SERMON XVIII'. THE DUTY OF FOLLOWING THE GUIDANCE 2 TIM. iii. 14. "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." THE advice which is here given by St. Paul to Timothy, may at first appear to countenance a notion which is very prevalent among ourselves, i. e. that the respect we owe to teachers of religion depends on the opinion we have of their personal qualities; that we may make up our minds as to the degree of attention they deserve, and that unless their doctrine, and their manner of inculcating it, agrees with the notions we have formed of what is becoming in a Minister of the gospel, we are justified in withholding from them that deference which we should pay to one whose views accorded with our own. This notion is now very prevalent, and in many cases leads people to desert those who had been appointed as their teachers, and to choose others for themselves, who can have no possible authority except that which they derive from the assent of their hearers. On this ground many leave their parish Churches, and join congregations with which they have no regular connexion, in order to place themselves under the instruction of Clergymen of whom they approve more than their own, and happy would it be if this were all ;-many even desert Church altogether, and prefer being instructed by men who were never commissioned to teach God's word, only because these persons teach the kind of things which they like to hear, or happen to have some personal qualification, such as reputation for talent or power of speaking fluently, or a striking manner, which inclines others to assent to what they say. This practice of choosing religious teachers, each person for himself, as their own fancies direct them, is what many now allow themselves in; and they do so on principle, they think it right; they not only allow themselves in the practice, but they approve of it. Now it may, perhaps, appear at first that the advice which St. Paul gives to Timothy in the text affords indirectly, at least, some sanction to this prevailing notion. He tells Timothy to feel confident in the truth of what he had been taught, "as knowing those who had taught him," "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." It may, perhaps, seem from this, that St. Paul is appealing to Timothy's good opinion of his instruction, in proof of the things which he had learned of them; and that thus by approving of this practice in his own disciple, he authorises us also to make up our minds as to the degree of confidence we should place in any particular minister, and to rely only on those whom we approve of. Such a notion may at first seem to be countenanced in the text. But if we examine it attentively, we shall not find this to be the case; indeed, the conclusion to which closer observation leads is directly opposite to this. By a reference to the general tenour of St. Paul's writings, we might easily show that he is as far as possible from encouraging people in placing themselves under favourite teachers, and ranking themselves as their followers. But in this case it is not necessary to refer to the general tenour of his writings. An examination of the passage itself will be sufficient for the purpose. First, we have to inquire who the teachers were to whom St. Paul alludes; and, secondly, what that knowledge of them was to which he refers as a ground for confidence. On the first point there may, perhaps, exist a doubt whether it is of himself St. Paul is speaking, or of those instructors who had taught Timothy from his youth; we may not be able to ascertain with certainty whether the things here mentioned, which Timothy had learned and been assured of, were the doctrines of the Gospel which had been taught him by St. Paul, or those more elementary principles of religion which are inculcated in the Old Testament. Yet, let us suppose either to be the case, and it will be very clear what kind of knowledge of his teachers it was to which St. Paul refers, as a pledge for the truth of the things which had been taught. Suppose that the things spoken of are the truths of the Gospel, and consequently that the teacher from whom Timothy had learned them was St. Paul himself, we then have to inquire what was the warrant to which St. Paul used to refer his converts as a proof that he himself was worthy of credit. Was it then to his great reputation, or to his learning or eloquence, or to the excellence of his doctrine that he referred; doubtless he possessed these advantages in a remarkable degree; but was it on these that he founded his claims to the confidence of his disciples? He says to the Corinthians, "And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech and of wisdom; ... and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." This is the warrant which he shows; he proves that he is a divinely commissioned teacher, by working miracles among them he is sent to teach. He refers them as a proof of his doctrines, not the character of these doctrines, nor to the arguments with which he had enforced them, but to the authority with which he was invested as a teacher. And he calls on them to believe, not because they were pleased or because they were convinced, but because he was set over them as God's minister to show them His will. Such was the ground he took with his Corinthian converts, as we see by his own words; and such, doubtless, was the knowledge to which he referred Timothy, when he called on him to continue in those things which he had learned, as knowing of whom he had learned them. Or suppose, which is perhaps the most probable, that the things spoken of are those plain truths of religion which pious Jews had known before the coming of our Saviour, the things which St. Paul reminds Timothy he had known from his youth ; still the case is in material points the same. If we consider who his teachers must in this case have been, it will be evident that St. Paul, in reminding Timothy of his knowledge of them, is appealing not to their personal qualification, but to their commission; that he still grounds their claim to confidence, not on their character, nor their ability, nor their arguments, but on their authority. Timothy, as we know from the Acts of the Apostles, was a native either of Derbe or Lystra, ignorant and obscure cities, so much given to superstition and idolatry that they were disposed |