DIVINE TEACHING
[p. 297] DIVINE TEACHING
Titus 2:11,12; Acts 13:12; Acts 19:9,10;1 John 2:27
I am thinking, dear brethren, in reading these scriptures, of the important subject of teaching; first the teaching of grace, then the teaching of the Lord, and, finally, the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Under these heads the idea of divine teaching is presented. You will all remember the Lord’s remark, citing Isaiah, that His people should be all taught of God. As it says in the passage alluded to “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isaiah 54:13) — that is, Jerusalem’s children. Now, a divinely taught person is not simply one who knows things; he does know, of course, but teaching, learning from God, is more, than the mere acquisition of knowledge. The pupil or disciple is brought under discipline, so that his mind is not only stored with knowledge, but he is affected himself; the person is affected correspondingly by what is forced into his mind, for this is really the idea. If one is in school, learning, strictly speaking, is not optional: it is a question of what is to be taught, and one must go through the course; and this, of course, is obvious in the things of God. Anyone who assumes that learning the things of God, learning from God, is an optional matter will never, to say the least, arrive at the church. One might say that there is an element of lawlessness in any pupil assuming that lessons in the school are optional.
I want to speak of the teaching of grace as bearing on what has been before us and upon the dispensation. It is an immense thing, dear brethren, to maintain the dispensation; whatever else happens, or whatever the loss, or whatever the suffering, it must be maintained, at least in principle. Making full allowance for the day of small things such as this is in which we are, the principle of the dispensation must never be denied or falsified, it [p. 298] must ever be in view. You will all remember that as Rebekah approached Isaac he was coming from Beer-lahai-roi; he was, as it may read, ‘returning from coming to it’, that is, the well was in his mind, as a leading idea. As the church comes into view, Christ is concerned that all the truth is in evidence. Whilst His affections are supremely engaged with the church. He never lets slip anything; all the features of the truth are carefully watched over; He is concerned that the dispensation in its full character might be always in evidence. The church, of course, is the full product of it; but the means by which the church is brought about must never be out of view. The more we understand the system of grace, as applicable to us severally, the more we shall treasure it in its universal bearing; and in no way can we be fitted for this more than by its teaching the teaching of grace. The apostle Paul here is writing to Titus, who evidently had to do with people who were of low morals, for it says: “The Cretans are always liars”. I was a field of labour in which the public morals were grossly low, and perhaps in no age was this thought more applicable than it is today; The morals of christendom are abominable; indeed, one is at times encouraged to ask God to modify the public conditions, and I believe He is doing if. The trend is directly of the enemy; and we should all be alive to this, because as we see the enemy’s way, we are concerned bow to meet it. We cannot stem the current, but we can at least be concerned as to how to keep out of it. As we see the trend, we are concerned about how to meet it for ourselves, how to meet it for our children, how to meet it generally; and one begins, with oneself. That is the divine way of meeting things. God would impress on us the principle of obligation; accepted obligation is that by which God works in us and by us. Obligation was accepted supremely in the Lord Jesus, He avoided nothing that fell to man — a most [p. 299] stupendous thing. The will of God involved a tremendous obligation, and the Lord Jesus accepted it. And so, as we are brought into the current of faith, each in his measure accepts obligation, and the more we are with God, the more extended will that be, until you begin to accept obligation, not only for yourself, but for your household, your business, for the local company, and for the whole church of God on earth, and for the government of God on earth — for all these come within the range of Christian obligation. The principle is: “Take the lad, and hold him in thy hand” (Genesis 21:18). Now, that lad, Ishmael, was fourteen years of age; it was no light matter to hold a lad of that age, the weight was felt, and that is what God values. God will surely help us as we accept responsibility, feeling its weight. And so in our day of low public morality, the believer accepts obligation peculiarly; he is not going to be a legalist, we can do nothing on that line. The law, as we are told, makes nothing perfect, Hebrews 7: 19, it never did make anything perfect, so that to go back to that is to surrender the position; the position is grace, but grace that has teaching.
