
 hear Moses was to be stoned by God's command, and 
 cut off from his people. Such glory and testimony in 
 their favour cannot be claimed, however, God be praised ! 
 by our ecclesiastics as though their church-order were 
 commanded and confirmed by God. Nevertheless, they 
 act now as the Jews did of old. Let a man preach of 
 Christ and of the gospel as he will, they cry out 
 against him, saying that people must obey the Church, 
 must listen to the fathers, must accept the decrees and 
 orders of the councils, etc. ; for how else, they say, 
 would one know what the Christian Church was, and 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Service. 7 1 
 
 where it was to be found. It must, forsooth, be some- 
 thing definite and express, proceeding according to rules, 
 like the elaborate system represented by the fathers and 
 councils, and handed down by ancient tradition ; and 
 whosoever does not follow such an elaborate and 
 well-defined system, or speaks against it, and gives 
 occasion for breaking up the system, must be of the 
 devil, a disowned apostate, an accursed heretic. In 
 opposition to this we must also open our mouth, and, 
 in accordance with this sermon of Christ, say to every 
 man : Dear friend, such a human system you may 
 observe ever so well, you may extol it and esteem it 
 ever so highly, but for all that it won't make you a 
 Christian, for it does not come up to the true Shepherd 
 and Master, who is there called Christ. You must be 
 otherwise led to tlie ri^ht knowledge of and obedience 
 to Him, or all that sort of thing will not in the least 
 avail for your salvation. For although they have 
 arranged it well, as Moses also did even better, with an 
 elaborate system of offices, and classes, and outward 
 discipline, and a fine religious service, including fast- 
 ing, praying, singing, and so forth, all that does not 
 realize what Christ means when He says : ' I am the 
 Good Shepherd.' We are therefore to conclude also from 
 this that no importance is to be attached to the preten- 
 sions and foolish prating of those who cry out about 
 the Church government which they want ; for ever 
 and anon Christ teaches us that we are to look only to 
 Him as the true Shepherd, who alone is the Church's 
 Founder, Lord, and Head." 
 
7 2 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office, 
 
 Now, although it may be true that a Church which 
 aims at being a national or State Church, that is to say, 
 in general a Church for the masses, cannot dispense 
 with an outward system of law and order, yet such a 
 Church does not and cannot claim to be a Church in 
 the sense of a real Church of Christ ; rather must it 
 voluntarily form such a Church within its pale, or allow 
 it to be formed, and it must not make of its ordinances 
 a yoke for true believers; such a Church occupies a 
 Jewish standpoint, and not a truly evangelical one. In 
 this Judaizing form of Christianity there is represented 
 generally the zealous dogmatism and constitutionalism 
 of an external churchmanship, and it is this element 
 which in all sorts of forms and in all manner of ways 
 has, throughout the whole course of Church history, 
 laboured for outward power and dominion, and which 
 has always persecuted the true freedom of the spirit, 
 which humbly takes its stand on the gospel, and the 
 salvation which is to be found in Christ only, as a 
 piece of self-will and rebellion against the divine 
 order of things, whilst it is that constitutionalism itself 
 that is really open to this charge. But the result of 
 this has always been that the opposite tendency has 
 been called forth as an avenger — the spirit of false 
 liberty and disorder, the spirit destructive of what is 
 holy. Under that charge of rebellion against divine 
 institutions, Christ Himself had to fall a victim, and 
 Paul had to go to bonds and prison (Acts xviii. 12, 
 xxi. 28, xxiv. 5). This is a conflict that marks the 
 whole course of Church history — a conflict between 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Service. 73 
 
 two opposite principles ; on the one hand, the principle 
 of outward tradition and authority, of faith so called ; and 
 on the other, the divine principle of spiritual freedom, 
 the principle of real faith, — for faith does not mean that 
 we accept and conform to something prescribed to us, 
 but that we acknowledge as divine, under the influence 
 of free conviction, what is actually revealed by God, 
 and that only, and that we do it for God's sake. 
 Thus we find in the whole history of the Church 
 the principle of formalism, ixop(^)oi(jL^ t?}? evaeßeia^, in 
 opposition to the principle of Christian realism which 
 works dynamically, not mechanically and as a matter 
 of compulsion, which is based on power and life, and 
 builds on that foundation ; — it is the struggle between 
 flesh and spirit, between the carnal Church and the 
 spiritual Church, Gal. ii. 2 ff. and iv. 2 ff. ; the former 
 like a fruitful mother (ver. 27) embracing much people 
 and country, the other appearing desolate and barren, 
 and yet the verdict of the law is, "The son of the 
 bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the 
 free woman." 
 
 Such tendencies of an external dogmatism and con- 
 stitutionalism, wherever they are found and in whatso- 
 ever form, are by no means to be overlooked, still less 
 are they to be encouraged and kept up as if they were 
 at least serviceable to Christianity and faith, if not 
 essential to them. We should learn the opposite from 
 the struggle of the Lord and His apostles against this 
 error; and even here (Tit. i. 10) Paul ranks the repre- 
 sentatives of this tendency among the number of unruly 
 
7 4 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 talkers and deceivers, and that in a very special manner 
 (fjLoXLCTTa). This tendency, indeed, never fails for words 
 having a holy sound and for specious arguments fitted 
 to delude ; especially does ecclesiastical and theological 
 tradition, in other words, the historical development of 
 the Church in all its wide extent, supply to formalism 
 as a child of the flesh (i.e. of the world from an earthly 
 point of view) more numerous and splendid authorities 
 than the small and narrow way of divine truth pos- 
 sesses, which accordingly is known and followed by 
 comparatively few. This external system of authority 
 just works by (ppevaTrarcdv, by delusion imposing on the 
 reason and feelings. And it is particularly the false 
 use of speech that beguiles, when Christian titles and 
 the most sacred expressions are appropriated to what is 
 traditional, to the outward fo'rms, while that which 
 contradicts them is without more ado denounced as 
 heresy. In this manner there prevails at the present 
 day, even in pious circles, a canfusing, misleading use 
 of speech (see my Gedanken aus und nach der Schilift, 
 especially I. Nos. 40 and 68). This formal sort of 
 Christianity, depending on authority, takes captive 
 whole houses (ver. 11; cf . 2 Tim. iii. 5 ff.), before simple, 
 divine truth wins a single soul, even as it is easier to 
 put on the form of godliness than to make a personal 
 appropriation of the power thereof, a personal appro- 
 priation of the reality and the substance of correcting 
 and sanctifying truth. But just because the first is so 
 easy, the second so difficult, it becomes all the more 
 necessary to watch over our own hearts ; and he who 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Service. 75 
 
 would be a faithful servant of divine truth, and deliver 
 himself and those who hear him out of the power of 
 the world of error even in Christian forms ; he who 
 would win the eternal reality, instead of the temporal 
 show, effect, and glamaur ; he who would do this must 
 just meet such opposing and seductive tendencies, not- 
 withstanding the Christian garb they wear, with eXery-^eiv, 
 with the reproving Light of sanctifying truth, with 
 demonstrations from that old and approved doctrine of 
 apostolic Christianity which never fails to make its 
 superiority to the vain talk and eloquent phrases of such 
 erroneous tendencies to be felt inwardly in the conscience 
 (i7rt(TT0fjLL^6Lv). It is thus, according to Tit. i. 1 1 (cf. 14), 
 the prevailinxf false form of ^Christianity which the 
 teacher in his time and in his circle must chiefly do 
 battle with. 
 
 But further, according to ver, 12 ff., it is of import- 
 ance to keep in view the 2)ecicliar natural qualities and 
 social characteristics of the people with whom one has 
 to do — their national and local type of character. It 
 is a natural law that, when a field is to be cultivated, the 
 peculiar qualities of the soil must be duly recognised 
 and taken into account, especially what is peculiarly 
 faulty and defective about it. One must not therefore 
 in any wise conceal from himself and from other 
 workers national faults, prevailing immoralities, the 
 peculiar spirit of the place ; much less is he at liberty 
 to embellish that spirit, even by the use of euphemistic 
 terms, as if, for example, it had been said here in the 
 spirit of our time, " The Cretans," — or, still more nicely, 
 
*7 6 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 — " The dear Cretans are not quite exact in their mode 
 of stating the truth, they like a good table, and are fond 
 of comfort, they are somewhat rough and coarse," — 
 rather must the thing be stated sharjDly, as the facts 
 demand. On the other hand, it must not be overlooked 
 that the apostle employs these expressions not in a 
 public document or in a sermon to the Cretans, but in 
 a private advice to Titus, their chief shepherd. More- 
 over, the words had no such significance and effect in 
 the eyes of the State as to amount to civil defamation, 
 since the Church assemblies had only the standing of 
 private associations. All this, however, does not do 
 away with the eX^^^e avTov<; äTrorofico^, which the 
 apostle here enjoins upon Titus. On no account must 
 the Christian faith be put over the character of the 
 carnal man, as a cloak to conceal or embellish, or as a 
 kind of varnish, even if the character does not betray 
 itself in such a glaring form as among the Cretans ; 
 we must not excuse the colour and shape which such 
 national and local peculiarities impart to Christianity, 
 describing it as local or national, — German, French, 
 English. The old skin is not to serve as a vessel for 
 the new wine ; the old nature as well as Christian for- 
 malism (Bl fjv ah lav refers to ver. 10) is to be severely 
 dealt with and put off, otherwise we get a sickly, morbid 
 faith (ver. 13). Thus, for a sound life of faith, or for 
 a sound Christianity, the reproof or exposure of such 
 natural and ecclesiastical evils is indispensable ; it is 
 then not an enforcing of the law, but an enforcing of 
 faith, sound faith ; and in truth that requires an eXcY^eti/ 
 
Pastoral FvMctions of the Aj^fostles — Service. 7 7 
 
 airoToixd)^, a sharp reproof that cuts in and cuts away ; 
 what is needed is something more than a sentimental 
 lamentation, not a cautious beating about the bush, but 
 the axe laid to the root of the tree. The way to 
 administer this sharp reproof, however, is not by revil- 
 ing and abuse, but by manifestation of the unvarnished 
 truth in such a way as to penetrate men's consciences 
 and touch their hearts. The word of God has a sharp- 
 ness, a salt of its own ; and this pungency the minister 
 of the word ought not and dare not take away, but 
 must rather bring out, develop, and apply, in the 
 constant belief that it is sound (Gal. iii. 1-3 ; 1 Cor. v. 
 3, 4, 6, vi. 5). Of this character is the languaGje of 
 Jesus, of the prophets, of the apostles, of the true ser- 
 vants of God in all ages — words of light that reveal 
 what belongs to the darkness ; words of truth whose 
 blows shake off superficial adornments ; and by the 
 manner in which such words are received, — comino- as 
 they do and must do from a benevolent intention, from 
 zeal for the interests at stake, and from personal sub- 
 mission to the truth, — it becomes manifest, and is in- 
 tended to become manifest, who is of the truth, and 
 who seeks only himself and his party interests. But 
 whether it is accepted by many or few does not affect 
 the claims of the truth. 
 
 But for the sound life of faith it is not only neces- 
 sary to get quit of the untamed force of nature within 
 us, and to be set free from our entangling relations to 
 the world around us ; we need also to be delivered 
 from so-called spiritual and clerical assumption out- 
 
7 8 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 side of us, which asserts itself in the form of human 
 authority, ver. 14. The objectionable character of the 
 commandments of men does not depend, according to 
 Scripture, on anything objectionable in the command- 
 ments themselves. The Jewish, for example, were 
 designed merely to extend and exalt, and give point 
 to the law, not to destroy it. The objectionable element 
 lies in the idea of laiu-giving authority (ivrdXal), which 
 in divine things men ascribe to their own religious 
 decrees, — this is human self -exaltation. In divine things, 
 the authority which is entitled to give law and to claim 
 obedience rests with God only (Matt. xv. 7—9, xxiii. 
 8—10; Jas. iv. 12). As it is, however, the influence 
 of human prescription is seen in various forms, such 
 as public opinion, prevailing custom., traditions of the 
 schools (dogma). Church ordinances, sectarianism, party 
 spirit. Eegarded from the scriptural standpoint, human 
 prescription is all that sets itself up for and claims sub- 
 mission as a law of religion, or as authority over the 
 conscience, as an obligatory element of the faith and of 
 divine worship, — not only when it is contrary to what is 
 expressly laid down in the word of God, but also when 
 it finds no warrant therein^ it is making a human 
 addition to the word of God when we try to bind 
 that which the law of God leaves free (cf. the Epistle to 
 the Galatians and Col. ii. 1 6 ff. ; cf . also my Christliche 
 locden, vol. iv. No. 20, Divine Truth and Human Pre- 
 scription, vol. V. No. 18, Freedom from Human Pre- 
 scription). The freedom of the Christian consists in 
 his not being bound by anything in religious things but 
 
Pastured Functions of the Apostles — Service. 7 9 
 
 the divine law of faith, the saving doctrine of Jesus 
 Christ and the apostles. This freedom is not a mere 
 private right which any one may assert or waive at his 
 pleasure, or which he must even give up to please his 
 brethren — it is an inviolable divine principle, which 
 every true Christian is bound stedfastly to maintain, 
 and that on two sides ; on the one hand, against unbelief, 
 in so far as it would shake off the yoke of faith and 
 obedience of faith which is required by God, and would 
 acknowledge no law in religious things, and be guided 
 only by spiritual and carnal self-will ; and, on the other 
 hand, against superstition, which allows another yoke to 
 be laid upon it than the yoke of faith. Against un- 
 belief, it is of importance that Christian liberty should 
 never be understood aß a pernadssion to follow the flesh 
 and our own spirit or the spirit of the age, and to make 
 terms with any unrighteousness or falsehood ; against 
 superstition, the great thing to observe is that no one 
 shall impose as a compulsory law, and make a duty of, 
 what the law of faith has set free. But the law of 
 Christ is expressed for Christians with perfect clearness 
 and purity in the word of God only, as we have received 
 it by the lips of the, apostles ; by this law all who 
 name the name of Christ are bound (Matt, xxviii. 20). 
 What Christ, therefore, in His apostolic word has 
 abolished, no man and no assembly of men dare intro- 
 duce as a law for the Christian life ; what is loosed or 
 set free by Him must under no pretext be bound by 
 men ; on the other hand, what Christ has bound by 
 injunction or prohibition, no other dare abolish and set 
 
8 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 free, or even represent and treat as a thing indifferent, 
 were it even the smallest thing in His law (Matt. 
 V. 19 ; Heb. iL 1-3). 
 
 While, however, Paul especially powerfully vindicates 
 Christian liberty, and carries on the battle (which he 
 also enjoins upon others) against the tendency to 
 substitute human legislation for Christian principle — 
 against Christian formalism, he appears on the contrary, 
 in 1 Cor. ix. 19-23, to build up again with the one 
 hand what he has already pulled down with the other. 
 This passage is often treated and interpreted, as if all 
 outward forms of religion or Church forms and institu- 
 tions were in themselves, for the Christian, matters of 
 indifference, especially for the preacher and missionary, 
 — indifferent in the sense that he may accommodate 
 himself and be subject to all human laws and appoint- 
 ments, even in the sphere of religion and Christianity, 
 indeed, that he must do so. By such a side door or 
 back door the ivroXal dvOpcoirüyv, which throughout the 
 New and Old Testaments are repudiated alike in practice 
 and theory, come again to be invested with public 
 authority and honour. Now the apostle says here cer- 
 tainly that, as a free man, he makes himself the servant 
 to all, that he conforms to heathen, Jewish, and Judaeo- 
 Christian views and forms, that he seeks "to be all 
 things to all men ; " but he does not say this in such an 
 absolute sense as these general expressions would lead 
 us to believe, when taken superficially, apart from the 
 context ; so far from this, he submits to existing views 
 and forms of life only under certain definite qualifications. 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Apostles — Service. 81 
 
 {aa) This submission, it is to be observed, does not 
 refer to the spiritual sphere, that is to say, does not 
 refer to things which afi'ect the doctrine, the faith, the 
 substance of Christianity, but only to the external mode 
 of life and the prevailing views with reference thereto. 
 This is evident when we go back to ver. 1 ff., referring 
 to such matters as the keeping of a wife, the taking of 
 salary, and especially to questions about permitted or 
 prohibited meats, holy days, circumcision (cf. Eom. 
 xiv.). 
 
 {ßß) Even in these external points of religious 
 morality, the apostle only accommodates himself volun- 
 tarily to the prevailing views in the particular field in 
 which he is labouring ; he does not allow himself 
 to be bound by the law of the Jews any more than 
 by the customs of the heathen, nor would he make 
 even his own liberty to be a law for others — for others 
 in their circle. He regards it as a matter belonging to 
 the personal sphere of private conduct, in which every 
 one is free to use his own discretion ; hence, in Eom. 
 xiv., he will have liberty allowed to the narrow-minded 
 as well as to the free, to be used by every one according 
 to the needs of his individual position. But he never 
 permitted such a sacrifice of freedom to be made 
 a matter of compulsion, of control over other people. 
 He did not allow it to be made a matter of moral 
 precept, of Christian necessity, of duty inherent in 
 faith, of scriptural command. So far from this, towards 
 any such tendency he assumed an attitude, not of ac- 
 commodation and concession, but of the most jealous 
 
82 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 antagonism, of the most stedfast ojDposition (Gal. ii. 
 3 ff., cf. Acts xvi. 3). 
 
 (77) Even this voluntary accommodation proceeds 
 on such principles, that the position in question is 
 treated as a weakness to be got rid of, not as something 
 to be received, not as an authorized tendency entitled 
 to a permanent place in Christianity itself and needing 
 to be restored where it no longer exists. Even the 
 voluntary accommodation, therefore, must by no means 
 be practised in such a way as would lead to the imper- 
 fect form, and the weakness of faith, being raised to an 
 independent position, and being confirmed and autho- 
 rized ; but our aim must be — and our conduct must be 
 regulated in accordance with this aim — to bring over 
 those who are still under the misleading influence of 
 these forms to the Christian standpoint of liberty 
 (1 Cor. ix. 19). At the same time, however, we must 
 take care that this freedom is not merely conveyed 
 outwardly to the man, it must be cultivated inwardly. 
 
 Thus the purpose of the apostle's conduct — and its 
 result — was not that either he himself or those on 
 whom he wrought should require to accept or to retain 
 the heathenish or the Jewish form of life as something 
 indifferent to the Christian, or even authorized and 
 binding on him, but that he should deliver the Jews 
 and the heathen from their errors, the Jews from their 
 narrow - minded fprm, the heathen from their false 
 freedom, that he might lead them to faith, to the law 
 of the freedom of Christ. This way of acting is the 
 perfect opposite, not only of indifference, but also of 
 
Pastoral Functions of the Ajoostles — Service. 83 
 
 dogmatic rigour and of hierarchical dominion, — in general 
 it is the opposite of the Christianity of sects, for the 
 peculiarity of this latter is that its adherents will 
 neither come themselves nor help others to come out 
 of the formal Christianity peculiar to their age, their 
 country, their party, to serve the pure gospel and 
 promote its interests ; instead of this, they make such 
 forms binding not only on themselves but others — 
 binding on them in their character as Christians ; 
 and so, instead of winning others for Christ's law and 
 training them up to His freedom of the Spirit, they 
 bring themselves and others into bondage to the 
 yoke of men, and struggle against the freedom of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 Enough has now been said to throw light upon the 
 idea of the pastoral office in general, upon the ministerial 
 position in its teaching and guiding, according to scrip- 
 tural principles. In order to bring out the features 
 of the office more distinctly, we had better turn to the 
 region of practice and make a study of Christ's own 
 work and that of the apostles. Therein we see the 
 universal and the casual interpenetrate one another, 
 according to the experience and requirements of daily 
 life, and we can derive thence leading principles for the 
 discharge of ministerial duty. 
 
 Before we pursue our study of pastoral work 
 
 itself as exemplified in the Bible, let us by way of 
 
 addition to our conception of the pastoral office put 
 
 this question — wherein consists the right call to 
 
8 4 The Scrijyhiral Conception of the Fastoral Oßce. 
 
 pastoral labour, what is required for a genuine 
 vocation ? 
 
 3. The subjective qualities requisite for the discharge 
 of the office. 
 
 A congregation, or whoever else may give a call 
 in their name, can only call to a definite external 
 field of labour,- — it does not follow that one is at the 
 same time called by God ; if the outward call is to be 
 held valid in the kingdom of heaven, and to receive 
 sanction from the Lord, it must rest upon an inward 
 call, and the question is, who can be held to be inwardly 
 called to the office of the Christian pastor ? Wherein 
 consists — 
 
 {a) The personal fitness for it .? 
 
 To start with a doctrinal passage, we find in 2 Cor. 
 iii. 5 ff . a succinct answer to this question. It is the 
 fitness for the office derived from the life-giving spirit 
 that is here emphasized. The same thing is set forth 
 with greater minuteness in 1 Cor. ii. 1 2 ff., 4 ff. So 
 far as the office is to be the office of the spirit, it 
 is essential that a man be himself in possession of the 
 Holy Spirit's power. The great thing needed in this 
 office is the communication of a something which the 
 mind of the world cannot receive in its life-giving 
 spirit. The great thing is the founding of a life rooted 
 in divine power (1 Cor. ii. 5). Thus all these features 
 lead up to personal spirituality in the Christian sense. 
 With this agrees also the procedure of the Lord, as 
 described in Acts i. 3—5, and ver. 8. Here also the 
 right vocation proceeds from the Lord, special gifts 
 
Qualifications for the Office. 8 5 
 
 being conferred for the office of witness, and all power 
 for the right spiritual discharge of the office being 
 comprehended in the reception of the Holy Spirit's 
 power. But the question still remains : Has one 
 neither the right nor the power to officiate as a witness 
 of the truth until he has the Holy Spirit dwelling in 
 him ? Under certain conditions, undoubtedly he has, 
 see Matt. x. 5 ff. But the duty required there, accord- 
 ing to ver. 7, was only the delivery of a message 
 which had been expressly communicated by previous 
 instruction, and which had been already accepted in 
 faith by those who were to deliver it. Moreover, the 
 fluty was only to be discharged in a field already 
 prepared through other labourers, which presented 
 fewer difficulties than that of the Gentiles and 
 Samaritans. Thus certainly, one may present himself 
 as a messenger of the gospel even before he possess the 
 Spirit ; but according to the teaching of this passage, if 
 such a one is not to be a hypocrite, he must at least 
 liave so far attained to the knowledge and faith of Christ 
 as to know that in Christ the kingdom of heaven is at 
 liand, in other words, he must regard the divine life as 
 realized and fulfilled in Christ ; moreover, in the pro- 
 clamation of this fundamental truth he must adhere 
 precisely to the word of the Lord, to the Christian 
 type of teaching, confining himself to the more easy 
 field of labour, without wishing to break new ground. 
 For before one has the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ 
 Himself, he is only a servant who does not know or 
 understand what his Lord doeth. He is not initiated 
 
8 6 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 into the inner motives of the divine action, — the 
 spiritual understanding of the divine economy has not 
 yet dawned upon him, and thus he is liable to delusions 
 and mistakes of all kinds as soon as he departs from 
 a child-like, faithful adherence to the Lord's word. 
 Such adherence is the right beginning, or faithfulness 
 in little, which advances to what is greater ; and because 
 we only know in part, this rule is to be observed in 
 everything in wliich we have not yet attained to 
 inward certainty. It is better to adhere too scrupu- 
 lously to the word of the scriptural standard rather 
 than corrupt the truth, and corrupt souls by all kinds 
 of crude medleys in the exercise of an arbitrary 
 freedom. "We must be content for the time to be 
 no more than heralds, who declare what has been com- 
 mitted to them, and as it has been committed to them. 
 
 Above the servants, however, stand the friends, John 
 XV. 14. These are they that have received insight 
 into that which the Lord has heard of the Father, those 
 who are initiated into the mysteries of the kingdom of 
 heaven, into its inner nature, so as to understand it. 
 At this point begins the stewardship over the mystery 
 of God, that a man know how rightly to divide the 
 word and assign to every one his due portion — that he 
 know how to give that which is spiritual in a spiritual 
 manner — in the mind, in the power, in the language 
 of the Spirit, 1 Cor. ii. 12-14. It is only when they 
 receive the Holy Spirit that the apostles begin to bear 
 their witness in this manner. And what was required 
 previous to this? When we compare John xv. 27, 
 
Qualifications for the Office. 87 
 
 we find that the Lord sends as independent witnesses 
 only those who have been with Him from the beginning 
 (of. Acts i. 21 fF.), that is, those to whom the grace and 
 truth revealed in His whole historical career has become 
 clear and certain as a matter of personal belief, John 
 xvii. 6-8, xvii. 20 ff. In this last passage the same 
 thing as the Lord entreats of the Father in the case of 
 the apostles is extended to those who through the word 
 of the apostles become one with them in faith ; to such 
 refers also specially ver. 18 and ver. 21. The Lord 
 thus sends forth messengers to do the work of free and 
 independent witnesses, to be witnesses of the Spirit, 
 only when the Father is glorified in Him as man, and 
 when through His teaching the real recognition of His 
 own divine glory has dawned upon men, so that 
 Christ Himself and the divine love revealed in Him 
 has become the living property of men (cf. ver. 23 
 and ver. 26). Then, however, a man is no longer 
 of the world, but (John xv. 1 5 fF.) a friend of Christ 
 chosen out of the world, who as such understands his 
 Lord's will, and is endowed with power to plant seed 
 which shall bring forth fruit unto eternal life, and not 
 merely for the present world. With this agrees also 
 Acts i. 3-8. Here we see the apostles, now called to 
 independent service, in the position of having learned to 
 know the crucified Christ by experience as the living 
 Christ, in the position of having experimental evidence 
 of the life of the Eedeemer, and holding personal living 
 intercourse with Him; yet notwithstanding, they do 
 not rush precipitately into outward activity, but, " ye 
 
8 8 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 shall wait for the promise of the Father," — for the 
 special endowment of spiritual power, ver. 4. Thus 
 for carrying on work in the Spirit outwardly, one has 
 quietly to wait for the special equipment of spiritual 
 power. By this certainly we are to understand no 
 mere idle waiting, but a labouring to realize what one 
 has already inwardly experienced in the Lord, what 
 one has already heard from His mouth regarding the 
 kingdom of God ; and an occupation of the thoughts 
 {irepifieveiv) with the promise of the Holy Spirit (Ps. 
 XXX vii. 3). [Nourish thyself with the truth, learn 
 to live by faith (Ps. cxxx. 5-7).] In such a time 
 of waiting, therefore, the great thing is to be faithful 
 in that which is already ours, in order that we may 
 receive that which is greater, and to leave the rest to 
 the wise disposal of God (ver. 6 ff.) ; in particular, we 
 must be careful not to meddle with what belongs to 
 this divine ordination in a spirit of idle curiosity ; we 
 must not indulge the wish to search out time and hour 
 of that which is yet to come, to strain after the great 
 things which are yet to come, instead of quietly minding 
 the inner growth of the kingdom of God. All that is 
 still wanting flows out of the one thing needful, that 
 we receive the power of the Holy Spirit ; and to this 
 end, if we would win all, every effort must be directed, 
 the rest in the meantime being quietly let alone (ver. 8). 
 The result in that case is similar to what is described in 
 1 Sam. X. 6 ff. 
 
 But even when a man is once in possession of the 
 Spirit, he must not presume to follow his own self-will, 
 
Qualifications for the Office. 89 
 
 regardless of law and order, in his choice of external 
 action and work ; his work must be carried on within 
 definite limits, it must observe the laws of development 
 and of natural progress, according to which we advance 
 from that which is nearest to that which is more 
 remote, from the small to the great, from the centre to 
 the circumference, from the field already prepared to 
 that which still requires to be broken up. As of all 
 this, so is it true especially of the Holy Spirit, that it 
 is acquired in no other way than by training in the 
 school of Christ's disciples, by learning of Christ as our 
 Master, even as the apostles themselves received the 
 Spirit as the result of that teaching of the Lord which 
 they slowly imbibed as His scholars. On this subject 
 you will find in Burk's Collections (vi. 2, new edition, 
 p. 287 ff.) an excellent answer to the question, How is 
 the Holy Spirit obtained ? 
 
 The foregoing remarks have served to give us a 
 general knowledge of the spiritual fitness required for 
 the clerical office, but there are still further — 
 
 {h) Special qualifications expressly mentioned which 
 one must possess in order to be fit for the clerical ofiice 
 and eligible for a call, and that he may be able to carry 
 on the work with a good conscience and with good 
 results. A summary statement on this subject is found 
 in 1 Tim. iii. 1-7. We must therefore go into a closer 
 examination of this passage. The office is represented 
 as a desirable one, as of great worth on account of the 
 purpose for which it was instituted and the effects 
 which it produces, and in this opening statement lies 
 
9 The Scrqotural ConccjJÜon of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 the invitation for all who have the ability, not to shrink 
 from the difficulties ; at the same time, however, the 
 office is represented as ep'yov, as work, as labour, and 
 this repels men who are devoid of earnestness, and like 
 to take their ease. It is essentially " negotium non 
 otium" (Bengel), Acts xv. 37 ff., where Paul will not 
 have Mark to accompany him, because he did not 
 go into the work to take part in it ; cf . Phil. ii. 30: 
 "For the work of Christ, he came nigh unto death." 
 Augustine says : " Episcopatus est nomen operis non 
 honoris." Jerome says : " Siquis episcopatum desiderat, 
 laborem desiderat non honorem." From this weighty 
 and worthy character of the office Paul infers the 
 requisite qualifications : bonum negotium bonis com- 
 mittendum. So, according to ver. 2, the bishop is to be 
 blameless, äveirlXrj'irTo^, a man whom the adversaries 
 cannot get at either with censure or temptation, spot- 
 less in teaching and conduct, so that the world can 
 neither charge him with its sin nor lead him into it. 
 This presupposes that one is already under the discipline 
 of grace, and is continually under it ; and it is just on 
 this account that so many in the office have their 
 mouths shut, and are weakened in their whole dealings 
 with men, because they cannot but say to themselves. If 
 I assail this man or that man, people will cast reproach 
 on me, or may do so, for my own cherished sins ; they 
 will lay hold of me wherein I conform to the world. 
 fiiä^ 'yvvaiKo^ avhpa : We have not here to enter into 
 a discussion of that interpretation of the expression, 
 according to which a second marriage after the loss of 
 
Qualifications for the Office. 91 
 
 the first wife is forbidden ; it is enough if we lay firm 
 hold of this fact, that a monogamy in the Christian 
 sense is here required, and that unchastity in its various 
 forms, whether on the part of married or unmarried 
 persons, is forbidden. As regards the other conception 
 of " polygamia successiva " being forbidden, we have 
 here merely to consider the argument from a prac- 
 tical standpoint. People would appeal in support 
 of that view of the passage to the high estimation in 
 which, both among the Greeks and Romans, and also in 
 the Jewish priesthood, thase persons were held who had 
 been only once married. But this betrays a mistaken 
 notion of the Christian moral law ; even in eJudaism 
 itself, which was entirely confined to ypu/x/ia vofiov, to 
 express commandments and prohibitions, and which 
 distinguished the priests as a holy caste from the rest 
 of the nation, there existed no positive law such as 
 people would find in this passage, much less is such a 
 law appropriate to Christianity, which will have less 
 legislation of an outward kind. Christianity recognises 
 no special class distinctions, it prescribes to no man 
 ascetic singularity, such as vanity and the spirit of 
 caste hanker after — only voluntary self-restraint on 
 grounds of love and wisdom; cf. Matt. xix. 22 and 
 1 Cor. vii. with reference to marriage. Although in 
 the last-named chapter Paul prefers the single to the 
 married state, he makes this depend not only on circum- 
 stances of the time, but also on individual x^P^^H'^^ 
 ver. 7 ; he finds neither marriage itself nor yet a 
 repetition of the marriage rite to be inadmissible in the 
 
92 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastor cd Office. 
 
 case of an apostle ; under certain circumstances he 
 makes the latter even a duty, 1 Cor. vii. 8 ; Eom. vii. 3 ; 
 1 Tim. V. 14. So also the rest of the qualifications 
 here enumerated for the office of bishop require no 
 singular virtue, least of all a mere widower-celibacy, for 
 ver. 4 ff. even presupposes that an efficient guiding of 
 the family life affords special guarantee for good manage- 
 ment of the church. This, then, may be regarded as 
 certain, that it is left optional to the clergyman, as it is 
 to every Christian, whether he shall marry at all, and 
 whether he shall marry only once in his life ; likewise, 
 that one or other, according to circumstances, may be 
 really better and more profitable for the kingdom of 
 heaven ; but this only when it is not at variance with 
 the idiosyncrasy of the individual, and where it proceeds 
 from the spirit and from a free conscience. For no 
 man therefore dare we make an external command of 
 it. vr](f)a\Lo^ refers to abstinence from outward enjoy- 
 ments — sobriety in opposition to love of pleasure, and 
 as a consequence of this, steady, circumspect, energetic 
 manner of life as contrasted with carelessness and 
 indiscretion ; aa)(l)p(ov, of a sound mind, refers to the 
 sovereignty of the reason over the inward emotions and 
 passions, vr)(f>aXLo<; denotes a right frame of mind with 
 reference to outward influences, aw^pwv the same thing 
 in relation to inward passions. Christianity by no 
 means despises the so-called jicstitia civilis; on the 
 contrary, it requires and inculcates it, and while it 
 recognises no ascetic self-denial in a monastic sense, it 
 repudiates at the same time all voluptuousness — it 
 
Qualifications for the Office . 03 
 
 requires discipline of the body and of the spirit. The 
 limits of discretion it leaves to be settled by the indi- 
 vidual conscience. In the expression K6afjLio<; we have 
 the further idea of moral order in the outer life as the 
 result of the qualities already mentioned. This quality 
 is also to be understood as an outcome of the spirit of 
 Christianity, not as if it meant a mere outward demure- 
 ness put on like a mask, but in the sense of the words 
 uttered long ago by Sirach ix. 26 ff. : "A man is 
 known by his look," etc. 0t\ofei/o9, hospitable, not a 
 man who is fond of gormandizing and social pleasures, 
 but one who is fond of those who must be counted 
 strangers, a friend of all needy ones who are, as it were, 
 without a home in the world, in other words, a friend 
 of the poor, of widows and orphans, of exiles, of the 
 persecuted and the sick, of all those in the condition 
 referred to by our Lord when He said, " Ye visited me." 
 BiBaKTtKo^;, apt to teach, that is to say, having the ability 
 and the taste for teaching. This implies that one must 
 be so well grounded in the doctrine as to be in a 
 position to build up others in sound doctrine as well as 
 to correct the gainsayers, one must know how to apply 
 the word to the varying individualities, relationsliips, 
 and temporary circumstances with which he has to 
 deal, ministering edification to them that are open to 
 impressions, rebuke to them that are not so, correct- 
 ing, rebuking, exhorting, comforting in due season, 
 2 Tim. iv. 2, iii. 16 ; one must be able to supply milk 
 to babes in Christ, that is to say, to reduce the elements 
 in the truth to a simple form that can be understood 
 
94 The Sci^ptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 and appreciated by the weak (Heb. v. 12) ; while at the 
 same time one must know how to rise ever higher with 
 them that are spiritual and perfect, into the infinite 
 riches of the divine word, in wisdom, righteousness, and 
 holiness (1 Cor. iii. 1 ; Heb. v. 14). Now this aptness 
 to teach depends upon the Spirit. Before we have the 
 Spirit, we must not and cannot, as already observed, 
 claim for ourselves the genuine Christian fitness to 
 teach, but must be content with being faithful heralds, 
 who faithfully render to others the word received ; and 
 through this faithful rendering of the word a man attains 
 to the Divine Spirit in the word, and becomes hthaKTiKo^;. 
 Ver. 3, ^rj irdpoLvo^;, not a wine - bibber, irdpoLvo';, 
 drunkard — fond of drink. Temptations to this sin 
 were already to be found in the love-feasts of the time 
 (1 Cor. xi. 21). That the immoderate enjoyment of 
 wine always leads to other vices is proved by experi- 
 ence (see Eph. iv. 18), even were it nothing else than 
 the thoughtless talk indulged in by a man who is under 
 the influence of drink ; therefore irdpoivo^ stands also for 
 dissolute, lascivious, and sensual generally, and it is this 
 side that is specially to be emphasized here in contrast 
 with the following eVtet«?^'?. irXrjKTr)^ signifies properly 
 striker, then in a secondary sense violent, overbearing 
 conduct, coarse pugnacity of disposition, quarrelsomeness, 
 the opposite being a/>ta%09. In all these respects we 
 have to think not only of the coarse outbreaks of passion, 
 but also of the more refined forms and of the disposition 
 which shows itself in these forms, jmy) alo-xpoKepBij^; is 
 a reading not altogether beyond dispute ; but at all 
 
Qimlifications for the Office. 95 
 
 events this quality is one of the characteristics of a 
 bishop (Tit. i. 7). This word again is very compre- 
 hensive, it embraces all those practices which are 
 engaged in by a man of avaricious mind, when he 
 carries on the work of the clerical office in particular 
 (as well as godliness in general) as a trade and a matter 
 of worldly gain, under the seductive influence of the 
 love of money. It is also a special feature of covetous- 
 ness in the clerical office for a man to accommodate his 
 sermons to the spirit of the time, or the place, or the 
 family, to regulate them by considerations of worldly 
 advantage, or when he esteems his position high or low 
 according to the amount of income which it yields, 
 when he competes on this principle for other positions 
 for which he is not fit, when he burdens himself with 
 agricultural or other business to the detriment of his 
 office. Even apart from this, the public are predisposed 
 to suspect a minister of being mercenary, and one must 
 be the more careful therefore to avoid the appearance 
 of evil in this matter. Many difficulties in the office 
 would never arise if we enjoyed the confidence of 
 our congregations as being disinterested and beyond 
 the influence of such considerations. A clerg}^man 
 above all must be able to trust in Him who feeds 
 the ravens and clothes the lilies, and on this depends 
 the weight his words will carry with them in times of 
 need, where the pressure of want is felt — and generally 
 in his relations with the poor. 
 
 There follow now the positive predicates. eVtef/cT;? 
 stands opposed to Trdpocvo^, and denotes the self-denying 
 
9 6 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastor cd Office. 
 
 disposition which makes sacrifices, and which can bear 
 to want and to practise resignation, instead of being like a 
 drunk man, insolent, touchy, and irritable. The ay^ayo^ 
 as opposed to TrXtJ/cT?;? is a peaceful character, one who 
 is averse to strife, instead of taking pleasure in it like a 
 fighter. Both attributes, the compliant disposition and 
 the peaceful temper, refer to personal relations, where 
 it is a question of meum and tuum. To suppose that 
 we had to yield in the assertion of the truth, that we 
 needed to shrink from conflict in that arena, would be a 
 great mistake. But this reversal in the order of duty 
 is just what happens in actual life. It comes natural 
 to men to defend their interests in matters of personal 
 right, property, honour ; and in such matters the clergy- 
 man, as a pattern, should give in twice as often as his 
 neighbour, and rather suffer wrong. On the other 
 hand, it is considered wrong for a man not to be accom- 
 modating and mild in matters of doctrine and of the 
 Christian life ; to fight and struggle in these matters is 
 called stiff, disagreeable, unbrotherly, and so forth. 
 Yet even such misunderstandings will right themselves, 
 and at any rate men's consciences will be on our side, 
 provided only we are of an unassuming, agreeable 
 disposition in our private conduct. The mere tempera- 
 ment is not all that is needed in order to maintain the 
 character of an agreeable, peace-loving man in the office 
 of a bishop ; supposing one has a mild temperament, 
 one will still be liable to err by resorting to compromise 
 and peace even where it is sin. As little, however, is a 
 fiery, energetic temper sufficient for the conflict. Such a 
 
Qualifications for the Office. 97 
 
 temperament, like the natural love of peace, works 
 l)lindly and sullies the spirit with which we engage in 
 conflict, leading into sin. Nothing will do but to bring 
 the temperament under the purifying influence of the 
 truth and peace which are of the essence of Christianity, 
 and to fashion the moral character in a Christian spirit 
 of power, correction, and love. 
 
 a(\>iXdpyvpo<; denotes the disinterestedness of the man 
 who is content with what he has, with what meets his 
 necessity, and who does not cling to money (Heb. 
 xiii. 5). Anxiety about the wants of his family is very 
 apt to move a man from a position of disinterestedness, 
 and to weaken his confidence in the living God, unless 
 it be nourished and strengthened by constant intercourse 
 with the living God and with His word ; it is a law of 
 the kingdom, in the divine economy, that the labourer 
 is worthy of his hire, and this law of the kingdom the 
 Lord certainly fulfils in the case of those who work in 
 His service. This is the one thing needful, — if we 
 work in this spirit, we may depend upon it that the 
 rest will be added unto us. This freedom from attach- 
 ment to money implies that we be willing to communi- 
 cate so far as we can (Heb. xiii. 16). It likewise 
 implies that we know how to bear with equanimity 
 temporal forfeitures, losses, etc., for example, in per- 
 quisites. 
 
 Ver. 4 brings before us the ruling well of a man's 
 own house. In the idea of the house are also included 
 wife and servants. The house is a church in miniature. 
 There in particular — and not merely in the service of 
 
9 8 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastor cd Office. 
 
 God's house — has the clergyman to do duty as pastor, 
 with law and gospel. €')(eiv is here pregnant, the moral 
 element being also included — to keep, to hold — not as 
 Luther translates, to have (cf. 1. 19). Thus also ixera 
 '7rd<T7)(; ae^v6Tr)To^ is joined by a most natural sequence 
 with e^ovra, one who keeps them in subjection with 
 moral earnestness, with dignity of character, in contrast 
 to mere brute force and to the arts of the pedagogue. 
 That is to say, let him carry on his rule with moral 
 earnestness. The apostle is here speaking of how the 
 bishop has to train his children, not of the result, that 
 there may at all events be no degeneracy of the children 
 owing to bad house-rule, owing to the inmates not being 
 kept in proper subjection, owing to a want of o-efivoTr)^. 
 How important is the training of children carried on in 
 a spirit of moral earnestness we soon learn by experi- 
 ence ! How can a man exert any influence whatever 
 on the education of the public, if he is himself careless 
 or inexperienced in the right training of children ? It 
 is a special evil of our time, and one which avenges 
 itself severely, that people always imagine that the 
 training of a child, the management of a house, comes 
 natural ; and that these most important points of duty 
 are left to accident. In his family, in his children, 
 every man finds the richest source of his happiness or 
 his unhappiness. With all his learning, he may find 
 there enough to make him miserable. And in what 
 position does the clergyman find himself when those 
 entrusted to his care resort to him for advice with 
 reference to domestic disagreements ? The art of 
 
Qualifications for the Office. 99 
 
 ministering to others in this respect is best learned l)y 
 earnest attention to our own education from an early- 
 period. But where special school superintendence is 
 combined with the clerical office, it is all the more 
 necessary, and is a requirement of duty, that we should 
 study the art of education. Here again, however, 
 wdiat is needed is certainly not artificial theories, but 
 books drawn from life, and composed for life in the 
 spirit of life, such, for instance, as a work by the 
 Catholic bishop, John Mich. Sailer, Education for 
 Educators. Schwarz's Educational By stem bases educa- 
 tion on Christian principles, and in the section on 
 education it is particularly rich in remarks and observa- 
 tions drawn from psychology and anthropology. Zeller's 
 Lessons from ExjycHence is also much to be commended. 
 Popular as is the style of this book, a spirit of mature 
 wisdom breathes through it. Both with regard to life 
 and Christianity, it penetrates through the surface into 
 the depths of the subject. Eamsauer's Life, in a simple 
 style, yet bearing the stamp of truth, is especially fitted 
 to guard us against scholastic pedantry, and in a sensible 
 way to convince us of the educational value of 
 Christianity. 
 
 In ver. 5, the requirement in ver. 4 is based on the 
 ground of the evident incongruity which arises when 
 the opposite is the case. It proceeds on the assumption 
 that he who presides in the church has to take the 
 place held by a father in his house (hence iin^ieXriaeTai), 
 has to take care of the church, to promote the good and 
 check the e\dl, not in magisterial fashion nor in the 
 
100 The Scriptural Conception of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 spirit of a weak philanthropist, but with the authority 
 of a father. Ver. 6, ve6<f>vTo^, strictly speaking, means 
 newly planted and trained {(^vreveiv is also used by 
 itself of the planting of the Christian life, 1 Cor. iii. 6-8), 
 that is, a recent convert who is not yet confirmed in the 
 faith, the opposite of äp')(aio^ fiaOrjTrjf;, Acts xxi. 16. 
 It is a very natural point of view that this prohibition 
 rests upon. Before a man would himself plant, he 
 must have attained a certain maturity in his inner man ; 
 otherwise he can bring no seed out of his treasury, but 
 only sow wind and reap whirlwind. It is just new 
 converts, however, that are fond of coming forward as 
 teachers, and — if they have no office — as authors, and 
 they soon begin to pour the wine on to the street. The 
 Lord, too, demands as a qualification of a scribe trained 
 unto the kingdom of heaven, that he have in his treasury 
 not only what is new, but also what is old, Matt. xiii. 
 52. And on this principle He preached the truth to 
 His disciples for years, before He allowed them to enter 
 on their ministry. 
 
 TV(\>(t)6eL<;, properly, filled with vapour. Vapour has 
 an inflating and bewildering effect. He who is not yet 
 firmly grounded in the truth, and has no sufficient 
 treasure out of which he can draw for the edification of 
 the Church according to its various wants, grasps at 
 vapour, in place of the substance of truth ; gropes about 
 in a sort of half-knowledge, in clouds of sentiment or 
 of rhetoric. The conceit and the applause which 
 attend it, make a man vain, proud, pretentious. This 
 is the way with novices who shoot upwards before they 
 
Qualifications foi' the Office. 101 
 
 strike root downwards ; who develop outwardly before 
 they consolidate inwardly. Now, where there is such an 
 inflated appearance without reality, a handle is given to 
 the BtdßoXo^;. 
 
 BLdßo\o<; is more frequently employed as an adjective, 
 e.ff. ver. 11, 2 Tim. iii. 3, in the sense of calumnious. In 
 a similar sense, many take it here substantively as 
 calumniator. But for one thing this does not corre- 
 spond with TvcfxaOek here, for such a man does not need 
 to be slandered in order to be condemned. His own 
 character condemns him. Add to this that o BcdßoXo^ 
 is constantly used in Paul's writings for the devil, e.r/. 
 Eph. vi. 11 ; 2 Tim. ii. 26, and here in ver. 7. 
 Now the KplfjLa tov 8. may be taken in a twofold sense, 
 either so as to make BtaßoXov genitimts ohjectivits, — 
 the judgment passed upon the devil, 2 Pet. ii. 9 ; 
 Jude ver. 6 ; the meaning of the verse then being that a 
 TV(f)(o6€L(; Like the OLaßoko^ falls through pride, goes the 
 way of falsehood and corruption, — or as a gcnitivus 
 subjectimcs, into the judgment which the devil executes 
 on men who are puffed up ; which judgment again 
 consists in this, that they fall into falsehood and error ; 
 cf. 2 Cor. ii. 11 and Luke xxii. 31. What is needed 
 for the office of a Christian teacher is not to bring to 
 market our own discoveries or ephemeral opinions, but 
 to abide by the simple yet rich word of the Lord ; 
 although certainly to the culture of the age it 
 always appears foolishness, and to egotistical virtue a 
 stumbling-block. Now this to a man puffed up is an 
 impossibility, and for a novice it is difficult. It requires 
 
102 The Scriptural Concej^tion of the Pastoral Office. 
 
 humility and self-denial to be a mere steward, and not 
 to play the master. 
 
 Finally, ver. 7, he is to be a man who is held in 
 estimation even by the world ; for any one who is to 
 preside over a church, an approved and upright 
 character is a fundamental requisite. How essential 
 this is for a good discharge of duty is obvious. It 
 is not a matter of indifference in such an office how 
 a man has hved before entering on the office. We 
 must not expect the world to be so reasonable as to 
 forget a man's earlier life in contrast with a position 
 which in any case offends in so many ways its dis- 
 position and way of thinking. It recalls that life 
 in stories that hurt his reputation. Out of these there 
 is formed oi^etStö-yLto?, vile reports, reproaches on every 
 opportunity, and with this again is connected ird'yt^^ 
 T. S., a snare of the devil. That is to say, it is 
 a curse to the man, whereby Satan hinders his 
 free and efficient discharge of duty, and draws him 
 again to himself, so that he turns aside from the truth 
 and neglects the duties of his office, content if he can 
 only get rest. 
 
 We have now done with the specific qualifications 
 which one must possess who would be fit for the office 
 of the ministry. 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 THE LORD AS A PATTERN. 
 Matt, iv.-xii. 
 
 1. The entrance upon the pastoral office. 
 
 We begin this part of the subject with Matt. iv. 1 ff., 
 which describes the entrance of Christ upon His pubhc 
 ministry. Here we have no need to enter into the 
 details of the history of the temptation. It touches 
 our subject only as being the transition from the 
 Lord's private life to His public ministry, and even 
 from this standpoint we have to regard the narrative 
 only on its spiritual side, that is, in so far as it presents 
 the special question : In what mind and spirit must a 
 man enter upon the pastoral office ? Or, What is — 
 
 (1.) The personal and spiritital groundwork of a 
 ministry in harmony with the spirit of Christ, and as 
 such exerting saving power ? 
 
 The first requisite of such a spiritual groundwork is 
 experience of our oivn loersonal liability to temptation, 
 and not merely general knowledge of our sinfulness. 
 But personal liability to temptation does not lie merely, 
 
104 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 as people commonly say, in the weak side which every 
 man has. Christ had no weak side in the ordinary 
 cense of having been weakened, like us, by sin pre- 
 existing in His nature. It was His Sonship, His very 
 might and strength, upon which in His case temptation 
 fastened. And so it is in the strong side of every 
 good Christian man that his chief danger lies, in that 
 which is best and most vigorous in his nature, in his 
 peculiar endowment and excellence, in the very thing 
 which men are to regard as a good gift of God. It is 
 just this superior talent in the exercise of which a man 
 is apt to feel confident. Hence arises liability to 
 temptation in the three forms of it which are exhibited 
 in the temptation of Christ: — (1) The temptation 
 (ver. 3) to turn natural or spiritual blessings selfishly 
 to account for our own enjoyment, honour, and so 
 forth, confident that the thing is in itself a good thing 
 or at least innocent ; (2) the temptation (ver. 6) 
 under the consciousness or the impulse of spiritual 
 power, and in reliance upon divine help or promise, 
 belonging to the position of a servant who has to go 
 only upon the behests of his lord, to stand out and 
 shine before the crowd as a specially gifted man of 
 God, or to attain quick and magnificent results ; (3) 
 the temptation (ver. 9) to pay homage to the spirit of 
 the age under the imposing aspect of worldly glory, 
 and to make terms with powers and tendencies which 
 are in the ascendant (kneel down before me, bow 
 thyself, and surrender thyself). (And this whole 
 history of the temptation, dealing, as it does, telling 
 
Entrance upon the Pastoral Office. 105 
 
 blows against our natural passion for achievement, 
 glory, and fashion, is to be regarded as a mythical 
 creation !) These are the ever-recurring temptations 
 which are to be overcome, the temptation, in the first 
 place, to selfishness ; in the second place, to sensa- 
 tionalism and working upon popular feeling ; in the 
 third place, to servility to the spirit of the age, to 
 worldly power, to prevailing ideas and tendencies ; 
 temptations which often present themselves most power- 
 fully on the threshold of the ministry, and at critical 
 moments generally. What is needed to overcome 
 them, we see in the history of our Lord's tempta- 
 tion. 
 
 In general, victory is found in a spirit which not 
 only becomes dead to the pursuit of enjoyment, honour, 
 and power, but can even deny itself the necessaries of 
 the outward life, and instead of enjoyment, honour, and 
 power, can put up with want or difficulties, dishonour, 
 insignificance, and weakness. The positive elements of 
 this spirit are, in the first place, a self-renouncing love of 
 God, which seeks life and strength not in its own 
 resources, but in the cleaving of the inner nature to 
 the word of God, and on the strength of this is able 
 to bring its own as an offering for His service. 
 Accordingly, it is particularly important to familiarize 
 oneself with this fundamental thought : in order to 
 live, especially in order to have strength for a calling, 
 I need no unwarrantable self-help, no miraculous 
 agencies ; rather I cling to God who sustains the 
 universe by His power, nourishes and gives life to all 
 
106 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 and also to me, and that I may be able to do this I 
 draw strength also from the word which proceeds for 
 instruction and promise out of the mouth of God. 
 
 In the second place, a liumUe faith which renounces 
 vanity and pomp, show and ostentation, which does not 
 challenge divine help and reward on the strength of 
 detached passages of Scripture, and has no desire 
 violently to usurp divine promises, but walks simply 
 in God's commandments, avoids what He has forbidden, 
 pursues that which is right before Him, and abides in 
 the conviction that all else will at the same time of 
 itself be added unto him, that for that God would care. 
 This is the way in which the imaginary faith of many 
 goes to pieces ; it does not cleave above all to God's 
 will — to God's will expressed in definite commands, it 
 much rather only or primarily clings to the promises, 
 to what is ideal and glorious, to the wonderful power 
 and might of God, to the victorious prospects of Chris- 
 tianity, and relying upon them allows itself to be led 
 into the pursuit of what is outwardly imposing and 
 sensational, to the abandonment of solid ground, and 
 to lofty flights in the realms of air. Such a so-called 
 faith can quite well co-exist with a selfish, ambitious, 
 high-flying spirit ; indeed, this spirit is fed by such a 
 fanciful faith, and thus people fall into vanity, into a 
 heroism which ministers to men's self-seeking and love 
 of pleasure. The genuine principle of faith also avails 
 itself of God's promises, but it avails itself of them to 
 the end, that it may walk in God's commandments, 
 and humbly hold on its course within their limits (and 
 
Entrance iqion the Pastoral Office. 107 
 
 these indeed the same commandments — Thou shalt not 
 tempt — Thou shalt not worship), but not that it may 
 venture to exceed them. Accordingly, it tests every 
 application of the divine promises by reference to the 
 divine commandments and prohibitions, and instead of 
 claiming anything special for itself, abides by what has 
 been enjoined upon all believers, in a certain sense 
 upon all mankind, to do and to leave undone. In short, 
 the keeping of the divine laws, the fulfilment of the 
 sovereign will of God, is the first and the constant duty 
 of faith ; the fulfilment of the divine promises is a pure 
 matter of divine grace, which men can neither flatter 
 nor force from Him. " Wait for the promise of the 
 Father, which ye have heard of me — times and seasons 
 hath the Father put in His own power," Acts i. 4 and 7. 
 It is not only to the grace and power, but also to the 
 wise ordination of God, who does all in the right time 
 and in the right way, that the faith of Christ, and in 
 like manner the faith of the Christian, commits the 
 fulfilment of the promises in patient, trustful expecta- 
 tion ; compare with Matt. iv. 6, also ver. 1 1 ; John ii. 
 4, 19 f., vii. 6; Heb. x. 36. 
 
