Necessity of Being Taught of God
“It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” Joun 6:45.
How necessary to our union with Jesus Christ the application of the law to the heart of a sinner is, we have seen in the last discourse. We now proceed to consider how impossible it is either for the commandment to come to us, or for us to come to Christ, without enstruction from above.
This scripture has much of the mind of God in it; and he that is to expound it, had need himself to be taught of God. In the foregoing verses Christ offers himself as the bread of life unto the souls of men: against this doctrine they oppose their carnal reason. Christ strikes at the root of all their objections in his reply: ‘“Murmur not among yourselves: no man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him;” as though he had said, “You slight me because you do not know me, and you do not know me because you are not taught of God: of these divine teachings the prophets of old have spoken, and what they foretold is at this day fulfilled in our sight; so many as are taught of God, and no more, come unto me in the way of faith: it is impossible to come without the teachings of God, and it is as impossible to fail in coming unto me under the influence of these divine teachings.”
The words selected consist of two parts, namely,
1. An allegation out of the prophets: “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God.” The places in the prophets to which Christ seems to refer, are Isa. 54:13, “And all thy children shall be taught of the
Lord;” and Jer. 31:34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.” These promises contain the great blessing of the new covenant, namely, divine instruction, without which no man can obtain an interest in Christ.
2. We have the application of these testemonies out of the prophets made by Christ himself: “Every man therefore that hath heard, and learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” In which words we have both the necessity and the efficacy of these divine teachings; without them no man can come, and with them no man can fail. Hence we draw two propositions:
. Docrrtne 1. The teachings of God are absolutely necessary to every man that cometh wnto Christ om the way of faith.
Docrrine 2. No man can miss of Christ, or farl in the way of faith, that 1s wnder the special teaching of the Father.
Docrrine 1. The teachings of God are absolutely necessary to every man that cometh wnto Christ in the way of faith.
Of the necessity of divine teaching in order to believing, the apostle speaks in Eph. 4: 20, 21: ‘But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus;” that is, your faith must be effectual both to the reformation of your lives and your perseverance in the ways of holiness, if it be such a faith as is introduced into your hearts by divine teaching. In explaining this point, I shall speak to the following inquiries: How does God teach men, or what is implied in our being taught of God? What are those special lessons which all believers are taught of God? In what manner does God teach these things to men in the day of their conversion to Christ? What influence has God’s teaching upon our believing? And why is it impossible for any man to believe or come to Christ without, the Father’s teaching?
I. How porn God TEAcH MEN, or what is implied in our being taught of God?
1. The teaching of God is not to be wnderstood an any extraordinary appearances or ummediate vowe of God to men, God did indeed in former times so appear unto some, Num. 12:8; but now these extraordinary ways are ceased, Heb. 1: 1, 2, and we are no more to expect them. We may sooner meet with satanical delusions than divine illuminations in this way. I remember the learned Gerson tells us that the devil once appeared to a holy man in prayer, personating Christ and saying, I am come in person to visit thee, for thou art worthy. But he shut his eyes, saying, I will not see Christ here; it is enough for me to see him in glory. We are now to attend only to the voice of the Spirit im the Scriptures: this is a more sure word than any voice from heaven. 2 Pet. 1:19.
2. The teachings of God are not to be wnderstood as opposite to, or exclusive of the teachings of men. Divine teachings do not render the ministry vain or useless. Paul was taught of God, Gal. 1:12, and his conversion had something extraordinary in it, yet the ministry of Ananias’ was used and honored in that work. Acts 9:4, 17. Divine teachings excel, but do not exclude human teachings. I know the scripture to which Christ here refers is objected against the necessity of a standing ministry in the church: “They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother.” Jer. 31:34. But if these words should be understood absolutely, they would not only overthrow God’s own institution, 1 Cor, 12:28, and deprive us of a principal fruit of Christ’s ascension, Eph. 4:11, 12, but would destroy all private instructions and admonitions. Such a sense would make the prophet contradict the apostle, and destroy the unity and harmony of the Scriptures: the sense therefore cannot be negative, but comparative; it shows the excellency of divine, but does not destroy the usefulness of human teaching. The teachings of men are made effectual by the teachings of the Spirit; and the Spirit in his teachings will use and honor the ministry of man.
