generation over the world. While, as has been said, Matthew's Gospel is Hebrew, Mark's Roman, and Luke's is called Grecian, this Gospel transcends the distinctions of countries and nations and belongs to the sphere of all souls, of all ages. More than the others it is the gospel of the Spiritual, showing more fully the heavenly and divine side of the Son of man, and explaining Christianity as the illumination of the soul with the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and the eternal life dawning here on earth in the knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

After his resurrection Jesus said to Peter, speaking of John, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” Both rendered great services in planting Christianity. We are built upon their foundations. But at the last, just before Jesus vanishes from mortal vision, he seems to intimate that the work and influence of John would abide the longest. Peter was a man of impulse and heat, of zeal and passion, not always steady and reliable. John had the firmer poise of character and the freedom from self-will that win supreme confidence. Accordingly we recognize in John the best representative of Jesus and in his writings the best representation of Christianity. His gospel is the crown of the others. Luther counted it the best. It contains the inner sayings of Jesus when he unbosomed himself to one closest to him. "The Fourth Gospel is the Heart of Christ," said one of the most scholarly and devout of American preachers, Rev. Edmund H. Sears.

At the same time, while the Gospels are first and foremost, the whole New Testament is the record of Christianity as it was taught by Jesus and the apostles, and as it was “believed on in the world," in the first three centuries. Creeds and ceremonies that have been added since are not in that record. An eminent Roman Catholic writer1 acknowledges that "certain doctrines,"

1 Cardinal James Gibbons. Didon's Life of Christ. Preface. pp. v, vi.

which he calls "the light and life of the Church in subsequent ages," are "inexplicably missing in the sacred narrative;” and he acknowledges it to be "a subject of wonder and perplexity," as it certainly is, if we believe that the Lord Jesus is both "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12: 2). The New Testament is the grand corrective of error and superstition. It stands for the simplicity that is in Christ and for his supreme authority in the Church, and in the life of mankind.

generation over the world. While, as has been said, Matthew's Gospel is Hebrew, Mark's Roman, and Luke's is called Grecian, this Gospel transcends the distinctions of countries and nations and belongs to the sphere of all souls, of all ages. More than the others it is the gospel of the Spiritual, showing more fully the heavenly and divine side of the Son of man, and explaining Christianity as the illumination of the soul with the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and the eternal life dawning here on earth in the knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

After his resurrection Jesus said to Peter, speaking of John, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" Both rendered great services in planting Christianity. We are built upon their foundations. But at the last, just before Jesus vanishes from mortal vision, he seems to intimate that the work and influence of John would abide the longest. Peter was a man of impulse and heat, of zeal and passion, not always steady and reliable. John had the firmer poise of character and the freedom from self-will that win supreme confidence. Accordingly we recognize in John the best representative of Jesus and in his writings the best representation of Christianity. His gospel is the crown of the others. Luther counted it the best. It contains the inner sayings of Jesus when he unbosomed himself to one closest to him. "The Fourth Gospel is the Heart of Christ," said one of the most scholarly and devout of American preachers, Rev. Edmund H. Sears.

At the same time, while the Gospels are first and foremost, the whole New Testament is the record of Christianity as it was taught by Jesus and the apostles, and as it was "believed on in the world," in the first three centuries. Creeds and ceremonies that have been added since are not in that record. An eminent Roman Catholic writer1 acknowledges that "certain doctrines,” 1 Cardinal James Gibbons. Didon's Life of Christ. Preface. pp. v, vi.

which he calls "the light and life of the Church in subsequent ages," are "inexplicably missing in the sacred narrative;" and he acknowledges it to be "a subject of wonder and perplexity," as it certainly is, if we believe that the Lord Jesus is both "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12: 2). The New Testament is the grand corrective of error and superstition. It stands for the simplicity that is in Christ and for his supreme authority in the Church, and in the life of mankind.

TH

VI

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Never man spake like this man. — JOHN 7:46.

HE Sermon on the Mount is the pattern sermon of Christianity. It was our Lord's Inaugural. It is the mind of the Master. It is a Declaration of Faith, a Platform of Principles, superior in clearness of expression, in fulness of matter, in weight of authority, to any creed since composed. It consists of one hundred and twenty-seven verses and requires half an hour for distinct utterance. It is probably a summary rather than the full text of what Jesus said on a special occasion. It appears in the forefront of the New Testament, in the opening of the Gospel according to Matthew. Each verse is a gem of thought, rich and sparkling in expression. Many of the verses were repeated by our Lord on other occasions, as he gave line upon line and precept upon precept. Matthew was a man of method, used to keeping accounts, and he dovetailed all into a comprehensive whole.

It is said that Jesus "opened his mouth," when he taught the people in this sermon. Much more, he opened his heart and mind and his life. What he said to others, "By thy words thou shalt be justified," has transcendent verification in himself, in his own words. They have justified his character. They have been approved in the conscience of mankind for nineteen centuries. New wisdom has been gained in other directions. New sciences have been discovered. But here is still the highest wisdom in the matters of the highest importance. "Never man spake like him," is still the verdict of history.