(Continued from page 71.)

As already noticed, the gift of teacher is closely connected with that of pastor; both have to do more specifically with the saints, though all the gifts are "knit together." The tender, firm heart and aptness to teach are most helpful in the evangelist (see Acts 15:35). But his is necessarily the initial work, followed by the pastor and teacher in the care for and upbuilding of the flock of God.* *The word for teacher, διδάσκαλoς, from διδάσκω, to teach, instruct, is the synonym for the Hebrew "Rabbi" (Jno. 1:39), meaning "my great one," or "chief." Although the word is used in the Old Testament, it is never applied to a teacher. The latter usage came in after the Babylonian captivity, and is found only in post-canonical times. In our Lord's day it was the recognized word for the leading class of teachers, and as such was applied to Him. Possibly, as in the Syriac version, it was always used of Him (as in Matt. 8:19), the Evangelists later giving the Greek word, which thus has the seal of inspiration upon it; there are only a comparatively few occurrences of "Rabbi" (see Jno. 1:50, etc.) in the Greek. It is somewhat significant that the Jewish word suggests greatness, headship, and the inspired word, instruction. The teacher is not a ruler. He points out the will of God, but does not impose his own.*

It need hardly be said that this gift is one of greatest importance in the Church, and a rapid glance at its characteristics will be helpful. We speak first of the more personal, but most essential, qualifications. His service has to do with the truth of God, who is "Light." The embodiment of that truth is the Son of God-"I am the Truth." Its communication is by the Holy Spirit-"an unction from the Holy One." The storehouse of all truth is the Scriptures, "Thy word is truth." The teacher, therefore, must be identified with the Truth by life-he must be "born of God," united with Christ, sealed and anointed by the Spirit. He who is to unfold the perfections of the Word of God must be born of the "incorruptible seed;" he must be sanctified by the Word. Thus there will be a reverence for and subjection to the truth; he will realize that he has to do with God.

May we not just here find a fruitful source of the abounding error of the present day? Men are undertaking to teach who are not born again. God forbid that we should speak harshly, but is it not too clearly manifest that many of the teachers in the German and other universities are strangers to the grace of God in Christ? Bible study and teaching have been taken up as a profession. Men are experts in language, archaeology, history, and other branches of learning, and take up the Word of God as another department of knowledge. They approach it with little or no thought of having to do with a holy, heart-searching God, to whom they can only approach through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder that they neither understand nor value the great foundation truths of the "common salvation," for "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him" (1 Cor. 2:14), and the reason is evident, "for the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7).

Nor is it a matter of surprise when we find such men- whether in professors' chairs or from the pulpit-boldly proclaiming their disbelief in the deity of our blessed Lord, in His supernatural birth of the Virgin, in His absolutely sinless nature, His inerrant teachings, His miraculous power. We need not be surprised that the solemn cry from the cross,"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," scarcely moves their hearts; that "It is finished," tells no glad news of the completion of His propitiatory sacrifice, so that the vail is rent, and the way into the Holiest is open wide for faith.

In keeping with all this is the denial of our Lord's resurrection; it is to them a myth, the effect of heated imagination on the part of credulous fishermen. So, to them, is the coming of the Spirit, the gifts of an ascended Christ; His visible coming again to take His own to Himself, and then to judge the world; the glory of His kingdom; the short-lived triumph of Satan; the final judgment; the lake of fire, an eternal hell for the unsaved. These men, in whole or in part, brush all these things aside, and leave a hideous mockery in their place-a fully developed manhood, universal peace, a millennium without Christ!

Does not your heart burn, my brother, as you even think of such blasphemy? And would you know the cause of all this apostasy? These would-be teachers are not converted, they are not born again. Whoever and wherever they may be, they are dupes and tools of Satan. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema" (1 Cor. 16:22). "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?" (1 Jno. 2:22).

Such men have leavened by their doctrine large sections of the professing Church, so that one who desires to be loyal to his Lord and Saviour must walk apart from systems where they are tolerated. "Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity" (2 Tim. 2:19).