Here the apostle presents it in its broadest aspect: he says it “carries with it salvation for all men”. You say, ‘The morals are dreadful’; so they are, but the grace of God is infinitely above, that. It does not ignore what exists, but one idea of grace is that it is greater than the sin it deals with: it is infinitely above the sin; and so great the greatest sinner. That is the idea in Titus 2 — that the fearful condition of the world does not in itself preclude the action of grace. Grace, it says, “carries with it salvation for all men”, that is the extent of it, and it “has appeared”. The faithful believer would say: ‘It must not disappear as far as I am concerned’. Christendom has put it out of view, it has gone back to the law and to paganism; but the grace of God has appeared, and, as far [p. 300] as the believer is concerned, it must remain in evidence. But how? It takes on learners. If it affects my heart, it intends that I should be taught by it, and taught not only generally, but specifically; so “that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world”. “Denying ungodliness” — the air is impregnated with it where we work, where we move about in this world, but the denial of the thing is by the maintenance of the truth of the dispensation, and by living soberly and righteously and godly in this present course of things.
Now, dear brethren, that is the first great lesson in divine teaching. I am not denying that there may be other things, but I am speaking of the public position of the saints, the continuance of the dispensation and that this teaching of grace is imperative. Much more is added in the passage which is strengthening to the heart. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”. That is to say, another world is in view, I am denying this one and I am hailing another one; I am looking for it — “Awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” — for it is the same Person.
Now, this fits in in the type, dear brethren, with the position in Exodus up to chapter 18. God never complains, He never resents the murmurings of His people, grace is greater than their murmurings; but when the law is given, when God asserts His rights formally (I am speaking of the law now typically, not literally), then the school becomes more rigorous, more exacting: not that there is any less love, nor any less grace, but it would be monstrous to assume that there is not such a thing as law in christianity. You may call it the ‘perfect law of liberty’ — and so it is; it is the ‘royal law’, too: but if we are to have to do with God, there must be requirements, and so this brings in another thing, that is, the teaching of
[p. 301] the Lord. That is what is emphasised in Corinthians. “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10:22). “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep”. Why? Because of the school.
So I have read in Acts 13, because this appears almost immediately as the two great evangelists, Barnabas and Paul, are sent forth by the Spirit. They are going to announce grace, but there was the teaching of the Lord, and an intelligent man recognises it. The deputy was “an intelligent man”, we are told, verse 7; he had understood teaching, and Roman teaching would certainly imply something of authority. Certain things happened before the eyes of Sergius Paulus in relation to Bar-Jesus who sought to “turn away the deputy from the faith”; he was a “child of the devil, enemy of all righteousness”. These were the circumstances, and it required the authority of the Lord to deal with such circumstances. It is another feature of the present opposition, that there are children of the devil, enemies of righteousness, seeking to turn away believers from the faith — that is going on; but it brings in the Lord, and brings Him in in the moral authority that marked the teaching. The deputy recognised it, he was amazed at it and he believed — a very fine example for young believers. This teaching involved doctrine, but it was teaching — and so I have ventured to bring forward the occurrence at Acts 19. The church in its full bearing appears there, and if the dispensation is to stand, the church must stand. The dispensation hinges on the presence of the Holy Spirit, but not only on that, but on the church; that is to say, the Holy Spirit operates through the church, and these Acts 19 and Acts 20 bring in the church in its full position here in relation to the testimony. The Holy Spirit had made the elders of Ephesus overseers of it there. In the types, we have in Abigail one who would preserve the position. David [p. 302] had girded himself with his sword and was about to take life, but Abigail prevented this through her grace and wisdom. It is the church. The dispensation must be preserved; and so she immediately acts as she hears of the impending danger, and furnishes herself with all the evidences of grace, bread and wine and figs and sheep — abundance of food and of the very best kind — and she meets David. She goes down, and he goes down, and the hand of the avenger is stayed. It was not that the vengeance was not merited, but the time for it had not come. So it is said: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves ... Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord” The Lord will see to that; it is not our business. Abigail understood; and so David Says: “Blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou”, (1 Samuel 25:33); she stayed his hand from shedding blood, she maintained the position.
