Necessity of Being Taught of God, Continued
“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.
In the last chapter we considered the great truth, that the teachings of G’od are absolutely necessary to every soul that cometh wnto Christ in the way of faith. I have shown, 1, what is implied in the teachings of God; and 2, what those special lessons are which believers hear and learn of the Father. It remains to show, 3, what are the properties of divine teaching; 4, what influence they have in bringing souls to Christ; and 5, why it is impossible for any man to come to Christ without these teachings of the Father.
Ill. What are THE PROPERTIES OF DIVINE TEACHING? Concerning the teachings of God we affirm in general, that though they do not exclude, yet they vastly differ from all human teachings: as the power of God transcends all human power, so the wisdom of God in teaching transcends all human wisdom.
1. God teacheth powerfully. He speaks to the soul. When the word comes accompanied with the Spirit, it is mighty, through God, to cast down allimaginations. 2 Cor. 10:4. Now the gospel comes not in word only, as it was wont to do, but in power, 1 Thess. 1: 4, 5 — a power that makes the soul fall down before it and acknowledge that God is in that word. 1 Cor. 14: 25.
2. The teachings of God are sweet. Men never relish the sweetness of truth till they learn it from God. His name is an ointment poured forth. Song1:3. “His mouth is most sweet” Song 5:16. O how powerfully and how sweetly does the voice of God slide into the hearts of poor broken-hearted sinners! how dry and tasteless are the discourses of men, ene with the teachings of the Father!
3. God teacheth plaznly. He not only opens truths to the understanding, but he opens the understanding also to perceive them. In that day the veil is taken away from the heart, 2 Cor. 3:16; a light shines into the soul, a beam from heaven is darted into the mind. Luke 24:45, Divine teachings are satisfying; the soul doubts and hesitates no more, but acqtiesces in what God teaches, and is so satisfied that it can venture all upon the truth of what it has learned from God: as that. martyr said, [ cannot dispute, but I can die for Christ. See Prov.8: 8, 9.
4..The teachings of God are infallible. The wisest of men may mistake, and lead others into mistakes; but it is not so in the teachings of God. If we can be sure that God teaches us, we may be as sure of the truth of what he teaches; for his Spirit guideth us into all truth, John 16:38, and into nothing but truth.
5. The teachings of God are abiding; they make everlasting impressions upon the soul; they are ever with it. Psalm 119: 98. The words of men vanish, but the words of God abide: what God teaches he writes upon the heart, Jer. 31:38, and that will abide. It is usual with those whose understandings have been opened by the Lord, to say, many years afterwards, I shall never forget such a scripture which once convinced, such a promise which once encouraged me.
6. The teachings of God are saving, they make the soul wise unto salvation. 2 Tim.3:15. There is much of other knowledge that goes to hell with men; but “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3. This is deservedly styled the light of life. John 8:12. In this light we shall see light. Psa. 36: 9.
7. The teachings of God make their way into the weakest capacities. ‘The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.” Isa. 32:4. Upon this account Christ said, ‘I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” Matt 11:25. It is admirable to see what clear illuminations some illiterate Christians have in the mysteries of Christ and salvation, which others, of great abilities, deep and searching heads, can never discover with all their learning and study.
8. The teachings of God are transforming, they change the soul into the same image, 2 Cor. 3:18; God casts them whom he teacheth into the very mould of those truths which they learn of him. Rom. 6:17.
IV. Let us see what INFLUENCE DIVINE TEACHINGS HAVE UPON soUts in bringing them to Christ, and we shall find a threefold influence in them.
1. They have an influence upon the means by which we come to Christ. The best ordinances are but a dead letter, except the teaching and quickening Spirit of God work with them. 2 Cor. 3:6. The best ministers, like the disciples, cast forth the net, but take not one soul till God teach as well as they. Paul is nothing, and Apollos nothing, but God that giveth the increase. 1 Cor. 8: 7. Let the most learned and powerful orator be in the pulpit, yet no man’s heart is persuaded till it hear the voice of God.
