Christ, the teacher of men ...

Front matter

LIBRARY OE CONGRESS. I

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Preface

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This work seems to be called for by reason of the widespread unbelief of this day and generation in the authoritative, infallible, and Divine Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Never was there a time of more general and virulent infidelity than the present — infidelity without and within the Church.

My object is not controversial, but to state the Truth according to the Written Word in its positive and didactic form.

For that Truth I have no apologies to make; for anything not therein revealed I have no explanation to offer.

This book is written for the glory of the Lord Jesus, and to Him I now solemnly dedicate it, with earnest prayer for His blessing.

A. W. PITZER.

Washington, D. C, July 20, 1876.

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NOTE.

In the preparation of this work I am indebted to the following authors, viz. :

R. J. Breckinridge, " Knowledge of God," 2 vols. Horace Bushnell, " Nature and Supernatural." James Inglis, " Waymarks in the Wilderness." Hugh Martin, " Christ's Presence in the Gospels." J. McCosh, " Typical Forms."

P. Fairbairn, " Typology."

L. Gaussen, "Inspiration."

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER

I. — The Spirit of the Learner II. — The Prophetical Office of Christ III. — The Extent of Christ's Teachings IV. — Christ, the Covenant Prophet . V. — Christ teaching through the Holy VI. — Christ teaching by Miracles . VII.— Christ teaching by Types . VIII. — Personal Peculiarities of Christ as

of Men

Chapter I. The Spirit Of The Learner

Understandest thou what thou readest ? And he said, How can I except some man should guide me? He that is of God, heareth God's words. Take heed hozv ye hear. No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.

For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him ; even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

In entering upon the discussion of the subject of this work, it is needful to observe at the outset, that much depends upon the spirit of the learner. In point of fact, in order to profitable teaching, as much depends upon the pupil as upon the preceptor. The best of teachers will make but little progress with an inattentive, disobedient, and stupid scholar. If a child dislikes any particular branch of knowledge, and persistently refuses to apply himself to it, it is absolutely certain that he will be a dunce in that department : no possible wisdom and skill on the part of the teacher can compensate for the stupidity, and dislike of study on the part of the learner. To insure success and profit in any study there must be a readiness to receive the truth, and an earnest desire for it on the part of the pupil.

The general principle underlying these statements is, that

The kind and degree of enjoyment of every created thing is conditioned upon its nature and capacity.

Under certain atmospheric and chemical conditions all kinds of herbs, flowers, and trees grow and thrive ; the life that is in them has the capacity to absorb from the soil and air certain properties or elements, and is thereby fed and nourished : the juices leap from the roots to the trunk, thence to the branches and limbs, and then to the foliage, flowers, and fruits. The flower or tree rejoices in this life, and every pore and fibre of its being is opened wide to receive food and nourishment : there is a capacity for, and delight in receiving; and this capacity conditions the life and growth of the tree or flower. Take away this capacity or faculty of reception, and the life goes with it : if the plant absorbs no carbon or nitrogen it will surely die. The air might be saturated with carbon, and the soil thoroughly impregnated with nitrogen, but if the receptive faculty were wanting in the plant it could not possibly live.

If we pass to a form of existence higher in the scale of vitality than the vegetable, we find that irrational animals have certain enjoyments adapted to and determined by their nature. The horse, the cow, the dog, enjoy the freedom and use of their limbs, the moving to and fro on the earth, feeding upon rich pastures, receiving the master's caresses, and resting from labor. Change the nature of the animal, and it will not be able to enjoy the things in which it formerly delighted ; appreciation depends upon the receptive capacity. The brute can understand and enjoy the things of a brute, but not the things of man.

Passing to a still higher form of life, viz., the rational, here, too, we find endless diversities of capacities, and therefore endless diversities of kind and degree of enjoyment. Some men seem to be only one remove from the brute — from pure animal existence. Their motto is, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. The delights of beautiful scenery, of poetry, of painting, of statuary, of music, of intelloctual and aesthetic pursuits, are lost to them, because they have no capacity to receive them. There must be the taste, the love, the adaptability for these things, or the man will utterly fail to appreciate them. Some persons find their greatest happiness in the fields of literature; they have both the taste and aptitude for acquiring knowledge, and pursuits in this direction afford them the most exquisite delight.

