The Testimony of our Formularies to the Doctrine of the Priesthood.
“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”—_St. John_ xx. 22, 23. SERMON VI.
“We have an altar.”—_Heb._ xiii. 10. SERMON VII.
“We have an altar.”—_Heb._ xiii. 10. SERMON VIII.
“In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”—_Coloss._ ii. 3.
SERMON I. Treasure in Earthen Vessels.—Faith, not Sight, the Recogniser of the Priesthood.
2 CORINTHIANS iv. 7. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
THE words rendered “in earthen vessels,” are easy enough as to their general sense. _Ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν_, (the Apostle says,) where _σκεύος_ may stand for any kind of utensil or household stuff. It is the word used in St. Matthew, “How can one enter a strong man’s house and spoil his _goods_;” { 1} any of his household stuff or possessions; whilst _ὀστράκίνοιν_, (the same word which gave its name to the well-known Grecian _ostracism_, from the mode of voting,) signifying in its first sense that which is made of shell and therefore brittle, is often used in a derived sense for anything frail and liable to break, and when broken not to be re-joined. Therefore, again, it represents anything poor and mean, as compared with other stronger or more precious material. Thus, in his second Epistle to Timothy, St. Paul uses the very same word to denote those inferior vessels which are made for less honourable use: “But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth; _ὀστράκινα_;—and some to honour, and some to dishonour.” { 2a}
We cannot, then, err as to the general meaning of the text, if we take it to express the fact that great gifts of God—treasure—may be, and are, according to His will, and for good and wise reason, lodged in weak and frail tenements, giving little outward sign of that which is hid within: great riches enshrined in poor and mean caskets, even as the soul of man dwells in the earthy tabernacle, (that red earth or clay which gave its very name to Adam,) when “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” { 2b}