 In the third place, undaunted lioj^c, which does not 
 allow itself to be dazzled by the worldly splendour that 
 strikes the eye, and by the power that rules in the 
 world. It enters into no compact with worldly 
 sovereignties and the power of the age, nor with the 
 spirit of the age, though it appears in the guise of an 
 angel of light with Scripture texts on his tongue ; it 
 rather rejects all offers and alliances leading in that 
 
108 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 direction, all the glorious prospects of worldly conquest, 
 keeping this only in view, that there is One who rules 
 and judges the world, that to Him alone homage is due, 
 and that the covenant with Him, the sincere adoration 
 of God as the one Lawgiver, Euler, and Judge of the 
 universe, renders all worldly covenanting superfluous. 
 In our day, indeed, such rejection of prevalent alliances 
 is represented as want of charity ; but this is much 
 the same as if a woman of ill-repute, who enters into 
 alliance with every one who promises her anything, or 
 from whom she promises herself anything, were to 
 reproach a married woman who is one man's wife with 
 want of love. 
 
 From the foregoing it is evident that faith, love, 
 hope are what decide the issue, but they are so in their 
 simple, childlike attachment to the divine word, the 
 Holy Scriptures ("it is written," Matt. iv. 4, 7, 10), 
 the promises of God being thus not appropriated as an 
 unconditional possession, but held subordinate to the 
 laws of God as the condition of their fulfilment. Faith, 
 love, hope are not only the spiritual foundations of the 
 Christian life in general ; they are so also for the calling 
 of the Son of God, and likewise for the office of the holy 
 ministry. They are the only victorious forces and 
 weapons of spiritual heroism ; and by them a man's 
 own flesh, the pretentious influences of the world, and 
 the mightiest, craftiest spirit of the world are to be 
 overcome. 
 
 But it is not with his entrance upon the outward 
 office that a man first equips himself thus in person 
 
Entrance upon the Pastoral Office. 109 
 
 and life for the ministry of Christ. Such equipment 
 does not come of itself, and does not admit of being- 
 resorted to for the first time in a case of necessity, as 
 gun and sword are taken from the wall. A man must 
 forge his armour for himself while yet there is time, 
 before stepping on to the battlefield. Those foundations 
 of the spiritual life and of the holy ministry, that is, a 
 faith which feeds upon God's word with love and hope, 
 must first be laid and built in the inner life to make it 
 possible for the outer work of the ministry by and by 
 to be built upon them. For this end, make use now of 
 the whole available time which you have before you. 
 The means before all else for furnishing yourselves with 
 this personal foundation of a successful gospel ministry, 
 is the great means repeatedly mentioned already — the 
 Holy Scriptures. With them the Lord begins His 
 ministry, clearing away the false notions which were 
 current and in the air regarding His Messiahship, and 
 confronting the temptations that came upon Him there- 
 from. He thus begins with Scripture, because He is 
 already at home in it, lives and moves in it ; and He 
 does not use Scripture, by taking a text from its connec- 
 tion to point His way, but rather text joined with text 
 to mark out for Him the narrow way of truth, without 
 divergence to the right or to the left. It is not by the 
 use of single texts that we find the sure limits right 
 and left within which lies the narrow way, but only by 
 a right observance of the rule — " Again it is written ; " 
 otherwise we come to grief over every text which 
 Satanic exegesis starts upon us. 
 
110 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 To the same means Paul also points Timothy for the 
 same end, an efficient discharge of the ministry amid 
 the assaults of temptation, 2 Tim. iii., especially from 
 ver. 10. The spiritual necessity for what is called 
 practical searching of Scripture, that is, such a searching 
 as builds up a man himself on the ground of Holy Scrip- 
 ture, in order that he may be able to build up others, 
 makes itself most keenly felt when a man enters upon 
 the ministerial office. If a man has to commence it 
 only then under such a sense of necessity, it is a pre- 
 carious business, and amid the multitude of other occu- 
 pations with which one is still unfamiliar, has but poor 
 success. In regard to this, the enthusiastic commenda- 
 tion of practical searching of the Scriptures in Sailer's 
 Pastoral Theology, i. pp. 72-89, is well worthy of atten- 
 tion. Don't be kept from such a use of Scripture for 
 your personal edification, by the notion that faith in the 
 whole of Scripture, a dogmatic or philosophical theory 
 of its absolute authority and inspiration, is a necessary 
 prerequisite. The conviction of the genuineness and 
 divine character of Scripture is formed in the spirit 
 when we make that use of its contents which Scripture 
 itself desires, which alone is appropriate to its nature 
 and purpose, the training of man in the knowledge of 
 the truth which is godliness and life. It ought, and 
 professes to be, no mere subject for reflections and 
 theories of our own, but a thoroughly practical means 
 of edification, a means of sanctification, leading on 
 from one degree of attainment to another. It desires 
 to be used as a book of instruction and correction for 
 
Entrance upon the Fastoral Office. Ill 
 
 hearts captivated partly by false notions of what is 
 good, and partly by evil propensities, as a book of sal- 
 vation and education for our morally enfeebled and 
 perverse nature. It professes above all to impart a 
 distinctive character to a man's life, the character of a 
 man of God, but it does not profess that the many 
 different questions which may be suggested to the reader 
 regarding the external interests of the history, of per- 
 sons, of things, and so forth, from the past, are solved 
 out of it, as if it were a storehouse for gratifying idle 
 curiosity. The great thing, then, in the use of Scrip- 
 ture for the ministry, is pre-eminently work on one's 
 self, the culture of one's own life, going to the founda- 
 tion, to the heart and the dispositions ; and the principal 
 rule in reading the Scriptures is always this : whatever 
 lies nearest you, whatever comes home to your heart 
 and conscience as a description of your condition, as a 
 representation of your past life, and as enjoining duties and 
 offering prospects specially applicable to the circumstances 
 of your life, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things 
 are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things 
 are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things 
 are of good report, — think on these things, and do them. 
 Then shall you not only receive holy impressions from 
 the living truth of Scripture, and bear its living tokens, 
 you will also attain to sanctification through the truth, 
 to fellowship with the living God and His righteous- 
 ness ; and from this as a centre all else will gradually 
 be added unto you in peace and joy of the Holy Ghost. 
 He who is not disposed to be led into the knowledge of 
 
112 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 spiritual truth which is already at work in his con- 
 science, he who will not subject his outward man to its 
 correction, is without the sense that is needed for feeling 
 the influence and apprehending the j)ower of spiritual 
 truths ; and no method of proof can be devised to make 
 good this defect of his nature. In this region, spiritual 
 transformation alone avails, and the consequent hearty 
 appropriating and preserving of every truth in Scripture 
 which coincides in its heavenward tendency with the judg- 
 ments of conscience and the holy aspirations of the heart. 
 Otherwise, a man steels himself against all proof by 
 putting questions, to evade the duty of self -improvement, 
 1 Tim. i. 4. Then the words are applicable : " Let them 
 alone, they be blind leaders of the blind," Matt. xv. 
 12-14, 21, 31 f. We must wait till the man is 
 brought to his senses through inward and outward 
 humbling, and led to put the right question : " What 
 must I do to be saved ? " and to institute the searching 
 which prays : " Search me, O God," etc., John i. 46 f., 
 4-25 f.; Acts xvi. 14; 1 Cor. i. 1-3. 
 
 With personal edification, by the use of Scripture, is 
 connected another means which is in all circumstances 
 to be resorted to, and especially in case of immediate 
 preparation for entrance upon the ministry, and in 
 taking the step into it, viz. Prayer. It is again and 
 acfain mentioned in the life of our Lord Himself that 
 He prayed often alone, especially by night ; and simi- 
 larly prayer is prominent in Acts i. 14, where the 
 apostles are seen preparing themselves for an immediate 
 entrance upon their ministry in the power of the Lord, 
 
Entrance upon the Pastoral Office. 113 
 
 that is, in the promised power of the Spirit ; but in this 
 passage prayer has also associated with it a union of 
 kindred hearts and retirement from the world at large. 
 Let us bring these three points shortly under review. 
 Union of heart ivith others has a strengthening effect 
 under all circumstances, and particularly so in the 
 ministry ; but if it is of a healthy character, it rests 
 upon a common acceptance of the faith, upon a common 
 fellowship in the faith and a personal union with the 
 Lord, as well as upon a common calling and blessing in 
 life, which we already possess, and to which we look 
 forward. These are the real spiritual conditions of 
 harmonious union even in outward things, of any 
 association for Christian ends, especially the spiritual 
 ends of the ministry. Only on this inward foundation 
 does the closer union become a duty, because it is its 
 proper result ; in so far as it does not possess that inward 
 foundation it is unnatural to establish special associa- 
 tions, and doubly unnatural to make them a matter of 
 duty. It is just as the result of these principles that 
 any special outward union proves a blessing, or, on the 
 contrary, leads to no result or does harm. When the 
 spiritual life has one fountainhead of truth, one funda- 
 mental character, and one aim, different degrees of 
 attainment cause no disunion ; common fellowship, 
 particularly during the season of preparation, is then a 
 means of bestowing manifold blessing ; it has the effect 
 of building up as well as of purifying, of preserving 
 as well as pruning. Prayer and supplication are 
 brought specially into prominence as the main business 
 
114 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 of this season of transition from the school into life, and 
 in this instance as a united act. That this common 
 prayer was audible prayer is not mentioned, neither 
 is it exactly the most obvious thing to be thought of ; 
 on the contrary, if we are to judge from the practice in 
 common prayer in the temple, it was silent prayer. 
 It is at all events again unnatural and often mischievous 
 to make audible prayer the law in private gatherings. 
 The rule is to pray in secret, in silence. Matt. vi. 6 ; 
 1 Pet. iii. 4. Audible prayer before others and in the 
 name of others forms the exception, and when the 
 exception does occur, prayer should be short, earnest to 
 intensity, but not to length, and it should be so com- 
 prehensive in its terms as to cover different degrees 
 of attainment in spiritual life, so that honest hearts 
 which are perhaps feeble in their progress towards the 
 kingdom of God, but devout and sincere, may be able 
 to say Amen to it. Prayer is already designated by our 
 Lord (Luke xi. 13) as the specific means of preparation, 
 and as the condition for the reception of the promised 
 Spirit, that is, of the inner equipment and qualification 
 for the ministry of the Spirit. But even apart from this 
 connection between prayer and the Holy Spirit, in the 
 time of waiting, when outward activity is suspended, 
 prayer is the true service in which the clergy are to 
 engage. Prayer is likewise the chief means after experi- 
 ence of important events for confirming and hallowing 
 the momentous impressions produced by them. Prayer 
 is accordingly an indispensable means of preparation 
 for every ecclesiastical duty ; but even after such a 
 
Entrance upon the Pastoral Office. 115 
 
 duty we ought to collect ourselves in prayer, since after 
 an extraordinary strain there readily comes a reaction, 
 — after any spiritual exertion, as in the case of the Lord 
 after His baptism, there ensues temptation. The third 
 essential factor is retirement, as brought out in Acts 
 i. 13. Every occasion of spiritual fellowship among 
 disciples, and every act of communion with God in 
 prayer, has, as appears also in the life of our Lord, for 
 its natural and fundamental condition a certain seclu- 
 sion from all unnecessary communication with those 
 especially who are still strangers to the true sanctuary. 
 Before we have become firm and strong, and been 
 anointed with the power of the Spirit, — a thing, however, 
 which even afterwards must be again renewed before the 
 senses are exercised in distinguishing God's will from 
 man's will, — we must not wish to work outwardly, and 
 to seek incongruous associations, for that is only to run 
 into temptation. And even after we have become 
 strong in spirit, the duty of retirement is ever recurring, 
 especially when times of spiritual fermentation come on, 
 moments of development, preparation for something 
 higher, more difficult, for new labours, etc. It is a good 
 rule in general, both for beginners and for persons of 
 experience, which is given in the words of Thomas ä 
 Kempis : " Prsebe te in terris jfcregrinum et hospitem ;" 
 and the saying of Burk is in point : " A wayfarer 
 to eternity is not much advantaged with the multi- 
 tude of friends and patrons and clients ; the truth is, 
 they occasion one much hindrance, waste of time, and 
 trouble." 
 
116 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 We have thus far considered the entrance upon the 
 ministry in so far as it requires a foundation to be 
 laid in a man's own person and personal position. We 
 are now to discuss the question equally fundamental, 
 
 (2.) Of the right foundation to he laid in others. 
 
 Matt. iv. 17 brings this subject before us. In this 
 passage we have summarily comprehended the ap^v 
 {rjp^aro), the foundation and the commencement of 
 Christ's preaching, and from it we obtain this funda- 
 mental law for all gospel preaching and care of souls : 
 they have to turn away the thoughts from the old 
 earthly life, and urge them or convert them to the new 
 life of the kingdom of heaven. This is the meaning of 
 fjueravoecre in its connection with " The kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand." The kingdora of heaven, however, 
 is not to be represented as a thing exclusively pertain- 
 ing to the life to come, still less is it to be made a 
 thing confined to the present, a mere ecclesiastical idea ; 
 on the contrary, it is to be represented as something 
 above the earthly and the sensible, which is drawing 
 nigh and is already near. In the kingdom of heaven 
 goodness is found comprehended in its highest purity 
 and strength, presented certainly as invisible and 
 spiritual, but not on that account as a mere idea and a 
 mere condition of soul, but as a supernatural reality, 
 not simply as a fragmentary thing, but as a well-com- 
 pacted whole, as a living organism. It is the perfect 
 life as it subsists in systematic form in the supernatural 
 world, but brought down by Christ from above and organ- 
 ized on earth, primarily in men in the form of inward 
 
Entrance upon the Pastoral Office. 117 
 
 spiritual life from above, in order that it may afterwards, 
 in due time, take organized form as a new spiritual 
 world established on earth ; and this by the awakening 
 of new life, and by getting rid of what is worthless 
 through regeneration of the earth and the earthly heavens. 
 
 This kingdom was, and is, planned and prepared 
 beforehand, not only through prophecy in the heart 
 of Israel, but even in the innermost depths of human 
 nature and of the world of men as a whole (" The 
 kingdom of God is wdthin you," in reality, Luke xvii. 21), 
 in so far as human nature and the world of men have 
 an invisible core, a core belonging to eternity, and, in 
 virtue of that, a supernatural and eternal destiny. In 
 particular, there exists already in man by nature a pro- 
 phetic element of promise (which is represented in its 
 degenerate state by the various forms of fanaticism), 
 there is to be found in every man a heavenward yearn- 
 ing, a yearning after a world above sense, a perfect 
 world, in every heart a heavenly longing and seeking, 
 which, if it is not perverted into hiaXo'yLafiol fidraioi, 
 is never felt within a man without exerting a holy, 
 corrective influence, Heb. xi. 1. 
 
 ffoi'j then do ive work successfully for this 'kvarjdom 
 of heaven, for the supernatural kingdom of God, and 
 not merely for a Christian or ecclesiastical com- 
 munity ? Assuredly only supernaturally and spirit- 
 ually, in no wise by the means and motives of 
 sense, nor yet by poetical and sentimental repre- 
 sentations pleasing to the taste. All this ties man 
 down to the level, and confines him within the horizon 
 
118 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 to which it belongs, to the sphere of the natural man 
 and the present dispensation of things ; instead of this, 
 what is wanted is instruction designed to give the mind 
 a new direction. Men must for this fieravoeiv be laid 
 hold of in their vov<; ; not, however, on the footing that 
 it is already all right with them, that their inner life 
 is under the right impulses and on the right way, or 
 that it signifies nothing what is their precise con- 
 dition, seeing that they have the grace of God offered 
 them ; but on this understanding, that a /jLerd must be 
 attained in the voetv, — a turning of the reflections so 
 as, in the first place, to give them a new direction into 
 the depths of the man's own nature, a communing with 
 our own heart in which the divine, the supernatural is 
 heard to speak, primarily in its accent of holiness, 
 morally as a law in the conscience. In order to lay 
 hold of the man thus, and direct him to the essential 
 moral condition of what is heavenly, and to the essen- 
 tial moral connection between it and our nature, there 
 come to aid us certain psychological factors. Every man 
 has his thoughts within him, which even involuntarily 
 from time to time reclaim against evil and charge the 
 man himself with it, in particular also thoughts which 
 protest against his sinking under the power of the sen- 
 suous nature, and under the power of the outer world. 
 Our object then should be not simply to proclaim to 
 the man condemnation, but to stir in his soul those 
 deep-seated thoughts which are often only a smoking 
 flax, and, proceeding from these thoughts, to awaken a 
 hatred of evil, to produce a spiritual knowledge of sin, 
 
Entrance iqjon the Pastoral Office. 119 
 
 a sense of the wretchedness of captivity to the sensuous 
 and worldly (Eom. vii.), and so to call forth a longing 
 after redemption and after a higher life. 
 
 Equally, on the other hand, has every man thoughts 
 which represent within him the good, the spiritual, the 
 eternal, the divine, — which defend it, maintain it, and 
 attract him towards it. Proceeding from these thoughts, 
 our object should be to kindle in a man a longing, a 
 struggling, a hoping for truth, righteousness, and peace 
 from above. When this has been done, the soil is better 
 fitted for the reception of the kingdom of heaven. The 
 Lord therefore began. Matt, v., with poverty of spirit, 
 sorrow of heart, longing for peace, hungering and thirst- 
 ing after righteousness. These wants meet with their 
 satisfaction in the kingdom of heaven with its spiritual 
 realities, its supernatural beings, facts, and treasures of 
 truth, with its realization of spiritual blessings, a realiza- 
 tion which, on a man's first compliance with the call to 
 the kingdom of heaven, has its commencement in him- 
 self as a little thing, and at the same time gives him the 
 pledge of something wider, something greater. Thus, 
 out of the fieravoelv, out of the lifting of the affections 
 from things on earth to things in heaven, faith, Trtareveiv, 
 is spontaneously formed, Mark i. 15. It would be a 
 mistake, however, to assume that these two words only, 
 " Repent," that is, "Turn your affections to the kingdom of 
 heaven," and " Believe," were the never varying preach- 
 ing of Christ. They indicate rather only the chief theme 
 of His preaching, the main ideas which He works out in 
 His discourses ; and those fail to come up to His pattern 
 
120 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 who only set forth in stereotyped phrases the words 
 Eepentance, Faith, Kingdom of Heaven, or represent 
 the last of these with dry logic or moving rhetoric, as 
 nothing more than being saved. (Compare Burk, Collec- 
 tions, earlier edition, pp. 602-605, and pp. 28-31, who 
 expresses himself with practical sagacity on the subject.) 
 When, therefore, Christianity bases its rmcneveiv, its 
 whole life of faith, upon fjueravoelv, it certainly uses 
 from the outset something as its medium which already 
 exists in man, the innermost nature of man, the v6fjio<; 
 Tov vo6<;, that is, the divine still ruling from the throne 
 of conscience his most intimate thinking and willing, 
 binding the inner man morally to God, even if the outer 
 man makes himself free from its control. The kingdom 
 of heaven finds a medium in the liking for what is good 
 and the repugnance to what is bad already in man's 
 nature, in his better thoughts and principles, and in all 
 moral truths and laws which either have established 
 themselves in social life, or are presented in the facts 
 and laws of nature and actual ex]3erience. All that 
 pertains to the voice of God, to the laws and ways of 
 God, to the wisdom that crieth on the street, Chris- 
 tianity takes into its service in order to avail itself of 
 it for its work of salvation (in this reference the Old 
 Testament Scriptures, especially Ecclesiastes and Pro- 
 verbs, ought to be much more studied) ; but other than 
 these purely moral principles and motives Christianity 
 does not put in exercise for its kingdom. While, then, 
 with all this it establishes a fieravoetv, produces a change 
 of heart, it will not have the man stop there, as if what 
 
Entrance uiioii the Pastoral Office. 121 
 
 he already possessed were a sufficiency of blessing ; nor 
 will it flatter him into higher good ; on the contrary, it 
 regards him as one who is unfaithful to the good which 
 is at his command, and is not yet in sympathy with its 
 perfect form, with the divine good, rather is alienated 
 from it, and must acknowledge himself to be so. This 
 self-knowledge is the apxn^ the fundamental beginning 
 through which a man is to be brought to conversion and 
 intimacy with the truth he neglected and despised, in 
 order next to attain to faith and the possession of the 
 higher truth. 
 
 The invariable foundation, therefore, and the only 
 instrument to be employed in Christian instruction, is 
 the word of truth and the knowledge of truth, not the 
 worthless persuasion which adapts itself to natural 
 instincts and the pursuits of the age, but the word 
 which first of all awakens in its holy earnestness the 
 truth originally implanted and organized in the heart of 
 man, asserting its authority and bringing the mind of 
 man under its sway. What is not caught in this net, 
 the Father draws not, it puts the divine drawing away 
 from itself ; and what does not yield to this drawing 
 is not given of the Father, even though it assume never 
 so specious a guise. But that the preaching of a change 
 of heart is not merely something which precedes the 
 gospel once for all, and then is done with, that it is 
 not something which belongs merely to the law, that it 
 rather forms part of the preaching continued in the 
 name of Christ, is shown by Luke xxiv. 47, where the 
 Lord concludes His work as He becjan it, and desires to 
 
122 Tlie Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 have it so continued by His disciples, assigning to them 
 as the subject of their preaching repentance and remis- 
 sion of sins in His name; Acts ii. 31, 38, xvii. 17, 30, 
 etc. The preaching of repentance in the name of the 
 law is one thing, and the preaching of repentance in the 
 name of Christ is another, the main difference between 
 them being, that in the former the grace and truth of 
 the kingdom of heaven cannot yet be represented as a 
 salvation near and accessible, as a reality supplying the 
 inner wants, and therefore cannot yet be employed as 
 the motive to repentance, — a subject the development 
 of which belongs to Christian ethics. 
 
 2. Rules for gathering a company of believers. 
 
 In following up the example of the Lord, and taking 
 the historical thread of His activity as a pattern for our 
 ministerial work, Matt. iv. 18-23 gives us rules for 
 gathering a company of believers. In vers. 18-22 we 
 are shown, in the first place, how the Lord begins by 
 wooing individual souls, and then in ver. 23, how He 
 spreads His net still wider over land and people. 
 
 We now proceed to ask — 
 
 (1.) What character of souls are to he kept in vieio and 
 to he sought out as most likely subjects for the kingdom of 
 heaven ^ 
 
 It is not the traditional rabbinism, not this dominant 
 body of teachers with their school, nor yet any com- 
 nmnity of the pious already in existence, such as the 
 Essenes, to which the kingdom of heaven attaches itself. 
 The proper bond of connection is found in the out- 
 
The Winning of Souls. 123 
 
 standing character of those whom Christ first calls as 
 His disciples. To develop this character more clearly, 
 we may adduce another corresponding passage, John i. 
 45—51, for in it definite characteristics are stated, and 
 more exact features are depicted of the circle of men 
 (observe it is not children nor women, but men, 
 that our Lord begins with) among whom the Lord sets 
 first to work. They are persons still without the dis- 
 tinctive marks of any school or culture or style of piety, 
 — men, however, with an open mind for the testimony of 
 the truth in so far as it was already within their reach, 
 in John the Baptist, vers. 35-37, in Moses and the 
 prophets, that is, in the Holy Scriptures, ver. 45. They 
 were, further, persons who felt the sinfulness of the 
 world as a deep grief going to their heart, whose 
 great object in life, therefore, was to find a man in 
 whom the longings after truth awakened within them 
 should find satisfaction, and in whom they should find 
 help against the world's sin (ver. 29), and against the 
 carnal nature (ver. 33 compared with ver. 41). Ac- 
 cordingly they were persons concerned about the strict 
 moral requiixments of trnth as represented by John 
 and by the entire Old Testament; and about help 
 for their moral necessities, not about mere pardon or 
 mere personal welfare which people call salvation.^ The 
 
 ' "Why is it that people emphasize almost exclusively, with a view to 
 faith in Jesus, this point, that He bears the sin of the world, and keep 
 so much in the background this other point, that He is able to baptize 
 with the Holy Ghost ? This gift of the Spirit is certainly emphasized by 
 the prophets and apostles as the source of a new life, new mind and 
 walk, upon which there is the stamp and impress of the divine law. 
 And so the prophets and apostles treat the matter as one of ethics. 
 
124 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 conceptions which these first chosen disciples formed of 
 the Messiah the Saviour are still far from pure. There 
 is therefore for a considerable time a conflict between 
 their conceptions and the truth and reality ; they are 
 not so enamoured, however, of their conceptions as 
 not to admit the obligation to put them to the test 
 (ver. 46 f.) ; there is a straightforward, honest mind 
 for truth within them (ver. 47). The Lord on His part 
 meets this mind for truth with words which witness to 
 His insight into hidden things, which lay bare and touch 
 the secret thoughts of their hearts (ver. 48 ff.). And 
 thus we learn that it is just the gospel in its power to 
 touch their hearts and discover their secret thoughts, in 
 its truth laying hold of the man in the secret springs 
 of his life, which is the key to be used in dealing 
 with all honest hearts; cf. 1 Cor. xiv. 24 f. The 
 gospel, by its heart-searching power, not only discloses 
 the evil in a man, but also brings into consciousness 
 the good which is still in him, the mind of God still 
 remaining in him, the struggling of that mind in the 
 flesh and with the flesh ; cf. Eom. vii. By this means 
 it becomes clear to the man : Here, in this Christ, in 
 
 ■whereas the traditional treatment is to represent the gift of the Spirit 
 principally as nothing more than a seal of forgiveness and adoption, and 
 to hold, that from thankful joy on account of this, that is, from a mere 
 psychological factor, the new life and new strength for good are to 
 spring. This we find in our best writings. The Scriptures, on the con- 
 trary, emphasize the new-creating and sanctifying power of the Holy 
 Spirit as the principle of all Christian sentiment and personal activity, 
 Rom. viii. 2. Through Christ's sin-bearing, the way is prepared for the 
 coming of the Spirit (John vii. 39 ; Gal. iii. 13). It is the foundation, 
 but not the whole. 
 
The Winning of Souls. 125 
 
 His gospel, there is already foreseen what of evil and 
 of good lives in me and comes to pass ; and provision is 
 made for the very thing I need. This providential 
 meeting of spiritual wants lays hold straightway upon 
 the honest man (ver. 49) ; and on this experience, in a 
 few pregnant words more by way of prophecy than of 
 instruction, follows the revelation of the higher world 
 which will now for the first time be disclosed (ver. 
 50 f.). 
 
 Summing up the features of character discovered in 
 the disciples, it would appear that in the gathering of 
 a company of believers those men are chiefly to be 
 kept in view as fitted for the kingdom of heaven who 
 show an open and faithful spirit for the truth as far as 
 it is yet within their reach, men, moreover, who ap- 
 prehend with moral earnestness the sinfulness of their 
 age and of their nature, and who exhibit even in their 
 still hazy conceptions a deeper longing for truth. 
 
 We are now to ask further — 
 
 (2.) Where are those souls ivhich are fit to receive the 
 kingdom of heaven most readily to he found ? Our 
 chief passage, Matt. iv. 18 ff., gives the answer to this 
 question. They are to be found under simple conditions 
 of life in spheres of quiet industry, not of noisy, fussy 
 activity, nor of comfortable, learned, respectable indo- 
 lence. They are fishermen busied with the work of 
 their calling ; and Luther is right when he says : " If the 
 gospel had been of a character to be propagated and 
 maintained by tlie potentates of the world (even the 
 potentates of the Church and of learning), God would 
 
126 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 not have entrusted it to fishermen." We might readily 
 fancy that it is among the people best off for leisure that 
 we should succeed best with our Christian instructions 
 and exhortations ; we like to rise into the sphere of 
 culture and respectability, fancying that there, where so 
 many forms of coarseness and passion and the like are not 
 to be found, the good seed would best find entrance and 
 nurture. But the whole history of true Christianity 
 proves that the life of the people in the letter sense is the 
 foundation for Christianity ; in other words, the class of 
 honest workers who eat their daily bread in the sweat of 
 their brow, and indulge no high ambitions, who in spirit 
 and estate belong to the humbler classes. Christianity, 
 indeed, by no means repels people of the higher classes 
 in any spirit of contempt or hostility ; it is no demagogic 
 movement ; but just as little do Christ and His apostles 
 mark out the higher classes for distinction ; they do not 
 go in quest of them, they make no special provision for 
 them, make nothing easy for them, rather make things 
 difficult for them, as witness the rich young man, 
 Nicodemus, Felix the governor. Instead of people 
 presuming to imagine that Christianity must step up to 
 the higher classes, or subordinate itself to them, people 
 must rather step down from the higher ranks to meet 
 Christianity, and that just because Christianity, yea 
 Christ Himself, steps down from His highest estate of 
 all to the lowest, and becomes a man of the people. 
 The man that does not choose to do this will certainly 
 never come in contact with true Christianity in its 
 hidden essential divinity. It is the first principle of the 
 
Tlie Winning of Souls. 127 
 
 spiritual religion of Christ, that what is something from 
 the standpoint of this world — be it scientific, spiritual, 
 moral, or political in its character — must become 
 nothing, and know its nothingness, in order to ])ecome 
 something in the divine sense, something to the praise 
 of the glory of God. Christ's people are not the 
 Pharisees, with their activity and their organizations 
 for pious purposes ; not the scribes, so well furnished 
 with sacred lore ; not the Sadducees, with their political 
 training : they are the poor in spirit, the bowed down, 
 the humble, the mourner ; in short, persons schooled by 
 the severity and the pressure of life, scattered through 
 all ranks, and even through different religious professions, 
 but presenting themselves in the greatest numbers and 
 most accessible ways among the common people. Among 
 them is the recruiting ground of the gospel. And the 
 minister who does not take up his station among them 
 is no fisher of men for the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 We are pointed to a 'picture of a different character in 
 2 Tim. iii. 6. In that passage it is represented as a charac- 
 teristic of times when a /Ltop^cocrt? evaeßela^; (ver. 5) is in 
 vogue, when piety, Christianity is specially cultivated as 
 form, as externality, as outward doing and working, that 
 men creep into houses (Christ and His apostles were no 
 hawkers from house to house), that is, into families and 
 households, and take captive silly women, led away with 
 divers lusts. (By this is not meant the lust of knit- 
 ting and of mending, which often is not so great, but 
 rather, among others, that of making themselves of 
 importance in Christian work, of putting themselves at 
 
128 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 the head of grand enterprises instead of what is surely 
 important enough, presiding well over their own domestic 
 affairs.) In this case, therefore, it is not the field of 
 labour that is sought for, but the bed of rest, the scene 
 of pleasure. To the same effect is 1 Tim. v. 1 3. 
 
 The further study of our verses, Matt. iv. 18 ff., 
 yields also information regarding — 
 
 (3.) The manner of going to tuork for the ivinning of 
 souls. 
 
 (a) It must be done above all in an open, artless, and 
 natural manner. The great thing is to enter into the 
 sphere of human life, into real life, as our Lord does 
 here ; to stoop down and interest ourselves in men, 
 especially in their toil in the sweat of their brow, is the 
 thing to win the heart at the outset, and then we can 
 proceed from the outward earthly calling to the higher, 
 but always in a simple, natural way. What is needed, 
 therefore, is the art of bringing the simplest matters of 
 everyday life into connection with the highest. And 
 for this art, again, the best preparation and direction is 
 the gospel, with its concrete fulness, as is the entire 
 Scripture generally ; in Scripture, features are exhibited 
 of all sides of life, and the loftiest thoughts are brought 
 into connection with the daily experiences of common 
 life. But it is of special importance personally to 
 make the teaching of Scripture inward truth and living 
 reality in our own everyday life. Thus we become 
 acquainted in deed and in truth with the kingdom of 
 heaven, into which we are to invite human souls as that 
 which it claims to be, the fulfilment of all the relations 
 
Tliß Winning of Souls. 129 
 
 of life, the bond which unites and hallows them in their 
 highest aspect ; we learn to discover the likeness of the 
 kingdom of heaven even in the outer life, in the form 
 of a spiritual core which we can then unfold so as to 
 bring the kingdom into view. 
 
 (h) Further, the words with which we unite the 
 earthly and the heavenly must be short and distinct. 
 The effect is, of course, not always so instantaneous as 
 here, where already, through Moses, the prophets, 
 and John, the ground was prepared, and where 
 there had been a considerable previous acquaint- 
 ance, — it was not a strange man from the desert after 
 whom they ran, but One whom they already knew. 
 But in any case short and distinct words are always 
 fitted to produce a lasting or striking effect, especially 
 with common people. The words may in some respects 
 express a great deal (in the case of Nathanael, "Ye 
 shall see heaven open "), they may express more than is 
 understood at the stage of the first calling, as it is 
 generally difficult to make oneself intelligible when 
 the object is to bring down the heavenly whilst still 
 unknown into the terms of the earthly ; but the very 
 pregnancy of the words touches the depths of the soul, 
 and stirs it into activity, so that it does not remain 
 content with the earthly; mysteriousness draws heaven- 
 wards. But this is not to be carried too far ; the 
 words have definitely and intelligibly to say, as the 
 Lord here says, what is first to be done, that they must 
 enter into a definite, close intercourse with Him who 
 calls to them (^come after me, follow me whithersoever 
 
130 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 I go). On the other hand, the benefit they have to 
 expect comes only sufficiently into view to act as a 
 stimulus to them (" I will make you fishers of men "). 
 They learn this at any rate : He will make us something 
 better and higher than we are at present, or can become 
 here in the ship with our father. But we see also here 
 again, that the very first call to the kingdom of heaven 
 demands self - denial. He does not say, " Follow me, 
 and then will your craft as fishermen receive a blessing 
 and prosper ; " on the strength of the indefinite " fishers 
 of men," they must leave their occupation and their 
 father in the lurch, without any special comfort being 
 given them in this latter respect, much less any speci- 
 ally granted promise. 
 
 (4.) Tlie extension of the Lord's activity is brought 
 before us in ver. 23 ff., the wide cast of the net as 
 He makes the complete tour of Galilee; comp. Matt, 
 ix. 35 ff., where it is said again summarily, and hav- 
 ing in view what follows : " Jesus went about all the 
 cities and villages," etc. The main points in the Lord's 
 activity are indicated at the outset by four words, viz., 
 irepcrjjev, with the words of closer definition, SiSdo-Koov, 
 Krjpvaawv, öepairevwv. 
 
 (a) Trepcdyeiu, " going about," as distinguished from 
 the fixed residence of John, arose in the case of 
 Jesus naturally from the fact that He had some- 
 thing new and unknown to offer which never yet 
 had been represented in any place, and that this 
 was just His peculiar calling. And He so discharged 
 His office in accordance with Jewish rule and custom. 
 
TJha Winning of Souls. 1 ',) 1 
 
 that it was alU-r tlio inanrKjr of IIh; wandering lial^biH 
 that He stood up in the synagogueH, and only went 
 into the oj^en air exercising a proi^liet's privilege when 
 the Hynagogu(!.s eould no longer aeeoniniodate the people 
 that thronged to If im. In Treptriyep, accordingly, there 
 is seen how, in Üut first instance, a wider circle of 
 activity is struck out. It is only later, and on tlie 
 strength of the (jxperience He had gained, that a centre 
 is chosen }>y llie J.ord in Oalilee after He had first 
 traversed it in its length and hreadlh. The centre is 
 Capernaum ; and in the sarrje way the circle is by and 
 by widened to include Judea, Jerusalem becoming the 
 central point. Similarly Paul travelled through Asia 
 Minor and t})»;n luade Ephesus his centre, and likewise^ 
 through Greece making Corinth his centre. This is a 
 method still to be followed on a small scale in the 
 case of a church and parish. Hence we derive the 
 following important rule: If we hn.v(; no special objects 
 in view (as the I^jrd had wljcn seeking out His future 
 apostles), and consequently no special outlook for them, 
 we have first to go into the general field, we have to 
 spread our activity over the community as a whole, with- 
 f>ut in the first instance making any special distinction 
 among the people. (The most stirring elements make 
 themselves quickest felt on the minister; if he is not 
 prudent, he may fall into quite ihe wrong hands ; and 
 even if this is not the case, there arises in the others 
 the idea that they are overlooked.) It is specially 
 iinjTiortant that we should show ourselves everybody's 
 friend, with a heart for all, ready and ofien for all. In 
 
132 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 this way, accordingly, the greater mass is at first tenta- 
 tively included in the field of labour, in order that by 
 and by we may be able to make a safer choice. But 
 there are other objects also attained. There is a multi- 
 plication of activity, and along with that an enlarge- 
 ment of the sphere, not only of the minister's teaching, 
 but also of his learning, of his field of observation, and 
 his circle of experience. Precautions are taken against 
 wearying some, as well as against the self-love and self- 
 importance of others ; unworthy forwardness, and the 
 unworthy desire of advantage is prevented. At the 
 same time, the chief aim is certainly always to be kept 
 in view, the attainment of fixed points within the greater 
 whole of one's field of work, to which points we can and 
 must afterwards devote our special attention. In the 
 course of our general work it is the specially impressible 
 and accessible people who gradually come to the front, 
 the reliable and the unreliable become known ; more- 
 over, we can distinguish in the wider circle special 
 natural rallying points instead of points artificially made. 
 These are to be taken advantage of, yet never in such 
 a way that the general interests should be given up or 
 neglected for them ; along with the general work we 
 must bestow special labour upon impressible and 
 worthy souls, and at the definite natural centres. 
 
 This is also the right %my to get wp private meetings 
 for the purpose of edification. If such meetings are 
 already in existence when a minister comes into a 
 cliarge, he is certainly not to hold aloof from them, but 
 at first he is only to attend them in so far as they also 
 
The Winning of Souls. 133 
 
 belong to the general scope of his work, and are not ex- 
 clusive and partisan in their character. Taking them 
 in their connection with the general scope of his work, 
 and repudiating exclusiveness and partisanship, the 
 minister has in the first place to test them and take 
 them in hand, — not, however, making them a special 
 quest and a special care the moment he begins his 
 work, and still less allowing himself to be mastered by 
 their singularities and made their servant. Above all, 
 even in relation to meetings already in existence, the 
 minister must assert and develop his character of 
 belonging to all, of being bound to be to all what he 
 has been sent to all to be. He must at once rather 
 leave the ninety and nine just persons in order to go 
 after those that are wandering and lost, and not forfeit 
 their confidence at the very outset. If the people con- 
 nected with the meetings are really of the truth, and if 
 the teacher brings the true light, — that is, God's word 
 according to Holy Scripture, — the unprejudiced truth 
 that is in them shows itself in their coming of them- 
 selves to the light. If they do not come because the 
 teacher does not come to them, they show thereby that 
 their own honour and their party are dearer to them than 
 the truth, which desires help to be given to all, and con- 
 sequently desires its word of truth to be brought direct 
 to all. In particular, private meetings are for the most 
 part tied down partly to certain exclusive authorities, 
 partly to a limited circle of favourite ideas, to a stereo- 
 typed style of expression, and an affected manner. But 
 it is the concern of the true servant of Christ to get 
 
134 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 beyond human restrictions into the divine fuhiess of 
 the truth of Jesus Christ, out of human peculiarities 
 into its purely human naturalness, and to lead others 
 to the same, and this through the emancipating power 
 of His pattern word, and of the discipline of His Spirit, 
 which abolishes all conventionalism. 
 
 But if such private associations are not in existence 
 when a minister enters upon the duties of his charge, 
 he should certainly be in no hurry with them ; it is all 
 the more necessary to observe the method of working 
 in the whole field, and making a discriminating selec- 
 tion, which we have laid down. Such societies must 
 not be at once set up as means for gathering and unit- 
 ing people from without. They must, on the contrary, 
 rather develop themselves from within, unfold them- 
 self organically. (The Lord went about winning indi- 
 viduals, and from them the society was spontaneously 
 formed.) They must not be established as a binding 
 outward form, and family edification must form the 
 chief means of passing to them, families being the 
 natural centres of union. If we are so far then to 
 organize special gatherings or so-called meetings for 
 edification out of the persons specially prepared, even then 
 the task remains of keeping them from the beginning as 
 closely as possible in connection both with the ordinances 
 of divine worship and with family life, to which the family 
 life of the minister in particular lends its aid. The prin- 
 ciple then is, that work directed to the whole field must 
 prepare the way for work directed to a special department, 
 and the latter must always be dependent upon the former. 
 
The Winning of Souls, 135 
 
 (b) Further, in the passages referred to, Matt. iv. 
 and ix., BcBda-Keiv, KijpvacreLv, Oepaireveiv are brought 
 prominently before us as principal functions in the 
 work upon the general field. On this subject com- 
 pare the first section of Part I. as to the functions 
 which belong to pastoral duty. hihdaKeiv designates 
 instruction by teaching, in which the truth already 
 possessed is developed, expounded, and applied ; and 
 in these passages, by the truth already possessed 
 (He taught in the synagogues), the Old Testament 
 is understood. With it there is then first com- 
 bined the KTjpvcrcreiv to evayyeXcov rr)? ßaaikeia^;, 
 the proclamation of the herald, which joins the 
 new to the old. The third function is Oepaireveiv, 
 healing, which, taken in a wide sense to suit our time 
 and powers, means ministerial help to the distressed to 
 the best of our ability. 
 
 (c) The passage Matt. ix. 36-38 is of importance, 
 because it makes prominent the mind and spirit with 
 which the great field of labour is to be occupied and 
 wrought, even when there are in it as yet none like- 
 minded, no converts and no believers. To belong to 
 Christ, or even to the Church, must not exercise such 
 a narrowing influence upon any man that he should 
 feel no interest in those who are not yet Christians, 
 and not yet members of his own Church, but regard 
 them as outsiders for whom he can have no heart, or 
 even look upon them as enemies and opponents, 
 lamenting the while that he has no brethren around. 
 The miserable condition in which we find the people is 
 
136 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 not to be made a subject of jesting, or mocking, or self- 
 gratulation ; all this tends to separate and repel, even 
 if it does not get abroad ; it forms an atmosphere round 
 about the man, and estranges those who are to be 
 brought out of their alienation ; rather, when it is the 
 ignorant crowds and not the Pharisees with whom we 
 have to do, we must go straight into a neglected field 
 with the pitying mind of Christ. In this passage he 
 ascribes the ruin of the people to the fact that they are 
 sheep without a shepherd. This expression serves also, 
 in Isa. liii. 6, as a type of the sinful condition left to 
 itself, and the main responsibility for the ruin of the 
 people is there directly attributed to the chiefs and 
 leaders and heads of the people, who ought to fill 
 the place of shepherds, and who claim the rights of 
 shepherds. The condition of the people is more 
 exactly defined by the expressions iaKuX/ievot and 
 epptfjb/jievot applied to them. (This is the reading ; not 
 efckekvjjüevoi, as in the Textus Eeceptus.) a-KvWetv 
 means to rend a body in pieces, to tear this way and 
 that, and thence it comes to denote : to fatigue, to 
 weary, vexare. Compare, in a weaker sense, Mark v. 
 35, Luke viii. 49, vii. 6. Through the distractions 
 of the Eabbis and their schools, through the keen 
 pursuit of irapaBocreL^ which entered into the minutest 
 details of life, oppressive and crushing burdens were 
 laid upon the people (Matt, xxiii. 4), under which 
 strength and vigour for spiritual movement, for 
 advancement or progress on the way of the divine 
 word were crippled. They were like a flock broken 
 
The Winning of Souls. 137 
 
 up. And that condition of fatigue and exhaustion 
 implies, in particular, a certain insensibility towards 
 higher things, especially an indifference to the pursuit 
 of them ; through the multitude of ways, in which 
 they have been knocked about, the truth itself, in so 
 far as it rises above the common level, has no relish 
 for them, and the sense of it is extinguished. Besides 
 this, there is eppt^^evoi, torn asunder in all directions, 
 Israel being at that time split up withal into political 
 and religious parties, and the people being canvassed 
 on all sides. Our Lord's ascribing this condition of 
 the people to the want of true shepherds is well worthy 
 of consideration, in order to get and to maintain 
 a right feeling for the people. Scripture does not at 
 all regard the relation of the leaders to those subject 
 to them as one in which the former should be secured 
 by their position against accusations charging them 
 with the wretched condition of the people. The true 
 relation is, To whom much is given, of him shall be 
 much required ; and it is precisely against the heads 
 of the people that the Lord's keen rebukes are directed, 
 against the leaders, the apxovre^ (compare, on this 
 point, the final reckoning which our Lord holds, at the 
 close of His ministry, with the scribes and Pharisees, 
 in their capacity of sitting in Moses' seat, that is, 
 occupying the Mosaic office of teachers of the law, 
 judges, and stewards, Matt, xxiii. 1 ff.), the same as 
 in the prophets, Isa. Ivi. 1 ff. ; Jer. xxiii., 1. 6 ; 
 Ezek. xxxiv. In the first place, the Lord here points 
 to the help which ought to be given to the people. 
 
138 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 It is to be given through the instrumentality of 
 labourers, not schemers ; and accordingly in ver. 3 7 
 His language passes from the previous figure of a flock 
 on to another figure. The Lord now conceives the 
 people as a corn-field, regarded in the result, under 
 the aspect of the harvest : " The harvest is plenteous, 
 but the labourers are few." Before there can be a 
 harvest on a field so large and out of order, there is 
 need of all the toil which is included in the tilling of 
 the fields, that is, of regular, well-planned toil, not 
 fussy activity, and in such toil there are many lowly 
 and disagreeable tasks, and none to attract the eye. 
 The labourers are not to be thought of as reapers 
 only. The Lord would say the work of preparing such 
 a field for the harvest is great, and the field in which 
 the harvest is to go on is large. There are many 
 among the o'^Xoi, capable of faith, and it is they that 
 are to be called and prepared for the kingdom of God. 
 But there is a want of competent labourers, and we 
 may say it to-day as much as ever. Our people in 
 their spiritual weariness and distraction continue to 
 offer still a certain measure, more or less, of accessibility 
 and tractability, and consequently attach themselves to 
 those of every sort who either court or drive them. 
 But there is a want of persons to work among them as 
 God's workers, according to God's mind and plan, that 
 is vofjilfico^;, with perseverance and intelligence, as in the 
 cultivation of the fields, 2 Tim. ii. 5 and 15 ; Luke 
 xii. 42. Because of the want of such labourers, Pray 
 ye the Lord of the harvest, ottw? eKßdKy epydra^. 
 
The Winning of Souls. 139 
 
 eKßdXkeLv means, of course, literally to cast forth, 
 but it does not indicate any violent impetus to work 
 or impulse derived from faith (Matt. vii. 4 and Luke 
 vi. 42, i/cßdWeiv is used of taking out a mote ; John 
 X. 4 of leading forth sheep) ; it is simply " to send 
 forth." For where do we find in reality among God's 
 true labourers in the Old and New Testament an inner 
 impetus, under which they cast themselves forth into 
 the great fields of labour? None of them presented 
 themselves without clear and definite revelations from 
 God, and so little was there any subjective impulse to 
 hurry them into the field, that they still found them- 
 selves, even when granted divine revelations, directed 
 to wait (the Lord Himself in His thirty years* silence ; 
 the apostles. Acts i. 4; Paul, Gal. i. 15-17), or they 
 entreated to be excused (Moses, Jeremiah). An impetus 
 to labour in the field of the kingdom of God of a very 
 different character is found in another impulse (Rom. 
 ii. 19-21), when people allow themselves to be guided 
 by their own natural enthusiasm, or some other human 
 pressure, instead of acting from a sense of duty, as all 
 regular workers have to do in connection with the 
 harvest of nature. They do not, under the influence 
 of a capricious impulsiveness, intrude into the field, 
 which belongs to their Master and not to them ; they 
 do not farm according to their own fancies, but they 
 know that it is the business of the owner of the field 
 and the Lord of the harvest to call them to begin work, 
 and to prescribe the manner and time of the work to 
 them. The problem is to learn to distinguish between 
 
140 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 human fancies, notions, plans, and schemes, and God's 
 will, endowments, prescriptions, God's ways and judg- 
 ments ; and the injunctions of Eom. xii. 2, Eph. v. 
 15-17, Heb. V. 13 ff., and Jas. iii. 1 apply to this. 
 Accordingly, the labourers of the harvest which 
 Christ has in His eye, the labourers who are of value 
 for the kingdom of heaven, must be sent by God, 
 must be endued with God's spirit of wisdom and of holi- 
 ness, of power and love and discipline ; otherwise there 
 is no harvest in the Lord's sense, in the essential 
 reality of the kingdom of heaven. As there is need 
 of prayer for the reception of the Holy Spirit generally, 
 so also it is needful for this sending of labourers, that 
 is, for the divine equipment of fit instruments for the 
 heavenly work, — there is need, for this end, of prayer to 
 the Lord of the harvest; hence the injunction, SerjdrjTe 
 ovv. The first thing is ora, the second labora. Prayer, 
 if it is true prayer, is, "moreover, also a labour; it is a 
 centring of the thoughts upon God by means of His 
 word, and so a transaction with God on our own behalf 
 and in behalf of others. It is the fundamental moral 
 condition and spiritual medium for obtaining gifts from 
 above. God is the author and giver of spiritual life, 
 and especially of spiritual talents for His service. How 
 much He communicates, when and how He communi- 
 cates it, is regulated by moral and spiritual laws, is in 
 particular determined by a man's voluntary actions, the 
 decisive thing being his attitude to God, and this 
 personal relation ■ to God in turn finds its centre in 
 prayer. True prayer is therefore the indispensable con- 
 
The Popular Sermon. 141 
 
 dition, both in the case of capable labourers and of 
 work for the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 We may thus summarize the principles we have 
 gained from our consideration of the Lord as the 
 minister's example, with reference to the minister's 
 entrance upon his office and to the first gathering of a 
 company of believers. 
 
 In order to labour with Christ in the work of His 
 heavenly kingdom, it is first necessary for a man to lay 
 in himself the foundation of a faith based on Scripture, 
 in order to see through and overcome the false ways of 
 the spirit of the age, clothing itself in the word of God 
 and in the work of Christ ; it is further necessary that, 
 in the case of others also, we should above all lay the 
 foundation, not with an outward conversion, with outward 
 arrangements and amendments, but with such a conver- 
 sion of the heart that it is turned from the old pursuits 
 and interests to the new interests and pursuits of the 
 kingdom of heaven, to the unseen, the eternal. Upon 
 that foundation we must work with a heart and an 
 activity embracing all to begin with, with a spirit of 
 compassion towards the neglected multitudes, and with 
 prayer for endowment with divine power and blessing on 
 our work, in the course of which we come gradually to 
 notice those who are specially impressible, and make 
 them the subject of special effort. (See Burk's Collec- 
 tions, pp. 43-47 ff., 461-465.) 
 
 3. The sjnrit and contents of the popular sermon. 
 We take this in connection with the Sermon on the 
 
142 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 Mount, Matt, v.-vii., where our Lord had a3 yet before 
 Him no separate Church, but a growing company of 
 disciples in the midst of people of all sorts ; exactly 
 the same condition of things as prevails in our modern 
 Churches. The whole Sermon on the Mount is a working 
 out of the fundamental thought laid down in Matt. iv. 17, 
 that is, an exposition of the state of heart appropriate 
 to the coming kingdom of heaven, in the course of 
 which that kingdom is presented with its promises and 
 its claims. The plan of the whole sermon is simple. 
 It presents the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven from 
 three great points of view. 
 
 (1.) In Matt. V. 3—16 we have the blessedness of the 
 kingdom of heaven, with a description of those to whom 
 it belongs, and their relation to God and to the world. 
 
 (2.) In Matt. v. 17— vii. 14 we have the righteousness 
 of the kingdom, the new law for heart and life to the 
 subjects of the kingdom in contradistinction to the 
 righteousness of the law, and at the same time its 
 fulfilment. 
 
 (3.) In Matt. vii. 15-29 we have the wisdom of the 
 kingdom with reference to false representations of the 
 way to the kingdom of heaven in doctrine and life. 
 
 In the first, or introductory section, Christ speaks as 
 the revealer of the kingdom of heaven ; in the second, 
 the main body of the whole discourse, as its lawgiver ; 
 in the third, towards the close of the discourse, as its 
 future judge. In this discourse the fundamental article 
 of faith appears, it may be through a veil, as the kernel 
 of the whole ; faith in Jesus Christ as the author of 
 
The Fopidar Sermon. 143 
 
 salvation, who is at the same time the lawgiver for the 
 way of salvation, and the Man througli whom God will 
 judge the world after He has first offered repentance 
 and faith for every man. The kingdom of heaven is 
 revealed therefore in Jesus Christ, not that men may 
 receive its comforts in outward form merely, but as 
 carrying with it a power to fulfil the law, and, for that 
 very reason, a new power to give law and bind the 
 conscience. Eighteousness as the righteousness of the 
 kingdom of heaven, as the righteousness of God, 
 compare v. 20 with vi. 33, is to be implanted in the 
 innermost nature of men, to be practised in this life, 
 and then judged at last. Compare vii. 13 ff., 24 ff. 
 The kingdom of heaven is presented therefore with a 
 moral character from first to last. 
 