Now, the church underlies all that, as I said. We have not got it publicly I know, but it exists; and what leads to its practical realisation today is this principle of teaching, and the question is whether we are teachable? One of the things we have to be on our guard against is latitudinarianism, it is a dangerous thing, and most subtle — that I can say things without scriptural support — and they are allowed to drift; that is not of God. Teaching implies that we must have the truth. For this we need the teaching of grace, the teaching of the Lord and the teaching of the Spirit. And so, as Paul secures those twelve men at Ephesus, they all receive the Holy Spirit at one time, a remarkable fact. But then he would go into the synagogue, he would maintain the principle still in force — “to the Jew first”. But when some hardened themselves and disputed, he “separated the disciples” — that is the position now. The church era, in its full status on earth, is based on separation, not only from a lewd world, but from a religious world. What comes out in Matthew is that the Lord left the Pharisees and Sadducees “and went away”; also He “went forth and went away from the temple”; so here the apostle separated the disciples from the synagogue, but where does he separate them to? He separates them from the Jews, from the religious place, and takes up his position in a school. You say, ‘That is a mere incident’. Not at all, beloved friends: let us never assume that a word used by the Holy Spirit is incidental or accidental: everything is with a purpose. And whose school was it? The school of Tyrannus. It says, “one Tyrannus” in the Authorised Version, but I do not think the word ‘one’ is there. Doubtless it was a known school in Ephesus; those who attended it would tell you what kind of a man Tyrannus was; his name indicates authority: not that it was tyranny, but rather one who dominated, according to what is proper in school; ‘anything’ will not do for this man! You say: ‘It is not Tyrannus’ teaching’. No — but the school was his; and Paul was not behind with the idea: “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual”, he says, “let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”, (1 Corinthians 14:37). There is nothing optional there. “Are we stronger than he?” It is a question of the Lord; and Paul represented that. There is much lightness among the people of God, but the position is too serious, beloved, for us to be light and trifling. The school in which the teaching of the Lord is, exists, and it is for us to be there.
Paul taught there daily; it was every day for two years. And it was not merely a question of reciting things: Bible readings are very enjoyable, but there should always be in them the principle of spiritual domination; that the thing asserted is so; it is not that I think it so, but it is so. Of course there are no apostles or inspired persons, but the Holy Spirit is here and we have the Scriptures, and so we should be assured of what we say. I am speaking of what is normal, beloved friends, that is,
[p. 304] of what is communicated as in the temple, and as under the authority of the Lord. So that what you find is not merely the rehearsal of things, or the reading of papers on this subject and that subject, as with scientific men, but what went on daily as far as the word here shows, for two years, was a spiritual ‘reasoning’. Now, the idea of reasoning in teaching, as I understand it, is that what is taught is forced into the mind by the power of the teacher and the moral value, of what is taught. It must be accepted, for it is shown to be the truth. There is no option, on my part at all. The Lord makes it so plain that it is so. John accredits the little children with knowing the truth, 1 John 2:21. What is there left but latitudinarianism if there is not certainty? I do not know of any other alternative. I am not ignoring that there is much which the most instructed have not attained to and that as at Ephesus there is weakness and ignorance and so need for forbearance, I am speaking of the general position as to teaching. It was the teaching of the Lord by the apostle for two years; and it had the greatest result, for all in Asia heard the word of the Lord — not the word of God here, for it is a question of the establishment in the teaching of the authority and power of the Lord. The church was thus set up on a sure foundation as to the truth. The apostle said to the Corinthians: “I speak as to intelligent persons” — the saints are thus regarded as able to take in the truth, being able to discern it.
Now, that is the thought in regard of the church, that there should be definite understanding of the teaching of the Lord; and that it has to be bowed to. For two years there was a separated people, under reproach, doubtless, for they had left the synagogue, in which many had turned hostile; the Jews would persecute them. But they were a separated people and a people in the school, so that they come out properly instructed, and that underlies the great development at [p. 305] Ephesus. The church at Ephesus stands for the whole idea; it is not a question of what is local there, it is a question of the assembly as a whole.. Even in the day of their decline the effect of this teaching is felt — “Thou hast tried”, the Lord says, “them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars”, (Revelation 2:2). Alas, “first love” had gone, but the effect of the teaching continued, and it is most important.
To pass on to the final teaching: we get it in John. John has a most interesting way of presenting this subject. In his gospel he records that the first two disciples that Jesus had, called Him ‘Rabbi’. This emphasises what I am saying, that love will have teaching. The Holy Spirit is careful to tell us what that means, so that we should know the thought that was in their minds — the idea of teaching. Up to that time they had had the most remarkable teacher, but now they have come to? Better Then in chapter 20 we have as no one else, certainly among women, loved Him — Mary Magdalene. She calls Him ‘Rabboni’ (’my teacher’), and that was as risen from the dead; she understood that the teaching was necessary and that she needed it. I do not say that it will be needed in heaven, I do not think so; indeed, the Lord says in Luke: “Every one that is perfect shall be as his master”, chapter 6: 40. That is a very precious anticipation. The epistle to the Ephesians had “the perfecting of the saints” in view. The gifts in Ephesians are to that end. We are to arrive at the full-grown man now. As I see this I am industrious as a Christian; I miss nothing of the instruction the Lord gives. I shall not think it is optional to come to the meetings; the matter is too serious to treat it so lightly. If I am exercised about the meeting, is not the Lord also? He certainly is concerned about it. If I remain away carelessly He will note this. He will be there. It is a question of the school. As in the school,
[p. 306] we are, so to speak, to abide by the rules. I am not wishing to make you legal, for love is behind it. Love will do its best for us; thus it will have us ‘perfect’. We do not want to be remiss in heaven, and the ‘perfecting’ is what is going on.
