OTHER GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.
We have considered, in brief, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors. To these the apostle adds, in Eph. 4:11, “teachers.” The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of progress. The life of the true Christian is one of advancement. The greatest Teacher the world ever knew was Jesus Christ. He knew God; He came to reveal God; and He taught the things of God “as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” He was taught of God; and of the children of God it is said, “They shall all be taught of God.” This does not mean that all shall receive direct from God, with no human instrument between; but it does mean that the human instrument shall be God’s instrument, possessing God’s gift of teaching, and that those who receive from Him shall take it as coming from God. 1 Thess. 2:13. Men were as truly taught of God who listened to Jesus Christ as tho they had heard the Father speak from heaven; for “He whom God sent speaketh the words of God.” And just as truly do those who listen to the men sent of Christ hear the words of Christ. Those who fulfil His mission will “preach the Word.” Those who truly believe will receive the Word as from God, and so will be taught of Him. The teacher of God must teach the character, the purposes, the doctrine, of God. In other words, he must teach God. Christ gave Himself that men might “know” “the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent.” To properly teach, men must know. To teach God, men must know God. Is this true in many of our theological institutions? God is not the God of an abstract science of religious philosophy. Christianity is not some theoretical scheme of saving men. Jehovah is the living God. His Word is a living Word. Christianity is a life; and every true child of God knows the life power flowing unbroken from the throne of God. Such a God, such a religion, was taught of old in the schools of the prophets. It was taught by the prophets to the people. It was taught by Jesus and His apostles. God would have it taught to-day. Every Christian should teach it in his home, in the church, in the neighborhood, in the great world. The Lord would have our religious schools and seminaries, modern schools of the prophets of God, in which the Word of God shall be standard, and the mighty, blessed Spirit, chief instructor. “Higher Criticism,” philosophical dissertations, comparative theology, would all be submerged in the all-absorbing theme and object of knowing Christ and imparting His life. “That I may know Him,” says the apostle, “and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings;” and knowing Christ he could preach Christ, “warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ.” Solemn, indeed, is the position of him or her who assumes to teach for God in college or church or Sabbath-school. Let them first know what they would teach, and then use their gift to God’s glory. And, reader, if you are not taught Christ by those who profess to teach Him, seek elsewhere. Go to the Word for yourself. “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”