 (1.) TJie blessedness of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 
 V. 3-16. 
 
 Even in the introductory portion, where the blessed- 
 ness of the kingdom of heaven is the principal thought, 
 that blessedness is not promised unconditionally, but 
 limited to certain classes of men, and, with reference to 
 other classes of men, in contrast to the proclamation of 
 blessedness there stands the proclamation of woe, Luke 
 vi. 24 ff. Salvation is therefore connected, from the 
 outset, with the strait gate and the narrow way of 
 righteousness, in order that the prejudices of the world 
 and the promptings of selfishness may not attach them- 
 selves to these beatitudes, and false conversions result. 
 Blessedness is thus certainly put at the very top, is 
 struck as the keynote, so to speak, of the kingdom of 
 
144 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 heaven ; but by connecting blessedness with individuals 
 as definite subjects there are directly conjoined with it 
 subjective qualities, which are apparently quite incom- 
 patible with blessedness, — poverty, mourning, hunger 
 and thirst, oppression, persecution, reviling. Blessed- 
 ness is assigned to a state of life and of heart which 
 is fitted to cut from the root all sympathy with 
 earthly notions of happiness and all thought of worldly 
 blessedness. 
 
 What do we learn from this sermon to help us in 
 the matter of popular preaching ? The gospel must be 
 secured at the outset against the possibility of being 
 laid hold of by avarice, by the love of pleasure, by 
 ambition and the like, in short, by selfishness and 
 worldliness, against a union being effected with the old 
 nature, with the fleshly and worldly mind, under the 
 very auspices of the kingdom of heaven, — security must 
 be taken against a thoughtless and unworthy appropria^ 
 tion of the gospel message. 
 
 {a) The qualities that fit a man for the kingdom of 
 heaven, Matt. v. 3-6. 
 
 The kingdom of heaven is certainly a gift, to x^P^^I^^ 
 Tov Geov, Eom. vi. 23, but only for those who know 
 themselves to be poor in spirit, ver. 3 ; it is the noblest 
 consolation, but only for those who mourn in poverty of 
 life, ver. 4 ; it will prove itself a kingdom upon earth, 
 a sovereignty over the earth, but only for the meek, 
 who even suffer wrong patiently in their devotion to 
 the Euler of the kingdom of God, in their waiting for 
 His judgment, ver. 5. With this quiet devotion are 
 
Tlic Pojmlao' Sermon. 145 
 
 developed also the higher impulses of the soul, etc., 
 they are found centred in the deepest longing of the 
 heart after righteousness, ver. 6, after the true ideal of 
 a rightly and happily ordered life. Eighteousness is 
 the goal of all the grace of the kingdom of heaven ; 
 there shall be a heaven and an earth wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness, where righteousness is at home. Men 
 are by no means to be accounted righteous only for 
 Christ's sake (a form of expression which Scripture 
 never employs), but they are to become righteous after 
 Christ's likeness, they are to become righteous therefore 
 personally and practically, 1 John ii. 2-4, ii. 29, iii. 7 ; 
 Tit. ii. 14 ; Rom. viii. 3 f., ii. 7. The direct look, the 
 single eye, and consequently the correct understanding 
 of the Sermon on the Mount and similar utterances, 
 is overcast through the one-sided presentation of a 
 so - caUed imputed righteousness, instead of, as the 
 Scripture says, the imputed faith, which, with its 
 longing after righteousness, is to receive satisfaction in 
 Christ through the sanctifying grace of the Spirit. In 
 place of the Bible idea of righteousness, or the ethical 
 idea of grace, a merely judicial idea of pardon, an 
 idea of forgiveness through imputation, has been 
 given a fundamental place. Xicpentance and faith are 
 treated as a mere guarantee for pardon, and in con- 
 junction with outward works, which are called works of 
 Christian love, are to form a guarantee for salvation, in 
 which the call to become perfect and holy, as God and 
 Jesus Christ are (1 Thess. iv. 1-3 and 7 f.), is spurned 
 as a legal thing, which lets men attain to no enjoyment 
 
146 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 of grace. Luther was for years tossed about in fears 
 and anxieties with no counsel and no comfort, and after 
 he did at last struggle to reconciliation in Jesus Christ, 
 he poured forth from the fulness of his heart the 
 comfort of reconciliation in overflowing measure, because 
 he had in view consciences alarmed as his own had 
 been, to which he wished to bring succour ; but he was 
 at last, even in his lifetime, obliged to bewail that he 
 had been shamefully deceived (through misunderstand- 
 ing and misuse of his teaching), and he declared that if 
 he had now to preach the gospel he would take another 
 line in doing so. 
 
 Forgiveness of sins is a means in the kingdom of 
 heaven, but not its proper end ; and as forgiveness has 
 a moral foundation in the manifestation of the righteous- 
 ness of God in Christ's person and work, as a moral 
 fact, and in a faith that hungers after righteousness, as 
 a moral thing, so it has a moral aim, that aim being 
 righteousness in the divinely real sense in which alone 
 it can be called the righteousness of God, just as the 
 wisdom of God and the life of God are also not some- 
 thing merely imputed, but something really divine in 
 those to whom the wisdom and the life of God are 
 attributed. We are told we should be perfect, we should 
 be holy, as He is — and we are equally called to be 
 righteous as He is. We see, therefore, that the gospel 
 does not lay hold of the desire for salvation, and foster 
 it, as an end in itself. It rather associates the pursuit 
 of salvation with the pursuit of righteousness. The 
 gospel, which is the teaching of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
The Popular Sermon. 147 
 
 does not set aside the pursuit of righteousness, the pur- 
 suit of virtue, moral hunger and thirst — differing in 
 this respect from the ignorant zealots who work upon 
 the desire for salvation alone. While they thus work, 
 the selfishness of the human heart is not only not cut 
 at the root, but is even further encouraged. It is other- 
 wise with the gospel of Christ. It avails itself of the 
 sense of moral need, and awakens from the very first 
 the moral impulses referred to, in order to procure them 
 satisfaction and full contentment in the righteousness 
 of the kingdom of God, in its redeeming and sanctify- 
 ing grace, and in the righteous government which it 
 will establish in the world to come. The gospel, how- 
 ever, does not want men who are already righteous, and 
 does not regard self-acquired righteousness as sufficient 
 for admission into the kingdom of heaven. It wants, 
 rather, men who are in earnest in their desire to be 
 righteous before God, whatever they have hitherto been ; 
 whose idea of the kingdom of heaven is, that God's will 
 be done on earth as it is in heaven ; and whose idea of 
 salvation is the satisfaction, the perfect gratification of 
 their longing after righteousness. We must ivill, as 
 the Lord Himself says, to do the will of God ; there 
 must therefore be in a man earnest moral endeavour, 
 and that in submission to the will of God, in order 
 really to know and obtain the divine treasures to be 
 found in Christ and His doctrine. The great thing is 
 to seek the kingdom of God, as containing God's 
 righteousness, that all else may be added. A heart 
 not right in the sight of God, and taking pleasure 
 
148 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 in unrighteousness, obtains no part in the gift of the 
 kingdom of heaven, Acts viii. 21 f.; 2 Thess. ii. 12. 
 
 We derive from the foregoing, therefore, this funda- 
 mental law for true gospel preachers. The spiritual 
 way into the kingdom of heaven must above all be 
 kept in view, that is, the mind required for it. The 
 want of spiritual life requires to become felt, if we 
 would bring the kingdom of heaven in reality to 
 ourselves or to others. But while the kingdom of 
 heaven stands open for the poorest, it is not to be 
 so offered to individual hearers that we may say : 
 Don't let yourself be sorry that you have nothing in 
 yourself ; or. Don't vex yourself with amendment, — 
 only get saved. This, rather, must be the way of it : 
 Those who know themselves to be poor in the inner 
 life must also become mourners, so that they may in 
 silence lay to heart their need, their emptiness, their 
 woes, and get rid of claims on God and man, thereby 
 becoming meek, and retaining only a hunger in their 
 poverty, the hunger after the righteousness they lack. 
 Thus will the kingdom of God and His righteousness 
 become the grand object of their exertions, as the 
 highest good of their souls. Matt. vi. 32 f. This, 
 then, is established as the grand principle of gospel 
 preaching : Labour in the strength of self- knovdedge, 
 and that a self-knowledge which feels painfully the 
 wants of the spiritual life, silently lays them to heart, 
 and acknowledges them ; a self-knowledge which there- 
 fore in silent, meek devotion struggles to obtain the 
 ri'jfhteousness of the kincrdom of heaven. It is to 
 
The Po2)ular Sermon. 149 
 
 that spirit, however, that the kingdom of heaven, with 
 its consolations, its inlieritance, and its righteousness, 
 capable of satisfying all the necessities of the soul, is 
 to be offered as a certain possession, and the faith 
 of the gospel implanted thereby. The very mind 
 which recognises the want of personal righteousness 
 with quiet sorrow, and longs to be satisfied with 
 righteousness, is a pledge to the man of the kingdom 
 of heaven, and all the blessings of salvation : Blessed 
 are they. Ver. 7 begins a new series of thoughts in 
 development of the subject, describing — 
 
 (h) Those ivho helong to the kingdom of heaven accord- 
 ing to the character they have to maintaiii in their rela- 
 tiotis loith the luorld, Matt. v. 7-12. — Following up 
 ver. 6, where righteousness is the leading idea, the 
 riojhteous mind and the rii^hteous character are described 
 as they are seen in the use of worldly possessions, 
 ver. /; of worldly pleasure, ver. 8 ; of worldly privi- 
 lege, ver. 9 f. The predicates from ver. 7 admit of 
 being construed as two pairs : i\6rjfjLov€<; with KaOapol 
 rfj Kaphla, and elprjvoTTOLol with SeStwyfjuevoL eveKev 
 StKaLoo-vv7]<;. By the first two predicates it is the love 
 of our neighbour out of a pure heart that is repre- 
 sented (1 Tim. i. 5 ; 1 Pet. i. 22 ; Eom. xii. 9 ; 2 Tim. 
 ii. 22 ; Jas. i. 27), when with all our compassionate 
 interest in others we remain true to what is good, 
 abhorring and keeping at a distance from what is evil, 
 sharing indeed in other men's sorrows, but not in other 
 men's sins, and with all our sympathy and all our 
 devotedness, neither entertaining base purposes nor 
 
150 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 allowing base regards to be demanded of us. In the 
 first pair, vers. 7 and 8, our attitude to the sufferings 
 of others is stated with reference to the danger of our 
 personal contamination ; and in the second pair, vers. 
 9 and 10, the attitude towards positive evil in others, 
 to the elements of hostility and violence in the world, 
 is brought before us, with reference to the danger 
 of personal suffering, such as chiefly assails the law- 
 abiding on the part of the world. elprjvoTroLoi does not 
 simply emphasize a peaceful disposition in contrast to a 
 combative one, or the maintenance of peace in contrast 
 to the breaking of it ; it rather brings out the idea of 
 positive exertion, promoting peace, establishing peace, 
 making peace — in other words, following after peace 
 and working at it. It involves, for instance, withstand- 
 ing wrong from motives of righteousness, protecting 
 others against wrong from motives of compassion, refus- 
 ing to lend ourselves to anything wrong, under the 
 influence of purity of heart, and suffering wrong 
 throughout it all, bearing without resentment injuries 
 to our own honour, property, rightful position, rather 
 making amends in the case of others who are thus 
 injured, counterworking in ourselves and others the 
 spirit of discontent and of selfishness in their three chief 
 forms and shades, of ambition, greed of wealth or gain, 
 and love of pleasure. It is no part, however, of the 
 character of the elpT^voiroio^, commended by Jesus, to 
 want to be the promoter of peace at the cost of the 
 qualities already predicated — in other words, at the cost 
 of purity of heart and compassion. But this is the 
 
The Poimlar Sermon. 151 
 
 case when people humour and favour some, and Ijy that 
 very, means become trouljlesome and injurious to others ; 
 the heart becomes itself polluted when, in such zeal for 
 the pleasing of men, the rights of others are violated 
 and the troubles of others are increased. We must 
 rather associate witli peacemaking the righteous dealing 
 which the Lord immediately after, in ver. 10, pro- 
 nounces blessed even amid persecutions. Just because 
 peacemaking is no lukewarm, man-pleasing compliance, 
 it gives rise to persecutions in a selfish world. In 
 order, therefore, to confirm us in true peacemaking, 
 the Lord associates therewith comfort, to enable us to 
 meet unjust persecution. While evil carries on the 
 conflict against good, it is essential not to quit the field 
 from an imagined love of peace ; rather must we submit 
 to all the evil of persecution, without departing from 
 goodness, from righteousness, without sacrificing what 
 is right in the sight of God to what men call right or 
 wrong, to what they hold to be subordinate to peace and 
 concord. Further, in ver. 11 this is specially applied 
 to our relation to the Lord Himself. What then is the 
 fruit of the qualities adduced in ver. 7 and onwards ? 
 To compassionate love out of a pure heart there accrues 
 the enjoyment of a love that reaches onwards to the 
 vision of God (vers. 76 and 85) ; and in a peacemaking 
 which is combined with loyalty to what is good, espe- 
 cially with loyalty to the Lord, even amid reviling and 
 persecution, the honourable name of children of God is 
 won, and with it the rich reward of the kingdom of 
 heaven and heavenly treasures (vers. 9&, 10Z>, and 126). 
 
152 The Lord as a Pattern, 
 
 The following are the conclusions, as they bear upon 
 preaching, which we derive from what has been already 
 stated. Gospel preaching must lead through self- 
 knowledge to a sense of man's moral necessities, and to 
 the most earnest exertions to obtain the grace of the 
 kingdom of heaven ; it must awaken and strengthen 
 faith by the promises of the kingdom ; but it must also 
 direct faith to a self-renunciation which, for the king- 
 dom of heaven's sake, becomes the renunciation of the 
 w^orld, that is, undertakes the sacrifices necessary in the 
 world. This self-renunciation is to consist in the exer- 
 cise of pitying love towards one another, with a watch- 
 fulness against evil which preserves the heart from 
 unholy personal aims and from unholy fellowship, and 
 carries on the work of peace on earth, along with 
 fidelity to what is good, to what is right in the sight of 
 God and towards the Lord, with a fidelity which pur- 
 sues after righteousness amid the conflict with evil, 
 amid reviling and persecution. For this purpose the 
 corresponding blessings of the kingdom of heaven, the 
 privileges and gifts of the heavenly citizenship, are to 
 be brought into view, in order to produce a faith which 
 overcomes the evil of the world with good. 
 
 In what has been said we have learned what are the 
 inward qualities which fit for the kingdom of heaven and 
 confer the right of citizenship therein, and the outward 
 character which distinguishes the subjects of the kingdom 
 as such. The section that now follows sets forth — 
 
 (c) The part which the disciples of the gospel have to 
 fulfil on earth and in the world, or the position lohich 
 
The Pojmlar Sermon. 153 
 
 the Christian is called to oecupy, Matt. v. 13—16. — The 
 peculiar function assigned to the disciples of Jesus is 
 fully comprehended in the two words — salt and light. 
 Salt and light by no means lie so far apart as might 
 seem. The connecting thought between the two is fire; 
 cf. Mark ix. 49 f. For what is salt but fire confined 
 in earth, containing even then something burning to 
 the taste ? By reason of its being thus bound up with 
 earthy matter, salt has a fiery force in modified form, 
 or a modified sharpness, which has the effect, not of 
 consuming, but of preventing the process of corruption 
 in earthy material, of preventing destruction, preserving 
 good substances, heightening flavour, seasoning food, 
 and making it wholesome. What is designated by salt, 
 therefore, is an element which purifies and improves 
 through its sharpness, an element, for that very reason, 
 of a preservative character, a disciplinary element. 
 Light also is fire, but fire set free from above, celestial 
 fire as distinguished from the fire confined in the 
 earth. In virtue of its ethereal nature, light represents 
 what is immaterial, what is spiritual. Its effect also 
 is not destructive, but neither is it merely preservative ; 
 it is rather refining, brightening, and fructifying. By 
 its entrance with illuminating power into the dark sub- 
 stance of the earth, the higher forces and forms of life 
 are awakened and set free ; so that under the operation 
 of light life is sublimated to higher degrees of organiza- 
 tion and higher productions, while in the darkness all 
 that thrives is a low, grovelling pretence of life. Light 
 is thus the type of the celestial, heavenly element of 
 
154 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 life in its power of spiritual quickening and organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 Let us now apply the two things. When the 
 citizens of the kingdom of heaven are regarded as 
 salt and light, it is taken for granted that they are 
 salted in themselves with fire, Mark ix. 49 ; and are 
 children of light, having light in themselves from Jesus 
 Christ, John xii. 36 ; that they are baptized with the 
 Holy Ghost and with fire. It is the office of the Holy 
 Spirit to exert a fire which, on the one hand, corrects 
 and cleanses, on the other, kindles new life. In the 
 first place, the disciples carry the treasure of the spirit 
 in earthen vessels ; the spiritual is in their case, as in 
 the case of salt, confined within an earthly nature, but 
 invariably with the purpose of penetrating the earthly 
 life, in so far as they are bound up with it, with purify- 
 ing and ennobling power, like salt. But the spiritual 
 in the disciples of the Spirit is also to operate like 
 light ; it is also, in virtue of the celestial quickening 
 power of the Spirit, in virtue of its origin and connec- 
 tion with the spirit world above, to evolve itself in 
 forces and influences upon men that are celestial and 
 spiritual, in order to awaken and develop new life 
 which extends beyond the bounds of the present world. 
 The function assigned to the citizens of the kingdom 
 of heaven, in other words, the heavenly calling, does 
 not take men by leaps and bounds into the purely 
 spiritual, into the world beyond. They are not to be 
 torn out of their natural relationships with the earth 
 and with the world, although the spiritual character- 
 
Tlic Pojmlar Sermon. 155 
 
 istics of those who have part in the kingdom of heaven 
 stand in essential contrast to the character of those who 
 belong only to the earth and to the world. They are 
 not by any means to lose their spiritual being in 
 their character as citizens of the world, but are to 
 let it exercise its influence — in the first place, like the 
 salt of the earth; that is, true Christians are to be 
 an element which exerts a disciplinary influence upon 
 earthly relationships, purifying and thereby ennolDling 
 them ; they are, in consequence of the peculiarity in 
 their nature received from above, and by means of it, 
 to counteract with their spiritual fire the earthly nature, 
 the fleshly corruption, which leads to rottenness, and by 
 so doing they are to preserve the blessings of nature, 
 all that is useful and capable of healthy development, 
 all that is contained in the divine foundations of worldly 
 relationships and things, 1 Tim. iv. 4 ; 1 Cor. vii. 3 1 . 
 Such is the reference also of all the gospel precepts 
 regarding the sanctification of the bodily life, regarding 
 the fulfilment of domestic, conjugal, social, and public 
 relations. All that is said in this connection might 
 serve as a commentary upon the words : " Ye are the 
 salt of the earth." Throughout, the characteristic 
 function of Christians occupies a fundamental place : 
 they are to salt thoroughly their earthly relationships 
 (not to give them a sprinkling of sugar, nor yet to 
 give them a sprinkling of salt) ; they are to counteract 
 whatever is corrupt and offensive in these relationships 
 with the corrective power and pungency of divine truth, 
 not of their own temperament, to prevent rottenness in 
 
lo6 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 these relationships, and in that way to preserve and 
 improve what is good in them ; they are to ennoble 
 earthly relationships by purifying them, so that they 
 may afford sound and wholesome enjoyment for men. 
 But they are also to be the light of the luorld. By 
 this emblem the influence of Christians in the inner 
 spiritual sphere is pointed out to them, as by salt, which 
 acts upon the fleshly, their influence in the outward, 
 material sphere. Like light. Christians are intended, 
 in the first place, to sift and to judge, to expose and 
 eliminate, the spiritual error and falsehood of the world 
 in a spiritual sense, Eph. v. 8, 11. But they are 
 also to bring forth in the world the fruits of light, 
 fruits of the heavenly Spirit, Eph. v. 9 ; Gal. v. 22 ; 
 fruits which carry us beyond the earthly horizon by 
 means of the teaching of the kingdom of heaven as 
 it is presented in Scripture. This is done by their 
 spreading the knowledge and fellowship of God in 
 Jesus Christ, as the light of eternal life, planting 
 faith, hope, love, in order that a life, a disposition, and 
 a walk in the Spirit may result therefrom, and, in this 
 Spirit, works partaking of the character of life eternal. 
 In this way, eternal life, the life of the kingdom of 
 heaven, is begotten amid this world's life, which is so 
 deceptive, and its death, which is so real ; and God as 
 the heavenly Father is glorified amid the darkness of 
 this world (and Jesus Christ with Him and in Him), 
 a result which Jesus has in view as the final object of 
 His whole work, John xvii. 3 ff. 
 
 In the foregoing exposition of Matt. v. 13-16, the 
 
The Popular Sermon. 157 
 
 spirit and contents of true gospel preaching have like- 
 wise ])een set forth. If it is to be the preaching of 
 the kingdom of heaven, it is certainly not to indulge 
 in speculation and sentiment regarding an indefinite 
 eternity, but must carry in itself spirit and fire from 
 above, and thereby must, above everything, do the work 
 of salt. Its object, therefore, must be to penetrate like 
 salt into the existing relations of life on earth and their 
 connections, that is, in such a way as to impregnate 
 them with purifying, counteracting power, and with the 
 ennobling, correcting influence to be found in the moral 
 elements of the divine law and of the gospel which 
 incorporates these elements with itself. Spiritual 
 preaching, however, certainly does not stop there, but 
 aims at producing a new growth by means of, and out 
 of, the illuminating testimony of the Spirit, upon this 
 natural soil which has been prepared for it by divine 
 discipline. This growth is not related simply to a 
 life upon the present earth, regulated and ennobled by 
 divine discipline, but to a new life, the eternal life, 
 which is developed from the spirit of the kingdom of 
 heaven by means of its spiritual teaching, and manifests 
 itself in the powers and fruits of the Spirit. In this 
 manner, in the preaching of the gospel, time and 
 eternity, present and future, the interests of earthly 
 wellbeing and the interests of life eternal, are found 
 interpenetrating each other in due proportions. But 
 the fundamental condition always is, that there be salt 
 in the discourse, as is required in Christian conversation 
 generally, Col. iv. 6. To think to inculcate anything 
 
158 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 spiritual and heavenly, without constantly niaking the 
 salt to pervade the earthly substance of the life, is to 
 deprive the gospel of its salt, its morally purifying and 
 ennobling power ; Christianity, the Church, the ministry, 
 teaching and teachers, lose all their power and influence 
 amid the earthly leaven, amid the corruption and pollu- 
 tion of human nature and of human society ; it is then 
 the salt that has lost its savour — feeble, tasteless, use- 
 less stuff. But the consequence of this enfeeblement 
 is that Christianity, Church and ministry, teaching 
 and teachers, are exposed to contempt, and " cast out," 
 becoming an arena for the sports of carnal men. 
 
 In contrast to this sapless and powerless Christianity 
 and doctrine which becomes absorbed in the ordinary 
 material interests and general intercourse of the world, 
 to be lost therein and trodden under foot, the Lord, 
 ver. 14, assigns its proper place to the doctrine of the 
 kingdom of heaven, to its witnesses and adherents, by 
 describing them as a city set on a hill. Whereas in the 
 former case, both teaching and teachers, the truth and 
 its witnesses, are placed under the feet of the people, the 
 Church of the kingdom of heaven, the true Church, is a 
 city on a height, rising above the earthly turmoil beneath, 
 as the seat of the higher life. The expression loses its 
 strangeness when we remember how the holy city of 
 the Old Testament, the city of the great king, the seat 
 of the divine revelation, of the divine light, is in the 
 Old Testament described as a city on a height ; and 
 how in the New Testament the Jerusalem which is 
 above, the heavenly Jerusalem, is represented as its 
 
The Poimlar Sermon. 159 
 
 parallel. It is the mother of Christians after tlie 
 spirit, Gal. iv. ; and they stand in spiritual union with 
 it, Heb. xi. The New Testament Jerusalem is the 
 place where the life of light from above has its centre, 
 where the children of light have their home. The Lord, 
 accordingly, by associating with " Ye are the light of the 
 world " the " city set on a hill," reminds His disciples 
 that the highest rays of the light of divine revelation 
 are to be manifested in their life and conduct, — from 
 which it follows, further, ver. 15 f., that they are to 
 let their light shine in works to correspond, that is, in 
 the exertion of enlightening influences, the result of 
 which shall be, that men be brought to the knowledge 
 of God and converted, and our Father in heaven be 
 glorified. Thus the Lord develops the subject of the 
 kingdom of heaven as it comes with blessing in its 
 train, its essence and its operation, from its first com- 
 mencement in the poverty and depth of the dispositions 
 of the soul within, on to the height of its position in 
 and above the world without. 
 
 (2.) The righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 
 V. 17-vii. 14. 
 
 The second part of the Sermon on the Mount, con- 
 taining the new law for the heart and life of the citizens 
 of the kingdom of heaven, is now itself to be regarded 
 as salt and light. The words of Jesus penetrate like 
 salt through the old traditions, and break up the rotten- 
 ness that has gathered upon them, — the Pharisaic leaven, 
 — but they do it in such a way, that at the same time the 
 good substance in the old is not only preserved, but 
 
160 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 also ennobled, through the clearer conception and more 
 precise definition of it. Thus the old legal rules of life 
 (in chap, v.), the legal usages (in chap, vi.), together 
 with the relations of life connected with them, are 
 seasoned with salt, — thus is the foundation cleared 
 of rubbish, and adjusted to a nobler form. Upon 
 this foundation rises next. Matt. vi. 19 ff., the 
 evidence of light from heaven, God being represented 
 earlier in the sixth verse of the chapter as He who 
 seeth in secret and rewardeth openly — that is, as the 
 all-pervading and all-revealing light. Chap. vi. 19-23 
 forms the introduction to the evidence to be given 
 of light from heaven. In this passage we are called 
 to the life that struggles heavenwards, this being the 
 very nature and tendency of the light ; and for this 
 life of heavenly light appeal is made to the organ of 
 light in man, and the spark of light in man. In ver. 
 24 ff. there is rooted out the earthly mammon-worship 
 which stands in contrast to this, turning as it does light 
 into darkness with its greed and anxiety for earthly 
 goods, putting the service of worldly idols in the place 
 of the heavenly Father and His service. After removing 
 these obstacles arising from the possession of worldly 
 goods, the material obstacles that stand in the way of 
 the heavenly mind and of the life that is lived in the 
 heavenly light, the Lord proceeds in chap. vii. to the 
 moral hindrances. In that chapter the main thing is that 
 the zeal for right and righteousness, the impulse towards 
 amendment, is turned from without to within ; with 
 reference to the unjust dealing and evil doing of others, 
 
The Poindar Sermon. 161 
 
 with respect to insults and moral offences, in the first 
 place, zeal for our own rights is curtailed, ver. 1 ff. ; and 
 further, the impulse towards amendment is turned away 
 from what is outward, and concentrated upon the earnest 
 pursuit of holiness within, vers. 3-5, but in such a way 
 that this earnestness, ver. 6, is at the same time pro- 
 tected from the immorality of others, inasmuch as what 
 is holy is not to be exposed to outward indignities. In 
 vers. 7-11 the impulse after a higher life, which has 
 been fully appealed to by means of what has been 
 already said, has the straight road thrown open to it, on 
 which it finds the means of clearing away the evil which 
 is present and appropriating the good which is lacking ; 
 ask, seek, press into, the kingdom of the good gifts of 
 God (comp. Christlielie Reden, ii. p. 71 ; v. 23 and 51). 
 A prospect is opened up which points to the acquisition 
 of the gifts of our Father in heaven, according to Luke 
 xi. 13 even of that highest gift comprehending all the 
 rest, which is indeed the highest moral gift, the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost. In vers. 12-14 the whole discourse 
 upon the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven is once 
 more summed up ; it turns back to the law and the 
 prophets, from which at v. 17 it had set out. Ver. 12 
 frames concisely into a summary law the effect of the salt 
 upon the relationships of the earthly life. The law is 
 borrowed from the human heart itself ; every one cer- 
 tainly knows right well, where his own interest is con- 
 cerned, how to claim from others what is good and right. 
 Let every man apply this standard to himself instead 
 of to others, and for the benefit of others instead of 
 
 L 
 
162 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 for his own ; let him change his ideas of right into 
 ideas of duty. Likewise, in ver. 13 f. the testimony 
 which is fraught with light from heaven is summed 
 up, opening the way for the development of eternal life, 
 as contrasted with the perishing life of the world. If 
 life is taken easily and comfortably in its commence- 
 ment and its progress, it leads to destruction ; a life 
 of enjoyment becomes a lost life ; the natural life is 
 quenched in darkness. The path of light which leads 
 into the life that endures is in its commencement and 
 progress a path of privation and hardness. The narrow 
 way has to be found, that is, has to be sought with 
 diligence, while the wide gate is got unsought. In 
 the one men go painfully up hill, in the other they go 
 painlessly down hill. 
 
 (3.) The prudence of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. vii. 
 15-27. 
 
 The close of the Sermon on the Mount furnishes, so 
 to speak, spikes and nails to secure and rivet the 
 teaching that has been laid down. The teaching of 
 blessedness ends with the teaching of prudence to pro- 
 vide security against deception (vers. 15-23), and to 
 give fruitful application to the truth (ver. 24 ff.). 
 
 In the first place, a warning is sounded against false 
 prophets, against disguises of an alluring character, 
 gaining men's confidence by meekness, patience, gentle- 
 ness, courtesy, by a so-called Christian exterior, in which, 
 however, the self-seeking spirit of error, so ruinous to 
 souls, makes its appearance. Prophets are preachers of 
 God's word, not deniers and opponents of it ; false 
 
The Popular Sermon. 163 
 
 prophets in general give forth as God's word what is 
 not God's word, and, in the name of God, foist a false 
 meaning upon what is God's word. Their lot is the 
 opposite of that which falls to true prophets (v. 12); 
 while the latter have misunderstanding and suffering to 
 endure even from the better sort of men, the spurious 
 preachers of the divine word are held in esteem and 
 favour among all who judge after the manner of men, 
 and not from the divine point of view. The world 
 speaks well of them because they speak fair of it, Luke 
 vi. 26 ; the world holds them dear because it loves its 
 own, and they are of the world, and speak from the 
 world's point of view, that is, from the point of view of 
 tliis temporal, finite sphere. 
 
 In connection with vers. 13 and 14 there are two 
 chief kinds of deception to be distinguished. It is 
 possible to reject the positive Christianity of Scripture, 
 the fulfilment of the law and the prophets, as some- 
 thing which restricts liberty by its strait gate, narrows 
 privilege by its narrow way, puts men under the 
 bondage of condemnation, and sullies the highest names 
 and works of mankind, and more to the same effect. 
 This is the destructive tendency, which often appears 
 in sheep's clothing, using not only liberal watch- 
 words, but also religious, ay, scriptural phrases and 
 forms, and wishing to open up the way of a broad 
 development. Wliile in this tendency a direct opposi- 
 tion to Christ, a plainly false way, is resorted to, there 
 are besides it other false ways in immediate connection 
 with Christianity. It is possible, for instance, in virtue 
 
164 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 of the grace of the gospel, to make it such an easy 
 matter to become a Christian and to be a Christian, in 
 other words, to be saved, that even the strait gate and 
 the narrow way are got rid of, that the fleshly and 
 the sinful are not driven into a corner, nor reduced 
 within narrow limits : promise is divorced from precept; 
 repentance and sanctification, in relation to grace, do 
 not maintain their rights, their pungency as of salt, and 
 their strictness as of the strait gate ; truth is to be 
 sacrificed to a desire to be mutually agreeable, which 
 people call love, the spirit of fellowship, devotion to the 
 Church, and the like. Such injury to the truth can 
 arise even from the central-point of Christianity, by 
 the doctrine of justification being made all in all, by 
 its being severed from its moral conditions and its moral 
 fruits, so that Christ becomes a minister of sin instead 
 of being a Eedeemer from sin. The same thing may 
 proceed from external devotion to the Church, through 
 making a personal interest in Christ and His blessings 
 depend upon Church fellowship and the enjoyment of 
 the sacraments instead of upon personal faith, upon 
 personal conversion and sanctification. In both these 
 ways there is in the evangelical Church no lack of 
 failings. In its zeal against Catholicism and salva- 
 tion by works, the moral earnestness in the gospel has 
 been suffered to languish ; in zeal against the coarse 
 love of the world and unbelief, watchfulness against 
 falsified and degenerate forms of Christianity and 
 faith has gone to sleep in the sheep's clothing of a 
 believing compliance with a form of love and of religious 
 
The Popular Sermon, 1 G 5 
 
 service. By tlie false tendencies already mentioned, 
 Christianity is deprived of its essential moral conditions, 
 its strictness and severity ; it becomes latitudinarian, 
 is rendered easy and lax, a thing convenient for practice 
 in the house, the State, and the Church. 
 
 But, conversely, people may make the gate still 
 more strait and the way still more narrow than the 
 Lord makes them. This is done by overstraining the 
 law, as well as the gospel injunctions in regard to 
 repentance and sanctification, or by detaching the 
 moral requirements of Christianity from their proper 
 spiritual connection, from their foundation in God's 
 salvation, by requiring something where nothing has 
 as yet been given, the basis for this not having 
 yet been laid by means of divine grace through the 
 knowledge of the glory of Christ and His heavenly 
 kingdom, the implantation of the life that comes from 
 Christ not having yet ensued, which is the only root of 
 moral life to the Christian. In this way Christianity 
 is made into a legal requirement, and the fundamental 
 condition for the fulfilment of this requirement is 
 lacking. It comes to the same thing when an external 
 rule, to which all at all stages of attainment are to be 
 made subject, is made out of that which ought merely 
 to be, according to the development of his own life and 
 spirit, a voluntary law of the spirit to the individual. 
 It is here that many counsels for the Christian life of 
 a mystico-ascetic character are found to fail, and the 
 same may be said of separatist tendencies. Here also 
 the State Church is found wanting in as far as politico- 
 
166 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 ecclesiastical laws have been made out of the spiritual 
 laws of the gospel, out of the inner laws of faith ; in 
 this way the Christian marriage law, which takes for 
 granted a life of faith on the part of the individual, 
 is turned into a civil law. And Christian conven- 
 tionalism as a whole is an arbitrary narrowing of the 
 way of the Christian life. All these perversions also 
 are more or less concealed and embellished by isolated 
 texts of Scripture, under the demeanour of Christian 
 love, meekness, humanity, and so forth, in short, imder 
 sheep's clothing, under the garments of piety and Chris- 
 tianity ; compare Col. ii. 4, 8, 18, 23; Eom. xvi. 18; 
 2 Tim. iii. 5 ; 2 Cor. xi. 13, 15 ; Gal. ii. 4 ff., iv. 9, 
 vi. 12. 
 
 Eespecting the many kinds of disguises in which 
 the spirit of religious error presents itself, Christ gives 
 in Matt. vii. 16, 18 the decisive direction: By their 
 fruits they can and shall be known ; that is, not by 
 their works, compare ver. 22, nor by their outward 
 garb — not by a humble, meek, patient behaviour. Work 
 is something done by the man himself ; fruit is some- 
 thing which is made of itself, is the natural product or 
 effect resulting from the real essence : such are grapes, 
 such are thistles ; such are the fruits of light, of the 
 Spirit, Eph. v. 9 and Gal. v. 22, the qualities of 
 character proceeding from the inherent nature and 
 impulse of the Spirit — truth, goodness, honesty, and so 
 forth. Works may be imitated, fruits cannot. Works 
 are effects dependent on the exercise of will, purposely 
 produced by definite means ; fruit is brought forth 
 
The Popular Sermon. 167 
 
 without the use of means, even without knowing and 
 willing, Mark iv. 26-28. So the evil fruits of a false 
 tendency are not at all the effects desired and intended 
 thereby, Eom. vi. 21, vii. 5. The Lord's direction is 
 therefore summed up in this : By the entire life- 
 character which a doctrine impresses upon its adherents 
 the doctrine is to be tested, and if it is a question 
 here of the way of life eternal, it is a question also of 
 the character that shall inherit eternal life, of the com- 
 munication of a tendency which renounces the world 
 and follows the direction of heavenly things. This is 
 decisive, however, only of the tendency as a whole, of 
 the general course, in following which wrong steps 
 of more or less importance in detail, imperfections in 
 doctrine and life, are not excluded ; even on the way 
 of life, being a narrow way, watchfulness, prayer, and 
 cleansing are indispensable, if the right way, the truth 
 and the life are not again to be lost ; 1 Cor. iii. 12-15; 
 Heb. xii. If., 12-16. 
 
 Christ next, in ver. 21, lays down the definite 
 standard of judgment, showing us that the touchstone 
 of Christian character is not a confession, but the 
 practical attitude which a man, especially a teacher, 
 adopts towards the will of God, and the will of God 
 in its law - giving aspect {iroLelv to 6e\rjfia is con- 
 trasted with ipyd^€a6ai rrjv dvo/xLav in ver. 23). The 
 principle which the Lord lays down for determining 
 the character which qualifies for the kingdom of heaven 
 is also the principle which determines the proper 
 character of those who act as guides to the kingdom 
 
168 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 of heaven, and of their doctrine. The true character 
 of a teacher in the kingdom of heaven, and his power 
 to promote the welfare of souls, is not guaranteed by 
 his creed or confession, nor by the fact that he has 
 the will of God profusely on his lips, that he appeals 
 to the word of God, even though " the Lord " runs 
 through the whole texture of his speech. Even know- 
 ledge and works in the name of the Lord (ver. 22) 
 exciting astonishment are not the decisive thing. The 
 one decisive thing is whether, as ver. 21 puts it, the 
 express will of God has been and continues to be 
 fulfilled, especially (vers. 24 and 26) whether the 
 divine rules of life, as set forth by the Lord in the 
 previous passages, are made the standard of doctrine 
 and of life, and the objective truth of the doctrine thus 
 preserved; compare chap. v. 19. Where this is not 
 the case, our Lord applies the expression epya^6fjL€vo<; 
 Tr)v ävojxiav : one who in his actions does not abide by 
 the voiio^. And in order that His disciples may not 
 hesitate in their acceptance of this judgment. He 
 emphasizes the expression as the judgment which He 
 will pronounce in the future on the day of decision. 
 By way of antithesis to a confession of the Lord (ver. 
 21 f.), which takes no account of the doing of the will 
 of God, and the fulfilment of His law, the Lord puts 
 His confession, which is based upon this fulfilment or 
 non-fulfilment, ver. 23 : ofjioXoyrjau) avTOL<;' aTro'^copeiTe 
 air ifjLov; compare Eom. ii. 6-11. 
 
 From this it is evident that, among the fruits which 
 pass for true Christianity, the effects which we produce 
 
The Popular Sermon, 1G9 
 
 upon others, in the name of the Lord, by our teaching 
 or our writings, are not included. We may be profuse 
 in ascriptions of honour to His name, we may labour 
 with the zeal and reputation of a prophet, we may 
 accomplish great works of conversion and be most 
 active in the spreading of the word and kingdom of 
 God, and yet we may not be true Christians, nor 
 teachers of true Christianity. Essential conformity 
 to the will of God is ever the decisive test ; and this is 
 defined for Christians in the words of Luke vi. 46 ; 
 1 John ii. 4 ; John vii. 17, xiv. 21, 23 ; Rev. xiv. 12. 
 In Matt. vii. 24 ff., the Lord expressly ordains that 
 His word must be done by those who hear it, not simply 
 believed without being done. In this declaration the 
 main thing signified is, such an inward adherence as 
 shall distinctly stamp the personality and the conduct 
 with the moral spirit of Christ, as expressed in His 
 commandments. The observing of the law outwardly 
 is the fruit of its observance inw^ardly ; it is the 
 impress of the character seen from without. Accord- 
 ingly, the keeping of the commandments by which the 
 disciple of Christ is distinguished from other men 
 involves his judging and correcting of himself for every 
 deviation from the commandments, however slight ; and 
 then his praying for forgiveness, for growth in faith, for 
 new earnestness and new power towards the attainment 
 of a better life. Sanctification is the supreme test, 
 1 Thess. iv. 3. Hence it follows that the whole of 
 mankind and of Christendom are divided, according to 
 our Lord's view, into two different ways or classes, — a 
 
170 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 man has only two ways before him, — the narrow way of 
 the divine commandments as a sure way to blessedness 
 and life, which is always chosen only by few ; and 
 the broad way of departure from the commandments, 
 the way of personal fancy and liking as a sure way to 
 ruin, which most people travel. 
 
 In the concluding words of the Sermon on the Mount, 
 the Lord deals with natural indolence, idle listening, 
 mere enjoyment of the light, as previously He dealt 
 with the outward officiousness whose watchword is 
 "Lord, Lord," Eom. ii. 13; Jas. i. 22 ; 1 John iii. 7. 
 By the manner in which Christ inculcates the doing of 
 His word. He intimates that His word is done only 
 when it is employed as the firm foundation for the 
 building of a life. To build upon Christ, in other 
 words, to edify oneself in a Christian sense, means, 
 therefore, according to His own explanation, not only to 
 build upon His word as upon a promise, to place our 
 trust upon His word as a word of grace, but, trusting 
 in the promises from which His word. Matt. v. 3 ft'., 
 proceeds, and employing faithfully the grace of the 
 kingdom of heaven, to make that word at the same 
 time, as being the revelation of the will of God, the 
 foundation of conduct, to carry it into effect and so 
 to build the life upon it, as the fulfilment both of the 
 law and of the prophets. Of that life He says that it 
 is a building which outlasts everything that can happen 
 to it. The meaning lies in the very expression " build- 
 ing." To build means to procure material and to 
 bestow labour upon it according to a plan, first down- 
 
TJiC Popular Sermon. 171 
 
 wards before it goes upwards, then right and left, with 
 perseverance amid toil and labour. This is what is 
 meant by doing the will of God, that a man takes his 
 stand upon a rock ; and this is not a thing of an hour 
 or of occasional spurts, \mi requires regular, calm, per- 
 severing effort. 
 
 (4.) Tlic basis of the preaching of the kingdom of 
 heaven is the . ivritten vjord of God, Matt. v. 17-19. 
 After our short survey of the Sermon on the Mount, 
 which has furnished us with the spirit and contents of 
 the popular sermon, we turn back to Matt. v. 17-19 ; 
 for the manner in which Christ in this passage lays down 
 the basis of the preaching of the kingdom of heaven 
 is further specially instructive as regards the clerical 
 discourse which aspires to be a true spiritual discourse, 
 characterized by salt and light. By binding down the 
 sermon most scrupulously to the written word of God, 
 our Lord comes into the sharpest antagonism with the 
 autocratic style of teaching, with arbitrariness both in 
 individuals and in corporate bodies ; and what is so 
 strictly enforced regarding the Old Testament holds 
 good still more of the New. While the world, great 
 and small, is represented from the gospel point of view 
 as perishing with all its wisdom, its sanctities, and 
 virtues ; on the other hand, the word of God in its 
 written form is upheld as that which is imperishalile, 
 even to the minutest particular. In that representation 
 the Lord holds up to view a fulfilment of the divine 
 word, in which everything — the greatest and the least 
 — is to stand fast as truth and reality. As to the hovj, 
 
172 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 as to the process by which the fulfilment is effected, 
 there is nothing said in this passage. There intervenes 
 the whole life of Christ as the process for effecting this, 
 extending away to His second coming. 
 
 But an arbitrary literality in the spirit of the Pharisees 
 does not realize the idea of strict adherence to the word as 
 meant by the Lord. This spirit of literality believes that 
 it meets sufficiently the testimony of God by outward 
 conformity, by legal forms of doctrine and life. The 
 consequence is, that the more superficial and careless the 
 manner in which people deal with the full meaning of 
 the testimony of God, with its spirit and contents, the 
 more the yoke of men is imposed. In the sense of 
 Christ, however, Scripture is certainly to be interpreted 
 with the greatest exactitude, even with reference to 
 what is literal and minute ; but it is a literal exactitude 
 in the spirit and meaning of fulfilment, of 7r\ripcoat<;. 
 This spirit of fulfilment is described in the fuller state- 
 ment contained in vers. 21 ff., as consisting in this, 
 that, on the one hand, it takes the words of God in 
 their absolute strictness and their full depth of mean- 
 ing ; and, on the other hand, lays hold of the man in 
 the very centre of his being, in his heart and his dis- 
 position. It judges the heart with the law, constrains 
 the central and innermost part of the nature, begins 
 within, not without. Further, each particular is con- 
 ceived in its connection with the whole, as the whole is 
 followed out into each of its particulars, until, and in 
 order that, all be fulfilled. In this way the old com- 
 mandments bearing on the relations of human society 
 
Attitude to Recognised Institutions. 1*1 Z 
 
 are traced up to inward dispositions determining the 
 conduct, to readiness to forgive, to purity of heart, to 
 veracity, to helpfulness, and these are represented in 
 individual concrete cases. Finally, all (v. 48) is summed 
 up in striving after likeness to God. The letter of 
 the law is thus apprehended strictly and exactly in the 
 spirit of its fulfilment. 
 
 Hence it follows, with regard to the principles on 
 which a gospel discourse is to be framed and the place 
 it is to hold, that whoever would walk in the footsteps 
 of Jesus Christ, as His servant, and gather with Him 
 for the kingdom of heaven and not scatter, must, from 
 the outset, take a firm stand upon the divine word, in its 
 written form, and maintain it with a resolute endeavour 
 to prevent aught of it being let go, either through him- 
 self or others, in the spirit of one who is set rather upon 
 all being fulfilled, on all being realized, but realized 
 assuredly in the deepest spiritual sense, to embrace an 
 eternity which outlasts the heavens and the earth. 
 
 Only by setting out from this position can w^e offer a 
 fearless and successful opposition to the chief evils of 
 the inner and outer life, and to the prevailing errors of 
 the time, to lax morality, hypocritical piety, false ways, 
 and false guides. 
 
 4. The position which the teacher of Christian truth has 
 to take uiJ towards recognised institutions and societies. 
 
 On this subject we take as our basis Matt. viii. 
 2-13; and from vers. 2-4 (the healing of the leper), 
 in which ver. 4 is specially to be noticed, we see — 
 
174 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 (1.) How ive are to meet the demands of faith in 
 dealing with particidar cases. This is to be done, in 
 the first place, by putting a veto uj)on rumours and the 
 spread of reports : " See thou tell it to no man." Those 
 to whom we specially devote ourselves are often the 
 very persons to do harm by reckless talking, which, 
 on the one hand, leads people to follow in crowds 
 and become adherents from impure motives or with 
 unripe convictions, and, on the other hand, occasions 
 unseasonable quarrels and conflicts. It is gradual, well- 
 considered progress, such as we observe in our Lord's 
 procedure, that marks the character of the prudent 
 householder. The prohibition in ver. 4, indeed, was of 
 no use, Mark i. 45. From this latter passage we see that 
 if, in spite of our efforts, inordinate curiosity be excited, 
 drawing crowds together, seclusion is the proper thing 
 till the waves subside. The Christian teacher must 
 not be an agitator ; his point of view, especially at the 
 commencement of his labours, must always be that of a 
 wise master builder, who sets to work by digging deep, 
 lays a sure foundation, and so far from bringing into 
 play unworthy motives, refuses to give them counte- 
 nance, Luke iv. 41, is of great importance in this 
 connection. From this passage it is plain that we are 
 not to imagine that we can advance the true faith and 
 the work of God by impure lips loudly sounding our 
 praises (cf. Christliche Beden, ii. 8, and Eieger's Reflec- 
 tions on these passages). In Matt. viii. 4 another 
 feature is added to those already considered, in the 
 words : "Go thy way and show thyself to the priest." 
 
Attitude to Recognised Institutions. 175 
 
 Whatever is required by outvmrd ordinances, even such 
 as must in course of time be set aside by the genuine 
 spirit of Christianity, is nevertheless to he recognised, 
 until there has been a due inward preparation for the 
 outward change. (But nothing beyond the observance 
 of outward ordinances is thus to be prescribed, there 
 is to be no prescribing of the action as intrinsically 
 necessary and holy.) This recognition serves as a 
 testimony to the people, especially to those of them 
 who can only judge of a movement from the point of 
 view of existing institutions, until it has approved itself 
 by its fruits. New movements, especially at the begin- 
 ning of a man's ministry, should conform to the require- 
 ments of the law, until satisfaction is provided by what 
 is higher — the living law of the Holy Spirit. By such 
 a course malevolent suspicion like that manifested 
 against the Lord is not precluded, but (hence merely ek 
 fiapTvptov avTOL^) it is at least practically refuted, — the 
 suspicion of one's actions being prompted more by 
 opposition to existing institutions, by factiousness, than 
 by zeal for a good cause, of one's wishing to overthrow 
 the existing order of things instead of improving them. 
 At the same time, also, the risk of offence on the part 
 of those who are still weak is obviated. 
 
 Nevertheless, along with this tender regard for the 
 weak, there comes into view in the passage which 
 immediately follows, Matt. viii. 5-13, especially vers. 
 10-12, the other side. Whilst existing ordinances 
 and the prejudices attaching to them are still treated 
 tenderly in the case dealt with, there is to be no failure. 
 
176 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 (2.) In the fearless testimony to the truth, — in order 
 to root out prevailing prejudices and to awaken a serious 
 conviction that there must be new ground broken up. 
 The Jews would not even eat with the heathen, and now 
 it is declared : iroXkol avaKktOrjo-ovTaL fxera ^AßpaäfjL kt\. 
 They believed themselves secure in the inalienable pos- 
 session of the kingdom of God, and indeed they had for 
 that belief apparently sufficient grounds in the literal 
 terms of all the sacred promises, for instance : " My 
 kindness shall not depart from thee" (Isa. liv. 10); 
 " I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands " 
 (Isa. xlix. 16). Now, on the contrary, the declaration is : 
 "The children of the kingdom, born and brought up 
 within the kingdom, are cast out." The mistake of the 
 Jewish and of the Christian Church has always been to 
 take God's covenant promises unconditionally, whereas 
 they are connected by God with moral conditions, with 
 obedience to his commandments (comp. Luke vi. 46 : 
 "Wliy call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things 
 which I say " ?). At first, however, in this passage 
 Jewish prejudice is not so directly assailed. The indi- 
 vidual application is still veiled under a more general 
 form, so as to gain their hearts. It is not " Ye are cast 
 out." Moreover, the occasion of this first correction was 
 well and wisely chosen (comp. Luke vii. 3-5). From 
 the case of a man respected among themselves, Christ 
 could the more easily proceed to attack the Jewish 
 prejudice against the class to which He belonged. 
 
 The general conclusion from this treatment of Jews 
 and Gentiles is as follows : The teacher of divine 
 
Necessity and Method of Sifting. 177 
 
 truth is not at liberty to make distinctions from respect 
 to the outward personality, to outward advantages, even 
 though these consist in the enjoyment of God's gifts of 
 grace and means of grace ; he is not to foster the conceit 
 of inherited advantages, trust in religious privileges, or 
 ecclesiastical orthodoxy, but to repudiate all such con- 
 siderations. Especially is he not to allow his mind to 
 be so influenced either for or against any rank and any 
 class of men as to make his judgment, whether favour- 
 able or unfavourable, apply ä priori to individual cases. 
 
 5. The necessity for sifting and the method of doing it. 
 
 In the passage Matt. viii. 19-34 (comp, the excel- 
 lent exposition of this by Menken, Reflections on the 
 Gosjyel of Mattheiü, pp. 259-276) we find our Lord's 
 process of sifting. We are first carried back from the 
 circle of the people to the narrower circle of the 
 disciples, and are thereby brought to see how those most 
 closely attached to Him must be sifted by a negative 
 and a positive process. Ver. 18 forms the transition. 
 Christ of His own accord withdraws from time to time 
 from the larger sphere of His activity. There must 
 come times when a certain rest, a pause takes place for 
 the labourer as well as for those among whom he has 
 to labour. This is a primary law of nature, in other 
 words, an ordinance of God. In particular, he who has 
 to sow the seed of the spirit upon the soil of the spirit 
 does not abandon himself, without purpose or plan, to 
 the pressure of business and the urgency of people, does 
 not allow himself to be a mere shuttlecock. It is 
 
 M 
 
178 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 characteristic of a wise and faithful householder that 
 he gives meat in due season and in the right measure, 
 Matt. xxiv. 45 and Luke xii. 42 f. Of him who does 
 so it is said : " Blessed is the servant who is found so 
 doing." We must therefore know how to pause and 
 how to break off; we need to do so, moreover, after 
 faithful labour. This pause is necessary for our own 
 rest and composure of mind, but it is also necessary 
 in order that the seed scattered may have time for 
 growth, that the food taken in may have time for 
 digestion, that the right thirst for knowledge and strain- 
 ing of the soul after fresh communications of the truth 
 may be awakened and maintained. Indiscriminate 
 preaching, an ill - timed fancy for teaching, surfeit- 
 ing of people with spiritual nourishment, is contrary 
 to the mind of the Lord, and is not what is called 
 " gathering with Him." 
 