3. The teaching of God is the spiritual and heavenly light, by which the Holy Spirit shines into the hearts of men, to give them “the light of the knowledge of the glory of Ged in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6. And though this is the proper work of the Spirit, yet it is called the teaching of the Father, because the Spirit who enlightens us is commissioned and sent by the Father so to do. John 14:26. Now these teachings of the Spirit of God consist in two things:
(1.) In his sanctifying impressions or regenerating work upon the soul, by virtue of which it receives insight into spiritual things; and that not only as illumination is the first act of the Spirit in our conversion, Col. 3:10, but as his whole work of sanctification is illuminative and instructive to the converted soul. ‘The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you; and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you.” 1 John 2:27. The meaning is, that sanctification gives the soul experience of the mysterious things contained in the Scriptures, and that experience is the most excellent key to unlock and open those scripture mysteries: no knowledge is so distinct, so clear, so sweet, as that which the heart communicates to the head. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” John 7:17. A man that never read the nature of love in books, may yet truly describe it by the sense of it in his own soul; yea, he that has felt, much better understands, than he that has only read or heard. O what a light does spiritual experience cast upon a great part of the Scriptures; for indeed sanctification is the very copy or transcript of the word of God upon the heart of man: I will write my law in their hearts. Jer. 31:33. So that the Scriptures and the experience of believers answer to each other, as the lines in the press answer to the impressions upon the paper, or the figure in the wax to the engraving in the seal. When a sanctified man reads David’s Psalms or Paul’s epistles, how is he surprised with wonder to find the very workings of his own heart so exactly expressed there! O, says he, these holy men speak what my heart has felt.
(2.) The Spirit of God teaches us, moreover, by his gracious assistances Which he gives us as our need requires: “It shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.” Matt. 10:19. He “shall bring all things to your remembrance.” John 14:26. He assists both the understanding in the apprehension of truth, and the heart in the improvement of it.
Il. We inquire, Wuar ark THOSE SPECIAL TRUTHS which believers learn of the Father when they come to Christ? There are many great and necessary truths in which the Spirit enlightens men in that day. I cannot say they are all taught to every believer in the same degree and order; but it is certain that believers are taught of God such lessons as these, which they never so understood before.
Lesson 1. They are taught of God that there is abundantly more evil in their nature and actions than ever they had discerned. The Spirit when he cometh shall convince the world of sin. John 16:8, 9. Men had a general notion of sin before; so had Paul when a Pharisee: but how different were his apprehensions of sin from all he had in his natural state, when God brought home the commandment to his very heart. There is as great a difference between such an intuitive knowledge of sin, whereby God makes a soul to discern the nature and evil of it in a spiritual light, and the mere traditional or speculative knowledge of it, as there is between the sight of a painted lion on the wall, and the sight of a living lion roaring in the way. The intuitive sight of sin is another thing than men imagine it to be: it is a sight that wounds a man to the very heart, Acts 2: 387; for God not only shows a man this or that particular sin, but in the day of conviction he sets all his sins in order before him. Psalm 50:21. Conviction lays open the original corruption whence spring the innumerable evils of the life, James 1:14, 15; and the Lord shows the man whom he is bringing to Christ the sinful and miserable state which he is in by reason of both. John 16:9. And now all excuses and defences of sin are gone; he shows him how his iniquities have exceeded, Job 36: 8,9; exceeded in number and in aggravations of sinfulness; exceeding many and exceeding vile: No such sinner in the world as I! Can such sins as mine be pardoned? The greatness of God magnifies my sin; the holiness of God 1makes it beyond measure vile; the goodness of God adds inconceivable weight to my guilt. O, can there be mercy for such a wretch as I? If there be, then there will not be a greater example of the riches of free grace in all the world than I am.” Thus God teacheth the evil of sin.
