# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1910_S14
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

14 Proceedings of the twenty-third convention

5. "You are my true disciples."
(John 8:31.)

Jesus is the Teacher. That lies in the words when Jesus
calls his Christians his disciples. He also says it
when he calls himself the Master. God the Father confirmed this
claim when he cried from heaven: "This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him!"

Jesus is the greatest teacher of all times. Jews, Mohammedans
and unbelievers agree with Christians that Jesus as a teacher is unique
in his kind. Even today he is our Teacher. For when, after
completing his work of redemption, he was about to return to heaven,
he made provision that his teaching should be carried on upon earth,
Matt. 28:20.

Disciples are pupils. Such were the disciples whom Jesus
had chosen and called, so that they might follow him and learn from him,
in order that they might proclaim the Gospel to the world. So
all Christians too are pupils of Jesus.

The Church is a school. The Church does not exist for the purpose
of entertainment. It is not a society in which each tries to bring
his own immature thoughts to market. It is
not a place for the discussion of academic questions. The Church is a
school in which wisdom from above is taught, practical heavenly
wisdom, wisdom unto eternal life. Jesus makes his disciples not
only hearers but also doers of his word, James 1:22.

The textbook that the disciples of Jesus study is the Word
of Christ. "If ye continue in my word." Christians
do not presume to seek the truth for themselves; they let themselves
simply be told by their Master. Their Master is their authority. They
are not like the Athenians, whose ears itched to hear something
new all the time. They abide by the words of their Master.
These they can never finish learning. The word of their Master is deep and
broad and shows the one who searches in it the truth ever in a
new light.

The truth is what the disciples of Jesus come to know. "What
is truth?" This old question of Pilate has not yet been answered by any
human being. All the teachers of the world, however far their systems
may differ from one another, agree again in the one
doctrine, that man is saved by his own
good works. And that is the lie from the abyss.

Jesus "knew what was in man"; and he unveils before
our astonished eyes the true inner nature of a human being with the
words: "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts," etc., Matt. 15:19.
That is truth to drive one to despair.

But Christ reveals this truth to us only for the purpose of
making us receptive to the other truth, that the Son