 But even if we are not ourselves to blame for unsea- 
 sonableness and exaggeration in Christianity, there will 
 always be individuals, nevertheless, pressing forward at 
 the wrong time, who want to run before they can walk, 
 who want to take more upon them than they can bear 
 and accomplish. Such is the ypa/jLfjbareixi, ver. 19. 
 He would be constantly in the company of Jesus like the 
 apostles, while he still entertains the prejudices of his 
 learned profession, and is perhaps also from his life as 
 a scribe still insufficiently hardened for the toils and 
 the burdens of discipleship. Others, on the contrary, 
 make an excuse for their own procrastination and 
 indolence from the circumspection and caution with 
 
Necessity and Method of Sifting, 179 
 
 which they see the interests of Christianity treated ; 
 they are always for putting off decision, even when it 
 is high time for it. This is what is done by the /xa^T^r?;? 
 in ver. 21. He is one who has already attached him- 
 self to Jesus as an intimate disciple, is accordingly 
 already prepared for a decisive aKoXovdelv, but probably 
 deterred by the words which Jesus addressed to the 
 scribes, which he no doubt also heard, wished to draw 
 back with a good grace ; to do so he appeals to the 
 claims of filial piety, in order to postpone giving him- 
 self up entirely to the cause of Christ. Thus must 
 wisdom strive against error on the right hand and on 
 the left ; it must, on the one hand, encounter the rash- 
 ness which presses forward, on the other hand, the 
 indecision that lags behind, and has thus in both ways 
 to resist the fleshly mind which seeks its own ; for this 
 lies at the root of both. There is a momentary glow 
 of enthusiasm felt in the fleshly nature, and, without 
 waiting for the time of ripening, and preparing the way 
 for it in natural order with self-denial and endurance, 
 people want only to get onward, they want to reap and 
 be victorious. There is likewise a fleshly ease and 
 indolence, which prevents people, with all they have 
 learned, from putting their hand with decision to the 
 plough and the sickle. How then does the wisdom 
 which is from above deal with these two states of mind ? 
 (1.) The rash desire to become a folloiuer of Jesus 
 is not, indeed, met with a direct refusal (Matt. viii. 
 19, 20); it is rather pointed to the lowliness, the 
 privations, and the hardships of discipleship, wnicü 
 
180 Tlic Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 require the renunciation not simply of splendour and 
 wealth, but often of the actual necessaries of life. 
 Jesus would have the man who rushes precipitately 
 forward in his first zeal to reflect whether he has 
 calmly pondered the step he is taking, and not merely 
 abandoned himself to the impulse of the moment. In 
 His company respectability and gain are not to be 
 found as in the school of the scribes, in His company 
 we must be like one who has neither home nor hold, 
 freed in spirit from every bond, a stranger and pilgrim 
 upon earth. Even what we have, we must, if we are 
 the followers of Jesus in earnest, have as one who has 
 not, that is, who is no possessor, no proprietor. It is 
 essential, if we are to fill a position of eminence in 
 the service of the kingdom of God, that there should 
 be a thorough self-renunciation. We see here again 
 that Jesus is not concerned about the number of His 
 adherents, but to have them tried and righteous persons. 
 We often suppose that we must conceal the straitness 
 of the gate, the narrowness of the way, that we must 
 give a flavour of sweetness to the bitter cup which the 
 old man must drink, — by this means we deceive our- 
 selves and others, and render no service to the men 
 whom we treat in that fashion, for that way of acting 
 does not lead to the Christianity which leads to life, it 
 rather destroys the relish for true Christianity. As 
 little do we serve Christianity by this, for it is from 
 the fish which are thus brought into the net that 
 corruption spreads. In Pfaff's Commentary there is 
 this remark : " Impetuous ardour and good intention do 
 
Necessity and Method of Sifting. 181 
 
 not amount to the following of Christ, to conversion ; 
 following and suffering, following and self-denial, must 
 go together. Many would be pious, but keep their 
 nests (riches, honour, comfort)." 
 
 The matter, however, has also its reverse side. Many 
 people may be really willing to part with everything for 
 the Lord's sake, and yet the wish be not genuine, or, 
 under the circumstances, not appropriate. There is, for 
 example, with certain natures, or owing to certain ten- 
 dencies of the age, a peculiar indifference to the outward 
 amenities of life, family ties, and the like, at least these 
 may become very inferior considerations with them, when 
 their imaginations, their secret ambition after an ideal 
 is inflamed, when a natural love of the heroic is 
 enkindled by the glitter of fame. In such glitter of 
 fame, in the things that rouse ambition, and so forth, 
 even Christian enterprises and works can clothe them- 
 selves. In that case we find artificial fancies and 
 uprisings of the fanatical tendencies latent in human 
 nature ; and as a patriotic, a military, an artistic en- 
 thusiasm can be enkindled, so also can a Christian 
 enthusiasm in people of every sort, an enthusiasm, how- 
 ever, which does not stand the test of the Lord's judg- 
 ment as the fire of the Holy Ghost, which comes down 
 from above into the heart amid humble, patient endea- 
 vours to form a permanent character from and upon the 
 word of God (Matt. vii. 21-25). It is easier to kindle 
 in men the desire to be, as they think, among the first 
 in the kingdom of heaven, the desire to do great deeds 
 in the name of the Lord, than to do in the name of the 
 
182 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 Lord the will of their Father in heaven, to become new 
 creatures and very children through repentance and 
 second birth, through separation between soul and 
 spirit, and as novices to exercise themselves in patience 
 and self - denial, in order to strengthen and prove 
 themselves in their ordinary calling, in their immediate 
 duty, before desiring to fulfil an extraordinary calling. 
 To this immediate calling Christ directs, Mark v. 18, 
 one who was newly awakened to return ; compare also 
 1 Cor. vii. 20 and 24. Such passages are specially 
 noteworthy as a corrective to the notion that conver- 
 sion must always carry with it a change in the outward 
 relations of life, as well as for the purpose of guarding 
 ac^ainst the inclination to seek the new life and the 
 confession of Christ in a definite, outward society and 
 environment. The new life with its confession is, and 
 always continues to be, directed to the faithful discharge 
 of duty in the family and in the immediate calling as its 
 first concern, and accordingly does not forsake existing 
 ordinary relationships. The man rather enters them 
 anew the moment he becomes a Christian, that he may 
 learn therein to abide with God and follow Christ. 
 It is the family, the calling, which is the natural soil 
 in which the new growth, before it can be transplanted, 
 must first take root, and prove whether it is to be of 
 any service in this earthly clime. 
 
 (2.) A totally different procedure is required, and 
 is employed by the Lord in a manner which furnishes 
 a standard to us in the passage Matt. viii. 21, 22, in 
 dealing with hacJcivardness and indolence. According 
 
Necessity and Metliod of Sifting. 183 
 
 to this tendency of mind, Christian discipleship, and 
 subsequent progress in the Christian life, is to be held 
 secondary to the ordinary relationships of life and to 
 considerations of custom, the general result being that 
 the very step which is necessary and decisive as regards 
 the inner life of the person and his proper calling, is 
 seriously hindered. To bury one's father is not in 
 itself forbidden ; it is a duty of natural affection, it 
 is the part of filial piety, and it was a law among the 
 Jews. And the man who honours Jesus merely as 
 a wise man, cannot comprehend Him in such situations ; 
 it is thus certainly, he imagines, a poet may speak, but 
 not a moralist. But with Jesus and in His heavenly 
 kingdom, a good work must yield precedence to one 
 which is better, if the latter is interrupted by the 
 former, if it is interfered with so as to prevent the 
 iron being struck while it is hot. A work good in 
 itself becomes even a bad thing if it is not done with 
 a pure motive, if it is done with intent to evade 
 obedience, if it is a case like that of which Luther 
 writes : " Some people plead good works to save them 
 from following and believing, but Christ represents 
 such works as only dead and lost works." There is 
 a higher life, a life essentially real, without which men 
 are dead and remain dead even in works that are 
 relatively good. This essential life forms the funda- 
 mental subject of Christ's teaching, and it was the 
 express purpose of the Lord to help souls to the 
 possession of a life which they did not yet have, that 
 is, to the possession of essential life ; they were to 
 
184 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 regard the life at present belonging to them as a 
 perishing, unreal life, as a kind of death, and devote 
 that life to the acquisition of the true life. Now, one 
 who, like the disciple before us, had already enjoyed 
 the instruction of Jesus, must have understood Him, 
 at least to some extent, when He spoke of the dead to 
 whom a disciple ought to leave the burying of their 
 dead. The /ladrjTi]'; must have known himself sum- 
 moned to a life-work, when Christ added : But publish 
 thou abroad the kingdom of God. What can be done, 
 and is done without spiritual life, without salt and 
 light from above, by hundreds instead of by one, that 
 leave thou to them as something of no consequence as 
 far as thy true life and the true life of others is con- 
 cerned ; leave it as a dead work to the unawakened 
 multitude ; but thou, when thou hast learned what life 
 is, rather make those who are still dead acquainted 
 with the kingdom of life ; help dead men to life 
 instead of dead men into their graves ; for thee, the 
 latter is lost time and lost labour. The Lord does not 
 wish to embrace everything at once, like many people 
 at the present day ; He does not say : Thou canst 
 do both, and thus get a double blessing ; He rather 
 confines Himself to the actual powers assigned to each 
 individual, and the actual measure of blessing fixed 
 by God. 
 
 From the exposition which we have given, there 
 follows as a truth binding upon all disciples of Christ, 
 binding therefore with twofold force upon the teacher, 
 and to be maintained by him, that those only are true 
 
Necessity and Method of Sifting. 185 
 
 disciples of Christ who regard the life which is in the 
 world as death, and follow after the supernatural life 
 which is in the kingdom of God ; they are called, as 
 those who are truly possessed of life, as those who are 
 alive, to exert a quickening influence in the world of 
 men, with instruments chosen by God for this end, 
 not with self-chosen instruments, whether spiritual or 
 fleshly. In view of this calling, all other considerations 
 and occupations are to be put in the background, 
 even what is otherwise good and praiseworthy, when it 
 hampers and obstructs the main concern. Those, 
 therefore, who are tardy in following Christ, from 
 notions of private duty, or who from other considera- 
 tions, it may even be considerations that are good, put 
 perfection in a secondary place, or put it only on a 
 level with other things that are good, instead of 
 putting it above everything else just because it is 
 perfection, have not yet attained to a sense of the 
 unique significance of the Christian calling in its 
 relation to life, and consequently need to have it held 
 up before them and inculcated upon them. To leave 
 the dead and join the living is the great thing, the 
 question is one of life, and life universally takes 
 precedence of everything, of all considerations of filial 
 piety and authority ; hence it is our duty for Christ's 
 sake to make secondary the ties that bind parents to 
 children and brothers to sisters. This principle is 
 certainly not to be applied as an external command- 
 ment nor even as an external discipline ; on the 
 contrary, it must be implanted absolutely within, mu6t 
 
186 Tlic Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 gather strength and bear fruit. If we make Chris- 
 tianity consist merely in inner moods of spirit, or 
 merely in historical facts, institutions, and works, we 
 do away with the very forces of the higher world that 
 would work and conquer in conflict with the life of 
 the world. If, for the sake of such a life-work amid 
 our earthly relationships, we must often be less to our 
 kindred than would be possible without that life-work, 
 yet is this no loss ; we are, in lieu thereof, as living 
 members of that divine kingdom of life or of the 
 eternal world, even now, as regards this life, to be the 
 means of securing for ourselves and for our kindred 
 the protection and the blessing of the divine com- 
 passion and love, which turns everything into gain 
 for life eternal ; we can even out of our own spiritual 
 life, which is obtained at the cost of such sacrifices, 
 diffuse a blessing among our kindred, and can become 
 to them a blessing such as we should never be to them 
 without that life : we may become a seed of life for 
 them : we may be of service to them even in eternity, 
 Luke xvi. 9. 
 
 (3.) In Matt. viii. 23-27 we are shown a third 
 characteristic; discovered in the followers of Christ by 
 a j^rocess of outward sifting. Side by side with im- 
 petuous eagerness, ver. 19, and with hesitation, in 
 following Christ, ver. 21, we are shown in this passage 
 timorous weakness in following Christ. How is this 
 dealt with ? In ver. 26 it is referred to its innermost 
 ground, to little faith, faith not yet confirmed at all, 
 or faith for the moment depressed through special 
 
Necessity and Metliocl of Sifting. 187 
 
 circumstances. At the same time the groundlessness 
 of this timorous weakness is indicated. " Why are 
 ye fearful ? " As addressed to disciples who might 
 already have learned from Him how to maintain fellow- 
 ship with their heavenly Father in trouble and danger, 
 the meaning of His question is : " Know ye not in 
 whom ye believe, what spirit ye are of, whom ye have 
 with you, and to whom ye belong ? " Tearfulness and 
 personal heartfelt trust in Christ are mutually exclusive, 
 2 Tim. i. 7. 
 
 Clergymen should specially observe that a man's 
 own seamanship will not always take him across the 
 sea, even though he may have crossed it often before ; 
 that even though on former occasions his own wisdom 
 has often stood him in good stead, and all has hitherto 
 gone well, he is not entitled to infer that he will be 
 able to stand the test in everything ; it is possible that 
 at the very end he may come to shame. There come 
 times of violent storm when Jesus' help slumbers as 
 it were, when our faith, and with it our courage, 
 dwindles low ; such leadings and experiences belong to 
 the great plan of God's training of His people. In these 
 circumstances we can still gather up the little remnant of 
 our faith for an act which we can always perform even 
 then, for a prayer without many or carefully chosen 
 words but proceeding from a contrite spirit — Kvpte, 
 acjo-ov r)fjLä<;. Then, too, particularly we begin to under- 
 stand the value of so many expressions and narratives 
 in Scripture, especially the value of the Psalms. 
 It is well known how highly these passages were 
 
188 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 prized by Luther, to whom certainly no one can deny 
 the possession of courage, and of whose conflicts those 
 people can have no conception, who from their times 
 of comfort and peace take up the notion that one has 
 sufficient for all purposes in the stock of courage with 
 which one has been furnished by nature. In the 
 Psalms there are many passages where times of trouble 
 are represented under the figure of the threatening 
 waves of the sea. That is to be regarded as no mere 
 image ; on the contrary, the basis of true poetry is 
 that it puts into words what in real life is expressed 
 in the form of certain phenomena and scenes, as in 
 Ps. cvii. 23-32. (On this gospel text there is a 
 sermon by K. H. Eieger for the fourth Sunday after 
 Epiphany, a model of a farewell sermon.) 
 
 (4.) Matt. viii. 28-34 brings us back to the 
 domain of the world ; like vers. 1 9 ff., however, it 
 comes under the head of the Lord's work of sifting. 
 The passage exhibits a special case of collision — 
 Christ healing two demoniacs, and in connection 
 therewith suffering a herd of swine to be destroyed. 
 It is a collision tuith material interests from 
 which timorous weakness so readily shrinks back. 
 There has to be made the decisive choice between 
 Christianity and a sensible loss. It is the case 
 that in the course of circumstances, that is, throuoh 
 providential dispensations, material losses are often 
 connected, as if intentionally, with conversion, and come 
 not infrequently, in what, humanly speaking, is the 
 fairest blossoming of the Christian life, to disturb and 
 
Necessity and Method of Sifting. 189 
 
 hinder for the time. These are again disciplinary 
 dispensations which serve for sifting, and should be 
 employed for that purpose. Material ruin is certainly 
 not an object contemplated by Christ's cause, but still 
 less material prosperity or gain. The Lord says — 
 Your father knoweth what things ye have need of, — 
 and this must suffice for the Christian ; it is, however, 
 a difficult lesson which we learn slowly. Upon such 
 godly contentment and trust, not upon material gain, 
 not upon compliance with the calculating commercial 
 spirit, God's kingdom is to be built. To this spirit 
 Christianity will not in any degree accommodate itself. 
 If it happen, then, that salvation goes hand in hand 
 with material deprivation, a genuine care for souls will 
 turn it to account as a means of purging out avarice, 
 that is, the desire to be rich. When such emergencies 
 arise, the object to be sought is to prevent godliness from 
 being regarded in the light of trade and of profit, to 
 secure men's learning from such experiences, or even 
 from dangers that merely threaten them, to be willing to 
 be poor with Christ, and to follow Him in His poverty, 
 and in so doing to depend upon the promises offered 
 for this life and for the life to come, 1 Tim. iv. 8, not 
 upon momentary enjoyment or loss. The practice of 
 the godliness which is profitable for all things consists 
 in this, that we learn to overcome the present with the 
 future, the visible with the invisible, the little with 
 the great, the impure with the pure. But, of course, 
 this is not the light in which the world regards such 
 instances of collision ; it regards them from the opposite 
 
190 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 point of view. A single blow of this kind, affecting 
 pecuniary interests, rouses whole cities and regions 
 against the gospel. All the more is it necessary in 
 such a case to have living witnesses ready, and to be 
 able to produce them as a proof that the gospel, that 
 is, Christ, has conferred benefits, and has exercised 
 compassion, Mark v. 19 f. With this we must then 
 be able to content ourselves under the condemnation 
 of the crowd. Besides, avarice, when it has to deal 
 with spiritual power, is generally timorous. The 
 people do not persecute Jesus, they only decline His 
 gospel, and in that case it is not to be forced upon 
 them. 
 
 6. Salvation loorhing amidst narroiv - minded pre- 
 judices. 
 
 In Matt. ix. we find the Lord carrying on His work 
 of salvation in three different ways. In vers. 1-8 we 
 see the forgiveness of sins administered and justified ; 
 in vers. 9—13 we have His saving intercourse with 
 sinners, with the abandoned, represented and justified ; 
 in vers. 14-17 we have His intercourse in the spirit 
 of liberty with well-meaning but prejudiced souls who 
 still take offence at liberty, similarly dealt with. 
 
 (1.) Hoio is the forgiveness of sins administered and 
 justified? Our first question is. In what case is the 
 word of forgiveness appropriate ? Ver. 2 suggests the 
 brief answer : Where there is distress and faith, that is, 
 where the pain of sin is felt within and the divine 
 help is sought. When we see a person in such a 
 
Salvation Working amidst Prejudices. 191 
 
 condition, when we are sure that this is his spiritual 
 state, the comfort of forgiveness is to be bestowed 
 unconditionally ; if we are not sure of this, it can only 
 be bestowed conditionally. 
 
 In connection with this there is need for searching 
 and trying, and this is specially what we have got to 
 do in dealing with the sick, particularly in such con- 
 ditions as are frequently found, where the sick man 
 has not clear views with regard to his own spiritual 
 state. Without the certainty that that state of heart 
 is present, no clergyman must take it upon him 
 directly to pronounce forgiveness, for that would be to 
 take upon him the responsibility of lulling souls into 
 slumber. The best way of ascertaining the state of 
 the soul is frank, familiar talk, which is generally the 
 most natural means of getting into thorough sympathy 
 with the suffering and the sick. We start with the 
 earthly, we begin with natural topics, with the bodily 
 health, cherishing the fellow-feeling which we ought to 
 have towards every one, and the more unaffectedly this 
 is done, that is to say, the more it proceeds from the 
 heart, the sooner the heart opens to it. Then let com- 
 fort be given in a short word of encouragement like 
 this, " Be of good cheer," and in a definite declaration 
 of pardon, ver. 2 and ver. 22, Luke vii. 48, 50. A 
 lengthened conversation is, of course, not excluded, but 
 in the practice of Christ and His apostles we have no 
 example to encourage exciting, inquisitorial discussions 
 or any kind of ceremonies and solemn meetings. In our 
 treatment of the sick we must take care not to pester 
 
192 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 them with too frequent visitation, or overload them 
 with consolation. If those who are not so careful about 
 the substance and essence of their office are punctilious 
 and scrupulous to pedantry in such externals, on the 
 other hand those who are truly faithful in their office 
 must be liberal enough to omit these formalities for 
 the sake of anything else which it is of essential 
 importance to keep in view. (Compare Storr's Sermon 
 on St. Matthew's Day — The intercourse of Jesus with 
 men; (1) with sinners, (2) with the self-righteous, 
 (3) with the disciples, (4) with the sick.) 
 
 It is generally apt to be the case that forgiveness 
 of sins is dealt with in a manner reflecting upon the 
 honour of God, or at least is so understood, see ver. 3. 
 As against this view, our Lord by the miracle demon- 
 strates that He has power to produce a new condition 
 in the man, to develope a fresh vital force, from the 
 comfort of having his sins forgiven, vers. 4-7. In the 
 light of this passage, sin is not merely covered over 
 to outward appearance by human caprice, regardless of 
 God, but is actually robbed of its power and overcome 
 in a manner worthy of God. If we therefore take 
 the outward as our guide in aiming at a spiritual result, 
 it should always be the rule, as regards the true 
 doctrine of forgiveness, to combine it with a word of 
 exhortation fitted to awaken to a right manner of life. 
 But if this is to be done, not merely by way of law, 
 by way of command, but in the spirit of the gospel, 
 this word of exhortation and awakening must be com- 
 bined with evidence that it is Christ who has the 
 
Salvation Working amidst Prejudices. 193 
 
 power of imparting also new spiritual life, of robbing 
 the old life of its power and overcoming it through 
 the new ; and this also must not be communicated 
 merely as information from without — forgiveness of 
 sins and new life ought rather to be disclosed to souls 
 as an actual personal blessing. They are therefore 
 first and above all to be induced to come to Christ 
 themselves in order to receive the true forgiveness of 
 sins ; they must be brought to Christ, as is done in 
 this case outwardly. They must be brought into a 
 personal union with Christ, and the new infusion of 
 strength follows as a natural result. 
 
 But it may be further necessary to make a special 
 defence of the Christian doctrine of the forgiveness of 
 sins. In doing so we are to reflect, not upon the mere 
 words of the objections alleged, but upon the thoughts 
 which are generated in the evil heart of man, upon the 
 radical antagonism of the thoughts to Christ and His 
 forgiveness, ver. 4. This is always the way of Christian 
 polemic ; it does not fasten in dialectic fashion upon 
 the propositions of its opponents in their external form, 
 upon the form of the thoughts ; it rather penetrates 
 to the very thoughts lying at the foundation, to the 
 tendencies of the disposition and of the life, in order 
 thus to lay hold of the evil at its root, not merely to 
 pluck round about at the runners. Such a method is 
 in accordance with the nature of the case, and is the 
 only thing suited to the soul's necessities, or to the 
 position taken by Christianity and the work it has to 
 do in the salvation of men. It is therefore especially 
 
 N 
 
194 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 required of us in our preaching that we bring ourselves 
 en rapport with the inner form of the thoughts as they 
 arise and unfold themselves in the hearts of men in 
 connection with the subjects engaging their attention. 
 We still meet with the notion, even at the present day, 
 that forgiveness, as offered in Christ on the ground of 
 simple faith, encroaches upon the honour of God and is 
 morally injurious. This notion will be found to be 
 wanton delusion or offence, when we preach forgiveness 
 evangelically, that is to say, really base it upon the 
 personal mediation of Christ ; for in His whole life it 
 is manifest that He seeks the honour of God more 
 than any man, than any system — that He is not lax, 
 does not corrupt the moral character but ennobles it, 
 that especially in forgiving sins He always maintains 
 the law instead of abrogating it, maintains a righteous- 
 ness which magnifies God, Matt. vi. 14 f. On this 
 subject there are, besides, passages from the apostolic 
 Epistles to be continually inculcated and applied, in 
 which righteousness and holiness are deduced from 
 the forgiveness effected through Christ's sacrifice, as its 
 proper fruit and binding duty, e.g. Titus ii. 11-15; 
 1 John i. 7. 
 
 The main concern therefore should be to treat the 
 forgiveness of sins in its proper moral connection, as 
 grounded on the one hand on faith in Christ as a 
 power that redeems, — a faith, that is, which judges 
 itself, submits itself to the truth with moral longing 
 after righteousness, — and as perfected on the other 
 hand in faith in Christ, as a power that gives new life 
 
Salvation Working amidst Prejudices. 195 
 
 and thus includes by an inward necessity the obli- 
 gation to new obedience. 
 
 (2.) Saving intercourse luitJi sinners and its justification, 
 vers. 9-13. — We have here a freedom of intercourse 
 which gives offence again to certain persons. In case 
 this should be taken as a justification of the indis- 
 criminate intercourse of ministers with people of all 
 sorts, it is to be observed as a point of the utmost 
 importance that mere intercourse with sinners and 
 tax-gatherers does not by any means make a faithful 
 compassionate shepherd and friend of men ; to be 
 this one requires to call men (ver. 13) to repentance, 
 in the spirit of a divine compassion ; when this call is 
 addressed to open sinners, it means that every one may 
 come as he is, only he must not want to remain as he 
 is, nor must he actually do so : this is, to put it simply, 
 the way to keep the mean between laxity and undue 
 severity. In this way the man having once come 
 under our influence, is treated not according to what 
 he has hitherto been, but according to what he desires 
 to be and ought to be under divine impulse, under the 
 impulse of conscience, and only on this principle is 
 our procedure to be determined ; it is not as a sinner 
 with sinners then that we have intercourse, not as a 
 sick man with the sick, but as a physician with the 
 sick. As long as we cannot act the part of the 
 physician, we must not ourselves seek out the sick or 
 devote ourselves to the sick, for we may ourselves 
 get infected by them. All are involved in one con- 
 dition of disease, though not one kind of disease, and 
 
196 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 so it is only partially that one can help another. It 
 is essential therefore, in the right treatment of the sick, 
 not only to keep in view the general condition of 
 sickness, but also to individualize it ; and intercourse 
 with individuals is the means for learning and for 
 practising that. Bcstoration to health, however, whether 
 in body or in spirit, can only be effected by the 
 awakening of the vital force still remaining, laying 
 hold of it, and directing it against the disease which 
 has made its way into the system. Accordingly, it is 
 essential to ascertain how much of the truth still 
 remains alive in the individual with whom we have 
 to do, or what truth already lives and works within 
 him ; that is to be found out — by that he is to be 
 laid hold of in various ways — by rebuke, admonition, 
 exhortation, awakening, instruction. For finding out 
 this, Christ's conversation with the Samaritan woman 
 is very instructive. The physician, however, proceeds 
 in the whole case, not boisterously or overpoweringly ; 
 on the contrary, with all his energy he proceeds 
 methodically in every detail. From what has been 
 said, we gather that we are, in the exercise of our 
 spiritual functions, in our preaching and our care for 
 souls, to deal with abandoned sinners and with the 
 prevalent evils of the day after the manner of a 
 physician. This does not imply, however, that these 
 evils and persons are to be treated with moral laxity 
 and indifference, in a spirit of loose liberality and 
 sentiment, but rather in the spirit of divine com- 
 passion, that is, in a spirit which aims at producing 
 
Salvation Working amidst Prejudices. 197 
 
 repentance, and is intent upon restoration to spiritual 
 health. Wlien we adopt this attitude we are assailed 
 on every occasion by reproaches arising from many 
 different points of view. There is a pride of morality, 
 which is anxious to preserve its good opinion of itself, 
 its moral self-respect, its satisfaction with itself, by 
 despising those whose sin has become notorious, though 
 people doing so are themselves often essentially in the 
 same guilt. There is further a pride of party which 
 regards it as a want of decision for people to associate 
 with such as are not of their party and are not 
 recognised in their society. There is a certain self- 
 righteousness, inherent in human nature generally, 
 which certainly has no objection to severity against 
 gross outbreaks of sin : " I thank thee, God ; " it is 
 a different thing, however, the moment we condemn 
 all without distinction, taking for granted and bringing 
 to light the same inward evil in all. It is then that 
 offence arises. Then they say, " Are we also still 
 blind, sinful, or sick ? " 
 
 Now, this treatment after the manner of a physician, 
 which we have found practised by Christ, rests on 
 the assumption that men universally are to be treated 
 as sinners, are all to be laid under an obligation to 
 repent, are all to be dealt with as needing divine grace. 
 This always offends those who find no support for 
 their self-confidence save in drawing a broad line of 
 demarcation between themselves and open sinners or 
 prevailing evils, and by washing their hands in inno- 
 cence. How is this pride of self-righteousness and 
 
198 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 the consequent offence taken at the physician's work 
 in the gospel, at its salvation, dealt with ? Besides 
 what has been already mentioned, it is to be specially 
 borne in mind that there is, underlying this attitude, 
 a deep-seated ignorance, ver. 13, a want of self- 
 knowledge, of knowledge of sin in a man's own inward 
 being. Its power, the power which it exercises in a 
 man's own members, its curse in the heart and the 
 conscience, is not yet acknowledged and not laid to 
 heart. Where this is wanting, people do not perceive 
 that they are themselves in need of a divine com- 
 passion. As they do not know how to value the 
 divine compassion, they do not know how to treat 
 others in the spirit of that compassion, nor understand 
 what it is to be treated in that spirit. In so far as 
 people have, on the one hand, loose ideas with reference 
 to inner purity, without any idea of a sanctification 
 which extends to thought and will, and in so far as they 
 appear, therefore, strong and good in their own eyes, in 
 the same degree they think and act with strict reference 
 to custom, form, law, to reputation and honour, and 
 judge severely of everything which seems to interfere 
 with these outward proprieties. This is also the very 
 standpoint of the Pharisees which comes so frequently 
 into collision with Christ and His gospel. For men 
 occupying this standpoint it is impossible to avoid being 
 offended at true Christianity, for it forces its way to 
 the foundation and the essence, it urges thorough self- 
 knowledge and thorough cure for one and all, finding 
 no man too good and no man too bad to be the object 
 
Salvation Working amidst Prejudices. 199 
 
 of divine mercy. Eemonstrances against this are to 
 be treated after the example set by the Lord, ver. 13. 
 In ver. 12 He had pointed to the needs of the sick 
 Just because the Pharisee does not recognise this, He 
 says : Go ye and learn. Such radical ignorance must 
 be exposed, and the man, with his pride, sent to learn 
 Learn ye, how mercy is quite according to the mind 
 of God, how all your offerings and services fail to 
 bring you out of a position in which ye need the 
 divine mercy yourselves and must permit notorious 
 sinners also to have the benefit of it. Learn first 
 to discern the divine meaning which there is in com- 
 passion towards sinners and to practise it, if ye would 
 be righteous in the midst of sinners ; learn to call 
 sinners to repentance, if ye would not yourselves 
 be sinners ; go as physicians into the lazar-house of 
 humanity, and then say what is involved in sin and 
 its cure. We see then from this how necessary it is 
 in all our efforts to correct and ward off offences and 
 attacks against the merciful and saving character of the 
 gospel, to go back to the fountainhead within (see K. H. 
 Eieger's Meditation for the Second Sunday after Trinity). 
 (3.) That Christ and His disciples represented a new 
 element in the sphere of Judaism, is shown with special 
 clearness by Matt. ix. 14-17. That element is the 
 freedom of the Spirit, which not only, on the one hand, 
 places itself in association with notorious sinners, but 
 also, on the other hand, refuses to be bound by the 
 prevalent notions and customs of outward religiousness. 
 We see here John's disciples coming forward with 
 
2 00 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 objections to what is Christian, only with greater 
 moderation than the Pharisees, than the real cere- 
 monialists ; they still stand, like them, on the side of 
 what is old, of the conservatism which cannot under- 
 stand what is new on the part of Christ ; this is the 
 meaning of the harmless combination : " We and the 
 Pharisees," although the Baptist had already taken 
 the Pharisees severely to task. They do not, how- 
 ever, adhere so closely to the old position, as to find 
 any fault with Christ Himself, like the Pharisees who 
 turned their reproaches against His person ; but, that 
 His disciples who had not His spirit and authority, that 
 even they should neglect what religious men of all 
 parties conscientiously observed, that they should have 
 accorded to them by Him the extraordinary liberty of 
 setting themselves above the existing order of things, — 
 that is the stumbling-block. John's disciples thus 
 represent, not the completely and decidedly old order 
 of things, like the Pharisees, — they belong to the 
 period of transition to the new ; but with regard to the 
 latter, the moment an independent position began to be 
 assumed by it, they are so surprised, and so entangled 
 in the old that they would have liked to put limits to 
 the new (We fast oft. Thy disciples not at all). We 
 have here, therefore, the conflict with the prejudices of 
 those who would like to mediate between the old and 
 the new in such a way that the latter should not attain 
 to its rights even where, as among the disciples, it has 
 already taken deep root, where accordingly the essential 
 conditions of its full recognition already exist. The 
 
Salvation Worlciny amidst Prejudices. 201 
 
 conflict arose first in the matter of fasting ; it had to 
 do with the omission of an old-established and univer- 
 sally prevalent pious custom, Matt, vi., Luke xviii. 12. 
 This custom was, moreover, in itself a useful exercise in 
 godliness, it passed therefore as a sure token of godli- 
 ness, and so the omission of it was regarded as a token 
 of contempt for it, or at least of indifference. Fasting 
 was therefore practised under moral pressure ; it was 
 an outward ordinance of religion. Now Christ had 
 taken upon Him the task of making acts of worship 
 or religious service in the spirit, a reality with His 
 disciples, of freeing them from outward ordinances, but 
 in such a way that the law might be realized in its 
 fulness, although by no means in its outward form. 
 
 How did He proceed ? Not by making direct war 
 upon such religious observances without more ado, 
 setting them down as narrow-mindedness, literality, 
 slavery all over, but just as little by letting them alone 
 from a spirit of accommodation or pious awe, or even 
 helping to maintain them in their old position and 
 prestige. He never did homage to religious ordinances 
 as authoritative, nor did he treat them, in the spirit of 
 a certain idealizing or conciliatory theology, simply as 
 things indifferent. As regards fasting in particular. He 
 had already in the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. vi. 
 16-18, discussed the pious custom with scat. First He 
 cleared away by instruction whatever of an unworthy 
 character had gathered round it, removed the matter 
 out of the region of externality in which it made its 
 appearance publicly as an act of worship, into the 
 
202 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 region of spirituality, and in doing so presented it to 
 view as a thing pertaining to every man's private 
 relationship to God ; compare Eom. xiv. 2,4. By this 
 means a blow was already struck indirectly at the 
 notion of this and the other religious exercise possess- 
 ing an absolute value, admitting of being outwardly 
 enjoined, and being amenable to other people's criticism. 
 Outward fasting as a ceremonial observance had also 
 meanwhile disappeared from the circle of the disciples ; 
 and the attack. Matt. ix. 14, offers the Lord an oppor- 
 tunity of defining more precisely what should be their 
 personal relation to those and similar usages. 
 
 The next expression, ver. 15, — where the main idea 
 " the Bridegroom " is meant to remind the disciples of 
 John of the significant words of their own master, 
 John iii. 28 ff., — brings out the fact that the disciples, 
 in virtue of their association with the Lord (as viol 
 Tov vvfjL(j)(ovo<;, that is, companions of the bridegroom 
 in brinoinoj home the bride, in other words, the 
 conductors of the bride, in a wide sense, marriage 
 company), are in a totally different situation from that 
 in which alone fasting is an inward reality : /jltj BuvavraL 
 irevOelv. Trevdelv describes the only frame of mind in 
 which fasting is a reality ; accordingly this expression 
 implies that, within the circle of believers, external 
 observances of religion are not imposed by way of 
 command, and are not to be applied as a standard for 
 judging piety, that they are rather to be left to the 
 mood and turn of mind of individuals as they are 
 determined by their special circumstances, in other 
 
Salvation Worldng amidst Prejudices. 203 
 
 words, that they must correspond to the actual stand- 
 point of the inner and outer life of the individual if 
 they are to have any value whatever. 
 
 On the whole, then, this is the result of the fore- 
 going considerations : The principle of Christian liberty, 
 when it comes into conflict with religious ordinances, 
 even where these are in their own nature good, is, in 
 the name of the Lord, by no means to be surrendered ; 
 but it is not to be maintained merely by outwardly 
 contending against religious ordinances and abolishing 
 them, or even by putting them under a ban and so on. 
 This would be a mere outward severance, whereby even 
 the good that is contained in ordinances would be lost. 
 The Christian principle of freedom proceeds according 
 to a method of free development from within outwards, 
 and this is to be carried out with the salt and the light 
 of testimony. But in this very process Christ and 
 Christianity come into collision on the one hand with 
 the ceremonialists — the ecclesiastics, and on the other 
 hand with the men who carry freedom to licentiousness, 
 with violent reformers and liberals. The true Christian 
 method is : Excrescences upon religious ordinances and 
 usages must first be got rid of by means of our 
 testimony as teachers ; then when the new spirit, as 
 the instruction progresses, strikes root with its directions 
 that lead inward and upward — its laws and forces, 
 there are formed spontaneously the real conditions, pre- 
 requisites and foundations, not only of a new view of 
 life which is spiritually free, but of a new condition of 
 life, there is formed a spiritual, immediate, personal 
 
204 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 heart union with God in Christ, a free union in 
 love, as the result of which they become viol rov 
 pvfi(f)covo^, sharers in the joy and the liberty of the 
 Lord. It is then that the transition from the old 
 bondage is spiritually effected, and at the same time 
 secured in its divine right. But even thus this transi- 
 tion is not externally commanded, still less is it carried 
 out with the pomp of an act of renunciation ; as little 
 may it be hindered and prevented ; what is required 
 is that we let it take place of itself. But if once the 
 principle of freedom has gained the inner reality appro- 
 priate to it, it is to be maintained in the face of external 
 encroachments and to be protected in its right, as is 
 here done by our Lord. All who are attacked on 
 account of their innocent omission of such prevailing 
 religious usages are to be defended in their liberty just 
 in so far as their action is in accordance with their 
 inward condition. 
 
 We have, then, again arrived at this law — that 
 prudence, forbearance, loving consideration for the 
 weak and those who differ from us, must never go so 
 far as to lay a ban upon that which God's word freely 
 permits in the sphere of the Christian life, or to 
 encroach upon the freedom of others, whether it be the 
 freedom they have by nature or the spiritual freedom 
 of the New Testament. Anything that must and should 
 develop itself from within, is not to be absolutely laid 
 down either as an external command or an outward 
 prohibition. 
 
 The principal aim to be steadily kept in view by 
 
Salvation Worldng amidst Prejudices. 205 
 
 the minister of Christ is stated in ver. 16 f. This 
 passage teaches us that a man who labours for Christ 
 and His cause, for the cause of the kingdom of heaven, 
 of eternity, for a new worki and the spiritual trans- 
 formation of mankind requisite thereto — that such a 
 man is neither able nor entitled to make it his object 
 to preserve old religious customs by dint of force, as 
 fasting was here sought to be forced upon the disciples 
 of Christ, nor to take in hand mere patchwork reforms. 
 Ver. 16: "No man putteth a piece of undressed cloth 
 upon an old garment ; for that which should fill it up 
 taketh from the garment, and a worse rent is made." 
 Upon the main body of the old custom the new can- 
 not merely be put on and drawn close bit by bit, 
 if anything united and firm is to be produced ; patch- 
 work of that kind does nothing to preserve the old, 
 on the contrary, the rent only becomes worse in the 
 end. We are not therefore merely to introduce 
 improvements in the outward attire by fragments ; the 
 problem is, and continues to be, how to preserve the 
 new elements of the kingdom of heaven pure and 
 unmingled with the old, and how to institute a 
 thoroughgoing renewal. This is with every individual 
 the constantly recurring problem, because every one 
 has the old man in himself. Neither, therefore, ver. 
 17, is the new wine of Christianity to be poured into 
 the old skin, the old form is not to be retained as the 
 vehicle of what is new ; the New Testament essence 
 and spirit of Christianity, the kingdom of heaven, is 
 to have given to it and to have maintained for it. 
 
206 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 the form corresponding to its own nature, which is 
 the di\ine form of simplicity and natural reality, 
 whereas what men pursue is artificiality and hypocrisy. 
 Luke V. 39 further takes account of the common 
 pretext for retaining the old : ^pT/o-rore/Do? iarcv. 
 To find fault with the new, if it is truth, if it is 
 genuine wine, on account of its newness, its fermenta- 
 tion and its bitterness, and on that ground to reject it, 
 is a course which does not meet with approval from 
 the Lord, because it demands what is contrary to nature. 
 But we see the Lord going still further in individual 
 cases in order to vindicate the new spirit residing 
 in the gospel of His kingdom. In dealing with the 
 disciples of John, He kept Himself on the defensive ; 
 but when it is not merely weakness, not merely well- 
 meaning prejudice zealous for tradition, when it is 
 perhaps a spirit of exacting formalism and conven- 
 tionalism that has to be dealt with, a spirit which 
 sets itself up as a judge over others and disputes His 
 authority, it is Christ's method systematically and 
 aggressively to counterwork this pretentious spirit of 
 tradition and ceremonial strictness, to assail it not 
 simply indirectly and incidentally, but directly and of 
 set purpose. On this point, besides the story of the 
 feast with publicans. Matt. ix. 10 ff., we should com- 
 pare Matt. xii. 1—13, where Jesus recognises the right 
 of hunger — of a natural necessity, alongside of which 
 holy days and holy places must become secondary 
 considerations, also Mark ii. 27 f., where He asserts 
 man's title to liberty in relation to the Sabbath, and 
 
Wisdom and Truth Vindicated. 207 
 
 Mark iii. 4, and Luke xiv., where He emphasizes the 
 unrestricted moral right to do good. Mark iii. 5 is 
 also to be noticed : " He looked round on them witli 
 anger, being grieved at the hardness of their heart." 
 When He finds Himself in the presence of an obstinate 
 resistance to truth, He assails it with bold indignation ; 
 but it is an indignation which does nothing contrary to 
 God's command, which injures no man's soul, a holy 
 indignation wliich is mixed with sorrow for human 
 obstinacy. The man, however, who in his preaching 
 does not improve upon ordinances, and sew new bits of 
 cloth out of his text upon the old garment, but brings 
 a new truth with the decisive authority of Christ, who 
 does not loudly proclaim freedom, but seeks to educate 
 men to the enjoyment of it, such a man must, with all 
 the wisdom and patience of his procedure, be constantly 
 content with the precious judgment of Luke v. 39 
 (cf. Gessert, The Gospel Ministry, p. 245 and 251 ff. 
 Upon Matt. x. compare Christliche Reden, vol. iii., 
 Nos. 29 and 30, vol. iv. No. 43). 
 
 7. Wisdom and truth vindicated. 
 
 In Matt. xi. and xii. we have the battle with pre- 
 judice going on on different sides. We see how wisdom 
 and truth are vindicated — (1) in .relation to an able 
 coadjutor v/ho has not yet fully attained to the 
 spirit of the gospel, xi. 1-6 ; (2) in relation to a 
 frivolous, careless, self-confident people, vers. 7-24 ; 
 (3) in relation to malignant opponents, chap. xii. 
 
 (1.) We see Christ's attitude towards His coadjutor 
 
208 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 and his followers in Matt. xi. 2 ff. (compare Christliche 
 Beden, iii. No. 42, and iv. No. 31). It is not our 
 object to determine what induced the Baptist to send 
 this message, whether it was that he had his faith in 
 Jesus as the Messiah weakened by imprisonment, that 
 lie merely wished to urge and spur Him on to faster 
 progress, or that he wished from Christ's own lips to 
 work conviction in the hearts of his disciples who 
 had not yet determined to take the side of Jesus. 
 The essential point for us is ver. 6 : Blessed is he 
 whosoever shall find none occasion of stumbling in 
 me. It is evident that in these words, from any point 
 of view, and especially in the minds of those disciples 
 who had held with Him the discussion on fasting, 
 offence at the Lord's work had to be cleared away, 
 an offence which was about to go the length of reject- 
 ing Him personally as one who had proved unfaithful 
 to His mission, or at least did not answer to it accord- 
 ing to the requirements of the time, and of refusing 
 to regard Him as their true Messiah. How then 
 does Christ proceed here ? He does not dispose of 
 their doubts whether He is He that should come, by 
 reference to prevailing popular opinion or authorized 
 belief, neither does He enter into critical discussions 
 of different views. It is matters of fact to which He 
 directs attention : " Whether you choose to regard the 
 outward development as near or distant, ocular demon- 
 stration proves that I carry along with me the words 
 and deeds of the new kingdom." This gives us an 
 indication as to the best way of ascertaining whether any 
 
Wisdom and Truth Vindicated. 209 
 
 particular ministry is truly Christian, really evangelical 
 or not ? What is it that is in such a case the decisive 
 consideration ? If we adhere to our text, the main 
 question is this : Is it the gospel which is here taught, 
 that is, is it the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven, 
 not of an external kingdom of God, of a holy Church 
 professing to save, but of a real supernatural kingdom 
 of God, and that in the peculiar form in which it 
 has been instituted for the benefit of poor needy 
 humanity, with its strait gate and its narrow way, 
 according to the Lord's manner and patient method 
 of working in which there is no hurrying on and no 
 obtruding of anything? Are they, moreover, gospel /rm^s 
 which show themselves ? Does the gospel preached 
 manifest, as in the ministry of Jesus, without any 
 adventitious aid, simply through the power of the 
 word, its awakening, purifying, life - giving power ? 
 Where this is the case, there is also present the right 
 and the power to warn against doubts and objections, 
 even if the measure of outward success and the rela- 
 tions to existing parties do not answer expectations, 
 even if there are conflicts with the most highly 
 esteemed tendencies of the age and with religious 
 authorities. For those who even yet impatiently 
 insist upon an outward presentation of the glory of 
 Christianity — upon the constitution of the Church and 
 external forms, we may derive from our text the 
 lesson, to be mainly concerned that the gospel be 
 properly preached and follow its natural course, that 
 it enter into hearts, and evince its power among those 
 
 
 
210 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 who need it and desire it, that the kingdom of God 
 become an inward thing through its operation, and 
 that ye prove its existence among you and your interest 
 in it by evidences of power and of the Spirit. The 
 genuine form of the Christian Church, of the divine 
 kingdom, so long as the present dispensation of things 
 endures, is found in the proclamation of the gospel 
 of the kingdom of heaven and in its efficacy as a 
 divine power, which, without worldly means, without 
 the pomp of human might and art, without flattery 
 and without coercion, knocks at the door of the heart 
 with the simple might of truth, — which indeed is never 
 recognised or received by the proud among men, who 
 consider themselves rich enough already, but turns 
 away from them till the time comes for judgment. 
 On the other hand, it takes up its abode with the 
 humble, who, conscious of their poverty and their 
 weakness, seek riches and health in God, receiving 
 into their hearts the divine peace arising from the 
 forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, and the 
 heavenly blessing of His Holy Spirit, and becoming 
 thus the children of the kingdom of God, which is 
 within them, as many passages of Scripture teach. 
 They have a share in the same Holy Spirit who fills 
 God, His Son, and the whole heavenly world (1 John 
 iv. 13 ; Gal. iv. 6 ; Luke xxiv. 49 ; Eph. i. 3). It is 
 this Spirit who pours into them from above His 
 heavenly influences and gifts, and carries upwards from 
 the depths of their hearts His impulses and prayers 
 and fruits. Thus they have already access into the 
 
Wisdom and Truth Vindicated. 211 
 
 real, the very kingdom of God, eternal, supernatural 
 (Phil. iii. 20 ; Eph. ii. 6, 19 ; Heb. vi. 4 f.), have come 
 in various degrees into union (Heb. xii. 18 ff.) with the 
 city of the living God above, with the heavenly Jeru- 
 salem, with the great invisible Church of the angels, of 
 the first-born who are written in heaven, and of the 
 just made perfect, with God the judge over all, and 
 with Jesus the mediator of a new and everlasting 
 covenant between God and man, between heaven and 
 earth. The kingdom of God is thus a spiritual kingdom 
 and a kingdom of heaven, not a kingdom of the world, 
 not a visible government ; it has in the higher world 
 above the earth its proper seat and scene, and only in 
 the spirit does it have its hidden fellowship with 
 believers here below, and so it is to abide till the 
 kingdoms of the world come to an end, and in their 
 stead the King of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus Christ, 
 sets up His throne in this world ; then will He purge 
 away as dross all the old that cannot be improved, and 
 transform our world into a heavenly world, so as then 
 to become a visible kingdom of heaven (2 Pet. iii. 
 10-13). 
 
 For this very reason we always see the Lord — wlien 
 it is suggested to Him from any quarter that He should 
 exhibit His power, His glory, in an outward form — 
 pointing to the inward work of salvation and sancti- 
 fi cation, as a work which He must carry out in the 
 souls of men, before there can be any word of a 
 revelation of His glory, of a coming of the kingdom in 
 its power, and this work of salvation is to be accom- 
 
212 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 plished by means of the simple gospel. In virtue of 
 this conception of salvation, excluding any outward 
 display of the might of Christianity, the gospel has to 
 pursue its humble, noiseless, slow and hidden course of 
 progress in this world, in the lowest sphere of this 
 world, among the poor, the sick, the blind, the lame, 
 the deaf, the dead. But the Lord warns us that 
 we are not to be offended at this lowly form of His 
 person, His kingdom, word, and work, if we would not 
 forfeit the blessedness He has to bestow. 
 
 (2.) The Lord's attitude toivards a light - minded 
 ]oeople loho are merely carried away hy superficial impres- 
 sions : vers. 7-24. — A certain difference had manifested 
 itself between John and Christ which was not to be 
 explained away without a correction of misapprehensions 
 regarding John, and the Lord now makes it His first 
 business to place the character of John again in its 
 true light. In doing so His object is that the measure 
 of good which this herald of the truth established and 
 was intended to establish within the limits assigned to 
 him, should not suffer. In such cases where a real or 
 apparent difference emerges in relation to an honest 
 servant of the truth like John, we must be chiefly 
 concerned to see that the measure of good which such 
 a servant and witness establishes and is called to 
 establish within the limits assigned to him, does not 
 suffer. The man who once gets to represent a divine 
 truth firmly and honestly and w;th devotion, even 
 though it be not yet from a New Testament point of 
 view, must be esteemed a witness of the truth. We 
 
Wisdom and Truth Vindicated. 213 
 
 are not entitled, for example, entirely to reject an 
 honest rationalist even although he do no more than 
 recognise and maintain in an earnest spirit the moral 
 side of Christianity ; in that there is the germ of 
 more. But, on the other hand, the measure of good 
 already possessed is not to be inordinately exalted. 
 The Lord in His testimony brings out first of all in 
 vers. 7—10 the immovable stedfastness of the Baptist, 
 and thereby meets the suspicion that fickleness, or weak 
 timidity, or the desire to be free from his bonds, 
 was the cause of his disciples appearing to inquire on his 
 behalf. He brings out his peculiar characteristic as the 
 messenger and forerunner of the Lord of the kingdom 
 of heaven. But in connection with this we have next 
 the nature of the limitations attaching to this character 
 explained to us (ver. 11). In the treatment of this 
 passage many expositors have indulged in needless 
 refinements. The teaching of Scripture is to be sur- 
 veyed as an organic whole in order to ascertain there- 
 from the meaning in the particular passage. Many 
 believe that " the least in the kingdom of heaven " is 
 the Lord Himself, expressing Himself with humility. 
 But it cannot be said of the Lord that He is a person 
 in the kingdom of heaven ; on the contrary. He brings 
 the kingdom of heaven. The ground of the expression 
 is that in the kingdom of heaven the Holy Spirit of 
 God first appears as a new creating principle, as a 
 principle fashioning men. Thus a man is spiritually 
 begotten for the kingdom of heaven, not simply seized 
 and borne along by the Spirit Hke the prophets. 
 
214 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 Hence those persons who have been seized by tlie 
 Spirit, must themselves be redeemed and born again, 
 just like others ; and thus the least in the kingdom of 
 heaven, being born of the Spirit, and not merely of a 
 woman, is greater than the Baptist, who still stands 
 outside its borders. In ver. 12 we have again similar 
 attempts at refined exegesis. This passage is gene- 
 rally explained in a good sense : that the kingdom of 
 heaven forces its way, and such as use the violence of 
 faith obtain it. The very first unprejudiced impression 
 of ßta^ofiac, ßiaaral, apTtd^ecv, is not favourable to 
 this interpretation, and the possibility of justifying such 
 a view must be sought farther afield. Even granting 
 that ßtd^ofjLat means " to exert oneself with eagerness 
 to obtain anything," there is in that no explanation 
 how it can be said that the kingdom of heaven comes 
 with might, and dpird^eiv expresses a violent taking 
 away, or an arbitrary taking to oneself. Comparing 
 Luke xvi. 16, it would there be said: "Every one 
 presses with eager exertion into the kingdom of heaven," 
 but that would be in most glaring contradiction to the 
 complaint elsewhere expressed that the Lord with His 
 kingdom of heaven found no faith on the earth. The 
 Lord says simply : " Every one presses with violence 
 into the kingdom of heaven." This is also suggested 
 by the connection in Matt. xi. Christ has said in ver. 
 11 that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater 
 than John. This was calculated to lead to misunder- 
 standing, for, since John, there had been much ado 
 made about the kingdom of heaven, — compare the 
 
Wisdom and Trvih Vindicated. 215 
 
 many false Messiahs. In this deluded excitement about 
 the Messiah the Jews might have believed that John's 
 day was already past for them, they might have held 
 tiiemselves to be greater than John. Ver. 12 guards 
 against this misunderstanding by pointing to the arro- 
 gant, arbitrary, violent way in which they had acted 
 towards the kingdom of heaven instead of submitting 
 themselves to the preaching of repentance by this 
 greatest of the prophets, and waiting with this greatest 
 for Him who was to come. " Since John, entrance is 
 sought arbitrarily and violently into the kingdom of 
 heaven." The Lord in what precedes has spoken on 
 behalf of the severe side of the truth, as it was 
 represented in John, had powerfully vindicated that 
 whole peculiarity of his conduct which placed him so 
 high compared with all earlier platforms. But for all 
 that He did not point the people back to John, nor 
 would He have them remain at his stage : He rather 
 points them to the higher standing to be found in the 
 kingdom of heaven. By so doing He prevents them 
 from fancying that they are already at that stage, or 
 may come to it by treating the kingdom of heaven in 
 the way they have done since the appearance of John, 
 viz. as an object of usurpation, violence, avarice, 
 vainglory, ambition. How deeply this had penetrated 
 into the Jewish nature is seen in Matt, xviii. 1, from 
 the question of the disciples. Even their heads were 
 full of vain notions of national Messianic greatness. 
 The Lord, therefore, points in ver. 13 to the testimony 
 concernino; the kingdom of heaven as it was given in 
 
216 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 Scripture. There another conception of the kingdom 
 of heaven ought to have been, and might have been, 
 apparent to them, and another way into it than the 
 violent rush that had been made until now. He still 
 further points, ver. 14 f., to the expectation of Elias as 
 the Lord's forerunner, an expectation which had already 
 become part of the popular faith. Elias, however, is 
 the personification of prophecy in its reforming character. 
 This figure of Elias as a reformer preaches a conversion 
 in which we have to exercise violence upon ourselves, 
 and that was something diametrically opposed to the 
 prevalent Jewish idea and method, which was accus- 
 tomed to regard the kingdom of heaven as the perfect 
 command of outward force, and wished therefore to 
 set it up with outward force and inward passion. But 
 all these utterances of the Lord are to be taken merely 
 as suggestions to be developed through individual reflec- 
 tion — so says the additional remark in ver. 15. This 
 whole treatment of the subject of John on the part of 
 Christ in the presence of the people is the more sugges- 
 tive and instructive when we reflect that John at that 
 moment lay in prison, and did so in consequence of his 
 strict morality, of his inflexible fidelity to truth. How 
 easily ordinary mortals in such cases are tempted to find 
 fault with strict morality when the consequences have 
 been so unfortunate, or at least to refrain from extolling 
 a man, thus imprisoned, before all the people on account 
 of the very thing which brought him into discredit, lest 
 by any means the bad appearance of the thing should 
 be visited upon their own cause ! 
 
