, 1880-07-25

final authority. .As.to the men who consti
tute the Presbytery,:- Or the Synod, or the
exception. We cannot perhaps, say or think
that there Is any better, wiser, or hotter body
| OF men In the land. presume that most o1
us would not prefer General Council o.
any other Church as essentially any better d1
probably not ready to let any ecclesiastica!
body OF mon BIZ cur criterion Of truth. And
| why not? Because we are not satisfied thai
truth can, be known with certainty in that
way. IT have something, to say about it ny:
my own Judgment is the feeling, sup:
pose, Of every adult among us. And j
believe that is right We cannot safely yield
the duty and the right of "priyate luds-
1nentn ne II Difference to any body OF men in
But, in order to get all the light possible
upon this subject, I have chosen q case that
seems In many respects simllar and parallel. l.
IA body of Elders in the Christian Church,
And we know that they are mostly ministers.
It was, therefore, virtually about the same
class Of men that make up al tPresbytery that
Temple and wanted to have Him give them
His credentials: "under what authority are
you acting?. WHO has. conferred this, au-
thorlty upon yoM? You assume the right to
tEacli auu 10 Qo LIS olIccS VI d tll!iSlEi, Scr
how is it? Why do you 50 =" 49,
Every man, suppose, must have some
authority for doing any such work. And it
was natural, upon seeing Jesus doing what
He did and no doubt somewhat out Of the
Men Of that stamp, professional teachers, and
exercising authority ecclesiastical themselves,
would feel some responsibility that the teach
ing in synaEog and temple should proceed in
1-.Ia x11rv ,.f1 .<&r
:, And it was due to them that Jesus should
give them all reasonable satisfaction. II
there really was good authority for His
course, and we cannot think that His doing
was unauthorized, 1.-the then l. why should he not
best Of His ability, in order that they might
truly judge whether How authorized or
/: But you must, have: observed that He
pointed to no third party of any sort as hav-
Ing given Him authority. If lie could have
pointed to some such recognized authority,
saying, - refer you to him. to them, rs
the case might be, it would have been simple
But it is high time for us all to know that
no such authority belongs to the truth, o.. to
the bearer Of truth. Did they ask for His
authority? Jesus gave reply in a seemingly
strange way, but He could not do otherwise.
auestone and Ge as hat e ns ye ef
himself II he cannot find the authority,
then so far as he is concerned there is no
authority. Mark that fact WELL 1t is essen
1ial. We read: "When He was come into
Of the people came unto Him as He was
teaching, and said, By what authority doest
Thou these things2 and who gave Thee this
authority? Aud Jesus answered and said
unto them, I also will ask you one thing"
And SO mnst 1t always he. -
Ynn want tn Enn\t 14h1t' o1ftnritU
thing that purports to be the truth of God
has: You look at the speaker. You ask,
Where did YOU, come from? Who was
your teachere Who, laid the consecrating
connection have you 81
Exactly such questions men do ask, and
have asked in times past. And they are gen
orally answered, too, as if perfectly legiti-
much as Jesus came into the world Of men,
messenger Of God and Il witness to the
truth, He could not answer any such ques-
tons as these. They are entirely irrelevant
and misleading.
and what authority I bear; but the question
Of authority rests with you, and not with me.
also Will ask YOU one question: And the
intent OF that question is to discover really
who and what the questigncr himself is. He
him capable Of discerning and recognizing
truths authority. It is not possible to tell 4
man what truth is, SO that by the 4nere tell
I1g ss viii know; he must always see it for
Jesus then proceeded to probe the hearts of |
the chief priests and elders /" If you tell Me
what ask OF you, I will also in like manner
tell you BY whatauthorityI do these things"
In fact, the truthful answer to His question
carried III 1t the answer to theirs.
A test question was found in the, case of |
John the BAPTIST. john the Evangelist says |
Of him: There was a man sent from God |
whose name was John. The same came for |
witness, to bear witness Of the light, that
well; then,-he was a bearer Of the truth,
and had all proper authority IT God sends |
. lnan, surely he has authority enough.
= Now, chler priests and elders, l. will ask
yoq one ne question: Did John get lis authori.,
thority except Of Cod" The question is IS.
whether these men recognize that John had
Divine authority. Il they are.able. to do it,
discover his authority. Ali depends upon
in themselves.
eli; we do not know" And Jesus said to
hem. :, Nor do tell yon BY what authority
|esus never acted arbitrarily, and never was
1indictiye. II He did not tell them what His
authority was, 1t. was simply because He
:ould not, because they had hot ears to hear.
HE5 IHust HAVE Ill themselves l16 criterion |
# truth, just as Jesus said to some of them
nee: =" Why, even of yourselves judge ye
Were asked what the trouble with these
nell was, might answer in several ways. I
night say that their ''eye,'' or intellectual
nd moral discernment of truth, was not
imple, and, therefore, they were in. neces-
airy darkness xnd blindness to the truth. I.
night say that theywere not 'spure iii hearts
nd that consequently they were shut ont
rom the knowledge Of God and all that is
odlike. There IS abundant proof that they
'ere not strictly sincere, straightforward, |
nd honest but that they were selfish and un-
er control OF motives Of ,selfinterest It is
My for such as are pure. iii heart to "sce
!od." Il God is In them, they possessing His
lean spirit, then they recognize God most
aturally and surely.
But they were schemers, They had mo-
yes Of their own. They were subject to ;
ollcy. and had personal ends to secure, In
cad Of being able to look for the truth, and
soon as found to grasp it tight and hug it
} their bosoms, they had to as}1, What are
le consequences? Row will this affect my
anding? What will people think and sayif !
take such and such stand? How will the | J
:ting upon this information affect my bread +
I'd butter? Have got to suffer harm or :
us? !