Enjoyment of every sort does not depend so much upon external conditions as upon internal capacities. The magnificent scenery which charms the eye and thrills the heart of the cultivated artist is lost upon the stupid peasant at his side. Here the external conditions are the same, but the internal capacities are different ; the one appreciates and enjoys, the other does not.

This principle finds its highest illustration in the things of God, and especially in the Person and Teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If attention, aptitude, desire, taste, and capacity be important in other pursuits, how much more important in this the highest of all pursuits, — the knowledge of God, — as that is revealed to us by this Teacher of men. If men cannot acquire a knowledge of any science by merely glancing at the outside of the text-books and an occasional look at the instructor, much less can they master the instructions of this Great Teacher by a few hurried readings of some of the more important writings of Him who is the Prophet of God. Here, too, the learner must be teachable. He that is of God, heareth God's words ; he that is not of God, heareth them not. The holy and godly man is teachable. He has a taste and desire for these Words of Heavenly Wisdom ; is willing to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him. The Teacher Himself says, The Good Shepherd calleth His own

The Spirit of tlie Learner, 1 3

sheep by name, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice ; and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.

The child knows and loves the voice of its father, so the child of God knows and loves the voice of its Heavenly Father, and will instinctively know whether the message brought by the Teacher is Divine or not.

What man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him ; even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. It requires rational discernment to understand the things of a man ; it requires spiritual discernment to understand the things of God. Hence the inattentive, stupid, unspiritual man will not receive and profit by the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. For these words of His are in very deed the words of God, and can be appreciated only by the spiritual man. If His Gospel be hid or foolishness, it is only to those who are blind and lost and dead ; for to be carnally minded is death: and to the spiritually minded, the Gospel is the Wisdom of God and the Power of God unto salvation.

To be in sympathy and fellowship with God is necessary to hearing and receiving His words : doing His will is necessary to knowing His Doctrine.

As the instinct of the animal is needful to understand the things of the animal world, as the rational mind is needful to understand the things of the rational world, so the spiritual mind is needful to understand the things of the spiritual world.

If the animal complains that he cannot comprehend the things of the rational world, the answer is easy and obvious, the animal does not have the intelligence and understanding of a man. If the stupid ignoramus complains that he cannot comprehend the higher truths of science and philosophy, the answer is easy and obvious, he does not possess the training and mental ability necessary to understand these things. If the carnal man complains that he cannot understand and accept the truths of God, revealed by this Teacher sent from God, the answer is, only the spiritual man can understand the things of the Spirit of God. Only those who are willing to be taught can know and receive the Truth. A man in rebellion against God cannot understand the Doctrines, because he is not doing the will of God.

Rays of light falling upon the eyes of the blind do not cause vision ; vibrations of the air falling upon the ears of the deaf do not produce sound ; so the Words of this Great Teacher sent from God fail to find any response in the heart of him who has no spiritual discernment, no Divine Life.

Light falling upon the healthful eye produces sight, and beauteous forms and lovely scenes pass before the enraptured gaze ; the Light of the Glory of God, shining in the face of Jesus Christ, falling upon the healthful spiritual eye produces spiritual vision, and forms and scenes of Heavenly Beauty pass before the renewed soul. To such an one, He who was despised and rejected of men, without form or comeliness, is seen indeed to be the Chief among ten thousand, the One altogether lovely. All who are in sympathy and fellowship with God ; all who have spiritual vision will hear and receive the Words of God as delivered to them by Him, who is the Only Begotten Son, and who came from Heaven to reveal God to man.

As the child will recognize the father's voice, so he that is of God, who is God's child, who has spiritual vision, will recognize and receive and love the Words of God when spoken by the Incarnate Son. To the believer, the highest evidence of the Divine Mission of Jesus of Nazareth is found in Jesus Himself; and the highest evidence of the Divine character and authority of the Word of God is found in the Word itself. To the seeing eye, no argument is necessary to prove that the sun shining in the mid-heavens at noon gives light, — the sun is his own proof. The light makes itself manifest. So to the eye, not blinded by sin and darkened by depravity, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is its own Light and proof; if men do not see the Light of the Sun of Righteousness it is because they are spiritually blind.