Wisdom and Truth Vindicated. 217 
 
 We learn therefore that, in men who allow the truth 
 its full severity without respect of persons and prove 
 this by their own self-sacrifice, even the severe side 
 of truth, though it turns away our sympathies from 
 the men themselves, is to be specially and publicly 
 honoured in their misfortunes. On the other hand, 
 if what is powerful and severe is brought into special 
 prominence before the people, as was done by the 
 Lord, it is apt to kindle a blaze of popular feeling, it 
 leads to acts of outward violence. It is in that case 
 of importance to direct the minds of the people from 
 what is outward to what is inward, from the outward 
 tendencies of the times away to the eternal plan in the 
 mind of God, as He by law and promise has expressed 
 it in the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, and likewise 
 to point to the morally powerful figures of reformers, 
 like Elias, which come before us in the Holy Scripture. 
 
 Ver. 1 6 f. passes on to another side of the subject : 
 " Whereunto shall I liken this generation ? " Here 
 Christ takes into consideration another extreme, 
 which is fond of allying itself with the practice of 
 violence and of undue haste. If violence sees that 
 people don't meet its wishes, the result is an attitude 
 of capricious, idle watching and carping in regard to 
 the way and manner in which the testimony of truth 
 is presented : If you won't do as we wish, we won't do 
 as you wish. This is not merely a childish performance, 
 but at the same time a capriciousness of temper which 
 won't engage in anything else, finds nothing right, 
 because it is not allowed to strike the keynote, because 
 
218 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 its pleasure-seeking views meet with as little response 
 as its complaints and grievances (Stier makes in his 
 Words of Jesus some telling suggestions upon this 
 passage). In contrast to these lamentations of the age 
 the Lord remarks in ver. 1 9 at the close : koI iStKaccoÖrj 
 kt\. This is generally taken, as Luther took it, as 
 included in the Lord's complaint ; but this is not con- 
 sistent with the meaning of ScKaiovcrOaL, nor yet the 
 tense employed. ScKaiovv might mean : " to give one 
 his due by punishment ; " but here it would be in that 
 case to punish one with wrong, an unjust censure. 
 We do not take it as a complaint, but as a contrast by 
 means of which the dissatisfaction already mentioned 
 was to be shown to be groundless. Let wisdom be 
 first justified in its claim to be wisdom, says Christ. 
 The words too, " the children of wisdom," don't agree 
 with the common interpretation. Children of wisdom 
 are simply the actual disciples of wisdom ; these 
 children of wisdom stand contrasted with the children 
 of the market, ver. 16, and as regards the laments 
 of these children playing in the market-place — the 
 generation which takes offence at Christ's intercourse 
 with sinners, — they justify His wisdom in such pro- 
 cedure ; only iSiKaicoOrj must not be translated, " is 
 being justified ; " it is an already existing fact to which 
 Christ points, in connection with the reproach : " He is 
 the friend of sinners." Whilst this reproach is so often 
 cast at the Son of man, wisdom is already justified of 
 her children, on the part of her children, in having 
 trained up for herself from the ranks of sinners 
 
Wisdom and Truth Vindicated. 219 
 
 children who are fit for the kingdom of heaven, whom 
 she has led already to the heavenly kingdom. 
 
 In ver. 20 the Lord proceeds to deal with spiritual 
 carelessness, and His zeal for truth then rises into 
 rebuke. These districts in Galilee are by no means 
 those in which our Lord experienced most of contra- 
 diction and persecution ; on the contrary, it was there 
 that He could live most securely and labour with least 
 interference. In Galilee liberal tendencies had been 
 introduced by the spirit of commerce, by the inter- 
 mingling of people of different nationalities and 
 religions ; Jews and Gentiles, men of character and 
 men of no character, were tolerant of one another, and 
 so Jesus also was allowed to go on His way. It is 
 therefore the easy-going indifference of men bent upon 
 the pursuit of wealth which here receives its lesson, 
 the dull lukewarmness which in other passages of 
 Scripture also is represented as an abomination and 
 is more difficult to get rid of than a life of notorious 
 sin, Eev. iii. 14—16. But troubled as is the aspect 
 which the subjects we have been reviewing present 
 on every side to the Lord, for all that. He does not lose, 
 in the sad strain of rebuke to which He had risen, 
 faith in His Father's good pleasure and the assurance 
 of His mission and its success ; and amid these dis- 
 satisfied and violent, fickle and indolent people. He 
 does not lose His love for the poor, the bowed down, 
 the heavy laden, ver. 25 f. The divine decree, the 
 good pleasure of the Father, saves, out of its deep 
 wisdom, a self-willed and perverse generation only 
 
220 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 through the foolishness of preaching ; it is not the 
 righteous, but sinners it embraces, not the wise, but 
 babes and fools, and as doing so it is a decree of 
 mercy, a plan of salvation. Whoever recognises and 
 adores it in this character, has the power to give up 
 the applause and adherence of the wise and prudent 
 and to content himself with babes, who are no speakers, 
 but esteem it their part to become and to remain 
 disciples and children of wisdom. In this also resides 
 the power to bear exclusion from the influential and 
 respectable classes of society, and to devote oneself 
 instead to the weary and the heavy laden. In this 
 men lind also the power to keep from forsaking the 
 way of divine truth for the gratification of corrupt 
 human tastes, to keep from ever breaking the law of 
 that divine kingdom which forbids any other means 
 of attraction and influence being employed for gaining 
 men than the means which are afforded in divine 
 revelation itself, as opposed to and excluding human 
 wisdom, ver. 29 f. This v^ay leads to the knowledge 
 of the Father in the Son and of the Son in the Father, 
 ver. 27, that is, to the knowledge of the union of 
 humanity and the world with God, which has been 
 effected in Christ. Whoever takes up this standpoint 
 will not make of Christianity a footstool for human 
 greatness and authority, nor yet a cushion of down for 
 effeminate weakness ; on the contrary, it will continue 
 to impose a yoke, something under which men must 
 bow themselves, under which they must learn, a yoke, 
 however, which is in the hand of a Lord who, as He 
 
JVmlom and Truth Vincliccdcd. 221 
 
 can be stern towards pride and resolute in behalf of 
 the truth and purity of the kingdom of God against 
 the violence, the caprice, and the indolence of men, 
 so can ])e gentle and meek towards the bowed down, 
 making His yoke kindly and salutary to them, and 
 His burden light, and bestowing rest upon all who 
 have come to feel the burden of sin and are concerned 
 on behalf of their souls. With this attitude chap. xii. 
 17 closely corresponds (and Christliche Reden, i. 45, 
 may be compared with it). 
 
 (3.) Up to this point then we have seen how the 
 truth and wisdom of Christ and of Christianity are 
 justified in opposition to those who with all their 
 earnestness have not yet succeeded in attaining to the 
 spirit of the New Testament, and in the next place 
 in opposition to a frivolous, self-confident, careless 
 people, and now Matt. xii. 22 ff. brings us still further 
 to their vindication in opposition to malignant opponents 
 (compare Christliche Reden, iv. 25). In this passage 
 we see the Lord in conflict with the wickedness which 
 |)erverts the holy into the unholy. A case of healing 
 which calls forth the exclamations of the people gives 
 rise to the question whether this is not the Messiah. 
 The opposition of the Pharisees had already become 
 a systematic thing, everything must furnish an oppor- 
 tunity for contradicting Him, the faith of others 
 has to be entirely suppressed. They now find them- 
 selves face to face with a telling fact, — that through 
 Jesus the sway of the evil one in the souls of men is 
 being broken. On the other hand, they stand face to 
 
222 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 face with an astonished midtitude, who are already on 
 the way to recognise in Jesus the Messiah, but are 
 not yet certainly and clearly aware in what sense He 
 and His miracle are to be taken. What are the tactics 
 of these opponents? ver. 23. The incontrovertible 
 fact in this case, that through Jesus devils are cast 
 out, is certainly not denied, but in spite of the fact 
 that the direct opposition to the power of the evil 
 one is clear as day in the work of the Lord and had 
 to be acknowledged by themselves, they attribute to 
 it an evil origin, they ascribe it to devices of false- 
 hood and darkness. This may only have been done 
 in remarks which were let fall, and which stole as it 
 were in the dark through the multitude, Mark iii. 22. 
 The Lord could not wait till these wicked suggestions 
 should find lodgment in the minds of the people. The 
 salvation of souls was at stake ; for all depended upon 
 faith in Him, upon the recognition of divine power in 
 Him. Here the contradiction reaches its climax. It 
 would then have been wrong to keep silence, the thing 
 to which, in such cases, in the consciousness of being 
 far above such blasphemies, people are certainly most 
 tempted. The blasphemy struck at His work as 
 seriously as it affected His person. So, as He was 
 now obliged to meet His opponents, it would have 
 been quite after the manner of men to enter the lists 
 against an insinuation so unworthy with an invective 
 full of conscious superiority. The way of Christ, 
 however, is to bring His mean opponents with their 
 insinuations to the liG;ht ; He takes His adversaries 
 
Wisdom and Truth Vindicated. 223 
 
 and the crowd of listeners, to whom He must give a 
 share of His attention, together, brings the misrepre- 
 sentation directly into view, takes it to pieces and 
 refutes it publicly, ver. 25 f. He treats the matter 
 publicly, but from the first in a purely abstract fashion, 
 apart from any personal reference. When the power 
 displayed in any work is rooted and grounded in the 
 sovereign power of God, the misconstruction of it as 
 an evil thing always admits of being represented as 
 irrational^ and it can be so, as it is here by the Lord, 
 on principles of common sense or generally recognised, 
 undeniable truths. He reasons with them thus : Ye 
 suppose that to be possible in the spiritual world which 
 is everywhere else regarded as absurd ; ye recognise evil 
 as a separate, organized kingdom under a sovereign of 
 its own, and in the same breath ye say it is to destroy 
 its own power in man. In ver. 27 the charge is also 
 shown to savour of partiality ; how do ye judge a like 
 phenomenon when it occurs among your partisans ? 
 This question often serves to bring the truth to light 
 in opposition to sophistical opponents. What is suffi- 
 cient to show, in the case of you and yours, in the 
 interests of a cause, that something has been done by 
 the help of God, must be sufficient also in the case 
 of others. Ye condemn yourselves therefore by your 
 accusation. 
 
 And now comes the conclusion in ver. 28 : By the 
 Spirit of God, therefore, without whom the evil spirit 
 cannot be overcome, I cast out devils, and the natural 
 inference is, — where God's Spirit is, there is God's 
 
224 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 kingdom, and (ver. 29) where a power hitherto dominant 
 is broken, there is shown to have come upon the field 
 a stronger power opposed to it. (Here everything is 
 obvious, and does not require long consideration, though 
 for any one that ponders it further there is contained 
 in these words at the same time an allusion to Isa. 
 xlix. 24 f., where the divine redemption is represented 
 as the plundering of the mighty.) But when God's 
 kingdom comes, when goodness breaks in with such 
 power that the evil in men is broken, when the struggle 
 between the two principles, Satan and God, is thus 
 brought to the decisive point, then the decision can 
 only be for or against, ver. 30. Neutrality would in 
 that case amount to seeking our own in a spirit 
 of partisanship, and remaining in bondage to the 
 hitherto dominant power of the wicked one. Such a 
 neutral position, however, leads necessarily to what is 
 worse, to obstructing and damaging the cause of good- 
 ness in its new form {aKopTTi^eiv). It leads to some- 
 thing still worse. In order to justify themselves in 
 their neutral position, people are forced to bring the 
 newly begun work, whose spiritual superiority is not 
 to be denied, under suspicion in its very spirit, must 
 distort good into evil, truth into falsehood, the godly 
 into the ungodly. Thus people are driven on to the 
 highest pitch of wickedness, where there is no longer 
 forgiveness, because this falseness of disposition and 
 this falsification of what is true makes the knowledge 
 of self and the knowledge of truth no longer possible, 
 ver. 31 f. 
 
WMom and Truth Vindicated. 22 o 
 
 The position of his opponents having been refuted, 
 there is here a sharp but well-meant warning ; and this 
 warning, still presented in a general form, containing 
 as yet no direct application to persons, is now in ver. 
 33 if. brought personally home to them through the 
 mention again of a general law of God's kingdom 
 already spoken of in Matt. vii. 17, a law which holds 
 good throughout the physical and the spiritual world, 
 viz. that the fruit is determined by the tree, and the 
 tree known by the fruit ; good fruit can spring only 
 out of a good heart — from a bad heart bad fruit must 
 spring. If, therefore, you would not be driven to that 
 extreme height of sinfulness, plant the good tree ! Your 
 lieart must be changed. As things are with you at 
 present, nothing but evil can proceed from you. And 
 now the Lord turns to apply to their whole conduct 
 its fitting title: "generation of vipers," ver. 34. The 
 conduct of His adversaries had been briefly and forcibly 
 shown up on all sides, in its unreasonableness, in its 
 partisanship, in its disloyalty towards the spirit of the 
 kingdom of God, and in the danger it entailed upon 
 themselves. The force of the rebuke depends upon the 
 force of the proof, a proof, however, which is borne in 
 from the understanding into the conscience ; in such a 
 case direct invective is the proper thing, ver. 34. 
 Here again the Lord stands forth in all the might of 
 moral strength. For such truths as are written upon 
 the conscience and stamped upon the whole nature 
 He adduces no proofs ; they are weapons which don't 
 require to be forged, but are to be wielded at once. 
 
226 The Lord as a Fattcrn. 
 
 After Christ has brought the matter to this point, 
 the crafty turn of His opponents in seeking again to 
 withdraw from His strokes, which are delivered with 
 moral weight, is specially characteristic. Compared 
 with the vehement zeal of the Lord and His description 
 of them as " a generation of vipers," — what apparent 
 composure! ver. 38. It is the roU of the thoughtful 
 spirit of inquiry which neither allows itself to be 
 l3rought out of its attitude of composure by invective, 
 nor yet renounces its rights, to require satisfactory proofs 
 instead of simple assertions. This way of it sounds in 
 comparison with the apparently dogmatic zeal of our 
 Lord so discreetly sceptical : the Jews require signs, 
 our modern time wants scientific proofs. According to 
 both, nothing can be proved by the spirit of morality, 
 even the Holy Spirit, or by moral fruits, even though 
 they be life-giving fruits. The demand for evidence 
 in the religious sphere is in both cases animated by 
 one spirit ; Christianity, according to both, ought to 
 exhibit its proofs, not in the depths of the heart and 
 conscience, and not in the domain of sound reason, 
 l)ut on the pinnacle of the age, in its heavens, Luke 
 xi. 16; Mark viii. 11 ; Matt. xvi. 1. The truth of 
 the divine kingdom, having a supernatural age — a new 
 humanity — a world, to form, is to respond to the soaring 
 follies of the spirit of this age, is to make a display 
 in the glory of a vain, perishing, worldly or scientific 
 elevation, in which an evil and adulterous (ver. 39) 
 generation conceal their apostasy from God, and their 
 entanglement in sin. What then says the Lord ? 
 
Wisdom and Truth Vindicated. 227 
 
 The proof of Christian truth is the sign of the prophet 
 Jonas, ver. 39, that Christianity brings salvation out 
 of the deepest humiliation, out of absolute weakness, 
 with the most unpretending means and in the most 
 unlikely way. 
 
 We are not to conceal from unbelief, in view of the 
 power of Christian truth to overcome sin and its sancti- 
 fying influence through the Holy Spirit, the responsi- 
 bility which it brings with it, ver. 4. Here also emerges 
 the law, the more there is given the more there is 
 required, the higher the light the more sinful is blind- 
 ness, the fuller the measure of truth the heavier the 
 responsibility attaching to its neglect and denial. This 
 holds good equally in reference to times, kingdoms, and 
 generations with a long range of Christian history behind 
 them, and in reference to the individual man. The 
 house may even be already, ver. 43, swept and garnished ; 
 there may have been already actual experiences of the 
 purifying power of Christianity ; and yet not only are 
 they forfeited through self-confidence and indolence, but 
 something worse takes their place ; hence the importance 
 of the equipment for spiritual warfare, Eph. vi. 1 ff. 
 
 The historical conclusion (compare Christliche Reden, 
 V. p. 74 f.), ver. 46 ff., brings us to a fundamental con- 
 dition in the service of Christ and of truth, without 
 which freedom cannot be maintained in the face of the 
 enemy as Christ maintains it. We must shake off 
 worldly ideas of friendship, no matter how closely people 
 may be related to us. The devilish blasphemy of 
 the Pharisees had not led Him astray in His work, 
 
228 The Lord as a Pattern. 
 
 Lut neither did fleshly, natural love. It , is essential 
 in the work of the Lord to he unhound hy fleshly bonds. 
 The Lord in this matter acts up to His own rule, " He 
 that loveth father or mother more than me is not 
 worthy of me." Spiritual bonds take precedence of all 
 others ; the man who is led to us by his spiritual 
 needs, is entitled to the first place in our regard. 
 Eieger says, " The man who is not prepared to repel 
 such family intrusions will find that they hang so firmly 
 round his neck that in consequence of them the con- 
 scientious discharge of duty necessarily suffers. Thus 
 the most beautiful texts may be quoted at a wrong time 
 in order to accomplish by hook or by crook a fleshly 
 purpose, and to secure compliance. By such respect of 
 persons a great amount of Christianity has been made 
 away with. For all that, in the time of trouble the 
 Saviour did not forget His mother." Ver. 50 shows 
 that He has no narrow-minded conception of brotherly 
 and sisterly and other relationships, but nevertheless a 
 strict one. Not every one who says. Lord, Lord, and 
 carries the usual Christian confession on his lips, is 
 my brother, but he that doeth the will of my Father 
 in heaven. That is the Christian family which He 
 recognises, the mother Church in which brothers and 
 sisters are born in His likeness, true children of God. 
 
PART THIRD. 
 
 THE WORK OF THE APOSTLES AS TEACHERS. 
 Acts i.-vr. '- 
 
 Introductory Remarks. 
 
 The Acts of the Apostles gives, as Stier in his 
 Words of the Apostles well says, " a kernel-specimen of 
 apostolic discourses, a kernel-history of the Church," 
 2nimitias ecclesice (P. Anton). It unfolds to us in 
 concrete illustrations the work of teachini:^ carried on 
 by the two apostles who were the foremost founders of 
 the Church's life in the sphere of Judaism and of 
 heathenism. The labours of the apostles, however, and 
 the life of the Church, are not portrayed as already 
 completed ; they are exhibited in the leading stages of 
 their development. 
 
 Peter occupies the foreground in the first twelve 
 chapters ; he is the rock upon which the Church is 
 built, establishing as he does upon Jewish soil — as the 
 chosen foundation of the new building — the beginnings 
 of the Church's life among Jews and Gentiles. The 
 subsequent chapters, xiii.-xxviii., show us the work of 
 
230 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 the apostles and the life of the Church spreading from 
 the foundation and the centre thus established, and 
 taking shape in the area of the great Gentile world ; 
 in these chapters St. Paul stands in the foreground 
 with his labours in Syria, Asia Minor, Macedonia, 
 Greece, and Eome. 
 
 We thus see springing up and growing before our 
 eyes, a society realizing in itself what the sages of all 
 times know only as a subject of declamation, and what 
 the powerful of the earth do not for a moment 
 venture to believe in. We have a history representing 
 the development of a society which turns the higher 
 thoughts of men into truth and the truth into fact 
 and life, which makes men realize an essential spiritual 
 life in the interests of eternity, and in conflict with the 
 prevailing interests of time. These ideas of life, utterly 
 opposed to what is conventional and common, are 
 realized by that society, without revolutionizing the 
 world or quitting it for the hermit's cave, in the midst 
 of the conflicts and varied duties of common life, 
 without distinction of nationality, race, or caste. Even 
 as the fancy of the poet or the mere idea of the 
 philosopher, it would have been the most daring 
 imagination to conceive that a world beyond might 
 penetrate the present, that the essentially spiritual, 
 instead of purely spiritual forms and phantasies, might 
 penetrate into material things. There is a process of 
 transformation set agoing, which at the same time 
 adheres firmly to a strict conception of order ; there is 
 the widest universalism, the idea of the kingdom of God 
 
Tiitroductory Remarks. 231 
 
 and of the union embraced by the Church being carried 
 onward to the remotest times and into an unseen 
 world, but at the same time this universalism is wrought 
 into all the particularities exhibited in actual life with 
 its natural and artificial divisions, great and small. All 
 tlie wliile, this process of combining things so dissimilar 
 is undertaken with the fullest knowledge that there is a 
 chasm which divides the whole world into two great 
 classes, expressed with such definiteness in the apostolic 
 doctrine of a corruption of the world and of human 
 nature, which cannot be remedied of itself, of the hope- 
 less degradation of the great mass, and of the tyrannical 
 dominion of a Satanic power. Such an attempt to 
 comprehend life in its heights and depths under such 
 circumstances and with such world-embracing view^s, 
 would be, as we have said, even regarded merely as a 
 poetic imagination, the miracle of spiritual conception ; 
 but, perfectly realized in fact as we see it exhibited 
 in the course of its development in the Acts of the 
 Apostles, it is the miracle of spiritual creating power. 
 
 The work begins in Jerusalem, in the strongest 
 citadel of relioious docjmatism and fanaticism ; it 
 traverses Greece, the proud abode of scientific and 
 i^sthetic culture, with its religious libertinism, and 
 establishes itself in Eome, the stronghold of the world's 
 most elaborate political system, with its imperial system 
 of polytheism, its sacra licita d illicita. Thus, over 
 against the mystery of avofxla, of disorder and confusion 
 which has its root in the carnalizing of humanity and 
 in the secularizing of the di\due, over against this 
 
232 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 anarchical centre of the life of this world in all its 
 intellectual sophistry and material dominion — there is 
 set, in the grandest simplicity, the mystery of godliness, 
 the order of that world which roots itself in the true 
 God and His worship. What was never yet conceived 
 by any human mind even as a poet's dream, becomes 
 historic truth, rises up to form the foundations and 
 pillars of a new system amid the wreck of the old 
 political, religious, and scientific systems of the world. 
 To the mystery of avofjula there now stands opposed, as 
 truth embracing the world's history, the mystery of 
 evaeßeia, with this for its contents : God was manifested 
 in the flesh, justified in the spirit, preached to the 
 Gentiles, believed on in the world. 
 
 This revelation of God in the flesh with its justifica- 
 tion in the spirit, this preaching among the chief nations 
 of the earth, among Jews, Greeks, and Eomans, with 
 the effects produced by believing it, with a spiritual life 
 in the world hitherto unknown, — this it is which the 
 Acts of the Apostles places before our eyes in the style 
 of fact and of life, not of literary otium. It is a 
 dramatic progress, dramatic in a divine sense ; the 
 events, the facts, the characters speaking with an 
 eloquence in which the actors are silent, and the 
 /jL6ya\eia ©eov are seen and heard ; in the whole 
 course of the drama the book glorifies to our eyes, in 
 what, humanly speaking, are its heroes and in their 
 deeds, only a name, the name of Jesus Christ as exalted 
 from the cross to the right hand of God. For this 
 reason Brenz long ago desiderated, instead of the 
 
Introductory Bemarks. 233 
 
 traditional title Acta Aiwstolorum, the more precise title 
 Acta Jesu Christi 20er Ajwstolos ; and Eambach says 
 with reference to chapter iii. 12 ff., that we must feel 
 as if the apostles addressed us from this book with the 
 words, " Why look ye on us, as though by our own 
 power we had done it all ? The God of our fathers 
 hath glorified His Son Jesus." That is the spirit of the 
 whole of the Acts of the Apostles. Christ is the real 
 light in which all the rays of apostolic light find their 
 focus, and which brings even the dark background of 
 the world into the light and overcomes ii. In this 
 light, that is, in the measure in which we ourselves are 
 increasingly enlightened by Christ, enlightened by Him 
 as the Saviour of the world exalted through the cross, 
 — in this light alone do we see also the light which 
 diffuses itself before us in the Acts of the Apostles and 
 its living figures. 
 
 Among the special works on this subject there are 
 two of an older date to be particularly recommended 
 for practical use — (1) Paul Anton's Exegetical Treatise 
 on the Acts of the Apostles, composed in the years 1725 
 and 1726, published at Halle in 1750 in two parts. 
 (2) Johann Jacob Eambach, — who taught at the same 
 time and in the same spirit at Jena, Giessen, and Halle, 
 — Contemplations on the Acts of the Apostles, published 
 after his death by Neubauer, as a model of the " poris- 
 matic" interpretation of Scripture. Both treatises 
 are somewhat discursive, but they contain a rich and 
 solid kernel of biblical philosophy and the Christian 
 wisdom of life, thoughts full of energy and fire, — 
 
234 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 especially so in the case of Anton. Brandt's Apos- 
 tolic Pastoral, published in 1848, composed from the 
 pastoral conferences at Klosterberg, is quite inferior in 
 its spirit to the two treatises just mentioned, and gives 
 less an elucidation of the text, or a consecutive exposition 
 of the contents, than reflections and excursuses, which 
 are often but loosely connected with the text. 
 
 Of more recent date there are likewise two treatises 
 to mark out for distinction — (1) Menken's Glimpses 
 into the Life of the Apostle Paul, Bremen 1828 (third 
 volume in the collected edition of his works, 1858). 
 It is, apart from particular leanings especially of a 
 dogmatic nature, an exposition of chapters xv.— xx., 
 written with intellectual power and knowledge of life, 
 and resting upon a profound knowledge of Scripture and 
 upon an earnest view of the Christian life, such as was 
 not characteristic of his day, and is generally rare. 
 (2) Eudolph Stier's Words of the Apostles in their Order 
 and Connection, 2nd edition, 1860. Stier is distinguished 
 by a deep, pious, thoughtful spirit, which knows how to 
 trace out the central thoughts of the divine kingdom 
 and of the scriptural system of doctrine ; only, the right 
 measure of exegetical soberness is not always preserved, 
 and further, in the method of arrangement adopted, the 
 words of the apostles are placed under a rigid logical 
 system of division which is foreign to them. Well worthy 
 of earnest consideration is the preface to a Leipsic edition 
 of the New Testament by Francke, which Stier, in the 
 first collection of his Hints for a Believing Apprehension 
 of Scripture, has translated into German. 
 
Freparation for Receiving the Spirit. 235 
 
 Baumgarten's The Acts of the Apostles ; or, the Course 
 of the Chicrch's Progress from Jerusalem to Rome, contains 
 here and there many telling and ingenious thoughts, but 
 sober exegesis and biblical accuracy are often sorely 
 wanting ; allegorical trifling, some of it of the most 
 singular description, is found flourishing in luxuriance. 
 We need only briefly allude in this connection to 
 Eieger's Contemplations on the New Testament, and 
 Ben<:jers Gnomon. The man who knows these two 
 books needs no recommendation of them. The man 
 who wants to make himself acquainted with the 
 scholastic exegesis in short compass will find De Wette's 
 Commentary serviceable. 
 
 1. The Apostles' Calling, Acts i. 3-8. 
 
 Upon this point compare what has been said already, 
 Part 1. 3 (p. 84 ff.), in discussing the subjective require- 
 ments for the discharge of the ministry ; and further, 
 Christliche Reden, II. 9 and VI. 30. 
 
 2. The Immediate Inward Preparation for the Reception 
 of the Spirit, Acts i. 1 2 ff. 
 
 (1.) In place of the earlier scattering after the first 
 departure of the Lord, after His death, there is now 
 brought into view 2i family fellovjship, which maintains 
 an independent existence in the name of Jesus Christ. 
 The natural foundations for this were now ready; the 
 members were no longer kept outwardly united by their 
 
236 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 common position as learners in the school of faith ; that 
 had been succeeded by a common conviction of faith and 
 a union of heart with the Lord which had been purified 
 in the school of suffering through which they had passed, 
 and had developed into independence, and their common 
 life-calling also stood immediately before them as a 
 common call from the Lord. These are essential condi- 
 tions of harmonious co-operation even in outward things, 
 natural foundations of a self-contained society. Eesting 
 upon such an inward foundation, the society is not held 
 together by a framework of outward rules ; it is an 
 inward result, a natural product, a fruit. Wherever, 
 and to the extent in which, it is not this, it is unnatural 
 to establish societies, and doubly unnatural to make 
 them matter of obligation. It is this that determines 
 whether outward union is to be a blessing or whether 
 it is to be unproductive and mischievous. When the 
 inner life has a common source in the truth of God, 
 has developed a solid character, and has laid hold of a 
 life purpose, a life aim, although there be in it varying 
 degrees of attainment, union is a means of blessing — it 
 exercises a strengthening, supporting, formative influence 
 as well as an influence to cleanse, to preserve, to prune. ^ 
 (2.) The occupation of the disciples in this interval, 
 
 ' Regarded from this ecclesiastical standpoint, the assemblies of the 
 disciples were conventicles. Regarding them Bretschneider has weighty- 
 directions in his Vertraute Briefe über die ivichtigsten Grundsätze und 
 auserlesene Materie des protestantischen geistlichen Rechts, 1761, with 
 preface by Karl von Moser, new edition, 1861, particularly Letter ix. 
 Wächter, too, in his Life of Bengel, p. 188 ff., contributes excellent 
 remarks in this connection. 
 
P reparation for Receiving the S'pirit. 237 
 
 when they were passing from school into life, is seen from 
 ver. 1 4 to have been particularly prayer, 'irpoGev')(r) Kal 
 Berjaof; (the latter word being added in the textus receptics). 
 TTpoaevx^ may be used of all prayer ; standing along 
 with Berjac^ it is to be taken in a special sense, cf. 1 Tim. 
 ii. 1. Ber](Tt(; is prayer proceeding from a sense of need 
 and want, petition, an imploring of divine goodness and 
 grace, irpoo-ev^n in its special sense is adoring prayer, 
 tlie uplifting of the soul to God and losing it in Him — in 
 His glorious character and government. But it includes 
 also prayer in which the soul vows to God and seeks 
 satisfaction for its desires, this being all implied in the 
 meaning of eu;^o/iat, to praise, to extol, to vow, to wish. 
 Anton admirably brings out the meaning : " Adoration 
 was the act which immediately followed upon the 
 ascension of Christ ; this was an actits majestaticus, and 
 the immediate effect of it was adoratio religiosa, Luke 
 xxiv. 52. But at the same time they did not forget 
 that they had still to abide in the world, cf. John 
 xvii. 15. In the world heriaL<^ followed as a necessary 
 consequence, prayer on account of all their impending 
 need ; they submitted themselves in quiet resignation. 
 As in adoration there was an elevatio mentis, not 
 arbitrary in its character, but flowing from the con- 
 templation of the ascension, so in Be7]aL<; there was a 
 suhmissio mentis, because they had to think of all they 
 might still have to encounter in the world ; this they 
 have then committed together into the hands of God. 
 Exhort a man to irpoaevxv, and he says. Yes, thou 
 knowest not my need ; answer. Include it — it is quite 
 
238 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 compatible ; but before that there is, of course, a fight 
 with his ill-nature, with his hurry, his impatience ; but 
 now the man is a pliant being." 
 
 It is not said that this common prayer of the com- 
 pany of disciples is audible prayer by some in behalf 
 of all, or by all in succession. The New Testament 
 rule is " to pray in secret," Matt. vi. 6 ; cf . 1 Pet. 
 iii. 4. Audible prayer before others is thus the excep- 
 tion, as is also prayer in the name of others ; this last 
 must be short, saying a great deal by its intensity, not 
 by reason of its extent, and so comprehensive as to have 
 room for the different stages of the inner life of those 
 who are to join in the prayer. Already in Luke xi. 13 
 prayer is designated as a special means of preparation, 
 and as a condition for the reception of the promise of 
 the Spirit by our Lord Himself. The promise does not 
 do away with asking as superfluous — asking is just the 
 personal taking and appropriating of the promise as a 
 grace flowing forth from God. Besides, in the very 
 time of waiting, when the outward activity in service is 
 suspended or has not yet begun, prayer is, and continues 
 to be, the constant occupation of the clergy. So, too, 
 after the occurrence of important experiences, prayer 
 is the chief means of confirming and hallowing the 
 momentous impressions derived from what has been 
 heard and experienced. 
 
 (3.) Every union of disciples of a more spiritual 
 kind, as well as communion with God in prayer, and 
 all preparation for decisive acts in the life and in the 
 calling, have their natural and fundamental condition in 
 
Preparation for Rcceivinrj the Sjnrit. 239 
 
 retirement and luithdrawal from all unnecessary com- 
 munication with the outer world, especially from com- 
 munication with those who would prove dangerous to 
 the new life. We must first become firmly united in 
 ourselves and with one another, and be anointed with 
 the power of a spirit which is stronger than the power 
 of error and deception ; the senses must be exercised to 
 distinguish between good and evil, between a true and 
 a sham Christianity, to test what is the divine will and 
 what is simply human will and counsel ; we must not 
 wish to put forth our Christian activity outwardly and 
 seek after incompatible associations, for that is merely 
 leading ourselves into temptation, or wishing to overcome 
 a series of temptations, before we have even overcome 
 the main temptation — the temptation to seek our power 
 in outward things, to set before our eyes outward effects, 
 the judgments and the projects of men, things which 
 only have their power and splendour in time. The 
 Lord Himself went into retirement even after His 
 anointing with the Spirit, in order thoroughly to prepare 
 the way within Himself for His victory over this main, 
 this first temptation. Even if we have been already in 
 a general way made strong in spirit, the rule as to 
 retirement and withdrawal recurs every time with 
 added force, when times of inward fermentation occur, 
 crises of development, when it is incumbent upon us to 
 prepare for something higher and more difficult, for new 
 labours and so forth. It is told of the Lord Him- 
 self, for instance, Luke vi. 12 ff., that He withdrew to 
 a mountain before He chose the Twelve ; He who was 
 
240 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 being manifested as Son of God, manifested by a moral 
 process, not as perfected from the beginning. He required 
 to be made perfect by obedience. This is the develop- 
 ment of a son of God in the reality of human nature. 
 
 (4.) Specially noteworthy, further, is the use of Scrip- 
 ture, Acts i. 16 f., 20, 22. The correct and important 
 rule lying in general at the foundation of this use of 
 Scripture is as follows : For the occurrences of life, and 
 especially for what in the course of waiting and pre- 
 paring for their future mission is calculated to disturb 
 and perplex and make them waver, which must have 
 been the effect upon the eleven of the perdition of 
 Judas and the gap thereby caused in the predestinated 
 number of the Twelve, — for this faith seeks light, right, 
 that is guidance, and comfort in the Scriptures, and 
 esteems the words spoken therein as spoken by the Holy 
 Ghost (cf. Matt. xxii. 43, and Mark xii. 36). 
 
 Faith in this way puts matters of experience into 
 connection with the laws of the divine economy (3et). 
 But it may be asked whether the disciples, who have 
 not here as yet the authority of inspiration, did not go 
 too far in their application of the Scriptures (ver. 2 1 f.). 
 They do not remain content with applying passages of 
 Scripture, which (Ps. Ixix. 26, cix. 8) treat of children 
 of God in general, to the concrete case of Judas, in order 
 to understand the perdition of Judas in its scriptural 
 bearings, and to wait in good hope for God to supply 
 the loss ; they do not wait for this, but draw 
 their independent conclusions and inferences for their 
 own action, completing their own number, even though 
 
Preparation for Receiving the Spirit. 241 
 
 it be by resorting to the lot, vers. 23-26. The use of 
 the lot shows that they were aware that the Lord 
 alone could give a call to the apostleship, ver. 24 ; but 
 notwithstanding, they of their own motion limit the 
 Lord's choice at once to their own circle, ver. 21, and 
 in this circle again to two persons, whom they them- 
 selves nominate, ver. 23. But if the Lord Himself did 
 not fill up the vacant place, during the forty days of His 
 presence among the disciples, all the while having 
 clearly in view the services they were to render as 
 His witnesses, and even when He said to the eleven : 
 " Ye shall be my witnesses after ye receive the Holy 
 Ghost," did not see that there was any occasion to 
 say anything whatever of a successor to Judas before 
 they received the Holy Spirit, or to add such a suc- 
 cessor to their number ; if He had expressly counselled 
 them to wait until the day when the Spirit should be 
 poured out, then all the more should they have been 
 able, and have felt it their duty, to wait at least till 
 they received the Spirit.^ Neither have we a single 
 word from the lips of the Lord to justify the introduc- 
 tion of the lot into the New Testament ; as little is it 
 anywhere else afterwards mentioned or recommended or 
 employed, although the choice of deacons in chap. vi. 
 would have been an analogous case. It is remarkable 
 also that Matthias, who was thus chosen, should never 
 afterwards appear upon the stage of the apostolic 
 
 ^ Stier asks, not without reason, Was this election and casting of lots 
 the waiting prescribed to them, and did the receiving of another, pre- 
 dicted in the psalm, invite them to waiting or to choosing ? 
 
 Q 
 
242 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 history ; instead of him Paul stands out all the more 
 prominently among the apostolic band, — Paul, who 
 received his call directly from the Lord without aid 
 from the eleven and without having been of the old 
 circle of disciples. Acts xxii. 14 f. and xxvi. 16 ; and for 
 all that, the apostolic number is never enlarged to 
 thirteen, but the number twelve remains the canonical 
 number, Rev. xxi. 14, as the Lord Himself had origin- 
 ally fixed it, without having confined the original 
 number of the apostles to the tribes of Israel, — so far 
 from this He has commended the heathen to them all, 
 Matt, xxviii. Accordingly either Matthias, appointed 
 by the disciples, or Paul, called by the Lord Himself, 
 falls outside the number of the Twelve. 
 
 We must keep steadily in view that the time between 
 the ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit was, in 
 general, and especially among the disciples, a time of 
 transition from the old to the new dispensation ; the 
 action and the speech of the disciples, therefore, inas- 
 much as the endowment with spiritual power ordained by 
 the Lord Himself to fit them for their ministerial work 
 had not yet taken place, are not to be accepted as an 
 infallible pattern, and it always remains, in the nature 
 of things, a permanent principle, that we are not entitled, 
 in reliance upon expressions of Scripture couched in 
 general terms, to forestall the providence of God in 
 special cases and wish to limit it, wish to dig the 
 channels as it were for the fulfilment of His word — to 
 determine the means by which He is to make good any 
 deficiency which still exists. 
 
Preparation for Receiving the Spirit. 24 3 
 
 But as far as the lot is specially concerned, no matter 
 what opinion we may hold regarding its use in the case 
 before us, we are at all events not at liberty to deduce 
 from it the general principle, that the lot is admissible 
 in cases where a decision has to be made upon a subject, 
 the right determination of which is beyond the capacity 
 of man. Only in this passage and nowhere else in the 
 New Testament is the lot mentioned, and here the 
 object was to choose an official who, according to the 
 conception of the office, could not be chosen save by 
 the Lord Himself. In the Old Testament the lot was 
 a divinely authorized institution for the dispensation 
 that then was ; but this very thing implies that it has 
 no such authority in the New Testament dispensation. 
 In the latter we are directed to the guidance of the 
 Spirit, for the knowledge of the divine will — to the 
 testing and understanding of the divine will by the 
 teaching of the divine word, Eom. xii. 2 ; Eph. v. 1 7 ; 
 Col. iu. 6; 2 Tim. iii. 15 ff. ; Heb. v. 12 ff. 
 
 It is well known that the casting of lots is a recog- 
 nised usage among the Bohemian Brethren. Bengal, 
 in his Sketch of the so-called Brethren, has put this 
 dilemma : " The Bohemian Brethren are either like the 
 early Church before Pentecost, or like the Church after 
 it. If they are like the Church before it, why do they 
 already go into all the world ? (Acts i. 4). If they 
 are like the Church after Pentecost, and possess the 
 Paraclete, why do they still make use of the lot which 
 the apostles made use of only in Acts i. 26 but not in 
 Acts xvi. 7, or at any other time ? " Besides, to give 
 
244 The Worh of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 the lot such an extensive use as to make actions which 
 by the word of God are left to the exercise of personal 
 freedom and individual choice, such as marriage cove- 
 nants, dependent upon the lot, is an arbitrary invasion 
 of the sphere of the one Lawgiver and the system of 
 nature ordained by Him. 
 
 3. The First Testimony before the World, Acts ii. 14 ff'. 
 
 (1.) Let us look first at the external situation and 
 the special attitude of the audience in whose presence 
 the discourse is delivered, and let us see how the 
 character of the testimony corresponds. 
 
 a. The audience forms a mixed multitude, gathered 
 from various lands, and, we may assume also, of different 
 ranks, ages, and sexes. But not only are all one in 
 being sinners who need repentance and new life in 
 Christ, as Jews and Jewish proselytes also they are 
 already more or less prepared, by a previous course of 
 divine instruction, to receive the direct proclamation of 
 Christ ; they are familiar with the Holy Scriptures, and 
 accustomed to accept their words as authoritative. 
 Moreover, they have been connected with the life and 
 conduct of Jesus to the very end, partly by personal 
 contact and partly by information" regarding it, ver. 
 22. They furnish, therefore, points of contact in- 
 wardly and outwardly for a direct testimony concerning 
 Jesus as Lord and Christ (contrast the course of Paul's 
 discourse at Athens). The full testimony concerning 
 the resurrection and ascension of Christ was the neces- 
 
TJie First Testimony hefore the World, 245 
 
 sary complement of what they had already heard and 
 seen, and of what they had in part certainly also 
 believed, John ii. 23 and xi. 45. 
 
 J). The suhject, and the plan, of the testimony are 
 determined accordingly, but not in such a way that the 
 statement " Jesus is the Christ " should be prefixed to 
 the discourse as a formal announcement ; the testimony 
 rather advances towards this like the shaft to its point, 
 ver. 36, and therewith is connected at the same time 
 the special application, ver. 38.^ 
 
 The hearers find themselves fixed between their sinful 
 past (Ye have crucified Jesus, ver. 36) and the new 
 epoch when the promise begins to be fulfilled before 
 their eyes — arrested at the turning-point between two 
 momentous spheres of life, and thus they are directed to 
 the two fundamental and momentous acts : fxeTavoelv, 
 and ßaiTTl^ecrdat which has /uLeravoelv for a preliminary. 
 The one act parts them spiritually from the past, the 
 other unites them spiritually to the future, which, 
 however, has become to-day. The great thing in such 
 cases is to get the principles thoroughly established in 
 the heart, the apyal, out of which the twofold develop- 
 ment can be unfolded for coming to Christ, the 
 putting away and uprooting of the old, and the culti- 
 vation of the new. In accordance with the decisive 
 character of the whole situation, the address has to 
 
 ^ Our preachers are stiff people who stand up above and speak, but 
 not directly to their hearers, rather in general terms — to the blue of 
 heaven instead of the blackness of the heart of man. Fenelon gives this 
 unfruitful style of preaching the go-by in his Dialogues sur Vdloquence; 
 cf. also introduction to Leitfaden der christlichen Glaubenslehre. 
 
246 The Work of the Ajwstles as Teachers. 
 
 concentrate attention upon decisive and fundamental 
 truths. Thus the whole plan of the address of the 
 apostle is directly adapted to the production of a 
 decisive effect upon the audience. 
 
 Let us see, further, how in accordance with this aim 
 the address takes shape and proceeds. The resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus Christ, His exaltation, the outpouring of 
 the Spirit, are the new Messianic cardinal facts which, 
 since Jesus had gone from this earthly scene, had come 
 into it, and which at the same time place the death 
 of Jesus in its proper theocratic light. Eegarding 
 these cardinal facts, testimonies both from Scripture and 
 from experience are adduced. Thus testimonies from 
 prophecy, and testimonies from history, that is, facts, are 
 interwoven in the discourse (testimonies from prophecy : 
 ver. 16 fp. with reference to the outpouring of the 
 Spirit ; ver. 2 5 ff. with reference to the resurrection ; ver. 
 34 with reference to the ascension ; and between them 
 the historical facts, vers. 22-24, 32 f.). Moreover, 
 God's action and men's action are placed side by 
 side, to show how God glorifies Him whom men have 
 slain, vers. 23 f., 32 f., 36. This juxtaposition has the 
 effect both of humbling and awakening, and so it comes 
 that the great announcement, ver. 36, affects their hearts 
 as the deep-penetrating point of the whole, ver. 37. 
 For those then who, thus affected, see themselves 
 fixed between yesterday and to-day, between prophecy 
 and reality — that is, fulfilment, between God and 
 themselves, the crisis is settled by the application of 
 ver. 38 ff. 
 
The First Testimony hefore the World, 247 
 
 Following these cardinal points in the discourse, result- 
 ing from the attitude of the audience, let us consider 
 further the course of their development. This also corre- 
 sponds to the peculiarity of the place. John iv. 35-38 
 here meets its fulfilment. Jerusalem with its guests at the 
 feast, is the field which for years, at the feasts, had been 
 the scene of the Lord's own labours, of His teaching, 
 His miracles, His sufferings ; among the beholders of 
 His death (Luke xxiii. 44-48) this field, as far as it 
 was the Lord's, had been brought to its full maturity ; 
 likewise also had the labourers already received their 
 divine equipment and commission, Luke x. 2. It was 
 now of the utmost importance, without being obliged first 
 specially to cultivate the field, to reap a speedy harvest 
 of the first-fruits, of that part which had ripened through 
 what had already taken place ; and in this discourse of 
 his, one may say, Peter verily puts in his sickle to the 
 harvest. The prophetic declaration as to the sign from 
 God which had happened under the eyes of all, forms 
 the handle, vers. 16-21. Then the apostle joins on the 
 iron, so to speak, beating it out from God's counsel and 
 God's work, proceeding first on the lines of the Life 
 of Jesus as a man who in life and in death appears as 
 one sanctified by God's power and counsel, vers. 22-24. 
 Then the discourse turns back to the Old Testament 
 witnesses speaking by the Spirit and pointing to the 
 victory of life over death by the Holy One of God, vers. 
 25-31 ; further, ver. 32 f., taking a sharp turn from 
 prophecy to the outpouring of the Spirit which had just 
 taken place, the testimony rises in ver. 34 f. to its 
 
248 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 culmination : the Lord, designated by David himself as 
 his Lord, exalted by God to the divine throne — that is 
 the culmination in which the long-revealed counsel of 
 God, and the newly-transacted works of God, are united : 
 " The crucified sits at the right hand of God, sure of the 
 victory over His enemies." Thus, in the next place, 
 the reaping, ver. 36, is directed to the whole house of 
 Israel, and what falls under the scythe is bound and 
 gathered into the Lord's garner, ver. 37 ff. It is the 
 work of the reaper, through the whole discourse. 
 
 Let us consider it further from a point of view 
 different from this historical one, viz. from the 
 psychological point of view. Precisely as the whole 
 plan and development of this first testimony corre- 
 spond, as we have seen, to the historical situation, that 
 is, to the character of the scene in which it takes place, 
 equally precisely does it agree with — 
 
 (2.) The inner situation and the special frame of 
 mind of the audience. — a. The pith of the audience was 
 composed of, ver. 5, ävBpe<; 6vXaß6L<; of every nation. 
 Therefore, even if we give €vXaß6L<; a wide meaning, they 
 are at least people guided by a sense of religious need, 
 religiously disposed or pious people. As they beheld 
 the disciples praising God and saw what followed 
 thereupon, there arose in them a stirring of soul which 
 is described as amazement and wonder, ver. 7. They 
 reverently acknowledged in what they heard and saw 
 a mighty work of God, ver. 11 ; but at the same time 
 they knew not how to explain its nature and significance, 
 and so they eagerly looked for its further development, 
 
The First Testimony Icfore the World. 249 
 
 ver. 12. The prevailing feeling therefore was a purely 
 religious impression, full of vague foreboding — but at 
 the same time the foreboding of a divinely great pro- 
 ceeding, and eagerly directed to its further disclosure. 
 From this prevailing feeling, again, there came to 
 the surface, ver. 13, in others a spirit of thoughtless 
 mockery which sought to ward off the deeper and more 
 serious impression by means of an explanation reck- 
 lessly and contemptuously flung out, — Stax^^vd^etv, 
 strengthening the simple form, literally, to drag through 
 scorn — to drag about in scorn. This expression of 
 opinion itself belongs to that order of wit which readily 
 occurs to the frivolous mind of the world when it 
 encounters anything which transcends its horizon, 
 especially its religious horizon ; a similar case is found 
 Luke vii. 34 ; Acts xxvi. 24. 
 
 Both these frames of mind, the earnest feeling of 
 the religious and the frivolous temper of the irreligious, 
 required the apostles to give a correct explanation of 
 the proceedings, which had been partly not understood 
 and partly misunderstood, or rather misconstrued. 
 
 How then is this done ? 
 
 b. The discourse first addresses itself to the miscon- 
 struction, ver. 14. Scornful feelings and expressions 
 regarding what is sacred are not always to be simply 
 ignored and treated with silent contempt, even if the 
 scorn in the first instance is directed against persons 
 as here. They are not to be passed over when it 
 is seen that sacred interests themselves are thereby 
 affected, and the sacred impression which has been made 
 
250 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 is suffering thereby. To meet such frames of mind or 
 expressions is a paramount duty, in order to nip them 
 in the bud and to make room for correct views ; never- 
 theless, the scorn here is not treated as an act of high 
 treason. Neither is like returned for like, scorn for 
 scorn, since it was holy things that were here the sub- 
 ject ; the refutation is thoroughly serious, even though 
 it does not go into particulars. Where the scorn is 
 only a ripple on the surface, and where, as in this case, 
 the immediate object is the harvest, the reaping of the 
 ripe fruits — of those who welcome the sickle, the great 
 thing is a short reply, and that, as far as possible, by 
 appeal to the evidence of their own eyes, presenting 
 a firm front, with a strong clear voice, ver. 14. airo- 
 (jydeyyea-daL, to sound forth, to proclaim with emphatic 
 force, is specially chosen for the utterance of inspiration, 
 cf. ii. 4 and xxvi. 25 ; in the Septuagint, accordingly, 
 it stands for 5<33, e.g. 1 Chron. xxv. 1 ; it was also 
 imitated by the false prophets, Ezek. xiii. 19 and 
 Micah V. 12. In addition to this we have next the 
 reply through evidence addressed to the understanding, 
 ver. 15. a>pa rplrr), nine o'clock in the morning, there- 
 fore early in the day, and likewise the first hour of 
 prayer, when the morning sacrifice was offered in the 
 temple. Drunkenness at this time of day would 
 therefore presuppose a company of notorious profligates. 
 Anton says : " That was a distortion of the facts, for 
 which the word aKokia (ver. 40) is also forthcoming." 
 The reply goes on farther in a direct fashion, looking 
 the opponents straight in the face, so that men perceive 
 
The First Testimony hefore the World. 251 
 
 the speaker's good conscience — not merely by hints 
 and in roundabout ways. But at this point a break 
 is made, and with aXka rovro eaTi there follows a 
 rapid transition to the positive statement of the real 
 facts of the case. The reply is not followed by 
 anything to excuse the offenders ; on the contrary, 
 after the short, frank defence, the truth is left to 
 have its further effect upon the mockers with its sting. 
 Where, with fine tact as it is called, a well-known 
 offence is merely hinted at, men listen with twice the 
 eagerness, and the persons concerned feel doubly hurt. 
 Straightforward truth alone can produce the result 
 recorded in ver. 37, and then, ver. 40, a frank word 
 makes a separation between those who are under the 
 influence of divine drawing and calling, and those who 
 follow their own inclinations. At critical moments, 
 when direct opposition to what is divinely great and 
 true is only beginning, but yet is necessarily exercising 
 an influence at variance with the correct general 
 impression to be made, then a directly polemic attitude 
 is assumed — only, however, in the form of a brief 
 defence at the commencement and a sharp cutting up 
 at the close. 
 
 But, as already noticed, Peter has, besides the 
 misconstruction with which he has dealt, another 
 frame of mind before him, which is already, though 
 in a manner as yet undefined, under the influence 
 of poioerful religious impressions, and waits for further 
 disclosures of the truth which has in the first instance 
 laid hold of it. This attitude requires a suitable 
 
252 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 treatment of the divine fact from which the excitement 
 arose and which required to be made plain to the 
 understanding. How then does the discourse now 
 proceed ? Although the address does not at once 
 treat those who are light-minded, in the circumstances 
 above mentioned, as opponents of the cause, and does 
 not reject them till the testimony has reached its 
 decisive culmination, just as little from the outset are 
 those who are still undecided in their religious con- 
 victions, although their disposition is earnest and 
 sympathetic, represented as special friends of the cause. 
 A beginning is made rather in a general way, embrac- 
 ing all, — first in the address, ver. 14: "Ye men of 
 Judea and all ye dwellers in Jerusalem," which is 
 always repeated as the cardinal facts are mentioned in 
 the discourse, vers. 22, 29, 36, and further with a 
 summons which regards the whole mixed multitude as 
 capable of instruction and requiring it, ver. 14&. The 
 style of speech is simple, neither showing nor exciting 
 special favour nor disfavour ; it is concise and has a 
 solemn earnestness, at the same time free from affec- 
 tation and pathos, claiming attention as a duty. 
 