2. They have influence upon the mind to remove what lindered it from Christ. Except the minds of men be first led from those errors by which they are prejudiced against Christ, they will never be persuaded to come to him; ang nothing but the Father’s teachings can cure those evils of the mind. The mind of man slights the truths of God until he teach them, and then they tremble with reverence of them. Sin is but a trifle till God shows it to us in the law, and then it appears exceeding sinful. Rom.7:138. We think God to be such a one as ourselves, Psalm 50: 21, until he discover himself to us in his infinite greatness, holiness, and justice; and then we cry, Who can stand before this great and dreadful Lord God! We thought there was time enough hereafter to mind the concerns of another world, till the Lord opened our eyes to see in what danger we stood on the very brink of eternity; and then nothing alarmed us more than the fears that our time would end before the great work of salvation be finished. We thought ourselves in a converted state till God made us see the necessity of another manner of conversion, upon pain of eternal damnation. We readily caught hold upon the promises when we had no zight to them; but the teachings of God make the presumptuous sinner let go his hold, that he may take a better and surer hold of them in Christ. We once thought that the death of Christ had been enough to secure our salvation; but under the teachings of God we discern the necessity of a change of heart, or else the blood of Christ can never profit us. Thus the teachings of God remove the errors of the mind by which men are withheld from Christ.
3. The teachings of God powerfully attract the will of a sinner lo Christ. Hos. 2:14. But of these drawings of the Father I have largely spoken before, and therefore shall say no more of them in this place, but hasten to consider,
V. Why Ir Is IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY MAN TO CoME TO CuRIST WITHOUT THE F’arHER’s TEACHINGS, and this will appear from three considerations:
1. The impossibility of coming to Christ without the teachings of the Father, will appear from the power of sim, Which has so strong a hold upon the hearts of all unregenerate men that no human persuasion whatever can separate them; for sin is natural in the soul; it is born and bred with a man. Psalm 51:4; Isaiah 48: 8.
It is as natural for fallen man to sin as it is to breathe. Again, the power of sin has been strengthening itself from the beginning by long-continued custom, which gives it the force of a second nature, and makes regeneration naturally impossible. ‘Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil?” Jer. 13: 23. Sin is also the delght of a sinner. “It is as sport to a fool to do mischief.” Prov. 10:23. Carnal men have no other pleasure but what arises from their lusts: to cut off their corruptions by mortification, were at once to deprive them of all the pleasure of their lives. Sin being thus natural, customary, and delightful, bewitches their hearts to madness, so that they rather choose damnation than separation from sin. Their hearts are fully set in them to do evil, Eccles. 8: 11; they rush into sin “‘as the horse rusheth into the battle.” Jer. 8:6. And now, what can separate a man from his beloved lusts, except the powerful teaching of God? Nothing but a light from heaven can rectify the enchanted mind; no pewer but that of God can change the sinful inclination of the will.
2. The impossibility of coming to Christ without the Father’s teaching appears from the idzsposedness of man, the subject of this change. The natural man receives not the things which are of God. 1 Cor. 2:14. Three things must be wrought upon man before he will come to Christ. His understanding must be enlightened; his hard heart must be broken; his obstinate will must be subdued: all these are effects of a supernatural power. The illumination of the mind is the work of God. 2 Cor. 4:6; Rev. 3:17; Eph. 5:8. The breaking of the heart is the Lord’s work;’it is he that giveth repentance. Acts 5:31. It is the Lord that “taketh away the heart of stone, and giveth a heart of flesh.” Ezek. 36:26. It is he that poureth out the spirit of contrition upon man. Zech. 12: 10. The changing of the natural bent and inclination of the will is the Lord’s prerogative. Phil. 2:13. All these things are effectually done in the soul of man when God teaches it, and never till then.
3. The nature of faith, by which we come to Christ, shows the impossibility of coming without the Father’s teaching. It is not of ourselves, but the gift of God. Eph. 2:8. It is not acquired by industry, but imparted by grace. Phil. 1: 29. The light of faith by which spiritual things are discerned is from above. Heb. 11: 1, 27. It seeth things that are invisible. The adventures of faith are so; for against hope a man believeth in hope, giving glory to God. Rom. 4:18. By faith a man goes to Christ against all the discouragements of reason. The self-denial of faith is from above; the cutting off the right hand and plucking out of the right eye must be so. Matt. 5:29. The victories of faith all speak it to be from God; it overcomes the strongest oppositions from without. Hebrews 11:33, 34. It subdues and purges the most obstinate and deep-rooted corruptions within. Acts 15:9. It overcomes all the blandishments of the bewitching world. 1 John 5:4. All which considered, how evident is the conclusion that none can come to Christ without the Father’s teachings.