The external evidences of the Divine origin and authority of the Christian religion are in some cases valuable, but the great proof is to be found in the Gospel itself. The best cure for Infidelity, in all its forms and phases, is the frequent and faithful study of the character, work, and Words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In one of his remarkable conversations with the Jews, Jesus gives not only the true, but the philosophical reason of their rejection of Him. If ye were Abraham's spiritual seed; if ye were of God; if ye loved the Truth; if ye had spiritual discernment, then indeed ye would receive my words : because I tell you the Truth, ye believe me not ; ye therefore hear me not because ye are not of God. The very Truthfulness of Christ is the reason why men, in love with lies, reject Him. Light has come into the world, but men love the darkness rather than the light because their deeds are evil, and they will not come to the light lest their deeds should be reproved.

The Bible everywhere ascribes man's rejection of Christ and His Gospel to the blindness of his mind and the hardness of his heart; if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them ; for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ.

The full-orbed glories of the Godhead shine out in radiant splendor from the Person and work of Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Brightness of the Father's glory, the express Image of His Person; if men loved and honored the Father, they would also love and honor the Son ; they would delight to hear and receive the words of God as spoken by the Son ; and they would reverence and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.

If the heart of man were attuned to the perception of moral beauty ; if he were possessed of spiritual vision ; if he naturally loved the Truth, then would he hail with joy the coming of this Teacher sent from God, with messages of mercy to lost and guilty man.

It is a simple historic fact that, when this Teacher was on earth in the flesh and form of man, the men of His day and generation hated and crucified Him ; and if this was the treatment given to the

Teacher Himself, we need not wonder that great masses of our fellow-men, in every age since, have despised and rejected His Teachings. There is no spiritual eye in the natural man to see the Light of the Sun of Righteousness; no ear to hear the Glad Tidings of great joy which are for all the people; no Life to respond to Him, who is the Light and Life of men. The unrenewed mind and heart are enmity against Christ, not subject to his Teaching, neither indeed can be.

The skepticism, unbelief, and infidelity of man have their origin, not in the head, but in the heart; not in lack of evidences, but in hatred of the Truth ; not because there is no Prophet of God to reveal the truth, but because they hate the message which the Prophet brings.

Few Teachers who have ever appeared among men have had such difficulties as these with which to contend; spiritual blindness, deafness and death, hatred of the Truth, and the Teacher; and if the world has not received the Instructions of Jesus of Nazareth, this result is due not to the Teacher, but to the mental and moral condition of the scholars. He that is of God heareth God's words.

It is true that many teachers receive the blame justly due to their scholars for the slow progress made by them in their studies. And Jesus Christ has received a full measure of blame, due not to Him, but to the people whom He came to teach.

We have all seen men so debased and brutalized by long courses of vice and impiety that they seemed to be utterly lost to all the higher and nobler impulses and motives which move and govern man. Appeals to generosity, fidelity, honor, obligation, were powerless to move them, — and the nobler the motive presented, the more callous and insensible were they to its power.

Hence we should not be surprised that such a Teacher as Jesus of Nazareth, presenting as He does such pure and lofty motives to men, should fail to move those who have no love for the Beautiful, the True, and the Good. Not the Teacher, but the learner is at fault in such a case as this.

History has established nothing more clearly than the intense hatred of the natural man to the Gospel, the Doctrines, the Person, and the Work of this Teacher sent from God. Many of those who heard His Words could not endure His Doctrines ; and when some turned away from Him, He sorrowfully asks the chosen Twelve, Will ye go away also ?

If any man, therefore, is willing to listen at all to Christ as a Teacher, he ought to make up his mind to hear Him without prejudice or passion, and with attention and a teachable mind. If he makes up his mind in advance that Christ is an impostor ; that His claims are false ; that His Doctrines are untrue, it is manifest that he will derive but little, if any profit, from His instructions; he hears with prejudice, he has prejudged the Teacher and His Words; he is not an impartial judge in this case. No civil court would permit him to sit in judgment in a cause involving merelytemporal interests in such a frame of mind as this.

Alas, what multitudes listen to Christ with minds blinded by prejudice, and hearts inflamed with passion against His claims and teachings! They go to His Word, not to learn of Him, but like the scribes and Pharisees, to entrap Him in His talk, and to find some accusation against Him. It is needless to observe that men listening, in such a frame of mind as this, to Christ, fail to find anything lovable in either the Teacher or His Doctrines.

Not only must the hearer listen without prejudice, he must also give earnest heed and diligent attention to the Words of this Great Teacher in order to derive profit from His instructions.

