Nor are the
Delectable Mountains any range of hills and valleys of grass and herbs in
England or Scotland. The prophet Ezekiel calls them the mountains of
Israel; but by that you all know that he had in his mind something far
better than any earthly mountain. That prophet of Israel had in his mind
the church of God with its synagogues and its sacraments, with all the
grace and truth that all these things conveyed from God to the children
of Israel. As David also sang in the twenty-third Psalm: 'The Lord is my
Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.'
Knowledge, then, is a minister; but every congregation has not such a
minister set over it as Knowledge is. All our college-bred and ordained
men are not ministers like Knowledge. This excellent minister takes his
excellent name from his great talents and his great attainments. And
while all his great talents are his Master's gift to him, his great
attainments are all his own to lay out in his Master's service. To begin
with, his Master had given His highly-favoured servant a good
understanding and a good memory, and many good and suitable
opportunities.
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