João 7:17

DISCOURSE: 1646
CONNEXION BETWEEN PIETY AND KNOWLEDGE

João 7:17. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

THE very enemies of our Lord were constrained to say, “Never man spake like this man.” Yet did many of them persist in representing him as a deceiver: and, because he had not been educated after the manner of the Scribes and Pharisees, they considered him as incapable of instructing them [Note: ver. 12, 15.]. But to what was it owing that they could not receive his word? Was there any thing in his mode of conveying his instructions, which involved them in unnecessary obscurity? The parabolic form in which he taught the people was common in his day; and, if it cast somewhat of a veil over his instructions, it tended to remove the offence which too explicit a statement would occasion, and to convey knowledge to persons precisely in such a measure as they were able to receive it. The real obstacle which his discourses met with arose from the inveterate prejudices with which the minds of his hearers were prepossessed. Hence they rejected his word, and denied that he was divinely authorized to promulgate the doctrines he maintained. To remove this obstacle, he told them what it was which they wanted, and what alone it was which would render his word profitable to their souls. They wanted an integrity of mind, to obey the truth, as far as it should be revealed to them: and therefore he said, “If any man will do God’s will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

These words will naturally lead me to shew,

I. The disposition of mind necessary for a profitable investigation of the Holy Scriptures—

Truth, which is merely practical, requires little besides a strong intellectual power to be exercised upon it; but divine truth is intimately connected with the dispositions of the mind, and requires,

1. A desire to know God’s will—

[We should bear in mind, that there is a superior Being, to whom we are all accountable for our actions. This may be known even from the works of creation: and the knowledge of it should make us anxious to be informed what His will is, and how we may find acceptance with him. When, therefore, a book is put into our hands, purporting to come from him, we should read it, not with mere transient curiosity, nor as a book whereon to exercise our critical skill, but with a real desire to know all that he shall have seen fit to reveal, especially respecting the duties which we owe him, and the way that he has appointed for the conciliating of his favour — — — The state of our minds should be precisely like that of Cornelius and his family, when Peter was sent as a divine messenger to instruct them: “Now are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God [Note: Atos 10:33.].”]

2. A readiness to do it—

[We must not sit in judgment on God’s word, complaining of this as too strict, and that as too difficult and self-denying. The only point for us to ascertain is, whether it be the word of God or not: and, if we are convinced that it is his word, then must we receive it with the most child-like simplicity, and obey it without either hesitation or reserve. Nothing is to appear to us “an hard saying.” If it be beyond our comprehension, we should be content to say, in relation to it, “What I know not now, I shall know hereafter.” If we see not exactly the reason of God’s commands, we are not therefore to decline obeying them: for, if an earthly parent expects obedience, though the reasons of his commands be hidden from his child, much more may God expect at our hands a ready acquiescence in all that he commands, even when the reasons of his injunctions are far out of sight — — — St. Paul’s prayer, at the time of his conversion, should be ours at all times: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do [Note: Atos 9:6.]?”]

To recommend to you this disposition in perusing the Holy Scriptures, I will proceed to mark,

II.

Its conduciveness to a clear understanding of them—

It will most materially aid us,

1. In a discovery of its origin—

[When this holy disposition is wanting, almost every truth of Scripture will prove a stumbling-block to us: but when it regulates our researches, we shall find all the deepest and most offensive declarations of God’s word to accord with our real state before him. Does he declare that “the carnal mind is enmity against him?” We shall be ready, from our own actual experience, to admit it: for we shall be constrained to confess, that, whatever others may have been, we have had no delight in him, or in any thing that could lead us to him. When he asserts that there can be no salvation for us but through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall see how exactly that agrees with our own necessities at least; since we are wholly devoid of any righteousness of our own, and incapable of working out a righteousness wherein we can stand before him. When he requires an entire devotedness of heart and life to his service, our own feelings attest that such a surrender of ourselves to him is the duty and happiness of all his creatures. In fact, the whole revelation of God will then appear to us both worthy of God and suited to man: and, though other evidences of the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures have doubtless their weight and importance, and indeed are absolutely necessary for the conviction of others, this will prove the most satisfactory of all to a man’s own mind. The very excellency of the truths of Scripture will mark, to his perfect satisfaction, their divine origin: for none but God could have conceived things so remote from human apprehension, yet so glorious in themselves, and so harmonious in all their parts; harmonious with the perfections of the Deity, and with the necessities of fallen man.]

2. In an apprehension of its import—

[In “an honest and good heart,” such as alone is fit for the reception of the heavenly seed, there is such a correspondence with divine truth as makes the reception of it easy. To such an one sin appears hateful, and therefore he acquiesces at once in all that is said in condemnation of it: and holiness appears delightful, and therefore he feels no inclination to lower the requirements of the Gospel. He would gladly, if he could, “be holy as God is holy,” and “perfect as God is perfect.” Hence the things which are stumbling-blocks and rocks of offence to a carnal mind, are most acceptable to him, inasmuch as they accord with the convictions of his own mind, and with the desires of his own soul. In a word, the whole plan of salvation, in all its parts and in all its bearings, is such as fills him with delight. He would not but be humbled in the dust: he would not wish to rob Almighty God of his glory in any one particular: “Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name, be the praise!” is the very language of his soul: and all that is spoken in Scripture respecting God’s free and sovereign disposals of his grace and mercy, so far from being offensive to him, finds a complete counterpart in the dispositions of his mind: and he is then most pleased, when God is most glorified.]

Hence, then, we may see,
1.

Whence it is that the word of God produces so little effect in the world—

[It is not regarded as the word of God. Men sit in judgment upon it; and, instead of taking it with meek submission as a rule of their faith and practice, satisfy themselves with making it a theatre for the display of their own ingenuity and learning. At best, the generality of men give but a feigned assent to it as the inspired volume: they will, perhaps, even contend for it as a whole, and yet dispute against it in relation to all its most important parts. Thus men contrive to evade its force: but when it comes fully upon the heart and conscience, “it is like fire, or like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.” Let it once reach the heart of man, and it will prove “sharper than any two-edged sword [Note: Hebreus 4:12.],” and “bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ [Note: 2 Coríntios 10:4.].”]

2. How we may derive from it all the benefit it is destined to impart—

[We must receive it as the word of the living God, the word of God to us. We must yield ourselves “with meekness” altogether to its influence [Note: Tiago 1:21.]. What is there that it will not then do for us? Verily, “it will do good to him that walketh uprightly [Note: Miquéias 2:7.].” Yes, all kinds of good: it will quicken, comfort, support, sanctify, and save the soul. Let your souls, then, be turned as the wax to the seal, or as the melted ore to the mould [Note: Romanos 6:17. See the Greek.]. Then, through the teachings of the Holy Spirit, shall it perform its whole work upon you, and transform you “into the divine image in righteousness, and true holiness.”]