Lesson 2. God teaches the soul whom he is bringing to Christ the misery which hangs over it because of sin. Scripture threatenings were formerly slighted; now the soul trembles at them. Isa. 28:15; Psalm 50:21. Men thought, as they heard no more of their sins after the commission of them, that they should never hear more; that the effect had been as transient as the act of sin was; or if trouble must follow sin, they should fare no worse than others, men generally being in the same case; besides, they hoped to find God more merciful than ‘many preachers represented him. But when light from God enters the soul to discover the nature of God and of sin, it sees that whatever wrath is treasured up for sinners in the dreadful threatenings of the law, is but the just demerit of sin: “The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23. The penal evil of damnation is but equal to the moral evil of sin: so that in the whole ocean of God’s wrath there is not one drop of injustice; yea, the soul doth not only see the justice of God in its eternal damnation, but the wonderful mercy of God in its being delayed so long. How is it that I am not in hell? Now do the fears of eternity seize the soul, and the worst of men are supposed to be in a better condition than one’s self. Never do men tremble at the threatenings of God, nor rightly apprehend the danger of their condition, until sin and the wages of sin are discovered to them by a light from heaven.
Lesson 3. God teaches the soul whom he brings to Christ that deliverance from sin and the wrath to come is the greatest and most important business vt hath to do in this world. “What must I do to be saved?” O direct me to some effectual way, if there be any, to secure my wretched soul from the wrath of God. Sin, and the wrath that follows it, are things that swallow up the soul and drink up the spirits of men. ‘These things float not upon their fancies as matters of speculation, but settle upon their hearts day and night as the deepest of all concerns. They now know much better than any mere scholar the sense of the text, “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 16: 26.
Five things show-how weighty the cares of salvation are upon their hearts. 1. Their continual solicitude about these things: if earthly affairs divert them for a while, yet they return again to this solemn business. 2. Their careful redeeming of time, saving the- very moments thereof to employ about this work. Those that were prodigal of hours and days, now look upon every moment of time as precious and valuable: 3. Their fears lest they should come short at last, show how much their hearts are set upon this work. 4. Their readiness to embrace all the assistance they can get from others; and, 5. The little notice they take of all other troubles, tells you their hearts are taken up about greater things.
Lesson 4. The Lord teaches souls that are coming to Christ, that though ut be ther duty to strive to the uttermost for salvation, yet all strivings in their own strength are insufficient to obtain vt. This work is quite above the power of ‘nature: ‘It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.” The soul is brought to a full conviction of this by the discovery of the heinous nature of sin and the severity of the law of God. No repentance or reformation can possibly amount to a just satisfaction, nor are they within the compass of our will. It was a saying of Dr. Hill to his friends, speaking about the power of man’s will — he would lay his hand upon his breast and say, Every man hath something here to confute the erroneous doctrine. This takes off the soul from expectations of deliverance in that way: it cannot but strive, that is its duty; but to expect deliverance as the purchase of its own strivings would be its sin.
Lesson 5, The soul that is coming to Christ by faith is taught of God, that though ws state be sad, yet it 1s not desperate, There is a way of escape for poor sinners, how dark and fearful soever their. own apprehensions are; there is usually at this time a dawn of hope in the soul that is under the Father’s teachings; and this commonly arises from the general promises of the gospel, which, though they do not presently secure the soul from danger, mightily support it against despair. For though they be not certain that deliverance shall be the event of their trouble, yet the. possibilities and probabilities of deliverance are a great stay to a sinking soul. The troubled soul cannot but acknowledge itself to be in a far better case than the damned are, whose hopes are perished from the Lord. And herein the merciful nature of God is discovered, in opening the door of hope almost as soon as the’ evil of sin is seen. It was not long after Adam’s eyes were opened to see his misery, that God showed Christ in the first promise. Gen. 3:15. And the same method of grace is still continued to his elect offspring. Gal. 3: 21, 22; Rom. 3: 21, 22. These hopes the Lord sees necessary, to encourage the use of means; hope sets all the world at work; if all hope were cut off, every soul would sit down in sullen despair.
