The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1912-06-05

certainly would root out all unre-
generate Sunday school teachers, and
equally so all other leaders in So
called church work who know not
the Lord.
But not only so, it also reminds
us that only those who have been
taught of the Lord, even though they
are His by faith, are eligible to such
a position. No greater mistake could
possibly be made than that of plac-
ing a young convert in teaching
position before he himself has been
taught.
The order of the Great Commits
sion is, 1st, Disciple them; End, Bap-
tie them; Sd, Teach them. We err
greatly when we, list, Disciple them !;
End, Make them teachers. Many a
one is cropping around in darkness to-
day, so far as any Intelligent idea of
the Word of God is concerned, be-
cause they were set as teachers when
they should have been taught.
This word here in our lesson refers
primarily to the Jewish leaders, no
doubt, those who posed as teachers of
the law but would not come unto
Him who was the fulfillment of the
law; and not only so but kept others
from coming.-Matt. 23:13. We
have today in our midst an army of
men and ever increasing, who, not
because they have lacked opportun-
ity, nor because they lack capacity,
but because they are reprobate con-
corning the truth, are blindly leading
a vast number in blindness, all
headed toward one common destiny.
Now, as we have said, the respon-
sibility begins with the teacher, but
does not end there. The taught
need not hope to escape on the plea
that they followed their teachers.
Weigh we'll the words of verse A.
"For each tree is known by it's own
fruit The reading of Matthew is
'By their fruits We shall know them"
Matt. 7:16. Let us notice that this
declaration is in direct connection
with false teachers, and does not ad-
nit of the loose application that is
frequently made.
No man, as such, can be rightly
judged by a limited number of acts in
his life, whether they be the best or
the worst, but the false teacher can
be known by his teaching. We do
not mean by this that there will be
no divergent views among true teach
ers in the sense of minutia, but we do
mean that there dare be no divergent
views pertaining to fundamentals.
The denunciation of the Jewish
leaders was on the ground of their
attitude toward Jesus Christ. No
matter how genial, how moral, how
philanthropic, what power of COM
munication he may possess, he stands
before God condemned if his
attitude toward Gods Son is
he wrong one. Now tho person who
gives himself up to another mans
leadership absolutely, acts unwisely
to say the least, and can not hope
to escape the ditch. Our Lord Him
self in His demand for a~hearing,
based it upon the truth He spoke
John 8:46. .... -a~
The man who has ears to hear will
find the truth speaking for itself if
he but be Berean like-Acts It'll
The Holy Spirit is the only guider
into All truth-John 1913. The
disciple will never get above his
teacher; even though he be perfect
ed in the teaching he is receiving,
his highest attainment will be Gas his
teacher"
How important then that we have
the teacher who can lead us ever on
ward to higher attainments. The
s'mote" and the "beam'' have their
primary application here. This runs
through the section following YER
ses 4-49, thus showing that sound
teaching and sound living are insep-
arabic. The mere words .Lord
Lord" will not save, but the doing
What shall we do? Read John
l6:28-29. This must be at the bot
tom of all living and doing, for you
notice that the foundation Of the
building is the emphasized part in the
section having to do with doing
Real faith issues in real living.
Those who wish this column con.
tinued after June 16 should 50 mott.
gIfy the editor