VI. Christ’s Teaching and Example
1. Christ’s teaching is so incomparable and unique that to say that He drew His inspiration from some other teacher t>r religion, is like saying that the sun has not its own light, but, like the moon, slfines with the borrowed light of some other sun or planet. It is inconceivable that this could be possible. The authority with which He taught refutes any such claim (Matt. vii. 29). Again, if He’ had received His teaching from other sources He would certainly have made reference to them, as He did in the Sermon on the Mount, where, while giving His references to the Old Testament, He claimed authority to give His own interpretation, saying, “ It was said by them of old time... but I say unto you...” (Matt. v. 21-22).
It would be just as contrary to the truth to say that Jesus made great claims in order to benefit Himself, for His whole life was spent in seeking the good and betterment of others, and, above all, His. Cross refutes any such statement. If He had been ambitious for worldly honour, then He would have attempted to save Himself from the death on the Cross, and would not have refused when people*wished to make Him king. But as He Himself said, His kingdom was not of this world (John vi. 15, xviii. 36). He came into the world that He might make manifest the Reality, and by giving His own life might be able to give to believers the right to be heirs of Eternal Life, and of His kingdom.
2. Both John the Baptist — the forerunner of Christ — and Jesus Himself began to preach in these words, “ Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ”. All pain, suffering and death in the world is caused by sin. In the next world separation from God, and hell itself, are the results of sin. Therefore without true repentance for sin it is impossible to be saved from this separation and destruction. Because God is Love He does not force any erne to come to Him, nor does He interfere with the free-will that He has given man. But when a sinner comes in repentance, and bows his head and opens his heart before God, then the Holy Spirit gives a new life, through His life-giving activity, and then and there the kingdom of God begins in his heart. Hence it is essential to repent of sins in order to became a son of God, and tQ enter into His eternal kingdom.
Later on in His preaching Christ told of those who are to be counted as blessed, and of their reward (Matt. v. 2-1 2). They are these:
“ The poor in Spirit.” They humbly acknowledge their own spiritual poverty, and become God’s faithful and obedient servants. Christ Who is the King of Glory became poor, that through His poverty He might make the poor in spirit heirs of His kingdom for ever (2 Cor. viii. 9).
“ Those that mourn.” They will for ever receive that peace that the world can neither give nor take away. In fact, only those will enjoy this comfort who have suffered and been refined in the. furnace of suffering (John xvi. 22).
“The Meek.” They 'will inherit that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness — that kingdom of which Christ has made them heirs.
“ They that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” They will obtain the bread and water of life r in the kingdom of righteousness, and will be satisfied for ever.
“ The Merciful.” They will obtain mercy, but oppressors, and those with hearts hard as a nether millstone, will find their oppression has returned in awful form on their own heads; and where they now laugh they will then moan at their past neglect and present evil state (Luke vi. 25).
“ The Peacemakers.” Like mercy, peace is one of the attributes of God. And those who reconcile separations and quarrels among their neighbours, and those who cast down the dividing wall between God and man, will be called the children of God, because “ the ministry of reconciliation ” has been given unto them (2 Cpr. v. 1 8).
“ They that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” It is' a great honour to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake, because such people are engaged in a holy war, the reward of which they will get in glory. The spirit and character of the world are hostile«to truth and Reality, so those who follow the truth will surely be persecuted (2 Tim. iii. 12).
But whether they are called to ease or to suffering, these ‘ blessed ’ ones who have a personal experience of God will be like salt and light in the world, and, through their works, will always be for the praise and honour of God.
