at spake on the lips of the Christ of
Nazareth; the same Eternal Word who manifested Himself in a 'fiery law'
on Sinai, and in words of no less majesty and of deepened gentleness,
when He gathered the people round about Him, and said to them, 'It hath
been said to them of old time, ... but _I_ say unto you ...'

Here is the sum and climax of all revelation, the last word of the
divine mind and will and heart, to the world. Moses and Elias stand
beside Him on the Mount of Transfiguration, witnesses of His superiority
and servants at His feet, and they vanish into mist and darkness, and
leave there, erect, white-robed, solitary, the unique figure of the One
Lawgiver and the perfect Revealer of God to men.

And this is the authority which struck even on the unsusceptible hearts
of the listening crowds.

II. Still further, let me ask you to consider how, in this same great
Sermon, He claims the authority of One who is unique in His relation to
the Father.

You will find that in it there occurs very frequently the expression,
'_your_ Father which is in Heaven'; or sometimes with the
variation,'_thy_ Father which is in Heaven,' or, 'which seeth in
secret.' But you will also find that whilst our Lord speaks about '_My_
Father which is in Heaven,' He never says '_our_ Father'; excepting in
the exception which proves the rule when He is putting into the lips of
His disciples the great formula of prayer which we call the 'Lord's
Prayer'; and there speaking as through their consciousness, and teaching
them their lesson, He says '_Our_ Father,' not as if He Himself were
praying, but as if He were telling them how to pray. But when He speaks
out of His own consciousness He speaks of '_My_ Father' and '_your_
Father,' never of '_our_ Father.'

And that corresponds with other phenomena in Scripture in our Lord's own
language where you find that always He draws this broad distinction. He
never associates Himself with us in His Sonship. He ever asserts that He
is _the_ Son of God. Even when He wishes to speak with the utmost
tenderness, He bids the weeping Mary hear the message, 'I go unto My
Father and your Father.' This doctrine is thought by many to be one of
those which they get rid of by professing the Christianity of the Sermon
on the Mount. But it is there as plainly as in other parts of Scripture.
If we accept all which it teaches, we cannot escape from the belief that
He is the only begotten and well-beloved Son of the Fat