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February 10, 1909. THE PRESBYTER!
Great Commission, "Teaching tlicm." Teaching them
what? (1) "To observe; (2) all things." "All"
things absolutely? No; very far from it; all things
(3) "Whatsoever I have commanded you." A very
severe limitation, indeed, cutting up rationalism bv the
roots. "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you."
Go the fullest length and breadth of my commandment,
but at that point come to an absolutely full stop;
venttirn nnt rmr? tmir'c Km-xlfl, T* 1
VJ uivauill ut^UHU. 1 CilCIl Illy
word, not yours. Beware of palming off upon the people
that which comes "out of your own heart" and iabeling
it the "truth of God." It is "rebellion." It is
the tap-root of all heathenism. "I sit a queen, and am
no widow," says the Babylonian harlot.
All preaching is teaching, but not all teaching is
preaching. The former is illustrated by Jonah's "preaching"
to Nineveh; by John the Baptist, "crying in the
wilderness," etc., etc. The latter is illustrated by Jesus'
teaching Nicodemus by night, and by his conversation
with the woman of Samaria as he sat at the curb of
Jacob's well.
Let it suffice, for the time being, to call attention
briefly to 2 Tim. 4:2 and 5: "Preach (herald) the
word." "Do the work of an evangelist." The herald is
sufficiently familiar. The peculiar functions of the
evangelist are sufficiently indicated by the general contents
of these two epistles to Timothy, e. g., 1 Tim.
3:15, "That thou rnayest know how thou oughtest to
behave thyself in the house of God." Also, Titus 1: 5,
"For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldst
set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain
elders in every city as I had appointed thee." And
again, Acts 8:5-40.
That Philip was an "evangelist" is distinctly asserted
in Acts 21:8; also he is affirmed to be the same "which
was one of the seven." That he was acting as "evangelist"
in this chapter is proven (1) by the class or order
of "work" he was doing; (2) by the explicit word of
scripture, viz., 8:4, "went everywhere evangelizing the
world" (Greek) ; v. 12, "evangelizing concerning the
kingdom of God"; v. 25,-"they (Peter and John) returned
to Jerusalem, evangelizing many villages of the
Samaritans"; v. 35, "Philip opened his mouth, and beginning
from this Scripture evangelized unto him the
Jesus"; v. 40, "and massing through he evangelized all
the cities, till he came to Caesarea."
Now, this fact, together with the force of the preposition,
pleen ' not "ei mee," completely refutes the false inference,
that they who were scattered abroad were "all,"
men, women and children, "except the apostles." It
teaches that "all" the officials were "scattered abroad,
i>Yr(>nt" tUnt- 1 < . . .... ? .. .
?mat umtiiu ciass to wnicn "the apostles" belonged.
If the contrary were stated, viz., that the men,
women and children (private members) "were scattered
abroad but not "the apostles" (officials) then, (i) the
mention of "Philip" would be a contradiction; and, (2)
it would follow that men, women and children (private
members) being "they that were scattered abroad,"
went everywhere "evangelizing the word" and "baptizing
as Philip did, and as they would have right?authority
to do if they were all "evangelist.*'* asPhilip
was> Waynesboro, Ga.
* 4
AN OF THE SOUTH. 9
CALVIN AS A MAN.
By Prof. Henry E. Dosker, D. D.
V.
When D. L. Stahelm was writing his biography of
Calvin, he received a letter, in which.these words are
found: "I know not how to view this figure in its
humanity and thus to appreciate it. He looks to me
like ice and granite, as a man of a different species."
The writer begs, therefore, to be introduced to the
human side of Calvin's life.
Bossuet is the author of the oft quoted words: "Un
hommc triste, un esprit chagrin." Our aim in this brief
sketch is to glance at Calvin merely from the human
standpoint. What do we find? Here is his traditional
picture. A man of middle stature and attenuated frame.
Face thin and keen, complexion sallow, nose prominent
and finely chiseled, brow high and commanding,
eyes black as night and gleaming with that peculiar
bluish light, which indicates deep and clear thinking,
mouth large and well formed; a man who in every
line of face and in every action betrays his Latin origin,
a man once seen never to be forgotten.
Physically he was never strong and he endured much.
His strenuous life, incessant study and manifold cares
quickly sapped his vitality and he died at 54, old before
his time. He ate sparingly, in his last years but once
a day, and slept little. In his personal habits he was
extremely neat, but almost stoical as to the limitations
_r 1.: i- <<TT . t 1 - - ?? "vt - .? -
ui ins warns. nc iovea poverty. i\ot even tne Ditterest
of his enemies could say, with a shadow of truth,
that Calvin was ever swayed by sordid motives or selfish
interests. He was a man of prayer and of holy
disposition. In his letters again and again he begs for
the prayers of his friends. To him God was an ever
present reality, "his strength and daily resource." When
sorrow and suffering had mellowed him, in his later
years, his prayers were touched with tenderest trust
and faith. He was a leader of 'men, because he was
a man of God.
As a preacher, Calvin was simple, direct and practical
nlwavQ insictinrr nn faifli in ortirtn TToifli trine
muted into life alone counted with him. He always
spoke extempore and deliberately, on account of a weak
chest. His address was neither ornate nor impassioned,
although he could rise to heights of impassioned oratory,
when occasion demanded it. Then he became
irresistible and all quailed before him. He had progressive
ideas and yet proved again and again that he
was the product of his environment. Thus, contrary
to prevailing ideas, he advocated burial outside the
churches and wrote against astrology, in the thralls of
which his superstitious age was firmly held. He was
in this regard ahead of Bucer, Melanchthon and even
Luther and Zwingli, and many other leading men of
atht day. He resisted the tendency to presentiments
and mysticism.
His letters and writings abound in humor and he
knew full well how to handle the keen-edged weapon
of sarcasm. On the other hand, he was excessively
modest, the more astonishing, as it is impossible that
Calvin could' have been unconscious of the prominent
place he occupied in the world of his day; and yet