Lesson 6. The Lord teaches those who come to Christ, that there is a fulness of saving power in him to deliver the soul that receives him from all its sin and misery. Heb. 7:25; Col. 1:19; Matt. 28:18. This is a necessary point for every believer to learn from the Father; for unless the soul be satisfied of the fulness of Christ’s saving power, it will never move towards him. And herein also the goodness of God is most seasonably manifested, for at*this time it is the design of Satan to fill the soul with despairing thoughts of a pardon; but all those thoughts vanish before the discovery of Christ’s all-sufficiency. Now the sin-sick soul saith with the woman, “If 1 may but touch his garment I shall be whole” Matt. 9:21. How deep soever the guilt of sin be, the soul which acknowledges the infinite dignity of the blood of Christ, the offering it up to God in our stead, and God’s declared satisfaction in it, must be satisfied that Christ is “able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.”
Lesson 7. Every man that cometh to Christ is taught of God, that he can never reap any benefit by the blood of Christ, except he have wnion with Christ. 1 John 5:12; Eph. 4:16. Time was when men thought nothing was necessary to their salvation but the death of Christ; but now the Lord shows them that their union with Christ by faith is as necessary to their salvation as the death of Christ. The purchase of salvation is an act of Christ without us while we are yet sinners; the application thereof is by a work wrought within us when we are believers. Col. 1: 27. In the purchase, all the people of God are redeemed together by way of price; in the application, they are redeemed, each individually, by way of power. As the sin of Adam could never hurt us unless he had been our head by way of generation; so the righteousness of Christ can never benefit us unless he be our head by way of regeneration. In teaching this lesson, the Lord in mercy unteaches and blots out that dangerous principle by which the greatest part of the christianized world do perish, namely, that the death of Christ is in itself effectual to salvation, though a man he never regenerated or united to
him by saving faith. -
Lesson 8. God teaches the soul whom he is bringing to Christ, that whatever 1s necessary to be wrought im us, or done by us, in order to owr wnion with Chrost, is to be obtavned from him by prayer, Ezek. 36:37. And the soul no sooner comes under the effectual teachings of Ged, but the Spirit of prayer begins to breathe in it, “Behold he prayeth.” Acts 9:11. Those that were before taught to pray by men, are now taught of the Lord to pray. To pray, did I say? Yea, and to pray fervently too, as men concerned for their eternal happiness; to pray not only with others, but to pour out their souls before the Lord in secret; for their hearts are as bottles full of new wine, which must vent or break. Now the soul returns to its God often in the same day; now it can express its burdens and wants in words and groans which the Spirit teacheth. They pray, and will not give over till Christ come with complete salvation.
Lesson 9. All that come to Christ are taught of God to abandon their former ways and companions in sin. Isaiah 55:7; 2 Cor. 5:17. Sins that were profitable and pleas. ant as the right hand and right eye must now be cut off. Companions in sin, once the delight of their lives, must now be cast off. Christ says to the soul concerning these, as in another case, “If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.” John 18:8. And the soul says, “Depart from me, ye evil-doers; for I will keep the commandments of my God.” Psa.119:115. And now pleasant sins and companions in sin become the very burden and shame of a man’s soul. Objects of delight become objects of pity. No endearments, no earthly interests whatever are found strong enough to hold the soul any longer from Christ. Nothing but the effectual teachings of God are found sufficient to dissolve such bonds of iniquity as these.
Lesson 10. All that come unto Christ are taught of God that there is wnequalled beauty and excellence in the ways and ‘people of God. Psa. 16:3. When the eyes of strangers to Christ begin to be enlightened in his knowledge, you may see the change of judgment wrought in them with respect to the people of God: towards them especially whom God has any way made instrumental for the good of their souls: they then call the spouse of Christ the fairest among women. Song 5:9. Now, and never before, the righteous appears more excellent than his neighbor. Change of heart is always accompanied with change of judgment with respect to the people of God: thus the jailer washed the apostle’s stripes, to whom he had been so cruel before. Acts 16:33. The godly now seem to be the glory of the places where they live; and the glory of any place seems to be darkened by their removal. It is esteemed-a choice mercy to be in their company. ‘We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you.” Zech. 8:23. Whatever low thoughts they had of the people of God before, now they are the excellent of the earth, in whom is all their delight.