 Having, up to this point, considered the discourse in 
 the form of its delivery, we proceed now more closely 
 to the unfolding of its contents. The evKaßeh and the 
 ^La')(\evd^ovre^ are answered from the divine word 
 which judges both classes, vers. 16-21, from Joel iii. 1 ff. 
 The apostle thus appeals to a tribunal to which every 
 man remains answerable, even though he does not sub- 
 mit himself to it, a tribunal whose sentence can only 
 
.The Fir si Testimony heforc the World . 253 
 
 properly reassure those who are of God, even in thmgs 
 which they do not as yet see and understand ; whilst it 
 isolates wilful opponents and brands them as those who 
 are not of God, so that they are divested of moral 
 authority in the eyes of those about whom divine truth 
 in the first instance concerns itself — the God-fearing 
 friends of truth. Before this tribunal — before the 
 divine tribunal, a decision is specially given by Holy 
 Scripture with regard to the searching question, ver. 12, 
 T^ av dekoL roOro eJvac, as well as with regard to the 
 positive explanation : " It is drunkenness." As against 
 this personal view of the matter, the person of the 
 speaker had come into the foreground (ver. 14) with the 
 utterance of a good conscience claiming respect from 
 friend and foe. But in ver. 16, where the cause (tovto 
 and no longer ovtol) is involved, the person retires into 
 the background, and the question of those who have 
 already a vague sense of the mighty work of God, as 
 well as the perverted views of the rest, are placed full 
 in the light and right of the divine word. On the one 
 hand, this brings out grace in its innermost and most 
 comprehensive operation, pouring forth the Divine Spirit, 
 without being bound by fleshly limitations, by distinc- 
 tions of sex, or age, or rank, ver. 1 7 f . ; on the other 
 hand, judgment is also exhibited in its majesty as ruling 
 throughout the heavens and the earth, ver. 19 f. 
 
 In those who are under the influence of powerful 
 religious impressions, the prophetic future and the 
 present which amazes them, blend together to produce 
 a combined impression and to afibrd mutual illustration. 
 
254 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 The religious foreboding and eager expectation of the 
 €v\aße2<; gain light and find support in a clear and 
 firm conception — the conception of the Spirit of God 
 poured out upon all flesh, which, however, as the Holy 
 Spirit, has also its judicial side. And it is just in this 
 that the scoffing spirit receives its correction, quietly 
 it may be, but forcibly ; in the earnestness of divine 
 judgment involved lie the awakening and the exhorta- 
 tion not to sport with what is serious and holy, to value 
 aright and to lay to heart the decisive character of 
 the hour at which they have arrived. But all this 
 is not set forth with words of description or merely 
 discussed as doctrine, leaving it to the hearers to get into 
 the right frame of mind, neither are they summoned 
 thereto as a secondary thing : the whole course of the 
 speech is so ordered that the right disposition is 
 begotten and produced in all who do not wilfully oppose 
 it, but yield themselves up to it, ver. 37. The truths 
 which produce the right disposition in the soul force 
 their way to the heart in close succession. Even in 
 ver. 21 the conclusion of the quotation from the 
 prophet of itself serves this purpose ; there lies in it a 
 liint of universal love (Tra?), along with an indication of 
 what is to be done {iinKaXear^Tai) and what is to be 
 gained — according to the connection with ver. 20 — on 
 the day of the revelation of the Lord. But that which 
 the prophet first states broadly and indefinitely — 
 calling upon the name of the Lord and deliverance — 
 the apostle has to define more closely, because he had 
 to point to the Lord as already manifested, and he has 
 
Tlie First Testimony hefore the World, 255» 
 
 a salvation to offer which has already appeared, 1 Pet. 
 i. 10 f. 
 
 Who, then, is this prophetic Lord, who is proclaimed 
 as the universal Saviour, as the bringer of salvation ? 
 This was the question which was made so important 
 through the previously mentioned words of the prophet, 
 but was not solved. The question is not proposed in 
 so many words as an express subject, but it is actually 
 raised in the people's hearts. How, then, is this 
 question treated ? Let us compare, first, ver. 22 with 
 ver. 36. There we find at the commencement, the man 
 of God, and at the close, Him who is made by God both 
 Lord and Christ. Thus an advance is made from the 
 lowly and known to the unknown and the higher, 
 by going (vers. 23-35) right through the facts of the 
 resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit, which by 
 Scripture are placed side by side with the crucifixion. 
 But it was in the crucifixion that there lay the Jew^ish 
 aKcivBaXov, involving the severest conflict of the people 
 with the Lord who called them, and threatening to 
 bring upon the people the Lord's severest judgments. 
 How wisely the apostle's discourse deals with this most 
 tender and yet most decisive point ! By means of tlie 
 quotation from the prophet Joel, the apostle had made 
 them realize the decisive character of the present 
 moment. His hearers were subjected to the twofold 
 impression of grace and of judgment : " in the last 
 (lays shall both attain to their highest revelation." In 
 this way a psychological preparation was made, leading 
 directly to the remembrance of the crucified. There 
 
256 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 needed again no apologetic speech, no words of precau- 
 tion or of in^atiation before venturinc^ to touch the 
 tender point. With simple earnestness, appropriate to 
 tlie hour and the cause — certain, from what had taken 
 place before, of making an impression — the brief words 
 are spoken : " Ye men of Israel, hear these words," 
 ver. 22. The discourse starts from what is already 
 firmly fixed in the hearer's own consciousness as a fact ; 
 it assumes no more. But that is stated as a matter of 
 certainty (" as ye yourselves know "), with all definiteness 
 and not merely as a matter of probability.^ Thus are 
 all the chords of memory touching the greatness of 
 Jesus of Nazareth, His numberless wonderful words, 
 works, and deeds of kindness, drawn tight with strong 
 grasp. By this means the powerful impressions which 
 that admittedly divine greatness of Jesus produced 
 among the public during His lifetime, were again to 
 take effect on souls. 
 
 All the more strongly, however, does the contrast, by 
 
 ^ The reading which places ocTrolihityf^ivov after Hvlpa. is to be preferred 
 to that which places it before it, and which Tischendorf in his 
 mechanical fashion has adopted. Hv^pa, «."tto -roZ QioZ go together like ^«? 
 ä.'To 70U ovpavov, ix. 3, and T»)v u-ro a-oü iTa.y'ysXla.v, xxüi. 21 ; He is proved 
 to be a man of God, an ambassador from God, by the generally known 
 miracles which God wrought by Him. The connection with a.-voli'^uy/^ivov 
 (a man approved by God, by mighty works which God did by Him) 
 would be feeble and stiff. 'Suva.f/.ns denotes the inner side of the miracles, 
 in so far as they are an expression of divine power ; Ttpara is the 
 external manifestation of miracles, in so far as they are the expression of 
 extraordinary might ; a-nf/^iT«. denotes the spiritual and ethical significance 
 of miracles, in so far as divine truths, particularly those of divine grace, 
 are exhibited in them. In the connection of a.'ro^ihtyfji.ivov with tli iifiu; 
 lies the subjective purpose and effect of the proof as aiming at their 
 hearts. 
 
The First Testimony lefore the World. 257 
 
 the deed which they had done upon this man, press 
 upon their souls, and this is likewise in ver. 23 briefly 
 expressed in its naked truth : " Him have ye by Gentile 
 hands crucified and slain." The crucified is at the same 
 time represented as " delivered up by the determinate 
 counsel and foreknowledge of God," as delivered over to 
 violence. The deed of violence perpetrated by men is 
 thus placed at once under the limitations of the free 
 counsel of God, and this is done before the deed itself is 
 mentioned. Thus were they made to feel to the full 
 that their deed was a deed of the basest violence, not a 
 token of human superiority or a signal victory on their 
 part over the divine greatness of the man : " Him being 
 delivered up by the counsel of God have ye taken." 
 Just at the point where they might most plausibly and 
 readily have been able to fly off into insolent self- 
 satisfaction, they were led by these words to realize 
 within their souls : " We have presumptuously striven 
 against God, and whilst our counsel and powder over 
 Jesus seemed victorious, it was serving only the divine 
 plan and almighty power." And thus now also, ver. 24, 
 the hand of God interposes swiftly with the miracle 
 of the resurrection, whereby divine decree and divine 
 power appear justified. 
 
 But the resurrection of Jesus, the impossibility that 
 He should be holden of death, required now to be 
 brought clearly into view within the horizon of the 
 audience, in connection with the divine decree and with 
 the character of Jesus as a man of God. A quotation 
 from Ps. xvi. 8 f., in vers. 25-28, serves this purpose. 
 
 K 
 
258 Tlic Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 In this passage an acknowledged man of God is the 
 speaker and expresses the assurance of His indissoluble 
 union with God; and, in virtue of that union, death 
 appears to Him as approaching indeed, but passing into 
 the perfect victory of life, so that the body does not 
 experience corruption any more than the soul the con- 
 dition of Hades (cf. Beck, Lehr Wissenschaft, p. 526 f.). 
 Stedfast, reciprocal union with God appears, therefore, 
 to be the ground of a future victory of life over death 
 in soul and body. In whom, then, is this perfectly 
 fulfilled ? That remained the question. It was neces- 
 sary in dealing with this question, on the one hand, 
 to represent David himself as a man in whose person 
 the words had not attained their full reality, but still 
 await their realization, in so far as he had experienced 
 corruption and still belonged to the realms of the 
 dead ; he had met the common lot of mankind. This 
 is brought out plainly and boldly in ver. 29 as a self- 
 evident truth, without fear of offending the national 
 feeling of reverence towards David ; it was necessary 
 to present the obvious truth in order to pass from it 
 to the higher truth. This is the one side, which shows 
 that the hope which was expressed, the victory of life 
 over death, was not directly fulfilled in David. But, 
 then, how came David to use these words of hope ? 
 This leads to the other side : there it was necessary, as 
 regards David, to advert to his proj^hetic attitude and to 
 the Messianic promise definitely given to him ; by this 
 means a foundation was laid for having the reference to 
 the promised Messiah, in the words of David before 
 
The First Testimony hefore the WorU. 259 
 
 quoted, acknowledged, ver. 30 f. Only in the Messiah, 
 according to the prevalent Messianic idea, have all union 
 with God and hope of life their fulfilment, and thus 
 David could expect deliverance from death for his flesh 
 and for his soul only from the Messiah who w^as to 
 come ; his hope of life, therefore, presupposes propheti- 
 cally the resurrection of the Messiah, — but for the actual 
 fact of this resurrection in the person of Jesus we all 
 appear as witnesses, ver. 32. 
 
 By means of the opening portion of the discourse 
 the sense of the greatness of Jesus as a man of God 
 was already awakened, His death was made a subject for 
 humiliation before God, and at the same time a 
 subject of divine decree ; and thus, in souls which had 
 once been led thus far, the light of the victory of 
 life over death, as David predicts it in his forecast of the 
 Messiah, necessarily fell upon Jesus ; He being certainly, 
 on the one hand, represented as a man of God, by 
 signs and wonders, as David and other saints never 
 were, and there being certainly, on the other hand, a 
 hundred and twenty persons standing before them 
 bearing their united testimony to the resurrection of this 
 God-Man. Jesus is thus proved as a matter of fact to 
 be the Xpto-ro?, ver. 36, in other words, the Messiah, 
 who could not fall under the dominion of Hades ; and 
 from the idea of Messiah there proceeds as a self-evident 
 consequence of what followed, the exaltation to the 
 right hand of God,^ the position of the Messiah at the 
 
 ^ Tin lil^ta, is not equivalent to U "hi^iuv, ver. 34, at the rirjht hand ; for 
 this construction of the Dative there is no certain example to be found 
 
260 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 centre of creation, His dignity as Lord, ver. 36, as well 
 as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that is, of His 
 own divinely possessed Messianic substance. This 
 assurance of the Messianic exaltation of Jesus is at the 
 same time sealed as a matter of fact by reference to 
 what they saw and heard, and this again is brought 
 into connection with a further testimony of David, ver. 
 34 f. The evidence of experience and the evidence 
 of Scripture are again combined, vers. 33—35, as a 
 powerful confirmation of what is preached. After the 
 development of the Messianic dignity of Jesus has been 
 thus on psychological and scriptural principles pro- 
 foundly and securely wrought out, the testimony reaches 
 in ver. 3 6 f . its most impressive and culminating point ; 
 it is now in a position to make the most definite demand 
 for a clear and strong conviction on the part of the 
 whole house of Israel. The act of God glorifying Jesus, 
 and their own act in making Him a curse, are once 
 more placed side by side, and the presentation of these 
 two things to view drives their souls — without the 
 application of any special means for the purpose — to the 
 Jesus they had disowned, who was now so powerfully 
 vindicated. 
 
 Ver. 37 announces the natural result. It is a 
 staggering heart - thrust, a piercing of their inner 
 being at the remembrance of Him whom they had 
 outwardly pierced, ver. 23, and the question is no 
 longer, What is the meaning of the things we see ? It 
 
 in the New Testament, t»! hlia, means by the right hand, that is, the 
 exercise cf the power of God, Eph. i. 19 f. 
 
The First Testimony hefore the World. 261 
 
 is rather, What are we now to do ? They acknowledge 
 and feel that it is their very selves that are concerned, 
 that it is their own future state that is to be decided. 
 
 But the completion of the testimony in the apostle's 
 discourse consists, ver. 38, in getting the fundamental 
 truths which should determine the transformation of the 
 inner life impressed upon their pierced hearts ; and this 
 is at once followed by the healing of their wounded 
 hearts, through pointing them to the forgiveness of sins 
 and the gift of the Spirit, of which even they may 
 become partakers under the conditions prescribed. In 
 doing so it is further expressly brought out in ver. 39 
 that this fundamental promise of Messianic blessing is 
 destined for all, wherever God's call shall reach and find 
 an entrance. In this verse the appKcation is found of 
 that which was announced before by the prophecy of Joel 
 (eVt Traaav adpKa kt\.), and so side by side with 
 the immediate reference of the promise to the per- 
 sons immediately addressed, there is brought out, ver. 
 38, the universal reference of the promise by rot? re/cz^ot? 
 vficjv Koi iraau Tol<; eU fiaKpdv, all even to the farthest 
 distance. As the second of these expressions denotes 
 universality with reference to space, the first denotes 
 universality with reference to tune. reKva refers to 
 posterity, lihe7\ not to childhood, infantes — the latter 
 being denoted by 'iratS€<i and iraihia ; compare Acts xiii. 
 32 f.; Jolin viii. 39 ; Matt. iii. 9 ; and contrast Mark 
 X. 13 and Matt, xviii. 2. By the final clause, however, 
 oo"ou9 av 'iTpoaKakear}Tat, ktX., qualifying all already 
 mentioned, the thing is limited and conditioned by God's 
 
262 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 calling of men to Himself, as well as by their com- 
 pliance with the invitation, that is, by the divine word 
 which addresses the call, and the human faith which 
 answers to it. And for this reason again, because the 
 reception of the Spirit is a consequence of complying 
 with God's call, reKva are not children in the sense 
 of infancy, but in the sense of descendants — as in ver. 
 17 the words of the prophet put it, where sons and 
 daughters are represented as speaking in the spirit, not 
 as infantes, the estate of youth being there certainly 
 brought out with special clearness by veavlaKoc vfiwv. 
 The expression, " the promise is unto your children," is 
 the gracious counterpart of the awful curse they in- 
 voked : " His blood be on us and on our children," 
 Matt, xxvii. 25. reKva therefore denotes their whole 
 posterity, infants being also certainly included, though 
 the promise of the Spirit holds good for them in no 
 other sense than that in which it is addressed to the v^lv 
 and the eU /laKpav, with whom the reKva are put on 
 a level, that is, on condition of a human fieravoelv in 
 virtue of the divine irpoaKaXeiadac, 
 
 Those that are afar off are not merely the Jews of 
 the dispersion, they are in a special sense the Gentiles, 
 Eph. ii. 13, 17. That Peter could not have said this, 
 because at that time he still held the Gentiles to be 
 excluded — as people would infer from chap. x. — is erro- 
 neous on several grounds : (1) What a man says and 
 teaches under the influence of the Holy Spirit is accord- 
 ing to the scriptural conception of the Holy Spirit not 
 limited to his personal knowledge, but extends beyond 
 
The First Testimony "before the World. 263 
 
 liis own horizon. Even the influences of natural en- 
 thusiasm carry a speaker beyond himself to a height of 
 intuition and of utterance which transcends the scope 
 of his own knowledge ; still more is this the case with 
 a man divinely inspired, especially under the impulse 
 of the first inflowing of the Spirit; it remains 
 therefore a task for the speaker himself to understand 
 and to apply for himself in its concrete significance 
 what he sees in vision and gives utterance to : and such 
 is Peter's own teaching, 1 Pet. i. 10 and 2 Pet. i. 21. 
 Tlie explanation of the words of the Spirit must there- 
 fore not confine their sense to the probable, subjective 
 view of the speaker. (2) But even apart from this, the 
 entire assumption is false. Peter and the Jews gene- 
 rally did not exclude the Gentiles by any means from 
 participation in the Messiah and the Messianic gift. 
 They only believed that the participation of the Gentiles 
 in the Messiah did not take place directly, but had to 
 be effected through circumcision and the law, that they 
 had to go through Judaism to Christianity ; whether 
 the calling of the Gentiles to Christ was to take place 
 directly or indirectly, is not a subject on which our 
 passage has anything to say; the special divine instruc- 
 tion on the subject was undoubtedly first given in Acts 
 X., and given then to Peter. (3) Lastly, the mention of 
 the Gentiles here is strictly relevant, because in the 
 discourse of Peter the prophetic utterance was to be ful- 
 filled : " I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." The 
 calling in of the Gentiles is no more excluded through 
 v^lv in this passage than it is through " your sons " in 
 
264 The Work of the Aioostlcs as Teachers. 
 
 ver. 17; on both occasions the special reference to the 
 covenant people is brought out as part of the universal 
 reference. With the last direction, vers. 38, 39, to the 
 way of salvation which stands free to all, and to its 
 condition, the testimony of the apostle has reached 
 its practical goal. That goal was to effect a separation 
 among the perverse multitude, and to bring over those 
 who complied with the call, to the position indicated by 
 the leading text of the prophet, to the position of the 
 aco6evT6^, vers. 27, 40. With this the testimony is 
 brought to its close. 
 
 (3.) General homiletical princijples derivable from this 
 discourse, 
 
 (a) The principal law is this : The testimonies of 
 Scripture and of experience must be combined ; not 
 in such a way as to bring Scripture down to mere out- 
 ward experience, to weaken it and to empty it of its 
 meaning, but in such a way as to lift up what has been 
 seen and heard and experienced, and to place it within 
 the horizon of Scripture. It is from Scripture that 
 judgment must be passed upon the events of life, 
 upon God's doings and man's doings in their mutual 
 relation ; and the events of life, real life, must 
 be employed for the illustration and enforcement 
 of Scripture. With this law are ranked two 
 laws besides, one relating to matter, the other to 
 form. 
 
 (h) Tlie law relating to matter is as follows : Genuine 
 evangelical preaching must always combine two things 
 in the idea of salvation, grace and judgment, — as well 
 
The First Testimony hefore the World. 265 
 
 as the divine coming and the human meeting, the 
 divine call and the human invocation. 
 
 (c) The km relating to form is as follows : The 
 whole discourse must be constructed, not only on logical, 
 but on biological and psychological principles ; that is, 
 it must start from life in general, and particularly from 
 the special character and standpoint of the life of the 
 hearers, and adapt itself thereto through the whole 
 course of its development ; further, it must lay hold of 
 the inner dispositions of the audience (some bring a 
 mind favourable to the text, others not), must work upon 
 them, and control them so as to bring them to a decisive 
 frame. This requires the speaker himself above all to 
 be in the right frame, that is, to be lifted up into a 
 holy frame of spirit, or to have command of the elements 
 from which a holy frame is formed, and to know how 
 to overcome in himself, above all, the fleshly frame in 
 its form of wisdom, of likes and dislikes, in its fear, 
 courage, and pride, before he seeks to get the better 
 of it in others ; but the frame of mind as a whole 
 does not consist of isolated feelings and transient 
 emotions, it consists rather of a condition of soul 
 through which feeling itself, thinking and willing, judg- 
 ment and behaviour, are determined for or against. A 
 spiritual frame, however, is not produced and dominated 
 by feeling ; it is a state of mind dominating the feelings, 
 produced by well-regulated spiritual activity ; it is, in the 
 Christian sphere particularly, the result of a knowledge 
 of the truth, by means of which the conscience and the 
 understanding as the spiritual faculty in man become 
 
266 Tlie Work of the Aj^ostles as Teachers, 
 
 accessible to what is divine, — the fundamental religious 
 regards faith, hope, love, becoming the ground-tone of 
 our heart. The truths, therefore, through which these 
 elements of inner piety are provided, are universally 
 and always calculated to produce or renew the spiritual 
 frame in ourselves ; and familiarity with such truths 
 gives us the ability to produce or confirm the same 
 frame in others. It is a chief means, therefore, for 
 putting ourselves and others into the right Christian 
 frame of spirit, to lay up a right heart-treasure out of 
 the word of God, not merely a treasure in the memory 
 — to nourish ourselves continually from this word, and 
 to pray for the Holy Spirit ; 1 Tim, iv. 5 furnishes a 
 good illustration, although it has reference only to a 
 special case. In this passage it is the holy frame of 
 mind in the enjoyment of earthly gifts that is specially 
 mentioned, and in this connection the knowledge of 
 the truth is set forth in ver. 3, while in ver. 5 the 
 word of God and prayer are emphasized as means 
 to the holy frame of mind and treatment of the gifts. 
 To enforce these truths is, according to ver. 6, 
 the work of an able steward of Jesus Christ, for 
 which Tpe(l)6a6ai, roh \6yoL<; t^9 Triareco'^ is earnestly 
 commended. 
 
 From the general homiletical principles indicated, 
 special principles may also be derived, as, for instance, 
 with reference to the knowledge of the truth as the 
 foundation of the whole. (1) Every sermon to every 
 audience is to be constructed with a view to the know- 
 ledge of human sinfulness and divine salvation, and for 
 
Organization of Christian Cimrches. 267 
 
 this purpose men's doings and God's doings are to be 
 placed side by side. (2) In doing this we are to lay- 
 hold of the sinful character in its special manifestations, 
 and of truths already beyond dispute. In the decisive 
 and critical moments of life the decisive and fundamental 
 Christian verities are to be applied. (Excellent counsels 
 are to be found in Sailer's Concise Admonitions to Young 
 Preachers, p. 40 ff . ; and in Kierkegaard on Self -Exami- 
 nation, p. 58 ff.) 
 
 4. The organization of Christian Churches or fellow- 
 shijys. Acts ii. 40-47, vi. 1-7. 
 
 (1.) The fundamental conditions we find stated in Acts 
 ii. 40-41. In the previous testimony of the apostle, 
 which was designed to gather souls to Christ, the idea 
 of the Kokelv plays a leading part, and here, ver. 47, it 
 issues in an eKKXrjcria. Let us go into these points 
 more minutely. In what precedes, an eirLKakelaOaL, 
 a calling on and a calling for the Lord on the part of 
 men, is mentioned, ver. 21, as a condition of personal 
 salvation; and there is mention further, ver. 39, of a 
 saving TrpoaKoketcrdai on the part of God. As a sequel 
 to this we find, ver. 40, a irapaKaXelv on the apostle's 
 part, by which the divine salvation is brought home to 
 the persons concerned. The iiriKakelo-Oai, the calling 
 on the name of the Lord on the part of men, derived 
 authority from the words of the prophet, and is here 
 laid down as essential to personal salvation. To this 
 calling on the Lord — this calling for help on man's 
 part — there is attached the irpoa-KaXelaOai, ver. 39, — 
 
268 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 likewise borrowed from the prophet Joel, — at the close 
 of the apostle's speech, denoting a calling to Himself 
 on the part of God. The expression " the Lord our 
 God," however, ver. 39, obtains a specially definite 
 significance when taken in connection with ver. 36, 
 where Jesus is described as He who has been made 
 Lord by God; the designation "the Lord our God" 
 thus leading us to recognise God in His oneness with 
 Jesus, or, more correctly, Jesus in His oneness with 
 God, while already, ver. 33, there had likewise been 
 mention both of God as the Father and of the Holy 
 Ghost. In this way there was laid the foundation of 
 the Christian knowledge of God, the whole system 
 grouping itself around Jesus as the Lord, and this 
 Lord being at the same time represented, in connection 
 with ver. 21, as acorrjp. 
 
 It is, besides, well worthy of remark that, in this 
 endeavour to win souls for the kingdom of God these 
 chief elements in the Christian knowledge of God are 
 not expressly set forth in a collective form, as they are, 
 for example, in the epistles to believers, or at the 
 baptism of believers, but are scattered throughout the 
 speech, requiring to be sought out and brought together, 
 as used to be the case also with our Lord's own utter- 
 ances. Why is this ? Because the knowledge of the 
 truth is not acquired like the articles of a creed ; it 
 must be sought and struggled for, if it is to be a whole- 
 some, living knowledge ; a man must show himself 
 worthy of the truth. It is only souls that give heed, 
 that seek and strive in an earnest spirit, only 
 
Organizcition of Christian ChurcJies. 269 
 
 disciples who will learn for themselves, that the Lord 
 desires — not simply hearers who learn by rote, or pro- 
 fessors of the faith who repeat formulated truths. The 
 former alone are fit for the kingdom of God, they alone 
 are open to receive its salvation. Accordingly, it was 
 only attentive hearers, longing for salvation, who found 
 out from the apostle's speech that Jesus whom God 
 hath made both Lord and Christ, has God for His 
 Father, and that He is God's Son in so eminent a sense 
 that it is in His oneness with Him that God is " the 
 Lord our God that calls," — to call on whom is necessary 
 to salvation. This God of salvation who is to be called 
 upon. Himself calls men unto Him, that is to say, He 
 draws them to Him by the word. 
 
 The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, then, as the 
 Saviour given by the Father and as the giver of the 
 Holy Spirit, is the revelation of the Trinity which the 
 New Testament call is the means of bringing out, and 
 which leads to men's calling upon this Lord. This 
 revelation — the gospel — is the divine means which 
 produces in the man himself the condition necessary to 
 salvation, namely, the calling upon the Lord, and puts 
 within his reach the enjoyment of salvation. It is thus 
 the divine means of instruction for personal salvation 
 (Rom. X. 13 ff.). The apostle, and therefore every 
 human witness, is only a minister of the call conveyed 
 in God's word ; in his testimony he has to divide this 
 word BiafiapTvpea-dai, ver. 40, in order to produce, as 
 the result of God's calling men unto Himself, the calling 
 upon God on the part of men. "With this is combined 
 
270 Tlie Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 still further the special address to individuals, rrrapaKoXelv, 
 which means literally to call to, talk to. This refers to 
 those persons who have been arrested by the previous 
 general testimony, and are to be separated from the rest 
 of the multitude. The will of those who have thus 
 been arrested requires to be strengthened for the decisive 
 step, that they may allow themselves to be saved, that 
 they may lay hold of salvation ; and because this 
 resolution is beset with so many difficulties, there is 
 need of exhortation. It is essential to the laying hold 
 of salvation that there should be an airo, ver. 40 — a 
 tearing oneself away, a severance — oltto t?}? yevea^, 
 from a whole generation ; it is essential that there 
 should be a separation from the rest of men, who are 
 to be recognised as a perverse generation (cr/coXto?, 
 crooked, morally perverted, degenerate). That is the 
 purpose and effect of the redemption to be appropriated : 
 it delivers a man from the manner of life handed 
 down from his fathers, deeply rooted and grounded in 
 tradition and example, imposed by authority, and 
 cherished with reverence, 1 Pet. i. 1 8 ; Gal. i. 4. To 
 bring a man to make up his mind to this separation 
 forms the object of individual personal dealing or 
 exhortation, of the irapaKokelv which makes the divine 
 TTpocTKaXelv an eKKaXeci/. The word which calls men 
 to the Lord and His salvation must thus be at the 
 same time a calling from and a calling away ; this is 
 necessary to acoOrjvat, to the reception of salvation. 
 The calling away, however, is itself a result of the 
 summoning, calling power of God in the gospel, men's 
 
Organization of Cliristian Churches, 271 
 
 sinful maladies being thereby brought to light, and the 
 saving health of God being offered and brought home 
 to the heart. A man must therefore, first of all, be 
 laid hold of by the power of God's word calling him, 
 before any deliverance can be effected from the old 
 ties that bind him to the world. It is only on the 
 ground of the divine call that the minister of the divine 
 word is entitled and enabled to call away from the 
 world ; but on that ground he is bound to do so. This 
 he must represent and treat as so essential to the life 
 of salvation, that there shall be no admission to fellow- 
 ship in salvation and no offer of blessedness, except on 
 condition of breaking off connection with the perverse 
 life of men. In this liberation the aoo^etv is seen in 
 its immediate effect as a saving act, as well as in its 
 continued operation as a saving process ; and thus our 
 moral emancipation from the common life of the world 
 is the proof that we have appropriated salvation, and 
 are continuing to appropriate it. In other words, 
 salvation must approve itself from first to last as actual 
 redemption, 1 Pet. i. 1 8 ; redemption therefore which 
 must be realized in the case of individual partakers of 
 salvation, and must show itself to be realized by de- 
 liverance from the baneful dominion of the present world 
 and of the age in which they live. This is the great 
 primary work of faith, out of which all others flow — 
 emancipation from the world, effected by the salvation 
 power of the gospel with its invitations and warnings. 
 Compare Gal. i. 14 ; Tit. ii. 14 ; Eph. v. 7 ff. ; 1 Pet. 
 ii. 9 ; 1 John i. 6 ; Eom. vi. 17 f., 22, viii. 3 f., xii. 2. 
 
272 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 From the foregoing we can briefly gather what it is 
 that forms the foundation in the organization of a 
 Christian society, of a Christian congregation, of a true 
 Church in the midst of an outward Church, according 
 to the pattern of the first organization. The objective 
 foundations which the Church has to begin with are 
 God's saving acts in Christ, God's prophetic apostolic 
 word, and God's Holy Spirit. On these foundations 
 the Church is built, but not as a mere institution, not 
 as a mere organization set up for the administration of 
 doctrine and sacraments with a rigid system of ordi- 
 nances, — this view of the Church being as much of an 
 extreme as when it is regarded as a mere human 
 society. According to the apostolic history, the Church 
 is formed by a free union of living subjects with what 
 has been objectively given, by a free union of the human 
 with the divine, in faith. The initiative, however, is 
 taken by God not by an act of administrative or moral 
 compulsion, but by His word, by which He calls men 
 to the salvation that is in Christ and calls them away 
 out of the corruption that is in the world. Even when 
 thus founded upon the divine call, however, the Church 
 is only formed by a voluntary acceptance of God's call 
 or word, and of baptism, on the part of those to whom 
 the call is addressed, — that is to say, only when they 
 are baptized on the strength of personal faith, and pass 
 from the old union with the world into the new associa- 
 tions. It is not baptism in itself therefore which makes 
 the Church ; it is faith which qualifies both for baptism 
 and for the Church, ver. 41. The faith through which 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 273 
 
 a man of his own free will unites himself with God's 
 salvation in Christ, leads to baptism, in which God 
 unites Himself with men for their salvation, for the for- 
 giveness of their sins, and the gift of the Spirit ; and 
 such baptized persons form the Church, which is there- 
 fore styled, in Acts iv. 32, to ttXyjOo^ tcjv iriaTevcravTwv. 
 From this it follows, as true of every other case in 
 which a Christian congregation is formed or a true 
 Church instituted, that the foundation is invariably the 
 calling by means of the divine word, a calling men to 
 call upon Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour, with a 
 calling away, that is, a liberation and separation from 
 the old bondage. The i/cKokeiv is thus an essential 
 factor in the formation of a Christian congregation, — 
 so essential, that it lies at the root of the name for a 
 congregation, iKKXrjala. The word is meant to bring 
 into prominence the grace which, liberating from cor- 
 ruption, calls and elects us to salvation, as well as to 
 bring out the obligation and necessity, on our part, of 
 holding aloof from the corrupt ways of men — of giving 
 up our old associations, if we are to be Church members, 
 in the sense of being partakers of salvation. This 
 enables us also to determine what is the chief thing a 
 sermon has to do in order to build up a congregation, 
 what is implied in true edification, that is to say, what 
 a preacher has principally to do who would incorporate 
 himself and others into the true Church, who would 
 bring himself and others into the kingdom of the divine 
 life, not into a mere external Church-communion or a 
 mere human semblance of a Church. He has to set 
 
 s 
 
274 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 forth in his testimony the scriptural message of salvation 
 in the power which it exerts when it calls men to the 
 Lord as well as when it calls them away from the life 
 of human tradition ; and he has to do this in such a 
 way that he may still further bring home the truth in 
 a special sense, by appeal and exhortation, to the hearts 
 of those who have already been impressed by the general 
 testimony, — in such a way, therefore, as to deal with 
 each man individually. A general impression of the 
 general testimony concerning Christ is certainly the 
 beginning of the question, " What must we do ? " but 
 we are not justified in taking those who are thus 
 arrested to be real Christians, partakers of salvation — 
 there is still need for a special application to the hearts 
 of such persons, by direct personal dealing, of the call 
 to salvation and separation from corruption, — and this 
 both as grace and as command. (2 Tim. ii. 19.) This 
 is the only way to determine whether a Christian con- 
 gregation or fellowship can be formed, and who are to 
 be its individual members. On the other hand, it is to 
 be observed that in gathering a congregation we must 
 never go beyond what has just been stated — beyond 
 general and individual dealing by means of the invita- 
 tions and warnings in the word of God. Not only 
 must there be no recourse to outward means of alluring 
 and compelling — there must be no employment of 
 persuasive arts. Only the power of attraction which 
 lies in the divine call to the Lord and His salvation — 
 and this without being silent about the separation from 
 the old life which is involved therein — this is the only 
 
Organization of Christian Clinrclus. 275 
 
 key that may be applied to men's hearts, this is the 
 gospel's compelling to come in.-^ 
 
 Those, then, who willingly and gladly open their 
 hearts to this message and accept it, have attained to a 
 position which fits them for entering into the member- 
 ship of the Christian Church, in the sense of becoming 
 partakers of divine salvation (ver. 41). As the 
 objective foundation of all activity which is fitted to 
 establish a Church — fitted to edify, consists in the call 
 to the Lord by means of the divine word, which at the 
 same time cuts off from the old associations, so the rise 
 of a really Christian fellowship, or true Church, requires 
 as its fundamental condition, of a subjective personal 
 kind, that there shall be a voluntary and joyful accept- 
 ance of the word of salvation and its call, with a clear 
 consciousness of its strict moral requirements as a rule 
 of life. Now, for us, situated as we are, it is an 
 important question : " How can we be sure that this 
 acceptance is free and honest ? " Originally Christi- 
 anity was without any outward protection or power of 
 attraction, — so far from this, it was the object of general 
 hatred and contempt, it occasioned political drawbacks 
 and other social disadvantages, and even injuries in 
 person, honour, and worldly estate ; moreover, true to 
 its own inherent character, it stood forth in an attitude 
 of uncompromising and undisguised opposition to the 
 world — with strait gate and narrow way: both inwardly 
 
 ^ It would be a mistake, however, to imagine that a minister has 
 nothing else to do. The commandments of God have also to be dealt 
 with as applicable to all men — that is to say, the moral element : 
 this is to be enforced, but not Christianity. 
 
276 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 and outwardly it sustained the character of a real religion 
 of the cross/ Matt. xvi. 24 ; 1 Cor. i. 17. Under such 
 circumstances the test and proof of the free resolu- 
 tion and acceptance was already found in baptism, Acts 
 ii. 38. Now-a-days, however, we cannot regard the 
 baptism customary with us, which is a perfectly in- 
 voluntary act, as a decisive token of voluntary and honest 
 acceptance and of belonging to the Church of God. To 
 what then are we to look ? It will not do merely to 
 have regard to the previous manner of life, for in an 
 institution designed to bring salvation, where awOrjre is 
 the word (compare 1 Cor. vi. 11), the decisive question 
 is not what a man was or what he was not, but whether 
 he wishes to be saved. On the other hand, however, 
 as the object sought is moral soundness in the highest 
 sense, sanctification for God and in God, and thus 
 emancipation from the world, 1 Cor. vi. 9, 2 Tim. ii. 
 21, the previous life is always to have an influence so 
 far upon our treatment of a man, that the judgment 
 must be the more careful, and the test the more 
 thorough, the more the earlier life bears traces of 
 viciousness, or of dishonesty, frivolity, and inconstancy, 
 1 Tim. V. 22, 24 f.- 
 
 1 But since the cross was turned into an " in hoc signo vinces," what 
 has become of it ? It has become a badge of honour, instead of being 
 the thing it was to the apostles when they spoke of being " crucified with 
 Him. " Hatred and contempt the Lord has predicted for His Christianity 
 till He come again. 
 
 ^ The immediate reference in this passage is to the election of men for 
 Church service, but it holds good of professing Christians generally. 
 Don't be in a hurry to make and acknowledge Christians. He who is 
 the means of bringing a dishonest man into the Christian fellowship, 
 incurs the guilt of his sins. 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 277 
 
 As we cannot and dare not assign anything more 
 than a relative importance to the earlier manner of life 
 and reputation, we must attach all the more definite 
 and decided importance to the actual presence in the 
 man of that disposition by which alone the earlier life 
 is put out of account — a disposition summed up in the 
 fierdvota of the gospel. The German word Busse has 
 arisen from a misconception, and keeps it up. It 
 reminds us involuntarily of a judicial process of investi- 
 gation and punishment ; whereas fieravoelv denotes in 
 general a process of a spiritual and moral kind, whereby 
 a man, from free conviction, passes moral condemnation 
 upon his past habit of mind, whether as a whole or in 
 detail, and earnestly embraces what makes him better, 
 what gives ]iim moral restoration and deliverance. So 
 far the idea of fieTcivoia is concentrated, in the simplest 
 form^ in the earnest resolution to improve, Luke v. 31 f., 
 xiii. 3. Now in order to make sure that the change of 
 mind is real, we have to ask particularly whether there 
 is actually present that which from the nature of the 
 case renders possible real change of mind or conversion 
 of heart, in some measure forming part of it, in some 
 measure following after it. The only pure source of a 
 moral change of mind, especially for one who would 
 occupy the position of a Christian, and the objective 
 guarantee, therefore, for such a change of mind, is the 
 gospel message of salvation, with its earnest correction 
 and rejection of the traditional ways of men. Hence it 
 is of supreme importance to investigate and ascertain, 
 in the case of our candidates for true Christian fellow- 
 
278 The WorJc of the Ajpostlcs as Teachers. 
 
 ship, whether or not any inducements of a human kind, 
 any excitements arising from a pursuit of spiritual plea- 
 sure, have asserted an influence over them — whether a 
 gospel curtailed in some of its essential parts or coloured 
 by additions, in particular a gospel with a lax morality, 
 has not been at work upon them. Then, in a subjective 
 connection, the question is whether the man has appre- 
 hended that fundamental and distinguishing feature in 
 the divine word and call — that it calls away, that it 
 delivers and separates from the old circle of associations 
 and the old manner of life, as well as whether he has, 
 along with a knowledge of God, the knowledge of Jesus 
 also^ as the Lord, the Saviour and Judge, and the know- 
 ledge of the Holy Ghost as the renewing and sanctifying 
 gift of Jesus Christ. This is the principal thing to be 
 inquired into and ascertained, if it is a really Christian 
 fellowship that is the object. Eepentance in the name 
 of Christ is based upon it. In addition to this, we 
 have to ascertain whether the honest fruits of fierdvoLa 
 are there. As these fruits were summed up in the 
 apostolic Church in the step taken to baptism, and as 
 this act was in itself the voluntary public abandonment 
 of the sanctities and pleasures of the past, and a public 
 identification of oneself with the persecuted and accursed 
 name of Christ, there must necessarily be at the present 
 time — under the quite different conditions of the Church 
 which now obtain — a preliminary season of probation, to 
 give time for the fruits of the fjcerdvoLa to appear, so 
 
 ^ Now-a-days we might also reverse this question, for many people 
 quite cover up God with Jesus. 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 279 
 
 that we may be convinced of the real and decided 
 character of the repentance. For this purpose we must 
 take into consideration, in particular, reparation of any 
 wrong that has been committed, not only material, but 
 spiritual wrong, removal of offences given, retractation of 
 false doctrines propagated, and so forth — a breaking 
 with the old sinful associations.^ 
 
 To sum up then, in conclusion, the fundamental 
 requisites for the formation of Christian congregations 
 or fellowships. The objective condition is the scrip- 
 tural testimony to Father, Son, and Spirit as the 
 authors of salvation in its great original features, and 
 further, the individual application of the divine calling 
 according to its gracious and holy character. The 
 subjective condition is the belie\dng knowledge of God 
 as Father, Son, and Spirit so far as the scheme of 
 
 ^ That a man atone for what, according to the law of nature, must be 
 atoned for, is the natural condition which he must fulfil before he 
 become partaker of the divine means of atonement. If you dc not 
 render the atonement you have it in your power to render, you obtain 
 no share in the atonement which it is beyond your power to render. 
 But really if theology had to confine itself to these simple, fundamental 
 questions and views, what would be left to it of any consequence ! Then 
 it would not be so easy to write such fine books — a stop would be put to 
 the work of so many prolific pens. So we deceive ourselves. It is a 
 case of learning on all sides, and yet not coming to any knowledge of 
 the truth. In this respect also there was far more of moral sense in the 
 much-decried last century. There were rationalists then who, although 
 they attained only to the repentance of law and conscience, revised the 
 writings they had given to the world. "We have scarcely any book of 
 Lavater's in which we do not find revisions. Even Prince Charles of 
 Würtemberg proclaimed publicly that he was a changed man. That was 
 not the repentance of a Christian, it was only the repentance of a con- 
 scientious man. Yet he openly confessed his faults. But now the salt 
 has lost its savour, and there will be no lack of people to tread it under 
 foot. 
 
280 The Work of the A2oostles as Teachers. 
 
 salvation depends thereon, as well as the voluntary 
 surrender to the divine calling, to its grace, as well as 
 to its moral earnestness as a sanctifying power, — both 
 of these giving evidence of their reality in repentance 
 and its genuine fruits. Eambach : " Such is always 
 the case where God's word is powerfully preached, — 
 some turn to the right, others to the left." Bengel : 
 "Antea fuerant duntaxat CXX. nomina et tamen ter 
 mille circiter animse dicuntur appositse, quia prius 
 tamen fuerat caput et corpus." But the Christian life, 
 in its own nature as well as in the fellowship of the 
 Church, when once begun, is a process, a continuous 
 growth ; begun in faith, it must be carried on by a 
 steady course of development. 
 
 (2.) The means of development to be used after a 
 Christian fellowship has once been established — in other 
 words, the conditions of a prosperous growth of the 
 Christian life in the congregation — are briefly set forth 
 to us in Acts ii. 42. 
 
 {a) The fundamental requisite is not ritual, nor sacra- 
 ment, nor adoration, but doctrine, apostolical doctrine. 
 Ever after the descent of the Holy Spirit, we find the 
 apostolic testimony in the closest combination with the 
 testimony of the Spirit, Johnxv. 2 6 f. ; cf.xx. 2 1 f.,xvii. 1 8. 
 The Lord's anrkareCKa gives authority once for all to the 
 apostles' testimony as the testimony of divine ambas- 
 sadors, whose message is to be the means of producing 
 in the /coVyLto«? for all time the right faith, John xvii. 
 18-20, xiii. 20; Luke x. 16. The continuing in the 
 apostles' word is thus identical with continuing in the 
 
Organization of Christian Clmrclics. 281 
 
 Lord's word, and the promise, John viii. 31, applies to 
 it. What a scrupulous conscientiousness do these 
 primitive Christians show with regard to their Lord's 
 words ! The words we have now cited with reference 
 to the apostleship are not distinguished from the other 
 sayings of the Lord by their use in any special ordina- 
 tion ceremony, they are not even sanctioned in the 
 form of an express ordinance, an ecclesiastical decree 
 proclaimed in solemn public assembly, — they are 
 casually uttered on various occasions along with other 
 words, and yet they serve to bring home to the mind of 
 that age, as a fundamental of the faith, the superiority 
 of the apostles' teaching, in its specific character as 
 representing the Lord ; and this notwithstanding the 
 fact that, at the outpouring of the Spirit, the apostles 
 were not distinguished from the other disciples by any 
 outward peculiarity, and that the apostles themselves 
 spoke of the gift of the Spirit at their very first public 
 appearance in such free and universal terms, that it 
 might have been held on that account, with all the 
 more show of reason, that there was to be a thorough- 
 going equality established. 
 
 With equal precision does the irpoaKaprepelv rfj 
 SiBa^fj Tcov cLTToaToXcöv fit in with the baptismal com- 
 mand, Matt, xxviii. 1 9 f., where /jLadrjrevetv, along with 
 the following ßa-irrL^eiv and the subsequent SiSdaKeiv, 
 are the chief factors in the formation of the Church. 
 So we have here, ver. 42, instruction following bap- 
 tism, ver. 41 ; but we have also, previous to baptism, 
 instruction in the leading truths of Christianity, con- 
 
9,Q0 
 
 The Work of the Aiwstles as Teachers. 
 
 densed in the speech delivered by Peter. Hence, ver. 
 41 : ol cLTroSe^d/jLevoi rov \oyov eßairTiaOrjaav. The pre- 
 vious address was to be the means of implanting faith, 
 and thus preparing disciples for baptism into the name 
 of Jesus Christ, ver. 38, while stedfast continuance in 
 the apostolic doctrine was to be the means of develop- 
 ing and improving the faith thus implanted. The 
 words of Matt, xxviii. are thus actually carried out, and 
 receive practical illustration ; the fjLadrjTeveiv appears as 
 an act accomplished through the apostolic Krjpva-aeiv 
 preceding baptism, with its irpoaKaXetaOat and its 
 \6yoi<i irXeioac SLajJLapTvpeaOav and TrapafcaXelv ; and 
 as the püaO'qreveiv, in the case of those who receive it, 
 is followed by baptism, ver. 41, so is their baptism 
 followed by BtBdaKeiv, ver. 42. In Matt, xxviii. and 
 in the speech of Peter, the pba67]Teveiv that leads to 
 baptism is associated with the name of the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost as the fundamental subject of instruc- 
 tion. The fuller and continued instruction of baptized 
 persons, the apostolic StSa'^^Tj, is defined in Matt, xxviii. 
 20:" Teach them (the baptized) to observe and keep 
 in view whatsoever I have commanded you my 
 apostles." Thus the ajjostolic testimony, or Scripture as 
 the written representation of the apostolic doctrine, forms 
 the fixed standard of doctrine for genuine Church 
 faith and Church life both in their commencement 
 and development, Eom. vi. 17; 2 Thess. ii. 14 f. ; 
 
 1 Cor. XV. 1-11; 2 Tim. i. 13 ; 1 Pet. i. 12, 25, 
 V. 12; 2 Pet. i. 1, iii. 1 f . ; 1 John i. 3 f., ii. 24; 
 
 2 John 9. 
 
Organization of Christian Churches, 283 
 
 In this way, by their testimonies being thrown into 
 a permanent written form, the apostles fulfil the part 
 for which they were commissioned by the Lord as His 
 sole ambassadors, — they become the teachers of all 
 nations, of all the world, Matt, xxviii. 1 9 ; Mark xvi. 
 15. The fundamental position which their oral teach- 
 ing assumed in the primitive Church holds good on the 
 same principle everywhere and always ; by means of 
 Holy Scripture it is extended to all Churches — of all 
 times and places. Their type of doctrine is and will 
 remain the exclusive standard of the sound doctrine of 
 Christ — of the truth, and is essential to the sound 
 development of faith — to godliness. Every departure 
 from their teaching, therefore — irepoBiBao-KaXelv and 
 erepov evayyeXtov — is the same thing as false doc- 
 trine, 1 Tim. i. 3, 18 f., vi. 3; 2 Cor. xi. 3 f . ; 
 Gal. i. 6 f.; Col. ii. 6-S ; 2 John 8-10; 1 John ii. 
 24, 19} 
 
 ^ In our time many theories are making their appearance, which are 
 very good at showing up what is unsound and injurious ; but when a 
 remedy is wanted, the old folly reappears. Plenty of insight in a nega- 
 tive sense to detect what is false and injurious, but no insight in a 
 positive sense. People say they must have apostles once more, and new 
 X^pifff^eiTa. ; the Lord says: " I send you, that the Gentiles through you 
 may believe." This gives us the apostles still. What a treasure we 
 have in these Gospels and Epistles we will only know aright when we 
 have it no longer. The more people repair to other fountains, the more 
 will they wander from the truth, never attaining to any stedfastness of 
 heart, and never obtaining rest. There is no doubt such a thing as 
 bondage to the letter in dealing with the apostolic word. But that is 
 not continuing stedfastly in the doctrine that is according to godliness. 
 It is treating the word as mere theory. 
 
 In 2 Cor. xi. 3 f., y«j>j>aTa denotes the reason in its manifold forms 
 and operations. Because the Corinthians had so large a capacity for 
 receiving other views, the apostle is afraid that they might fall away 
 
284 The Work of tlic Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 (h) KOLvcovia, according to the whole structure of 
 the sentence, is something independent, like the other 
 three items (BcSa')(^ri, /cXacrt?, and Trpocrev^ai). It is 
 more than a mere community of goods, which latter is 
 only mentioned by way of addition, ver. 44, as a 
 special feature of the Kovvcavla. The verse before us 
 states first of all, in a general form, the characteristics 
 of the new Church, and KOivwvia brings out the whole 
 relation of fellowship in which the Christians stand to 
 one another, as the co-ordinate hi^a'^rj denotes their 
 relation to the apostles while side by side with this 
 designation of the social relations by the first two words 
 we have also the second two — the «Xacrt? tov aprov to 
 represent the Church's relation to the Lord, and the 
 TTpoaev^al its relation to God ; cf. vi. 24, xii. 5. 
 But what is the more exact meaning of Koivcovla here ? 
 As in the case of StSap^r;, it is most important to 
 observe the internal connection of the passage with 
 
 from the aTXorns, — the strong concentration which admits of no dis- 
 traction and no dissipation. Holding by the centre, we can guide our 
 way in the circumference ; and many paths are seen to lead astray when 
 we view them from a higher standpoint. In Gal. i. 6 f., Col. ii. 6 ff., 
 the apostle means throughout, not teaching that is in its own nature 
 injurious, but such as does harm by its mutilation of the Christian 
 verity that Christ is the One and All. Everything that appears to fill 
 up and complete really eats away and destroys. He who gathers not, 
 scatters abroad. '2roix,i'iot' toZ KOfffx,ov are actually subsisting laws, and on 
 this principle Paul traces back even the Jewish law to the aToixua. 
 TÖV KoafjLov contained in it. They are all very good for this world, but 
 they are not Christianity, and they must not be made into Christian 
 duty. There is a sharp and fine distinction between order upon earth 
 and order in the kingdom of heaven. Because men of themselves find 
 such difficulty in understanding such apostolic sayings, it is all the 
 more important that they should keep a firm hold upon them. Luther 
 was full of them. 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 285 
 
 earlier words spoken by the Lord. In the funda- 
 mental passage from which we started in our interpre- 
 tation of hLha')(r}, John xvii. 20 f./ we find the same 
 intimate connection between apostolic teaching and 
 fellowship. In that passage, the faith which is built 
 up through the teaching of the apostles has for its 
 immediate result, that they may be one, one in a sense 
 analogous to the oneness of the Father and the Son — 
 something real therefore, not a mere ethical conception, 
 but an actual state of being, in living subsistence and 
 efficacy. In the same way, 1 John i. 3, the teaching 
 of the apostles is the means whereby believers are 
 brought into fellowship with the apostles, and both 
 into fellowship with the Father and the Son. Further, 
 2 Cor. ix. 13, confession of the gospel in common 
 and KOLvcovia et? Trdvra^ are joined together in one, and 
 to these two things the support of the poorer members 
 of the Church is there traced back as its general source ; 
 while, Phil. i. 5, a KOLvoavla is also mentioned in con- 
 nection with the gospel — a fellowship based upon the 
 gospel and merging itself in it. The character and 
 spirit of this Christian fellowship had been defined by 
 the Lord Himself, Matt, xxiii. 28, Trai/re? v^eU äZe\<f>o[ 
 icne. Hence the society as a whole is called aheX<f)6T7]<^, 
 1 Pet. ii. 17, V. 9. In harmony with this brotherly 
 relation is the remark in Acts iv. 32. According to all 
 
 * What then is the true means of union and the true way of union ? 
 Can it be by statutes? If it is to be a Christian union, it must be 
 brought into the light of the gospel. A family circle is thus formed 
 •which is by no means narrow-hearted, although it insists upon the 
 truth. 
 