John beautifully presents the subject in writing to these little ones, for they are the third grade in the school from the highest, he presents the latter first. Scripture grades the saints in that way; we have the first, grade and the second grade in this very chapter; and the final grade, which is the little ones, begins at verse 18 and goes on to verse 27. Now you see he is dealing with young believers, and he has more to say to them than to the others, and I am obliged to add — that they much outnumber the other classes. I am afraid there are not many in the upper grades (if you will allow the figure). The order given is: “I write to you, fathers”, “I write to you, young men”: “I have written to you, fathers”, “I have written to you, young men”, “I write unto you little children”.
He has much to say to this last class, and it has reference to the awful apostasy that is abroad. I have been speaking of the morality of the world, but now I want to refer to the infidelity, the apostasy. Of course, morality enters into that, too, but it is the other side. Men may be outwardly moral, and yet be the wickedest of all, for they may be blasphemers. Young believers have little idea of the awful current of apostasy that has set in during the past two or three decades. Within the lives of many of us here it has acquired a tremendous impetus, and how are we to stand? That is what the apostle is dealing with. He refers to men whom he calls antichrists; there are many of them, he says. The Antichrist has not yet come, but he is coming; and in the meantime his way is being prepared by these antichrists: but verse 27 brings in what I may call deliverance. ‘Deliverance’ has a wide bearing in Scripture; I use it here in connection with the [p. 307] anointing: the anointing implies deliverance from man’s mind, from false doctrine, from man’s teaching. There is deliverance from the world in other aspects, but young believers are peculiarly exposed to men of ability, men of mind, men of reputation in the world of learning. Those who go to school and are thus under school-teachers, especially those of the higher grades, are fearfully exposed to these persons. And so the apostle comes down to this — I can only call attention to this one verse, verse 27, “and yourselves, the unction which ye have received from him abides in you”; it should read ‘yourselves’. The Holy Spirit fixes our minds on ourselves in the light in which He is going to speak about us. He wants to speak about the anointing. He says ‘yourselves’ — that is to say, there is a class in His mind standing out amid the general trend of apostasy; standing out in the recognition of the Spirit of God. If you stop to think of that, young believer, you will say, ‘I belong to this’. They are only young believers, but look at what they have got, look at their dignity, for they have the anointing. This enters into all our convocations. As the transfiguration was over, it is said that “having looked around, they no longer saw anyone”, according to Mark, but “Jesus alone with themselves”; here it speaks of yourselves and the anointing. See how much enters into that! Now, he says. In view of that, you shut the door on every man that comes to you with his own doctrine; you do not need him. It is not simply that he is what he is, that he is an antichrist, but you may be courteous to him, and say, ‘We do not need that’. And this enters into the books believers may have to read, and it may be to teach, too, in schools. We must be courageous; the time calls for it, the very continuance of the testimony calls for it — courteous but courageous, for you do not need “that anyone should teach you”. Why not? What he presents is spurious, it is wicked, it is a lie. Reasonableness will admit the righteousness of that position. “The anointing”, he says, “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 of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him”, (1 John 2:27) — you are in a fixed position. The psalmist speaks about his heart being fixed, but John in his epistle has a way of using the word ‘abide’ which refers to fixedness; As is sometimes said the earth is in the sun; that is the idea: there is a fixedness about the Christian who is taught by the Spirit; he knows the evil and he refuses it by the anointing. He needs not that any man teach him and, as the anointing teaches, he abides in Him; he is in a fixed position as taught, he abides in Christ. And that is the end; the perfecting of the saints is that one is fixed as to teaching, one abides in Christ. Later on you get the Holy Spirit twice mentioned in regard to this position. “Hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, that he has given to us of his Spirit”, chapter 4:13. A most blessed thing that we are fixed in Him, and He is in a fixed position, so to speak, in me. As in that position I am in complete deliverance from the range of the wicked principles in the world.
May the Lord help us, dear brethren. It is a critical time, it calls for attention as to what is being taught; and we must see to it that we are receiving nothing but what the Holy Spirit teaches.