One of the responsibilities of the teacher is to meet error in its countless forms, to protect the beloved sheep of Christ. Therefore we have dwelt upon the first essential of the teacher-he must be a child of God, who loves his Saviour, who feeds on the Word of God, who is led of the Spirit.

We can now look at some of the more outward characteristics associated with this gift received from our exalted Lord. These may be grouped under three general heads:(1) he must have the faculty of reception of truth; (2) he must have the gift of imparting it to others; (3) all must be of a practical nature, leading to submission to the will of God.

(1) We speak first of the receptive faculty. The teacher must have an ear for the truth, a mental grasp capable of taking in, and a judgment capable of coordinating and holding in proper proportion all revealed truth. What a field does this open! The revelation of God-all that He has been pleased to make known to His people. What a privilege to be permitted to learn even partially the "unsearchable riches of Christ." We will not attempt to give even a partial list of the solemn, stupendous doctrines of divine truth-from the Being of God to the destiny of man all centering about the person of Christ Jesus our Lord. What a panorama opens before the devout gaze of the child of God, as he surveys the course of divine revelation from Eternity to Eternity!

This truth is embodied in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which form, we may say, the sole text book in the divine University. Hence it is absolutely essential that he whom God has called to be a teacher of His people, should have a clear grasp of the contents of Scripture. He must be familiar with the letter both of the Old and New Testaments. He must be able to trace the unfoldings of divine truth from the earliest pages of Genesis, through type, history, prophecy, poetry, to the sunrise of truth as it bursts upon our gaze in the New Testament. He must be at home in the Gospels, tracing that wondrous Life unfolded there. He must have an intelligent grasp of the account of the work and leading of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in the book of Acts. The Epistles must yield to him their exhaustless truths, in their appropriate setting; and he must stand with the Seer in the closing book of the Bible looking on to the end of all things, and the glory that shall be.

Further, the teacher must rightly divide the word of truth. He must understand the dispensations of God- with Israel, the Church and the Nations. Especially must he be a diligent student of the truths of Christianity, as unfolded in the Epistles. His gift is to and for the Church, and he must know its nature, structure, functions and destiny.

For all this he should have a growing knowledge of each separate book of the Bible. He should understand its special theme, its general characteristics, its structure and its relations to its special group of books, as the Pentateuch, and to the entire volume of inspiration.

Through the mercy of our God we have a number of excellent and accurate versions-the best being our regular Authorized Version. But for minute and accurate study he may well covet a knowledge of the original tongues, with a capacity to examine and decide upon delicate shades of thought as given in the gorgeous imagery of the Hebrew, or the amazing flexibility of the Greek.

Here then is a life work, .pulsating with stupendous themes. What a boundless field! How much more than a lifetime is needed to grasp even a portion of all this. Here is no place for the idler, the self-pleaser. With a new meaning, sweet to the diligent student, he hears the word, "In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread. "

For here is the true food-for the mind and for the heart; food that does not feed pride, but gives strength, promotes growth, increases courage. It is said of Uzziah that he was a lover of husbandry. So long as he devoted himself to this, it went well with him. Only when he would usurp the place of the priest, was he stricken with leprosy. True scholarship begets humility; those who know most realize that they know nothing yet as they ought to know it.

Nor let it be thought that we are setting a standard too high for any to attain. In God's great harvest fields all can reap, or glean after the reapers. Much increase is by the tillage of the poor, and these are often rewarded by a clearer insight into some precious portion of the Word which had escaped the eyes of others. What a joy it is to see the young, or the uneducated, with their Bible open before them, carefully, prayerfully, reading, studying, comparing scripture with scripture and getting "great spoil."

For in God's school all are learners, and the most advanced have nothing to boast of. Their responsibility is to share the spoil with their brethren, and by example and precept to stimulate others to become workers also. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord has made ruler (rather, "set over," Gr.) over his household, to give them meat in due season?" (Matt. 24:45).

Ere leaving this part of our subject, we add that the teacher's field extends over the entire domain of truth. Creation has its voice for the attentive ear, and when one is well grounded in the Scriptures he will find the whole "realm of nature" ready to yield its stores to reverent search.