286 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 these passages, therefore, Kotvcovla is the union in heart 
 and life which is produced by the apostolic gospel and 
 by faith in that gospel — a union in which all, without 
 distinction, teachers and learners, rich and poor, men and 
 women, young and old, regard themselves as one family 
 (aSeX</)OT779), and treat one another as brethren. This 
 fellowship shows itself in brotherly intercourse, as well 
 as in mutual assistance and support, embracing the 
 wants both of soul and body — it is the nursery and 
 practising school of brotherly love. This fellowship is 
 most concisely described in Eph. iv. 16 ; cf. Col. ii. 19. 
 A special factor in this Koivcovia is now brought out, 
 ver. 44 f. ; cf. iv. 32, 34. rjaav eVl to avro, ver. 44, 
 here implies something more than being together for 
 the moment, as in i. 15 and ii. 1 ; it denotes some- 
 thing permanent, like the second predicate el')(pv 
 a/iravja kolvcl — it means that they kept together. 
 The following ver. 45 gives a detailed account of 
 elxov ktK. Their estates and other possessions they 
 sold ; and the proceeds were distributed as there was 
 need. What a man had was thus not regarded in a 
 selfish light as private property ; but at the same 
 time it would be a misapprehension to suppose that 
 there was here a system of communism, compelling 
 men to give up their property, and insisting on a 
 common purse. There was no compulsory alienation 
 of property, as is evident from v. 4, which we are 
 presently to discuss ; moreover, the whole of a man's 
 private property was not claimed — his house and 
 goods were not all at once offered for sale. Chap. v. 3 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 287 
 
 shows that Ananias had not sold all his j)roperty, for 
 TO ')(wpLov stands there for the indefinite KTrifxa, ver. 1, 
 which accordingly is not to be translated by the word 
 (joods, as Luther gives it, but literally as a 'piece of 
 ground. That the sale of property was not universal, 
 is evident from the subsequent mention of houses, 
 particularly xii. 1 2, where the mother of Mark is repre- 
 sented as having a house in Jerusalem. Moreover, 
 after a possession was sold, the owner did not lose 
 the right of disposing of the proceeds as he thought 
 lit. In chap. v. 4, fievov and irpaOiv are parallel 
 expressions, and the one must not be construed 
 differently from the other ; consequently fievov cannot 
 be hypothetical, for in that case irpaOev would require 
 to be so too (= if it was sold), whereas we know that 
 it was no longer hypothetical, but an accomplished 
 fact. It is not two hypothetical cases — selling or not 
 selling — that are here distinguished, but two portions 
 of the whole possession. The meaning is : Did there 
 not remain to thee what remained (namely, that which 
 thou didst still possess over and above the land sold), 
 and even that which was sold, was it not in thine own 
 power and at thy free disposal — in other words, hadst 
 thou not power to decide whether and how much thou 
 wouldst give away ? Thou mightest have said openly, 
 " So much I give from the price received for my 
 land," instead of saying, " I received so much." Very 
 significant therefore is the expression, iv. 32: " And 
 not one of them said that aught of the things which 
 he possessed was his own." Each, that is to say, 
 
288 The Work of the Ä]oostles as Teachers. 
 
 possessed what belonged to him, but he treated no 
 part of it as private property, as a private fund to 
 be kept separate from the rest. Instead of this, they 
 had all things in common. Those who had possessions 
 continued to possess them — what they had was, as a 
 matter of fact, still their property, but they possessed 
 as though they possessed not, 1 Cor. vii. 29. 
 
 We have then to conceive of the case in this way. 
 For the daily support — BiaKovia KaOyfjuepivij, vi. 1 — of 
 the poorer members, those who were possessed of real 
 property voluntarily gave it up for sale, from time 
 to time, as the maintenance of the poor required ; 
 and this was done to a greater or less extent according 
 as the possessor saw fit or had the means, and in 
 proportion to the need. The sum realized, and the 
 disposal of it, was partly left in the hands of the 
 quondam owner, to be directly applied by him, ii. 45, 
 v. 4 ; in part it was entrusted to the apostles, iv. 35, 
 or, at a later period, to the deacons specially appointed 
 for this purpose, vi. 1—3. The whole system rests 
 on the principles laid down by our Lord — on the 
 common purse kept by the company of the disciples 
 in their Lord's lifetime, as well as on His admonition, 
 Luke xii. 29-34. It was of the first importance 
 to establish the parent Church, and to make it self- 
 supporting so as to be independent of the outside 
 world, and for this purpose special provision had to 
 be made for the support of those who came up on a 
 visit to keep the feasts and were no longer entertained 
 by the Jews on account of their change of religion, 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 289 
 
 as well as for Christians of other lands generally, who 
 prolonged their stay for a shorter or a longer period, 
 in order to be confirmed in the apostles' doctrine. In 
 the arrangement followed at Jerusalem we see typi- 
 fied, on a large scale, the fundamental idea of the 
 Christian Church with regard to temporal possessions 
 generally — only we see it in a form adapted to the 
 special circumstances of the time and place. Those 
 who have possessions are by no means called (except 
 in special circumstances) to divest themselves of their 
 whole property, or give up the right to dispose of it 
 as they see fit ; at the same time, however, they are not 
 to consider themselves as independent owners, but as 
 stewards of goods which belong to God and which 
 God has entrusted to them for temporary management. 
 These goods they are to share with their brethren in 
 the congregation, as need arises, in a spirit of voluntary 
 benevolence (not by statutory arrangement, but as 
 the fruit of faith), in order to remove inequalities, 
 2 Cor. viii. 12-15, ix. 7. In this sense every private 
 possession is, and proves to be, something for the 
 common good — from regard for God, however, and 
 not as if one might coerce another into it — on 
 the principle of voluntary benevolence, not of legal 
 compulsion nor even moral compulsion. The revenue 
 of the property, in so far as it exceeds the wants 
 of the owner (including those of his household), falls 
 to be applied for the relief of others, from a sense 
 of duty — in a free spirit of love and not as a matter 
 of compulsion — a gradual advance being thus made 
 
 T 
 
290 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 from the nearer to the more remote, from the 
 members of the same family, from those related to 
 us by the ties of nature, to those related to us by 
 the ties of faith, and from these again to a still 
 wider circle, according to our means and the wants of 
 others, 1 Tim. v. 4, 8 ; Gal. vi. 10. 
 
 (c) KXa(7t9 Tov apTov. The origin and meaning 
 of this expression as used in the Christian Church 
 is clearly to be seen in the words with which the 
 Synoptists uniformly introduce the institution of the 
 Lord's Supper : \aß(bv äprov, ev^apicnriaa^ eKkaaev, 
 Luke xxii. 19, with the parallel passages, cf. Luke 
 xxiv. 30 ; Acts xx. 7, 11 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23 f. In view 
 of this uniform designation of the original partici- 
 pation in the Supper, it is unreasonable to let this 
 fundamental conception as a social repast give place 
 to anything else. According to 1 Cor. x. 16, the 
 breaking of bread is also a Kotvcovia, not, however, that 
 of charity to the poor (as understood by some from 
 Isa. Iviii. 7), but fellowship with the Lord in the 
 celebration of the Supper. At the same time it 
 is certainly not the least of a liturgical service, so 
 called; it is the Supper, as ver. 46 f. shows, in its 
 institutional connection with the taking of a meal — 
 a meal of daily occurrence, amid the simplicity and 
 familiarity of domestic life. The expression Ka6* 
 rjfjLepav, ver. 46, forbids us to limit the reference to 
 stated holy seasons ; the connection with the ordinary 
 meal comes out also in the corresponding expression 
 fjL€T€\d/jLßavov Tpo<^Yi^, which is the usual designation 
 
Organization of Christian Cliurclies. 291 
 
 for the ordinary act of eating ; of. chap, xxvii. 33, 36. 
 By the words Kar oIkov in contrast to iv tö> Upco, the 
 K\dai<; Tov apTov, as Bengel says in his Gnomon, is 
 clearly enough marked out as a domestic enjoyment 
 of the Supper. We cannot even suppose that the 
 whole multitude of the believers held the feast in 
 one house. For one thincj this is inconsistent with 
 the expression kut oIkov, which requires etcaarov 
 to be understood, in the same way as the parallel 
 expression Kad^ rjfj^epav requires it (cf., moreover, for the 
 distributive use of Kara with the singular, xv. 21 
 and Luke viii. 1). The sense of "at home," that is, 
 in a definite individual house, has nothing to support 
 it in Philem. 2, for there the particular house is denoted 
 by (TOV, whereas here the general phrase kut* oIkov, 
 like /ca6^ rj/jiepav, brings before us neither a particular 
 house nor a particular day, but is equivalent to " day 
 by day," " house by house." Besides, a meeting 
 together of all in one house is out of the question, 
 considering the unsuitableness of the number — three 
 thousand men. It would involve at all events the sup- 
 position that the communion took place by companies 
 or divisions, instead of being simultaneous ; but this 
 supposition does not agree well with the fact that the 
 " breaking of bread " was connected with the daily 
 meal which took place at a fixed time, and which 
 could not have been spread over different hours of 
 the day in one and the same house, to accommodate 
 the various sections of the three thousand communi- 
 cants, without disturbing the whole business of their 
 
292 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 daily life. Every essential particular in the text 
 therefore goes to show that the sacrament was inter- 
 woven with the daily life, as the Lord Himself 
 indicates by His words of institution, " as oft as ye 
 drink." It is therefore not in accordance with the 
 terms of its original appointment, nor is it apostolical, 
 to exclude the Lord's Supper from the family circle 
 and confine it to the public services of the Church. 
 At the same time these house communions did not 
 prevent larger companies from meeting together for 
 communion in more spacious places, in the same way 
 as the church of a place of large extent was broken 
 up into separate church meetings or churches in the 
 house, 1 Cor. xvi. 19 ; Col. iv. 15 ; Philem. 2. Besides 
 the private communions held daily in the house, there 
 were also meetings on particular days of whole sections 
 of Churches, convened in particular houses for the pur- 
 pose of general communion. Acts xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. xi. 2 ff. 
 According to its original character, therefore, the 
 Lord's Supper, even when assuming the form of a 
 public solemnity in a wider fellowship, has domestic 
 life for its congenial sphere, and bears traces of it 
 in its very form. This character is so essential 
 to it, that even in a wider fellowship the ordinance 
 must not be divested of its family character, its 
 domestic character (1 Cor. xi.) ; this must not be 
 displaced or superseded by the cold solemnities of 
 a public celebration, whose tendency is to put a stop 
 to its free and unrestrained movement Kar oIkov and 
 Ka& rjfjLepav. On the other hand, this familiar observ- 
 
Organization of Christian Churches, 293 
 
 aiice of it does not present itself in the form of law, 
 but as a free exercise of faith and love, which will not 
 bear to be turned into a formal institution.-^ It 
 appears from Acts xxvii. 35 that even a single, 
 individual is competent for the KXdat^ tov aprov, for 
 there is nothing whatever there of the circumstances 
 of a Church service, any more than there is in Luke 
 xxiv. 30. The distinctive purpose of the Lord's 
 Supper seems to be just this — to consecrate the daily 
 life of Christians in their eating and drinking, so as 
 to make it a means of glorifying God in Christ, 
 1 Cor. X. 31. The truth that He sustains all things 
 by the word of His power, is to be applied through 
 the Eucharist to the daily life of Christians, in this 
 higher sense — that through the power of faith He 
 sustains likewise the elements of the Christian life 
 by the word of His grace. The domestic observance, 
 therefore, must by no means be held as unwarrantable 
 amonc? believers — to treat it so is a crime ; even the 
 narrowest circles are to form a Church in miniature, 
 while at the same time provision is made, by the 
 setting apart of special days, for the association of 
 believers on a wider scale for general edification. 
 Thus larger circles are formed around the smaller. 
 Let us now observe still further — 
 
 (d) The relation of these three factors BiSa-^i], Kotvcovia, 
 
 ^ Here again we have to guard against the separatist extreme. We 
 are simply told what the first Christians did in their singleness of heart. 
 There is no injunction, but just as little is there prohibition. Let us 
 keep watch over the matter like shepherds, but let us not prohibit, let 
 us not compel. 
 
294 Tlie Work of the Ajwstlcs as Teachers. 
 
 and KkatTL^ tov apTov, to one another and .to Church life. 
 The apostles' doctrine, in harmony with John xvii. 18 
 and 20, is the foundation of the whole sanctification 
 and building up of God's people, Eph. ii. 20. On 
 this foundation is formed, on one side, the KOLvcovla, in 
 accordance with John xvii. 21, as a brotherly union of 
 the various members one with another, while in the 
 breaking of bread the growing communion of the 
 members of the Church, individually and collectively, 
 with the Lord Himself, is also effected, in accordance 
 with John xvii. 23. In these three factors, then, are 
 found the first-fruits of the fulfilment of the Lord's 
 high-priestly prayer. 
 
 The fellowship of the disciples with one another, 
 KOLvcovia, and their special fellowship with their Lord, 
 K\d(7L^ TOV apTov, has, as we see, its proper sphere and 
 free scope in the domestic circle, because it is of the very 
 essence of the Christian community that it be a house 
 of God — not yet a state (or kingdom) of God — that is 
 to say, a family union in brotherly love and equality. 
 At the same time, however, sufficient breadth and scope 
 is left in the terms of Christian fellowship for the love 
 of mankind in general, and for union with everything 
 associated therewith, that comes from God or makes for 
 God. Only we must remember that these latter elements 
 are not therefore to be considered and treated as Christian 
 in the proper sense and as strictly belonging to the 
 Church.^ The apostolic Christians, and the apostles 
 
 ^ We have among us tlie two extremes — on the one hand, a 
 narrow-hearted Christianity, bound w^ with confessions and Chui'ches 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 295 
 
 themselves, according to ver. 4G, still kept up their 
 
 connection with the Old Testament lepov as that which 
 
 was the Father's though it was not the Son's. What 
 
 they did there we learn from iii. 1, v. 12, 20, 42. 
 
 Praying and teaching was their occupation there, and 
 
 thus they combined with the old service in its most 
 
 spiritual form, with prayer, the preparation for and 
 
 transition to the new and higher platform, that is to 
 
 say, gospel instruction. This enables us to determine 
 
 the relation in which a Church,' corresponding to 
 
 the original conception, that is to say, a Church 
 
 of believers — not a mere external Church of baptized 
 
 persons — would have to stand to the existing national 
 
 Churches : praying and teaching is a combination of the 
 
 two elements which Luther in his day clearly disting-uished 
 
 in his preface to the Wittenberg Church Service-book. 
 
 In so far as the Church of the community adheres to its 
 
 divine foundation, and allows room for the publication 
 
 even of such parts of divine truth as it lacks as yet, 
 
 in so far the bond of union with it is to be maintained, 
 
 but never to such an extent as to carry the conformity 
 
 beyond the bounds of what is divine — the bounds of 
 
 divine truth and divine righteousness, or in such a 
 
 or even congregations, to which belongs the more earnest part of the 
 community ; on the other hand, the latitudinarianism which reckons 
 everything as Christian that in any way comes under the designation 
 of piety or bears even the external appearance of being connected with 
 the Church. I can, for example, say that wherever there is still honest 
 rationalism, there is certainly so far something that proceeds from God, 
 but at the same time it falls short of Christianity in its proper sense. 
 He who claims, in virtue of such rationalism, to be treated as a Chris- 
 tian, claims more than is his due. 
 
296 The Work of the Aioostles as Teachers. 
 
 way as to interfere with the chief interests — the 
 advancement of Christian truth and the maintenance 
 of Christian liberty.-^ 
 
 (e) We have now, still further, to bring out the 
 fourth great point mentioned in ver. 42 as character- 
 istic of the original Church, viz. TrpoaKapTepelv rah 
 '7rpoaev')(aU. If we would define this idea, as we have 
 done the others, in its distinctively Christian sense, we 
 must adduce some of the fundamental truths of 
 Christianity. The distinction between non-Christian 
 and Christian prayers is not merely external. The 
 difference does not lie in special places or times for 
 prayer, in formulas and customs, but in what is 
 spiritual, in the inward character and psychological 
 conditions of the act of prayer, and in its divine object. 
 In John xvi. 24, 26 f., we find expression already 
 given to the thought, that with the reception of the 
 Holy Spirit prayer assumes a new and peculiar form ; 
 moreover, Christ had from the first, John iv. 23, 
 declared it to be His appointed work to found a 
 communion in prayer of a peculiar kind — a spiritual 
 communion in prayer. It is the same as Eph. ii. 18 
 designates as a drawing near to the Father in one 
 spirit through Christ, in contrast to the religious com- 
 munion of the Israelites and of the heathen — where it 
 is at the same time assumed, ver. 15, that the making 
 of the heathen and Jewish types of human nature into 
 one and the same new man, after the image of Christ, 
 
 ^ These two points Paul emphasizes so strongly in his Epistle to the 
 Galatians — viz. the vindication of truth, and Christian liberty. 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 297 
 
 has already taken place. Therein lies the essential 
 characteristic of Christian prayer : it is an outflow of 
 the spirit received from Christ, a spontaneous inward 
 spiritual act by which a man is brought into immediate 
 communion with God as the God of love, as the 
 Father, — and that not of himself but through Christ. 
 Frequently had Christ said — " I go to the Father ; " 
 likewise, " I am the way, no man cometh unto the 
 Father but by me ; " finally, John xvii. 24, "I will 
 that, where I am, they that are mine may be with me 
 also." This being with Christ in the Father's presence, 
 is already spiritually fulfilled, even now, in Christian 
 prayer. Faith in Christ's being with the Father is 
 the foundation on which prayer rests ; its animating 
 spirit is Christ, coming into the heart, through faith, 
 as the inward life of divine love ; its prospect and 
 the object at which it is to aim in hope, as the com- 
 pletion of what is already begun, is the future dwelling 
 together with Christ in the Father's house. The prayer 
 of the Christian Church, therefore, in a true and real 
 sense, necessarily presupposes that in it Jesus Christ 
 fills the mind — and that not merely in certain aspects 
 of His being, not merely as He lived, suffered, and died 
 here on earth, but in the full conception of His being 
 as the perfected Son of man dwelling with the heavenly 
 Father, in the glory of the divine Son. It is not enough 
 in prayer that He be outwardly acknowledged as such ; 
 those who pray must be spiritually united with Christ 
 as exalted to the Father, and, in this union with Christ, 
 must draw near to God as the Father in Christ, with 
 
298 Tlie Work of the Ä]postles as Teachers. 
 
 praise and thanks and supplication, these various forms 
 of prayer being comprehended in the plural TTpoo-ev^aL. 
 Herein there will be different degrees of attainment, 
 some being weaker, some stronger ; but the heavenly 
 and spiritual life of faith, in and with Christ, must in 
 general be the ground, spirit, and aim of prayer, if it 
 is to be Christian prayer in the proper sense, that is, 
 j)rayer in the name of Christ. Hence it follows that 
 in the prayer of the Christian congregation, properly so 
 called, only such as believe and speak in the power of 
 the Divine gospel and the Divine Spirit can take an 
 active part. It unites a limited circle of praying 
 persons ; on the other hand, congregations may extend 
 the scope of their prayers beyond themselves, and 
 they must do so if they should and would take in 
 a wider field than the narrow limits of the congre- 
 gation. 
 
 While none but those who believe in Christ can pray 
 with the congregation in a spiritual sense, ver. 42, these 
 can at the same time pray with all who believe in God, 
 ver. 46 and iii. 1 ; they can occupy common ground 
 with all men in that which is God's in the most general 
 sense, even in the wider, outer circles of the revelation 
 of God ; they can worship the God of heaven and earth 
 — the God of nature and the God of Israel — the Law- 
 giver and Judge ; and this they can do by the same 
 Holy Spirit by whom they worship the God and Father 
 of Jesus Christ, for there exist not divers gods and 
 spirits, but only the Spirit of the one God in various 
 spheres and modes of revelation. The Spirit of Christ 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 299 
 
 does not exclude the earlier revelations of God, but 
 gathers them up in itself and completes them. When 
 the spiritual children of Christ pray to the Father, as 
 at the same time Creator, Lawgiver, and Judge, they 
 do not, for all that, cease to be in the Spirit with Christ 
 who filleth the universe, — who is in the beginning, and 
 is with God and in God throughout all time, and worketh 
 with God. As He is now with the Father in the 
 heavenly sanctuary, as King and High Priest of 
 humanity, so is He also in the beginning and 
 foundation of the creation sustaining all things by the 
 word of His power, and is also in the covenant of 
 the law and the promise, as well as in the future 
 judgment of the whole world. In this general fellow- 
 ship of prayer, therefore, Christian believers can and 
 ought to unite with all men who believe in the general 
 truths of religion and fear God ; they have a fellowship 
 in prayer with the whole human race, so far as the 
 race is still in union with God; and this fellowship 
 they have through Christ, who has taken humanity to 
 Himself in the whole range of its capacity for com- 
 munion with God, Eom. xv. 7-9. Thus congregational 
 prayer comprises in it the general praise of God, in 
 which all men can join with one voice, but without 
 doing away with the approach to the Father in the 
 Spirit, which belongs to those who have come nearer 
 to God in Christ. 
 
 (/) In conclusion, to sum up the principles resulting 
 from what has been already said with regard to the 
 means of maintaining and developing the life of a 
 
300 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 Christian Church, we find that the genuine life of a 
 Christian Church, in other words, a life of Christian 
 fellowship, can only be promoted (1) by constantly 
 adhering to the apostolic teaching in Holy Scripture as 
 the foundation of all edification, as the only means of 
 producing a true development of faith, every departure 
 from it being regarded as error ; (2) by a union in heart 
 and life, which is not formed artificially from without, 
 but grows out of the one faith in the one apostolic 
 system of doctrine, — a union consequently which, taking 
 away all outward distinctions within the Church, estab- 
 lishes a brotherly relation among all the members 
 towards one another, and by mutual assistance for the 
 relief of spiritual as well as of temporal needs, forms a 
 nursery and training school of brotherly love ; (3) by 
 a sacramental fellowship with the Lord, extending even 
 to the daily domestic life, and leading to an increasing 
 life-union with the glorified Son of man ; (4) by a 
 fellowship in prayer, resting on spiritual union with 
 the exalted Christ, and serving to nourish the spiritual 
 heavenly life. All this, however, takes place in such a 
 way that the narrow bond of congregational union, with 
 all its force, does not cut a man off from sympathy with 
 what of the Divine is found outside the Church ; in 
 other words, the consummation he attains in the apostles' 
 doctrine does not do away with his connection with the 
 Old Testament Scriptures and the testimonies of 
 God in the world, brotherly love does not do away 
 with universal love, nor does the special worship 
 of God do away with general reverence for God 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 301 
 
 and fellowship in prayer with all those who believe 
 in God. 
 
 (3.) The appointment of Chureh servants, Acts vi. 1-7. 
 
 To complete the picture of the original organization 
 of the Church, we must pass on to chap. vi. In that 
 chapter we come to the filling up of Church offices. 
 The murmuring which, according to ver. 1, was the 
 outward circumstance that occasioned the appointment 
 of Church servants, proceeds from the Hellenists, that 
 is, from the Greek-speaking Jews beyond Palestine, 
 including the proselytes (ver. 5, TrpoarjXvTo^ in relation 
 to the Hebrews, to the native Jews, John vii. 35). 
 Both parties, therefore, were Jewish Christians. The 
 BtaKovia KaOrjfjLepLvt], which formed the occasion, points 
 back to iv. 35 ; what is referred to is the distribution 
 of food, by which the daily want was met, without 
 a daily meal being taken at a common table. The 
 Hellenists complain that in this distribution their 
 widows were overlooked, that they did not get a fair 
 share compared with those of the native Jews. There 
 is nothing in the narrative to lead us to suppose that 
 the complaint was groundless, or that the neglect was 
 due to the ill-will of certain intermediaries who were 
 employed by the apostles in the work of distribution. 
 The evil complained of arose quite naturally. The 
 incessant daily teaching and evangelizing of the apostles 
 (v. 42, to which the beginning of ver. 1 refers back) 
 gave rise, on the one hand, to an accumulation of work 
 upon them, and, on the other hand, to an ever increasing 
 expansion of the Church {if\ridvv6vT(ov tcov fiaOyroov). 
 
302 The Work of the A^postles as Teachers. 
 
 It then became no longer possible for the. apostles, who 
 at first had taken charge of the distribution, ver. 2 and 
 iv. 35, to meet the daily wants of all needy persons 
 with such exactitude as to prevent the less known 
 widows, who were strangers, from suffering want ; and 
 those who were disposed to be sensitive, owing to heredi- 
 tary jealousy between the Hellenists and the Hebrews, 
 might readily enough regard this oversight as due to 
 partiality — hence the murmuring, the first disturbance 
 of the harmony mentioned in iv. 35. Thus, besides the 
 apostolical office, there arose a special Church office — 
 the diaconate. What do we learn from this ? 
 
 (a) In the arrangement and jperfecting of Church 
 relations there is nowhere any sign of a systematically- 
 arranged plan — of the working out of a preconceived 
 theory. Everything takes shape of itself, partly as the 
 result of the divine elements absolutely given, namely, 
 the word and the fellowship of faith ; and partly owing 
 to the position and tenor of existing relations, arising 
 from the actual need for the time being. It is a case 
 of development determined by the nature of things 
 and their relation to one another, — organic movement. 
 By such organic movement there is produced, although 
 without preconceived plans and models, an orderly 
 arrangement ; for where there is the real life of faith, it 
 has, like all real life, its own inherent laws, and these 
 have a determining power, although at the same time 
 brought to definite realization under the relation- 
 ships of life for the time being. The latter, however, 
 are to be brought into harmony with the former — 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 303 
 
 with the laws of the life of faith ; the laws of faith 
 are not to be sacrificed to the relations and seeming 
 exigencies of life, as was the case in many ways in the 
 later development of the Church. For every defective 
 arrangement a suitable remedy must be found, on every 
 favourable opportunity the corresponding advantage 
 must be sought — but in such a way that the nurture 
 of the life of faith, the planting of divine truth, shall 
 remain the determining consideration to regulate our 
 action in the interests of benevolence, ver. 2. Such 
 organic development forms at the same time also the 
 test of the genuineness of faith, for it precludes the 
 artificial concealment and hushing up of what is faulty. 
 What is faulty calls out for immediate attention — 
 without any formality. There is no alternative but 
 either to have the inward weakness and incongruity 
 disclosed to view, or else to do justice to the real 
 necessities of the case, — a task for which only the 
 wisdom of true love is adequate ; and the way of true 
 love is to make things better, to adopt and put in 
 force what is good and what furthers good — not merely 
 to accommodate itself to human wishes and consi- 
 derations of outward peace. Only true love, the love 
 which is morally bound and morally free, seeks and 
 knows how to find amid differences the salutary recon- 
 ciliation between the laws of faith and the needs of 
 life. 
 
 Q)) For such natural development of Church life 
 the passage before us furnishes the chief laios. The 
 principal thing necessary is to give attentive and im- 
 
304 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers, 
 
 partial consideration to the first signs of unsatisfied 
 wants and the first symptoms of inward irritation, 
 vers. 1, 2. This implies a frank treatment of the 
 matter, without the sensitiveness of self-love, without the 
 admission and assertion of prerogatives, and a prompt 
 treatment in the spirit of brotherly equality, ver. 3.^ 
 It is a false rule of conduct for one who is conscious of 
 good intentions to give complaints the go-by or to ignore 
 them, on the ground that it is merely envy or some 
 other bad feeling that is at the bottom of them, or 
 that everything human is imperfect, that weaknesses 
 are found everywhere — commonplaces which of them- 
 selves decide nothing, but would first require an exami- 
 nation of the special case, to see whether and how 
 far they hold good in that case. Especially if the 
 complaints in question rest on pardonable weaknesses, 
 one is apt to make no effort at amendment, or not care 
 to avoid the appearance of evil, while it is still possible 
 to do so (cf. the excellent remarks of Kambach on this 
 passage). A removal of grievances, if it is not to be 
 merely superficial, but to meet the real requirements of 
 the case, is further only possible where the outward and 
 
 1 When once you are ministers, give heed to these simple laws. 
 Pay attention to what comes before you in the shape of dissatisfaction. 
 If the dissatisfaction is well-founded, take the matter in hand without 
 egotism and without partiality, without defence of supposed dignity, 
 either your own or others'. Thus you will gain the esteem which is 
 indispensable to you. Men's consciences must be satisfied with you ; 
 about the other kind of peace you don't need to trouble yourselves, 
 only it must be above-board — no deep-laid plan for bringing people 
 round to suit your own views. Otherwise, -when it is found out, hopeless 
 discord will arise. 
 
Organization of Christian CJmrcJies. 305 
 
 individual manifestation is traced back to its general 
 inward ground, and the latter is removed — that is to 
 say, where there is a radical cure. The apostles do 
 not deny, as some expositors do, that there were real 
 grounds for the dissatisfaction of the Hellenists ; as 
 they do not throw the blame on the complainers, by 
 casting suspicion on them or pronouncing them incom- 
 petent, so also they do not try to excuse themselves 
 at any length, but without going into subjective and 
 personal discussions they address themselves to the 
 objective fact that a wrong condition of things exists, 
 which requires a different arrangement from that hitherto 
 in use. To find out the matter-of-fact element under- 
 lying the subjective manifestations, impartially to bring 
 out the objective point of view and disengage it from 
 the intricate mass of particulars with which it is con- 
 nected — herein is shown the ivisdom from above, the 
 wisdom which stands high above influence of a personal 
 kind, above misleading sympathies and antipathies ; 
 and to recognise this matter-of-fact element, without 
 regard to one's own person, is the best proof of self- 
 denying love for the truth. The ability to do both of 
 these things is requisite in the case of those who would 
 stand at the head of Christian congregations, or would 
 do any real work in the way of organizing and leading. 
 The qualifications needed are wisdom and love of truth ; 
 it is only in real spiritual superiority that the 
 primacy inter 2^(^^f^(^s finds place in circles where one 
 has to look to the Spirit and sow to the Spirit — not to 
 the flesh. 
 
 u 
 
306 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 (c) JV7iat is the leading pri7iciple in the procedure of 
 the apostles ? It is, that outward needs in the life of 
 believers are not to he overlooked and curtailed on account 
 of inward spiritual needs, nor yet the latter sacrificed to 
 the former. This is involved in a sound view of faith, 
 and it. is the principle on which the necessary arrange- 
 ments are to be made to suit the circumstances of the 
 case. It will not do to make an outward rule, to the 
 effect that the clerical office is incompatible with secular 
 occupations, and that, conversely, secular workers must 
 not engage in spiritual duties. Such outward separations 
 are contrary to nature ; for originally, as it came from 
 God's hand, there was in man's nature a conjunction of 
 the spiritual and the physical, and through grace a 
 reconciliation of these is to be effected again. Just as 
 unnatural, however, would it be to lay down an outward 
 rule to the opposite effect, namely, that the care of what 
 relates to the spirit and of what relates to the body 
 must always be united, even outwardly, in one person. 
 The natural unity admits of a division — it only forbids 
 such an opposition between the two as would amount 
 to mutual exclusion. Even among the first disciples, 
 the management of their property and the care of the 
 poor was committed to special hands, John xii. 6, xiii. 
 29. Circumstances must determine in what manner 
 the management of spiritual is to be combined with the 
 management of temporal affairs ; the natural connection 
 between the two remains a fundamental principle, but 
 whether the spiritual and the temporal are to be con- 
 joined in the hands of one man or assigned to different 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 307 
 
 persons is to be decided on the general understanding 
 that neither of the two must suffer prejudice. To this 
 principle two tendencies oppose themselves — a leaning 
 to spiritualism on the one hand, and a leaning to 
 materialism on the other, (a) The spiritualistic extreme, 
 in its mistaken zeal for what is intellectual, religious, 
 and inward, is disposed to make it a duty for believers 
 to disregard the temporal needs of life, and to show 
 this, partly by their own conduct, partly by submitting 
 to the conduct of others without appealing for redress. 
 On this principle the apostles might have cut short 
 the complainers by a few spiritual maxims delivered 
 with authority. Similarly it is carrying the spiritual 
 too far, to wish to exempt the clerical office, in its ideal 
 form, from every kind of burden in the way of secular 
 duty. Such duty befits the clerical office, and has a 
 direct claim upon it, so far as it is required to make 
 adequate provision for the needy, and so far as the one 
 may be done without leaving the other (the spiritual 
 duties of the office) undone or inadequately done, ver. 2. 
 While the clerical office never can and never ought 
 to be directly involved in responsibility for the bodily 
 wants of the adherents of the Church at the expense of 
 what should be its main object, it still remains its duty 
 to provide for these wants at second-hand, by the intro- 
 duction of suitable agencies and by superintending these 
 agencies, in the same way as was done by the apostles 
 along with the deacons. But the object in rendering 
 service either directly or indirectly to the bodily and 
 outward wants of men, if the service is to be rendered 
 
308 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 in the spirit of Christianity, must be to provide for the 
 real needs of life (xpe/a, iv. 35, vi. 3) — not to promote 
 industrial enterprises and material prosperity. One may 
 serve God and daily bread at the same time, but not 
 God and mammon — not even under the guise of Chris- 
 tian charity. To the real wants of life, service is due 
 — for these, adequate provision must be made ; and, for 
 this purpose, there must neither be contemptuous rejec- 
 tion nor suppression of such claims, nor yet an obsequious 
 man-pleasing devotion to them, or great and multifarious 
 activity. This leads to {ß) the materialistic extreme^ 
 the tendency of which is to let the spiritual sufifer from 
 regard to material interests, from devotion to duties of 
 an administrative kind, from being taken up with 
 official work of an outward kind (registration, clerking, 
 educational and scientific or philosophical pursuits). 
 The same tendency is manifest when it is sought to 
 retain, in one and the same hand, with the pastoral staff 
 business of an outward kind, even though it be, as in the 
 case of Jerusalem, necessary business occasioned by want 
 — when it is only possible to do so at the expense of a 
 minister's chief duties ; or, in cases where a division 
 must be made, one may wish to sever the care of the 
 bodily interests so completely from the spiritual, that 
 no spiritual qualities betokening faith shall be taken 
 into account in the case of those who are to have charge 
 of the temporal interests, or that no so-called spiritual 
 functions shall be assigned or even permitted to such 
 persons, even so far as they are prompted thereto and 
 qualified therefor by their own life of faith. Both of 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 309 
 
 these views are at variance alike with what the apostles 
 lay down as the requisite qualifications of the deacons, 
 and with what the latter actually do after their appoint- 
 ment, as for example Stephen and Philip. A closer 
 consideration of the duties performed by the first 
 deacons in the way of provision and administration, 
 brings us to — 
 
 (d) The requisites for the treatment of outward affairs 
 in a manner corresponding to the Christian spirit. Even 
 in private life the Christian is to sanctify his outward 
 occupations, in particular, the satisfaction of his outward 
 wants — eating and drinking and what pertains thereto 
 — in the name of the Lord, through the word of God 
 and prayer. In the same way, also, every outward 
 occupation must be sanctified, when it takes the form 
 of a public service rendered by appointment and in the 
 midst of a Christian congregation. Now, how is this 
 done in the name of God, so as to be a reality ? 
 
 Here again it is to be understood that it is not to be 
 done by anything external, as if the one external was to 
 consecrate the other — that it is not to be done by means 
 of official prerogatives and regulations. The sanctification 
 of the outward is conditioned by the personal character 
 of the persons acting, otherwise it is all hypocrisy — 
 corruption of the inward through the outward, instead 
 of sanctification of the outward through the inward. 
 The personal character has specially to be taken into 
 account, where the individual is to go beyond his private 
 sphere and exercise influence as a Christian, where lie 
 is to impress the sanctifying influence of faith on the 
 
310 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 outward business and bustle of a congregational office, 
 on his work in caring for the temporal wants of many, 
 as the representative of the Christian spirit. Hence 
 the apostles do not say, " Let us set up an institute for 
 making deacons," but " Look out for the right men ; " 
 and instead of laying down special official instructions, 
 they define the personal character which must be 
 possessed by those who are to be called to the office — 
 as the living security for the right discharge of the 
 office. So in ver. 3 we find mentioned as personal 
 qualifications, that a man should have public testimony 
 in his favour, that is, as a Christian among Christians, 
 as being of an approved Christian character in general ; 
 and in addition that he should have special spiritual 
 endowment and character for the special service — not 
 only spiritual susceptibility or occasional spiritual im- 
 pulses and so forth. This spiritual character and 
 culture is requisite in order that the external may also 
 be made spiritually fruitful for souls, — for which the 
 opportunity and the need are found in the course of 
 the outward services (cf. vers. 8-10 and viii. 5 ff.). 
 This implies not merely a certain amount of knowledge 
 and art, but wisdom to qualify for the practical treat- 
 ment of the manifold relations and connections of life. 
 This wisdom knows how to hit upon and carry out what 
 is true and right in the interests of real life, from 
 wisdom proceeds guidance ; and similarly wisdom knows 
 how to work up, and turn to account, real life, that is, 
 persons, times, circumstances, in the interests of what 
 is true and right, Pro v. viii. 15 and xiv. 15 ff. These 
 
Organization of Christian Chnrches. 311 
 
 then are the requisite qualifications, if the external is 
 to be sanctified in the name of Christ. To these qualifi- 
 cations and this object corresponds also the position 
 which the deacons occupy ; two of those elected are 
 specially mentioned as engaged in fruitful work, as 
 teachers for the spread of the faith, Stephen, vi. 8-10, 
 and Philip, viii. 5 ff. From 1 Tim. iii. 9 we may infer 
 the union with the diaconal service of an activity fitted 
 to nourish faith, as indeed all Christians had the right 
 to take part in the work of teaching, according to their 
 peculiar gift, in the various relations of life both beyond 
 and within the Church, Acts viii. 4, xi. 19-21 ; 1 Cor. 
 xiv. 26. The fact that some had the office of teaching 
 laid upon them does not do away with the spiritual 
 activity of the rest of the faithful ; it is an addition to 
 it, or rather it forms the centre of the circumference in 
 which all are active. It is a special official obligation, 
 not exclusive right, not a monopoly ; even the apostles 
 took the preaching of the word upon them as an official 
 obligation, hiaKovla, ver. 14 — not as a vested privilege, 
 1 Pet. iv. 10 f . ; cf . Rambach (above mentioned), pp. 
 206-209 and 216. 
 
 {e) What is the iJTocedure, then, in the appointment 
 to the office of deacon ? • The same general co-operation 
 of all members of the Church, which comes into notice 
 earlier, in the filling up of the apostleship, i. 15-23, is 
 found here also in the case of tlie diaconate. Only, 
 here the two elements divide, which had in the mean- 
 while come to be distinguished — the Twelve and the 
 multitude of the disciples, ver. 2. (1) The leaders of 
 
312 The Work of the Ä]Jostles as Teachers. 
 
 the Church call the members, irpodKaXeo-d^ievoi, ver. 2, 
 make their statement regarding the position of affairs, 
 and propose measures to meet the exigencies of the 
 case, ver. 3. They state concisely to the Church the 
 grounds for the creation of a new office (" it is not meet 
 that we should neglect the word of God "), and give 
 instructions for the choice of persons to fill the office, 
 with an exact statement of the requisite qualifications. 
 The whole, however, is in the form of a proposal, which 
 is submitted for the approval of the Church ; for (2) 
 the Church exercises the right of approval, ver. 5 ; it 
 goes through the election in accordance with apostolic 
 instructions, and in its turn brings before the leaders 
 the person selected, and submits the selection for their 
 approval, ver. 6. The approval of the Church's pro- 
 posal by the leaders follows upon the approval of the 
 apostolic proposal by the Church. Finally, (3) after 
 both parties have done their duty by a joint-election, 
 the separate functions of the two constituent elements 
 of the Church are united in one common collective act, 
 by which the elected persons are set before the great 
 Head of the Church. Both parties — Church members 
 and Church overseers — unite together for prayer and 
 laying on of hands ; hence in the narrative, ver. 6, 
 they are no longer distinguished from one another as 
 separate classes. As both parties prayed with one 
 another, so may they also both have taken part in the 
 laying on of hands, individual members of the Church 
 stepping forward along with the leaders. The whole 
 procedure at this election also, followed as a natural 
 
Organization of Christian Churches. 313 
 
 result of the union in faith and life, which led 
 each part of the congregation to recognise it as an 
 inward duty to give honour to the other part from the 
 heart — suum cuique ; it was not a formal and pre- 
 scribed mode of election based upon ecclesiastical 
 statutes. 
 
 (/) The impression which this picture by itself 
 makes upon every one who can appreciate the truth 
 and simplicity of scriptural Christianity is usually 
 softened down by quietly assuming that these original 
 arrangements were only possible at that time, and that 
 in later ages they have become impracticable and 
 unsuitable. People have got into the habit of regard- 
 ing this scriptural pattern as an ideal that cannot be 
 carried out in practice. And certainly, the composition 
 of our existing Churches being what it is, it is not 
 only impossible to carry out that scriptural pattern ; 
 we dare not even attempt it. But why can we not 
 realize it, and why dare we not attempt it ? Is the 
 cause to be found in the ideal character, that is, taking 
 the word in its proper sense, in the fanatical character 
 of the first period of Christianity, or does it lie in the 
 fact that the later progress has proved untrue to the 
 idea to which the first age remained true ? The latter 
 is the case. The scriptural Church-constitution takes 
 for granted a society which grows and develops from 
 within by the free faith of those who compose it, and 
 which separates itself from the rest of the community, 
 without, on that account, doing it any outward injury, 
 or giving way on its own part. The Church element is 
 
314 The Work of the Apostles (is Teachers. 
 
 thus not formed, like our Church element, out of a 
 mass of persons unconsciously admitted to communion 
 or of professing members outwardly trained for it, 
 among whom unbelief or indifference and worldly- 
 mindedness preponderate. Where this is the case, 
 there is no inward ground or room for the original 
 Church-constitution as a matter of right and duty. It 
 is otherwise where you have the necessary ground 
 existing, that is, genuine scriptural doctrine, along with 
 free faith therein, ii. 41, and self-renunciation, or the 
 cross of faith. That under such conditions a more or 
 less scriptural Church-constitution is quite practicable 
 is proved not only by the case of the old Waldensians, 
 but also on a large scale by the old Church of the 
 Bohemian Brethren, and we have an analogous instance 
 in the history of the Mennonites.^ These historical 
 instances are all the more deserving of notice in our 
 time, when, on the one hand, people would attempt 
 the regeneration of the Church by mere external 
 changes on its constitution, while, on the other hand, 
 some would have the form of constitution regarded as 
 a mere accessory, as if it were a matter of indiffer- 
 ence to true Christians with what form Christianity is 
 invested. No doubt true Christianity, where there is any 
 living power in it, can generally, in case of need, adapt 
 itself to all forms in such a way as to assert its divine 
 
 ' Cf. Koppen, die Kirchen-Ordnung und DiscipUn der alten Hussi- 
 tischen Brüder-gemeinde. Leipsic 1845. Also Christliches Glaubens- 
 hekenntniss der in den Niederländern unter den Namen der Mennoniten 
 wohlbekannten Christen, 1655 ; reprinted at Basle 1822 (cf. especially 
 arts. 8, 9, and 16). 
 
Conflict with the Poivcr of the State Church. 3 1 5 
 
 origin, but it must not accommodate itself to all forms 
 from mere choice ; it must not acknowledge as Chris- 
 tian, as channels of true Christian grrace, forms which 
 have not sprung from tlie soil of true Christianity, and 
 which corrupt its character. If doctrine and sacrament 
 must be founded on the divine word in order to repre- 
 sent and promote true Christianity, this is no less essen- 
 tial also for the constitution and discipline of the 
 Church. The two things cannot be separated, as the 
 history of the great Churches shows, without entail- 
 ing increasing evil and injury on the Church ; the 
 union between doctrine and constitution must take 
 place in accordance with what the divine word repre- 
 sents to have been the rule and the practice from the 
 beginning; that is to say, the right outward consti- 
 tution which contains the divine treasures, as the 
 vessel appointed by God, must be, and can only be, 
 formed out of the divine word of Scripture — out of 
 its doctrine and out of free faith therein, as well as 
 out of the fellowship of spirit and soul arising there- 
 from. In other words, the constitution must have a 
 fundamental development from within, and this implies as 
 a natural consequence emancipation from the power of 
 the world, with the attendant sacrifices and sufferings. 
 This is the only right way to improvement. 
 
 5. The testimony to Jestis Christ, in conflict with the 
 -power of the state church, Acts iii., iv. 1—33, v. 12-42. 
 (1.) The testimony occasioning the conflict, 
 (a) In its outward development. — According to Christ's 
 
316 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 original appointment, the whole world was given as a 
 field for the apostle's testimony, which was to spread 
 in ever- widening circles ; but originally it could not 
 claim as its own so much as one of the many 
 points of vantage in the world, from which to speak 
 down to men with the influence of acknowledged 
 authority. No position of dignity in the learned world, 
 no prestige of office or the like, lends credit and 
 authority to the testimony concerning the crucified 
 Jesus Christ as the Lord of the world. One might 
 fancy, however, that what the witnesses did not have 
 to begin with they might gain by conquest in the 
 world or win in some other way ; but they received no 
 instructions whatever to acquire, or even to accept, for 
 their cause any such recognised standing in the world, 
 any such title of authority. Eather were they with- 
 held from doing so by the rule prescribed by the Lord 
 Himself from the first, according to which His Church 
 and its leaders had to renounce as a matter of principle 
 every position of worldly rank, Matt, xxiii. 6—12, xx. 
 25-28 ; they have always and everywhere to keep the 
 Lord's own position in the world steadily before them 
 as a pattern, according to which the servants ought not 
 and cannot be higher than their Master, who renounced 
 every form of external authority. Indeed, the Lord 
 knows the spirit and purport of His doctrine to be in 
 such direct opposition to the character and the tendency 
 of the life of time, with its powers and authorities, that 
 He anticipates from these nothing but hostility and 
 persecution, or else influences demoralizing to His 
 
Conflict lüith the Poioer of the State Church. 317 
 
 cause, John xv. 18-21, xvi. 1-4; Matt. xxiv. 8-13; 
 cf. Matt. X. 16-25, 32, 34, 39. 
 
 These principles laid down by the Lord Himself, not 
 only for special relations, but for the general position 
 of His Church among the nations, precluded any thought 
 or any attempt on the part of those who kept all His 
 words as commandments, to invest tlieir testimony in 
 any wise with the power of constitut(id authorities, or 
 to gain possession of existing privileges. They could 
 only and dared only proceed as their Master had done, 
 that is to say, they had to take their stand on the 
 general ground of the religious and social life of the 
 community, where every man could work and speak, in 
 order to set up their testimony ; and every foot-breadth 
 of that ground they had to win for themselves before 
 they could obtain a suitable sphere of work for a cause 
 so peculiar and so much at variance as theirs was with 
 everything that was recognised and customary. They 
 required to establish a new foundation on the old, with 
 no other authority and force than that of the spirit and 
 the conscience ; and although new adherents occasionally 
 brought with them social advantages, they do not turn 
 these to account for themselves, but, on the contrary, 
 bring over the new converts to their own attitude of 
 unworldliness and opposition to the world, by getting 
 them to abandon their old associations and join a 
 fellowship which was not only disowned by existing 
 authority, religious and political, but was condemned by 
 it. It is characteristic of Christ's kingdom that it can 
 only hold its ground between tribulation on the one 
 
318 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 hand and patience on the other, Eev. i. .9. Cast out 
 from the fellowship of the state church, and treated as 
 d7ro(Tvvdrycojo<;, John xvi. 1 f., the Church of the king- 
 dom of God sets itself up in the world merely as 
 iino-vvaycoy^ , as a minor assembly, Heb. x. 25,' xiii. 
 10-14, as a fellowship of the irapeTTihr^fjbOL Sca- 
 o-TTO/oa?, 1 Pet. i. 1 ; Jas. i. 1. Thus in an unpretending- 
 private character the testimony to Christ begins to 
 make its way into the world on the highway of public 
 life ; its undesigned opportunities, its doors and places 
 open to every man, are taken advantage of, as was 
 found most convenient outwardly, and as the bearers of 
 the testimony, namely, the apostles, felt themselves to 
 be inwardly fitted and qualified to offer salvation to 
 such as would receive it, to such as found in it a 
 gospel, a life-message, Acts iii. 1-3, vi. 11 f. In the 
 midst of common life the testimony thus moves simply 
 onward, and the apostles neither allow the growing 
 pressure and adherence of the people to lead them into 
 the mistake of claiming worldly authority or of setting 
 themselves up as a powerful public body, nor do they 
 allow themselves to be intimidated by the opposition 
 and increasing hostihty of the powers that be. Thus 
 they go on from strength to strength in the conviction 
 that they are doing right in the sight of God and in 
 the sight of men's consciences, iv. 31-33, v. 12-16, 42 ; 
 1 Pet. iii. 13-15.^ 
 
 ' Roos gives us a view of our ecclesiastical relations, as they differ from 
 this tyi^e, Words of Admonition and Comfort for Christians living in the 
 present Antichristian Aye, 1795. Reprinted 1875. 
 
Conflict with the Power of the State Church. 319 
 
 (b) Spirit and purport of the testimony. — A general 
 statement on this subject has already been given, p. 
 244 ff. Here there are still some special points to 
 touch on. 
 
 In the first place, the use of the name Jesus Christ, 
 Acts iii. 6, is worthy of notice. In Scripture Jesus 
 denotes the human individuality, Christ the Messianic 
 dignity, that is, the unique relation to God and the 
 world. The name of Jesus Christ, then, is not used 
 as a mere personal designation or form of title, but as 
 an actively iirescnt personal power , of which a man can 
 become partaker, and can also make others partakers 
 through faith ; and it is as a living personal power 
 {apyj]'^o<i T?79 fw^?, ver. 15) that this name receives 
 divine confirmation in manifest works of power. Acts 
 iii. 7, 16, iv. 10, 12, 30 f., v. 30-32 ; Mark xvi. 17- 
 20; Luke x. 17; John xiv. 12 f. 
 
 But what position did the apostles themselves take 
 in this exercise of power in the name of Christ ? In 
 their faith as in their testimony they show themselves 
 to be in possession of a power which operates on all 
 sides — they shine like a light ; yet they at the same 
 time show themselves to be faithful servants. They do 
 not make the power a means of glorifying their own 
 name, and as little do they make an attractive and 
 brilliant display of it to charm and gratify the multi- 
 tude with its splendour, and excite still further their 
 miracle- craving expectations. They ascribe the glory 
 to Christ and His Father ; they lead the multitude to 
 a serious practical knowledge of sin and salvation, 
 
320 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 iii. 12-16, 19 f., 26. Self-renouncing glorification of 
 the name of Jesus Christ and God, as the name of 
 power, is the sacrifice which they themselves offer ; 
 self - renouncing conversion from sin to the divine 
 name fraught with blessing, is the sacrifice which 
 they require of their hearers as an indispensable con- 
 dition ; cf. Eambach, p. 76. 
 
 From this general point of view the particular in- 
 cident is employed to unfold the divine counsel and 
 the divine work in its grand features. There is but 
 the one point of departure — a very simple one. All is 
 conceived and done in the name of Jesus Christ. This 
 is the focics of the new system of doctrine and life ; and 
 from this point as a centre the particular incidents of 
 the day are employed for the unfolding of the system. 
 
 The petition of the lame man, ver. 3, is turned to 
 account, ver. 4 f., by a demeanour which, in the . first 
 place, merely disposes the man's soul in a general way 
 to silent attention and believing expectation. Then, 
 according to ver. 6, the name of Jesus is apprehended 
 with proper faith to bring out the healing power con- 
 tained in it. To the astonished people, ver. 12, the 
 occurrence that had taken place is explained, according 
 to ver. 16, by reference to the same name ; at the same 
 time, ver. 13 ff., their rejection of that name is con- 
 trasted with its actual glorification by the covenant 
 God, a glorification exhibited in the first place in the 
 personal holiness and righteousness of Christ in the 
 very hour when sentence was passed upon Him (before 
 Pilate, etc.), and furthermore in His power of life, in 
 
Conflict lüith the Poiver of the State Church. 321 
 
 virtue of which — from the resurrection confirmed by 
 eye-witnesses on to this latest miracle performed on the 
 lame man before their eyes — He shows Himself to be 
 the founder and head of a new life-dynasty. After the 
 name of Christ was thus set forth and glorified, the 
 rejection of this name by the Jews was to a certain 
 extent palliated by a reference to their ignorance, 
 ver. 17 ; but, at the same time, an accusation was 
 quietly added in the allusion to the divine testimony 
 against them in the prophets, ver. 18, of. ver. 22 f. It 
 was a case of ignorance certainly in so far as they failed 
 to recognise Jesus as the Son of God and did not 
 apprehend the meaning of His Messianic course, as it 
 lay through suffering, but, at the same time, this arose 
 from neglect of the truth long ago committed to them 
 in the word of God ; and in any case they must have 
 recognised Him as the Holy One and the Just, to 
 whom it was a fearful mistake to prefer a murderer, 
 ver. 13 f. It was necessary therefore to give to this 
 ignorance a twofold correction. In the first place, 
 ver. 18 f. and vers. 22-24, for their instruction the 
 Messianic character of Jesus was to be clearly demon- 
 strated from the announcements of the prophets, so 
 that they might be brought to a penitent acknowledg- 
 ment of their guilt. Furthermore, ver. 20 f. and ver. 
 25 f., the way of salvation had to be disclosed to 
 them by the disclosure of reconciliation as offered to 
 repentance and conversion, accompanied with refreshing 
 through the sending of Jesus Christ. This sending 
 appears in a progressive form of development, as 
 
 X 
 
322 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 according to ver. 21 He is in possession of heaven — 
 of the powers that rule the present earthly system of 
 things — to accomplish the entire restoration revealed 
 through the prophets, to perfect the new economy of 
 the world ; cf. Eev. x. 7. 'ÄiroKardarao-Lf; is in no 
 sense a restoration of lost or condemned men, it is the 
 re-establishment of the original order, of the normal 
 condition of things, in a smaller or greater whole — an 
 Israel and a world. Matt. xvii. 10 f.; Mark viii. 25 ; 
 Acts i. 6. 
 
 The fruit of this testimony was, according to iv. 4, 
 an accession of believers, whereby the Church increased 
 to five thousand men — men, not merely persons. 
 
 (2.) The conflict with the power of the state church. 
 
