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Teaching By Parables Only
--MATT. 13:34,35,55.--SEPT. 29.--
Text:--"The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life."--John 6:63.
TODAY'S LESSON declares, "All these things
spake Jesus unto the multitudes in parables, and without a parable spake He not
unto them; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet, I will
open My mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept, secret
from the foundation of the world."
Bible students and Bible scholars have generally
expressed surprise that the Great [R5088 : page 266] Teacher, in harmony with the above Scripture, spoke always to the
people in symbolic language, "dark sayings," the meaning of which
they rarely understood. Another Scripture informs us that the reason was that
the true invitation was not intended for the ordinary multitudes, but merely
for the consecrated.
To those who accepted the Lord as the Savior,
and who took upon themselves the required vow of faithfulness in walking in His
footsteps unto death--these were granted special enlightenment, as it is
written, "To you it is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven,
but to outsiders these things are spoken in parables, that they might not see
and understand."
The simple explanation of the matter is that an
understanding of spiritual things would do harm rather than good to those not
spiritually begotten--to those not fully consecrated to the Divine will. But
with the views we once entertained, and which are voiced by all the creeds of
the Dark Ages, none of the explanations would be tenable; because, according to
those creeds, only the Elect are to be saved, all the non-elect are to be lost,
and the Elect would be the only ones permitted to understand the things
pertaining to the Heavenly calling.
The entire matter is clarified when we recognize
the difference between the salvation of the world to the human nature, during
Messiah's reign of a thousand years, and the salvation provided for the Elect,
called during this Age, and specially instructed and guided with the view of
their making their calling and election sure.
THE APOSTLES JESUS' MOUTHPIECES
It has been claimed that the doctrines of
Christianity can be better gleaned from the writings of the Apostles than from
the sayings of Jesus, as reported in the Gospels. There is considerable truth
in this claim, and the reason is manifest; namely, Jesus' words were addressed
mainly to the multitudes, and when He addressed the disciples He could not
discuss even with them deep, spiritual truths, because they had not been
begotten of the Holy Spirit, and therefore could not understand spiritual
things. Jesus Himself declared, "I have many things to tell you, but ye
cannot bear them now."
On one occasion our Lord's words were so deep,
so highly figurative, that many of His followers left Him, saying, "This
is a hard (difficult) saying, who can understand it?" (John
6:60.) The saying was, "Unless ye eat the flesh and drink the
blood of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you." God's consecrated and
spirit-enlightened people can understand that statement, but none others can
even yet understand it. St. Paul
explains the reason why, saying, "The natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God,...neither can he know them, for they are spiritually
discerned."--I Cor. 2:14.
"AFTER YE WERE
ILLUMINATED"
St.
Paul gives the key to the situation in
one of his Epistles, saying, "After that ye were illuminated, ye endured a
great fight of afflictions." (Heb. 10:42.) The illumination
received was the begetting of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the Apostles at
Pentecost received an illumination of the mind which enabled them to understand
the things of God, yea, the deep things of God; for He hath given unto us His
Spirit, "that we might know the things which are freely given us of
God."--I Cor. 2:12.
Jesus had this same thought in mind when He
declared that there were certain things His disciples could not understand at
that time, but would know afterwards, because He would send the Holy Spirit,
which would bring all things to their remembrance whatsoever He had spoken; and
would show them things to come. (John 14:26; 16:13.)
This was not only true with the Apostles, but has been true with respect to all
the members of the Body of Christ throughout this Age. Each one presenting his
Body a living sacrifice has been accepted by the great Advocate, and presented
as a part of His own Offering; and then the offerer has been begotten of the
Holy Spirit to be a New Creature in Christ.
It is to these New Creatures that the statement
is made, "All things are yours, for ye are Christ's, and Christ is
God's." It is to these the Bible has promised, "He will show you
things to come." It is these that are to be guided into all Truth as it
shall become due. It is for these that the Word of God is a Storehouse, from
which "things both new and old" are to be produced under the Spirit's
guidance, as they become "meat in due season" to the "household
of faith."
BABES IN CHRIST AND MEN
Along the same line we note the fact that even
the spirit-begotten New Creatures must make progress in [R5088
: page 267] their appreciation of spiritual things. The Apostle urges
such that "As new born babes they should desire the sincere milk of the
Word, that they might grow thereby." And the growth is necessary if they
would attain joint-heirship in the Kingdom; hence the Apostle again urges that
each seek not to continue a babe, but to become a man, and to use the
"strong meat" of Divine Truth. By becoming a man, he is sanctified,
developed as a New Creature and filled with the Spirit, and "thoroughly
furnished unto every good work," by knowledge of the Word of God.
It must have been a difficult matter for our
Lord, in teaching, to follow the rule which He gave to His disciples, namely,
to "be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove." Appreciating the
Divine plan fully, completely, He must frequently have had a yearning desire to
tell His beloved followers more of the mysteries and deep things of the Divine
Plan than they were able to appreciate.
"SPIRIT AND LIFE" WORDS
Now our text: "The words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit and they are life." Here was another endeavor to
impress His dear disciples with the thought that they should not take His words
too literally, but should look for the deeper meaning. Furthermore, they were
to remember that they could not expect to get that deep meaning until after the
Master's ascension; as He said, "It is expedient for you that I go away;
for if I go not away the Holy Spirit will not come unto you; but if I go away I
will send Him unto you"; "for the Holy Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified." --John 16:7;
7:39.
Jesus was not glorified because His glorification
would not take place until His resurrection, and in a fuller sense until His
ascension to the Most Holy on High, there to appear in the presence of God on
our behalf--to make application of the merit of His sacrifice for those who
have consecrated to walk in His steps.
It was, therefore, after they had been
illuminated that the Apostles and others of the Church understood the meaning
of this text, that the words of Jesus were spiritual and could be understood
only by those possessing the spiritual key, the illumination of the Holy
Spirit.
The Master's words were "words of
life" in the sense that they conveyed the great Message of the terms upon
which we may have everlasting life and become His joint-heirs. Although the
Apostles explain the philosophy of the Divine Plan in great detail, and mention
more than did Jesus, yet in His sayings we find the very essence or kernel of
the Gospel. Nowhere are the terms of discipleship more carefully laid down than
in Jesus' words, because the disciples could understand what would be the
meaning of the figures of self-denial, cross-bearing, and walking in His steps,
even if they could not understand the philosophy of justification,
sanctification, election and Divine foreknowledge.
From Jesus' words more clearly than from any
other words we get the thought of the "water of life," and how it is
now in His followers a "spring" of truth, grace and everlasting life.
Nowhere else do we more clearly get the general statement that the Father hath
life in Himself, and hath granted unto the Son life in Himself, and that He
might share this life with His disciples--with whomsoever He would. Thus, as St. Paul says, the words
of this salvation in which we rejoice began to be spoken by our Lord. It is He
also that declared that He brought life and immortality to light, thus
distinguishing between the general reward of everlasting life to be given to
the world, and the special reward to be granted to the Church.
W.T. R-5087b : page 266 - 1912r.