3. “Resist not evil” (Matt. v. 39). If we resist evil men, who would do us harm, then neither party is likely to be profited; probably both will be injured, as in the collision of two trains both are shattered. But if, by not resisting, we suffer, then, on the one hand, the cross-bearer is benefited spiritually, and, on the other hand, the oppressor will be impressed by the forgiving spirit, and will be inclined towards the truth. It has been shown that by treatment of this kind the lives of many wicked men have been changed. Here is an example. Last year, in the hills in India, while a godly Indian Christian was praying in his house alone, three thieves stealthily entered his room, and took away all they could get. When the man had finished his prayers he noticed that all his goods had gone, except the box over which he had been bowing in prayer. This box contained money and valuables. This ‘ man of prayer ’ took some cash and valuables in his hands, and ran after the thieves, calling, “Wait! wait! you have left some valuables behind. I have brought them to you. Perhaps you need these things more than I.” When the thieves heard this, at first they thought it was a trap, but when they saw that he had no weapon and that he was alone, they came back to him. The man said to them, “ Why did you not tell me at first that you needed these things? I would have gladly given you whatever I have; now you had better come Jaome with me, and whatever you want you may take away.” The thieves, seeing the strange life of this man of prayer, were so affected that their lives were changed for ever, and they began to say, “We never imagined that there were such people in the world. If you *are so wonderful, then how much more wonderful must be your Saviour, Who has made you into jsuch a wonderful and godlike character.” There we have the result of not resisting the evil, and of loving others as we love ourselves. If the man had resisted the thieves, and tya.d tried to have them arrested, then in the struggle he himself might have been killed, and no benefit would have come to the thieves. But I have said enough. Whoever can act on this golden and unparalleled word of Christ, let him do so. Let us keep His perfect example before our eyes, “ Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not” (i Peter ii. 23). Whatever He taught He Himself first acted on, and He gave no teaching of which He did not give®the proof and example in His life. In other words He preached what he practised, and practised what He preached.
4. “ Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdSm of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven ” (Matt, xviii. 3-4).
In order to enter into the kingdom of God it is necessary for us to become like little children, for in them the following characteristics are found, which should be found in every child of God.
(i.) True love for parents.
(ii.) Believing without doubt everything their parents say.
(iii.) If we except original sin, they are free from all other sins, and also from pride oh account of which Satan was cast down from heaven.
(iv.) Though children cannot express their wants, yet they try in lisping words, and when this is not enough, their very tears explain their need, If they cannot walk on their feet, then, crawling on their hands and knees, they reach their mother’s lap, and get their food, an«d love that is beyond their understanding. VAnd when to punish them she threatens or slaps them, instead of running from her, they run to her again for comfort. So when we become like little children in.the kingdom of our Father, we reach a position that is great and high and glorious.
5. When in following Christ we deny ourselves, and bear the cross of suffering in witnessing for Him, and when we seek not our own profit, but the good of others, we find ourselves and a life enriched an hundredfold (Luke ix. 23-25; Matt. xix. 29).
He who, in his quest for the Reality, crushes out the demands of his selfish nature, will find God and himself for ever. On the other hand he who, governed by his self-will, lives separate from God will fall from even his present low state of life and be destroyed, as tares that are really -vsheat that has degenerated, and has become no use but to be cast away.
6. If we apply mercury to the back of a piece of glass, we make a mirror which reflects our faces, but if no mercury is applied, we lock right through the glass. So if we back our lives with selfishness, we see in them only the reflection of self, but if the screen of that selfishness is removed, then wherever we look God will appear, and we shall know that we are shielded in His loving arms.
7. Renunciation of the world does not mean that we should forsake all worldly things that bring us pleasure, either through holding that ‘ things ’ possess in them the inherent quality of evil, or because we expect by renouncing them to receive supreme spiritual bliss. It is one thing to leave pleasures in order to gain greater joys. It is another thing to leave them because they are evil. There is no wrong in enjoying pleasures, either spiritual or physical, in a proper way, nor is thejje any need to renounce them. But there are pleasures which are obstacles to our finding the source of happiness. These we must renounce, for some of these transitory pleasures keep us indifferent to real and everlasting joy. In some cases, indeed, these alluring pleasures tear away our hearts from the Creator, and, as a man following the light of a will-o’-the-wisp wanders op and is lost in the darkness, so these pleasures allure us and lead us on to destruction. It is essential that we should tear away our hearts from all created things and fix them on the Creator, and that? we should use His God-given gifts with thankfulness and in moderation.