Lesson 11. All that come to Christ are taught of God that whatever difficulties they apprehend in religion, they must not, on pain of damnation, be discowraged thereby, or return again to sin. “No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke — 9:62. Ploughing work is hard work; a strong and steady hand is required for it: he that ploughs must keep on, and make no balks in the hardest ground he meets.
Religion is running a race, 1 Cor. 9: 24; there is no standing still, much less turning back, if we hope to win the prize.
The devil, indeed, labors every way to discourage the soul by representing the insuperable difficulties of religion; and young beginners are but too apt to fall into despondency; but the teachings of the Father encourage them, and they are carried on from strength to strength against all the oppositions they meet from without, and the discouragements they find within them. ‘To this conclusion they are brought by the teaching of God: “We must have Christ, we must get pardon, we must strive for salvation, let the difficulties and sufferings be never so great or many.” As one said, It is aecessary that I go on, it is not necessary that I live; so says the soul that is taught of God, It is easier for me to dispense with ease, honor, relations, yea, with life itself, than to part with Christ and the hopes of eternal life.
Lesson 12. They that come to Christ are taught of God that whatever wnworthiness they discover i themselves, and whatever their fears as to acceptance, yet rt is their wisdom to venture themselves wpon Jesus Christ, whatever be the issue. Three great discouragements are usually found in the hearts of those that come to Christ in the way of faith.
The greatness of guilt and sin. How can I go to Christ, that have been so vile a wretch? And here measuring the grace and mercy of Christ by what it finds in itself or in other creatures, the soul is ready to sink under the weight of its own discouraging thoughts. 1 Sam, 24:19.
The sense they have of ther own insufficiency to do what God requires. ‘My heart is harder than adamant; how can I break it? My will is stubborn and obstinate; the frame and temper of my spirit is altogether carnal and earthly, and it is not in the power of my hand to change it; alas, I cannot subdue any one corruption, nor perform one spiritual duty, nor bear one of those burdens which religion lays upon all that follow Christ.” This also proves a great discouragement in the way of faith.
And which is more than all, the soul that is coming to Jesus Christ has no assurance of acceptance with him, if it should venture itself upon him. It is much more probable, if I look to myself, that Christ will shut the door of mercy against me.
But under all these discouragements the soul learns this lesson from God, that, ungodly as it is, it is every way its duty and concern to go on in the way of faith, and make the great venture of itself upon Jesus Christ: and of this the Lord convinces the soul by two things:
(1.) The soul sees an absolute necessity of coming. Necessity is laid upon it, there is no other way. Acts 4:12. God has shut it up by a blessed necessity to this. only door of escape. Gal. 3:23. Damnation lies in the neglect of Christ. Heb. 2:3. The soul has no choice in this case; angels, ministers, duties, cannot save me; Christ, and none but Christ can deliver me from present guilt and the wrath to come. Why do I delay when certain ruin must inevitably follow the neglect or refusal of gospel-offers?
(2.) The Lord shows those under his teaching the probabilities of mercy, for their encouragement in believing. And these probabilities the soul is enabled to gather from the general and free invitations of the gospel, Isa. 55:1, 7; Rev. 22:17; from the conditional promises of the gospel, John 6:37; Matt. 11:28; Isa. 1:18; from the vast extent of grace beyond all the thoughts of men, Isa, 55:8, 9; Heb 7:25; from the encouraging examples of other sinners who have found mercy in as bad a condition as they, 1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Chron. 33:13; 2 Cor. 6:10, 11; from the command of God, which answers all the objections of unworthiness and presumption in them that come to Christ, 1 John 3: 23; and from the changes already made upon the temper of the heart. “Time was when I had no sense of sin, nor sorrow for it; no desire after Christ, no heart to duties. But it is not so with me now: I now see the evil of sin so as I never saw it before; my heart is now broken in the sense of that evil; my desires begin to be inflamed after Jesus Christ; I am not at rest, nor where I would be, till I am in secret mourning after the Lord Jesus: surely these are the dawnings of the day of mercy; let me go on in this way.” It saith, as the lepers at the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings 7:3, 4, “If I stay here, I perish:” If I go to Christ, I can but perish. Hence believers bear up against all discouragements. Thus you have the lessons which all who come to Christ are taught by the Father,