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December 22, 1909. THE PRESBYTERL
I. The World of Learning at the Feet of the King
of Truth.
i nese i\iagi were tnc learnca men ot their day. Why
should they worship thus at the feet of this helpless
babe? The answer is fully given more than thirty
3'ears later. After Jesus has loved and served his
generation, he stands alone at Pilate's bar. "Art thou
a king?" is the insistent question. Hear the calm an
swer oi mm who wears the crown ot thorns: "Thou
sayest that I am a King. To this end have I been
born, and to this end am I come into the world, that
I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that
is of the truth heareth my voice."
Need we wonder that these searchers after truth
should worship before him who is the King of Truth?
There is a current idea that Jesus is the peculiar
possession of the poor, of the ignorant, of the lowly,
this is false. He is theirs, but none the less does he
come to the rich, to the learned, to the lordly with an
offer of salvation and a demand for service.
Strikingly is this portrayed in the scenes that mark
his birth. Ignorant, lowly shepherds, learned, princely
Magi, together rejoice and together worship at his
feet.
John, in his life of the Master, has emphasized the
same truth, placing side by side two wondrous pictures.
Christ and Nicodemus. Jesus and the Samaritan
woman.
Mark has uttered the far-reaching words, so often'
misunderstood, "and the common people heard him
gladly." The margin of the Revised Version reads "the
great multitude."
Yes, the Son of Man has a message for all sons of
men: for the rich as well as the poor, for the high as
well as the lowly, for Nicodetnus as well as the Samaritan
woman, for the Wise Men of the East as well
as the Shepherds of Judea.
When they recognize the origin and the end of
truth, the wise men worship at his feet. Our peril
is not too much but too little learning. We fail to
look back to the source of truth and forward to its
purpose?when students are content with speculative
philosophy and empirical science regardless of the
source and purpose of truth they may be learned and
Christless. But when the scientist sees behind his
system, God?and when the philosopher realizes that
truth is for life's sake?Jesus Christ becomes the supreme
reality in human history, the great dynamic of
human progress, the matchless teacher of men. He
claims to be the King of Truth: truth as the utterance
of God, truth as the basis of life.
Need we wonder that the Magi worshipped at his
feet or that through the ages the holy succession has
been preserved?
From the hour that yonder Syrian star stood over
Bethlehem until today there have ever been wise men
worshipping at his feet.
The scene upon which we look reveals in symbol the
world of learning at the feet of the King of Truth.
II. The Vision Granted in the Sphere of Service.
These Magi were astrologers, whose business it was
ito study the stars. From the pages of their chosen
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text-book God taught them His higher truth. Thus
ever is his way.
The shepherds were watching their sheep when the
angel came. The fishermen were mending their nets
when the Master called. The tax-gatherer was sitting
at his receipt of customs when the command was
uttered, "follow me."
As he finds men in their place of service, so he
teaches them in the language of their daily lives. The
fisherman sees new truth in the dragnet, the farmers
in the seed-sowing, the merchant in the pearl, the worn
an in ner breadmaking. The kingdom of heaven is
all about us; let us open our eyes.
We shall lose a precious truth if we think of the
star as a thing apart from the daily life of these
wise men. Being students of the stars, God taught
them thus.
He teaches men in many ways.
We shall fall very short of our privilege if we wait
lur some message written in nre upon the heav.ens,
calling us to larger knowledge of truth. Our star wiil
be in the sphere of daily life and service.
It may be in the court of justice, in the chamber of
sickness, in the hall of learning, in the marts of trade,
in the quiet ministries of home that the higher light
will come to you. It is your star; it leads to Bethlehem.
To you, lawyers, as you deal with crime may come
the vision of him who deals with guilt. To you, physcians,
who seek to cool the fevers that consume our
frame, may come the vision of him who heals the fe
veretl soul. To you, teachers, who are seeking truth,
may come the vision of him who taught as one having
authority. To you, business men, in the restless exchange
of perishing values may come the longing for
riches that are eternal. To you, mothers, and fathers,
sobered by the responsibility and sanctified by the holy
influence of the earthly home may come the yearning
for the Father's house.
To each it is your star: it shines in the place of
daily service: it leads to Bethlehem.
III. A Living Faith that Follows the Light.
When the Magi entered Jerusalem they asked,
"Where is he that is born King of the Jews"?then
they added, "we have seen his star in the east and
are come to worship him."
Where is he? We have seen his star. We are come
to worship.
What, if they had seen the star, but known not
whose it was; if they had received the heavenly symbol
and known not where to turn for its interpretation?
Knowledge is the hand maiden of inspiration, as it
leads into a living faith. These wise men knew the
promises of ood, the expectation of Israel?and thus
the star was more to them than a heavenly wonder.
Having the vision of the star and the knowledge
of the promise, they obeyed the call of privilege and
journeyed toward Jerusalem. They might have tarried
in their own land: then they could have said:
"We have seen"?but not "we are come."
These, my friends, are lessons for you and me.
Their star is a symbol of God's call to us, their knowledge
of the promise teaches the use of revealed religion