possible objection which might
be made, that the Gospel which he preached was peculiar to himself,
and proceeds to assert that the whole substance of what he had to say
to men, was held with unbroken unanimity by the other apostles.
'They' means all of _them_; and 'so' means the summary of the Gospel
teaching in the preceding verses.

Now, Paul would not have ventured to make that assertion, in the face
of men whom he knew to be eager to pick holes in anything that he
said, unless he had been perfectly sure of his ground. There were
broad differences between him and the others. But their partisans
might squabble, as is often the case, and the men, whose partisans
they were, be unanimous. There were differences of individual
character, of temper, and of views about certain points of Christian
truth. But there was an unbroken front of unanimity in regard to all
that lies within the compass of that little word which covers so much
ground--'_So_ we preach.'

Now, I wish to turn to that outstanding fact--which does not always
attract the attention which it deserves--of the absolute identity of
the message which all the apostles and primitive teachers delivered,
and to seek to enforce some of the considerations and lessons which
seem to me naturally to flow from it.

I. First, then, I ask you to think of the fact itself--the unbroken
unanimity of the whole body of Apostolic teachers.

As I have said, there were wide differences of characteristics
between them, but there was a broad tract of teaching wherein they
all agreed. Let me briefly gather up the points of unanimity, the
contents of the one Gospel, which every man of them felt was his
message to the world. I may take it all from the two clauses in the
preceding context, 'how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the
third day according to the Scriptures.' These are the things about
which, as Paul declares, there was not the whisper of a dissentient
voice. There is the vital centre which he declares every Christian
teacher grasped as being the essential of his message, and in various
tones and manners, but in substantial identity of content, declared
to the world.

Now, what lies in it? The Person spoken of--the Christ, and all that
that word involves of reference to the ancient and incomplete
Revelation in the past, its shadows and types, its prophecies and
ceremonies, its priesthood and its sacr