I think it is a universal law that no success is gained in any pursuit of life without attention. The inattentive scholar, or lawyer, or physician, or merchant will be sure to fail of any great measure of success or usefulness in his respective sphere.

The subjects brought to the attention of men, by this Teacher, are of the highest importance, and demand the earnest attention of every one who hears His voice. They pertain to man's interests in time, and his blessedness in eternity; they cannot be grasped and mastered by a few inattentive hearings of the Teacher, or a few hasty readings of His Word. Like Truth in every other department of knowledge, here too, she must be sought for with all earnest and eager attention and diligence, even as for hid treasures.

In addition to this quality .of attention, the Learner ought to hear Christ with a " teachable" mind. If he assumes the position of a learner, he thereby accords to Christ that of Teacher; and when this is done, he ought to be prepared to hear with readiness and meekness what the Teacher has to say. He ought to forbear all factious opposition, all caviling criticism, all frivolous objections. The interests involved are too vast to permit of anything less than a readiness to receive the Truth after a candid and attentive hearing of all that the Teacher has to say.

And every man has a far greater interest in giving earnest heed to this Teacher than to all others who have ever claimed to exercise this office among men. He claims that His Words are Spirit and are Life ; that His Words are imperishable seed, living and abiding forever; that Heaven and earth may pass away, but not one jot or tittle of all that He has spoken shall pass away. The destinies of our deathless souls depend upon our receiving or refusing to receive the Words of this Teacher sent from God, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by Him ; and this is Life Eternal, to know the only True God, and His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Chapter II. The Prophetical Office Of Christ

" Christ executeth the office of a Prophet in His revealing to the church in all ages by his Spirit and Word in divers ways of administration the whole will of God in all things concerning their edification and salvation." — Larger Catechism.

" No man hath seen God at any time : the Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." — yohn.

" Verily, verily, I say unto thee we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen." — Jesus to Nicode?nus.

All religions which have existed among men have had a certain class called Teachers or Prophets. These men were the expounders of the Religion which they professed, — and wherever the Prophetical office has failed to exist, there the people were destitute of any religion.

According to the Sacred Books of the Jews, Moses was a Prophet of God raised up to reveal

Him to His covenant people. Before his death, he told the Hebrews that God would raise up unto them another Prophet like unto him from among his brethren.

Fifteen hundred years after these words were spoken, they are quoted by the Apostle Peter, and expressly applied by him to Jesus of Nazareth. He is the Prophet whom the Lord God of Israel hath raised from among and for His covenanted people.

This Promise made by Moses, and quoted by Peter, is recorded in the Second Giving of the Law, and is recorded in immediate connection with the prohibitions to hearken unto Observers of Times, or Charmers, or Enchanters, or Wizards, or Necromancers, or Consulters with Spirits. This seeking after knowledge of Divine and eternal things by these unhallowed means and methods was one of the prevailing and universal sins of the heathen and idolatrous nations round about the chosen and redeemed people of God; and in this connection they are solemnly warned not to hearken unto these Deceivers, but to the Voice of the True God, and to the Words of that Prophet whom the Lord would raise up unto them.

Created in the image and after the likeness of God Himself, Man feels within his own soul the pulsations of an endless life. He knows that he is not like the brute which to-day is, and to-morrow lies down in the dust to live no more forever. He is conscious of hopes, desires, and longings, which will not and cannot be satisfied with any, or with all the things within the horizon of earth and time. His moral nature asserts with intensest emphasis that these things mark him as akin, and link him to, not the brutes around him, but to the God in Heaven who made him, and whose son he is by Creation. His Conscience bears witness to his guilt, and points with warning finger to the retributions of the Unseen and Future World.

Driven, therefore, by the necessities of his being, he seeks anxiously and earnestly to pry into the Secrets of that World which awaits him when Time shall be no more.

The hungry cry of his deathless spirit is, — I must know something of the' Life beyond the grave; something of those realities upon which I shall enter, when the corruptible shall put on incorruption, and the mortal shall put on immortality. His soul will not rest in dread uncertainty concerning the Eternal Future, and hence Man is found everywhere seeking knowledge of what shall befall him beyond the grave. Without a Revelation from God he is left in darkness, dread, and doubt, and becomes the willing dupe of any Soothsayer, Charmer, or Observer of Times, or Consulter with Spirits.