(2) We come next to the faculty of imparting knowledge to others, which is as essential in the teacher as acquiring it. Indeed one could not rightly be a teacher unless he could share his knowledge with others. Let us then look at some of the requisites for this.

The teacher must have simplicity. It is a great mistake to think obscurity means depth. Usually, when one clearly understands a subject he is able to explain it to others. Clearness is but another name for this. The true teacher will utter "words easy to be understood."

Next there must be adaptability. We must not feed "strong meat" to babes. It is the mark of a good teacher that he can adapt himself, both in matter and language, to those he is seeking to instruct. Should he do this, he will be enabled to make his teaching progressive. The learners will not stand still, they will pass from class to class, until they can largely do without their teacher, who indeed has been learning with them, and so is a companion as well as a guide.

This will lead to original work on the part of the students. In schools this is recognized as an integral part of instruction. Students must do "laboratory work" under the supervision of their guide. How delightful it is to see young Christians at work in this way. May there be more of it! What enlargement of mind, what breadth of view are thus secured.

And yet there must be thorough subjection to the Word of God. We must beware of allowing ourselves to indulge in mere speculation. There must be the assurance, not in manner but in fact, of certainty in what the teacher seeks to impart. "Unlearned questions" must be avoided, and the great staples of the Word form the substance of study. In short, the teaching should be well-rounded and in due proportion. Thus the even balance of the truth will be preserved.

We mention one other characteristic of the teacher- enthusiasm. It is said of a prominent teacher of Anatomy that he was most enthusiastic. This is necessary. If a teacher is not commanded by his subject, how can he expect to interest others? How it misrepresents the great theme if he has an air of indifference, or speaks in a hesitating or apologetic way. Let us ever remember that we are dealing with truths which are God's thoughts and purposes. The Holy Spirit is concerned in them. They are from the Lord in glory. Someone has contrasted an actor with some preachers. The former treats fiction as if it were reality; the latter treat eternal realities as if they were fiction!

(3) Need we say more to emphasize the importance and value of the gift of teachers for the Church? We have but touched the edge of the subject, but enough has been said to stir our hearts to more diligent, prayerful study, and a more faithful use of the talents our Lord has entrusted to us. They are His, not ours. "Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it." This must suffice for the practical nature of all true teaching. It is addressed to the conscience.

It remains to speak a little of present day conditions of teaching and learning among the Lord's people. We have already dwelt upon rationalism and will confine ourselves now to those who are really the Lord's.

Without making special search, may we not say that superficiality, indifference, mark the people of God? If the Bible is not altogether neglected for the newspaper and light literature, is it not largely so? It may be said this is the fault of the scholars rather than the teachers. But may not numbers of potential teachers be thus hiding their light? Surely the Lord has not failed the Church. He has given these gifts for the edifying of the body of Christ,"till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man." So we may be sure the gifts have been bestowed, but where are they? Hiding among the stuff? May these things arouse us to prayer.

And for those who are seeking to use their gifts, may we suggest a few thoughts? Fresh manna should be given, not truth that has become dull in our minds. For this, the teacher should never cease to be a student.

The Church is the "pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). All truth therefore will be linked with the Church. May we affectionately lay upon the hearts of beloved and gifted servants of Christ who are teachers, that they should not ignore this, or treat it lightly. To our common sorrow and shame, divisions have greatly marred the testimony even of the few who have seen the truth of the Church. But this does not alter that truth. The Church still exists, in the mind of God and in His Word, as it always has. It will not do for us to plead the failure of men as an excuse for disregard of the Word of God.

Unfeignedly would we bless God for the numbers of faithful men who are teachers. Without them the ignorance among the saints would be greater than it is. But we do not believe it is a mark of spiritual health that the truth of the Church as a present day practical testimony is so much ignored. Beloved brethren, suffer this word of exhortation.

Let us then address ourselves, first to more diligent prayer, and then to patient, quiet study, seeking to learn what the mind of God is for a definite, united testimony, to His praise. The Lord grant this. S. R.

(To be continued, D. V.)