1 COR. ii. 16. ” We have the mind of Christ.”
THESE words, if believed, bring us to the very feet of the
Lord Jesus. The anchorage of our belief is here, and the
treasure which we hold in trust for the world is here—” We
have the mind of Christ.”
I. These words bring before us the ground of our religion’s
certainty as Christians. Christianity bases its claim to
our allegiance, upon its power to give us truth. Its old
and splendid promise is, “By the lips of the Lord Himself
ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
A thousand voices are ready to echo the mocking question
of Pilate, “What is truth?” Scientific searchers say, “We
know.” That terrible serpent, the three-headed Cerberus
of unbelief, throws its shadow across the path, as the
anxious, hopeful, or perhaps weary and burdened soul
seeks to press forward to the feet of Jesus.
There is also another shadow across the path to Jesus;
that which is cast by those who would put, instead of the
mind of Christ, the mind of the Church, and would lead us,
instead of straight to the Cross, round a museum of anti-
quities to find Christ.
II. The nature and measure of our religious responsi-
bility—”We have the mind of Christ.” What then? Wealth
and responsibility, power and duty, privilege and obliga-
tion, always measure one another. Truth is a trust. He
who has discovered any portion of useful truth has some-
thing in trust for mankind. He has no right to cover his
lamp with a bushel. Christianity is essentially and pre-
eminently a message—a practical offer of salvation com-
mitted to the Church to proclaim to all mankind. It is
a message of comfort, glad news, a message of hope to
nations as well as to individuals. The voice of Jesus comes
to each Christian—”Son, daughter, go work to-day in My
vineyard.” “The night cometh when no man can work.”
E. R. Conder, M.A.