Abundant evidence is found in the history of the race that, in every age and among all people, men have appeared who claimed to have dealings with the Unseen World, and to have power to foretell the events of the Future. They have been known by different names, as soothsayers, astrologers, necromancers, charmers, consulters, wizards, familiar spirits, mediums, clairvoyants, — and it is a remarkable fact that the large portion of the human race have believed that these persons did actually possess the power which they claimed to have.

While it is true that the great majority of these Dealers with spirits, and the departed, and the Unseen World have been guilty of the grossest frauds and deceptions; it is also true that there are many well-attested cases of power exercised, and knowledge imparted by them, that cannot be explained upon any other theory than that of Satanic and diabolical agency. And if, as many assert, the whole thing is a delusion, then it is simply incomprehensible that the Divine Lawgiver, in both Testaments, should have so carefully and sternly legislated against a mere "delusion" against something which had no objective existence. How far the Devil may give information to his dupes is not revealed in the Word of God; but the fact of his having dealings with those who are led captive at his will, and of his imparting information to them, no believer in the Divine origin and inspiration of the Bible can for a moment doubt or deny. b 3

The Devil claimed to be a Teacher, and to impart knowledge to man in his primeval state in Eden, — ye shall not surely die, was his lie to the woman in regard of the forbidden tree, — and from that day to this he has been engaged in deceiving the nations and individuals with his lying words and wonders.

God's ancient and covenant people were most solemnly commanded not to seek after or consult these wicked and devilish methods of obtaining information ; they must not have dealings with enchanters or charmers or spirits. To do this was treason against that God who had brought them up from bondage ; that God who was their king ; that God who had given them a true Prophet to declare all of His Will concerning them.

Not unto these false Teachers of the heathen or like unto the heathen must they seek, but unto the True and Living God must they go : unto that Prophet who should speak all the Words which the Lord God should give Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is then the True Prophet, like unto Moses, whom God hath raised up and sent, unto whom men must apply for knowledge of God and eternal things.

The word Prophet is not used in the sense of a "foreteller" who makes known to men future events, but one who speaks for or in the place of another : a prophet of God is one who speaks for God. " The Greek 'tt/w' is a particle of place, not of time."

Jesus Christ is a Prophet of God in the sense

The Prophetical Office of CI iris t. 27

that he speaks for God to men ; He brings a message from God. I will put my words in his mouth, saith Jehovah, and he shall speak unto them all that I command him. Moses and all the Prophets of the Old Dispensation were "types' of Christ in his Prophetical office.

Many persons and events of that Economy were types of Christ. Jesus Himself says, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. David upon the throne of Israel was a type of David's greater son seated upon the Mediatorial throne. Aaron the High-Priest slaying the victim, and passing with sacrificial blood into the Holiest of all, was a type of our Great High- Priest, who, having offered the sacrifice on the cross, hath passed up into the true Holiest of all to plead before the throne His own precious blood as the righteous and valid ground of His people's acceptance. Moses receiving the Law directly from Jehovah, and speaking for Him to the people, is a type of the Greater Prophet who comes directly from the bosom of God with Divine Messages for lost and ruined man.

Jesus of Nazareth, as Mediator between God and men, executeth the office of a Prophet in His revealing to the Church in all ages by His Spirit and Word, in divers ways of administration, the whole will of God in all things concerning their edification and salvation.

It must be distinctly understood that Christ, as the Prophet of God, does not propose or profess to reveal all knowledge, but only such as is necessary to salvation. He does not undertake to answer all the curious, prying, impertinent questions which men may ask concerning things which have no bearing whatever upon their salvation as sinners or their edification as saints. When we speak, therefore, of the Completeness of Christ's Teachings, we must be understood to apply the word "complete" to the " whole will of God unto the salvation of His people. "

We are not at liberty to limit the teachings of Christ to His own personally uttered words. He makes Himself responsible for the entire Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The words written by Moses, David, Isaiah, Daniel, Matthew, John, and Paul are no less His Words than the parables which fell from his own lips. The whole Bible, — Law, Prophets, Hagiographa, Evangelists, Epistles, and Revelation, — all these are the Words of this Great Prophet sent from God. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God ; by the Spirit of Christ, who led holy men of old to record these words. Hence . the command, Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal Life, and they are they which testify of Me.