InrerENcE 1. How false and absurd is the doctrine which asserts the possibilty of believing without divine grace. The desire of self-sufficiency was the ruin of Adam, and the conceit of self-sufficiency is the ruin of his posterity. This doctrine is not only contradictory to the current of Seripture, Phil. 2:13, John 1:18, with many other texts, but to the experience of believers; yet the pride of nature will strive to maintain what Scripture and experience plainly contradict.
2. Hence, we may also onform badesaltes how ut comes to pass that so many wise and learned men miss Christ, while many simple and illiterate persons obtain salvation by him. The reason is plainly given us by Christ. “It is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” Matt.13:11. It is the dropping of divine teaching upon one and not upon another that dries up the green tree and makes the dry tree flourish. Many natural men have searching wits, solid judgments, nimble fancies, tenacious memories; they can search out the mysteries of nature, satisfy the inquiries of the curious, measure the earth, and discover the motions of the heavens, but after all take up their place in hell; when in the meantime the statutes of the Lord, by the help of his teachings, make wise the simple. Psalm 19:17. It is no matter how dull the scholar be, if God undertake to be the teacher. I remember Austin speaks of one who was commonly reputed a fool, and yet he judged him to be truly godly, and that by two signs of grace which appeared in him: one was his seriousness when he heard any thing of Christ; the other his indignation against sin. ‘It was truly said by two cardinals riding to the council of Constance, who overheard a poor shepherd in the fields with tears bewailing his sins, The unlearned will rise and take heaven, while we, with all our learning, shall descend into hell.
3. This also informs us the true reason of the various success of the gospel in the souls of men. Here we see why the ministry of one man becomes fruitful, and of another barren; yea, why the labors of the same man prosper at one time and not at another; these things are according as God accompanies our teachings. We often see a plain discourse blessed with success, while that which is more neat and labored comes to nothing. Austin has a similitude to illustrate this. Suppose, says he, two conduits, the one very plain, the other curiously carved and adorned with images of lions, eagles, etc., the water does not refresh and nourish as it comes from such a conduit, but as it is water. Where we find most of man, we frequently find least of God. I do not speak this to encourage care-Method. 17 lessness and indolence, but to provoke the dispensers of the gospel to more earnest and fervent prayer for the blessing of the Spirit upon their labors, and to make men less fond of their own gifts and abilities.
4, Learn hence the transcendent excellence of saving, spiritwal knowledge, above that which is natural. One drop of knowledge taught by God is more excellent than the whole ocean of human knowledge and acquired gifts. Phil. 3:8; John 17:3; 1 Cor. 2:2. Let no man therefore be dejected at the want of those gifts with which unsanctified men are adorned. If God has taught thee the evil of sin, the worth of Christ, the necessity of regeneration, the mystery of faith, the way of communion with him, trouble not thyself on account of ignorance in natural things: thou hast that, reader, which will bring thee to heaven; and he is truly wise that knows the way of salvation, though he be ignorant in other things. Thou knowest those things which all the learned doctors and * libraries in the world could never teach thee, but God has revealed them to thee; bless God, and take courage.
5. If there is no coming to Christ without the teachings of the Father, it greatly concerns us to examine our hearts whether we have had the saving teachings of God under the preaching of the gospel. Let not the question be mistaken. I do not ask what books you have read, what ministers you have heard, what stock of speculative knowledge you have acquired; but the question is, whether God ever spoke to your hearts, and has effectually taught you such lessons as were mentioned in our last discourse. There is a vast difference between that speculative and traditional knowledge which man learns from men, and that spiritual and transforming knowledge which a man learns from God. If you ask how the teachings of God may be distinguished from all mere human teachings, I answer, they may be discerned and distinguished by these signs:
Sian 1. The teachings of God are very humbling to the soul. Human knowledge puffeth up, 1 Cor. 8:1, but the teachings of God greatly abase the soul. “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; and now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5, 6. The same light which discovers to us the holiness, justice, greatness, and goodness of God, discovers also the vileness and total unworthiness of the best and holiest of men. Isaiah 6: 5.
Sian 2. The teachings of God are deeply impressive; they fully reach the heart of man. ‘I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her,” Hosea 2:14; or as it is in the Hebrew, I will speak to her heart. When God shows man the evil of sin, he so convinces the soul that no creature comforts have any sweetness in them; and when he shows man his righteousness and peace in Christ, he so comforts the heart that no outward afflictions have any bitterness in them. One drop of consolation from heaven sweetens a sea of trouble upon earth. ‘In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.” Psalm 94:19.