Moderation in renunciation as well as in pleasure — ‘ the middle path ’ — is often the best means of obtaining the object that we desire. Failure to get it often comes from our having gone too far on one side or the other of its appointed limits. To continue living in absolute darkness is as harmful to the eyes as is excessive brilliance of light, which may also blin^ us. Excess of cold, or of heat, may cause hurt, but within ordinary limits of temperature are useful and pleasant. A low sound, difficult to hear, is irritating, and a very harsh- sound may even injure our ears, but within moderate limits Tfre hear with pleasure sounds musical and sweet.
8. It is the essence of the teaching of Christ that “ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind ”, and, “ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt. xxii.
If we love the Lord whole-heartedly, we shall obey Him always, and spend our lives in His service and for His glory. And if we love our neighbours — which means the whole world — as ourselves, then we shall do nothing harmful to others, but shall always try to help them along. If we obey this teaching we fulfil the aim of the whole law. Long before any one was aware of their presence, gold and silver and diamonds were hidden away in the earth. So before Jesvis, the incarnation of Love, revealed to the world “ the exceeding riches ” of the Reality, this bottomless mine of love existed from all eternity. But when He came He not only taught about love, but 'by giving His life He completed and perfected that teaching, and was i» every way a perfect example for us.
VII. ‘Man’s Final Destination
i. Materialists, whether scientists or philosophers, are so blinded by the dust of matter that they can see neither the soul in the b#dy, nor the spiritual world that lies beyond the material world; for they imagine that the group of physical and spiritual qualities that go to make up a human personality are ended at death. Scientists, dealing with tangible facts, are limited in their experience. They can, to some extent, tell the How, but have no answer as to the Why of things. They can say how two and two make four, but have no answer as to why they are four. There are senses in which they may be more than four, as, for example, two and two grains of wheat make four, but by sowing" these four grains hundreds, or even thousands, of grains can be reproduced. Contained in the four grains there is the germ of the thousands (even though® this fact is hidden from the scientist or philosopher who is obsessed by a mathematical formula), and where the germ is, the plant also lies hidden, and will appear at its fixed time in conditions suitable to its growth. Hence we may say that in the four grains thousands are present, and we may conclude tha? two and two are more than four. Now scientists, each with his views coloured by his experience, may tell how thousands are produced from four, but they can give no answer as to why they are produced; nor can they tell what life is, nor where it came from; and as long as they can give no satisfactory answers to these questions, then their claim that spiritual life ceases to exist with physical life is hollow and unsound.
2. Those who accept Darwinism, or Evolution, give us a theory that is harsh and merciless, and against all morality. They hold that to help "the sick, the weak or the unfit, only causes them to increase; and this means injury to the community; hence it is better that they should disappear from the earth. As a scientist has said, “ Oar kindness often tends to multiply the sore we try to cure.” If we accept this argument it is* certain that we shall be committed to wholesale slaughter, because all pain and sickness, defect and weakness are caused by sin, and in the world no one is sinless, therefore no one has a right to live. There is no doubt, if fuch people could have applied their theory, the whole of civilisation and humanity would have been wiped out, and the world made desolate and empty.
But it is our good fortune that we dwell in the kingdom of an Almighty, Just and Merciful God, where no one can harm us, if we do not by sin destroy ourselves. If it had been the will of God that sores and diseases should have had no cures, then He would not have created drugs a$d herbs with curative properties. Their very existence is a proof of the special object for whicli they were created, and that people may be cured by these God-given means.