 (a) TJie situation. — The tumult of the people which 
 had arisen in consequence of the healing in the temple 
 affords the Church-authorities a legal pretext for inter- 
 fering and for bringing the apostles, who had taken an 
 active part in the matter, up for examination. The 
 ground of complaint, as well as the ground for their 
 arrest and for the charge against them, consisted in the 
 fact of their teaching publicly, and still more in the 
 purport of that teaching, ver. 2. Even the fact that 
 they taught publicly must of itself have given offence, 
 especially to the priests, seeing that they were common 
 unlearned laymen without a call, and were yet setting 
 up in the temple as teachers of the people ; indeed, the 
 discourses were actual discourses on doctrine {BcSdaKetv) 
 based on Scripture-exposition, and before this the ques- 
 tion had emercjed with regard to our Lord : How doth 
 
Conflict with the Povjer of the State Church. 3 2 3 
 
 this man understand Scripture when He has never 
 learned it in the schools ? The freedom accorded to 
 prophets was the only thing that could be recognised as 
 giving a title to exemption ; but the apostles themselves 
 did not claim this exemption, and the position of prophets 
 was not yet accorded to them by public opinion as it had 
 been to John the Baptist and to Christ. What might 
 have given them the privileges of prophets — their gift 
 of teaching and speaking, cf. iv. 13, and their miracu- 
 lous works — these things they did not allege to be an 
 immediate investiture of their own persons with divine 
 power, the result of a revelation and dispensation of 
 power received from the covenant God, the God of the 
 national religion ; they expressly repudiated this, iii. 12 f., 
 and ascribed their power to the name of the man who 
 had recently been excommunicated by the ecclesiastical 
 tribunal and condemned by it as a blasphemer of God 
 and deceiver of the people. By this means there was 
 associated with the formal offence against public order 
 in teaching, a real offence against the established doc- 
 trine and against the authority of the ecclesiastical 
 power. They made the name of this Jesus, indeed, who 
 had been officially condemned, a fundamental article of 
 religion. To this was added in particular the teaching 
 concerning this man's resurrection which the apostles 
 placed in the very forefront as a divine fact and as a 
 divine justification of the officially condemned Jesus, 
 appealing to their own testimony as eye-witnesses. By 
 this means, certainly, the ecclesiastical authorities who 
 had condemned Jesus were represented as a party 
 
324 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers, 
 
 striving against God; but the prominence given to the 
 resurrection must have specially embittered the sect of 
 the Sadducees, and in fact the Sadducees appear on the 
 scene alongside of the priests, iv. 1. Without doubt 
 they had made use of the suppression of Jesus — who 
 had so definitely offered His resurrection as a pledge of 
 the truth — for their advantage, for their party interests, 
 and had thus obtained a special preponderance ; cf. 
 Eambach, pp. 93-99. How then does the conflict 
 develop ? 
 
 (b) The hehaviour of the apostles. — On the part of 
 the accused witnesses of the gospel, in meeting the 
 forcible interference of the state church, we see in the 
 first place, ver. 3, unresisting submission to the outward 
 power so far as it assails their own person, although it 
 would certainly have been possible for them, even apart 
 from their own miraculous power, considering the large 
 number of their adherents, old and new, to withdraw 
 themselves from the unjust proceedings to which they 
 were subjected. The multitude of their adherents, and 
 the consciousness that their cause was good and their 
 right valid, had no exciting effect upon the apostles — it 
 does not carry them away into vehement protestation ; 
 but as little does the drastic procedure of the public 
 authorities exercise a depressing influence upon them — 
 not only on the apostles does it fail to have this effect, 
 but it does not even produce it on the people, ver. 4. 
 In spite of the unresisting submission of the apostles, 
 who up to this time had acted and spoken with such 
 vigour, new people continue to incline to their cause. 
 
Conflict with the Power of the State Church. 325 
 
 When the preachers are silent and put out of sight by 
 the ecclesiastical authority, thousands are converted to 
 the faith of the prisoners, acknowledging the authority 
 of the doctrine which had been put under a ban. 
 
 (c) The ecclesiastical court iqoon the scene, vers. 5-7. — 
 It is the great Sanhedrim that is here meant, consisting 
 of seventy-one persons, including the officiating high 
 priest as president (t^^*^^, prince) along with the presi- 
 dents of the twenty-four priestly classes as well as the 
 presidents of synagogues and congregations, and men 
 held in repute for their knowledge of the law. A full 
 sitting of this highest ecclesiastical court is held, and 
 the matter is there dealt with in a purely formal 
 manner, ver. 7 ; inquiry is made as to the inward and 
 outward warrant for their action, while that which they 
 did is left vague and undecided (toOto). The matter- 
 of-fact element, their healing of the man and their 
 teaching from the Scriptures regarding the fulfilment of 
 the prophets, was something in itself innocent, and 
 afforded no direct point for attack, or it might have led 
 to discussions regarding the truth in which the members 
 of the court, after all their previous experiences, could 
 not reckon on victory, besides that they might have 
 found such matter-of-fact discussions with these laymen 
 beneath their judicial dignity, as is usually the case in 
 such circumstances. The formal element always affords 
 a legal hold and ground of accusation for what is 
 authorized as against what is unauthorized, for the 
 positive privilege of a class as against the spiritually 
 free character of a private individual, Ex. ii. 14; Matt. 
 
326 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 xxi. 23. So here the Sanhedrim inquires as to the 
 Svvafjii^ for the act, that is, whence they had received 
 the ability to perform it. That they did not maintain 
 this ability — their Suz/a^tt? — to have been directly im- 
 parted to them as prophets by God Himself was well 
 known, as it was also known, with reference to the 
 name by which they acted, that they did not put 
 forward the authorized name of Jehovah, but the name 
 of Jesus, which had been branded as heretical. 
 
 (d) The justificaiion of the accused. — Without denying 
 the truth, it would have been an obvious resort for the 
 apostles in dealing with these men of form to take 
 shelter under legal forms. If they had merely said, 
 " In the power and in the name of Jehovah we do this," 
 the point of the dispute would have been evaded. But 
 in the circumstances of the case the apostles were 
 obliged to act otherwise. The cause of Christ had 
 already grown strong both inwardly in the apostles and 
 outwardly in the life of the community ; moreover, the 
 Lord Himself had designated the time when He should 
 receive the power in heaven and earth and they should 
 receive the power of the Spirit, as the time for bearing 
 witness publicly in His name ; so the name of Jesus, 
 rejected by this court and glorified by God, could no 
 longer be kept in the background without unfaithfulness 
 on their part. Yet, on the other hand, the apostles 
 were not content to set forth the name of Jesus in such 
 a naked form as the judges wished, vers. 8-12. It 
 was the matter of fact avoided by the court of investi- 
 gation which spoke most in favour of the apostles and 
 
Conflict ivith the Power of the State Church. 327 
 
 against the interference of the public authorities, — in 
 the first place, the beneficent healing of a sick man, cf. 
 John X. 32, Mark iii. 4 ; and, in the second place, the 
 fact that in their teaching the one salvation appointed 
 unto all men was at stake. These two points are 
 brought out in the speech for the defence with wise 
 consideration, the one at the beginning, ver. 9, the other 
 at the close, ver. 12. They are both united, however, 
 in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the corpus 
 delicti, and so united that the special characteristics of 
 their teaching, which had formed an aggravation of the 
 offence, are again freely expressed — the crucifixion as 
 the work of this judicial court, and the resurrection as 
 the work of God, here regarded as the head of the State 
 in whose name these judges sit. Although these truths 
 form the stone of stumbling and the ground of prose- 
 cution, they are commended to the general consideration 
 of the whole house of Israel by the unmistakeable 
 reminder that in spite of the rejection by the state 
 church the building up of a new house of God, of a 
 new Church upon this name and foundation, had already 
 begun, ver. 10 f. This brought to their remembrance 
 Matt. xxi. 42-44, and with this was involved, " In 
 your case the foundation is wanting," as is implied in 
 ver. 12 ; extra banc ecclesiam nulla salus. The inqui- 
 sition by the state church is thus met by the testi- 
 monies of the gospel ; on the one hand, with wise 
 discretion they make the defence of the matter of fact, 
 their teaching and their conduct, the principal thing, 
 and give it this prominence as the work of salvation 
 
328 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 designed for the general welfare of men ; on the other 
 hand, with straightforward frankness they make the 
 name of Jesus Christ the chief element in their public 
 confession — in the power of His divine life, wherein He 
 judges the sin of men and lays the foundations of a new 
 spiritual fellowship independently of existing institu- 
 tions ; this is the way of the Holy Spirit, this was the 
 dignity of the apostles. 
 
 (e) The effect of this speech for the defence. — With all 
 their willingness to submit to unjust attacks, so far as 
 they were themselves personally concerned, the apostles 
 refuse to allow any interference with their liberty of 
 teaching. Their words of testimony immediately evince 
 their spiritual might and the strength of the naked truth, 
 even on the dry soil afforded by the hearts of the mem- 
 bers of this court, ver. 1 3 ; the judges had a great 
 amount of fact to set aside both inwardly and outwardly 
 before they could get even a sorry defence with any 
 kind of decency. Astonishment is the first impression 
 from which even the most decided unbelief cannot 
 escape, where its calculations no longer suffice. The 
 divine purpose of this impression is that it may have 
 an awakening influence on the heart, so that a man may 
 take thought, and regard his deficiency in its true light. 
 The astonishment is accounted for very naturally by the 
 boldness and readiness of speech (Trapprjala) on the lips 
 of men destitute of the culture of the schools (aypdfjL- 
 fiarot) and of no social consideration (ISiMrat). This 
 boldness in the presence of the supreme court in a 
 cause which had been long ago condemned by this 
 
Conflict with the Poioer of the State Church. 329 
 
 court and was to all appearance vanquished, on behalf 
 of a name which had been publicly branded with 
 infamy, commands the reverence of every human soul 
 without any long or minute analysis. But such an 
 impression has no moral value as yet, because it is not 
 anything voluntary, but something involuntary ; such a 
 frame of mind justifies no conclusions with regard to 
 the subsequent moral conduct. It remains to be seen 
 whether the heart is unprejudiced and resolute enough, 
 or at least honest and willinf; enoucrh, to deduce from 
 the involuntary impressions thus received, with respect 
 to a cause undeniably just, moral judgments and respon- 
 sibilities, whether a man is honest enough to give due 
 weight to the real facts which afford an explanation of 
 the phenomenon. In the present case the real grounds 
 for the explanation were obvious enough, for the court 
 was dealing with people who were well known as 
 followers of Jesus. There was also this further fact to 
 guide them, that they expressly attributed to the name 
 of Jesus what they were and what they did. To the 
 moral sense, which could penetrate more deeply, that 
 which was seen and heard was only the living proof of 
 the Scripture saying, " The rejected stone is become the 
 corner-stone." It was quite evident that this new 
 school, with its despised ignoramuses, had passed its 
 examen rigorosum. 
 
 The impression which the testimony of the apostles 
 made upon the minds of the judges by its spiritual 
 significance is still further confirmed, ver. 14, by the 
 fact which, in the person of the lame man that was 
 
330 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 healed, gave corroboration to the apostles' words, bear- 
 ing witness with living power. The man who was 
 healed must have given the impression with manifest 
 truthfulness that he had been the subject of a miracle, 
 hence even among the judges themselves the fact came 
 to be expressly admitted, ver. 16. The consequence 
 was that they were totally unable at the moment to 
 say anything against the testimony which had been so 
 promptly given by the apostles, ver. 14. This was the 
 effect upon the whole assembly, numerous as it was and 
 ready in resources. But even this impression does not 
 rest upon a voluntary acknowledgment, it was only 
 forced from them by the outward facts which they 
 could not deny — the lame man with his healthy limbs, 
 and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who saw plainly 
 that a miracle had been wrought, ver. 14 and ver. 16. 
 It is not a moral sense of truth which disarms them ; 
 it is the superiority for the moment, partly of facts, 
 partly of the personal spirit animating the apostles. 
 The same embarrassment they had often felt in relation 
 to Jesus Himself ; but even with regard to Him they had 
 already learned to keep down the feeling within them. 
 
 Hard pressed by the truth and yet averse to it, the 
 mind has recourse to the nearest way of escape from 
 the momentary pressure ; and the nearest way is always 
 to take time to recover from the first impression and 
 regain one's usual bearing. For this purpose a person 
 relieves himself above all from the presence of the object 
 that has overawed him, and takes counsel with the 
 like-minded, ver. 1 5. Then first the embarrassment finds 
 
Conflict with the Power of the State Church. 331 
 
 an outlet, but it instantly shows itself in a spirit which 
 is absolutely resolved to set itself in opposition to the 
 power of the truth, and only considers what is to be 
 done against the truth. From the outset pride revolts 
 against the impression made by the facts of the case, 
 fastening on the external and personal aspect of the 
 question ; cf. John xi. 47. They act, ver. 16a, as if it 
 were only a question regarding the persons concerned, 
 and not about the thing itself. This thing they cannot 
 deny as a matter of fact, and, on their own principles, 
 they dare not deny it to be a miracle; but when they 
 say " we cannot deny it," a glimpse is afforded us of 
 their secret feeling, namely, " We would like to deny 
 it, but we cannot." Here, again, it is only a judgment 
 extorted from the understanding ; no thought of God 
 lias any part in it, but merely their consideration for 
 the people; cf. Matt. xxi. 26, xxvi. 5 f. So also the 
 resolution to which they come by means of such con- 
 siderations is purely of an outward character. They 
 are not disposed, and they do not make the attempt, to 
 enter into a closer examination of the apostles' teaching 
 and working, — as it would have befitted an ecclesiastical 
 court to do, — but continue to show the same shrinking 
 from the inner nature of the thing and its spirit as they 
 had at first betrayed. In a purely outward sense they 
 determine, ver. 17, what is to be the object of their 
 judicial sentence and the means for attaining it ; to 
 prevent the further spread of the doctrine remains their 
 fixed aim, and the means to be employed is severe 
 official threatening. The consciousness of their spiritual 
 
332 The Work of the Ajwstles as Teachers. 
 
 impotence, of their inward weakness, conceals itself also, 
 ver. 18, when they announce their judgment, under 
 the shield of office and stern severity of expression ; 
 the men are in no case and in no wise to speak publicly 
 or even teach on the basis of the name of Jesus — a 
 name which was certainly anathematized, although at 
 that moment divinely justified. The reasons alleged by 
 the apostles are deemed worthy of no consideration ; the 
 decision was nothing but a wilful condemnation without 
 a hearing, a tyrannical order to be silent, while at the 
 same time the smitten conscience betrayed itself in the 
 painful heaping up of words. With all the wilfulness 
 of their conduct an official decorum is still preserved 
 although with evident difficulty, and this is usually the 
 conduct in the first instance of an authority that is 
 resisting the spirit in opposition to the testimony to the 
 truth, — it shelters itself behind forms, so long at least as 
 it can still act with prudence. 
 
 (/) The apostles' attitude to the official judgment. — In 
 opposition to the unjust judicial finding the witnesses 
 make a brief appeal to the general sense of right, 
 ver. 19, and allege the moral impossibility of sub- 
 mitting to such a sentence. The boldness, which 
 already at the outset had excited the astonishment of 
 the assembly by its moral bearing, also asserts itself 
 under the threat of punishment. It is the token of 
 a cause which is just, not only outwardly, but also 
 inwardly, — a token that the truth has become part of 
 the character. They do not pass from the attitude of 
 defence into an attitude of attack upon the person and 
 
Conflict lüith the Power of the State CJncrch. 333 
 
 procedure of the judges, but they change their objection 
 into a question, claiming in their own favour the dis- 
 charge of their duty by the judges as in the sight of 
 God. The question itself is made to rest upon the 
 ground which ought to be taken by the court, especially 
 in a religious matter, — upon the ground of right and 
 duty in the realm of divine law, which had been 
 ignored. They call attention to the inconsistency of a 
 judgment which has no regard to the facts of the case, 
 but merely demands absolute submission to its veto. 
 The judicial deliberation might now turn out as it 
 would ; the rule of right binding on the witnesses, as 
 on the judges, was already expressed in the question 
 itself. The apostles therefore on their part, ver. 20, 
 set in decided opposition to the judicial attempt to bind 
 them, the moral obligation of which they are conscious 
 as eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses of Jesus. To be 
 simply bound to obey conscience, true fidelity to duty, 
 sets free from fear of man and imparts strength. With 
 the same words " I cannot," and looking up to heaven 
 for God's help, Luther entered on his victorious career 
 as the apostles do here. Without being aware of it, 
 their explanation formed for the judges the most strik- 
 ing response to their previous secret counsel. What a 
 magnificent contrast lies in the twofold use of the 
 expression ov hwdfieda, vers. 16, 20 ! That of the 
 apostles here again rests on a matter - of - fact basis : 
 " We are certain of our case through seeing and hear- 
 ing ; and what we have seen and heard makes silence 
 impossible for us." Their opponents would certainly 
 
334 Tlic Work of the Apostles as Teacher's. 
 
 refuse once for all to admit the force of the matter-of- 
 fact argument, but they must allow it the value of a 
 testimony from experience. It must at least be 
 admitted even by the hard understanding that the man 
 is both entitled and bound to speak of that which he 
 has actually experienced to be a divine work and 
 human blessing. 
 
 While the judges then do not wish to be led into the 
 process of consideration demanded of them anew, yet, 
 on the other hand, they are also unwilling to set them- 
 selves in the most glaring opposition to public opinion 
 by having censured anything for which the people 
 praised God ; in their perplexity they have nothing to 
 say to the protest of the witnesses for Christ except 
 to meet it with redoubled threatening {diTei\7](Toi^ie6a, 
 ver. 17, and TrpoaaTretXijo-dfievoi,, ver. 21). The arm of 
 the court thus remained outstretched over the heads of 
 the Church ; but it is still kept from descending owing 
 to fear of the multitude, — which is always the mark of 
 an unrighteous cause or an unrighteous frame of mind, 
 and is a barrier over which favourable opportunity or 
 passion can very easily force a way. 
 
 (g) The reflex influence on the Church. — As the 
 witnesses, with their most reasonable claims, were not 
 only repelled by the human court of judgment but 
 threatened by the outstretched arm of authority, they 
 appealed on their side, along with those adhering to 
 them, to the Divine Judge, praying that He would 
 stretch forth His arm. The Church, ver. 32, only draws 
 the closer together, and the witnesses, ver. 33, con- 
 
Conflict with the Povjcr of the State Chureh. 335 
 
 tinue with redoubled vigour in the work assigned to 
 them. 
 
 When they were dismissed, the apostles came unto 
 their own : we have no right to confine thiot to the rest 
 of the apostles. The fulness of the Spirit, ver. 31, is not 
 in itself something confined to the apostles, cf. ii. 4, any 
 more than KaXelv top Xoyov (tov, ver. 29 ; cf. viii. 4, 
 xi. 19 ; moreover, ver. 32 does not distinguish the 
 Church from the aforementioned airavre^, but from the 
 apostles to be mentioned in ver. 33 — from ver. 32 
 onwards there is added a general observation regarding 
 Church and apostles. The report of what had taken 
 place, ver. 23, drives the Church to the divine armoury, 
 Eph. vi. 10 f., 13, and access to this is to be obtained 
 above all by means of prayer ; cf. ver. 24 with Eph. 
 vi. 18. Prayer at once calms the troubled heart agitated 
 by conflict, so that neither is it lifted up in pride and 
 self-complacency on account of what has been already 
 gained and done, — on account of the conquering power 
 of the spirit which has been already partly experienced, 
 nor does it fall into despondency and cowardice on 
 account of that which threatens in the uncertain future. 
 In humility, the true mean between presumption and 
 despondency, the heart embraces its God as its absolute 
 ruler, SecrTroT?;?, ver. 24 ; it submits to Him as a servant, 
 but it is at the same time elevated and sustained by 
 the consciousness of how great a master it serves, which 
 enables it to feel that it has Him on its side. Thus it 
 is His mighty hand under which prayer humbles itself 
 and by whose aid it is lifted up, 1 Pet. v. 6. The 
 
3 3 6 The Work of the AiJostles as Teachers. 
 
 prayer proceeds, ver. 25 f., from a passage of Scrip- 
 ture applicable to the case in hand, Ps. ii. 1 f. (cf. 
 p. 257 f.). Under this head the present time of 
 distress is ranked, ver. 27 f., as something belonging to 
 history in a theocratic sense, already determined, that is 
 to say, by the divine power and wisdom. People com- 
 fort themselves with respect to deeds of violence, by 
 saying, " it belongs to history," in the sense that it will 
 be recorded in human annals ; in the case of those who 
 know what God is, and what the world is in relation to 
 God, the saying has this meaning, that what is happen- 
 ing is already written in the divine volume, that even 
 what is left by God to the freedom of the human will, 
 even what is worst and most arbitrary, is so hemmed in 
 and overruled that it must serve the divine plan of the 
 universe and the good which that plan secures, in the case 
 of all who hold fast by what is good, 1 Pet. iii. 12-15. 
 Thus the distressing present as a link in the develop- 
 ment of the divine plan and kingdom loses its dark and 
 threatening aspect, and is brought into the light of 
 God's present which rules over all. The heart then 
 maintains the right attitude of faith which regards the 
 visible in the light of its invisible divine conditions and 
 subjection to law, and can now in virtue of the word of 
 God which is appropriated, ver. 29 f., offer a prayer 
 which for that reason can be certain of being heard, 
 John XV. 7. The prayer, however, keeps within its 
 fixed limits. As that which has already taken place 
 by human agency, hostile as it was, was determined by 
 divine power and wisdom, so the Church prays also with 
 
Conflict vnth the Poiver of the State Church. 337 
 
 respect to that which now threatens from a hostile 
 quarter, for nothing more than the divine governance — 
 that God would behold and consider. For that which 
 was to be done by themselves, however, in the fulfilment 
 of God's command, for their own work as witnesses, the 
 prayer implores only the gift of the Lord necessary for 
 carrying on joyfully the preaching of the Lord's word. 
 The words which follow, iv. 30, iv tw t?;!/ %et/3a gov 
 k.tX, combine the divine looking and giving, definite 
 results being sought ; but even there the prayer con- 
 tinues only an echo of the divine word ; it only claims, in 
 the exercise of faith, what is distinctly assigned by the 
 mouth of the Lord to the testimony enjoined upon them, 
 Mark xvi. 17 ; Acts xiv. 3. Thus the prayer adheres 
 to the point with which it commenced — the divine doing, 
 ver. 24, and speaking, ver. 25, as already seen in 
 operation. It wins for its subject the power of the 
 divine hand regarded in the light of the wisdom of the 
 divine plan, and on this it builds its petition. 
 
 The divine effect of the prayer is described in ver. 
 31. The moment was of a decisive character, it was a 
 question of discomfiture or victory for the Church. 
 The arm of the whole ecclesiastical power in the State 
 was stretched forth ready to strike at the first oppor- 
 tunity. At that moment the Church knocks at the 
 sanctuary of God — of Him who made the world, and 
 has also His arm in the world — that this arm may be 
 stretched forth. And the sanctuary opens, the divine 
 arm thus invoked is lifted up, Ps. x. 12 ff., and the 
 place where they stand praying is shaken, ver. 31. 
 
338 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 They are themselves at the same time filled, by the 
 power from on high which already dwelt within them, 
 with a new accession of power (for the new believers 
 it may have been the first bestowal of it). By this 
 means the equipment with divine power, which was 
 sought ver. 30, had resulted in new deeds of power 
 and of salvation through the name of Jesus. The 
 little band of combatants stood ready for battle ; they 
 not only had their leader at their head, but they had 
 Him within them as Bvva/jLi,<;. This inward power is 
 immediately exerted in the first place in the decisive 
 central work, in the bold speaking of the word of God. 
 The chief point threatened by the power of the state 
 church, namely, the word, becomes the very point of 
 the Church's attack upon the chief bulwark of the 
 enemy, upon ignorance and lies ; and it is in the word 
 of the resurrection of Jesus, the decisive seminal word 
 for a dead world, confronting a crowd of murderers, that 
 the testimony of their leaders — the apostles — concen- 
 trated the force of its assault, ver. 33. The spirit of 
 the Church is thus exhibited outwardly as a spirit of 
 power in the bold testimony to the truth on the part 
 of the whole Church, ver. 31, and in the special life- 
 testimony on the part of the apostles. But with all its 
 power, this spirit does not belie itself as a spirit 
 of love. This is seen outwardly where the greatness 
 of the power is not evinced in hurting but in healing, 
 V. 1 5 f . ; but the spirit of love is shown most directly 
 within the Church itself, vers. 32, 34, and in con- 
 sequence of all this operation of power and love, 
 
Conflict lüith the Power of the State Church. 339 
 
 the grace of the whole body is also more widely 
 diffused. 
 
 The love, however, approves itself at the same time 
 within the Church as a moral love, as distinguishing 
 between the holy and the unholy, v. 1 ff., discipline 
 being combined with love (2 Tim. i. 7) in the same 
 spirit of power — a discipline which to meet the first 
 assault of falsehood in the Church likewise makes its 
 appearance with a greatness and strength which spreads 
 terror both without and within the Church. This swift 
 judgment crushes in the house of God itself the con- 
 suming canker of hypocrisy in its very beginning, and 
 purifies the Church; at the same time, however, it 
 resists the pressure of a thoughtless multitude and the 
 intrusion of impure elements, a duty specially incum- 
 bent on account of the many miracles, v. 12 f . ; while, 
 on the other hand, the powerfully attested faith and the 
 love which shows itself in many miracles of heahng 
 alongside of the one terrible miracle of punishment, 
 continued to bring new members into the Church, v. 14. 
 
 Qi) Conclusion. — Thus the Church grows strong with 
 increasing vigour outwardly and inwardly ; now, how- 
 ever, the power of the state church inflamed with 
 jealousy gathers itself for another swift interposition, a 
 second time the arm of the outward official power is 
 employed against the leaders of the Church, v. 17 f. 
 In opposition to this increased spirit of jealousy, how- 
 ever, increased power is also manifested in the sphere 
 of the Holy Spirit. The divine arm likewise puts on 
 its strength for a warning testimony to the infatuated 
 
340 The Work of the Ajjostks as Teachers. 
 
 people, ver. 19 f. It sets the prisoners free upon the 
 field of battle with the express command to continue 
 preaching the words of life ; and undismayed the 
 apostles again take possession of the open field, ver. 
 21. Thoroughly convinced by their own officers of the 
 wonderful deliverance of their prisoners, vers. 21-23, 
 the heads of God's people have again only room in the 
 first instance for a feeling of perplexity, ver. 24, but 
 they still carry on proceedings, only with more con- 
 siderate regard for form, vers. 25-27. They altogether 
 ifrnore, however, the real merits of the case, and frame 
 their accusation on the ground of their first arbitrary 
 resolution, ver. 28, as a charge of disobedience to autho- 
 rity. They merely mention the shed blood of the Just 
 One with contempt, as the blood " of this man ; " but in 
 secret dread of this blood they bring all the more heavy 
 a charge against the animus of the prisoners, alleging 
 that they wish to employ the occurrence in a revolu- 
 tionary spirit to wreak vengeance on their authority. 
 Thus the lying spirit comes forth with stubborn con- 
 sistency and in confirmed deceitfulness of darkness, but 
 the Spirit of God likewise meets it in reply with the 
 bold losic of His own law, ver. 29, and with increased 
 power of truth, laying emphasis on the striving of the 
 authorities against God, ver. 30 ff. ; cf. iv. 10. 
 
 This defence intensifies the feeling of the court, and 
 leads to reckless blind rage, ver. 33. The spirit of passion, 
 unable to control itself till the prisoners are removed, 
 breaks out openly as a spirit of murder. In the person 
 of Gamaliel, however, the growing determination is 
 
Conflict with the Poiver of the State Church. 341 
 
 anticipated by the quiet voice of reason, and this 
 voice they could not reject downright, because of the 
 position and public reputation of the speaker. With 
 statesmanlike view he draws illustrations from recent 
 history of religious pretenders who had come to grief, 
 for the purpose of allaying the momentary excitement, 
 and the hearers are thus rendered more disposed to 
 wait and look on, to temporize, with regard to the new 
 cause, which is still represented in a very problematical 
 light. The question as to the divine or human origin of 
 the new phenomenon is entirely left to time to determine ; 
 its divine character is only put in the form of a possi- 
 bility by an allusion to the impossibility and consequent 
 folly of thinking to master it by force. The whole is an 
 utterance of political wisdom on an ecclesiastical back- 
 ground. For this reason, also, the speech was well 
 fitted to give policy once more the upper hand over 
 blind passion in such an assembly. In conformity with 
 the advice of this member, the meeting, which had 
 forgotten its dignity, again assumes an official aspect, ver. 
 40, and gives to its repeated unrighteous prohibition a 
 new sharpness by means of scourging, without troubling 
 its head about the possibility of its having God's word 
 opposed to it — a possibility which was certainly only put 
 as a supposition, in Gamaliel's speech, byway of argument. 
 The spirit of the witnesses, however, is not subdued by 
 the ignominious punishment, ver. 41 f. Done for God's 
 sake, and not to he left icndone hecaicse of men — this is 
 the real principle that determines the apostle's conduct. 
 Later, vi. 8 ff., when a bigoted faction of the schools 
 
342 The Work of the Apostles as Teachers. 
 
 was worsted in its disputation with Stephen, the move- 
 ment against the Christian congregations was transferred 
 from them to the people themselves by means of the 
 old weapons of lying and falsehood which had been 
 already employed against the Lord, vers. 11-14. In 
 their blind zeal for their Church founder (Moses) and 
 covenant - God, for their ritual (temple) and their 
 ordinances (law), the people were inflamed with 
 passion, and played into the haijds of the court of the 
 state church, so that the latter was enabled to act 
 with the appearance of administering the law impar- 
 tially, vii. 1 ; while, on the other hand, when Stephen's 
 defence against a false accusation was converted into 
 an accusation against the people and their rulers, to the 
 effect that they who were so zealous for what pertained 
 unto the Church outwardly and for their whole history, 
 had resisted the Holy Spirit, killed the prophets and the 
 Messiah whom they preached, and had thus transgressed 
 the law themselves, vers. 51-53, the people, excited to 
 tumult, took the work of execution into their own 
 hands, ver. 54 ff. This marked the turning-point at 
 which the multitude, who had hitherto been friendly to 
 the Church, allied themselves with its adversaries, and, 
 without the need of any further action on the part of 
 the court, a general persecution of the Church arose, 
 which scattered the disciples, with the exception of the 
 apostles who remained at their posts, over the whole land 
 of Judaea and Samaria, viii. 1. By this means, however, 
 the gospel now spread beyond the local boundaries, which 
 had hitherto confined it, throughout the whole land. 
 
INDEX 
 
 OF PASSAGES REFERRED TO OVER AND ABOVE THE 
 
 SECTIONS OF MATTHEW AND ACTS EMBRACED 
 
 BY THE LECTURES. 
 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 c 
 
 
 Jeremiah 
 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 
 PAOE 
 
 ii. 14, 
 
 Judges. 
 
 325 
 
 xxiii., 
 
 1. 6, . . 
 
 • 
 
 . 137 
 . 137 
 
 ix. 8, . . 
 
 • 
 
 37 
 
 iii. 17-21, . 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 60 
 
 
 1 Samuel. 
 
 
 xiii., . 
 
 
 62 
 
 X. 6 ff.. 
 
 • 
 
 88 
 
 xiii. 19, 
 xxxiv.. 
 
 • 
 
 . 250 
 . 137 
 
 1 
 
 Chronicles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 XXV. 1, 
 
 Psalms. 
 
 250 
 
 iii. 1 ff., . 
 
 JOEL. 
 
 . 252 
 
 ii. 1, . 
 
 , 
 
 336 
 
 
 MiCAH. 
 
 
 X. 12 ff., 
 
 , 
 
 337 
 
 V. 12, 
 
 ^ 
 
 . 250 
 
 xvi. 8 f., . 
 
 . 
 
 257 
 
 
 
 
 xxxvii. 3, . 
 
 , 
 
 88 
 
 
 SiRACH. 
 
 
 Ixix. 26, . 
 
 . 
 
 240 
 
 xix. 29 f., . 
 
 . 
 
 93 
 
 cvii. 23-32, 
 
 , 
 
 188 
 
 
 
 
 cix. 8, 
 
 . 
 
 240 
 
 
 Matthew 
 
 
 cxxx. 5-7, . 
 
 , 
 
 88 
 
 iii. 9, . 
 
 
 . 261 
 
 
 
 
 iv. 6, 11, . 
 
 
 
 . 107 f. 
 
 
 Proverbs. 
 
 
 V. 1 ff., 
 
 
 
 . 119 
 
 viii. 15, 
 
 . 
 
 311 
 
 V. 19, 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 xiv. 15 ff., 
 
 Isaiah. 
 
 . 311 
 
 vi. 6, . 
 vi. 14 f., 
 vi. 16-18, 
 
 
 
 . 114 
 
 . 194 
 
 201 
 
 xlix. 16, 
 
 , 
 
 . 176 
 
 vi. 32 f., 
 
 
 
 . 148 
 
 xlix. 24 f., 
 
 . 
 
 . 224 
 
 vii. 4, 
 
 
 
 . 139 
 
 liii. 6, 
 
 . 
 
 . 136 
 
 vii. 17, 
 
 
 
 . 225 
 
 liv. 10, 
 
 
 . 176 
 
 vii. 21-25, 
 
 
 
 . 181 
 
 Ivi. 10 ff.. 
 
 
 . 137 
 
 ix. 35 ff.. 
 
 
 
 . 135 ff. 
 
 Iviii. 7, 
 
 
 . 290 
 
 X. 5 ff.. 
 
 
 
 85 
 
344 
 
 Index. 
 
 Matthew- 
 
 -continued 
 
 . 
 
 Mark— continued. 
 
 
 chap. PAGE 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 X. 16-25 ff., . . . 317 
 
 xii. 36, ... . 240 
 
 xi. 25 f., . 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 xvi. 15, ... . 283 
 
 xii. 1-13, . 
 
 
 
 
 206 
 
 xvi. 17-20, . . .319 
 
 xii. 19, 
 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 
 xiii. 52, 
 
 
 
 
 7, 100 
 
 Luke. 
 
 XV. 7-9, 
 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 iv. 41, .... 174 
 
 XV. 12-14, 
 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 V. 31 f., 
 
 
 
 
 277 
 
 xvi. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 226 
 
 V. 39, 
 
 
 
 
 206 
 
 xvi. 24, 
 
 
 
 
 276 
 
 vi. 12 ff., 
 
 
 
 
 239 
 
 xvii. 10 f., 
 
 
 
 
 322 
 
 vi. 24 ff., 
 
 
 
 
 143 
 
 xviii. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 215 
 
 vi. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 163 
 
 xviii. 2, 
 
 
 
 
 261 
 
 vi. 42, 
 
 
 
 
 139 
 
 xix. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 91 
 
 vi. 46, 
 
 
 
 
 169 
 
 XX. 25, 
 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 vii. 3-5, . 
 
 
 
 
 176 
 
 XX. 25-28, 
 
 
 
 
 34, 317 
 
 vii. 6, 
 
 
 
 
 136 
 
 XX. 28, 
 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 vii. 34, 
 
 
 
 
 249 
 
 xxi. 23, 
 
 
 
 
 326 
 
 vii. 48-50, 
 
 
 
 
 191 
 
 xxi. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 331 
 
 viii. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 291 
 
 xxi. 31 f., 
 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 viii. 49, 
 
 
 
 
 136 
 
 xxi. 42-44, 
 
 
 
 
 327 
 
 ix. 33, 43, 
 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 xxii. 12, 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 ix. 60, 
 
 
 
 
 184 
 
 xxii. 43, 
 
 
 
 
 240 
 
 X. 2, . 
 
 
 
 
 247 
 
 xxiii. Iff., 
 
 
 
 
 137 
 
 X. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 280 
 
 xxiii. 2-4, 
 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 X. 17, . 
 
 
 
 
 319 
 
 xxiii. 4, 
 
 
 
 
 136 
 
 xi. 13, 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 14, 161 
 
 xxiii, 6-12, 
 
 
 
 
 . 317 
 
 xi. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 226 
 
 xxiii. 8, 
 
 
 
 
 . 34, 78 
 
 xi. 52, 
 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 xxiii. 28, 
 
 
 
 
 285 
 
 xii. 29-34, 
 
 
 
 
 288 
 
 xxiv. 8-13, 
 
 
 
 
 . 317 
 
 xii. 42 f., 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 38, 178 
 
 xxiv. 45, 
 
 
 
 
 178 
 
 xiii. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 277 
 
 xxiv. 51, 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 xiii. 24-26, 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 xxvi. 5 f., 
 
 
 
 
 . 331 
 
 xvi. 9, 
 
 
 
 
 186 
 
 xxvii. 25, 
 
 
 
 
 . 262 
 
 xvii. 21, 
 
 
 
 
 117 
 
 xxviii. 19 f., 
 
 
 79, 281 
 
 xviii. 12, 
 
 
 
 
 201 
 
 
 xxii. 19, 
 
 
 
 
 290 
 
 Mark. 
 
 xxii. 25, 
 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 i. 15, 119 
 
 xxii. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 i. 45, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 174 
 
 xxii. 31, 
 
 
 
 
 101 
 
 ii. 27 f., 
 
 
 
 
 206 
 
 xxiii. 44-48 
 
 
 
 
 247 
 
 iii. 4, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 327 
 
 xxiv. 30, 
 
 
 
 
 . 290 
 
 iii. 5, . 
 
 
 
 
 207 
 
 xxiv. 47, 
 
 
 
 
 121 
 
 iii. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 222 
 
 xxiv. 48, 
 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 iv. 26-28, 
 
 
 
 
 . 167 
 
 xxiv. 49, 
 
 
 
 
 210 
 
 v. 18 f.. 
 
 
 
 
 . 182 
 
 xxiv. 52, 
 
 
 
 
 . 237 
 
 V. 19, 
 
 
 
 
 . 190 
 
 
 V. 35, 
 
 
 
 
 . 136 
 
 John. 
 
 viii. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 226 
 
 i. 45-51, . . . 112, 123 ff. 
 
 viii. 25, 
 
 
 
 
 . 322 
 
 ii. 4, 19 f. 107 
 
 ix. 49 f., 
 
 
 
 
 . 153 f. 
 
 ii. 23, .... 245 
 
 X. 13, 
 
 
 
 
 . 261 
 
 iii. 20 f., 
 
 
 
 
 65 
 
Index. 
 
 345 
 
 SoR^— continued. 
 
 1 
 
 Acts — continued. 
 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 iii. 28ff., .... 202 
 
 iii. 12 f., . . . 233, .320 
 
 iv. 23, ... 
 
 
 296 
 
 iv. 24, 
 
 
 . 284 
 
 iv. 25 f., . 
 
 
 112 
 
 iv. 31, 33, . 
 
 
 
 
 319 
 
 iv. 35-38, . 
 
 
 247 
 
 iv. 32, 34, . 
 
 
 
 
 273 
 
 vii. 6, . . . 
 
 
 107 
 
 iv. 35, 
 
 
 
 
 288 
 
 vii. 17, . . . 
 
 
 169 
 
 V. 4, . 
 
 
 
 
 288 
 
 vii. 35, . . . 
 
 
 301 
 
 V. 12-16, . 
 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 vii. 39, . . . 
 
 
 124 
 
 vi. 1, . 
 
 
 
 
 288 
 
 viii. 31, . . . 
 
 
 281 
 
 vi. 8-10, . 
 
 
 
 
 310 f. 
 
 viii. 39, . . . 
 
 
 261 
 
 viii. 4, 
 
 
 
 
 311 
 
 X., . . . . 
 
 
 27 ff. 
 
 viii. 5ff., . 
 
 
 
 
 310 f. 
 
 X. 4 
 
 
 139 
 
 viii. 21 f.. 
 
 
 
 
 148 
 
 X. 32, . 
 
 
 327 
 
 x. 39, 
 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 xi. 45, ... 
 
 
 243 
 
 X. 45, 
 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 xi. 47, 
 
 
 331 
 
 xi. 2, 
 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 xi. 52, 
 
 
 52 
 
 xi. 19-21, 
 
 
 
 
 311 
 
 xii. 6, 
 
 
 306 
 
 xii. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 284 
 
 xii. 36, 
 
 
 154 
 
 xii. 12, 
 
 
 
 
 287 
 
 xiii. 13-17, 
 
 
 29 
 
 xiii. 32 f.. 
 
 
 
 
 261 
 
 xiii. 20, 
 
 
 280 
 
 xiv. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 337 
 
 xiii. 29, 
 
 
 306 
 
 XV. 21, 
 
 
 
 
 291 
 
 xiv. 12 f., . 
 
 
 319 
 
 XV. 37 f., 
 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 xiv. 21, 23, 
 
 
 169 
 
 xvi. 14, 
 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 XV. 7, 
 
 
 336 
 
 xvii. 30, 
 
 
 
 
 57, 122 
 
 XV. 14 ff., . 
 
 
 ^Q 
 
 xviii. 12, 
 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 XV. 15 If., . 
 
 
 87 
 
 XX. 7, 11, 
 
 
 
 
 290 
 
 XV. 18-21, . 
 
 
 317 
 
 XX. 18 ff.. 
 
 
 
 
 48 ff. 
 
 XV. 26 f., . 
 
 
 64, 280 
 
 XX. 28, 
 
 
 
 
 25, 29 
 
 XV. 27, 
 
 
 86 
 
 xxi. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 . 100 
 
 xvi. Iff., . 
 
 
 317 f. 
 
 xxi. 28, 
 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 xvi. 24, 26ff., . 
 
 
 296 
 
 xxii. 14 f,. 
 
 
 
 
 . 242 
 
 xvii. 3ff., . 
 
 
 30, 156 
 
 xxiv. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 xvii. 6-8, . 
 
 
 30, 87 
 
 XX vi. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 242 
 
 xvii. 8, 
 
 
 31 
 
 xxvi. 24, 
 
 
 
 
 . 249 
 
 xvii. 15, . 
 
 
 237 
 
 xxvi. 25, 
 
 
 
 
 250 
 
 xvii. 18, . 
 
 
 280 
 
 xxvii. 35, 
 
 
 
 
 . 293 
 
 xvii. 20 f., . . 2 
 
 3, 31 
 
 64, 87 
 
 
 xvii. 24, . 
 
 
 297 
 
 Romans. 
 
 XX. 21 f., . 
 
 
 . 28 f. 
 
 i. 5, 28 
 
 Acts. 
 
 
 ii. 7, . 
 
 
 
 . 145 
 
 i. 3-8, 
 
 84,87 
 
 ii. 6-11, 
 
 
 
 . 168 
 
 i. 4, . 
 
 . 139 
 
 ii. 13, 
 
 
 
 . 170 
 
 i. 4, 7, 
 
 . 107 
 
 ii. 19-21, 
 
 
 
 . 139 
 
 i. 13, 
 
 . 115 
 
 vi. 17 f., 22 
 
 
 
 . 271 
 
 i. 14, . 
 
 . 112 
 
 vi. 21, 
 
 
 
 . 167 
 
 i. 15-23, . 
 
 . 311 
 
 vi. 23, 
 
 
 
 . 144 
 
 i. 20ff., . 
 
 . 34, 87 
 
 vi. 27, 
 
 
 
 . 282 
 
 ii. 31, 38, . 
 
 122, 276 
 
 vii., . 
 
 
 
 . 119, 124 
 
 ii. 32, 
 
 34 
 
 vii. 3, 
 
 
 
 92 
 
 ii. 40, 
 
 
 56 
 
 1 vii. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 . 167 
 
346 
 
 Index. 
 
 Romans — co7ithmed. 
 
 1 
 
 2 Corinthians. 
 
 
 CHAP. PAGE : 
 
 CHAP. PACK 
 
 viii. 2 ff., . . . 124, n. | 
 
 i. 24, 38 
 
 viii. 3 f., . 
 
 
 . 145 
 
 ii. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 101 
 
 X. 13 ff., . 
 
 
 . 269 
 
 iii. 5 ff., 
 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 xii. 2, 
 
 
 140, 243 
 
 iv. 2, . . 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 xii. 9, 
 
 
 . 149 
 
 iv. 6, . 
 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 xii. 9-11, . 
 
 
 42 
 
 iv. 7-11, 
 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 xiv., . 
 
 
 . 69, 81 
 
 vi. 4-10, 
 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 xiv. 1, 15, 2 
 
 0, * '. 
 
 21 
 
 viii. 12-15, 
 
 
 
 
 289 
 
 xiv. 2, 4, . 
 
 
 . 202 
 
 ix. 7, . 
 
 
 
 
 289 
 
 XV. 7-9, . 
 
 
 . 299 
 
 ix. 13, 
 
 
 
 
 285 
 
 XV. 20, 
 
 
 21 
 
 xi. 2, . 
 
 
 
 
 59 
 
 xvi. 3, 
 
 
 33 
 
 xi. 3 f., 
 
 
 
 
 283 
 
 xvi. 18, 
 
 
 . 166 
 
 xi. 13, 15, 
 
 
 
 
 166 
 
 1 Corinthians. 
 
 Galatians 
 
 
 i. 1-3, 
 i. 5, . 
 i. 17, . 
 ii. 4 ff., 12 f 
 ii. 12-14, 
 iii. 1, . 
 
 112 
 
 i. 4, . 
 
 . 270 
 
 • j 
 
 
 28 
 
 276 
 
 84 
 
 86 
 
 i. 6'f., . 
 i. 14, . 
 i. 15-17, 
 ii. 2 ff., 
 
 
 
 
 283 
 
 271 
 
 139 
 
 73 
 
 
 
 94 
 
 ii. 3 ff.. 
 
 
 
 
 82, 166 
 
 iii. 5, 8, 
 iii. 6-8, 
 iii. 12 If., 
 iv. 1 f., 
 V. 3-6, 
 
 
 
 33 
 100 
 167 
 
 49 
 
 77 
 
 iii. 1-3, 
 iii. 13 f., 
 iv., . 
 iv. 6, . 
 iv. 9, . 
 
 
 
 
 77 
 
 124, n. 
 
 159 
 
 210 
 
 68, 166 
 
 vi. 5, . 
 vi. 9, . 
 vi. 11, 
 
 
 
 77 
 276 
 276 
 
 iv. 20 ff., 
 V. 1 ff., 
 V. 22, . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 73 
 
 68 
 56, 166 
 
 Vll., . 
 
 
 
 91 
 
 vi. 10, 
 
 
 
 
 . 290 
 
 vii. 8, 
 vii. 20, 24, 
 
 
 
 92 
 
 182 
 
 vi. 12, 
 
 
 
 
 . 166 
 
 vii. 29, 
 
 
 
 288 
 
 
 
 vii. 31, 
 
 
 
 155 
 
 Ephesians 
 
 
 ix. 19, 
 
 
 
 82 
 
 i. 3, . 
 
 . 210 
 
 ix. 19-23, 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 i. 19 f.. 
 
 
 
 260, n. 
 
 ix. 20, 
 
 
 
 . 39, n. 
 
 ii. 6, 19, 
 
 
 
 . 211 
 
 ix. 25-27, 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 ii. 13, 17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 262 
 
 ix. 32 f.. 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 ii. 18, 
 
 
 
 
 . 296 
 
 X. 16, 
 
 
 
 . 290 
 
 iv. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 X. 23, . 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 iv. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 . 286 
 
 X. 31, . 
 
 
 
 . 293 
 
 iv. 18, 
 
 
 
 
 94 
 
 xi. 1, . 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 V. 7 ff.. 
 
 
 
 
 . 271 
 
 xi. 20 ff.. 
 
 
 94, 292 
 
 V. 8-11, 
 
 
 
 
 156 
 
 xiv. 24, 
 
 
 65 
 
 V. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 xiv. 24 f., 
 
 
 48, 124 
 
 V. 15-17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 140 
 
 xiv. 26, 
 
 
 26, 311 
 
 V. 17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 243 
 
 XV. 1-11, 
 
 
 . 282 
 
 vi. 10 ff., 
 
 
 
 
 . 227 
 
 XV. 12, 
 
 
 68 
 
 vi. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 101 
 
 xvi. 19, 
 
 
 
 . 292 
 
 vi. 18, 
 
 
 
 
 . 335 
 
Index. 
 
 347 
 
 r 
 
 iiiTjrriAXs. 
 
 1 
 
 2 Timothy 
 
 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 l'Ar.E 
 
 i. 3, 5, . . . . 51 
 
 i. 7, . 
 
 . 187 
 
 ii. 30, .... 90 
 
 i. 13, . 
 
 
 
 47, 282 
 
 iii. Str., 17, ... 39 
 
 ii. 5, 15, . 
 
 
 
 . 138 
 
 iii. 20, .... 211 
 
 ii. 19, 
 ii. 21,. 
 
 
 
 
 274 
 276 
 
 Colossi ANS. 
 
 ii. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 149 
 
 i. 28, 28 
 
 ii. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 101 
 
 ii. 4, 8, 18, 23, . 
 
 
 166 
 
 iii. 3, . 
 
 
 
 
 101 
 
 ii. 6-8, 
 
 
 283 
 
 iii. 5 f., 
 
 
 
 68, 74, 166 
 
 ii. 16 ff., . 
 
 
 
 68. 78 
 
 iii. 6, . 
 
 
 
 56, 127 
 
 ii. 19, 
 
 
 
 286 
 
 iii. 10 ff., . 
 
 
 
 . 110 
 
 iii. 6, . 
 
 
 
 243 
 
 iii. 15 ff., . 
 
 
 
 . 243 
 
 iii. 10, 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 iii. 16, 
 
 
 
 93 
 
 iii. 16, 
 
 
 
 243 
 
 iv. 2, 
 
 
 
 93 
 
 iv. 6, . 
 
 
 
 157 
 
 
 
 iv. 7, . 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 TlTUS. 
 
 iv. 15, 
 
 
 
 292 
 
 i. 5, 7, 
 
 25 
 
 
 i. 9, . 
 
 
 
 
 26, 47 
 
 1 TlIESSALONIANS. 
 
 i. 9-14, 
 
 
 
 
 164 
 
 i. 5 f., . . . . 28 
 
 i. 10 fi"., 
 
 
 
 
 QQ, 68 
 
 iv. 1-3, 7 f., . . .145 
 
 i. 11, . 
 ii. 7 f., 
 
 
 
 
 74 f. 
 43 ff. 
 
 2 THESSALONIANS. 
 
 ii. 11-15, 
 
 
 
 
 . 194 
 
 ii. 12, .... 148 
 
 ii. 14, 
 
 
 
 
 145 
 
 ii. 14 f., . 
 
 . 282 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 15, 
 
 iii. 7-9, . 
 
 64 
 
 40 
 
 ii., . 
 
 Philemon 
 
 . 291 
 
 1 Timothy 
 
 
 
 
 
 i. 3, 18 f., . 
 
 . 283 
 
 
 Hebrews. 
 
 
 i. 4, . 
 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 ii. 1-3, 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 i. 5, . 
 
 
 
 
 149 
 
 ii. 3, . 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 i. 6, . 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 V. 12ff., 
 
 
 
 94, 140 
 
 i. 19, . 
 
 
 
 
 98 
 
 vi. 4 f.. 
 
 
 
 31, 211 
 
 ii. 1, . 
 
 
 
 
 237 
 
 X. 25, 
 
 
 
 
 31« 
 
 ii. 4, . 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 X. 36, 
 
 
 
 
 107 
 
 iii. 1-7, 
 iii. 2, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 89 tf. 
 26 
 
 xi., . 
 xi. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 159 
 117 
 
 iii. 9, . 
 
 
 
 
 311 
 
 xii. 1 f., 12 
 
 -16, 
 
 
 
 167 
 
 iv. 4, . 
 
 
 
 
 115 
 
 xii. 18tf., 
 
 
 
 
 211 
 97 
 
 iv. 5 f.. 
 
 
 
 
 . 266 
 
 xiii. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 iv. 8, . 
 
 
 
 
 189 
 
 xiii. 10-14, 
 
 
 
 
 318 
 
 iv. 12, 
 
 
 
 
 4, 40 f. 
 
 xiii. 16, 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 97 
 
 V. 4, 8, 
 
 
 
 
 290 
 
 
 
 V. 13, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 128 
 
 
 James. 
 
 V. 14, . 
 
 
 
 
 92 
 
 i. 1, . 
 
 . 318 
 
 V. 17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 26, 33 
 
 i. 22, . 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 . 170 
 
 V. 22, 24 f., 
 
 
 
 
 . 276 
 
 i. 27, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 149 
 
 vi. 3, . 
 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 iii. 1, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 140 
 
 vi. 5, . 
 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 iv. 12, 
 
 
 
 
 78 
 
348 
 
 Index. 
 
 1 Peter. 
 
 1 John. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 i. 1 318 
 
 i. 3 f.. 
 
 
 282 
 
 i. 10 f., 
 
 
 
 . 255 
 
 i. 6, . 
 
 . 
 
 271 
 
 i. 12, 25, 
 
 
 
 . 282 
 
 i. 7, . 
 
 
 194 
 
 i. 18, . 
 
 
 
 . 270 f. 
 
 ii. 2-4, 
 
 . 
 
 145 
 
 i. 22, . 
 
 
 
 . 149 
 
 ii. 19, 24, 
 
 
 . 282 f. 
 
 iL 9, . 
 
 
 
 . 271 
 
 ii. 29, 
 
 
 145 
 
 ii. 17, 
 
 
 
 . 285 
 
 iii. 7, 
 
 '. '. '. 145, 170 
 
 iii. 4, . 
 
 
 
 . 114 
 
 iv. 13, 
 
 . 
 
 210 
 
 iii. 13-15, 
 
 
 
 318, 336 
 
 
 
 
 iv. 10 f., 
 
 
 
 . 311 
 
 
 2 John. 
 
 
 V. 1-3, 
 
 
 
 . 33 ff. 
 
 8-10, . 
 
 . 
 
 283 
 
 V. 6, . 
 
 
 
 . 335 
 
 9, 
 
 . 
 
 282 
 
 V. 9, . 
 
 
 
 . 285 
 
 
 
 
 V. 12, . 
 
 
 
 . 282 
 
 
 Jude. 
 
 
 
 6, 
 
 . 
 
 101 
 
 2 Peter. 
 
 
 
 
 i. 1, 282 
 
 
 Kevelation. 
 
 
 i. 3ff., 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 i. 9, . 
 
 . 
 
 318 
 
 i. 21, . 
 
 
 
 . 263 
 
 iii. 14-16, 
 
 
 219 
 
 ii. 4, . 
 
 
 
 . 101 
 
 X. 7, . 
 
 . 
 
 322 
 
 iii. 1 f., 
 
 
 
 282 
 
 xiv. 12, 
 
 . 
 
 169 
 
 iii. 10-13, 
 
 
 
 . 211 
 
 xxi. 14, 
 
 
 242 
 
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 SIXTH SERIES OF CUNNINGHAM LECTURES. 
 
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 KEIL AND DELITZSCH'S 
 
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