Sien 8. The teachings of God are sanctifying and renewing; they reform and change the heart. ‘If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Eph. 4:21, 22, 23. See here what holiness and purity are the effect of divine teaching. Holiness, both external and internal, of every kind follows the Father’s teachings. All the discoveries God makes to us of himself in Christ have an assimilating quality, and change the soul into their own likeness. 2 Cor. 3:18.
Sten 4. All God’s teachings are practical, producing obedience. Idle and useless speculations are not learned from God. As God’s creating words, so his teaching words are with effect: as when he said, ‘‘ Let there be light, and there was light;” so when he says to the soul, Be comforted, be humbled, it is effectually comforted, Isa. 66: 18, and humbled, Job 40:4, 5. As God has made no creature in vain, so he speaks no word in vain; every thing which men hear or learn from the Father is for use and benefit to the soul.
Sten 5. All teachings of God are agreeable with the written word. The Spirit of God and his word do never jar. “He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” John 16:14. When God speaks to the heart of man, whether in conviction, consolation, or instruction, he always either makes use of the express words of Scripture, or speaks to the heart in language every way agreeable to Scripture. So that the written word becomes the standard to weigh and try all divine teachings: ‘To the law, and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20. What disagrees with the Scripture must not pass for an inspiration of God, but a deluding insinuation of Satan.
Sten 6. The teachings of God are satisfying to the soul of man. The understanding, like a dial, is enlightened with the beams of divine truth shining upon it: this no man’s teaching can do. Men can only teach by propounding truth to the understanding; they cannot enlighten the faculty itself, as God does. 1 John 5:20. He gives man understanding as well as instruction. Eph.1:18. Thus we may discern and distinguish the teachings of God from all other teaching.
6. The last use I shall make of this point shall be a word of exhortation, both to them that never were effectually taught of God, and to them that have heard his voice and are come to Christ.
(1.) To those that never heard the voice of God speaking to their hearts; and truly this is the case of most men.
They have heard the sound of the gospel, but it has been a confused and ineffectual sound in their ears; they have heard the voice of man, but not the voice of God. The gifts of preachers have improved their understandings, and sometimes slightly touched their affections; but all this is only the effect of man upon man. O that you would look for something beyond all this: satisfy not yourselves with what is merely human in ordinances; come to the word with more spiritual designs than to get some notions of truth which you had not before, or to judge the gifts and abilities of the speaker. If God speak not to your hearts, all the ordinances in the world can do you no good. 1 Cor. 3:7. O remember what a solemn thing it is to attend upon the ministration by which the purposes of heaven are to be executed upon your souls, which must be to you the “savor of life unto life,” or of “death unto death.” Wrestle with God by prayer for a blessing upon the ordinances. Say, “Lord, speak thyself to my heart; let me hear thy voice and feel thy power in this prayer or in this sermon: others have heard thy voice, cause me to hear it; it had been much better for me if I had never heard the voice of preachers, except I hear thy voice in them.”
(2.) Let all those that have heard the voice of God and are come to Christ in the virtue of his teachings, admire the condescension of God to them. O that God should speak to thy soul and be silent to others! There are thousands this day under ordinances, to whom the Lord has not given an ear to hear or a heart to obey. Deut. 29: 4. “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” Matthew 13:11. And I beseech you, walk as those that have been taught of God. When Satan and your corruptions tempt you to sin, and to walk in the ways of the carnal and careless world, remember then that scripture, “But ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus” Eph. 4: 20, 21. To conclude, see that you are humble and lowly in spirit. Humility qualifies you for divine teachings. The meek he will teach his way, Psalm 25; 9; and the more you are taught of God, the more humble you will be.
Thus you see that no man can come to Christ without the application of the law and the teachings of the father; which being considered, may be very useful to convince us, which indeed is the design of it, that among the multitudes living under the ordinances of God and the general profession of religion, there are but few to be found who have effectually received the Lord Jesus Christ by saving faith.
And now, reader, I suppose by this time thou art desirous to know by what signs and evidences thy union with Christ by faith may be made evident to thee; and how that great question, whether thou hast yet effectually applied Christ to thy soul, may be clearly decided; which brings me to the third general use of the whole, the examination of owr interest in Christ.