It is amazing that people give the name of
Sufernfan to a man so wanting in mercy, love and sympathy. Since he is wanting in love Tor God, and, for man, he is inferior man, so much so that he is outside the pale of humanity altogether, and might be called a blood-sucking beast of prey. Such indeed is the Superman who is called World Coifqueror. He is himself a poor slave to his passions, and every moment of his life he is being defeated in his own little self. Only that man has the right to be called Superman who knows his Creator, and lives for His glory and for the good of His creation. On the other hand, if a man fails in doing these things, then however highly civilised and educated he may be, he will be no more than a trained animal.
3. Man is like a water hemlock plant, which while growing ip dry land is harmless, but becomes poisonous in wet and damp ground. So man in evil conditions and environment becomes himself evil and dangerous, but is made holy and pure from being in the presence of God and in fellowship with
Him. Then God gives him a ne^r name which fits perfectly his character and life, for # only God, Who created them, apd knows the* things in themselves, can give a fitting name to things. But the name given by man cannot be appropriate because he does not know what the thing is in itself. The names man is forced to give being incomjflete, because of his limited knowledge, God could not reveal His name to him at all, except in so far as He did when He said, “ I am that I am ” (Exodus iii. 14).
4. (a) “ Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.” To be perfect like our heavenly Father is our life’s destination. If, in heaven, we should reach an exceedingly high degree of perfectness, and our progress should then be stopped, we should not yet have reached thermal destination of our being. For at no stage short of it can our being’s ultimate object be perfected, because cessation of progress would cause stagnation and destruction. Besides this, should our progress be arrested, we should remain ignorarft of many things; then as the innate human desire is to know more, this would 'create dissatisfaction in us, and heaven could not continue to be heaven for us. But to progress, and to have the hope of making further progress, would give us a wonderful interest and joy, and when, at last, we shall beaSme perfect like the Father, then further incentive will not be necessary, because our destination has been reached. But love, the source of our being and the life of our life, will remain for ever.
( b) When man has attempted, by research and experiment, to win bodily strength from God’s created things, and has to some extent obtained the means of prolonging life, then is it not possible that he may obtain eternal life and perfection of health and strength in the Fountain of all spiritual life? And when we have gained eternal life, progress in every way will still continue in Eternity. For when, in spite of many obstructions and unsuitable conditions, progress has continued in the world, then why is it that progress should be hindered in heaven, wlifere all necessary means for progress, unobstructed in any way, will be available,t<j us? But' there, in the presence and fellowship of our heavenly Father, in infinite time, infinite means for infinite progress will be supplied continually, until we become perfect as He is perfect.
(c) If we and our knowledge always remain limited, we shall neither have the capacity to know the Infinite God as we should know Him, nor can we be “ filled with all the fulness of God ” (Eph. iii. 19); nor shall we be able to be benefited fully by His infinite love. Moreover God, Who is love, and Who has made man like Himself, does not, through jealousy, prevent him from infinite progress towards a perfection like His own, nor will H§ for ever keep hidden from man many thing's of which he is now ignorant. It is also impossible that, when we shall be made perfect like God, we should rebel against Him, for our rebellious nature will have been destroyed before we reach that stage of perfection. It would be no perfection at all if we could retain even the desire tQ cebel. Besides this, by knowing Him, and by being filled with His infinite love, which is life of our life, our love and faithfulness towards Him will also become infinite. The very object of the incarnation of this love is tG lift man to His own perfection, where all mysteries will be explained, and no kind of imperfection will remain. And here we reach our final destination. There are countless problems which arise as we progress towards perfection, which will be solved only in the world to come, but, as a chick as yet unhatched from the egg may wish to fly, so impatient man wants to solve all his difficulties and problems in this world. This is not only premature but impossible.
There is danger too that we may be involved in misconceptions from which there is fear of injury for the future (John xvi. 1 2). We must run with patience, and accept with thankfulness, and perform with obedience whatever has been revealed to us now, to
.meet our' present needs; and must leave all, things concerning the future to Him, Who will safely bring us to our final destination — •
“ To be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect.”